Do you use a scheduled/prepared curriculum or do your own thing?

[Strawberry Queen]

There are many programs that are good for part of the program, just not the whole thing. My biggest problem is US history. There are soo many great publishers that have US history as a major focus of their program for at least a few years. Being Canadian makes this problematic:)

 

I sometimes wish I lived south of the border, just so I could use some of those programs. Oh well, I'll just have to hope that someone up here writes something wonderful-like TOG

[Mekanamom]

It's a great fit for us.

 

We've been all over the place with curricula... we've done our own thing, we've done K12 via a charter school, we've followed TWTM...

 

We are enjoying our lessons and getting a ton done with Calvert. :) The price is an issue, though.

 

K12 was ok, but I had terrible problems with online lessons and an assigned teacher who thought I could grab my kids, all their school stuff, and a laptop to do school at Starbucks when our internet connection was down for a week. :eek:

 

We had enough internet connectivity problems to make me decide that an online school is perhaps not for us at this time.

 

I very much enjoyed pulling my own chosen curricula together ala TWTM, but drove myself nuts trying to put together a secular program.

 

Calvert pretty much has everything I was looking for, all nicely packaged and integrated... so for us, it's great. I supplement where needed. Oldest dd is using Jump In for writing in addition to her Calvert assignments. And Youngest dd is using Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading in addition to her Calvert lessons.

 

We do not use the Calvert Math... we're about to start Singapore (materials just arrived!)

[Jenny in Florida]

Well, there are some subjects--math, especially--for which I like to find something all laid out. But for history and literature, which I consider the core of our curriculum, and for arts and anything else I can connect with history, I tend to pull togehter lots of different resources.

 

--Jenny

[karensk]

I have the same problem!

 

I end up changing things so much that it's not worth paying for something that's already scheduled out for me (w/weekly schedules, etc.). So I have to schedule it out myself. Still, I love being able to customize things for the kids.

[Scarlett]

I'm not surprised that most on the WTM boards would be putting together their own thing. I did for K after I found TWTM book and fell in love with the Classical concept. My dh is not one of those '100% supportive of homeschooling' spouses and thus my compromise to keep him happier is using a Virtual Academy. Our State is using K12. I have no complaints about K12. I think it is a fine program. I can see if you ever had internet problems it could be a big issue. Also, the price if I had to pay for it.

 

I do pick and choose a lot of K12 and have learned to not stress over getting every single paper completed because my ds doesn't require it to master the material. Sometimes reading on these boards I long for the freedom to use ONLY what I want to use. For the most part though I'm happy with K12.

[Mekanamom]

Scarlett- I agree... K12 is a fine program for sure! We didn't have any issues with the education (well, except the math! When we were in the charter school, we did use use the K12 math because we *had* to, but I supplemented with Abeka.)

 

I'm hoping that by the high school years, we'll have a better internet connection.

 

Calvert through 8th, K12 (hopefully) for high school and concurrent enrollment in the local JC... lol, prepared curricula all the way!

[michaeljenn]

We use MFW's Rome to the Reformation. I love having everything laid out and planned for me. I do have the option of adding more if I want to though! I do plan my own Language Arts though...which consist of Rod and Staff English, Daily Paragraph Editing and Spelling Wisdom; all of these programs are just a do the next lesson kind of thing:)

[Mommyfaithe]

I have really tried to follow a boxed or planned curriculum and failed with them every time because I had to tweak it so much. This year, I have come up with a plan based on subjects and levels so my kiddoes can work their way through our homeschool both at their own pace and my discretion.

 

I really love how this is panning out...so much better than being totally frustrated and feeling like a total failure in implementing someone else's plans.

 

~~Faithe

[Mom2GirlsTX]

Our first year we did Calvert, but then I found TWTM and we went with our own mix. Using SWB recommendations and checking out what Cathy Duffy reviews are, we have put together our own...and I like it that way!:)

[pamjk]

This is a great thread! I've been visiting the WTM boards almost daily for about 7 yrs now, but I'm not a regular poster. I like this new forum, but I have to get used to it!

 

My oldest is 10 and we've just about everything you can imagine! For "boxed": most of Calvert grade 2, Sonlight book lists and the new 3-5 LA

 

Maths we've tried: Saxon, Rod and Staff, RightStart, Miquon, Scott Foresman, Calvert, Spectrum

 

This list is embarassing enough so I'll not finish the list of everything else we've tried. :(

 

10yoDS is a "late-blooming, reluctant-reader student" so I have continued to search out just the right things for him. Needless to say, I've spent 100s of hours every year doing research and have spent tons of money. And he's still not catching up to "grade-level." No surprise there after all the curriculum-hopping. I'm finally coming to the conclusion that the "right" thing just doesn't exist.

 

So this year I found out about Time4Learning from an old homeschool friend in MA. At first, I was horrified at the idea of sitting kids at the computer for schoolwork. But then we tried it and it was perfect for us! The kids love it because they have more control over their lessons. They love the games(lessons) and they actually remember more because they enjoy it and it catches their attention. I sit with them and we actually enjoy working together at school time.

 

I thought for sure this was to good to be true, so I printed out the lesson plans and compared them to our state's standards. I found that Time4learning goes way beyond what is covered here in my state. Now I recognize that is not what most classically-minded folks would use for comparison, but I have to go with what works for us, right now. I love WTM, but all my grand ideas for how it'd work in our house have proved to be failures. Just because WTM spells out how *I'd* like to learn, doesn't mean it's the best for my kids. This has been a very hard lesson for me.

 

I will still supplement with SL Core 3 history, reader lists and read-alouds, handwriting, science experiments, and maybe IEW next year. But T4L has lightened my load tremendously.

 

I wrote this long post with the thought that maybe someone else in the Hive Mind has felt this way and may benefit from my reassurance that it's ok to do the best you can, even if it's not the most popular(or even close to what you expected)way of homeschooling.

 

PamK in NC

ds10 and dd7

[EKS]

But I have started incorporating some K12 courses into my children's schedules. The older one uses K12 Life Science and the younger one uses K12 Language Arts, History, and Art.

 

Next year, I plan to have the older one do K12 Physical Science, World History A, and Art and have the younger one do K12 Language Arts, History, Science, and Art.

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

For the past 2 years I had used 2 different boxed curriculums. We did the first one, but switched thinking it was the curriculum itself, only to find out that the second didnt' work any better. :rolleyes:

 

So...I am now pulling together my own things and so far, so good.

[Tia in Wa]

I do my own thing based on suggestions from WTM. I love it. I have a friend who has BJU and it dosen't look like something I would like.

[Pster]

what is LCC? not....coming...to....me.....

 

but then again ..it's early ~

[Free Indeed]

I think it is Latin Centered Curriculum from other post I have seen.

[Just Another Jen]

LCC= Latin Centered Curriculum

[Sandy in Indy]

We've always done an eclectic mix of things, even before I picked up TWTM. I just don't think any one publisher does all things well, and there are sooooo many wonderful things out there from which to choose.

[JenniferVA]

I do a mix of pulling stuff together (Science, History) and using prepared plans (Math, Latin). I'm in my 6th year homeschooling, and I've discovered that I really dislike boxed curriculum or following someone else's philosophy completely. My homeschool curriculum stew has bits of TWTM, LCC, VP, and Logos School in it.

 

Jen

Mom to 4 boys

6th, 5th, 3rd, and 1st

[cricket1178]

I do a little of both, too.

[freethinkermom]

Mostly we do our own thing.

[Rich with Kids]

Ugh! This is why I'm a curricuholic. I have to justify my addiction by actually teaching what I buy. So, we are very eclectic.

[BarbaraL in OK]

Oops, sorry Pster. Yes, LCC is the book The Latin-Centered Curriculum: Homeschooler's Guide to a Classical Education, by Drew/Plaid Dad.

 

I think sometimes those of us who like LCC also use it as shorthand to refer to the type of classical education the book champions. That would be... what was considered the standard for education until the 1940s?; Latin centered, of course; a focus on a few areas done deeply; the selective areas of study probably including Latin, math, foundational literature, and music study.

 

More info at the Web site, LatinCentered.com.

[Kimber]

We used to strictly do our own thing, except for a few workbooks. But then I found Biblioplan, and I even though I tweak 50% of it, there is a huge advantage to that 50%. Next year, we'll be using TOG with the VP cards. I'll be tweaking the daylights out of them both. :)

[JeanM]

I pull most stuff together myself. I've been thinking more about boxed curriculum lately though. It is a lack of energy thing on my part.

 

Jean

[lollie010]

We are so new at this I don't know what I will end up doing. But, I really have the planning fever and its great to see what all of you are doing. I think I will end up getting something basic (packaged) and then making it our own.

 

Laurel

[Linda in NM]

we pick and choose and pull together from a CM perspective...we use Trisms as a base for history, IEW writing lessons, VideoText algebra, Rainbow Science, Latin Prep, Rosetta Stone for German, some supplemental language arts stuff, Mapping the World by Heart, Total Health, and lots of living books!

[SandraDumas]

Next year we are going back to Covenant Home.

[Mom2boys]

I really enjoy researching and choosing curricula, so we are pretty eclectic too. I have learned though that I am better off tweaking someone else's plan, than creating my own from scratch. Currently we are using Sonlight Core 6, spread over two years, so that my first and fifth graders can use Story of the World Ancients together. My 5th grader does the Sonlight reading, while my 1st grader uses the SOTW activity guide. TOG is really tempting me, but I am not sure if it would be worth the price after I was done tweaking it.

[clane]

We are currently enrolled in a VA, and use K12 for our DS (9). I am weighing the options for next year (DD1 will be 5).

[Linda in NM]

We schedule, too, but we "pick and choose" for our scheduling. For example, we do our Trisms (HistoryMakers) work in the morning, interspersed with Mapping the World by Heart or Total Health (depending on the day). We do Videotext Algebra in the afternoons (except on Mondays, which is music day), followed by Latin, logic, and science (Rainbow) on Tuesdays and Thursdays and German, typing, and PE on Wednesdays and Fridays...works for my 13 yos sports boy.

[Frontier Mom]

I like using different things. I started CLE for middle ds's after Christmas break but hating it already. I think the curriculum is great but the boys just don't like the "workbook" feel. I let them do it independently and take a test when the unit is complete, but it just isn't working well.

 

I like the reading part and think I might just use that part and "revamp" the rest. Next year I am already planning on using TOG 2 Redesign as I bought it before the price increase. I just need permission to dump what I spent so much money on!!

 

This thread makes me realize I am not the only one that can never find the right thing. Problem is, it takes me a while to discover what doesn't work.