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Curriculum Recommendations from Eight N-Tech Moms
LYNNE’S CURRICULUM PICKS
-Teaching since 1991-
The following books have been tried and tested by five children and their parents.
MATH: We have used SAXON math with all our children and I have even managed to learn a little higher math myself. The first three grades are disposable tear-out sheets with a side A for class and a side B for homework. I have found the one side to be enough for my children to grasp the concepts and have saved the side B for the next child. I highly recommend purchasing the Solutions manual for Algebra on up. It makes checking a breeze. There is also a free download to test your child if you are unsure of what level to place them in. I recently purchased MATH-U-SEE for the younger children after sitting in on a seminar at a conference. I was particularly interested in the way negative numbers could be taught using the colored cubes. Each concept is taught in four lessons that seemed to progress too quickly for our children so I used it to supplement Saxon.
READING: Since I have used a Houghton Mifflin series that I used while teaching in public school, I do not have a homeschool curriculum to recommend. I am very happy with the SONLIGHT catalogue, which gives age appropriate, and gender specific literature. One can purchase all material from the company or be daring and check out books from the library. I have also picked up ABEKA readers at used book sales to serve as supplemental readers. When we are concentrating on a specific time in history, I have each child read from a list supplied by GREENLEAF PRESS. Their catalogue is full of information and useful reviews.
LANGUAGE ARTS: I wish that the public school would take advantage of Wanda Phillips EASY GRAMMAR and DAILY GRAMS. Year after year of crossing out the prepositional phrase in a sentence leads to children who can instantly spot an adverb and other difficult parts of speech. I even feel that Wanda has helped my sentence composition. Knowing our own language can make the acquisition of a foreign language that much simpler.
SPELLING: Hodkinson and Adams have made extensive updates to their WORDLY WISE series. I use the word lists for an oral spelling test at the end of the week.
HISTORY: Using GREENLEAF PRESS as a basis for our history lesson, our children have studied Egypt, Greece, Rome, Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation. This is another catalogue that I love to read. I then switched to A HISTORY OF US Joy Hakim. My children frequently ask, “Does it really say that?” when I read this book to them out loud. I always supplement history with the BELLEROPHON and DOVER coloring books, as I am reading to them.
SCIENCE: I have purchased CONSIDERING GOD’S CREATION and been able to teach it in multi-level situations. The three dimensional cutouts are loved by my children. The older ones can do the crossword puzzles in the back. I have added to each section and made this book with its songs and Bible verses last for many years. As we have progressed into higher level science we have made the switch to APOLOGIA for Biology and Chemistry with success.
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Laurie G’s Curriculum Favorites
_Five In A Row_ is a simple-to-do, literature-based unit study curriculum for students ages 4-8. You and your child read the same picture book together for five days in a row. Your child also does related activities in science, history, geography, language arts, art, and music.
The author of _Five In A Row_, Jane Claire Lambert, has selected books of enduring literary and artistic quality. You can also purchase a supplemental Bible study and cookbook to accompany the first three volumes of _Five In A Row_. The website, at http://www.fiveinarow.com, is probably the most helpful curriculum website I have seen. Homeschool moms have contributed tons of creative and fun ideas for using each book.
If you have a child with special learning challenges, especially if you are homeschooling a child with a language disorder, _Five In A Row_ is excellent. I have been using it for my daughter with autism. The _Five In A Row_ website also has a frequently-visited special needs message board.
However, _Five In A Row_ is so adaptable that it can be used for children of all ability levels. Plus, it's easy for moms, and it's fun.
I highly recommend it, especially for beginning homeschoolers.
I also recommend any materials by Dinah Zike. She uses interesting homemade mini-books and graphic organizers to teach concepts easily.
Her must-have book is _The Big Book of Books_ which shows you how to make all kinds of mini-books. _The Big Book of Projects_ shows you how to use several mini-books together to present an organized, visually-appealing, memorable project.
I also like _The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook_ by Tammy Duby and Cyndy Regeling, available through Tobin's Lab at http://www.tobinslab.com.
Tammy and Cyndy show you how to create file folder lapbooks using Dinah Zike's foldable mini-books and graphic organizers. A lapbook is a wonderful way to summarize what your child has learned about a particular subject. We have done several lapbooks for our _Five In A Row_ studies.
Creating lapbooks is valuable for all children, but is especially beneficial for children with language delays and for children who learn best through visual and kinesthetic modalities.
We have benefited greatly from Cornerstone's "Starting Points." It is considered to be Junior High level Worldviews curriculum, but my husband who has a History degree and a master's in theology has learned a lot! It's very practical--comes into many of our every day conversations. We did the program with another family (Marcy's family), which was great for accountability and discussion. The dads took turns each week leading the discussions.
God bless,
Lori K
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-- Curriculum Suggestions from Michelle R--
Spelling (for the “non-workbook” child)—I have two children that don’t do well with written work/workbooks. I finally tried a somewhat expensive but wonderful alternative. It’s called “The Phonetic Zoo” by Institute for Excellence in Writing (www.writing-edu.com).
It’s on cassettes or CDs that the child listens to (ideally with headphones to block out any distractions).
They hear the speaker tell the spelling “jingle” or rule of the lesson. It usually is a rhyme. Then there are 15 words said one at a time and used in a sentence. The child writes the word on a piece of paper according to the spelling rule being taught. The child is free to stop the CD or go back at any time.
When the 15 words are done, the speaker begins to go over the correct spelling of each word. The child self corrects and scores his own paper. When the child has achieved a perfect score of 15 twice, he proceeds to the next spelling lesson. A child is encouraged to put the number “right” at the top of the paper. My daughter got some 15’s right away (first time through) but also got some 8’s or 9’s and needed more time to pass that lesson.
So each day the child takes one lesson. There are 45 lessons in each level, 3 levels--the first level being for a child around age 9. It may take over a year to complete a level. Cost-$99.00 but oh how well it works!
Writing—Institute for Excellence in Writing has a wonderful writing program called “Teaching Writing: Structure and Style”. I’m not very good at teaching writing on my own. This has videos to teach you so you can teach them. My child does take this at a co-op, but I love what it has taught her to be able to do. This is a problem area for her (and me to I guess) and it has been great.
I think dictation and copywork and invaluable to the writing student. I’m presently using Sonlight’s pages for my dictation but have also used Learning Language Arts through Literature (I like the old version better, but new is fine, it just has more whistles and bells in it.) You can make up your own from the pages of one of the books the child is working one.
History—I love Sonlight! (www.sonlight.com) Lots of great books that make history come ALIVE for your kids. My kids have loved the books I read to them. It’s nice to sit on the couch together and read a great book. You really feel like they are enjoying school. I let them do something quiet with their hands if they want (ie color, small blocks, dry erase markers, sewing etc). It’s advanced so it sure doesn’t hurt to use a year or two under your child’s grade level.
Veritas Press—(www.veritaspress.com) is another great catalog to use for history. They have similar history recommendations to Sonlight, but some different titles too. They are a “classical Christian education” catalog and recommend some wonderful resources including “The Phonetic Zoo” I mentioned above. They have Latin recommendations, art recommendations, and literature recommendations.
Mystery of History—this is a relatively new curriculum geared for grades 4 to 8 but can be easily adapted for younger and older. The reading material is in this book, plus activities and projects to do. Not real overwhelming like some unit studies are. You can pick and choose if you want any of the activities. Short pre and post tests are included. VERY user friendly. Have the first volume done: Creation to the Resurrection. Their second volume will be out in Sept. (hopefully) and will deal with the Middle Ages and the Early Church.
You can get these at www.timberdoodle.com
Published by Bright Ideas Press
Child’s History of the World by V.M. Hillyer- READ THIS TO ALL YOUR KIDS!!! This is a wonderful, well written book that reads like a Grandfather telling you a story, only it happens to be the story of the WORLD! Should be reread every few years! Perfect for 2nd to 6th grade, but could go higher or lower. I believe Mardel had it, but many of the curriculum sellers carry it as well like www.lifetimebooksandgifts.com
The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer is also good. It is written very simply and easy for early elementary to listen to but certainly older kids can learn a lot. She breaks hers out into 4 volumes: Ancient Times, Middle Ages, Early Modern Times, and Later Modern Times.
The 4th volume must not be available yet, I couldn’t find it on the web. They are at www.christianbook.com Also available on CD’s so your kids could listen to them on their own, at bedtime or in the car. BONUS!
Bible—A fun Story Bible to read to the kids is Catherine Vos Story Bible.
The Victor Journey though the Bible by V. Gilbert Beers is an amazing book telling us what was happening during the time of the different books of the Bible, how people dressed, what they ate, the houses they lived in and more. Tons of maps, photographs and drawings to make the Bible come alive! It does not have the words of the Bible in it, but one would use it along side a Bible or story Bible to help with the understanding of the people and times, definitions and places.
Math—I have used a number of math programs, but the ones I like best are Math-U-See (www.mathusee.com) and Singapore Math. Math-U-See works well for my child that needs a little more help to understand a concept. The manipulatives are fun and the videos are so helpful. There is lots of review. She has used the Intermediate level and the Advanced level. Each level covers approx. 3 years.
Singapore Math (www.singaporemath.com) or (www.sonlight.com) is for the child who “gets” math pretty easily. It moves fairly quickly and is a little ahead of our grade levels (but you can order any level). It doesn’t bog my son down who gets math easily and doesn’t want to fuss with blocks. There are not a lot of problems on a page. You can get additional workbooks of you want a little more repetition or practice. They usually teach children 3 ways to add or subtract numbers. Same with multiplication. They want kids to be able to think about math in their heads and put an emphasis on mental calculations. He does BOTH Singapore and Math-U-See, but Singapore is his main one.
With my oldest child she used Elementary Algebra by Harold Jacobs. Some call it Jacobs Algebra. It’s best for the creative child that doesn’t do well with Saxon. Best for “right brain” thinkers. We used his Geometry, too and that was very well done. She liked it MUCH better than the algebra, but she really just enjoyed geometry better than algebra anyway. Heavy emphasis on solving proofs thus using logic.
The “Key to …” series is great to go back and concentrate on a weak area. We’ve used Key to Fractions, Key to Metric, and Key to Decimals. There are others in the series.
Science—love the Apologia Science texts.(www.apologia.com) We’ve used the General Science (7th to 8th grade), Physical Science (8th to 9th), Biology (9th or 10th), and Chemistry (10th or 11th) texts. The author talks in a relaxed conversational tone to the student. I’m reading the 7th grade one (General Science) out loud to my daughter and we both like it.
Easy Grammar—has been helpful for grammar. It breaks grammar down into very manageable steps.
Editor-In-Chief—is a fun grammar usage book. You look for errors in capitalization, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary and content in stories that supposedly will go into a newspaper. You are the editor and are correcting the mistakes. There is a small picture with caption that you can use as well to find the errors in the text.
For grades 3-12. (Levels:Beginning,1,2,3 with both and A and a B book giving more practice.) My daughter used level 1 in grades 6 & 7 because grammar was VERY challenging for her and they were not too immature at all. She’s the one that told me to put it in here. (And she doesn’t like to write… shhh…)
Misc.
My son has enjoyed read the Christian Liberty Nature Readers. They are done according to grade, but I first read them to my child choosing one a few years over their grade. Later, they read them to themselves. Grades 1-6, very inexpensive, $6 ea. Easy conversational style, published by Christian Liberty Press, but available at Mardel.
Good as a science reader.
Here a few curriculum picks from the Cindy W:
Christian Kids Explore Biology: This is a great first year Biology class for grades 3-6th! I have bought many science curriculums and we've never gotten very far, but this one has proved to be quite different. It's easy to use, unabashedly Christian and Classical in flavor. There are 35 weekly lessons that are well laid out and easy-to-follow. this schedule calls for teaching twice weekly while still allowing time for projects, exploration of resource books, field trips, etc. The conversational style gives students the basic information needed, making this ideal first course in life science. I am teaching this to my 1st, 3rd and 6th grader (I didn't find this gem from Timberdoodle until the middle of last year) and all of them are enjoying it. My 6th grader does it all in addition to reading library books and my 1st and 3rd grader read the books, learn some vocabulary and love the hands-on projects. Everything you need is in this book - teaching lessons, coloring pages, hands-on activities, experiments, review sheets, memorization lists and Bible memory for each unit. Check it out!
Daily Language, Daily Geography, and Daily Math: These are the one of the few things that I still use from when I began homeschooling six years ago.
I used them in my public school classrooms and find them to be most effective and make the best use of our precious time at home. The purpose of these "Great Source Dailies" is to provide daily review and teaching of essential skills. The Daily Language reviews, teaches and reinforces basic skills in the areas of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage. The Daily Geography's purpose is to increase students' knowledge and understanding of physical and political aspects of the world as these aspects relate to geography. The program format encourages students to use maps to locate features such as landforms and water bodies, natural and political boundaries, and capitals. The Daily Math problems emphasize higher-order thinking skills, not drill and practice (although they often use the basic skills to arrive at thoughtful answers). My kids have a composition book with these written in them (could use a white board) and all of the above takes only about 15 minutes per school day since each subject has only two problems. These are a great way for 1st - 8th graders to practice these life skills daily without lots of prep time.
We also use Math-U-See, Wordly Wise, etc. but I see others writing those up. Let me know about Tapestry of Grace. I have a feeling it's going to be the up and coming curriculum hit!
Have a blessed day, Cindy W
Curriculum Picks from Jennifer C:
Language Arts
We’ve had good luck with A Beka in 2nd through 4th. We especially liked the way that curriculum handled phonics in 2nd.
Writing Mechanical
Handwriting w/o Tears - by far
Structural/Creative
Trying Excellence in Writing (Institute for)
Math
Horizons – quite excelled, though and very few teacher helps
History
Unit studies work superbly for us, but they’re extremely time-consuming on the mom’s part if they’re individualized. However, when done well, they are well worth the effort!
When we’re not doing unit studies or independent study, we use Sonlight
Science
NTECH this semester. ;0)
What I wish I had known when I started is two-fold.
1. Know how your child learns best.
2. Everything works for a season. That is to say that be flexible; what works last year and this may not work next year.
Terri’s favorite curriculum picks:
Sonlight 3-7th grade
Starting Points www.cornerstonecurriculum.com
Understanding the Times by David Nobel
Learning new concepts using Math-U-See then the following year, my children use Saxon Math to reinforce those concepts
Latin Road to English Grammar—Because of outside commitments, it has taken us six years to get through the three books, but worth every minute!
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? taught in conjunction with Abeka’s Economics book for high school students.
Every student should use Easy Grammar at least one year, preferably two, in order to learn the prepositions. That list will serve you well over the years.
Greenleaf Press books
Playing board games with my children. Our latest new board game is Settlers of Caton, pricey but refreshingly new.
Taking Institute for Excellence in Writing at N-Tech
Taking junior high and high school science classes at N-Tech
Software:
Quarter Mile Math—computer game to improve math speed
Mavis Beacon for typing
Calvert Spelling’s computer program through 8th grade
Things I wish I had done differently in my homeschool:
What about our homeschool am I happy with?