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What was your biggest curriculum mistake?


Queserasera
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Hmm. There is stuff I bought but didn't end up using (especially in the very early years), but I actually have liked most of our curriculum and still use it. I can't think of anything we disliked. Poor memory perhaps?! Or maybe we are easy to please. Still, reading on with with interest.

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Hmm. There are things we've used and switched from the next year, but they served their purpose at the time. The only thing I've dropped mid-year was Sonlight language arts. So, I guess that would be my biggest mistake. Others that we've used and switched from are Sonlight science, Sonlight core, Math-U-See, Growing With Grammar, and Winning With Writing. Oh, I just remembered that we also dropped mid-year Wordly Wise.

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I've enjoyed trying everything we've purchased, but I'd have to say the biggest let-downs would probably be MCT (we started with Town) and LoF. I thought they were great, but my kids just don't seem to like silly story stuff in their school work. Oh! There was my 2.5 days spent with JAG. I bought it used and immediately turned around and resold it. I don't remember why, I just remember thinking it was not impressive for the price.

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CLE across the board with their record keeping system. I was THAT desperate this year! Whoooooboy! That was a big fat expensive mistake that taunts me daily because now the subjects we loved: math, reading and la, Cause us to want to tear our hair out and run screaming from the room!

 

:-(.

 

Made me feel like failure extraordinaire!

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My biggest regrets are always progress-to-dollar failures:

 

AAS- what a lot of set up, time, energy... to teach spelling!  My kids learn spelling better through plain old copy work. 

Handwriting programs- I've just given up and write out copywork myself on appropriately lined paper, then skip a line for my kid to write underneath.  It's tiresome, but it only costs as much as the paper! 

Right Start A (old version)- but we LOVE Right Start B!!! 

 

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Hmm, I kept ds in RS too long, I should have just used games for review and trusted the scope and sequence in BA. RS worked great at first and then it didn't but I had a hard time realizing that as it had worked so well. 

 

I recently bought Noeo Physics. I started tweaking it immediately and then it was only used EXTREMELY loosely and now I'm just letting ds use the experiment kits. I bought it in a moment of weakness. I think it could work great and we have enjoyed it some ourselves but for how we are using it I should have just bought the experiment kits.

 

I've tried various things that haven't worked out but usually I gave them up quickly. 

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Not having a strong, writing-heavy 2nd grade year. I used a lot of gentle copywork and gentle learning. Worked out terribly for both of my kids. If I could go back I would use something which required tons of daily practice in phonics and handwriting, and LA, preferably all connected.

 

CM style LA did not work for either of my kids.

 

Oh yeah and 100EZ had my son in years for weeks before I gave it up.

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Apologia Elementary Science (I think it was the astronomy book) - The tone was so patronizing that my daughter was in tears over how the author thought she was "stupid."

 

Handwriting Without Tears - There were tears.  Lots of them.  And, yet, we tried it twice.  Failure both times.

 

Sonlight - We stuck with it through 3 cores because *I* love the concept.  It's so cozy sitting and reading and discussing books.  But my kids learned to be lazy in schoolwork, not think very deeply in order to answer the questions, and didn't actually learn much of anything.  There were a rough few months after we dropped Sonlight.

 

There are others that didn't work out, but I didn't hate.  Like Math-U-See.  The mastery approach just didn't work for my daughter and she got to Zeta but knew nothing about metric.  That seemed pretty weird (got that fixed with one workbook of Singapore).  That could have changed since then since I think MUS has undergone two revisions since she used it.

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Oh, I completely forgot about Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings.

After all the hype and glowing praises of the program that I read on these boards, I was very disappointed to find that it consisted mainly of huge amounts of busy work.

 

Ironically, this and Saxon Math were the only two real "curricula" designed for homeschool use I ever used, and both flopped massively.

None of the resources that were not intended for home schooling did.

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We have only bought one curriculum so far for my 4 yo Ds. Sonlight- a previous poster mentioned that they loved the idea of it and that was me also. My Ds hated it- he learned that when mommy says sit on the bean bag and listen he better listen. That is it. He would have me read to him all day long but he didn't like those stories in the least. Thankfully we were able to take advantage of their generous return policy. Now I am gun shy to spend any real money on a kindergarten curriculum. We may become unschoolers.

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Singapore Math - I used it with my eldest way back when. Horrible. Almost zero instruction, large conceptual leaps, confusing pictures, not enough practice of concepts. Really, there was nothing redeeming about this program. Perhaps it has changed over the years, although I still hear people griping about it, mainly that it's too confusing to flip through all the various books. We only had four books (each grade A, B, and each grade TM A, B -- that in itself was a pain in ma' arse).

 

History Odyssey - Beat the joy right out of history. Really flogged it completely gone. HAAAAATED this curriculum. Hated the notebook with 67 sections. Hated the the fact that you skipped around way too much. Hated that there was way too much to get done in a day and still stick within their schedule. Just really hated it.

 

GWG/WWW - I felt like I needed something simple for my language-delayed son, but really, this was just insulting. All formula, zero concept. A complete waste.

 

Adventures with Atoms and Molecules - We only had to do three experiments before my kids (then 6 and 7) figured out that the answer was always "yes." What's the point then? It's just a book of demonstrations. Boring.

 

WWS - I don't understand this program. It's too tedious for good writers, and it's way too complicated for struggling writers. Who is it actually supposed to serve? I was so disappointed. I wish SWB would have devoted her efforts to continuing her grammar program.

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Those of you who don't like MUS are scaring me, although I guess several math names are popping up here. I'm using MUS! What's wrong???? :)

Don't worry! Dd did MUS all the way through pre algebra, then entered public school and hasn't had a problem. She is not a mathy kid, but she's held her own all the way through Alg 2 this year. MUS is brilliant for some kids. It was too slow for my littles (who are not so little anymore), but I have still gone back to it to cover some concepts (like dividing fractions).
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Writing Strands-- Boring, annoying, useless.

 

RS4K--I thought this was the answer to my science woes. Expensive for what you get, errors in the science, grammatical mistakes in the text,  patronizing, dumbed down. 

 

Evan Moor ScienceWorks-- (pretty much Evan Moor every thing TBH!) too complicated for the teacher, no lesson plans, a glorified coloring book that a teacher would need to assemble. 

 

And Oak Meadow, or Waldorf inspired anything. My love affair with it has finally died, without even an ember left to start up again. 

 

ETA: Artistic Pursuits. ugh.

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Ah yes, I try to put that one out of my mind....

 

 

 

Evan Moor ScienceWorks-- (pretty much Evan Moor every thing TBH!)

 

 

Okay to be fair there is one Evan Moor product I sort of liked, Daily Language Review. But the science and the reading and math workbooks I've tried----just disjointed and busywork. I don't really buy Evan Moor anything any longer.

 

I have to add also that I hated Daily Grams (loved Easy Grammar though), and DLR was a good substitute for for Daily Grams.

 

Also I've been less than impressed with the Critical Thinking Press books. 

 

Building Thinking Skills was okay, but I didn't see the point, What Would You Do? is stupid...I would throw that in the garbage, and Editor In Chief was okay...once. But still...what was the point?

 

I'm still on the fence about trying their logic books.

 

ETA: and I've pretty much hated the thought of learning the recorder. Every time I convince myself it's a good thing---shudder. I'm pretty much in a happy place now that I have come to terms with the idea that learning the recorder is not some magic thing all kids need to do. <<Looking at you Oak Meadow/Waldorf>>

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When DD was in 1st. grade, I thought it would be a good idea to enroll her in CLASS Home School (Christian Liberty Press).  What a huge mistake.  Neither of us liked it, and I withdrew her halfway through the year.

 

Other things we haven't liked:

 

  • MP's Classical Composition - my dd doesn't like writing anyway and this was really killing any hope of her learning to like it.
  • MP's Geography I - just plain BORING.  My dd has learned about geography more with TOG than any other program.
  • R&S Spelling - because it seemed all over the place rather than sticking with a spelling rule and the words that demonstrated that one rule.  I know another poster didn't like it, but we love How To Teach Spelling.  It teaches the spelling rules one at a time with applicable words using a workbook, dictation, and copy work.  I add 20 minutes of Spelling City to it along with her writing a short spelling story weekly using all 20 words if possible and dd loves it.  This is the only time during the week where she doesn't complain about writing.  In fact, if I leave that assignment out for a week, she asks why and if we can add it in.

 

 

 

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My biggest mistake was giving in to dd #2 when she complained about writing. I tried every writing program under the sun, thinking that it had to be the curricula.

 

I was convinced she had fine motor delays. I had her evaluated by an OT who told me her fine motor skills were totally normal. Then that OT taught her cursive in 6 weeks. So, I decided to outsource writing. Guess what?! She can write!

 

It turns out that writing just isn't a natural act. It's hard work for some kids. All that money spent on writing programs... *sigh*

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TOG: I still love the idea of this one, and I WANT to like it, so much so that when they offered the free unit to new customers, I jumped at the chance. It's STILL not a good fit for my family sadly.

 

Apologia's Around the World in 180 Days: We never even really TRIED to use this one because I couldn't wrap my brain around it.  

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Apologia Elementary Science (I think it was the astronomy book) - The tone was so patronizing that my daughter was in tears over how the author thought she was "stupid."

 

Handwriting Without Tears - There were tears.  Lots of them.  And, yet, we tried it twice.  Failure both times.

 

Sonlight - We stuck with it through 3 cores because *I* love the concept.  It's so cozy sitting and reading and discussing books.  But my kids learned to be lazy in schoolwork, not think very deeply in order to answer the questions, and didn't actually learn much of anything.  There were a rough few months after we dropped Sonlight.

 

There are others that didn't work out, but I didn't hate.  Like Math-U-See.  The mastery approach just didn't work for my daughter and she got to Zeta but knew nothing about metric.  That seemed pretty weird (got that fixed with one workbook of Singapore).  That could have changed since then since I think MUS has undergone two revisions since she used it.

 

Okay, the bolded made me laugh out loud. Literally. LOL.

 

As for the Astronomy from Apologia, this just goes to show the trash and treasure parable in action: my daughter LOVES Astronomy.  We have really enjoyed doing that together this year and are excited to start another Apologia book next school year.

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Those of you who don't like MUS are scaring me, although I guess several math names are popping up here. I'm using MUS! What's wrong???? :)

 

We use MUS here.  DS14 is on Pre-Algebra and doing great. No complaints. DS11 is on Epsilon and already almost finished for the year.  He's the mathier kid (pretty sure that's not a word).  DD8 is taking a break from Beta and enjoying the many adventures of Fred in Life of Fred.  She was getting overwhelmed and needed a break.  We will likely finish Apples through Dogs this school year, take a break over the summer, and then pick it up again at Edgewood but slowly add the rest of Beta back into the mix as well. DS4 will start K in the new school year after he is 5 and will start Primer (but no student book, he's just working on the activities and using the manipulatives). There are some of us who like it! That's true for everything on this list.  What works beautifully for some is a train wreck for others.

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What works beautifully for some is a train wreck for others.

 

This is precisely why I absolutely love threads like these.  This is so incredibly true!  (And makes me so incredibly thankful that we have so many options to choose from for homeschooling nowadays!)

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Everything I've ever used to date:  (I'm in a burn-out funk, nevermind me...)

 

 

Our best days happen when I'm not using any curriculum.

 

 

 

 

ETA:  I think my biggest mistakes have happened trying to pare down too much after baby was born.  I should have carried a sign around that said, "Don't FREAK out!  Take a BREAK!  Breathe!  Start again in a few months!"  My kids are not as happy to switch materials as they used to be.  They get attached to things, and I have to consider that as I move forward.  Better to go slowly for a short while through the BEST than to give a false sense of accomplishment through the mediocre.  sigh...

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We're tossing this around as a supplement to tutoring in French. What did you not like about it?

I didn't like anything about it. Not enough grammar exercises, not enough dialogue. If I wanted the list of vocab words to memorize in black and white, I could have created one myself. :) every program can't be perfect, but it should at least have one strength. I can't name one for this program. Not for us.
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