The Homeschool Curriculum We Choose part 1

You've heard about the why and the how so now the what. The 2nd most asked question I get about homeschooling is what I use. My answer probably leaves people thinking we don't use anything at all because honestly I stutter a bit. It's times like these I wish I used the ever popular Abeka or something so I could answer quickly and confidently but the truth is we use quite the hodge podge. That is one of the amazing things about homeschooling. There is truly so much out there that fits so many different learning and teaching styles.

It is very easy to get overwhelmed with all that is out there so if you are looking to get started you should consider several things first. When I first decided to homeschool, I had no idea where to start. I became completely overwhelmed with terms like "core" and "spine" and had no idea what anyone was talking about. I went to a homeschool conference and heard a woman speaking about the history curriculum she had written and I was so excited and pumped over learning history the way she described it that I immediately purchased the first year of her four year cycle set. Now, I love this curriculum but it has sat shelved for 4 years. Although it was designed to be used for any age group (hint, hint, a lot of Christian homeschool history curricula is designed this way and also with a 4 year cycle) it wasn't practical to use with my lone kindergartner. In the end, wanna know what I used for Daniel for kindergarten? Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann. That. Is. It. Moral of the story, if you are starting homeschool with a preschooler or kindergartner, keep it simple. Take time to learn how they learn and how you teach before investing a lot of money into anything.

Mistake #2 for me was deciding that 1st grade was time for a complete boxed set curriculum. I had my heart majorly set on BJU Press for all of first grade. BJU material comes with a hearty spiral bound teachers manual and a student workbook for every single subject. It reminded me of public school teacher's material and therefore it made it seem more like "real" school. While it was within our budget, it was much more expensive then what most of my friends used and I hesitated on spending so much for it. I ended up having a friend of a friend (on the other side of the country) gift me an entire first grade set! I was on cloud 9! But alas, it wasn't for us. Now BJU as a whole is an awesome curriculum and boxed sets work so well for so many of my friends but it didn't work well for us. One of the reasons why was simply our circumstances of that year; we had to frequently take our materials on the go and there was sooooo much stuff. It was also during this year that I realized boxed sets weren't for Daniel. He excelled in math but struggled with all areas of language arts. One of the biggest "pros" to homeschooling is the ability to educate at the child's current level and not waste time with material that is not at all challenging or trying to push them through material too difficult.

I've talked enough about what didn't work, now on to what does.

This year my plan with Isaac was to do the same as I had with Daniel. Focus on learning to read. But he wasn't doing as well with Teach You Child to Read... and I happened upon The Good and The Beautiful. This curriculum is exactly that. Good and beautiful. It is student and teacher friendly. The lessons are simple and to the point but do an amazing job of covering all the bases. The best part is there is little to no teacher preparation needed. I took about 20 minutes before we started for the year creating a drawer with math manipulatives and any additional materials we needed FOR THE WHOLE YEAR and now we are ready to roll every day.

Isaac currently does TGTB Level K Primer (he'll move on to Kindergarten LA once we've finished,) TGTB Level K Math, Handwriting without Tears, and Summer Bridge Activities. Once he completes the Summer Bridge Activities, we will replace it with a different inexpensive workbook. Overall this is Isaac's complete workload for now. Once I transition his big brother onto a new cycle in history and a new science program, I will have Isaac listen in to what he can. For now his work takes 20-30 minutes a day, 4 days a week. We also try to read at least 3 picture books a day. Kindergarten does NOT need to be complicated!

Stay tuned for what we use for 4th grade which is where the real hodge podge begins.