Hey, All! I need some advice!!! I will be pulling my 2 boys, ages 9 & 5 out of ps at the end of this month and will begin hsing them!!! I'm so excited but have so many questions! I'm having a problem deciding on a curriculum so I thought I would seek some advice...here goes... My 9 year old is an advanced reader and does very well in math. Comprehension is an issue to a point but as far as actually reading he's able to handle chapter books such as the Little House books. I've been looking at "Five in a Row and Beyond", "Prairie Primer" and "Sonlight" for him and I'd like to use Horizons math with him. My 5 year old can write simple sentences using the words "like, can, see, I & to" and knows almost all of the letters and sounds. I feel he'll soon be ready to start reading. He can also do simple addition and subtraction problems. I've been looking at "Five in a Row" or "Sonlight" for him and would also like to use Horizons math with him. My hang up is this...will I be pushing them too hard with "Sonlight" and "Horizons" (this is more of an issue with my 5 year old) but on the other hand I don't want to be too lax if he is ready to move forward. So I guess I'm looking for something that will challenge him but not be too hard. We've been reading the Little House books out loud at bedtime for a few months now and both my boys enjoy them very much and I was thinking of using "Prairie Primer" with the 9 year old for American History and Science but am not sure about it as far as spelling/grammar goes. He loves science but has not been a social studies fan at least in public school thus far. Okay...so with these insights in mind...advise away... and I thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart!!! Robyn
Hello Robyn!!! Some curriculum publishers have sample pages you can view on their site. If the books do not seem difficult enough or to difficult you can always suppliment with something else. It could be another curriculum or a cheap book from Wal-Mart. I use a lot of A Beka but I also use other books as well. We use the cheap Spectrum Geography book because this year A Beka doesn't stress on the subject as much. Definitley look over sample sheets on the publisher's site. It really helps. Good luck and I hope you enjoy homeschooling. We are all here is you need advise or just a good laugh. Patty
Are you looking for Christian or non-Christian material? Some doesn't matter, but there are two history curriculums that are absolutely GREAT! Story of the World (SOTW) is more secular, though it includes some Biblical characters, and Mystery of History (MOH), which is Christian based. Both of them are excellent programs, so you might want to look into those. They are more hands on things that make history doubly fun to learn, and they learn WAY BETTER than just reading a book! Just my one suggestion! WELCOME!!!
Theres alot out there what you talked about are very good. There alot of books at Sam's CLub too for 6.00 each you might want to look to sub. with.
Hi Robyn- I am also new to homeschooling having just started with my 7th grader a few weeks ago. Because I have no teaching background I decided to go with a curriculum that would help me with the placement and one that had an online component because my dd loves to be on the computer. We are using the k12 curriculum and so far it is going very well! We are fortunate in that in our state it is a public school option but I know it is available in most states. If you want to know more feel free to contact me, and good luck! Karen
Robyn, you will not be pushing too hard to use SL and horizons. SL is a wonderful curriculum and we can easily do the 5 day schedule in 4 days. We use the 5th day for enrichment activities, which my dc lovingly call "fun school". However, we really, really love SL. We're doing core 3 this year and we're having so much fun and learning a ton.
Robyn, Congratulations!!! We are very excited for you, too! It is a wonder filled adventure to hs your kids. I've not used those programs, so I can't speak specifically, but rarely do we push our kids too hard. They can learn all kinds of things, very quickly. I think where we make the most mistakes is making the day too long. Kids learn and thrive best in short bursts of really challenging education, with lots of fun and laughter mixed in. And the more creatively (ie naturally) you teach them, the more they enjoy it. Have a great time!
I love sonlight curric. I do not follow their TG just buy all teh readers and read-alouds and work through them on our won schedule, I do however order the science kit and bible study package. I think it is a a wonderful way to "teach" without doing formal lessons. I have not tried horizons so I can't help you there, we are using Math-U-See. With both of them do as much hands on as possible, especially withe 5 year old. Try to avoid relying on workbooks etc, and instead find ways to bring the topic alive. Even for reading this can be done, with magnet letters, finger writing in salt or sand, moveable alphabet pieces(like mini flashcards with the letters on them), wikki stix etc
Alpha Omega has placement tests that you can buy and use to see what grade level the student needs to start with. As far as Horizons math being a push, I dont believe you have to worry about that. You will be the teacher and you can decide what material to start with, and how much to finish. You can also decide to put an objective off until later if needed. For example, we are using Horizons, my student is doing well with 95 percent of the material. We were having trouble with odd and even, got past that and now counting by 3's and 4's are confusing because we are just now mastering the concepts of odd/even and counting by twos. I elected to skip those problems or have the student do it buy counting four more instead of thinking the number out of air. I went to the university library near me and looked at many books on teaching elem. math (there must be 1500-2000 of them) and saw that generally this is mastered in second grade or third, and introduced in K, and 1. I will revisit these objectives later when not in conflict with other skills/learning. I like the Horizons Teachers guide for math, it is useful and suggests various activities and options.
HI Robyn! I remember being right where you aer. Looking over lots of different curr. I was overwhelmed. I think the best thing to do is to write down what you are looking for in a curr. and then look through websites, mail order books, ect. I of course recomend my curr (below) but each homeschooler has their own style. What works for one doesn't always work for another.
Hello and congrats. just wanted to say that I use Horizons and really like it. I love the teachers manual. It really helps give a lesson and a good amount of review to help students master each concept. As far as Singapore it has a placement test on www.sonlight.com and there is a placemen test for Horizons on there as well.
Thanks! After posting this thread I became so immersed in homeschooling I completely forgot about this website until just recently! I have just got back on and read all these suggestions and wonderful words of encouragement...so even tho it's VERY late I give you all my thanks! Please forgive me in being lax...I'll try to be better!
It's been very challenging but I love it! Still trying to find a curriculum that fits...right now I'm trying to decide between Sonlight and My Father's World and between Horizons math and Singapore math... Thanks for asking!
I say YES USE HORIZON for your 9 yr old! We love it! ANd the K level or 1st grade level of Horizon we have used too it is great! The Sonlight curric is good I hear, but to me it was overwhelming at start. We went with Alpha omega when we started out becasue it was easier for me to see what and when they needed to learn what, and the teacher books for the first grade levels had instructions for what to do and what time to use for what subject. Christian Lighthouse publisher is one of the sites that has a list of many currics in a set up for grades they have a web site. They will send you a free catalogue too. We went through their catalogue then ordered via CBD, Homeschool classifieds or something, and Ebay! also Amazon, we checked the ones we wanted on all those and found the best deals.
