[deedee1231]

Has anyone found an amazing curriculum that you just love? I have tried a few, but so far nothing that I have just fallen in love with. I tried Alpha Omega last year, it wasn't very user friendly. So this year I have 2 kids on ACE School of Tomorrow, which isn't very interactive between the educator and the student and 2 kids on Bob Jones Univeristy Press which is more work for the educator than for the student! Has anyone found a happy medium?

[twinzplus3]

I LOVE Sonlight. Love it, love it, love it. I hate all of the curriculums you've tried. (Sorry. . .but true. ) What I like about Sonlight is that it's so flexible. There are other things I like to add with, but this is the bulk of our curriculum.

[deedee1231]

I know I posted this a week ago, I am sorry, I am crazy-busy! I looked at the Sonlight, it looks really good if a bit-ahem-pricey. I really like the Christian aspect of it and I would like to try it for next year, but I am not sure if I can swing a full curriculum for all 4 kids.

Do you ever purchase a partial curriculum and then supplement with something else? I am using the BJU for my 5yo twins and honestly it seems like I am using it more as a guide, I teach the concepts they introduce but I don't follow the provided lesson plans. I teach the material in my own way and use the provided workbooks for practice and then supplement with worksheets from the internet or assignments that I devise myself. The curriculum also seems very rigorous for Kingergarten-when I was little, K was 1/2 day! Anyway, they can't sit still through all of it if I follow strictly by the book. Some days when they are wiggly we just read stories and draw pictures about what we read!

For my older kids, (4th grade and 9th grade) I am using the ACE School of Tomorrow and they don't get much out of it, honestly. The 4th grade curriculum seems really remedial (especially the English and Math) and it is hard to make it more challenging for him. On the other hand, the 9th grade Math seems very complicated and difficult fo figure out and the English has gone by the wayside in favor of reading good books and writing assignments I just make up for her because it is completely irrelevant. I am an English major in an evening BA program and I see no value in many of the assignments in the ACE 9th grade English program.

So, I guess my point is that I like the literature based and Christian aspects of the Sonlight, but I am not sure about the price for 4 kids. So if I needed to order only the most important components to build a curriculum on, what would those be?

I am sorry this is long! I just ramble sometimes. Also, no hurry getting back, as we will not order any new curriculum until summer. Thanks for any insight you have to offer.

[twinzplus3]

Nope not too long and yes, I understand. . .it is pricey. We don't use all of it either for that reason. . .although we started with it so I tend to look at purchases working for all 5 kids KWIM? Anyhow. . .

I would order the core. . .just history, readers, and read alouds. Everything else you can add to. I did not LOVE the language arts that came with my dd's core K but that was 4 years ago and they've since revamped it. . .I haven't looked at it since bc we used something different for ds. I do order the science books that are literature oriented (like biographies of scientists and such) but not the experiments or other type books. Instead we go through the encylcopedia and use Janice Van Cleave for experimental stuff. Use writing strands for dd for writing and my other kids are too young. Use writing approach to correct grammar. . .and other stuff. Will use alphabet island phonics by Eagle's Wings to do penmanship, grammar, phonics, etc. for twins and dd 4. . .although I also use literactive.com--awesome website.

Oh and if you can swing it. . .the Bible stuff IMO is totally worth it. The story bible is very good for little kids and in fact, we still use it for family devotions. But I also get Bible stuff from doorposts. HTH

[jkl123]

I just wanted to add that if you are able to get in with a network of local homeschoolers (many have Yahoo groups), you may be able to find some second-hand curriculum dirt cheap.

[deedee1231]

I have actually tried to utilize some used curriculum, I know it is great for those who are on a tight budget but my problem is that I don't like to spend a lot of time peicing things together. I prefer to spend all of our school time actually learning, so I want something that is ready to use out of the box, with a finite starting point, and then if we reach a point where the kids want more information on a topic...that is when I am willing to do my research and try to devise more challenging lessons for them.


When I first looked at the Sonlight website, I was really put off by the prices of their packages. I figured it would be around 4 grand (or more) to homeschool my four kids for just one year, that is a little (OK, ALOT) more than I had in mind to spend! But I really liked the overall message of the site, much more than any other I have looked at, and I also like the Literature based, liberal arts approach, so I went ahead and ordered their catalog. After spending some time looking at the catalog and reading the information, I realized that you are not supposed to order the Core for each individual child. You order one core and teach the core to the group, then teach math and science separately. So...since my kids are so far apart in age, I think I need at least two seperate cores, but I think that I can manage to order everything I will need to start on the Sonlight program next year for considerably less than I originally thought, and really not that much more than I spent this year for the stuff I am unhappy with. I am still deciding exactly how much I want to order from them, whether or not to get core ultra or just core, but I will probably try them next year, after we are done with the stuff we are using now. Honestly, if I hadn't spent so much already on the curriculum we already have, I would chuck it and order the Sonlight now, but I guess you live and learn!

[twinzplus3]

Yes, you shouldn't order a seperate 'core' for each child. And remember too that once your younger children are older, you won't have to buy that material again. I do actually do two seperate cores, but modify the schedule a bit. But next year I'm looking at school 3 children and I'm finding that I'm only spending a couple of $100 more to do 3 kids than to do 2 bc the stuff is getting reused. So now, when I look at a curriculum investment, I really examine whether or not it might work for 5 kids. If I really like the principle of it, if it's really interesting, if the material is reusable and/or won't go out of date. . .and then I divide that number by 5--to come up with how much I'm spending on each child. That's the number I use to decide if 'it's worth it.' So while I spent almost $1,000 on Lizzy's (dd#1) stuff, I'll use it 5 times. . .and $200 per year for a private school quality education isn't bad at all!

I also am not a big fan of used curriculum. I don't have time to piece things together and I want stuff new--for the most part. So I just budget around it. Hoping I made sense. Glad to have a Sonlight buddy!

[scrapbookguru]

When I decided to homeschool my son, I knew I wanted to cut costs where I could. Obviously knowing that curriculum was important, I designed my own. It's so much easier, there are dozens of resources for every subject available (especially on the Internet) and it cost very little to create and maintain. (printer ink mostly).

So, that's it in a nutshell. We tried the Basic Not Boring series in 3rd grade and while he loved it, it was uhm....boring in 7th grade.

[twinzplus3]

I think designing your own curriculum is a great option too. I have to have my entire year's worth of lesson plans done in advance (as per the state law) and I know I couldn't do it for all of my kids. I'd spend my entire summer doing just that. And I probably wouldn't even get it done then!

[deedee1231]

I am SO glad I do not have to turn in all the paperwork you describe in your blogs! I do keep records, but I do not think I would like to have them scrutinized every few months. In my state (MO) homeschoolers have to keep records, but there is no place to turn them in at . Still, I have it all together just in case anyone ever comes knocking at the door, I will be ready!