A frequently-asked query:
I have decided to homeschool my kids. I have a 10 year old in the 4th going to the 5th grade and a 3 year old. I am very confused about the curriculum for my soon to be 5th grader. I would love to purchase an affordable kit. I have contacted HOST and read on Tx Homeschool Association website all kinds of info.
Does anyone have any suggestions or reviews for which curriculum to choose. A Beka seems somewhat expensive compared to others and I can’t find reviews for anything.
My children are very much NOT introverts. The public school system is dumbing them down. I feel homeschooling is the best choice for us. I just don’t know where to start. I want a kit.
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I would like to recommend the Rainbow Resource website. They have complete curriculum sets along with just about everything else you would need. Their reviews are very thorough.
If you are on a budget you can put your own curriculum together. Here’s an example of something I’ve done for Literature Studies: Check the desired book out of the library. Scan the book and make a list of vocabulary unfamiliar to the student. Ask the student to look each word up in a dictionary and write down the definition. At the end of each days reading the student should discuss with you what was read. When the book is finished the student can write a synopses.
We also homeschool in TX. It’s one of the easiest states to homeschool in. Good luck!
try Calvert. It’s a great school program. they send you everything from textbooks to rulers. They are highly recomendable. It’s an actual school in Maryland. The teachers there have corispondence with you and will help you with ANY question you have about the material.
http://www.calvertschool.org
Great school.
Take a look. Hope this helps!!!
Leave the kids where they are…. they need to be with kids their own age to grow and get along with others. at home they wouldn’t grow and may become to be introverts.
We used the TEA website to give an outline of what the public school was learning. We do not live in Texas but it was a great help in creating our curriculum as we are able to do in our state.
We created our own curriculum using free online websites, library resources and textbooks from used book stores. Our son went to an 11th grade reading comprehension score on his standardized test the next school year. This was a great improvement from his scores while in public school. He also has more time for friends and activities.
I used ABeka for grades PK-2. I love the phonics and handwriting program in the early grade. The workbooks are colorful and engaging. But I changed to Switched on Schoolhouse for grades 3-12. It’s an interactive computer based curriculum. It is more affordable, less time consuming and cheaper than ABeka. I became frustrated because when I wanted to reuse my ABeka’s Teacher guides and answer keys for my younger son three years later, ABeka had already re-written the editions and none of the new workbooks were compatible. I would encounter this for every subject and grade level.
Although Switched on Schoolhouse does update their material yearly. Once you own a grade level you can reuse it for all your children. You do not have to purchase additional workbooks because all the work is completed on the computer. Once you install the application disk on your computer, and set up your school year, you install the subject disks, and assign them to your student. Then the program will create a lesson plan and schedule out all lessons, quizzes and tests for the entire year. If you have to change your anticipated school year, you just change your calendar and with a click of the mouse, regenerate all the remaining school work. SOS also grades most of the work as your child completes each question, so they receive immediate feedback about how they are doing in a lesson, quiz or test. And you have very little to grade yourself. If your child answers a question and it is marked wrong, but you feel he/she should receive credit for their answer, you have the ability to change the grade. You can also customize it and add additional assignments, and even create your own custom subject. And if your child needs to re-do a lesson or even an entire unit, you can erase their work and send it back to them with a click of the button. No more erasing answers in a workbook or whiting out answers.
My children (6th & 8th, 11th & 12th grade) spent about 3-4 hours a day doing their. We’ve used SOS since my oldest was in grade 3. It’s been a wonderful curriculum for them.
Check out the Yahoo SOShomeschool group for more info.
I’m going to agree with the first poster. I use the Calvert curriculum for my son and it has been a total success. They send you the lesson plans, worksheets, and actual textbooks rather than the paper pamphlets I have seen some providers offer. They even offer the option of their teachers’ support and will give you transcripts after your children complete a grade level.
There are so many choices out there, and what works for one might not work for the other. I tried Calvert for my DD and was very disappointed.
Boxed curricula just isn’t a good fit for her.
We are just finishing up 5th grade and this is what we are using. We have used most of them for 2-3 years, and will continue to use most of them.
Great Science Adventures- http://www.commonsensepress.com/greatsci…
History Odyssey http://www.pandiapress.com/
Easy Grammar Easy Writing- http://www.easygrammar.com/index2.html
Writing Strands-http://www.writing-strands.com/home.asp
Handwriting Without Tears-http://www.hwtears.com/
Singapore Math-http://www.singaporemath.com/Mathematics…
Megawords-http://www.learningthings.com/items.asp?…
Most if not all of the above can be purchased from the publishers’ websites or
http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php and
http://www.learningthings.com/index.asp