Lets chat curriculum options:
First things first, I feel like it needs to be said that there is no perfect curriculum that will fit every child's needs. We've tried multiple curriculum's during our homeschooling years, the best advice I can give is to try some out and see which your kids respond to. Don’t be afraid to take your time learning which are the best fit, seek lots of advice from other friends and fellow homeschoolers as well as check out curriculum in person before you buy whenever possible because it is the best option to really know what you're purchasing. Also, it is important to know that there will be times you will have to chuck things that just don't work. They may not work for a lot of reasons such as: not fitting what you need or you and/or your kids may just hate it. Don’t fret or worry though as we’ve all been there and it's really not the end of the world, it will all work out! Take your time and try a few things out before you decide to go all in on a curriculum. Mixing and matching several companies curriculum may be the best bet for your family, don’t feel pressured to buy one entire curriculum package as it isn’t always a one size fits all and what works for one kiddo most likely won’t for the next. Feel free to adapt your curriculum to you and your needs not the other way around. :)
Here are some of our favorites that we’ve tried:
*For our first several years we used the “Story of the World” curriculum for our history. We loved that instead of just a lot of boring dates and facts that typical history textbooks tend to have it presented. Instead the information is in story format that is geared to children in elementary & middle school which made it really easy for us to join that subject together regardless of the fact that my kids are 3 grades apart. They loved that it included not only stories but it also offered a lot of crafts and projects that were focused on the topic we were studying. That worked really well for my daughter who is a visual learner and my son who tends to be more of a kinesthetic, auditory learner. I loved that It fit both of their learning styles and held their interests really well.
*We also loved using “Apologia” for Science, health and our bible study our first several years. We enjoyed the "Who is God" study that we used for a family bible study (it helped to answer a lot of questions and to lead us in some great family discussions), we also found the exploring creation health, zoology 1, 2, & 3 and the astronomy series. Their whole collection is wonderful and very thorough. My kids have both thought this curriculum is excellent.
*We have all liked using “Math U See” as our math curriculum the past 5 years. It fits both of my kids' learning styles, provides video explanations of the curriculum, builds on itself and incorporates several skills into one year.
*For spelling we have liked “Wordly Wise 3000”. It includes spelling words, their definitions, several activities/lessons to build understanding of the meaning and assists with learning multiple ways to use the word in everyday lingo, sentences etc. At the end of the week there are quizzes/tests and chapter tests as well. My kids have both expanded their vocabularies and understanding of words through this program.
*Another thing we have included is to find a good journal for kids and have each child write for 20-30 minutes daily, sometimes they follow a journal prompt in their journal or other days they just answer questions or write whatever is on their mind. Our favorites have been “Prompt Me’ journal, Start Where you Are”, “Learn, grow, succeed” and several gratitude themed journals for kids we’ve found on Amazon.
*This year we are using Master books "the world story" for history and it is by far our favorite thus far. My son loves the story telling used to teach the history lessons, the beautiful art and photographs of places we are studying as well as the activities included in the lessons that help to really bring history alive for him.
*We are using the Lost Tools of Writing this year and so far have really been enjoying its easy approach to writing and that it clearly lays out the method behind writing and why we follow a set method/approach. It breaks down which steps to do first and what order to follow them so it takes the guesswork out of the lessons and is geared more for middle school/high school ages.
The most important tips I can share are to take your time, don't be discouraged if it takes a while to figure out which curriculum is the right fit, try not to be overwhelmed by all the choices and remember that it's okay to not have it all figured out right away. Almost every veteran homeschool momma I've met and chatted with has attested that it took them a long time to figure out the best curriculm for their kiddos, many said they were still searching to find a better fit even after years of homeschooling. Let that be an encouragement to you that even seasoned veterans don't have everything figured out & it's okay for you not to put that much pressure on yourself too ;)
A few tips for Oregonians:
*Facebook has several groups that might be of interest for anyone in Oregon or moving to Oregon that are especially helpful for buying or selling used curriculum: Oregon home-school buy and sell group on FB, Homeschooling in Oregon on FB, Oregon Home-school Science Club on FB, OCEANetwork on FB, Linn & Benton County Homeschoolers unite on FB, Helpful Homeschoolers on FB and Outdoors in Oregon with Homeschoolers on FB. There are hundreds of groups but these are some of my favorites that we have really enjoyed.
Happy curriculum hunting,
~K
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