nknapp5 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 I have been homeschooling for almost 7 years. I will have a ds 11, dd 8, ds 7, dd 5, dd 4, dd 2. I have been piecing curriculum together for years. Did use sonlight starting out though, but even that seemed like too much and I only had one child. I am looking for something to use with my dd 5, dd 4. I haven't worked with either of them hardly at all :( The older 3 take a lot of time and the youngers just play most the day. I am getting tired of trying to piece things together but I have a good grasp on what I want to olders to do. I am at the point where I know I will not like everything in a boxed curriculum but I am needing the structure to keep my youngers on pace. So my question, as far as boxed curriculum goes, what is out there that would hit the basic subjects really good. It needs to be open and go, and not take a lot of time to get through. Both girls like workbooks and I am ok with that. Of course I hope to do read alouds too. I have tried many pieces of curriculum (MP, VP, sonlight, abeka). Which do you think would meet all the above requirements? I have looked at abeka, MFW, and MP any other suggestions or is one mentioned your favorite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 No experience but there are WTM K and 1st in a box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Tharp Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Of the boxed curriculum that I know of, I think that the WTM ones might suit you best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Timberdoodle (they have a basic kit that just covers the 3Rs, or more complete packages with science & history) Calvert (everything included, but I'm not sure how long it takes) McRuffy (everything but history, or you can pick and choose) Oak Meadow (super gentle, Waldorfy) CLE or Rod & Staff I did read alouds separately, based on what I thought sounded good at the library or had on the shelf. Sonlight has good read aloud lists for those grades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 I used Abeka with my older two when they were in K and it was pretty open and go. There is stuff you can prep, but I skipped some of it and found my kids still did great. I really like it a lot and felt it gave them a good starting foundation. With my youngest I used MFW K and I like it as well. They have updated it since I used it, but I am guessing it is even easier to use now as far as open and go part. MFW took less time that Abeka and both seemed to work fine for my children. I think either would work for what you seem to be looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindydanleo Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 CLE for basics. (ie Math and Language Arts) Fun stuff for other subjects 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nknapp5 Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 I used Abeka with my older two when they were in K and it was pretty open and go. There is stuff you can prep, but I skipped some of it and found my kids still did great. I really like it a lot and felt it gave them a good starting foundation. With my youngest I used MFW K and I like it as well. They have updated it since I used it, but I am guessing it is even easier to use now as far as open and go part. MFW took less time that Abeka and both seemed to work fine for my children. I think either would work for what you seem to be looking for. loowit of abeka and MFW which one do you feel had the better Phonics program? Also couldn't really tell what was used for math with MFW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Oh, definitely CLE!!! So affordable, simple and EASY! 30 minutes daily, tops. Just add read alouds. About Three and Abour Four series for the four year old, Rod and Staff A-F and CLE KII for the five year old :). After being eclectic for a long time, we now love CLE for skill subjects, even for my older kids (similar ages to yours.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nknapp5 Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Oh, definitely CLE!!! So affordable, simple and EASY! 30 minutes daily, tops. Just add read alouds. About Three and Abour Four series for the four year old, Rod and Staff A-F and CLE KII for the five year old :). After being eclectic for a long time, we now love CLE for skill subjects, even for my older kids (similar ages to yours.) Does it have lesson plans with it? Also what approach did they use for phonics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 You just open and go. It's so simple that it doesn't need lesson plans. The simple directions are on the page. Phonics are mostly in KII. They build up to readng a simple CVC sentence. It's...phonics :). Great prep for a more involved phonics for first (we've used so many, but now use CLE's LTR.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 loowit of abeka and MFW which one do you feel had the better Phonics program? Also couldn't really tell what was used for math with MFW. I feel Abeka was stronger on phonics, and MFW was more gradual and "gentle". Math in MFW K was not very formal. Basically it introduced math concepts in a fun interactive way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I used A Beka for K math this year, and it is very solid and scripted. The most annoying thing about A Beka is all the extras you have to add on for some things like certain flash cards, etc. It can be very schoolish. I bought some of the extras used and don't use others. I was a student of some of their phonics program and have friends who have gone through them. Their phonics is very solid. I am not as impressed with their history and science, but it is easy to open, go and read a bit. I got them free with an ebay purchase and read them on occasion as a supplement. One drawback of A Beka, imo, is that they now implement cursive writing in kindergarten. They do have some manuscript options, I believe, but that is something to check on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I'm using MP K for my son in a similar situation. It gets done, and he's getting a really firm foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I did Abeka with my middle son and I agree that it had a lot of "schoolish" tendencies and I found took a good amount of time to implement. We are using MP this year for my youngest and I like how the layout is all in one book easy to get through and check off. I found my youngest wasn't getting much attention either due to my older kids and since they are spaced out in age. This was easy for me to do with him and seems pretty solid academically. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I would recommend Timberdoodle. They have great, quality curriculum that is quick and easy to implement while still engaging. They also value independent learning as much as possible, which might be important to you when your time is stretched so thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrygal Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I just started CLE Kindergarten II with my 5 year old. It's 'just' workbooks... but it gentle, fun easy way to learn the sounds of letters and how to write them up to sounding out basic cvc words. Numbers and basic math are covered. There are 5 workbooks and 5 activity books that have coloring and cut and paste things to go with it. It covers the bases and it's inexpensive.. I would just add in reading some books to them that you have or from the library. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Bob Jones Kindergarten. The TM is all laid out and you just move from one lesson to the next, skipping whatever you don't want to do. It covers reading and integrates themes with minimal prepration for gathering materials. We added in a little Horizon for math, but I'm in the 'delaying math is better' camp. We tried MFW K, but even though it's suppose to be open-and-go, it seemed like I was never prepared with craft materials or the book basket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nknapp5 Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 I'm using MP K for my son in a similar situation. It gets done, and he's getting a really firm foundation. mamajag How long is it taking you to do a full day? Are you able to do everything they have listed for you to do? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nknapp5 Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 I'm using MP K for my son in a similar situation. It gets done, and he's getting a really firm foundation. mamajag How long is it taking you to do a full day? Are you able to do everything they have listed for you to do? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabio McFluffypants Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 CLE. I used to use an eclectic mash-up of WTM and Ambleside Online. As my health deteriorated and I had more children, I added more CLE to our school. This year we are almost all CLE and the other subjects are textbooks. I offered to let them all go back to our normal WTM/Ambleside online routine next fall. They ALL want to stay with CLE--except the younger boys want to go back to Story of the World for history! These are boys who abhor the physical act of writing. I'm still wallowing in my shock. CLE is rigorous for us. It's very predictable, clean on the page, and independent in the later grades. CLE's Learn to Read program in first grade took two of my boys who said that they "couldn't read and turned them into book lovers who read way above their grade levels. (ok, the fact that i've been reading to them forever, try to find them awesome books at the library and am always reading myself probably didn't hurt) I never did the first grade LA or Reading--might do it this time around. It hasn't been a problem for my 2nd grader to jump into 2nd grade LA and Reading. Buy the phrase flash cards. Buy the math flash cards. Buy an egg timer. Teacher's manuals are essential in the lower levels--first grade is not independent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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