Homeschool Curriculum: How to Choose?

I was contacted by two different ladies recently that are thinking about homeschooling their children next year, who will be in Kindergarten.  The first lady said, "How in the world can you afford to homeschool?  I tried looking online for curriculum for Kindergarten and it was over $500!!"  The second lady said she had many good books, workbooks, and educational apps and wondered if that was "enough" for homeschooling or should she look into an online subscription program.  I googled "homeschool curriculum" and got 6,460,000 possible answers.  With so many choices available, how do you choose?

First you have to understand that there are a ton of different options for homeschooling!  Cost will depend on what you are looking for.  With a little bit of effort, a library card, a computer, and some real life experiences, you can homeschool for next to nothing.  You can spend several hundred, or thousands of dollars on what I call "curriculum in a box" that will come with every single thing you need to use that curriculum for an entire year down to the smallest detail.  There are also online academies that you can enroll your child in that they complete all of their work and a teacher grades them.   There are many options in between.  What type of curriculum are you looking for?

How does your child learn best?  What kind of learning style do they have? Some children do great with online stuff, others do not.  Some students like to learn independently, others need you to be more involved (especially in the younger years!)  Some are auditory learners who learn better by hearing, or kinesthetic learners who learn by doing.  Some do learn better by reading on their own.  If you are homeschooling for the first time and panicking because you do not know how your child learns best, don't worry, you will.

Cost certainly is a big factor in choosing homeschool curriculum.  More expensive does NOT mean it is better though, just as homeschooling with little or no budget does not mean your child will get "less" of an education.  Generally speaking, homeschooling can be less expensive in the younger grades and gets a little more costly into the high school grades, but even them there are many inexpensive and even free options you can utilize.  Cost will factor into your decision on homeschool curriculum.  You need to get an idea of what you can spend on your homeschool.  I set aside a certain amount a money per month for expenses like field trips, art supplies, printer ink, etc..and an amount to buy curriculum with.

You also need to decide what subjects you want to teach and/or what your child want to learn.  That will help you narrow down the choices.  What are the regulations for homeschooling in your state?  Are there subjects you are required to teach?  Do you want a Christian curriculum?  There are many that are not, so you need to be aware of the worldview of the company.  Does your child have a particular interest in a topic of science or history?  My first year of homeschooling, my oldest was going into 3rd grade.  She LOVED the Little House on the Prairie Books.  I found a unit study curriculum called the Prairie Primer that covered all subjects based on those books (I did use a separate Math curriculum )  We had a wonderful time learning through what she loved!  When my next oldest was in Kindergarten, he was fascinated with Knights and Castles, so we spent a whole year learning about those.

Keep in mind too that there are a lot of curriculum companies are designed to be able to use with a wide range of age ranges.  So if you have a child in 2 and 5th grade, you do not need to teach things like bible, history, and science twice.  You can choose one that will fit them both.


My list of Do's and Don't's of Buying Curriculum

Do's

1.  If you can, go to a homeschooling convention so you can see things in person before buying.
2.  Read reviews!  There are a ton of them out there.  When reading don't focus on whether someone did or didn't like a product but instead focus on what they did or did not like.
3.  Ask opinions from homeschooling friends again paying attention to what they did/did not like.
4.  Set a budget.
5.  Search for used curriculum to save money being mindful that it is something that is allowed to be resold (most computer software cannot), and paying attention to the condition of the product and the price.  I have seen used curricula on Ebay go for more than you can buy it new!
6.  Watch for discounts and sales in the spring and early summer.  Even free shipping discounts can save you a lot of money!  Most curriculum companies end out an email newsletter you can sign up for an/or have a facebook page that they post sales and specials, helpful tips, and answer questions on.
7.  Request catalogs from homeschooling companies (I probably should have put this as #1)  Many offer their catalogs free.  Sometimes looking at catalogs is easier than looking online.
8. Check out the return policy of the company.  Many companies will allow for returns under certain conditions if you are not satisfied or the curriculum does not work for you.


Don't's

1. Don't feel like you have to spend a lot of money to give your child a great education!
2.  Don't think that because you have bought something you are stuck with it.  If you or your child don't like it, you can switch to something else.
3.  Don't fall into "the grass is greener" thought.  If you like a curriculum and it is working for your child, don't feel like you have to change because someone else says something is better.
4.  Don't buy too far ahead.  I have known many people the first year or so that they start homeschooling that buy enough curricula to last until their child graduates.  That is usually not a good idea.  You may change, you child may change, or other children in the family may have different learning styles and that curriculum won't work for them.  Also, just because you really like one book in a series doesn't mean you will like them all.  And, companies change/add to their curriculum all the time.  Especially with the increasing number of digital products being developed, you may not want to buy curricula 18 years in advance!
5.  Don't believe you have to do it all!

There are a TON of good curriculum companies out there.  In case you are looking for a place to start,here are some of my all time favorite curriculum companies ever:

Regular Curriculum
Apologia-science, worldview, bible, homeschooling encouragement and resources
Bright Ideas Press- history (Mystery of History, All American History), science (Christian Kids Explore), geography (Wondermaps) and Illuminations
Math U See- K-12 math
All About Learning Press- the best spelling/reading programs!
Compass Classroom- economics, bible, latin, history
Handwriting Without Tears-
Classical Academic Press- latin, bible, logic, poetry, and more!
Institute For Excellence In Writing
Excellence In Literature- High School Literature

Online Curriculum
Time For Learning/Writing
The Reading Kingdom

Curriculum In A Box
Sonlight

Unit Studies/Lapbooks
A Journey Through Learning

Have fun!



*Bright Ideas Press, Compass Classroom, All About Learning, A Journey Through Learning are my affiliate links.  I only form affiliate relationships with companies whose products I actually use and can recommend.

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There Is Hope For the Struggling Reader

I read an article yesterday that frustrated me that was about Struggling Readers. It was frustrating for a few reasons. The article talked more than once about the "small window of time"  in order to teach a child to read successfully, the importance of learning to read at an early age, and that if a child does not read by the third grade it is so much more difficult for them to learn after that.  There even was a literacy statistic listed after the article that said, " the most important learning to read time for a child is 2 through 7 years old."

 Articles like this frustrate me even though the tone of the article was meant to be encouraging and to trust in the Lord, because  to a mom that feels like she is swimming upstream against the current with a child that is not reading well, it imprints "I am a failure" right into their brain.  It gives them a hopeless "My child is never going to be successful because I can't teach them to read" feeling.  Articles like this make them believe if you don't "get them reading" on grade level by the third grade or there is no hope.  You child is doomed for the rest of their lives.  No pressure right?

I have experience with the struggling reader.  I have blogged about it many times because I don't want other moms to read things like this that make them feel like a failure because their child is not reading fluently by 2nd or 3rd grade.  I don't know who came up with this idea when in fact, there is plenty of research showing that a better time for a child to learn is when they are older.

There is nothing more frustrating as a parent than to watch your child struggle with something they want to do so badly.  My Alex would take books and pretend to read them because he saw his older brother and sister reading and he wanted to read so badly but could not make sense of phonics.  IT BROKE MY HEART.  If I had not had two older children already homeschooling, a supportive husband and homeschooling friends, and not continually reading for information on the subject of struggling readers and dyslexia, I probably would've caved to the pressure and put him in a "real school" because I had failed as a homeschool mom.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

I think this verse applies to homeschooling.  We need to be strong and courageous and know that God is with us even in the most discouraging times when we feel like failures as a homeschooling mom.  God has called you to homeschool your children and he will be with you through all of the challenges and the triumphs as well.

I have seen such great improvements in my struggling readers reading this year!  I honestly cannot believe how well he is reading!  The child that I feared would never read, who had to have all of his schoolwork read to him was reading Math problems to his little brother the other day.  It was all I could do to not cry!  He has been reading aloud to me every day, from chapter books!  There is hope mamas for your struggling reader!  I have had great success with the All About Spelling/All About Reading Programs.  Their multi sensory approach made phonics and blending sounds make sense to Alex. You can find a review I wrote for All About Reading here .  I highly recommend All About Reading and/or All About Spelling.  I do not have all the answerrs to his reading struggles.  I will never completely understand why he cannot read the word "to" or still will spell cat "tac" but can read the word "comfortable" with no problem, but he is reading, and reading successfully on his own with no more pretending!  I am so glad I did not give up and believe there was no hope once he turned 9!

I am going to link to a short article written by Andrew Pudewa from The Institute For Excellence in Writing.  It is very encouraging and links to great resources to help with reading struggles.  You can find his article here.  Here is a quote from the last paragraph:

 "Late reading is not the great disaster that it might seem. Although the education
establishment has made reading a god (because without reading one can’t take
standardized tests), we need not follow that disordered thinking. There’s no reading test
at the gates of heaven, and many successful people—even those who’ve gone on to get
doctoral degrees—didn’t read until in their teens. As parents we desperately want to help
our children overcome obstacles to learning to read and write, and I hope I’ve offered a
few thoughts on the different places to look for that help. But above all, we must keep
things in perspective: God made our children the way they are, blessings are often hidden
inside challenges, and with His guidance we can help them find help for the symptoms of
dyslexia without falling into extreme frustration or despair."


*link to All About Learning Press is my affiliate link.  I only form affiliate relationships with companies whose products I actually use and can recommend.

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A Journey Through Learning May Specials

I enjoyed using A Journey Through Learning Unit Studies and Lapbooks when I had an opportunity to review them, that I have signed up for their affiliate program.  They have some really great specials going on for the month of May that I wanted to share with you.

For those who use Apologia Science, here is a great deal for you

Looking for Spring Lapbooking Ideas?  Express Lapbooks are only $1 and My Favorite Insects and the Spring Lapbook are on sale for $5




The $5 Lapbook for the month is Turtles!





Have fun lapbooking!

*links are my affiliate links.  I make a small commission from purchases made through these links.  I only form affiliate relationships with companies whose products I use and can recommend.

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Schoolhouse Review Crew: LiteracySoft

One of the reasons I wanted to get an iPad for our homeschool is because there are so many educational apps available.  Recently we have had an opportunity to use and review Phonics and Reading With McGuffey from LiteracySoft.






The Phonics and Reading With McGuffey app was built from the source material of McGuffey's Electric Primer Revised Edition which has taught  millions of students how to read.  The app begins with beginning letter sounds and progresses through the 1st grade reading level.

The app includes:

• 53  lessons
• 44 letter sounds of English and their graphemes
• 60 + letter sound animations
• 400 + practice word vocabulary
• 9000+ nonsense word audio dictionary\

The app has been carefully designed to:

• work for any literacy level (adults, pre-K or in between ages at a beginning level)
• allow students to go at their own pace
• guide students step by step through reading and spelling practice
• appeal to a wide variety of learning styles
• allow students to work unsupervised
• be easy to use
• utilize the power of synthetic phonics- the dyslexia busting technique

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey is an app that will work on iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone for up to 10 users.  You can download the lite version which contains the first 10 lessons for free.  Click here for more information  The full version with all 53 lessons can be purchased for $19.99 Click here for more information.

Phonics and Reading With McGuffey is also available for PC and Mac.  Click here for more information.



To start out using the app, you create your users.  You can add up to 10 users in the app.

You also can adjust the settings for each user.

And pick which lesson you would like to begin on.  If you are not sure you can preview the lesson.

 Lessons 1-38 have 13-15 parts for each lesson.

First new letter sounds are introduced.

Then new words are introduced.

Next is the phonics flash cards.  The student has to select the letter of the sound they hear.

The next step is the Phonics Blender that lets the student experiment with the different sounds the letters make.

After that  is a picture that corresponds with the lesson.

The next few parts are reading practice.

Next is a sound quiz.

The next part is spelling practice.

And the last part is a sight word drill.

  Lesson 39-52 follow a similar format, but  all the letter sounds have been mastered and only new words will be announced at the beginning so these lessons have fewer parts.  A review of all letter sounds is given again in lesson 53.  Every 5th lesson is a review lesson that covers material in the four previous lessons.

I have been using the Phonics and Reading With McGuffey app with my 6 year old son.  He has been using the app 4 days per week for 15-20 minutes per day.  We started on lesson at the very beginning of lesson 1.    He already knows all of his letters and their sounds and a few sight words.  My 4 year old saw her big brother using the app and thought she wanted to try it but she is not quite ready yet.  My 7 year old likes to use the app, but it is pretty easy for him as he is already reading past a 1st grade level.

The app was very easy to download and begin using.  I am glad that it allows different users so you can use it with more than one child and keep each child's place saved.  Christian can open and use the app completely independently.  I like that it is predictable and teaches each lesson exactly the same way.  The voice on the app is clear and easy to understand.  The child gets positive reinforcement for getting the answer correct and an opportunity to try again if they get it incorrect.  The animated graphics are really cute.  Christian really likes the rat that dances and when the app was doing the short i sound, saying i, i, Italy and then exclaimed "Mama Mia!"  He thought that was so funny!  I like that it teaches both phonics and sight words.  Using the Phonics and Reading With McGuffey app is convenient and portable.  You do not have to finish a lesson in one sitting.  If your child is distracted, or you need to stop in the middle of a lesson, the app will save your place at that step.

You do not have to complete each step or show mastery to move on to the next lesson.  On the quiz step, if you miss too many, it tells you you how important it is to understand the lesson before moving on and to press the blue circle to repeat the lesson.  But, the app will allow you to move on to the next step.  Parents may want to pay attention if allowing your child to do on their own, or have an older sibling keep an eye on them to make sure they are truly mastering the lesson before moving on.  Their is a Progress Report , but it only shows where each child is, not how they are doing.

One other thing that I wanted to mention is the free download of McGuffey's Primer in Color .  You can download it to your computer or you iPad, iPod, or iPhone, or print it out if you wish.  It is an updated version of the McGuffey's Eclectic Primer Revised Edition with the same graphics from the app.  You can have your child read it after each lesson, or after completing all the lessons to show they are ready for moving on to second grade.  The book is beautiful, and a great way for students to read to you and show you what they have learned.

To see what other Crew Mates had to say, click on the banner below.

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Review: Ring the Bell

Disclosure: "Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Website:  http://ringthebellthemovie.com

Watch the Trailer: http://ringthebellthemovie.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RingTheBellTheMovie

About the movie:

Ring The Bell shares the story of a slick, big city sports agent Rob Decker who seems to have it all. But on his latest mission to sign a high school baseball superstar, Rob becomes stranded in a small town where the simplicity of life—and the faith of the people—stand in stark contrast to his own fast-paced, win-at-all-costs mindset. Torn between these two worlds, will Rob have the courage to let faith transform his life? This heartwarming story of redemption is sure to entertain and inspire the whole family.

Ring The Bell features a host of well-known Christian music artists, such as Mark Hall along with his band Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Matthew West, all who play a role in this inspirational drama. Several former and current Major League Baseball all-stars are also featured in the film: ESPN analysts John Kruk and Rick Sutcliffe (a former Cy Young Award winner), along with Ben Zobrist.
This family-friendly movie was produced by Mark Miller, Beach Street Records' founder and Casting Crowns’ producer. Miller, who is also the lead singer and founder of country music group Sawyer Brown, co-wrote the script with Thomas Weber and Weber directed the production. 

The DVD's Special Features

 The Heart of "Ring the Bell"

Casting Crowns “The Well” Music Video


On Set with Casting Crowns

Famous Faces


A Very Special Movie


Ringing the Bell


The Artists and Music of "Ring The Bell"

We have movie night at our house every Friday night.  Quite honestly, it is difficult to find good, family friendly movies especially as your children get older.  My oldest is 16 and it seems like most of the movies made for her age range have some kind of inappropriate content in it.  I was excited when I was given an opportunity to review Ring the Bell.

I knew when I saw that Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Matthew West (some of my daughter's favorite musicians) were involved in this movie that she would like it.  Chelsea really enjoyed the characters in Ring the Bell.  Her favorite character was Maggie because she was funny and did things that she wanted to do without caring what people thought about her.  The characters were real and believable.  She really liked the story and the message it taught that no matter what plans you have for your life, God has a better plan and it is never to late to follow His.  She really liked the Ringing of the Bell when you make the decision to let God in your life.  Her favorite part was the Casting Crowns concert.  There was a slight bit of romance but it did not over power the story or take the place of the grace and faith it taught.  Ring the Bell is a family friendly movie and there is nothing inappropriate in it: no blood, guts, bad language, or romance overkill, although it may be better appreciated by slightly older children.  I would recommend this movie and pray that it motivates those who haven't yet made the decision to go ahead and Ring the Bell.  

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Winding Down the 2012/2013 School Year

I cannot believe that May is already here!  This year has flown by!  We only have 12 school days left in our regular school year.  We start in August and go to the end of May working 4 days per week.  I always think we will go through June, but we usually take a small vacation at the end of May and June is a very busy month with VBS and 4 H activities.  Plus, we are usually finishing things up at the end of May, so it just works out better for us to go August through May.

We actually finished Mystery of History Volume 2 a little over a month ago and have been working on a Great Empires Study from Home School In the Woods that we will finish on time.  We finished Apologia Swimming Creatures today.  Anthony is still working on his Earth lapbook from A Journey Through Learning, but he will be done with that next week.  We also completed both Old Testament One and New Testament one from Classical Academic Press finishing up NT 1 today.  The boys are all almost finished with their Math U See books, and will be finished by the end of the month.  Nick is racing through the last few lessons in

We started All About Spelling Level 3 just a few months ago, so we will not finish with it.  But it only took a little over one semester to finish Level 2, and we will do a quick review of what we have covered in Level 3 in August and then continue on.

Chelsea didn't start Algebra 2 until February so she is nowhere near finished.  She will be working on it through the summer.  She also will be working on Latin.  She will be finished with Chemistry, British Literature, and British History by the end of the month.

We will still be doing plenty of work this summer.  Reviews will be going on all summer.  In fact, we have a few new ones we just started, are waiting for a few more to arrive in the mail, and hoping to get several more.  There are a lot of great vendors coming up through the summer months, so we will be busy working on those.

Also, we will continue with reading all summer long.  My children love to read.  Alex has come so far in his reading ability and I don't want him to regress so he will be reading aloud to me in the summer.  Anthony has made it to Level 3 of the Reading Kingdom and I want him to get as far as he can before our subscription expires in June.  I want to spend some time using PAL with Christian, and Lily just started Level One of Scaredy Cat Reading so we will be continuing on with that.

Alex and Anthony will also be continuing to use Math Rider to get those Math Facts drilled into their heads! We will continue working on music with Adventus.  I also expect that they will be playing educational apps on the iPad everyday.  We will also have many fun educational activities gong on throughout the summer!

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Schoolhouse Review Crew: Home School In The Woods

We finished our regular history curriculum for the year early, and I was try to figure out what we could do for the last 3 months of our 2013 school year.    I was familiar with Home School in the Woods because we use their Time Line Figures  for history (they are THE best I have ever seen!)  I was so excited to have an opportunity to use and review Home School In the Woods  Great Empires Study.




The Great Empires Study is a study for elementary ages of 14 different empires that have risen throughout history.  Each empire contains: text for reading to your children (or older children could read alone), a mapping assignment, recipes, and other various hands on activities.  Each study has a total of 3-5 activities.
The study also includes a time line and time line figures, websites, and book suggestions for further study. Instructions for completing each activity along with Teacher Keys for the mapping assignments are also included.  You may have to purchase some inexpensive supplies if you do not have those on hand.  Each empire can be completed in 1-3 days unless you choose to extend that time by adding in further reading or study using the websites and additional activities.  The Great Empires Study includes the following Empires:

Ancient Egypt
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Ancient China
Arab-Muslim Empire
Mongolian Empire
Viking Empire
Spanish Empire
French Empire
English Empire
German Empire
Japenese Empire
Russian Empire
The United States of America

Here is a sample of the text reading.

Here is a sample of project pages.

You can purchase The Great Empires Study as a digital download for $18.95 or on CD Rom for $19.95.

For a complete list of products available from Home School in the Woods click here.

I have been using the Great Empires Study with my 4,6,7,9,and 11 year olds with even my 2 year old  completing some of the hands on activities.  We received the download version which was very easy to download, extract the files, and begin.  I read through the activities ahead of time to see what supplies we would need and printed out the worksheets.  To save ink, I did not print the text, activity sheets, or map teacher keys.  Instead I read the text and activity directions on the computer and put the map Teacher Key on the iPad so we could see everything easily that we needed to label.  We have been working 4 days per week on this study.  It has been perfect for us because all of my younger children can participate.  We have talked about many of these empires in our history curriculum over the last year or so and going through the Great Empires Study has been a great, fun, hands on reminder of many things we have already learned.  I did decide to supplement the text reading with books that I already had.  Let me show you some great pictures of what we have been working on, and then I will give you some more details about what I have loved about the Great Empires Study.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Ancient China

Arab/Muslim Empire

As you can see we have been very busy!  The Great Empires Study has been perfect for our family!  I love that I can use it with all of the younger children.  The children love maps and it has been fun for them to make a map of each empire as we are talking about them.  I love the hands on activities.  The children had a lot of fun making the dough to create hieroglyphs, painting pots, and Roman Frescoes.  I really appreciate that the supplies for the projects were easy to obtain and inexpensive (big plus when you have 6 children you need supplies for!)  We also enjoyed making the People of Roman history pocket, Ancient China mini book, and the important people of the Arab Muslim dynasties worksheets.  We usually do one big timeline for our usual history study, but because a timeline was included and it was simple (one figure per empire) I printed one off for each of the boys so they could make their own.  My 7 year old was very excited to have his own timeline in his notebook.  I have to say that the drawings of the figures and the worksheets are awesome!

The text is written to give an overview of each empire, so the readings for each empire are short, around 2 pages.  The author gives several suggestions for further readings and websites if you wish to go deeper in depth.  You also could add in any other books you find or have on hand that go with each topic.  I think this adds to the flexibility of the study.  You can do the activities and just read the text provided and complete each empire in 1-3 days, or you can add in as much as you like and spend as much time as you wish.   It's all up to you!

The text readings were a bit over the head of my K and 1st graders but seemed to be perfect for my 3 and 5th graders.  I had my K and 1st graders draw or color while I was reading so they would be occupied and could sit and listen while I read.

We are loving the Great Empires Study and look forward to finishing it up in the next month or so!

To see what other Crew Mates had to say, click on the banner below.

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