What specific program keeps calling your name...

[alisoncooks]

... even though you've tried it and can't make it work for you?

 

For me?

Happy Phonics

 

I've owned that program 2x... and each time I've looked at it and thought "Wha...?! I need structure! I need more order!"

 

And yet I'm drawn to it, again & again.

It's HAPPY! It's FUN! Look at the blog pictures of the smiley, happy kids learning how to read!

 

(Don't judge me. Don't tell me to suck-it-up-and-stick-with-Dancing-Bears. I will.)

 

What program to you feel drawn to, despite being a poor fit?

[ByGrace3]

Sonlight. I love the IDEA of it AND so many parts of it ... But a complete core is not for me... Even though I keep wanting to do it. Again. :lol:

[MissKNG]

Yes, Sonlight. The idea of all of those wonderful books is appealing too!

[FairProspects]

Memoria Press. I love the booklists and it is very similar to how I was taught at a private elementary school but I just cannot make it work for my boys AT ALL.

[Jennay]

Five in a Row - I'm hoping the third's time the charm...LOL

[Farrar]

MEP. I think it's brilliant. Not to mention- free! It makes both my kids crazy.

[AdventureMoms]

I'm thinking I need to put rocket phonics on this list. I got it last year, dd liked it ok but wasn't enthusiastic. After a year she has made almost no progress and hates it. Trying something new this year!

[ByGrace3]

Memoria Press. I love the booklists and it is very similar to how I was taught at a private elementary school but I just cannot make it work for my boys AT ALL.

 

 

Memoria Press is another I drool over...

[craftyerin]

... even though you've tried it and can't make it work for you?

 

For me?

Happy Phonics

 

I've owned that program 2x... and each time I've looked at it and thought "Wha...?! I need structure! I need more order!"

 

And yet I'm drawn to it, again & again.

It's HAPPY! It's FUN! Look at the blog pictures of the smiley, happy kids learning how to read!

 

 

:lol: I have Happy Phonics and use the games as a supplement to Phonics Pathways with my twins. It's fun, but OH. MY. GOSH. the prep work!! I can't bring myself to recommend it to people, despite how much we do enjoy it, because it was SO much work to get going! Plus, I couldn't handle using it as a stand-alone curriculum due to its poor organization and structure. It's fun, yes. But I have a love/hate relationship with it for sure.

 

Five in a Row - I'm hoping the third's time the charm...LOL

 

:thumbup: We love FIAR with big puffy hearts.

 

For me, the following are things I find myself considering and reading threads about regularly, but am unable to pull the trigger on, yet:

Life of Fred elementary

Right Start math games

Math Mammoth (considering a math change for 1st grade)

 

I'm sure I'll try one or more of them in time. B)

[Berta]

Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Exploration. I have looked at it, looked at it again but couldn't justify the cost because I had already bought everything for this upcoming year (That we started 2 weeks ago, we go year round). But I found most of it used, and tomorrow will be our first day with it. I'm more excited than my daughter.

[pereztribe]

Tapestry of Grace and Real Science 4 Kids. I love the idea of TOG, but it's too teacher intensive. And RS4K, I can never implement any kind of science around here.

[Mandy in TN]

Moving Beyond the Page

 

I love the concept. I love the intensity of the output- that the child really must interact with and think about what he is reading rather than just going through the paces. This is no fill-in-the-blank-and-move-on program.

 

It makes me crazy that the coverage of history is not linear. It makes me crazy that the science feels so haphazard. I know they are content subjects and that for me content subjects are not the push or even much of a concern in elementary school, but I just can't wrap head around it. It makes the program feel light even though I know that it requires higher order thinking skills not required in many linear history programs. I know the science is fine and the kits used look like they would help develop a love of science but it covers fewer topics each year than what I want to cover.

 

We have used several units as supplemental fun or summer units, but I just can't commit to using it as a full curriculum.

Mandy

[Perogi]

Tapestry of Grace

Veritas Press

IEW

[SorrelZG]

Heart of Dakota. During those seasons when I am tired of thinking and doubting, I just want to jump on someone else's plan and "open-and-go". Several times I have enjoyed HOD in such seasons but I have learned that seasons change and these for me usually only last 6-9 weeks. Eventually my energy, confidence and desire return to take the reins again and I have no time for the other. At that point the plan never seems as glorious and perfect for us as it did when I was in desperate need of a break. I've (hopefully) learnt to look for other solutions in my seasons of weakness (and being on the other side of the planet aids my resolve to not hit "purchase" again).

[Halcyon]

MCT. Wanted to love it, it didnt work. I am probably going to try again with Caesars English :)

[Mom2TheTeam]

Well....I want almost everything I see! :lol:

 

But ones I frequently drool over: I often go back to the HOD site and look over it. Unfortunately, I'm not up for the number of guides I would need is always the big deterrent. I also am very intrigued and often visit Bright Idea Press's website. Many of their programs look appealing to me. Memoria Press is one I visit also. Just window shopping.....

 

Honestly, I want to try many things I see...I tend toward "the grass is greener" syndrome. It's a personal problem. :tongue_smilie:

 

Instead, we stick with MFW, which we truly do love. I've prayed over it and over it and MFW is where we are supposed to be. However, I have learned to tweak and tweak some more to exactly what we want. I may at some point branch out, especially since I have 6 kids and could use many different things. ;)

[Myeightkiddies]

Tapestry of Grace was mine for awhile. I'll be starting it later in July.

[silver]

What if I've never actually tried it? I drool over MOTL. It looks like a perfect match for me in terms of teaching style and the sort of curriculum I like. It seems like it would solve the problem with my son of math either boring him to tears or requiring more focus than he can muster up. But I'm already using some pretty teacher intensive curriculum, I've already spent money on a K-6math curriculum, and MOTL is a lot to drop at once with only the desire for it, but no proof that it is any better than what we have.

[Ecclecticmum]

Winterpromise. I actually do like their programs, I don't like the choppy feel of their schedules (I had the same problem with Sonlight). But its all sooo purty. I drool over Oak Meadow constantly too, but I know that doesn't suit us right now.

 

Two I have never purchased, but know is not for us: Tapestry of Grace & Memoria Press. But I drool over those two all the time. Anytime someone mentions them, I go back to the site and start salivating over the packages. I think I just like the thought of lots of big binders & options (TOG) and with Memoria Press everything is so beautiful & packaged and all-in-one. If you look at my signature though, you'll realize these two programs are pretty much the opposite of what we do, lol. Perhaps it is the grass is greener syndrome.

 

Luckily since I know all of these won't work, I haven't spree'd on them, but I do spend a fair amount of time traversing their sites.

[CyndiLJ]

IEW. I purchased it, tried it twice, LOVE the videos myself and the type of scope and sequence he uses to teach writing. But somehow, it just never, ever worked beyond a few lessons and I don't even know why. Twice was enough, but I think I'll always wish it had worked better.

 

Progeny Press Guides - love 'em but they are sooooooo long. We still do them but only partially, but I do wish we had time to dig into a book that deeply,though I think my kids would shoot me if we did every.single.question.

 

Sonlight - Never tried it, but I LONG to have been able to do so!! No way it would work well for us, but how I wish it would!!

[SunnyDays]

Lets see.... I've ordered and returned things to both Memoria Press and IEW. Twice. Each. :) I love the idea of both but not a good fit for DS.

 

Also love the looks of Moving Beyond the Page as well as the Trail Guide Paths series. I've resisted both so far, although I might try Mandy's idea and just use a unit here or there from MBtP. I have been eyeing their poetry unit....

[sewingmama]

Sonlight. I appease myself by using it as a book list.

 

We use MBTP. I have a love/hate relationship with it. We are using the lowest level and I've heard the higher levels are better so will keep using it but the COST is the main reason that after this year I will only be using some units. Plus we don't need the units on American history and government...which they have a lot of.

 

Oak Meadow...love the arty, natural feel of it but it is not for us.

[Jess4879]

 

Honestly, I want to try many things I see...I tend toward "the grass is greener" syndrome. It's a personal problem. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

 

This is me! I hesitate to even jump into these threads because I hear people raving about some curriculum or another and I HAVE to check it out...just in case it might work better than what we have. :laugh: Total Language Plus has been calling to me recently, and I think we're going to give it a try, or parts of it anyways...

[MotherOfBoys]

Life of Fred elementary with Professor B Math. Both look so much simpler than Saxon and get you to the same ending faster. But I bought Saxon used for pennies and I trust it (slow and steady) and LoF is not cheap.

 

Reading math cuddled on the couch sounds so peaceful though!

 

I'm also window shopping Singapore...slowly...back and forth...is the grass really greener...maybe...one more look...it's colorful... :)

[pitterpatter]

I haven't tired it, but Lentil Science keeps calling to me.

[Karen in CO]

I've tried most things that have called to me. It only took me twice to decide Sonlight wasn't for me, but then, I looked at it again when another child came along. I tried MP twice. I tried IEW, twice. I tried MCT, <shiver>. I Tried MEP. I tried TOG. I tried OM (this was great but schedules changed for the year and we couldn't do it). I'm up for a second try on it someday. I have tried A LOT of things. Eventually I learned what kinds of things I can and can't teach from.

 

I gradually shifted to learning subjects better so that I could teach them instead of just following somebody else's plans.

[RootAnn]

Memoria Press calls to me, but I haven't given in. My kids just don't fit into boxes. (Amusingly enough, I looked at OM4 after Halcyon's posts & it "fits" dd#2 pretty well. But, for various reasons, I'm not being drawn into it.)

[BugsMama]

MCT. I can't make it work and don't get why people love it. I have two levels in a box waiting to be sold, but then feel bad that maybe- MAYBE I should give it another try. Ugh.

 

LOL- It makes me think maybe something is wrong with me! :lol:

[Sobeknofret]

Oak Meadow is my siren song. I have no idea how Darth Kid would deal with it, yet it keeps calling to me.

[MinivanMom]

I haven't let myself try it, but BFSU (Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding) keeps calling to me. I keep looking at it . . . and thinking about it . . . and wondering if there's a way I could make it work . . . and feeling guilty that maybe we aren't doing good enough science without it.

[Tillmalo]

I've been eyeing Moving Beyond The Page for two years..dreaming. It's just a lot of money to invest, especially if it doesn't work! Recently, I was able to find a great used set, so we are going to give it a try next year....,but, oh gosh, what if it isn't all that and a bowl of ice cream??!!!

[thowell]

TOG!!!

[Roadrunner]

Beast Math. I didn't know I needed to see things until I saw Beast. We love it here.

[IHaveNoIdeawhatIAmDoing]

Happy Phonics was a HUGE fail for us.

 

My answer, like many others, has to be Sonlight. I LOVED the concept at first, but after using it for two months it became tedious. Read a page from this book, read a page from that book, read a page from some other book, learn nothing (At least that was our experience with it. We love the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading but I've heard a lot of people say that it's boring. To each his own.)

[Aurelia]

I keep looking at packaged all-in-one curricula, especially MBtP, Sonlight, Oak Meadow and occasionally Calvert. I've tried all but SL, and they don't work here, but I keep dreaming, because it would be so nice to have all my planning done for me.

[mothergooseof4]

For almost a decade of homeschooling I have used SL, MFW, and HOD. Last year, I finally decided that not only was I tired of following someone else's plan, but that reading a bit from this book and a bit from that was driving the kids and myself crazy. It seemed to make our days LONG. Yet, I still look longingly at those sites and my old guides, and I get really tempted to use one of those programs again, especially when planning all of the materials that I have purchased seems like such an overwhelming task.

 

Truthquest calls to me and I own two levels, but it is a little too much in the opposite direction, and we could have stayed in one guide for years because it all looks so interesting.

 

History Revealed is calling to me right now, but I have all we need for the coming year.

 

Life of Fred sounds wonderful, but I have bought and sold half the levels twice because my kids just don't learn from it.

 

Phonics Road. Bought it once thinking it would make my SWR tendencies flow easier. Sold it because I didn't want to sit through all the videos. Bought it again a few years later (3 levels), used it for about a year then sold out because my kids hated it, it made LA take forever with running multiple levels, and my kids were not retaining the writing skills by learning this way. I still consider using it with baby-on-the-way someday because it seems so great in theory.

[jessj]

Life of Fred. I do not feel confident in it (and myself) to truly give my kids the foundation they need. It's too outside the box for me. But I feel so uncool for not trying it. I borrowed several levels from a friend and told my kids it's part of their summer reading. "See, we're cool kids too!" lol!

 

Recently Math Mammoth has been tempting me. But I have decided that switching would not be in our best interests (I think). Singapore is working well for both kids, I have most of the elementary levels that I got for pennies. Switching my rising 4th grader would be a pain for her and me at this point since the two don't align. She needs some extra work on division before we can move on, but that can be done with supplemental material. I do not need a whole new cirricula. (I may need to repeat that to myself a few times...)

 

MFW & Sonlight & TOG have always called to me. The idea that someone else already pulled it altogether is so appealing to me. But I KNOW I would hate it. I would not follow their plans. So like many others have mentioned I use them for ideas on book lists.

[abrightmom]

HOD ;)

[shinyhappypeople]

Calvert. Seriously. It's a nice, complete package, all-in-one, everything carefully laid out and planned for me, time-tested.... and EXPENSIVE and totally not our style. But, still it tempts me....

[JadeOrchidSong]

MCT. Wanted to love it, it didnt work. I am probably going to try again with Caesars English http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif

CE 1 was good for my boys. CE 2 didn't work as well. After trying for a couple weeks, we switched to Sadlier-Oxford vocabulary Workshop that Crimson Wife recommended. We are all happy. CE is teacher intensive while Sadlier is 100% independent for the students.

[Guest]

All About Spelling and now All About Reading. I have bought and sold AAS at least 3 times. AAR is going back because it doesn't fit my dd. She LIKES workbooks. Like Phonics Road, I love the idea but the day to day just is too dry for us.

 

Oak Meadow is another one. Love the idea, does NOT fit how my kids learn.

 

 

[Heidi]

Memoria Press. I am slowing purchasing more and more of their curriculum to see/try it. I just got Geography 1 and Art Cards in the mail.. beautiful products!!! I try to use what I already own and/or make it myself, and I can't follow someone else's schedule, so I can't just go all out and buy a whole grade level, but it sure is tempting. I am really liking everything I decide to try from MP.

[waa510]

MCT always calls to me. I may pull the trigger as a way to tread water until DD is mature enough for WWS as she's about to start WWE 4 soon. But I worry we just won't get the appeal. Kind of like LOF.

 

TOG too, mostly for the Socratic stuff and the integrated everything. I'm more an open and go mama though....not sure how that would fly. Plus, we're secular soooo....

 

Sonlight called to me until that whole locked thread where John kept digging himself into a huge hole with his botched slavery research. :/

[boscopup]

I can't think of anything that calls to me AFTER I've tried it and failed... Usually if it fails, there is good reason. For example, Rightstart was a bad fit for my teaching style, and I found that Singapore is a much better fit, so I don't miss Righstart at all.

 

I did try R&S Spelling early on, put it down after one week, sold it, then later the following year, rebought it (different level). Now we use it and plan to stick with it. :D

 

The one program I've drooled over that I haven't tried yet is TOG, but I plan to try it when my oldest is in 5th grade (he just started 4th this summer). I think it will be a good fit for that child, and I think I understand how to use it from the samples. We'll see how it goes in practice, as it will require library usage, and I've been spoiled by having all the books in-house for Sonlight the last couple years. :)

[Kathie in VA]

Life of Fred ... tempting especially for 3rd child but probably too out of the box for dh and ds is already at pre-Algebra 

 

Omnibus from Veritas Press has been tempting me for years!  However I knew that it wouldn't be right for my oldest dd.  Even my older ds might not have done well with it.  Now my next ds might have done great with it ... but at this point we are in a co-op that is really working for us.. and they are settled with TOG.

 

<does tempted, tried & failed, re-tempted and worked count?>

TOG didn't work for me year ago but it is working now ... co-op helps.

Classical Writing - loved the ideas here... even got it working here for awhile ... then one year it just wasn't the right fit anymore! so sad 8(  Now we are back to it with our co-op...

 

 

[Guest pirhalla]

nm

Edited August 5, 2013 by pirhalla
Only on classifieds board, please.

[momee]

Tapestry of Grace.

 

 

[Forget-Me-Not]

MCT/RFWP

[ocelotmom]

I think Math Mammoth may be falling into that category for us. It didn't work out all that great for DS. I thought about trying it again this year, but he's being scarily cooperative with Saxon (I've found 5/6 - Algebra 1/2 for $1.50 total), so I'm not going to mess with a good thing. I am using it with DD1, and she's being totally resistant. I don't feel like the math is beyond her at all (this is the child who was doing math with negative numbers at age 4, watched Khan Academy videos for fun, and was calmed from tantrums by printing a math worksheet, who has since decided she hates math), but I think the style may be a little confusing for her. I'm hoping she gets used to that and chills out a bit.

 

I suspect I'll try to use it on DD2 as well, when she gets to that age, since we already own it.

 

Progressive Phonics. I keep using it because I like it and it's free, but I'm not convinced it's actually helping that much.

 

Life of Fred elementary with Professor B Math. Both look so much simpler than Saxon and get you to the same ending faster. But I bought Saxon used for pennies and I trust it (slow and steady) and LoF is not cheap.

LoF and Beast Academy are both ones I keep dragging myself away from because of the cost. I'm hoping to stumble across LoF at some ridiculously cheap price at a thrift store sometime. Luckily, BA is not an appropriate level for either kid at this point, so it isn't that much a temptation. 

 

The Sonlight booklist calls me. I'd be a happy camper if a big old box of Sonlight books showed up. The curriculum itself doesn't sound all that appealing, though.

[Soror]

I like the idea of MP, love their articles but I have really not liked their products that I have tried. I have nearly all their latin products from elementary to highschool. I have their copywork books and reading program as well. Their new art cards do look very nice though, although I know that I couldn't do their whole curriculum.