mo2 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Someone on another thread mentioned they were using Giggly Guide to Grammar, and it looks absolutely PERFECT for my kids. In the same thread, The Word Snoop was mentioned, and I added it to my Amazon cart too. That got me wondering what other similar curricula are out there. For what it's worth, I'm pretty liberal and not offended easily. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 We liked Vocab Videos! :) My son watched a lot of videos during the free trial so I haven't upgraded to the paid subscription. He's begging me to upgrade and one of these days we might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Not exactly curricula, but my kids LOVE books like Poop Happened. Not (just) the potty humor, but looking at history through one object with which they are thoroughly familiar. The Story of Salt and The Amazing Potato are other good examples. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Life of Fred comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Not exactly curricula, but my kids LOVE books like Poop Happened. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Maybe King Arthur's Academy ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I was looking for this once, and here was that old thread. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/393289-interesting-different-curricula/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Prepare and Pray is unusual, if you feel the need to spend a couple years preparing for disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 The stuff by Ellen McHenry is good and offbeat. I get the same feeling from Mr. Q's science. Ariel thinks MCT stuff is pretty entertaining. Not curricula, but fun and educational: Horrible Histories (especially the TV show) Keeping Clean, a Very Peculiar History (there are several in this series, but this is the only one I've read so far) It's Disgusting and We Ate It Wee Bee Tunes DVD (the first one's songs are SUPER catchy) Beakman's World Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Good Apple has some amazing civics curricula. "Our Living Constitution" and "Everyday Law For Young Citizens" do a great job of introducing constitutional, civil, and criminal law. The latter uses the case law approach used in law schools: a set of facts is set out, the appropriate law is explained and applied, and the facts are tweaked to see if and how the outcome changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrightmom Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I have been looking at King Joe. It's math related. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2two Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Not sure of the age of your kids, but maybe Beast Academy for math? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 No experience with this one, but I've looked at Murderous Maths recently. We love Horrible Histories. Isn't there a science version as well? Life of Fred is good. Beast Academy. I'll be checking out the other suggestions, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Horrible Histories are really good, but I'm still mad at Terry Dreary. Along the same line there are also math, geography, science, biography, etc. and not all written by Dreary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 The No Boring Practice, Please! series from Scholastic is humorous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 My dd loves Horrible Science books. Words on the Vine for vocabulary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetted4 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Sir Cumference book series for math concepts (e.g., Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone, Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi...) are fun to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Adding thumbs up for the No Boring Practice Please and Horrible Books. My son adores this Idioms book by Jag Bhalla...very, very funny but may be better suited to slightly older kids due to a line or three of mature content. He also liked How The States Got Their Shapes (the film version more than the book). Season 1 is available on Prime Instant Video. Season 2 is $1.99 per episode at the moment. He loves almost anything by Martin Gardner. He also found this Teaching Company high school world history course quite quirky and enjoyable because the professor dresses up in period costumes...depends on the viewer...not everyone I've spoken to about it likes it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 My DC find ETC pretty silly. Writing Strands had a strange sense of humor...I don't think my DD "got it", but I'm sure some other DC would. She doesn't care for LOF as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovinHS Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Yo Millard Fillmore! And All Those Other Presidents You Don't Know Yo Sacramento! And All Those Other State Capitals You Don't Know Picture These SAT Words in a Flash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Taking notes. :) Just added How the States Got Their Shapes to our Amazon watch list - thank you! Sir Cumference book series for math concepts (e.g., Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone, Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi...) are fun to read. These are fun! Just a quick hint, if you are thinking of buying them - if you buy a subscription to the Reading Rainbow app for iPad, they are all available on it. We own a few of the books, and then realized there are a ton of them on the app. It's $29.99 for a 6 month subscription to the app, but that's less than buying all the books. Of course, the library would be even less. :tongue_smilie: Our library doesn't have them, so the app was a great way to get access to them without spending the cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 The Kathleen Krull books, especially the Lives of...books. Totally hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 The Kathleen Krull books, especially the Lives of...books. Totally hilarious. My ds loves those Lives Of...books. He even asked for one at Xmas. For grammar I would say the Woe Is I Jr. book. It reads well as a read-aloud and is a really good and funny refresher for an older child. It's elicits the giggles. I like The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed. I think Private Eye would qualify for unusual as well. Any Klutz Press product such as Watercolor for the Artistically Undiscovered or the Explorabook. You can't go wrong with Klutz for the fun factor. The Cartoon History books and The Cartoon Guide books by Larry Gonick for older kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Oh my gosh, so many great suggestions! I'm going to be looking these up all day. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Sir Cumference book series for math concepts (e.g., Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone, Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi...) are fun to read. I hate these! Well, okay, not hate, but they irritate me. I am glad, though, that someone likes them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Stripe, thanks for the link to your thread. Lots of good stuff in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Another vote for Horrible Histories, Horrible Science and Murderous Maths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Most of what I was going to suggest have already been mentioned. I love all the different Tin Man Press books. I think Life of Fred and probably Beast Academy are different. I like Bunches of Grammar Fun and Bunches of Sentence Fun (they are pricey though). I really like Menu Math and Drive Thru Math. Something I think it neat that I might get for next year is Pet Store Math (they have sports and library too). The Sentence Family is neat and so is The Humpties Grammar. A fun geography book is The Amazing Pop-Up Geography Book. ETA: oh, and I forgot...Marie's Words look neat for vocabulary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Horrible Histories are really good, but I'm still mad at Terry Dreary. Along the same line there are also math, geography, science, biography, etc. and not all written by Dreary. Just check them out from the library instead of buying your own copies. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I can't remember what branch of science you are choosing, but for physical science, check out 'The Periodic Table of Videos.' The science is solid, but the presenters are super quirky. My ds has loved these from about end of 5th grade on. http://www.periodicvideos.com If you re doing U.S. geography/history, try 'How the States Got Their Shapes.' We watched episodes online (it was either Netflix or Amazon Prime); the 2 hour intro pilot was not streamed (library or purchase). The host is upbeat & funny, but he weaves a lot of history into each episode. There is a also a book. http://www.history.com/shows/how-the-states-got-their-shapes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 I can't remember what branch of science you are choosing, but for physical science, check out 'The Periodic Table of Videos.' The science is solid, but the presenters are super quirky. My ds has loved these from about end of 5th grade on. http://www.periodicvideos.com If you re doing U.S. geography/history, try 'How the States Got Their Shapes.' We watched episodes online (it was either Netflix or Amazon Prime); the 2 hour intro pilot was not streamed (library or purchase). The host is upbeat & funny, but he weaves a lot of history into each episode. There is a also a book. http://www.history.c...ot-their-shapes Thanks! The States videos are on Amazon Prime, so you just helped me justify the expense! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 :hat: nice thread everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 He also found this Teaching Company high school world history course quite quirky and enjoyable because the professor dresses up in period costumes...depends on the viewer...not everyone I've spoken to about it likes it. This looks neat. But I can't seem to find any place to watch a sample of it. I also can't find out how long it is. Can anyone please help me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Yo Millard Fillmore! And All Those Other Presidents You Don't Know DH loves this book, he taught himself the presidents in one evening and was an immediate convert! We're still waiting for "Yo! Sacramento" to arrive. The girls like "Caught'Ya! Grammar with a Giggle" a while back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pod's mum Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Another vote for Ellen McHenry anything. My dd loves this for World Geography, Mapping the World with Art .. http://www.ellenjmchenrydownloads.com/Mapping-the-World-with-Art-on-CD-MPCD.htm She loves the funny King's head for France or the hand and monster for Greece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Prepare and Pray is unusual, if you feel the need to spend a couple years preparing for disaster. Oh my gosh, my 9 yo DD would LOVE that curriculum. She's totally into outdoor adventures, building things and watches survival shows (e.g. Survivorman) with DH and I all the time. I'm bookmarking that page. Thanks for linking :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I think Marie Rackham is quirky. She's awesome! Cozy Grammar: http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com A Youtube clip of her in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2IMCrLm8lo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Yikes! How did that big link get on there?? :w00t: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetted4 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Homeschool Freebie of the Day just advertised these two free iPad apps...thought they were pretty neat: http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/apps/sound-uncovered http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/apps/color-uncovered Also Phet Interactive Simulations put out by Univ of Colorado is something we love. Applicable age range varies widely - some of the simulations are understandable at an elem level while others are geared more toward middle sch or high sch comprehension level: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Yikes! How did that big link get on there?? :w00t: I found out that if you post a link to youtube here. Instead of just showing the link as text it makes the actual video show up. At first I found it annoying and tired to fix it. But now I'm use to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschnee Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 GEMS guides and TOPS science are fun too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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