Homeschooling Curricula

[LadyFlynt]

Wouldn't touch ACE with a ten foot pole...literally. Taken from one whose viewed over the technique in consideration and whose husband was on a schoolboard for years at a Christian school using ACE. The Kindergarten program is the only part that I could endorse.

It's dumbed down curriculum for parents/teachers who want the least amount of effort on their part.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Scott, I have a few more (more classical) suggestions that were from a homeschool chat.

Story of the World (which I've used and liked)
My Father's World
Truth Quest
Mystery of History

All unit study (multi level) and classical.

 

[LadyFlynt]

I tell you what...I'm seriously looking at MFW...seems like it has both what TOG and Weaver has in their pros.

here is a conversation comparing MFW and TOG:

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?t=685

 

[Scott]

Colleen: That is helpful, thanks. Let me know what you think of MFW. We had looked at that too.

 

[LadyFlynt]

What did you think...curious

 

[LadyFlynt]

I've started a thread here --> http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/cgi-bin/unit.cgi asking for comparisons, if you or your wife would like to keep an eye on it...or participate in it if you have questions.

 

[Scott]

Colleen: I liked the chronological study of history, the design to accommodate multiple ages, the Christian foundation, unit studies and the intent to minimize preparation. I could not access enough detail to become real comfortable, though. I would want to look through more.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Just wondering how it's going with everybody?

Scott, have you had a chance to view over and decide curric yet?

Have others chosen theirs for this next year?

Anthony, how is homeschooling going?

 

[LadyFlynt]

bumping

 

[Tirian]

Hi folks,

My wife and I commenced homeschooling a few weeks back now. We have settled on the phonic program from LEM (http://www.lem.com.au) which we will start shortly and we will be using "A Becca" Maths and Science.

Though the material we have right now is pulled together from all over, we have already seen that homeschooling has been a blessing for our son and for us. He is learning more quickly and retaining more and as a consequence, has more time to do things outdoor like tend to a vegtable garden etc.

If any of you know of good Christian homeschooling forums where other Aussies "hang out", please let me know.

Matthew

 

[Scott]

We will probably just do basics this year with our first grader (oldest), focusing on reading and math. We are going to do a simple overview of American history, science (mainly simple hands-on experients), and music too. We will probably hold off on TOG until our oldest is in the third or fourth grade.

 

[LadyFlynt]

This is a Christian Homeschooling (MODERATED) Chat site...Mostly ladies, some men. From all around the world (I have a friend there from Oz ):

http://homeschoolforms.com/forums/index.php

Here is a Homeschooling Forum with ppl from all over...mostly US though and all women (men just don't seem to participate in these things):

http://homeschoolforms.com/forums/index.php

[Edited on 5-24-2005 by LadyFlynt]

 

[Tirian]

Thanks Coleen

 

[Scott]

"Scott, have you had a chance to view over and decide curric yet?"

We decided on putting our first grader in My Father's World. We are still thiknking about doing TOG when he starts 3rd or 4th grade.

 

[toddpedlar]

We began a little early with Abigail, our oldest, last fall with phonics and pre-K math. My wife took it fairly casually, but Abby really was having a ball with it. This year Abby is 4.5 and we're starting in earnest - Five in A Row for this year, along with Singapore K math (which we're halfway through at this point anyway) and Horizons 1 math, Phonics pathways, and a Handwriting program that I don't recall. The next year, we'll start Veritas's literature in earnest. Our aim will be to start Veritas history in 2 years, but we'll likely be integrating a narrative approach rather than heavy workbook emphasis that Veritas promotes. Sarah, our 2nd, will be 3 in January - she's mostly just 'listening in' at this point. When we start history with Abby, Sarah will be 4, and she'll be part of things informally.

We're just thrilled to be starting the homeschool road. Abby is really enthusiastic about learning, which is a real joy.

Todd

[Edited on 8-9-2005 by toddpedlar]

 

[LadyFlynt]

We started My Father's World's Exploring Countries and Cultures last week. We are loving it! It's all laid out for me, the books are included, I can easily input the assignments into the homeschool tracker just by looking at the schedule sheet, it's not alot of stress, and the kids are both learning and having fun.

 

[LarryCook]

The only downside since pulling our oldest son out of PS midway through the fourth grade is the clear realization of just how bad PS actually is. We use the ABeka video (dvd) and did the entire fourth grade. We started 5th grade this spring and are about half way through.

We decided shortly after starting fifth grade to have him take the Stanford Acheivement Test Series. We did some prep work for about 7 days and then dropped him off for I believe 2 days of testing (he came home at night).

I am not quite sure how to react to his scores. He certainly isn't as quick as some of the kids in the videos, and he usually scores in the low to mid 90's on his tests, sometimes he aces them. So at 10 years and 8 months old he ranks as Post High School in Word Study Skills, Math Procedures, Language, Language Mechanics, Language Expression, and Spelling. Eleventh grade level or higher in Reading Vocabulary and Total Mathematics. His only fourth grade level was in Science, with everything else falling between fifth and eleventh grade level.

What a sad reflection this is on the state of our public High School graduates. I only hope that some day people just say "that's enough!". What a disaster!!!

Larry

 

[Scott]

I remember being in 4th grade and taking an achievement test indicating that I read at an 11th grade level. I remember mainly thinking that that indicated some serious problems in our schools.