What is your, "What's The Big Deal?" curriculum?

[WIS0320]

I have to admit I've never seen a full HOD guide and have only looked at the samples for a few levels online. I'm always scratching my head wondering what the big deal is? It seems like the one curriculum that almost always generates super positive comments. Every once in awhile I open a HOD thread, go look and I'm still perplexed by the HOD love. :tongue_smilie:

 

Is there anything that you've looked at online, multiple times, simply because of the buzz and when viewing the samples/scope-sequence were underwhelmed?

[ebrindam]

I have to admit I've never seen a full HOD guide and have only looked at the samples for a few levels online. I'm always scratching my head wondering what the big deal is? It seems like the one curriculum that almost always generates super positive comments. Every once in awhile I open a HOD thread, go look and I'm still perplexed by the HOD love. :tongue_smilie:

 

Is there anything that you've looked at online, multiple times, simply because of the buzz and when viewing the samples/scope-sequence were underwhelmed?

 

Tapestry of Grace...totally don't get it.

[SJ.]

I don't have anything to add to the topic, but I am interested in what others have to say.

[Crimson Wife]

Sometimes samples can be deceiving. MCT is one such curriculum. Even flipping through a friend's copy of the full grammar book I didn't get an accurate sense of what the program is really like. It wasn't until I got the complete set that I finally understood why MCT got all the raves.

 

I don't see how people can stand to use Saxon math and R&S grammar year in and year out, with multiple children no less! I can tell from previewing the books that they are both solid programs, but I think I'd poke my eyes out if I were forced to use them long term. :tongue_smilie:

[alisoncooks]

Sonlight.

[Michelle My Bell]

Heart of Dakota's samples are really deceiving as well. There is so much that can only be understand by actually "doing" the program. It is then that you see the flow and see the beauty of it. I think a lot of really great programs are like that. Maybe the ones that look good, aren't. LOL

 

As for me, I don't get that English program. What's it called? MCT or something.

[Mommyfaithe]

Sometimes samples can be deceiving. MCT is one such curriculum. Even flipping through a friend's copy of the full grammar book I didn't get an accurate sense of what the program is really like. It wasn't until I got the complete set that I finally understood why MCT got all the raves.

 

I don't see how people can stand to use Saxon math and R&S grammar year in and year out, with multiple children no less! I can tell from previewing the books that they are both solid programs, but I think I'd poke my eyes out if I were forced to use them long term. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oy vey!!! I switch around stuff because I go nuts teaching the same stuff year after year. I need to shake it up....

 

My meh stuff....

 

Math Mammoth...blah....

Mystery of History....that was a bummer.

Oh, years ago...The Weaver Curriculum. That was all the rage for a while...

[Mommyfaithe]

Sonlight.

 

Sonlight is one of those programs that have to click at the right time. We are really enjoying and learning from Core W....my kids just clicked with it this year. Same thing with Ambleside Online....it looks like nothing until you use it, but you have to jump in at the right time, or it doesn't work....kwim?

 

Faithe

[cjgrubbs]

I don't see how people can stand to use Saxon math and R&S grammar year in and year out, with multiple children no less! I can tell from previewing the books that they are both solid programs, but I think I'd poke my eyes out if I were forced to use them long term. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

[Ecclecticmum]

Most programs that are literature based. We LOVE books, but I don't really understand the need for buying a curriculum that is mainly made up of books and a schedule that tells you when to read them.

 

I collect my own literature throughout the year and I schedule those into the next years curriculum.

 

And if I wanted to use a complete "living books" approach, I would do it myself lol. So yes, I don't really understand how people get so excited over stuff like that.

 

And HOD, it sounded fantastic, great, brilliant, everyone was always recommending it, so I went and looked at the sample and :confused: totally underwhelmed, so thought maybe I was missing something and spent the next 20 minutes rushing round the website with :001_huh: this look on my face. Every now and again I go back to the site and always just leave with a big question mark.

 

I have TOG envy, so pretty, so many pages, all sooo yummy. But, I prefer secular materials, we are not secular, but we prefer to have our bible time separate, and we prefer materials based on scientific facts and theories (which is why I like RS4K, it leaves a nice open area to discuss every view, theory & fact). I looked at the TOG sample and for why everyone is going on about it, I was underwhelmed, to me its akin to sonlight, with biblical facts weaved in, and disucssion questions. But for some reason, I keep getting excited over it and keep drooling over TOG. I have found is a catching disease, nicnamed "TOG envy" and can cause ecstatic drooling, and nonsensical rambling. :D In reality, I would probably look at getting TOG if I wasn't a tweaker. Its a "perfect" program, but to me, tweaking would negate how great it is.

[Mergath]

I would have to say specifically the Sonlight P3/4 thing. People seem to just gush about it, but from what I've read in the catalog, it's a bunch of books. With a list to check them off when you've read them.

 

Yeah, we have one of those here, too, only we call it "the public library." :tongue_smilie:

 

I don't really get Classical Conversations, either. I requested a catalog just to see what it looked like, and... yeah. I was like, "So, it's homeschooling. Only your kids learn most of their stuff in a class." :001_huh:

[lindsrae]

Sorry, Jessie Wise, but OPGTR and FLL...yawn. We struggled through half of OPGTR...i wanted it to work because it was so simple. But it bored us to tears.

[Tarreymere]

Moving beyond the Page.

 

but hey, I use Saxon and R&S AND Sonlight, so what do I know? :lol:

[Barb_]

So far, for me, it has been Beast Academy. The child I bought it for doesn't seem to be clicking with it. I'm not in love with it either. But we are going to keep revisiting it because I'm willing to be persuaded.

[Mommie_Jen]

HOD. I'm weighing options for first grade and looking at it and MFW. I want to like HOD. But, like others, I don't get it. I'm thinking about giving it a try anyway. Just thinking.

[...................]

MFW- it seems so Godly, which draws me to it...but Every year I look at it and every year I say, "Meh."

 

CC- all the work of homeschooling, without the freedom, (which is one of my favorite aspects of homeschooling) all for the low cost of either slaving away teaching others kids or shelling out 800 bucks per year, and the cost of your homeschooling freedom.

[KirstenH]

HOD. It looks so twee. I don't get why it appeals to people.

 

(Of course, I'm using WinterPromise, and it's not exactly a favorite around here. So there's that.)

[Aurelia]

Moving Beyond the Page. I've used units from the 5-7, 6-8 and 7-9, and every time I ended up going "meh" or banging my head on the desk because it's a poor fit. I love the idea. The program just doesn't work for my kid. FIAR was similar. I loved the books. Ariel loved the books. The guides...not so much. I've come to the realization that I don't really like preplanned guides for much of anything but math and English. Even then, I tweak and supplement.

[Sew happily ever after]

Winterpromise-- I've tried 3 of their programs and am sooooooo over that company that I'll never look at it again!

 

Classical conversations-- too expensive and I totally don't need someone telling me what to teach my kids and when plus all that money!

 

Sonlight-- everyone raves about it but really it's just a glorified reading list.

 

MEP- I just don't get it.

Edited April 2, 2012 by maadrose

[Sew happily ever after]

Winterpromise-- I've tried 3 of their programs and am sooooooo over that company that I'll never look at it again!

 

Classical conversations-- too expensive and I totally don't need someone telling me what to teach my kids and when plus all that money!

 

Sonlight-- everyone raves about it but really it's just a glorified reading list.

 

MEP-- I just don't get it.

[Kathryn]

Definitely Classical Conversations. Just don't get it.

[Chelli]

Mine was FIAR.

 

I even bought one unit (Roxaboxen) to try it out thinking I was missing something.

 

Nope. Still don't get it :confused:

[jer2911mom]

I almost didn't use HOD because I didn't "get" their website. Having the catalog in hand made the difference for me. It explains things much better and you can see the flow of the program and the reasoning behind it.

 

We didn't get Math Mammoth 1A. I wanted to love it, but didn't. Maybe there's hope for the other levels. We like Singapore for now.

[morosophe]

I know I'm going to get in trouble for this one, but IEW. If you want to know why, see the rant at my blog for why this one "underwhelms" me at first, second, and third glance.

 

Of course, I do not own it, nor have I tried it, which is very much the point of this thread, right?

[twoxcell]

For me it is,

FIAR, tried it twice and don't get the appeal.

Sonlight, Overpriced glorified book list.

Considering God's Creation, I don't get how it can be called CM. It is just a boring black and white textbook with tons of worksheets.

 

I didn't get HOD either until I bought it and now I love it.;)

[Haiku]

MCT

 

Tara

[ssavings]

HOD. I WANT to love it, but I just don't get it.

[atozmom]

Definitely CC

[sagira]

Most programs that are literature based. We LOVE books, but I don't really understand the need for buying a curriculum that is mainly made up of books and a schedule that tells you when to read them.

 

I collect my own literature throughout the year and I schedule those into the next years curriculum.

 

And if I wanted to use a complete "living books" approach, I would do it myself lol. So yes, I don't really understand how people get so excited over stuff like that.

:iagree: That's what I've always done - from the beginning. I only use the book Peak with Books in K to guide me, then I'm off and borrowing from the library like crazy.

 

 

HOD, it sounded fantastic, great, brilliant, everyone was always recommending it, so I went and looked at the sample and :confused: totally underwhelmed, so thought maybe I was missing something and spent the next 20 minutes rushing round the website with :001_huh: this look on my face. Every now and again I go back to the site and always just leave with a big question mark.

:lol: I don't get what all the fuss is about it.. well, maybe just a little bit, but not enough to order.

 

 

Tapestry of Grace...totally don't get it.

That's me.

 

Sonlight is one of those programs that have to click at the right time. We are really enjoying and learning from Core W....my kids just clicked with it this year. Same thing with Ambleside Online....it looks like nothing until you use it, but you have to jump in at the right time, or it doesn't work....kwim?

Actually.. no. Could you please elaborate? If you don't mind?

 

I would have to say specifically the Sonlight P3/4 thing. People seem to just gush about it, but from what I've read in the catalog, it's a bunch of books. With a list to check them off when you've read them.

 

Yeah, we have one of those here, too, only we call it "the public library." :tongue_smilie:

Yup.

 

I don't really get Classical Conversations, either. I requested a catalog just to see what it looked like, and... yeah. I was like, "So, it's homeschooling. Only your kids learn most of their stuff in a class."

Don't get it. I think the name alone is what draws 50% of people in.

 

Sonlight, Overpriced glorified book list.

:lol:

 

Considering God's Creation, I don't get how it can be called CM. It is just a boring black and white textbook with tons of worksheets.

 

No way! I will have to investigate its claims.

[jessicamcc]

Ambleside Online for me. People who use it are so happy with it- I get excited and want to try it. And then I look and look... I just don't get it. :confused:

[Caribbean Queen]

BSFU

Mom has to study it, and maybe plan lessons on a spreadsheet. The only activity I can remember it including is talking to your child as they brush their teeth, or was it take a bath? I am waiting for this program to go away.

 

Teach Your Baby to Read

What the heck?

 

Social studies and science textboook/workbook programs for grades K-2

Kids already know their neighborhood has mail carriers and that rain wets plants. Fluffy wastes of time.

[Joyoflearning]

I don't at all understand the recommendations for MUS:001_huh:

 

I don't get Winterpromise or their price tag.

 

I agree that Sonlight just looks to me like a glorified booklist. I use the list to check books out of my library but couldn't imagine paying for a plan. My prerequisite for choosing a Lit. based curriculum is that it has to incorporate hands-on activities to go along with it and it needs to be "open and go". Otherwise it would not get done.

 

I have found is a catching disease, nicnamed "TOG envy" and can cause ecstatic drooling, and nonsensical rambling. :D In reality, I would probably look at getting TOG if I wasn't a tweaker. Its a "perfect" program, but to me, tweaking would negate how great it is.

I always think that one day I will be in a better place to implement it properly. As for now, I love the idea but see it as very impractical for me.

 

Mine was FIAR.

 

I even bought one unit (Roxaboxen) to try it out thinking I was missing something.

 

Nope. Still don't get it :confused:

After buying all the volumes and really looking through it, I realized it wouldn't work for my oldest at all. I hold onto it thinking I may be able to use it with my younger ones, but there are so many things I like better.

[txhomemom]

There is so much I could list since we have been homeschooling a long time:

 

Miquon Math

HOD

Ambleside Online

Explode the Code Phonics

Spalding Phonics/Reading

MCT Language Arts

Rod and Staff

Apologia

Horizons Math

Art of Problem Solving

Calvert

Winston Grammar

 

There is so much more I was underwhelmed by, but it is a good thing, keeps me from buying too much!

[CyndiLJ]

Oh boy, I may risk death here for this one, but:

 

Apologia, especially for younger ages.

 

I totally don't get this, the narrow focus for an entire year, the overkill on grade level, everything about it I just don't like. There, I said it, I will protect myself from the flying tomatoes :-)

 

There are others though:

 

Sonlight - I agree with everyone's posts here about it being a glorified booklist. So please tell me WHY then do I want to do it so badly even though I think it is far too expensive. That catalog has me drooling every time, even though we'll never go with it.

 

Any Vocabulary Only Program/Wordly Wise - If you are doing a lot of reading, if you are doing spelling, why in the world do you need something strictly for vocabulary??? Don't kill me, but I find it to be a waste of time if you are doing other things well that also build vocabulary.

 

MFW - Is it not also a glorified book list? I get the time saving factor, but is it really a "curriculum"?

 

Cindy

[Melissa B]

Deconstructing Penguins

Drawing with Children

Comstock Nature Study Handbook

[nmoira]

Post-phonics reading programs, any and all

[nmoira]

Sorry, Jessie Wise, but OPGTR and FLL...yawn. We struggled through half of OPGTR...i wanted it to work because it was so simple. But it bored us to tears.

This. Tedium.

[SunnyDays]

I know I'm the only one in the world who doesn't like this particular curriculum, and I will join Cindy in ducking rotten tomatoes (have an extra umbrella?), but...

 

SOTW. It was not our thing. At all. I don't know WHY, and I wanted to like it, but I really didn't. :( I only looked at the Ancients volume, maybe I would feel differently about the others. Sorry.

[sewingmama]

Umm probably just about everything that everyone here seems to like :001_huh:

 

HOD - I've looked at it several times -I don't like the way the religion is integrated. I get that they are trying to show that everything comes back to God but I think what they do cheapens the sacredness. I was looking at it again last night trying to find the love but the activity where they say to play Adam says (Simon Says) really turned me off. Adam was a prophet of God and should be spoken of with more respect KWIM.

 

 

I get tempted by Sonlight but again I am worried about the religious content since it is not similar to mine - I just use it as a reading list.

 

MFW -see above. Everybody raves about MFW K but it didn't look K standard to me -and again - too much religious reference where it wasn't needed.

 

Beast Acadamy - maybe I'll get that love when my kid are older and want to read nothing but comics :glare: but not yet

 

Singapore Math - too many books - I'm confused :lol:

 

OPGTR, FLL, WWE - yeah I should just leave the board quietly now I think

[Annabel Lee]

I'm completely underwhelmed by CC, for so, so many reasons.

 

I know not to touch TOG with a 10-ft. pole if I want to keep my sanity.

[momma2three]

Deconstructing Penguins

Drawing with Children

Comstock Nature Study Handbook

 

:iagree:

 

And I'm resentful about how much space it takes up on my bookshelf. I could fit like 3 books where it is. I was so excited when I ordered it, but when it arrived I read it like: :glare: It's just a wildlife guide: just a very old one with bad pictures and lots of outdated information about habitat and population.

 

Oh yes, and I didn't even buy Saxon because I was underwhelmed by their samples. It looked so boring, and I LOVE boring. But I didn't think I could sell even this to my worksheet loving, mathematically inclined kid.

Edited April 2, 2012 by momma2three

[Bonkers247]

I'm completely underwhelmed by CC, for so, so many reasons.

 

I know not to touch TOG with a 10-ft. pole if I want to keep my sanity.

 

We did CC for a year. I hated it and I don't understand what the appeal is to stay in it. My kids learned next to nothing from the program. As for TOG, we are starting that next year after years of doing SL. It feels like a breath of fresh air to plan this. I have come to realize I hate being told exactly what to do and I hate having the readings so chopped up. What was I thinking sticking with it for so long?

[Lots of boys]

All of your posts have cracked me up.

 

Here is my short list (this is our first year so it might get longer):

 

-OPGTR - I actual really like this book but my son hated it after about 1/2 way through. It moves too fast and it is boring. I still use it as a guide but rarely follow the lessons.

 

- Geography songs. Not a ciriculum - but so strange!! Seriously - how can anyone listen to that CD.

 

Singapore K. It is awful. Made for a classroom, strange layout, just really a waste of time.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[MorningGlory]

I am even more flummoxed (if that is even possible) about its popularity for jr/sr high. I mean, really, in my neck of the woods, Apologia is the only thing going if you are doing high school science. It is sooooo boring! I hate it. :ack2:

 

:iagree: I cannot understand why the junior high/senior high Apologia is so popular. "Underwhelmed" doesn't fully describe my thoughts about this curriculum. I think it is just awful.

 

And as I duck the proverbial tomato, too, I will add Writing Strands to the list. :D

[mama27]

Apologia science. Way too much info for elementary kids. The high school texts bore me.

 

SOTW. I tried. ALL of them. More than once. My kids got NOTHING from these. Yep, tried the activities too.

 

Easy Grammar. Too much crossing and underlining and writing initials above too many words.

 

HOD. Little Hands to Heaven. My kids only like the first song. I have looked at other ones but they don't impress me.

 

Math Mammoth. Tried to like this. There were problems on one page, then the TEACHING was on the following page?!?!? That happened more than once.

 

Singapore.Miquon. I don't get the hype for this at all.

[Haiku]

Math Mammoth. Tried to like this. There were problems on one page, then the TEACHING was on the following page?!?!? That happened more than once.

 

 

Weird. We've used multiple levels of this program and never encountered that ...

 

Tara

[Hedgehogs4]

Classical Conversations,

Explode the Code (soooo repetitive)

Math Mammoth (tried, don't love)

[mama27]

Weird. We've used multiple levels of this program and never encountered that ...

 

Tara

 

 

I couldn't even begin to guess where/which book. It's been awhile and I've slept since then.:lol:

[GailV]

Oh, let's see ... confining myself to what I've actually purchased and then realized I'd been taken in by the hype and essentially thrown money away:

 

- Comstock Nature Study Handbook. As stated upthread, just a big, out-of-date nature guide with bad pictures.

 

- BFSU -- I bought the original Nebel's years ago, and thought, "you're kidding -- that's it?" So I sold it. And then got sucked in by the idea that the new version was more focussed, so maybe I'd like it better. Um, really, no.

 

- Apologia. Elementary, middle school and high school. Don't even get me started.

 

- NOEO. We tried Biology 1. It was simply a reading checklist, sort of like Sonlight but with no discussion points in the guide, a bunch of experiments that they didn't even bother to coordinate with the reading schedule, and generic directions for the child to write summaries. I paid for that?

 

And, lest you think I just have it in for popular science curricula:

 

Five in a Row. Actually, it was my kids who thought the concept was just weird. Why would you read a book 5 days in a row? Why not move on? And why do THEIR activities -- we're perfectly capable of coming up with activities on our own.

 

There are probably more. I'm leaving out the various language programs we've tried, like Rosetta Stone. I KNOW my kids could add tons to the list.