So confused on curriculum

[GTiff]

When we first started thinking about homeschooling I looked at so many programs. I really liked how AAS and AAR look. Then I thought about Sonlight. Now we joined the HSAP program and they really push Abeka. Which also looks ok. However I don't like that they use no math manipulatives. The I came across PAL program with IEW. Now I think that looks like a good program but alot of work.

My daughter will be kindergarten. She knows all her letter, sounds, and can write them as well. She knows many sight words and can sound out many words. We've done BOB books as well as reading Dr. Seuss books (other ones similar) and she can read some of it.

I don't know what to do here. She loves loves loves learning. Worksheets aren't that big a deal for her (I want her to have fun learning). She was in public school for preschool and did very well. The used Handwritting Without Tears. We will be doing CC this year as well. 

I would also like some help with math. Again we had planned to stick with Abeka but I am unsure of the lack of manipulitives. I looked at Math U See and I don't like that program at all. As I feel it may over use the manipulatives. I was debating between Saxon, Abeka, and Singapore.

Thank You

 

[Slache]

Relax. You've got time. Abeka is good, but pricey. My son is 4 and we love Education Unboxed which is free and uses c-rods. Google Education Unboxed to check it out. We plan to move on to Miquon when he's ready.

 

If I had a great reader I'd use AAS because it will fill in any phonics gaps without having to focus on reading.

 

SL is great, but check out Ambleside Online for other ideas.

 

I'd recommend you get Cathy Duffy's Top Picks from the library to see how programs compare.

 

Welcome to the hive. ;)

[HS Mom in NC]

I think most homeschoolers need to spend some time on over all educational philosophy before they go picking a curriculum.  I have a new homeschooler packet I can private message you if you want that will give a brief overview of educational philosophies and a list of curriculum that fall under each philosophy.  It also has a homeschooling subcultures, a list of a few things to think about and discuss with your partner/spouse to help you articulate some of your educational goals, and a getting started with the basics article I've written.

 

I send it to people here at TWTM boards and people in real life all the time.
 

[DhanyaCali]

Aw man can I see your packet too? We choose our stuff and this is HS year 2 so if nit I understand.

 

I agree with the above, check out the 101 curriculum book, it has a nice learning stly quiz. And I also agree that you got this!

[HomeAgain]

I'm a checklist person.  I write down what I like/don't like about each curriculum, and whether I could live with it.

 

For example: I love the books in Sonlight.  I don't like the reading schedule/total amount to do each day.  Could I make it work?  Probably.  Do I want to? No.  But I love the books (mental note, make list of good books to read this year).

 

What usually happens is I end up with a mixture of two things: curriculum/a plan I can do, and confidence in what I've chosen because I've already covered its obvious flaws.

[AnnaE]

WE are halfway through MUS primer and I dont think they overuse the manipulatives.  I dont know how they can overuse it.  Kids at this stage learn by having manipulatives (well most anyway from what I have read)...  

[ssavings]

I personally am a fan of manipulative at this stage.  Littles at this age tend to be very concrete..... manipulatives help them learn the skills of math while they're still very concrete thinkers, which allows them to progress into abstract. 

That being said, I haven't used MUS for my kids. For my NT kids, we use Singapore with manipulatives. 

[Chris in VA]

You may really like Saxon K or 1, depending on how your kiddo scores on the placement test. (If she scores into 2nd grade, I'd either try something else or think about doing 1st--I don't like to use Saxon too much over the grade, unless there's obviously giftedness.)

 

Saxon uses lots of manipulatives, playing "store" and other games, and is cleverly designed to prepare for a skill in the Meeting portion of the day and then later introduce that skill formally. For example, in Saxon 3, kids keep track of the temperature on a thermometer. Later, they are introduced to the x and y axis on the coordinate plane, and they totally get it because they've been doing the "vertical numberline" with the temperature taking.

 

 

[BusyMom5]

At some point you just have to jump in and buy a few things to try- you are not marrying these programs, so you can easily change them out or tweek them as you need to!  I think you might like Saxon 1- we did it, and it has a lot of manipulatives, but also worksheets (we didn't do all of the problems everyday- adjust as you need to).  I think AAR or LOE would both be fun b/c they include games.  I would not do spelling in K unless your child *really* wants to.  We will be using and have used HWT for all of my kids for PreK, and I love it!  I think it's a great program to teach the very beginning formation of letters. Since you like the books in Sonlight, make a list of the ones you think your child will like and work thru that doing read alouds. 

[5forMe]

 

 

For example: I love the books in Sonlight.  I don't like the reading schedule/total amount to do each day.  Could I make it work?  Probably.  Do I want to? No.  But I love the books (mental note, make list of good books to read this year).

 

 

This is me. I love the book list from Sonlight and Memoria Press. I don't know if I want to buy the whole curriculum or just use the book list as a jumping off point and go from there for my five year old. 

[strawberryjam]

The only thing I like from Abeka so far is their Flash-A-Card Bible stuff and their music sing-a-long cd's. I ordered a number of different math curricula this year to compare them.. and I have to say, I think Abeka is right at the bottom of what I've looked through so far. :( Something I didn't like right off the bat was that the student workbook is huge and will not lie flat. That would drive my kids bonkers!! The pages are not perforated either so you can't even rip them out. If they had been then it wouldn't have been such a big deal.

 

My favourites for K & Grade 1 are AAR, AAS, ETC, Singapore. Get read alouds like from Sonlight lists, WTM lists, etc. from the library.

 

I already have Singapore for my daughter who will be in Grade 1 next year. It uses a lot of manipulatives which are discussed in the teachers guides. They are not absolutely necessary, so if you are concerned about too many manipulatives you can adjust things to how you feel suits you best. I know a lot of people do Singapore without any manipulatives but I prefer to include them. Recently I've been checking out Montessori math manipulatives as I think they would compliment Singapore very nicely. I think that's what we will probably end up doing next year. In later grades I'll add in CLE math workbooks. My son is going into Grade 4 and we are now using CLE as our main math and supplementing with Singapore. This is working out perfectly right now.

[abh413]

I think most homeschoolers need to spend some time on over all educational philosophy before they go picking a curriculum. I have a new homeschooler packet I can private message you if you want that will give a brief overview of educational philosophies and a list of curriculum that fall under each philosophy. It also has a homeschooling subcultures, a list of a few things to think about and discuss with your partner/spouse to help you articulate some of your educational goals, and a getting started with the basics article I've written.

 

I send it to people here at TWTM boards and people in real life all the time.

 

I would love to see this info... If you don't mind of course. :)

[WhitneyS]

I would absolutely love to see this information as well (I can't figure out how to quote in my reply, I'm so sorry). I believe I have gone over various educational philosophies, but I'd like to share something with my spouse and not drag him down the rabbit hole I've gone down :)

[Ellie]

When we first started thinking about homeschooling I looked at so many programs. I really liked how AAS and AAR look. Then I thought about Sonlight. Now we joined the HSAP program and they really push Abeka. Which also looks ok. However I don't like that they use no math manipulatives. The I came across PAL program with IEW. Now I think that looks like a good program but alot of work.

 

My daughter will be kindergarten. She knows all her letter, sounds, and can write them as well. She knows many sight words and can sound out many words. We've done BOB books as well as reading Dr. Seuss books (other ones similar) and she can read some of it.

 

I don't know what to do here. She loves loves loves learning. Worksheets aren't that big a deal for her (I want her to have fun learning). She was in public school for preschool and did very well. The used Handwritting Without Tears. We will be doing CC this year as well. 

 

I would also like some help with math. Again we had planned to stick with Abeka but I am unsure of the lack of manipulitives. I looked at Math U See and I don't like that program at all. As I feel it may over use the manipulatives. I was debating between Saxon, Abeka, and Singapore.

 

Thank You

 

With a little 5yo person, all you really need (and I use the word "need" loosely) is something for phonics, something for penmanship, and something for arithmetic.

 

I am not a fan of ABeka, at least not a whole-box-of-books fan. Although ABeka's phonics instruction is very good, there are other equally good products which are better suited for teaching individual children instead of a whole classroom. Explode the Code, Phonics Pathways, AlphaPhonics, Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (OPGTR...I think I have the full name correct, lol), Spalding and its spin-offs/look-alikes (AAS, Spell to Write and Read, Logic of English, probably two or three others). Your dd is very young; just pick one of those and go with it. As long as you stick with true phonics (which means there's no need to teach sight words), she'll do fine. Since she's just 5, I'd say Phonics Pathways. Next year, when she's 6, you'll have a year of homeschooling under your belt, and you might feel comfortable going with something more comprehensive.

 

Not all children need manipulatives, so don't let that drive your decision. Saxon has way too many moving parts for me (although I like Saxon beginning with Math 54); not a fan of ABeka; Singapore doesn't interest me, either, but you might like it. I'm just not sure a 5yo little person needs all that much.

[Garga]

GET Homeschool Mom in AZ's packet! Get it!

 

Then do whatever you do to make a decision--lists or gut feelings or whatever. Then, buy it. Use it. Find out that some things are hits and some are total misses. It's ok. Ditch the misses and start over researching and buy something new.

 

You'll do this year by year for the next dozen years. After a few years you get a better feel for what will fit for your children and yourself (teacher has to like the program, too, or it won't get done.)

 

Don't prebuy for future years. That's a big mistake. I have about 2 full shelves of prebought odds and ends that I'm taking to a local homeschool store in a few weeks. What a waste of money. Buy it as you need it or you run the very real risk of wasting your money and space with useless stuff.

 

For many of us, this researching and decision making stage is hard, but also one of the best parts of homeschooling! Everything looks so shiny and wonderful and it's like being a kid in a candy store with a $20 bill.

[DhanyaCali]

I agree with everyone, about how the Abeka program is not for us but GOSH I love their Bible flashcards. Or, to be more accurate, my SON loves them!!

[GTiff]

Thanks everyone! We decided to go with AAR 1. I just felt like that was the way to go and we ditched abeka except for math. I like  Singapore so if Abeka math doesn't work I will switch to that. We are also going to do A reason for Handwriting. Trying to keep it simple but boy is it hard!

[Guest S. Mallory]

I think most homeschoolers need to spend some time on over all educational philosophy before they go picking a curriculum. I have a new homeschooler packet I can private message you if you want that will give a brief overview of educational philosophies and a list of curriculum that fall under each philosophy. It also has a homeschooling subcultures, a list of a few things to think about and discuss with your partner/spouse to help you articulate some of your educational goals, and a getting started with the basics article I've written.

 

I send it to people here at TWTM boards and people in real life all the time.

 

 

Can I please get a copy of your packet?

[Guest sunnyside]

I think most homeschoolers need to spend some time on over all educational philosophy before they go picking a curriculum.  I have a new homeschooler packet I can private message you if you want that will give a brief overview of educational philosophies and a list of curriculum that fall under each philosophy.  It also has a homeschooling subcultures, a list of a few things to think about and discuss with your partner/spouse to help you articulate some of your educational goals, and a getting started with the basics article I've written.

 

I send it to people here at TWTM boards and people in real life all the time.

 

 

Hi!

I'm new here and would love this packet, if you don't mind sending. I have a new 5 year old who goes to Waldorf inspired nature immersion programl 3 days a week in a forest.  This is her last year there, then I'll be homeschooling. I think next year will be our more true K year, but I'm trying not to define anything yet.

Thanks so much!

[abba12]

I wrote a family homeschooling mission statement. Seriously, it sounds corny but I wrote what the goals of our school were, what I wanted it to look like, what methods fit my views.

 

It make deciding so much easier! One I knew what I wanted I discovered some curricula filled those criteria better than others, and was naturally led to them. It also stopped me from picking up on 'the next cool thing' which looked awesome because, when I sat and looked at it, as cool as it appeared, it didn't match my goals/methods/philosophy and I was being enticed by others fun stories and bright-shiny-new stuff, not by it's actual teaching.