How did you decide which curriculum was the one for you? Was it by trial and error or did you already know what you wanted?
I think if I had gone with my mommy instinct from the get-go and had not let moms on HS boards sway what I knew in my heart was the best for my kids.
Another thing that brought me to where I am now is that I learned no curriculum is perfect and IT IS OK TO TWEAK!
We're starting slowly with just one unit from one program for English - Total Language Plus: American Lit - Poetry. I'm primarily writing our own curriculum for most of English since that's an area of strength for me. She's already strong in grammar, so I'm picking a daily review type of program for her just to keep her in practice. Vocab will be focused on Greek and Latin roots and prefixes - memorization and application to English words. And her writing will be varied throughout all her classes. No formal curriculum for that, either, except for this poetry unit. I'm a truly awful poet!
I'm not picking a formal history curriculum, either, but using a "real books" approach with a spine text to keep things on track. I haven't picked the spine yet, but I've been reading reviews and recommendations.
Math and science will require a formal curriculum and I'm swamped by choice. Several people have recommended "Teaching Textbooks" for Geometry and Algebra 2 and it seems to be something that will click with DD, but I really won't know without a closer look.
Science is just...a mess. DD is still working out her faith, so something with an overtly Christian bent is simply going to distract her. I'm looking for a secular science curriculum and have heard of some folks who just go straight to community college courses for their high school science requirements.
So I know what I'm looking for, it's simply a matter of finding the things that meet my requirements.
I know where you are coming from. I write our own curriculum. :)
Quoting 5BMom:
Trial and error...and error...and hit...and error!!!
I think if I had gone with my mommy instinct from the get-go and had not let moms on HS boards sway what I knew in my heart was the best for my kids.
Another thing that brought me to where I am now is that I learned no curriculum is perfect and IT IS OK TO TWEAK!
I knew I wanted to do Saxon Math as I did Saxon in 9th-11th grade. So I am familiar with Saxon. With everything else I looked online to find something that looked like it would be fun for the kids and I to do and learn from though some stuff I'll throw together myself.
I make up my own worksheets and curriculum. I feel that for the most part, workbooks are a waste of money because it is just busy work. I follow the guidelines of Susan and Jessi Wise Bauer, though I don't use all their ideas either. That's part of the fun of homeschooling! Picking and choosing what works for your family. I will never do Saxon math as I hated it in school. My hubby found some great high school math books, I think by Paul Foerster, which he used when teaching high school math. I have different science textbooks that I use for ideas but the kids don't follow them.
I make our own curriculum as well. We buy used school books to bounce some ideas from but do not use them fully either.
Quoting bluevelvetKS:
I make up my own worksheets and curriculum. I feel that for the most part, workbooks are a waste of money because it is just busy work. I follow the guidelines of Susan and Jessi Wise Bauer, though I don't use all their ideas either. That's part of the fun of homeschooling! Picking and choosing what works for your family. I will never do Saxon math as I hated it in school. My hubby found some great high school math books, I think by Paul Foerster, which he used when teaching high school math. I have different science textbooks that I use for ideas but the kids don't follow them.
I just love the focus you have. Would you happen to have any to spare?
Quoting SusanTheWriter:
We're starting slowly with just one unit from one program for English - Total Language Plus: American Lit - Poetry. I'm primarily writing our own curriculum for most of English since that's an area of strength for me. She's already strong in grammar, so I'm picking a daily review type of program for her just to keep her in practice. Vocab will be focused on Greek and Latin roots and prefixes - memorization and application to English words. And her writing will be varied throughout all her classes. No formal curriculum for that, either, except for this poetry unit. I'm a truly awful poet!
I'm not picking a formal history curriculum, either, but using a "real books" approach with a spine text to keep things on track. I haven't picked the spine yet, but I've been reading reviews and recommendations.
Math and science will require a formal curriculum and I'm swamped by choice. Several people have recommended "Teaching Textbooks" for Geometry and Algebra 2 and it seems to be something that will click with DD, but I really won't know without a closer look.
Science is just...a mess. DD is still working out her faith, so something with an overtly Christian bent is simply going to distract her. I'm looking for a secular science curriculum and have heard of some folks who just go straight to community college courses for their high school science requirements.
So I know what I'm looking for, it's simply a matter of finding the things that meet my requirements.
Leaving public school...
- kirbymom
on Apr. 24, 2012 at 9:20 PM