Elizabeth86 Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 I’m talking about the extras such as science, history, geography…What curriculum have you used that you and your children have truly enjoyed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Art of The Day app. SOTW. Apologia Zoology. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 SOTW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 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 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 They liked TGTB science units a lot. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 (edited) 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 topicsScience -- 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. 7-8Art - 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. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Oh, logic! I'll second Fallacy Detective, but a great lead in to it was Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 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. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneGG Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porridge Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany1116 Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 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. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 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). 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 Michael Clay Thompson language arts BFSU science AoPS math 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 KONOS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarter Note Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 (edited) 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 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 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. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 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. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 Story of the World and Considering God's Creation have always been the biggest hits here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 (edited) 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 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 A Child's History of the World!!! And Shakespeare--not a curriculum, just Shakespeare. By far my favorite "subject" in homeschooling. 😉 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 Build Your Library levels. I resisted buying someone else's schedule for years but we loved it right away. My absolute favorites are level 7 (world geography year) and level 8 (history of science) and I can't wait to do them again with my youngest. Story of the World was fabulous when they were smaller. ❤️ I never found a science series I could use with every kid. 🤷♀️ Piles of really good books is always a win though. 😄 Art of Argument is one all my kids have used and I'll use it again with the youngest. It's a great intro in informal logic and the common fallacies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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