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What has been your cannot-live-without curriculum or workbook?


ChrissySC
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  • Writing Strands
  • Abeka Grammar
  • Elementary Diagramming
  • BJU or Abeka for vocabulary
  • BJU Math, Math Mammoth, and Saxon (we switch for high levels to Saxon and then to BJU)
  • Any Critical Thinking Co. workbook is a gem for us
  • Any Remedia Publications workbook
  • History of US set
  • Explode the Code (on the third child)
  • Simply Spelling (all the way through high school)

I typically put science and history together using assignment sheets for 36 weeks based on standards of study so I don't have a "gem" there except for one.

 

 

 

 

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We're really early into our homeschooling, but I adore this Morning Work. I actually bought all 3 levels and my DS just started on the 3rd. It's an easy, consistent way to start our school day out & both my 3.5 year old & my 5 year old can each be doing their own work.

 

And even though we're not done with Level A yet, Logic of English has really knocked my socks off. Even my 18 month old (who is a late talker) likes to march with us when we're chanting the letter sounds. "Ah, Aye, Uh!!"  :wub: 

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Even my 18 month old (who is a late talker) likes to march with us when we're chanting the letter sounds. "Ah, Aye, Uh!!"  :wub:

 

Pardon me for being super nosy here - but you are saying the 3rd sound of A as /ah/ like in father, right? Not a short-u /uh/ like in up? (Vowels can say the short-u sound in an unstressed syllable, but it is then called a schwa. So A can say /uh/ like in the word comma, but it's not the third sound of A)

 

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Pardon me for being super nosy here - but you are saying the 3rd sound of A as /ah/ like in father, right? Not a short-u /uh/ like in up? (Vowels can say the short-u sound in an unstressed syllable, but it is then called a schwa. So A can say /uh/ like in the word comma, but it's not the third sound of A)

 

 

Ya got me. :D I knew I wasn't typing them out right, but thought, "Eh. It'll do." The third sound of A as taught in LOE is ä, as in 'wäsh the wälls'.

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Oh I haven't found a science or history that I could not live without, and I love Phonics Pathways, and .... LOL ... I always wished that I had done Right Start.

 

I am looking for something new.  Keep it coming.  :)  I don't want to miss a really good gem.

 

I should post in high school too.  I cry.  My middle dd will be in the ninth grade.  Then she will graduate, go away to college, and leave me forever!  OK, enough drama.

 

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Spines we've loved so far -

 

Reading Eggs

Miquon

Magic School Bus Science Kits plus Let's Read and Find Out Science books

A Child's History of the World

Great book lists, online lesson plan ideas, and the library...

Ideas from The Writer's Jungle (here's hoping we love the Arrow)

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AoPS for my oldest. He'd be zooming too fast through math without it, and he really loves it.

 

Otherwise, good literature. The curriculum and workbooks have all changed many times with no problem. I'm not married to anything. But good literature does amazing things.

 

Now the resources I wouldn't want to live without:

 

The Well Trained Mind book (even though I don't totally follow it, it still gives me good jumping off points)

The Well Trained Mind forum, particularly the google search ability. ;) If I'm wanting to answer ANY homeschool question (and sometimes non-homeschool :lol:), the first thing I do is search this site via google.

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Ds loves anything in a story as well; MCT, Beast and WR have been huge hits. I'm thrilled to be continuing on with these next year.

 

Ds is enjoying LoF but I'm not so certain yet. LoE Foundations has been great, I love the depth and that it is open and go with fun games, total win. MiF is the only math we've tried that dd doesn't hate (tried RS, Miquon, MEP, and New Franklin Arithmetic). I'm still getting used to it, so I'm not entirely sold.

 

The Read-Aloud Handbook was instrumental in starting out towards making books a more important part of our life. 

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The Internet. And Youtube. Holy cow. I love how I can just pull up videos, examples, pictures, maps, information, etc. within seconds. As a kid I was big into looking stuff up anytime I wondered about it. But I had to clunk through old encyclopedias and wait for my parents to bring me to the library. The Internet is magical.

Yup, I always say we Home Sgoogle. :-). Also love Brain Pop!

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This year?  A world atlas.  I'm a visual person and I NEED to show 12yodd the place I am talking about and how it relates to our own location.  She groans when I whip out the atlas, but her glazed look shows me she isn't making the connections.

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Rod and Staff Spelling

Internet --you tube, Netflix, 

MUS (except for ds #3 has been great)

SOTW -my second and last time through :(

 

THESE BOARDS.  seriously.  I'm not sucking up.  I have gotten soooo many great ideas from this board.  I would say that all my curriculum was chosen because of recommendations here.

 

-K

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RightStart Math

Spell to Write and Read

Cursive First

First Language Lessons

Rod & Staff English

Writing With Ease

Writing & Rhetoric

CAP Latin (SSL, Latin for Children)

Veritas Press Bible

Veritas Press History and Literature

Guerber's Histories by Nothing New Press

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Honestly?

IEW--it gets flack from some folks, but for my 2 reluctant writers, it more than gets the job done.

 

Also, Apples and Pears Spelling. We are not natural spellers here and this curriculum works!

 

The other materials I can interchange. I feel like you can use almost anything in your children's areas of strength and it will be fine. But when I find curriculum that works in a weak are,those become my can't live without curriculum.

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my ipad

my library card

 

I'm not in love with any curriculum enough to not be able to live without it

 

I do like MBTP though. Everything else is easily interchangable.

 

OK I forgot one...

 

A-Z reading.com...... wouldn't want to teach reading without it.

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RightStart Math

Spell to Write and Read

Cursive First

First Language Lessons

Rod & Staff English

Writing With Ease

Writing & Rhetoric

CAP Latin (SSL, Latin for Children)

Veritas Press Bible

Veritas Press History and Literature

Guerber's Histories by Nothing New Press

Do you use WWE and CAP together?

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Elementary

 

Sonlight with pre 2006 LA

Writing: EIW and IEW

Spelling: AAS

Math: Singapore and Miquon

Bible: Sonlight and a family devotional

Music: As important as the 3 R's in our house...MYC

 

Older:

 

Some Sonlight with outside classes...AP English class offered for 6 girls by a friend of mine

Canadian History: Outsourced

IEW Online Writing Courses through Websters Academy (starts in gr. 4)

Math: Video Text

Science: Apologia and Spectrum planning on AP Chemistry for gr. 11

Music: RCM Piano

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RightStart/Singapore Math combo in the early years  It has given my kids a great math foundation.

Beast Academy  We love love love this.  It is absolutely perfect for my oldest dd.  Only wish the rest of the series was out already.

All About Spelling

 

English Lessons Through Literature-We are new to this, but we are enjoying it with second grade ds and looking forward to using it with my oldest next year and my others in the future.

CAP Writing and Rhetoric We haven't started this yet, but looking at the samples I know this is going to be another huge hit here.

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Do you use WWE and CAP together?

 

I use them both, but separately, not together. I'll elaborate.

 

Each W&R book is designed as a one-semester course. However, after coming from WWE 1-3 (and the first half of 4), my little man was able to complete both, Books 1 & 2 (for grades 3-4), during our first semester this year. We're currently finishing the second half of WWE 4, during our second semester.

 

Similarly, next year I plan for us to attempt both, Books 3 & 4 (for grades 4-5), during our first semester of 5th grade, and then begin WWS 1 in our second semester. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we'll be able to decide whether we prefer one program over the other or would like to just continue with the same-ish routine in the future. (If you'd like to see our progression, I recently posted our language arts line-up thus far in another thread.)

 

CAP just came in the mail. We will be using it and WWW together because CAP is very gentle and only on semester also, I think it covers important skills in a fun gentle way with very pleasing format but it's NOT a replacement for WWE - at the elementary level.

 

:iagree:  W&R is not a replacement for WWE. At this point, I believe W&R to be an ideal in-between for WWE and WWS.

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Internet

Ipad with the following apps

Google earth

Timeline Builder

Internet on the couch

Kindle App

Bible app

Math Bingo and other math drill apps

My oneNote App with my school planner

GoodReader

Duolingo

Spellboard

Geography Drive

 

 

Rod and staff spelling

Rod and staff English

Math Mammoth (though DS is burning out on it now so we are making a change for grade 6)

Mystery if History

WWE

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AOPS.

 

In the past, Stanford EPGY OE Math K-7. (OE also has ELA 2-6, but that was not very useful.) (Thanks to melmichigan, who has been a volunteer group administrator for many years.)

 

In the future, I strongly suspect that OCW would help a lot too. http://ocw.mit.edu/high-school . MIT OCW has more courses but these are 'OCW Scholar' (self-paced) courses, more suitable for high school.

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