bttrflyvld Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Do you use a boxed curriculum (from one source ie. oak meadow) or do you pick and choose from several different sources to fit your child's needs? And if you go with a full (box) curriculum which one do you go with? and Why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Well, I voted boxed, but I really do a mix of the two choices. You can check my blog (address in my siggy) for more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Well, I voted boxed, but I really do a mix of the two choices. You can check my blog (address in my siggy) for more details. :iagree: Same thing here. Boxed for Bible, history, part of science using Heart of Dakota, but we do our own choice of math, language arts, spelling, and handwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharilynn29 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Out of all our subjects between 2 kiddos, the only curriculum used for more than one subject is R&S. My dd uses this for reading and math. Other than that, we love the variety of different publishers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bttrflyvld Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 I'm starting to research into what we'll do for my daughters kindergarten year and I'm not sure where to start. I like the idea of a boxed curriculum just for the peace of mind knowing I'm covering it all. But on the other hand I'm not sure I would like to be stuck using only one source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Some people do both. :D For example, they might go with a "boxed set," such as Sonlight, but then switch out certain elements of English or Bible. You can see from my signature line that we don't do a boxed course. I wouldn't rule it out, though, especially if my circumstances required it. My top choices for a "box" would probably be Abeka or BJU or Winter Promise, though I know some parts of those would drive me crazy. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) . Edited July 12, 2022 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Well, I voted boxed, but I really do a mix of the two choices. You can check my blog (address in my siggy) for more details. :iagree:I agree. We are using MP core 6 as spine, filling in with lots of other stuff. Blog side-bar has curriculum picks for the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I never found a single source that I liked for everything, although I would not use the term "boxed curriculum," partly because I don't use the word "curriculum" to describe the materials I'm using to teach, and also because when I was homeschooling, well, no one used that term. We talked about "school in a box," which was when someone got a box of books from CLASS, or ABeka/BJUP/ACE, i.e., materials not written for homeschoolers. We would never have referred to HOD (if it had been published then, which it wasn't) or Sonlight as "boxed." It makes me twitch every time I see it used that way.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I picked "mixed" but most years I do go with a boxed curriculum like Sonlight for History and Literature...and yet I mix even that up, not doing their LA and doing my own. This year I am using My Father's World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I never found a single source that I liked for everything, although I would not use the term "boxed curriculum," partly because I don't use the word "curriculum" to describe the materials I'm using to teach, and also because when I was homeschooling, well, no one used that term. We talked about "school in a box," which was when someone got a box of books from CLASS, or ABeka/BJUP/ACE, i.e., materials not written for homeschoolers. We would never have referred to HOD (if it had been published then, which it wasn't) or Sonlight as "boxed." It makes me twitch every time I see it used that way.:001_huh: I had to use one of those "school in a box" sets when I was a kid. Year after year. That's why I have a near allergic reaction to anything resembling a box set to this day. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Mixed. I use MFW for several subjects and choose my own LA & math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I used to pull our entire year's worth of work from a variety of things; however, after 10 years in a classroom where we were free to do that and 4 years of homeschooling, I am tired. So, this year we are going boxed and using MFW for Bible, history, science, music, art, and geography. I'm pulling other things together for math, writing, grammar, spelling, and foreign language. Our math curriculum (Singapore) is also used in MFW though. I'm excited to check off boxes that someone else has planned! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I could never use a boxed curriculum. I am way too much of a control freak! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Mixed. Somewhat according to my child's lead, but more so according to what resonates with me. It needs to make sense to me before I can teach it to my children. Ie: Using phonics to teach reading and spelling. It doesn't make sense *to me* to do it any other way, so I would not be able to use curricula that does, KWIM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hmmmm... Mixed....but many things are based on what *I* feel meets what I desire for my children, how I want to do things, how I feel we *can* do things, etc. Some things may be based on the needs or desires of individual children, but many things are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 We are using Heart of Dakota and loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'm starting to research into what we'll do for my daughters kindergarten year and I'm not sure where to start. I like the idea of a boxed curriculum just for the peace of mind knowing I'm covering it all. But on the other hand I'm not sure I would like to be stuck using only one source. Other than doing school 12 hours per day in order to make her a super-genius, I seriously doubt you can go wrong for Kindergarten. You can't miss anything because nothing is required. You can't really overdo either imo (again, except for trying to create an evil super genius to overtake the world by 7 :D). Anything from literature based to 3Rs to boxed curriculum to very WTM 1st grade to playing all day at the park are all valid ways of doing Kindergarten. And there are only about 240,583,384,244 other ways also. Seriously. Again, you really can't do this year wrong assuming you do anything other than lock them in a closet or in front of a tv 15 hours per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Well, I voted boxed, but I really do a mix of the two choices. You can check my blog (address in my siggy) for more details. :iagree: We use MFW for most subjects and all sorts of other publishers & resources for the math, English, writing, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I started out all different curricula. Now I'm using Sonlight for history/readers/read-alouds. I still use my own math, writing, phonics,.handwriting, science, etc. I'm doing K this year: Sonlight P4/5, Dancing Bears (reading), WRTR (handwriting and eventually reading), Singapore (math), Life of Fred (fun math) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 We use all different sources. This year we're using Learning Adventures, an all-in-one unit study curriculum for grades 4-8. Just add math. And if I felt it was complete I would use only that + our math. I have found, however, that most companies that publish their own curriculum for all subjects don't have the expertise in any one subject that they should. Learning Adventures is a great backbone for history/social studies. It is not an adequate substitute (imo) for a meaty courseload. To it we added science, extra language arts, and Jackdaws/primary sources for history. We turned an okay unit study into something that is worthy of 8th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Did boxed only for many years and now I do a mix of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly1730 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Boxed but add to it. We use MFW for Bible, History and Science and add our own L.A., Math, Latin, Logic, Art and Music.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 We used HOD for the last couple years and I loved the variety of materials! After the birth of my 4th child, it was exactly what we needed...I didn't have the energy or time to lesson plan. It was so nice to open up the book and go. This year I am going back to creating me own plans. I want to personalize them to fit my family, and I want to combine my DC for as much as possible...HOD only combines those very close in age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I chose boxed because we use Oak Meadow for most of our subjects. I use other curriculum/resources for some subjects/electives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 My son doesn't fit in a box :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniBlondes Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Well, this is our first year. We originally went with Sonlight. Then I slowly noticed that I was changing everything and switching it out. Now I'm only doing SL Science and their readers. Everything else is totally different. I guess everyone is different. I'm not an 'in the box' sort of person and I kept feeling like we were going to fail big time with that curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julikins Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 For Kindergarten, I used Sonlight and even though I liked the reading and science, I didn't like their LA and I got turned off from it. I also felt the pressure to check off every box and felt behind most of the year. Then I went the opposite and did all eclectic, pulling from many different sources. I'm learning that I do need the "do the next thing" aspect of the boxed curriculum, but need to be able to tailor it to my children's levels and needs. Soooo, this year I'm doing MFW Creation to Greeks with a big mix of LA, math and stuff to compliment it. It's a journey of discovery for the children as well as the teacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 My son doesn't fit in a box :tongue_smilie: Pre-packaged curricula only work well for students who are at roughly the same level in every subject and who are working within a year or so +/- their chronological age. My kids are all over the map in terms of what they can do, so I find that it's actually easier to mix-and-match different curricula for each subject for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Mixed. My DD isn't exactly in one grade level, so even things like using Sonlight for history/literature ended up requiring tweaking. If I could find the perfect box, I'd love to have that open-and-go option, but I don't think it would work here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejourney Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 We pick from many different sources. I have yet to find an all-in-one program that has stellar resources in every topic we wish to cover and matches my child's learning style and pace for each subject. I must admit though, that I occasionally peruse the boxed curriculum websites longing over their neatly packaged materials with the corresponding yearly lesson plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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