How Well did Cathy Duffy do at matching you with curriculum?

[Guest Xapis10]

I'd be curious to know the "success rate," people have had with using Cathy Duffy (or HomeEdExpert) to match you with material that was great for your family.

 

If you've done HomeEdExpert, which part of the score do you focus on?

[edeemarie]

I tried it last night and it seemed right on. Top two pics were MFW and VP both of which are my favorites and we'll be combining bits from them next year.

 

Same for us!

[Parrothead]

Do you have a link?

[BlueTaelon]

I just did it and disagreed with all but 1 recc it gave me, it seems geared to Christian hs'ers and only offered stuff that I won't use like Saxon and spectrum for secular options. It didn't give me a single online option even though I selected online options.

[Parrothead]

It didn't pick anything we use. Nothing at all. I've never looked at Cathy Duffy's top picks. I suppose I know why now.

[Mom22ns]

I do well with Cathy Duffy's reviews. I tried Home Ed Expert and got nothing I would consider using. I must answer the questions all wrong.

[PentecostalMom]

I tried it and got nothing I currently use, but some things I have tried over the years and will not use again. I do like her book though. I think the recommendations (for the most part) are on target, I have just changed things over the years and prefer the things we use now. :)

[WIS0320]

I was recommended the Weaver Curriculum? I'm not even very familiar with it but I think Alpha Omega publishers are very Protestant, yes? I'm Catholic and indicated that in my selections. It also recommended HOD and I am the poster who started the "What's the Big Deal?" thread due to my confusion over the gushing over HOD! :-)

 

It did peg my daughter as a Sociable Sue with Wiggly Willie tendencies which is right on.

 

ETA: It recommended BJU Math! As a Catholic I would not buy any products from BJU! It also recommended Math In Focus which I've considered switching to for 3rd grade after 2 years of Singapore Standards.

[yslek]

Just tried it. Meh. Didn't see anything I use or love. B uses & does really well with Saxon, and that didn't even appear as an option. My answers apparently led to a pretty good match on a complete set of Lifepacs. Um...:confused: *so* not my style. Maybe I should've answered the questione differently? It *is* a neat idea.

[NittanyJen]

I don't recall whether I use any specific curriculum recommended by Cathy Duffy, but I did use her checklists and process for coming up with a mission statement and vision for our homeschool, and have been very pleased with the results (we are Methodists with a secular preference for our school materials).

 

I didn't focus so much on having a book choose my specific materials for me, as I used her checklists and articles in the book to help me narrow down what type of homeschooler I probably was when I was first starting out, and in the end, the information there did change my mind about a few things and over a year later, I find it was in fact very accurate.

[*Michelle*]

:001_huh:

 

I asked for specifically Catholic materials and got a whole bunch of Bob Jones recommendations.

[Tracy]

It didn't work so great here, but I don't think it was Cathy Duffy's fault. I really didn't know what I wanted my first year. And the curricula that I ended up with were integrated unit-study type programs that were not listed where you would expect them, so I didn't even see them my first time around. (FIAR, SWR and TOG were all listed as unit studies.) And BFSU wasn't even in there.

[NittanyJen]

Zoiks! Apparently clicking prefer secular still triggers "Christian Kids Explore Biology" and other gems (not saying it's a bad choice; just not secular). There is definitely a bias against secular in the algorithm there.

 

I'm less than impressed with the selections it made for us overall-- I think I'll stick with my own choices ;D

[CatholicMom]

I got a ton of recommendations, but it did select some books that I either currently use or just bought, including:

 

Teaching Textbooks

Spectrum Geography

Evan Moor Grammar

 

I can't remember what else. It gave me so many recommendations, though, I would still have to do a decent amount of weeding out anyway. I definitely think it's safer to just read reviews and google / ask around.

[KirstenH]

It didn't suggest anything too off the wall for me. I told it to exclude Reformed Protestant stuff, and it did. A lot of its suggestions were for stuff I've looked at and been interested in before. Most of it was stuff that's popular here on the board. It recommended Singapore Math, MCT Grammar, and Artistic Pursuits, all of which we already use. It didn't recommend anything Catholic, though, even though I said I wanted that.

[mumto2]

I got the oddest assortment. Several things to research that I have never heard of. The biggest laugh was all the lit and rhetoric was "the one thing I regret buying". We both hated it! I just put dd in. It did identify her learning type perfectly. She is such the perfect paula.

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

I tried it a while ago when she first launched it. It was

Not a good fit for me. It kept recommending LLaTL for both my son and daughter.

 

Also, it was sort of depressing for my dd's recommendations. It recommended a whole bunch of items for her, but gave them all - every single one, a "red" for my teaching style.

 

Great. The computer program thinks its impossible for me to teach my daughter.

[Mommyfaithe]

That was an awful exercise in futility. Most of the programs suggested for me were terrible failures in my homeschool. I think I may go back and re-do my answers just to see what happens!:D

 

Faithe

 

Eta: Redid some of my answers...and grrrrrrrr!!! I am obviously not suited to teach my kids.....grrrrrrrrr....

Edited May 10, 2012 by Mommyfaithe

[mom@shiloh]

I like Cathy Duffy reviews generally, and usually find them to be accurate, but all my recommendations were for curriculum that I tried this past year and it just didn't work for us.

[kolamum]

I bought her book the year before I knew we'd be officially home educating. She was spot on, & I have NO regrets. Interestingly enough, once we outgrew the first pick she had for us we were spot on with her second pick. :D

[cbollin]

did not match up my high schooler well at all. Lifepacs? and Notgrass? (she's not a fan of Notgrass book we use in MFW and neither am I)

math and science- what we are using and doing well with did not show up.

suggested IEW - which is too formula for my child.. hmm....

 

jr. high student.... might work... maybe...

 

and I can't get it to show me the results on 3rd child.... edit that... found the missing click point.. let's see.....not the best fit for her... hmm.. might work, but.. hmm... nah...

 

wow... so.. even MFW didn't show up in our main selections. uh.. I've been happily using it since 2003. it is a great fit for us....

 

-crystal

Edited May 10, 2012 by cbollin

[Deniseibase]

I just want to chime in to say, I expected this to give me awful choices after reading this thread, but in every category checked, there was at least one of the books we either are currently using or plan to use next year. But I & my DD are very textbook oriented, maybe that makes a difference?

 

Also, 'Pythagorean THEORY' made me laugh :D

[TheAutumnOak]

I was recommended the Weaver Curriculum?

 

I was also recommended the Weaver Curriculum, BJU and Saxon...Was everyone recommended this? :tongue_smilie:

[KirstenH]

I was also recommended the Weaver Curriculum, BJU and Saxon...Was everyone recommended this? :tongue_smilie:

 

Nope. Saxon and BJU didn't come up at all for me. Neither did Weaver itself, but one resource recommended for Weaver did.

[AmyontheFarm]

I borrowed her book from the library and worked through it and then did the online program. Both ways I ended up with the same items on my lists. I then placed my lists in my girlfriends hands, she's been homeschooling for 12 years and knows my kids. She reviewed everything and talked me through a couple of choices and we've been happily homeschooling every since. Not one single regret from our curriculum choices! Now, that my high schooler is coming home, I'll go through the process again to think about what she needs.

[Farrar]

Sounds like it's only certain sponsored curricula.

 

To any unsure folks... let vote by Hive pick your curricula. I'll bet we have a better success rate.

[*Lulu*]

Sounds like it's only certain sponsored curricula.

 

To any unsure folks... let vote by Hive pick your curricula. I'll bet we have a better success rate.

 

:iagree: :D

[momma2three]

After spending much too long filling out that questionaire, and saying that I wanted secular everything, almost every single thing returned was Little Hearts for His Glory or Christian Liberty Press. :glare:

 

Not impressed.

 

Made me not really interested in clicking on the other things she recommends, that I haven't heard of.

 

ETA: I was very clear that I wanted nothing to do with creationism, and for Biology I'm recommended something called "The World God Made"? Uh, no.

[TKDmom]

I tried it a while ago when she first launched it. It was

Not a good fit for me. It kept recommending LLaTL for both my son and daughter.

 

Also, it was sort of depressing for my dd's recommendations. It recommended a whole bunch of items for her, but gave them all - every single one, a "red" for my teaching style.

 

Great. The computer program thinks its impossible for me to teach my daughter.

 

That's exactly what happened to me! I think my problem was that I told it I wanted secular resources, and so all the Christian resources it recommended are a bad fit for me. :001_rolleyes:

[Susie in MS]

Weaver

Weaver

Weaver

HOD

Weaver

MFW

Weaver

Weaver

 

Uuummm

Weaver

 

 

What? Where is FIAR? Maybe she is one who *thinks* it is not enough for a 7 yo?

WHere is Prairie Primer? Maybe she thinks it is too advanced for a 7 yo?

 

 

Nope. She didn't peg us at all. Well the LLATL and GtG suggestions were pretty good. But Horisons??? BJU??? Weaver???

 

Now she does have me interesting in Christian Kids Explore Biology and Considering God's Creation. I have never seen those.

 

Oh but wait!! YES!! I see one EXCELLENT recommendation for us! History Revealed series by DIana Waring!! :D

[Mynyel]

Yea it didn't pick anything I currently use.

 

Does it even recommend Math U See? Or Tapestry (or Sonlight?).

 

I saw a lot of Alpha Omega. We :ack2: AO (Well at least the LifePacs. Horizons Math was OK.. we used it in 2nd grade for DD when we first started HSing).

 

The only match we had was for Logic. AoA and CT.

 

Not something I would waste my time doing again!

 

The problem with this sort of thing is that there are way to many programs to add to the mix. You would have to fill out something like a 2 hour survey, per kid, in order to get any kind of decent result.

 

Better to have a Hive vote as farrarwilliams said or go to a convention and get your hands on it.

[Kathryn]

I do well with Cathy Duffy's reviews. I tried Home Ed Expert and got nothing I would consider using. I must answer the questions all wrong.

 

I don't recall whether I use any specific curriculum recommended by Cathy Duffy, but I did use her checklists and process for coming up with a mission statement and vision for our homeschool, and have been very pleased with the results (we are Methodists with a secular preference for our school materials).

 

I didn't focus so much on having a book choose my specific materials for me, as I used her checklists and articles in the book to help me narrow down what type of homeschooler I probably was when I was first starting out, and in the end, the information there did change my mind about a few things and over a year later, I find it was in fact very accurate.

 

Wasn't impressed with the variety of publishers/types of curriculum suggested. I wouldn't try any of the programs listed.

 

It could be a great idea, but I think her algorithm needs a little tweaking...as well as her list of curriculum.

 

:iagree: with these. I tried it a while ago and just remember that I wouldn't consider any of the things it brought back and that there was a lot of Weaver.

[Mergath]

What a waste of time. It completely ignored the fact that my dd is reading three-letter words, and came back with only recommendations for programs that teach letter/shape/number recognition. :glare: And the stuff it did recommend I've never even heard of.

[Chelli]

I thought the book was much better than the website.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Zoiks! Apparently clicking prefer secular still triggers "Christian Kids Explore Biology" and other gems (not saying it's a bad choice; just not secular). There is definitely a bias against secular in the algorithm there.

 

I'm less than impressed with the selections it made for us overall-- I think I'll stick with my own choices ;D

 

This was my experience a couple years ago. It didn't seem to matter how I answered questions about religion or science emphasis, AiG materials kept coming up.

 

I don't know if they only included suggestions of items offered for purchase from their website or what.

[Soror]

Surprisingly close for the 2 biggest areas for me:

 

 

Math-RSD- that is my current plan and I already have it

Lit- Teaching the Classics(my dream program but I haven't purchased yet)

 

For reading the top choice was LLATL, which I've looked at but don't think will work for us. Science seemed to be all christian but I thought I answered in a way to gear it towards secular. The history was not one I was familiar with at all. I'm going towards LCC for these so I doubted it would come up with my choices.

[RootAnn]

Ok, I just filled it out as best I could.

 

Blerg! What a clunky interface. I asked for World History - Ancients & it gave me all sorts of American history & Story of the World 2 stuff. ??!!? My score for their recommendations overall: 22%.

 

I must have really confused the algorithm because it came back with zero recommendations for science for all my kids other than some supplements. Most of the recs were considered bad (red) for either me or the kid (or both). None were great matches according to them.

 

I do like Cathy Duffy's book (100 Top Picks). I like that she tells you why she likes a program because sometimes the very reason she is for it is why I wouldn't use it at all. :-)

 

I like the Top Picks for the sections where she has you set your goals & figure out the kid's style. It sure helped me be more realistic in what I had time for. .... Hmmm, maybe I need to pull it back out to get a reality check for next year. :tongue_smilie:

[Guest Xapis10]

I was also recommended the Weaver Curriculum, BJU and Saxon...Was everyone recommended this? :tongue_smilie:

 

I was recommended Weaver, but not Saxon. In fact, I tried to get it to recommend Saxon for me, but maybe a Wiggly Willy is not allowed to try Saxon? :)

 

I don't think the program is biased against secular, but it is a little goofy in how it separates all the religious/non-religious things. I've noticed in reading the reviews, that there isn't a good categorization method in this area. They've used more than way to describe the same thing etc.

[Guest Xapis10]

Better to have a Hive vote as farrarwilliams said or go to a convention and get your hands on it.

 

By Hive vote, do you mean putting out a poll in the forum?

[Guest Xapis10]

I think I agree that it's a good idea, but it needs tweaking (at least for some of us)! I don't really want a survey to tell me who I am or who my kid is - I just want to narrow down what materials are geared toward us, to speed up the shopping...

[Aurelia]

Some recommendations were good, others not so much. I was recommended Trail Guide to Learning Paths of Exploration for everything (including spelling!), with BF's History of Science. I asked specifically for secular or neutral curricula. It did also recommend MCT, SOTW and La Clase Divertida, the latter two of which we've used and liked, and the first makes me a little more relieved about buying the entire Island level yesterday, despite my qualms about the price.

[Aurelia]

I was also recommended the Weaver Curriculum, BJU and Saxon...Was everyone recommended this? :tongue_smilie:

 

Not me, but I clicked "exclusively secular". I still got recommendations for Beautiful Feet. The last time I checked, their materials were very religious.

[Allison TX]

The top recs for me were TOG, MFW, and LLATL. I have used HOD for years and it never came up as a match.:confused: Maybe I should try something new.:)

[Grover]

I can't even get it to work. I've tried Chrome and Safari and it just doesn't open.

[Elizabeth in MN]

It was an almost 100% strike out for my dd. The only thing it got correct was suggestion SOTW. It suggested things we tried and she *hated*.

[Bear23]

My PC won't let me onto the link to give it a try.

[staceyobu]

It suggested multiple things for each area. None of them were great suggestions. It suggested sotw and mfw, which are things we would use or consider using. Then it suggested a bunch of lifepacs and bob jones stuff.

[jennieblue22]

Was this previously free? I just found this thread while searching and I see that it is a couple of years old. 

 

Currently HomeEdExpert is charging $14.99 for a one year student subscription, purchased through the HSLDA. 

 

https://store.hslda.org/homeed-expert-subscription-p292.aspx

 

I don't believe this is affiliated with Cathy Duffy. She is a Catholic I believe.

 

[AmyontheFarm]

When I used it a long time ago.  I was able to access the website through a code in the book, if I remember right.  Honestly, the book is one that I recommend frequently to new and old homeschoolers.  Also, when someone calls and says they are thinking about homeschooling, I tell them to borrow the book from the library, once they have read it, to call me back.   It really helps to weed out the non-committed locals. :)

 

As for the choices the site recommended, I stuck with what I was using back in 2012 and we are doing great.  She has updated the book, so I suggest you buy it and check it out.

[cbollin]

Was this previously free? I just found this thread while searching and I see that it is a couple of years old. 

 

originally it was affliated in some fashion with Duffy.   I can remember the emails about it and it had her face all over the promo and all of that. I don't know about now.

 

Yes when this thread was started, the service was free.

a few minutes ago,   I followed the link from page 1 of this thread, and it says it was free.  registrered with my current email, expecting it to be free.  said everywhere, free...   then, when I login?   That's when it says one has to pay.  hmmm..  registration was free, right?  service no.  that's just .. uhmm..

 

so, I guess the link from this thread (page 1) goes to an outdated but still working link.   would I pay $10 for it (there was some discount I was eligible for)? hmmm..  not to fill in an online form and have it spit out results of advertisers. no. not based on how it worked a few years ago.    $10 to get a book to read through?  maybe.