Questions about curriculum

[Guest hrr18323]

I'm new and going to homeschool my preK and K next school year but looking into curriculum now so i can lightly school during the summer.

 

So I've been reading the forum and saw some suggestions but when I looked into the curriculum (like LOE for LA) it's aligned with common core.  Are most homeschool curriculum going to, in some way, comply with common core standards so it has to state that?   I talked with principal of a community school (private school 2 days a week with homeschooling 2 days) and she said they are actually moving away from Saxon Math because of company starting to comply with common core standards (although she said the homeschooling version does not but not sure how long that will last).

[Mandy in TN]

Why are we seeing this in homeschool products? The companies want to remain a viable option in those states that provide public funds to purchase homeschool curriculum. Well, actually, these companies haven't changed anything or have changed very little. BJUP says that common core has aligned to their standards rather than saying that they have aligned to common core. This is an attitude taken by many publishers. T4L has literally changed nothing and yet they are aligned to common core. Someone at the company has gone through these products with a common core list of standards and has decided that the product is already meeting those standards. It doesn't mean that the product has changed. Saying that a product is common core aligned doesn't mean much except that the product is still eligible to be purchased by those using state funds. You still need to check it out and see if it will meet your needs and work for your family.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[Berta]

This link will tell you which publishers are aligned, going to be aligned or won't align.

 

http://www.hsroadmap.org/common-core-project/

[Momling]

School publishing companies are always going to align scope and sequence to the market. Whether it's a common set of state standards (common core) or the standards of a particular state (usually Texas or California) makes little difference. As homeschoolers, we can look at the material for what it is and ignore whose standards it meets - if you like it and think it'll work well for your student, use it. If not, don't use it. Rejecting something awesome because you're concerned that it does or doesn't meets someone else's standards is a loss for your child. Instead, choose materials because they meet your own standards.

[Tanikit]

I am not American and couldn't care less about common core. However I have looked at some of the standards of it and do not think the standards are what is the problem with common core - certainly not at the early levels. Besides which for me homeschooling means I can go at my own pace and it also means that I do not have to take a year over currciulum, nor do I have to run tests to prove my child can take tests or knows the minimum standards - that would mean I would be free to teach the standards rather than to teach to a test - which is what has been the biggest complaint about common core. The other complaints I have seen about common core are that they make the entire country have the same standards - I am in charge of the standards of my own homeschool and if I do not like what a curriculum is offering (whether they label it common core or not) then I do not have to use that curriculum. So when I look at one, I do not ask what is on the cover, but rather what is in the pages - what are they teaching and is it a good curriculum. 

 

With my own country they keep changing the curriculum for the schools - it happens very frequently. I do check what it is they expect and on an arithmetic and language arts and writing level I will take their curriculum as absolute minimum standards. On social skills, history and life skills (I am not sure what they call this anymore) I will do my own thing entirely. Life skills (or human resources or whatever it is now) teaches values that I do not wish to instill in my children. If common core means that values will be taught that I do not like then I will check a curriculum and not teach that, but the actual standards themselves do not bother me - if I feel they are too low standards I teach at a higher level, if I think they are too difficult I will teach at a lower level. That is the joy of homeschooling after all.

 

Again though I do not know what "affiliation to" and "aligns with" means to you guys - if money is changing hands or it is supporting something I do not believe in that is a different story, but not one that will affect my own child's education directly. 

[Guest hrr18323]

Thank you all for your responses! Very helpful!!