By now, most of us have already launched into the school year and are finding that we either love our curriculum choices or that they need a little tweaking. There may even be a few areas that where we haven’t made an, ummm, decision on curriculum yet. So, for the next two weeks, Habits will be highlighting curriculum! We’ll have reviews from our own writers, as well as a few guest posts. Please be sure to comment in and share your curriculum faves – we do love hearing from you!
To kick off this week, our own Kim is sharing her background and some of her faves. She’ll be posting a more in depth review about a recent find later in the week. I have personally bent Kim’s ear many a time about curriculum. Having known her my entire homeschooling journey, she has been the mentor who has been there, done that and who is always willing to share what she’s learned. That’s why we lovingly refer to her as the ‘curriculum queen’. Once you read her story, I’m sure you’ll agree. Kerri
Long, long, ago in what now seems like another life I was a regular schoolteacher. I taught for six years before preacher daddy and I had our own children. When they became school age, we made the decision to homeschool. As a minister, he had a crazy schedule and this option would allow us not to be tied to a regular school schedule. Over the years homeschooling has worked really well for our family. In 2009, I graduated my oldest and she is now doing great as a sophomore in college.
We love the flexibility homeschooling has allowed us to have and the time it has given us to teach our children about God.
I have many people say, “Well, it must be easy for you to homeschool since you are a teacher.” I am not sure about that. Homeschooling is so much different from teaching in a classroom. The first few years I was home, I tried to bring the classroom into our home and about drove myself crazy. The advantage I have might be that I know some education lingo, but I had to retrain myself to teach at home and not like an institution.
When I taught school, I thought homeschoolers were weird. Well, actually there are a few that are, let’s say, somewhat unusual. As I think back to all the children and parents I dealt with in public and private school, I have to be fair and say there were some unusual ones there too. So, I guess weird is relative. Look at me. I have eight kids; I don’t actually represent the norm in society, do I? But, I think I am normal. 🙂
Over the years, I have tried many different curricula. Depending on how many I was schooling and if I had a new baby in the house, what I used could change from year to year. So, if you are a homeschooling mom reading this, here are some of my favorite finds that have stood the test of time:
Bible and Bible resources
The Narrated Bible, Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History, Leading Little Ones to God, Adventures in Odyssey, Keys for Kids and Heritage Builders Family Nights Tool Chest.
Math
Saxon, Rod & Staff, Teaching Textbook, Modern Curriculum Press
Language Arts/phonics/Reading
Rod & Staff, McRuffy Press, Explode the Code
Christian Light Readers, Pathway Readers, sonlight book list, alpha phonics
Science
History
Real books, Christian Liberty Press History Readers, Tapestry of Grace
Other
Hands of a child project packs
Favorite places to purchase curriculum:
When my children get to middle school, to save my sanity, I use Switched on Schoolhouse for History, Science and Spanish.
updated from original post in 2007
Thank you, I really appreciate your words of wisdom!!
Thank you!! It is wonderful to see these things that DO work!