New to Classical and Homeschool!

[MandyBCraig]

:seeya: Hello all!

We are actually new to homeschooling. This is our first year. I have two little girls. We are loving it so far. I wasn't sure where to start in the beginning so I purchased some items, Abeka, Apologia, and Saxon. Well I got rid of it all except the Saxon and kept the Abeka Language Arts just because of cost. I went to US History from America's Core Curriculum and a science program by Ryan Murphy. They are ok, but not giving me that WoW feeling!

I'm so glad I found information on classical education! I've actually just started the book and I'm really liking it! Although I do have LOTS of questions!

I was wandering what you use in addition to this, if anything? Most of what I'm seeing is history; what do people use for math, science? Language arts, reading, and latin is integrated in the history (right?).

Also, I have a 6th grader (12) and a 3rd grader (8 1/2); where is a good starting point? I saw in FAQ in 'older child' and 'multiple children' there are suggestions, but is there one thats better or preferred? Should I scrap the curriculum I have (which I don't even like except the Saxon), and start with this after Christmas and go through summer to catch up?

 

Thanks and sorry for all the questions!

Amanda

[Hunter]

Ugh! I'm so used to all the double posts I didn't hit "post" a second time. Sigh! Okay, starting over.

 

Welcome! :hurray: :grouphug: :party:

 

Without knowing you better, it's hard to give specific curriculum advice. Trust me there is no one size fits all curriculum, classical or otherwise. Many here do a mix of classical methods and other methods. Some aren't doing ANY classical. Some here define "classical" in very different ways.

 

But this is the BEST forum anywhere on ANY subject, so... WELCOME! My boys are grown and I'm merely self-educating and tutoring, but I love it here, because it's the BEST place online. :lol:

[MandyBCraig]

Thank you! I have to agree with you! I'm finding so much helpful information on here! I haven't found a forum like it, and I've done lots of research!

[lifesadream83]

I hate to recommend you buy something that you are not 100% sure about but do you have this book. If you do there are How to do it chapters. I would honestly recommend getting the book and reading through it. It is a thick book but if you stick to just the chapters on how to implement and then go back it may serve you well for now.

 

My immediate recommendation is wait to get rid of whatever you have until you have tried this out. Start All of your kids with the Ancients at the same time. Also start them with the same science. I do not recall off the top of my head the order she recommends but it would be either astronomy, life, chem, or physics. That way all your kids are working on the same materials just at different levels. Keep your math if it is working for you. LA is discussed in the book I linked but it is not really a part of the curriculum. You pick all the pieces you want to incorporate.

 

Good Luck! And don't worry last year was my first year hsing. I call it my practice year LOL. That year I spent like 3k finding the right curriculum to suit me and dd and getting into a rhythm where we weren't killing each other.... now it is the best part of our lives! DD went to private school for prek-1 and then 2 weeks of ps. She never wants to go back now lol

[HecticMama]

Welcome! I agree that you shouldn't chuck anything yet. You can search on this forum about science, math, and language curriculums and get the love/hate views on each. If you have a homeschooling bookstore nearby, you may be able to look through different curriculums to see how you like them. Some will allow you to "see" some of the book online (such as Apologia, Abeka, BJU Press). It's really costly to buy curriculum, so I would look around before you make a final decision.

 

Good luck!