I am always trying to think of ways that can help you to keep on homeschooling. We are all different and have different needs from blogs.
I want you to know that I truly care about you sticking around here and especially about you not just surviving homeschool, but really making the journey one that is a treasured memory while not giving up high academic standards.
So this blog post is really short, but one I hope you find helpful or at least encouraging. Many times throughout the years, I would have just liked another set of eyes looking over my curriculum choices for my kids.
You know, sometimes you just want another set of eyes to see if you are covering the essentials in homeschooling or sometimes you want to take a different path and want somebody else to take a look at your curriculum choices.
I’m asking:
Do you want me to look over your homeschool curriculum choices?
I can say that I will try my best to look over them all and maybe use some of your choices here on my blog to share with others.
I have just a request or two. Help me out in case I get overwhelmed because I would like to try to answer each email personally.
List these important things so I have a pretty good picture of your homeschooling situation.
- Ages of children that you’re homeschooling and the curriculum that each child is using. Be specific about listing the curriculum of each child.
- Ages of children that you are not formally homeschooling, but are taking care of this year.
- If you’re working outside the house?
- How long you have been homeschooling? And finally,
- What your overall goals are or why you chose that particular curriculum?
Fill in the contact form on my blog form. One tip for forming your email is to type your email in a word document so you can see it, and then copy/paste it into the box on the contact form.
Yikes!!! I may be crazy for doing this, but this is one thing I wished I had in the beginning of my homeschool journey or just when I was struggling as the boys entered another phase or grade.
Hugs and love ya,
Finding Curriculum for Unique Learners
What If I Choose the Wrong Homeschool Curriculum
How to Use a Boxed Curriculum without Giving Up Your Homeschool Approach
Wow you are kind and sweet to do this! Next year will only be our second year of homeschooling. This is what we are looking at. I have 2 boys ages 12 and 11, we will be doing a 2nd year of Sonlight with Core G. This year we did Easy Grammar, and while I don’t love it, I haven’t yet found anything else to replace, and am open to suggestions. Still looking for a great writing program. This year we have done a lot of journal writing and creative writing. We use Teaching Textbooks for Math. This year we did Anatomy for Science. Next year I am looking at the Focus on Middle School Books by Real Science 4 Kids.
Thank you for your help!!
I forgot to add, I work from home as a travel agent. Thanks again!
Hi Heather,
I like to give each person who asked for help a good amount of time, so thank you for waiting!
You certainly have a lot of advantages in your corner as well.
First, with just two boys that means that you can give each one the attention they need. Being close in age is a huge plus too because you can use one resource on content subjects to teach them.
Look at my posts here to understand the differences between teaching skill subjects like the 3 R’s which really needed to be taught at each boys’ level regardless of age and content subjects which are like history and science that can be taught to multiple ages of children regardless of their level.
https://tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/2014/10/05/divide-and-conquer-the-ever-growing-list-of-homeschool-subjects/
Sonlight is a good fit for quite bit of subjects and have great readers. I prefer to pick and choose subjects too and that seems what you like to do.
You didn’t really expand on why you didn’t like Easy Grammar so I am not sure if you want more teacher help or looking for a different format.
If you don’t like Easy Grammar, have you looked at Growing with Grammar?
I have used part of Easy Grammar, Rod and Staff when I wanted more teacher help, Bob Jones Language arts which I really liked too and now with my third son I am using Growing with Grammar.
Just remember there are a lot of excellent superior grammar programs out there and it really depends on what you are looking for.
My reasons for using Bob Jones Language arts and Rod and Staff were different than they are now. I wanted and needed more teacher help then and they had more background information.
Now, I want less “fluff” and more straightforward, short and get to the point grammar curriculum.
Growing with Grammar has short lessons and my son can do them on his own without much help from me. They are straightforward and encourage independent work at the middle school age.
Btw, don’t know if it makes a difference to you or not, but it doesn’t to me, but Growing with Grammar is considered a “secular” program.
It doesn’t have anything against the Bible which I wouldn’t like, it just does not add in Bible content to the grammar, which is fine with me too.
Rod and Staff is more like a textbook and too is very rigorous but has tons of review. Matter of fact about 5 years or longer ago, they didn’t have a high school language arts program because their grammar was so rigorous it was done by 8th grade and they are Mennonite and don’t believe in high school. So that needs to be taken into consideration about their program.
Bottom line it is rigorous too.
So it moves faster, but you have to know when to move on and skip lessons because there is enough review on each lesson for a classroom of 30 or more kids.
A writing program is the same way as grammar. There are many with “bells and whistle” and others not so much.
Your needs will change each year, but I know both of my boys enjoyed the videos by Andrew Pudewa with Institute for Excellence in Writing.
Since you work, and I did too when my boys did this program, it was a great way for them to take some responsibility for their learning and my sons did it together.
My oldest waited a little bit on my second son, but then again they could pause the video,etc. and watching it together was way more fun.
Andrew Pudewa has a fun, geeky way about him, which is appealing to boys that age.
Again, this program worked for because it was both helpful, rigorous and made them responsible for writing and freed up my time for some work in the office.
Another option to give you choices for both budget and approach is the Power in Your Hands by Sharon Watson.
I did a thorough review for the high school program and though the link is for high school, it gives you a feel for the layout to see if that fits your style.
https://tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/2013/05/23/schoolhouse-review-crew-review-of-the-power-in-your-hands-writing-nonfiction-in-high-school/
The middle school workbook called “Jump In”
But this book my sons also liked because she gave helpful teaching tips, ideas to get over the blank page fear and otherwise they could on their own.
Again, it is more like a workbook format and not video but then again the cost is different but it is just as enjoyable.
Before they had the middle school level, we used the Real Science 4 Kids and thoroughly loved it.
At the middle school age, kids can be precocious when it comes to science. You can enhance the study of it with videos as well.
Have you see the science videos by Disney? They are cool. They are based on the rides at Disney and teach science.
But it is a fun way to enhance science when I needed the boys to do some science while I had some time to work.
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Disney-Imagineering-Magnetism-Interactive/dp/B002IGPBUI
Rainbow Science is another one I used with my older boys that I liked but it calls for a bit more parent help but again hands-on.
A fairly new comer to the homeschooling world but already a favorite is Elemental Science.
The reason I like them is they combine living books with a classical flavor.
So your boys would be considered The Logic stage so look under The Classic tab to see the options. You can download a sample to look at it.
http://www.elementalscience.com/
I am just throwing out other choices but I loved Real Science 4 Kids too.
Don’t feel hemmed in at this age to one program, but mix and match when you need to and use supplements like videos, paid and free to enrich their learning experience and free your time up to work.
Your list looks good, add in a spelling program too, didn’t know if you do have one, but spelling is best done, in my experience until about 8th grade.
Hope that helps Heather and thanks for being here!!!
Wow! You are amazing!! Thank you so much for taking the time to give me such a thorough answer. I can not tell you how much I appreciate you. I am looking up all of the links you posted now.
So glad to have helped Heather. You are just so very welcome!!
Hi! I could definitely use some input! I have 5 kids (9yr girl 4th grade, 8yr boy 3rd grade, 5year boy K, 2 1/2 girl, 4 month girl) . I started homeschooling fall of 2014 but only with my oldest since I was very pregnant and didn’t think I could do them all in my first year. After Christmas break I brought in my other two school aged kids. So instead of buying all new curriculum for my third grader I am trying to combine as much as I can with my 4th grader. So this is each curriculum I use for each..
4th grade girl
Bible- weekly character trait unit studies off internet
Handwriting- A Reason for Handwriting D
Math – Math-u-see Delta
Language Arts- Abeka….i don’t like this as it’s too much. I’ve actually stopped using the spelling and vocab and penmanship.
History – story of the world book 1, not a fan of this either
Science – apologia Botany
Just added World Geography by confessionsofahomeschooler
We stopped doing history and science when the boys came in, because I felt all three could do geography.
3rd grader
He does the same as my 4th grader except for math he’s using alpha from mathusee
Kinder
Hooked on phonics K
Simple math I teach, writing I teach
He joins in for geography as well
I don’t work outside home. So many options for history and science but I need something for multiple ages and possibly combined history and science. And of course Biblical! Would want chronological order too. We also did Total Language plus for my 4th grader in fall and she retained so much more from that than Abeka.thanks so much for any help!!
Hi Kandace,
Since you posted here instead of emailing me, which I don’t mind, I will just answer here for you and maybe it will help others too.
Here are the advantages or good things that I see:
Your oldest two kids are close in age and this means that sometimes your teaching efforts are multiplied because they are close to the same grade.
Two, when you buy excellent curriculum and use for your older children, you can use it for your younger set of kids too.
So try to think of long term when you are buying curriculum and dividing that price out by 4 or 5, which is the number of children that will use a particular curriculum. You will get a truer picture of what the curriculum is costing you.
Your questions seem to about language arts.
Starting with your oldest sweet girl, look at these points:
Yes, A Beka can tend to move too fast for some kids and can be intense on language arts. Not all kids do well with this type of approach.
I love Total Language Plus and have used it with several of my kids because you have the choice to choose novels based on their likes not just grade level.
My caveat is using Total Language Plus is to be careful about how much writing you are doing with it and A Reason for Handwriting.
Try to look at ways that you can use the principles that A Reason for Handwriting are teaching to incorporate with her writing lessons in Total Language Plus.
Don’t try to have two competing (in the sense they are teaching difference concepts at different times) writing programs.
A Reason for Handwriting is more focused on the how tos of writing, but many of them can be applied to Total Language Plus.
Too, if you go this route, using Total Language Plus, I would add in a Spelling program.
A child needs help at least until about the 8th grade with the mechanics of language and phonics, which is done through a stand alone spelling program.
I have found that though Total Language Plus has spelling, having another program that teaches spelling implicitly has been a good way to keep my sons’ spelling skills strong.
If you like A Reason for Handwriting, you may like A Reason for Spelling for her.
Again, don’t try to use two programs and have double work, but you will find that you may not use all the parts of one curriculum. You can skip that part, like maybe spelling on Total Language Plus, to use a more implicit spelling practice.
Too,some of this is determined by the spelling skills of your daughter. My oldest son did fine with the spelling in Total Language Plus, my second son needed more intense instruction.
Now to your next child, your sweet 3rd grade son.
Some of the same that I said above applies to him, but there are some exceptions.
At this grade, he really needs a more direct approach to spelling. By 4th grade, some kids have the phonics part down and are great spellers, others not so much.
It has been my experience that providing a direct approach to phonics and spelling until at least about 4th grade produces better spellers and writers.
Too, most boys, mine included, are behind girls in hand writing. It is important that each day he gets some kind of handwriting practice.
So that he does not hate writing, use copy work. Copy work is a timeless treasure for all ages and it gives him more work in seeing how beautiful sentences are formed and makes him mind the details like periods, commas and other punctuation marks.
Have you seen the Queen copywork books? They are beautiful and work well for this.
Too, a little secret tip that I used with my boys AND to get in more science and history is to allow them to choose a book of their choosing (but ones that you have determined ahead of time are worth copying) and start copy work from it.
I would go to the library, choose science and history books on all kinds of topics and then spread them out. My son would still get a choice and would use that book as copywork for the week. This way I am covering more science and history along with handwriting.
Too, with boys you have to introduce some of this with a “bit of sugar”, which doesn’t hurt either. So what I would do is have them draw a picture FIRST of the passage in their journal. Then, copy the passage. Too, my sons would build a Lego model, take a picture of it and paste the picture in their journal and then write. Inspired they were to write.
Sometimes, they had to add a bit to the passage to make a story and of course this is what you want them to do.
Now to your next child, your sweetie K son.
This sounds right on target and don’t forget to add in simple copywork too at an early age. He needs to see beautiful sentences each day. One sentence each day is enough. Keep doing crafts with him too to strengthen his fine motor skills. If nothing else, some play-doh for the day helps when you are overloaded with too much to do for the day.
Also, have you looked at the Five in a Row series? One reason why your daughter may have liked Total Language Plus and did well with it is because it is based off beautiful literature.
You can enhance that with the series of Five in a Row. It has Before Five in a Row and Beyond Five in a Row. But it is literature based and you add in hands on projects or suggestions they give you in the curriculum. But many of the books can be done with all of your children together.
About History and Science.
I know a lot of homeschoolers who love Story of the World. We did too, but I did a lot of the projects along with reading the stories. Sometimes, the format though does not appeal to all kids.
Bright Ideas Press has a great multiple age curriculum for both science and history.
By the way, I am an ambassador of Bright Ideas Press and I want you to know that because I am going to refer you to their wonderful hands-on science, Christian Kids Explore series written for 3rd grade to 6th grade level.
When I find a company that I love and love their products because I use them and they work for multiple ages, I love to tell others about them.
Their history is the same way and in chronological order.
Bright Ideas Pres
I want you to have choices and another one I love is Sassafrass science which uses living books. It is for multiple ages and encourages a love of science.
You’ll love this program too.
http://sassafrasscience.com/
I think Kandace that your list is great and remember too, one huge tip and that is when using history or science to pull some of your language arts from them too.
What I mean by this is that you can assign ONE assignment for all of your children from a history or science book.
If you were learning about an animal in science, for example, your oldest can write one well-formed paragraph, your first son could copy some of the sentences and draw a picture about it, your Kindergartener could write one sentence and then draw a picture, your 21/2 year old could color a picture you printed off and your 4 month could listen to beautiful words as you read to all of them together.
So that is one way to make ONE assignment work for ALL ages and itsaves your sanity.
Not to mention, this method gives you a break from the language arts assignment they each have because they are on different levels and it fosters sibling togetherness instead of doing assignments separately throughout the day.
Thank for emailing me Kandace and I hope you can implement some of these tips!!
Tina, this is amazing and gracious. This is why you are my number one favorite homeschool blog.
Thank you.
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Oh, so sweet Lindsey! Just my pleasure to do this and have you here!! You are so welcome!