Most Enjoyable Curriculum

[Elizabeth86]

I’m talking about the extras such as science, history, geography…What curriculum have you used that you and your children have truly enjoyed?

[Slache]

Art of The Day app.

SOTW.

Apologia Zoology.

[ScoutTN]

SOTW

 

[HomeAgain]

For us, with the caveat that nothing is ever used exactly as written. 😉

Science: Ellen McHenry, BFSU (fun for him, work for me)

History: SOTW, Teach With Magic (not a curriculum but a website of ideas for chronological events)

General: Moving Beyond The Page, Learning Adventures

[Brittany1116]

They liked TGTB science units a lot. 

[Lori D.]

We didn't use a lot in the way of formal curricula for most subjects other than Math and elementary LA. We made our own Science through 8th grade, and History all the way through 12th grade. Below is the one Geography curriculum we loved (Beautiful Feet), and then other informal resources that we really enjoyed.

History
- The Complete Book of US History -- not a curriculum, but the last half of this "workbook" had some fascinating and not-often-covered topics that we thoroughly enjoyed

Geography
- Beautiful Feet Geography guide + map pack to go with the 4 Holling C. Holling books, done along about 3rd-5th grade
- The Complete Book of Maps & Geography -- not a curriculum, but a big workbook that we spread out over grades 3-4; we didn't use tons of workbooks, but this one was quite enjoyable -- lots of topics

Science -- lots of hands on activities (out of books, online searches, etc.) and kits
- 365 Simple Science Experiments with Everyday Materials + 365 More Simple... -- gr. K-2 or 3 -- SUPER for just picking a science area, and then doing 1-2 of these a day, as they only take about 10 minutes and really do use things you most likely do have around the house
- Sunprint paper (all ages)
- TOPS science units + supply kits for gr. 6-9: Rocks & Minerals; Analysis;  Solutions; Adhesion & Cohesion; Oxidation; Heat; Focus Pocus
- dissecting owl pellets and sheep eyeballs 
- watched a caterpillar from caterpillar to moth stage -- made a "cage" (plaster of Paris in a disposable pie pan, with screen material set in the plaster in a tall cylinder and stapled up the sides, and another pie pan on top for the "cage lid"); also included a nice branching stick for caterpillar to climb up; tomato hornworm captured from the garden, dubbed "caterpillar Jim" and fed with daily tomato plant vine snippets with leaves; when it was time to make a cocoon, we put a shallow dish with soil in the bottom of the cage (that variety cocoons underground); some weeks later, we came out and discovered a moth in the cage!

Logic
- Blast Off with Logic, 3 book series -- Logic Countdown (gr. 3-4) Logic Liftoff (gr. 4-6); Orbiting with Logic (gr. 5-7)
- Fallacy Detective (Bluedorn) -- gr. 7-8

Art
- How To Teach Art to Children (Evan-Moore), done in grades 1-3, just had fun picking/choosing various projects
- The Big Yellow Drawing Book (gr. K-2)
- Draw Squad (Kistler) (gr. 4-6)

Edited March 27, 2022 by Lori D.

[HomeAgain]

Oh, logic!  I'll second Fallacy Detective, but a great lead in to it was Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery.

[2_girls_mommy]

Story of the World, all time favorite, with all of my children, all levels, for multiple grade levels with the Activity guide and including the related readings from the reading lists. We even adapted some of the projects for high school years. 

Thinking Tree Journals, on a variety of topics. My 7th grader especially loved the horse covered core journal. She put together her own unit study for the year in marine biology that year. 

A unit study on the History of Fashion from Schoolhouseteachers.com combined with a Thinking Tree journal on Fashion.

Hands on science and art from all kinds of different places, combining them when possible, but lots of both everywhere possible. 

Museum visits, historical sites, nature trails, etc. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AnneGG]

We love the lit unit studies from Hearth Magic. Every time we do one I think this is what our homeschool was meant to be like.

 

[Porridge]

SOTW

Creating a Masterpiece 

Physics lab kit from homesciencetools.com

TOPS - the one about circuits (you make wire out of aluminum foil!) - we only did the first few lessons, but they learned a ton and loved it

 

[Brittany1116]

Ohhh yes, Funschooling journals are a hit here. Especially the geography and American history journals.

They also both like CTC logic books, specifically Mind Bender series, and Balance Math.

[Lucy the Valiant]

The most fun thing (yes school, but not exactly curriculum) we've done over all the years is to schedule "school parties" - pick whatever we're learning in history or science, circle a date on the calendar, invite a few friends, and then divvy up "volunteer assignments" (yes, the friends, too). We've had homecoming parties to welcome Odysseus home, we've had "Scat Parties" with owl pellet dissections and (ewwwww) tootsie-roll "kitty litter" cake, we've had in-costume Shakespearean parties where we watched Hollow Crown (Benedict Cumberbatch) Richard III and played busking games, we've had brain-wave synapse relay races with candy-constructed brain diagrams, we've "encamped" through many different nations / centuries / discoveries. 

For CURRICULUM, I'd have to nominate Considering God's Creation (especially the games and songs!), Ellen McHenry (never disappoints, especially the games), SOTW especially year 1 activities, there was a Little House on the Prairie one from Cadron Creek, Mapping the World with Art, and World Watch (current events, Christian worldview). 

Funniest = Word Up! The Vocab Show (corny humor that my kids found HILARIOUS during the early middle school years, when it really mattered, LOL).

[daijobu]

Michael Clay Thompson language arts

BFSU science

AoPS math

[Ellie]

KONOS

[Quarter Note]

On 3/26/2022 at 6:29 PM, Lucy the Valiant said:

The most fun thing (yes school, but not exactly curriculum) we've done over all the years is to schedule "school parties" - pick whatever we're learning in history or science, circle a date on the calendar, invite a few friends, and then divvy up "volunteer assignments" (yes, the friends, too). We've had homecoming parties to welcome Odysseus home, we've had "Scat Parties" with owl pellet dissections and (ewwwww) tootsie-roll "kitty litter" cake, we've had in-costume Shakespearean parties where we watched Hollow Crown (Benedict Cumberbatch) Richard III and played busking games, we've had brain-wave synapse relay races with candy-constructed brain diagrams, we've "encamped" through many different nations / centuries / discoveries. 

@Lucy the Valiant, you're the homeschool mom that I want to be.  😊  You are amazingly creative!

Edited March 28, 2022 by Quarter Note

[8filltheheart]

My favorite way of covering history and geography is by integrating with lit.    For example, one yr we read through the Narnia series.  We studied WW2, orphan trains, British history, and then mapped all of the corresponding areas to what we were studying in history.

[EKS]

Any resource that sparked genuine conversation was a hit here.   By "genuine" I mean that it allowed me to engage with my kids from a place of curiosity rather than interrogation.  So, to make this happen for something like SOTW meant that I had to ditch the comprehension questions and WTM style narration exercises.

[Janeway]

Story of the World and Considering God's Creation have always been the biggest hits here.

[PeterPan]

On 3/28/2022 at 10:40 AM, EKS said:

it allowed me to engage with my kids from a place of curiosity rather than interrogation. 

Thank you, you have just put *brilliantly* something that was bugging me (about a totally unrelated situation).

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by PeterPan

[wendyroo]

On 3/28/2022 at 10:40 AM, EKS said:

By "genuine" I mean that it allowed me to engage with my kids from a place of curiosity rather than interrogation.

I tutor a fifth grade girl in math, and often when we are working on a problem I will ask her how she wants to solve it. Her mom sometimes tries to convince me to just tell the girl the "right way" to solve the problems, and I respond that truly the thing I am most curious about is how she wants to solve them.

The girl is a bit of an ODD firecracker, and me asking questions that feel like a pop quiz leads to complete disengagement. Not to say that any teaching technique works brilliantly with her every time, but she does seem to sense when I am genuinely interested in hearing her thoughts and perspectives and not just waiting to pounce on the "wrong" answer. 

[pehp]

A Child's History of the World!!!  

And Shakespeare--not a curriculum, just Shakespeare.  By far my favorite "subject" in homeschooling. 😉

[SilverMoon]

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Edited June 16 by SilverMoon