Homeschool Curriculum

[Spart02]

For those of you that homeschool, what curriculum do you prefer? I'm considering homeschooling my child who will be in 3rd grade next fall. Is there a curriculum that is mainly online? What is the approximate cost to the programs? Thanks!

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

I don't know if it's available where you live, but you should check out connections academy virtual school. www.connectionsacademy.com.

We started with them this year and we have been evry pleased.
It's a charter school through our school district and is free.

 

[Spart02]

Thanks for the info. That one sounds great, but unfortunately it's not offered in Iowa. It sounds like exactly what we are looking for though.

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

I started homeschooling my DD12 this year. I reasearched all last summer to find the right curriculum, there is a lot of stuff to sort through out there.

BJU Press has curriculum available that is computer based, distance learning. The website is: http://www.bjupress.com/distance_learning/homeschool.html

There is also Alpha Omega which is just computer based, do-it-yourself: http://www.aophomeschooling.com

We use Sonlight which is literature based: http://www.sonlight.com/

I'm from Iowa too, here is the link for Iowa NICHE, the homeschool association for Iowa http://www.the-niche.org/index.html. They have a huge homeschooling conference every year (June 6-7 this year), and all the major curriculum vendors will be there so you can look at the materials before buying. They can also get you in touch with your local co-op if there is one.

I haven't regretted my decision to homeschool once, yes we've had some battles, but I've never regretted it. Good luck on your decision.

 

[cirquelovers]

I don't know if it's available where you live, but you should check out connections academy virtual school. www.connectionsacademy.com.

We started with them this year and we have been evry pleased.
It's a charter school through our school district and is free.

We're with them too. I was just going to suggest it, sorry they don't have it in Iowa yet.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I'll put in another plug for Sonlight. We enjoy the literature based approach to learning.

A great place to look at what's available for homeschoolers is the Rainbow Resource catalog. It's as big as a phone book! I think you might be able to request a catalog at www.rainbowresource.com.

 

[MagicAllison]

I pieced together my own curric. but am most happy with Saxon for math, and The Story of the World for history.

 

[graygables]

We found K12 to be a thorough and rigorous curriculum, but when we pulled DDs from the virtual charter school, it was too expensive on our own. We opted to use Switched on Schoolhouse which we currently really like.

 

[Heluvsme]

I homeschool my son, 7 years old, and we pick and choose each subject's curriculum, it's a very eclectic mix. I love Five In A Row for most of it though to be honest, it is of course mainly language arts, but they include lessons for science, art, history, geography, civics, music, and social studies. At his young age, this is sufficient for now, as he gets older I will have to find other sources.

Happy Homeschooling to you!!!!

 

[sha_lyn]

If I were to go back to using a boxed curriculum I would use http://http://www.calvertschool.org/calvert-school again.

Do you want a religious or secular curriculum?

As for computer based curriculums....
I've heard very good things about this web based curriculum.
I have it book marked and plan on using the free 2 week trial once we finis up what we have http://www.time4learning.com/

If religious curriculum is OK, I know several that use
http://www.aop.com/sos/


We are very eclectic at this point and use a variety of materials.
Once they bring back the long threads, I'll try to find my post on the homeschooling thread that has links for everything we use.
A quick rundown is
Singapore math

Easy grammar

easy writing

spectrum spelling

hand writing without tears cursive

great science adventures-Earth's Landforms and surface features & Plato Earth & Space (Plato is online)


Just finished up Story of The world Vol I. Are about to move to History Odyssey Middle Ages level 1.

 

[Spart02]

We're looking for a secular program if possible. I'm completely overwhelmed right now with the whole idea of homeschooling. My son will be in 3rd grade when I am considering doing this, but his math and reading are above this grade level...hence the reason for homeschooling. I would like his spelling, science, history, etc. to be at the third grade level though. I'm not sure if this is possible for an online program, or if I need to divide it out by subject and gather the information by myself.

 

[sha_lyn]

From what I understand you can pick and chose grade levels for each subject with the Time4Leanring website.

Calvert you can chose a different math level, but Reading is packaged along with other other subjects.

There are so many choices out there.
I suggest first trying to figure out what "style" will work for both of you.

We follow the Classical method for the most part (The Well Trained Mind), with a little Charlotte Mason thrown in

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

Thanks for the info. That one sounds great, but unfortunately it's not offered in Iowa. It sounds like exactly what we are looking for though.

You might want to check and see if there are any other virtual schools that are in your state.

 

[sha_lyn]

virtual charters do not appear to be an option in Iowa
http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=IA

Connections Academy uses The Calvert curriculum for the most part