KristenR Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 My good friend has been weighing homeschooling versus public school for her daughter for awhile now. She placed her daughter in a pre-k to see how she would do and she isn't exactly thrilled. I won't go into the specifics but she is leaning towards homeschooling. This is something she has been contemplating for awhile but she feels extremely "unqualified" to educate her daughter. She did poorly herself in school and squeaked by with her GED. She feels like she isn't "smart enough" to teach her daughter. We just a long conversation where I was telling her about all the resources, materials, co-ops, etc available and she seems intrigued. I was telling her about some of the many all-in-one boxed curricula that take all the prep and planning off of your hands- the ones with scripted programs (or online counterparts). I told her I would send her a list of some to look over. I know of a few- like Calvert, Sonlight, Monarch, etc.... but I was wondering if there is one in particular that really holds the mom's hand for an exceptionally timid mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Calvert Kindergarten would be perfect. It comes with all the needed supplies, literature, music, and all. The teachers manual is precious because it teaches you how to teach. The course itself is gentle and only takes about 2 hours per day. It doesn't make you run around gathering tons of supplies (although things like flour, cardboard, etc. are called for they are all in a list.) I really have find memories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k3bzr18 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Is it for pre-k? I just looked at ready made preschool. Also MFW makes it easy. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrystalM Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Heart of Dakota www.heartofdakota.com You literally do exactly what it says in each box of the teacher's manual. I think this is more scripted than MFW or Sonlight because they expect the parents to lead discussion with some questions and prompts. But HOD has way more hand holding than that. Check out some of their samples here. Little Hearts for His Glory (5-7 y/o) http://heartofdakota.com/pdf/little-hearts-first-week.pdf Bigger Hearts for His Glory (7-9 y/o with optional extensions for 10/11) http://heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-first-week.pdf Creation to Christ (9-11 y/o with optional extensions for 12/13) http://heartofdakota.com/pdf/CTC-First-Week.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I recommend Calvert for an unsure, first time homeschooler. It really holds the parent's hand and comes with virtually everything necessary, even pencils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 The Amish curricula are written to be taught by teenaged girls with an 8th grade education. Students are expected to self-teach as much as possible. Rod and Staff is written to be taught by 10th grade graduates. PACES are written to be taught by regular church volunteers, and the students are expected to self-teach as much as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I love and would suggest Sonlight. I would also suggest that one of you obtain some catalogs from easy to manage companies so she can see just how easy it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 BJU is one with scripted manuals. Abeka too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 If she wants school in a box, then I'm thinking of a box of books from some place like Calvert or CLASS. She could buy a box of books from BJUP, but Calvert and CLASS are really focused on homeschooled children even though they use textbooks, KWIM? I wouldn't recommend any of the multiple-booklet-type materials such as ACE, CLE, or Alpha Omega. At least with Calvert or CLASS there is a variety of things going on rather than a bunch of identical-looking little booklets for all subjects. The materials that are written for homeschoolers, such as Sonlight or HOD or KONOS, really involve deciding (or at least thinking about) things like whether you want a literature-based method or a unit study with lots of hands-on activities and so on (and I don't consider those to be "boxed curriculum"). If she were to go with Calvert or CLASS, she'd be comfortable because they are textbook-based, and all the choices are made for her, and she'd have interaction with and the support of a third party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Ellie, what is CLASS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine clementine Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Ellie, what is CLASS? i think CLASS is Christian liberty press..it's their materials, but you can pay for enrollment and get that extra support. hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Ellie, what is CLASS? Christian Liberty Academy School System (used to be Christian Liberty Academy Satellite Schools). There's an actual campus school in Illinois called Christian Liberty Academy. Back in the 70s, I think, the principal started a distance-learning school where children would be enrolled in Christian Liberty Academy and they would be satellites of the school. See? :-) CLASS uses a variety of publishers, including Christian Liberty Press materials, which was started, IDK, in the 90s? CLP still doesn't have all subjects. You can enroll your dc in CLASS and either do all the grading and whatnot yourself or send stuff in to CLASS--Family Plan versus CLASS Plan. It's very affordable, as you get a box of books in one fell swoop. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Thank you everyone. There were quite a few on here that I hadn't heard of before so I was able to compile a decent list for my friend to look over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 for that age, i would just use letter of the week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Calvert was a great fit for me when I was in that situation. We may have stuck with it for more than kindergarten, had my daughter been linear in her academic growth. However, I found that I had to piece my own stuff together because she was all over the board level-wise. It was a super easy program to use, though, and I felt like it had the perfect mix of activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kagmypts Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Heart of Dakota www.heartofdakota.com You literally do exactly what it says in each box of the teacher's manual. I think this is more scripted than MFW or Sonlight because they expect the parents to lead discussion with some questions and prompts. But HOD has way more hand holding than that. Check out some of their samples here. Little Hearts for His Glory (5-7 y/o) http://heartofdakota...-first-week.pdf Bigger Hearts for His Glory (7-9 y/o with optional extensions for 10/11) http://heartofdakota...-first-week.pdf Creation to Christ (9-11 y/o with optional extensions for 12/13) http://heartofdakota...-First-Week.pdf I agree with this, but if she is a secular homeschooler, I don't think that this would be the program for her. I love and would suggest Sonlight. I would also suggest that one of you obtain some catalogs from easy to manage companies so she can see just how easy it is! I agree with this. It is amazing what kind of feel one can get from the various catalogs, and reading through the various catalogs really helped differentiate the programs for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I forgot about CLASS. I like it for elementary. I really, really, really like American School better than CLASS for high school though, for GED moms. I agree with Ellie about the packages like Sonlight. I don't recommend them in situations like this at all. I think people with a better education fail to understand what it's like for some moms who really struggled in school. Unlike others here, I've seen good results with GED moms who used worktexts. PACE was so much better for one family I know, that...I don't even know what to say. It just was. For the first few grades Alpha-Omega work texts can be okay for GED moms. Better that the new CLE in my opinion. As the grades move along, some GED moms will struggle more and more. The worktexts can be too concise for moms who don't have the background to fill in between the lines. They are cheaper than PACE though and less cheesy, and some moms easily rise to the occasion, finding out that they are better educated and more talented than they ever knew. Forgive my blanket statements about "GED moms". My youngest took the GED despite being a radically accelerated student. I know there are a TON of GED moms who can teach like their pants are on fire from nothing but a Bible and library card. But in general, most GED moms I know are..."timid" as the OP put it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Does your friend's state have a virtual k-12 school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Does your friend's state have a virtual k-12 school? Yes, actually. I just signed her up for an information packet from the Florida K-12. I've only recently heard of them so I don't really quite understand how they work, so I'm just now digging into it. I'm hoping to get a good grasp between the differences in that and something like Calvert or Sonlight. My friend is coming over next week and we're going to go over all this stuff together. She's just completely overwhelmed so I'm hoping to help alleviate some of the stress. It can be intimidating in the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Yes, actually. I just signed her up for an information packet from the Florida K-12. I've only recently heard of them so I don't really quite understand how they work, so I'm just now digging into it. I'm hoping to get a good grasp between the differences in that and something like Calvert or Sonlight. My friend is coming over next week and we're going to go over all this stuff together. She's just completely overwhelmed so I'm hoping to help alleviate some of the stress. It can be intimidating in the beginning. I can't speak to the difference in scope/sequence and ease of use of K-12 vs Calvert or Sonlight, but if money is an issue it's worth nothing that K-12 could potentially be free and the other programs can be quite costly. I do know that K-12 is a complete, all-in-one boxed curriculum with teacher support which might be reassuring to someone like your friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Forgive my blanket statements about "GED moms". My youngest took the GED despite being a radically accelerated student. I know there are a TON of GED moms who can teach like their pants are on fire from nothing but a Bible and library card. But in general, most GED moms I know are..."timid" as the OP put it. I get what you were saying. No offense here if that's what you were worried about. :) My friend did really, really struggle in school. Which is part of the reason she doesn't want to subject her to daughter to it. However, she feels extremely unqualified and is afraid of "screwing up" her daughter's education. I'm not trying to give her false sense of security and say that it'll be fine. It won't be "easy" but I also think if she was to attempt it and found a solid "hand-holding" program to guide her she might just surprise herself.-- and educate herself in the process of educating her daughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 It won't be "easy" but I also think if she was to attempt it and found a solid "hand-holding" program to guide her she might just surprise herself.-- and educate herself in the process of educating her daughter. I've seen it done. I really have. And for those I have PERSONALLY observed, it's been done best with programs others often sneer at. The variety of topics should be narrow. The 3Rs should be stressed. Standards should be based on typical child development. Instruction should be written to the student and be explicit. Anything that advertises "problem solving" is to be avoided like the plague. The core curriculum should be able to be completed in 3 or less hours a day. After that expectations should be open ended and not require documentation of any type. School at home followed by unschooling. The hard thing is that the curricula that works best for these moms, are the ones that typical homeschoolers will tell those moms are bad, bad, bad, and will literally be the death of their children, because they won't be able to afford health insurance as adults, at the very least. Good luck to both of you. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Yes, actually. I just signed her up for an information packet from the Florida K-12. I've only recently heard of them so I don't really quite understand how they work, so I'm just now digging into it. I'm hoping to get a good grasp between the differences in that and something like Calvert or Sonlight. My friend is coming over next week and we're going to go over all this stuff together. She's just completely overwhelmed so I'm hoping to help alleviate some of the stress. It can be intimidating in the beginning. Definitely check out virtual schools. In our county in Florida the virtual school uses Calvert-- its free. And they have monthly tutor sessions if you want. Sonlight, MFW, and HOD are also great options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustybug Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Heart of Dakota www.heartofdakota.com You literally do exactly what it says in each box of the teacher's manual. I think this is more scripted than MFW or Sonlight because they expect the parents to lead discussion with some questions and prompts. But HOD has way more hand holding than that. Check out some of their samples here. Little Hearts for His Glory (5-7 y/o) http://heartofdakota...-first-week.pdf Bigger Hearts for His Glory (7-9 y/o with optional extensions for 10/11) http://heartofdakota...-first-week.pdf Creation to Christ (9-11 y/o with optional extensions for 12/13) http://heartofdakota...-First-Week.pdf I agree. HOD is open and go 100%. No prep. Just open the TG and start reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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