New to the forum and would love some input!

[Motsy802]

Hey everyone! I'm new to the board, and I thought I'd jump right in with some questions. I have 3 kids ages 5, 4, and 20 months. My 5 year old has been doing kinder work this year with Horizons math, Explode the Code, Little Pilgrims in God's World for social studies, Handwriting Without Tears, and Exploring Science. I got our science and social studies choices from a someone at Rainbow, but I haven't been very happy with them. The social studies one has pretty much been teaching him things he learns during his Bible work and nothing more, and the science one seems more for preschool so he hasn't learned anything from it. We switched to Nature Readers by Christian Liberty Press and reading living books for science and are getting our feet wet SOTW for now.

 

A friend of mine is VP of Lampstand Press, owns Bookshelf Central, and writes some curriculum for TOG. I recently started talking to her about TOG to possibly use next year. I really like the idea behind it. We love using living books, but we also like classical education. TOG provides a good balance between both, I think. If we did it we'd probably continue with Horizons and Explode the Code, but we'd also need something for science and probably grammar and spelling so I was thinking maybe First Language Lessons and Spelling Workout, but I'm so undecided about science. Maybe Answers in Genesis? Does anyone have input on this one? Or suggestions otherwise?

 

Also, I'd love suggestions in general for curriculum if you have other ideas. I want my kids to read as much as possible for school and living books are perfect for that. I like the idea of Sonlight as well, but I feel like I heard some really split reviews of it. I don't want something that is weak particularly for my almost 6 year old. He's extremely bright and needs something to challenge him, but I also don't want to overdo it since he'll only be in 1st grade. I do want to make sure that if we switch curriculums later he won't be behind. TIA for suggestions or advice!

[ElizabethB]

My children enjoyed Real Science 4 Kids at those ages. You can see samples online. They enjoyed the Chemistry the most, the little molecules holding hands are fun and cute. It uses real science words and concepts but teaches to a level young children can understand.

 

http://www.gravitaspublications.com

[anmom]

I use TOG with grammer age kids and we really enjoy it. Last year we used NOEO but for a change of pace we started Sassafrass Science. I also second the MP pacakages. We use a lot of their items as well.