What Worked, What Didn't (Contest)

[Dianna]

Are you still using the same homeschool resources you started with at the beginning of the school year? If not, don't feel alone. Homeschooling is a learning process, and not everything will work as planned. For the benefit of new homeschoolers and veterans who are planning for next year, please share what worked for you and what didn't, and why.

Each person who posts their advice in this thread will have a chance to win their choice of many great prizes. I'll keep drawing names until all prizes are given away.

For more information, see our Contests area at http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/contests.htm

I'll start posting the prizes soon. It'll take a while because I have a lot, but I'll eventually get it done! :biggrin2:

Warmly,
Dianna

[MamaSweetie2]

We tried using "Short Lessons in World History" by Walch. It would be good as a supplemental , but not a full course. They glossed over a lot of important parts of early world history. We swithced to Abeka World History, my child really enjoyed this book.

[dautry]

I have been using Sonlight curriculum since I started homeschooling 4 years ago. Each year I would feel frustrated that I didn't finish on their schedule. I finally gave myself the grace to just check off what we completed. Using my children's interest and/or attention span as a guide to when the day was done. I also began doing the whole week of a subject rather than jumping around with a few pages of so many different things in a day. It seems we are all happier with this strategy. Donna

[junebug777]

Hi! :wave: This is my first post. This thread caught my eye since we just switched our curriculum a couple of weeks ago. I am teaching my three daughters - grades 5,3, and 1. We were using all A Beka, except for Arithmetic we use Math-U-See. This is also my first year homeschooling and I was hoping it to be...well...fun. It just wasn't anywhere near fun. It was the same thing they did at school, just they did it at home. Read the textbooks...memorize facts...take quizzes/tests....then forget most of it. What kind of learning is that?!?! They were bored and frustrated, as was I. :doubt: And I dreaded writing out the daily plans for 3 girls!! Soo...A Beka did not work for us.

Then I was talking to a friend of mine about starting a unit study for next year. I had checked out quite a few (as I need one that is all planned out for me with answers). She told me of one that she uses (that I had not heard of) and all they did with this unit study. This sounded like just what I was looking for! So I checked it out online. OH MY GOODNESS!!! :shock: (Are you wondering what it is yet?) All the plans are laid out, every 30 days is a new exciting, adventurous study. It has hands-on projects and activities and excellent liturature. All subjects work together each day and are very thorough with discussions! The cost is affordable!! This IS what I am looking for! What is it?? It is called: Learning Adventures. The first year is called: A World of Adventures and starts off in Ancient Egypt. We will get to build the Nile River, have a taste of Egypt, do a mummification, have a Passover Celebration, do a play, and soo much more!!HOW EXCITING!!!

Needless to say, we choose to start this new curriculum right away. We officially started on March 10th and LOVE IT!!! The funny thing is that my oldest did not want to leave her A Beka as that is all she knew from kindergarten (accept for 4th grade due to new school). The FIRST day and the FIRST subject we did was Bible and she shouted in glee....MOM!! This is great!! This is what I like!! I love these discussion questions!! This challenges me!! She WAS my biggest sceptic! She does not want to do any other curriculum now. My others love it too!! This study is geared for 4th-8th grade, but can be used for lower and higher grades too with some adjustments. For my 1st grader, I am having her finish her A Beka cursive writing, phonics, phonics reading, and basic language. My 2nd grader I also still use phonics and writing. We are able to take our time with this unit too! We have a 4 day week, as the 5th is for our group club day. Each unit consists of 30 days. The joy is that you do not have to do 30 days IN 30 days. We split each day into 2 days so we can enjoy what we are doing and not stress. And we can do rabbit trails if needed too. I figure we will finish up Egypt the rest of this school year and start the next unit next school year. The only thing it does not have is Math as you use your own choice for that. We like Math-U-See.

Well, sorry this is long, but I had to share our story. If you'd like to check out this unit study, it is www.learning-adventures.org (http://www.learning-adventures.org). You'll love it!!

God Bless!!
Tricia

[leisuretime]

The biggest do over we've had is with Alpha Omega Switched-On-Schoolhouse. To begin our adventure, there was a computer glich and I couldn't get it to load. I finally called them and it was a simple fix. But, since I'm not a computer person, that already had my mind in a mess and dreading my part on the computer with it. But, the kids loved it. The downfall was logistics. It just wasn't a good fit for our lifestyle. With four kids, and none old enough to stay home alone, if one person has to go somewhere, we all go. If one kid gets sick, we are all at the doctor's office. If one kid has a girls' club, everyone has to get in the car for the transports. So having a program that is 100% computer-based and having no laptop limits our options for schooling. Having two kids on the program, but only one computer meant we had to be at home with one kid in front of the computer for 4-6 hours a day. They couldn't do school at the same time, so they would tag team, but that meant our "school day" was twice as long as it had to be. While the curriculum itself was good, the mode of delivery doesn't fit our life.

My daughter tried a new computer based math program, Aleks. She loved it and I did too. It tests them to see where they need to start and then gives them problems until they have mastery. Then from time to time it will give a problem that has already been mastered to make sure they have retention. She progressed quickly. She would go do it on her own without being asked. It measured her and let her see her gains so she had visual feedback on her progress. A bit pricey for just one course, but the program is great.

Thanks for doing this topic at this time of year! I've gotten some good ideas!

Janey

[jeremiah29]

HI, everyone! I am still wavering on our curriculum for next year. Thought about SOS (will be 5th grade next yr). But, don't think it would be as challenging.
Anyway, we started homeschooling our 4th grader for the first time, in Aug 2007. We bought a packaged curriculum from Covenant Homeschool Curriculum (a classical curric.). We have really loved it. It is perfect for our son, because of the older history- doing ancient Greece this year, ancient Rome next year! Plus, I loved the language arts because it is very challenging, esp. the reading and book reports; require a lot of critical thinking. We did not like the Math, which was MCP (modern curriculum press) and have tried several different things, mostly online- ALEKS and CAMI. Pretty much settled on Singapore Math for next year. The Speliing was not challenging enough either, so we basically used our own vocabulary lists, and used words from other subjects. I have definitely learned to be flexible, and not worry if something doesn't work. I just find something that does. We finished the science book that came with the package which was from BJU Press.. Liked it, but also used things from NASA's website- lots of cool lessons and projects on there.
For next year, pretty much decided to keep the full Language Arts, Latin, & History from Covenant Home, but use Singapore math and Exploring Creation with Astronomy for science. We use Show Me Thy Ways for Bible class and will stick with it. Love the chronological study and the workbook that accompanies it! Thanks,
Michele

[elizawill]

can everyone include the grade their child is in or the year your referring too when mentioning curriculum please. i know that would help me a lot!

my dd is 6 1/2. i have liked most of the curriculum i've purchased with the exception of abeka. my dd feels differently though.

phonics / reading:
we started this year with explode the code and happy phonics. both are good, but my dd didn't care for explode the code ....happy phonics was game-based but lacked in the area of instructions, so it was an okay supplement but not a stand-alone (and it's expensive - so we resold it). we have also used MCP plaid phonics books & she did like those, but i didn't feel she was necessarily advancing at all so we switched to www.headsprout.com (http://www.headsprout.com) - we love it & she's reading great!

math:
we started this year with saxon k. it was very expensive (even used) and moved incredibly slow for my daughter. i really love it though and plan to use it with my 4 year old next fall. i think he'll do great with it! for my dd, we have switched to www.mathmammoth.com (http://www.mathmammoth.com) and it's perfect. it's similar to rod & staff and that's what i plan to buy next year (because math mammoth doesn't have a teacher's guide).

history/geography
i started the year off with BCP Lessons which follow the core knowledge scope & sequence http://www.baltimorecp.org/lessons/draft_lessons.html (http://www.baltimorecp.org/lessons/draft_lessons.html)
we switched mid way through to "story of the world" & we actually did not like it at all (but we are the minority!). we currently use "galloping the globe" and love it. next year, we'll return to an eclectic mix of things, including: the bcp lessons which we loved, lapbooking, usborne world history, a wall map, atlas book, and globe. i'll also keep GTG.

science:
this year we "notebook" with "the world god made" from christian liberty press. we LOVE it! i also have the second part of this series "our father's world" which will get us through the remainder of this year. next year, i plan to use bob jones science (because someone gave it to me, but it's really good!) and i also have been collecting the lets'read-and-find-out-about science series which we really love! http://www.harperchildrens.com/hch/LRFO/stage2.asp (http://www.harperchildrens.com/hch/LRFO/stage2.asp)

art:
i just google crafts based on what we're studying. i may use some of the bcp art lessons next year or purchase rod & staff grade 1.

lapbooking:
hands-down, i could not homeschool without this site: www.homeschoolshare.com (http://www.homeschoolshare.com)


i don't know if i missed anything...i've not had coffee yet and i'm going from memory. hth!!

[Clementine]

This school year we switched to Sonlight. It has been a big success. I have a child who will read anything he can get his hands on, and he has loved the Sonlight books. It could easily be overwhelming, but I went with the 4 day program which is plenty, and I give myself permission to not do every activity. We are completing our second year of Singapore Math which we also highly recommend. The last couple of years it seemed like I switched around a lot during the school year, trying different things. We have finally found the curriculum that fits our family. :smile2:

[mommaadams]

What didn't work? HUMMM...EVERYTHING! Geez! Well, I am an eclectic homeschooler or so I thought. We used what I thought might work, well it didn't. I have an 11 year old with dyslexia and a 5 year old who knows everything:biggrin2:.

5th Grade: Before Christmas I was getting kinda frustrated. We were using McMillan Science, The complete book of Math, Spectrum English, The complete book of US History. Then I would "reform" the spelling words and give her a shorter version. Well, needless to say this didn't work at all! She was getting frustrated because even with a shortened version of spelling, she couldn't get it. Okay, it's okay! I didn't like the English book because it just went to fast and on, and on, and on. She wasn't retaining from the previous to go forth. This is normal for a dyslexic child. Math! Man, trying to teach her multiplication was a riot. I gave up. She can add, subtract, knows fractions, can change fractions to decimals and vice versa, but multiplication...we have been trying for 2 years with these things. If you have a dyslexic child or a child with another learning difference you know what I am talking about. US History..nice book, but SO much information without enough coverage of anything. She wants to "delve" into some of the things and know more!

Kindergarten: My son had all the "goals" I had formed for him by Christmas/early Jan. He can now count backwards from 20 perfectly, spell some words, has good handwriting, knows shapes, colors, days of the week, yadda, yadda. He is amazing in what he soaks up and most of the time I didn't "school" him for maybe 45 mins a day.

The Lightbulb: Guess what I learned...if you have a learning environment and/or my kids they learn no matter whether they are sitting down with books or not!

What I did (this is good): I did the most amazing and scariest thing in the world to me...I am unschooling :shock: for this half of the year. For now, it is amazing where these kids get these ideas and what they want to know! My son learns to spell and is learning to read because he WANTS to. My daughter comes up with these amazing ideas and has learned to spell by "writing" on her laptop (no, it is not hooked up to the internet) using spellcheck! GASP, COUGH. To say the least, I am amazed and yes, still scared, because I feel like I am not in complete control of the situation, but I look at these children and I am totally in awe of them.

Sorry, this was rather long, but I wanted to share.

Thanks a bunch for listening, Gwen

[MamaSweetie2]

[QUOTE=junebug777;12122] This is also my first year homeschooling and I was hoping it to be...well...fun. It just wasn't anywhere near fun. It was the same thing they did at school, just they did it at home.

It is called: Learning Adventures. The first year is called: A World of Adventures and starts off in Ancient Egypt. We will get to build the Nile River, have a taste of Egypt, do a mummification, have a Passover Celebration, do a play, and soo much more!!HOW EXCITING!!!



Hi!! I too tried to imitate school my first year, we used Calvert way back when....there were a lot of tears shed that year. It was not what I wanted either. I have since become very relaxed and try to enjoy the journey.

We also used Learning Adventures one year.....isn't it fun? We had a good time with it. Have Fun!! :wave:

[tarji8]

Hi!

What finally pulled it all together for us was Classical Conversations. It seemed that it would go against my little eclectic/random self - but it's great! There's a million things I could say about it, but what pulled me in was their use of the trivium. It makes so much sense. The grammar stage (little parrots), the dialectic (the "why" stage) and finally the rhetoric (communication). These are tools they can apply to anything. Teaching them how to learn - who'd've thunk it?! :smile2:
Anyway, it's done wonders for us.

Marji :wave:

[karenhs2]

My easiest child this year was my 11 year old. She is using Calvert (we have used it from the beginning for the earlier grades) and she started on 6th grade in January. It just works. Hurray!

My 17 year old junior is doing Streams of Civilization which is fine. He has had a time with Algebra and we have used more programs than I want to count but we bought Videotext last summer and so far, so good. He started dual enrollment this January, doing great in Intro to Computers and I hope he passes College Study Skills. he is doing Apologia Biology with labs by nJoy Science (we are in Charlotte) - FABulous. There is a Rock Hill location and the registration opens soon (www.njoyscience.net). What else? We are studying American Literature using (don't laugh) The Idiot's Guide to AL and a good anthology. And economics using the Uncle Eric book and Economics in One Lessons. HE is also doing a National History Day project which has to be completed by this Thursday. I know I am leaving something out but can't think what.

My 6 year old is pushing me towards unschooling with him. My one actual subject is math and we are using Rightstart but totally at his pace. He is a sponge when he wants to learn something and a rockhead when he doesn't. He is reading very well and not writing a lick (not even his name). I am glad he is number four or I would be pulling my hair out.

[jarsmom]

Ok, first, this is our first year. We pulled the boy (10) out of PS in November.

Second, what is out. Learning Language Arts Through Literature is definitely out. We ended up picking all the book studies out, and just reading those books. Total waste of money, as the books they use are listed on their site. It was supposed to be our grammar/writing book too, but it all kind of went out the window.

What worked? Reading!!!! Anything and everything I put in that suborn child's hands. Science fiction, historical fiction, biographies, science books, history books. Let's just say the boy will read anything to get out of doing any "real work". Another thing that worked, Singapore Math. The pace was perfect for him, the books are easy to tote all over town, and when he took the PACT test this year, he knew all of the answers. For spelling/vocab, we carried a dictionary around in the form of my cell with access to dictionary.com. If he didn't know it, he looked it up.

Next year I will need to rethink grammar. I will need to do a better job of making him write creatively. The only thing that truly worries me is the fact that I have very little in the way of a portfolio. It will mostly be Math reviews and a really long reading list.

[fishinmom]

Hi all,
I have 2 boys, 10 and 12. They are approximately in 4th and 6th grades (If I HAD to choose a grade level).

This year we made a major change. We had been using k12.com for several years. We found that the program had way too much busywork and focused on testing to an extreme. They even had regular classes on how not to get overwhelmed with their curriculum!

So this year we decided to try some things that should leave more time for fun stuff, like field trips.

Of the new things we tried, I have two that we like and one that we didn't.

Sequential spelling- just did not work for my boys. We would follow the directions, and they would do good. But when it came time for the review test, they did horrible! That went straight in the garbage!

"What ever happened to penny candy" (An Uncle eric book by richard maybury)- GREAT book on economics! My eldest read it about 3 months ago and still asks questions to get further understanding. He liked it so much that we got another book by the same author, "Are you ...Liberal? Conservative? or Confused?"

A² Curriculum - This is a wonderful resource! Can not recommend this enough! Even works well with apple computers(a problem only an apple user can appreciate. :smile2:)

I also have been using gurulib.com to keep track of my library. It is a free and easy to use site. Now I can find out if I have a book with just a couple of taps on the key board!

Hope this helps someone.
Mistee :wave:

[whitechr]

Hello everyone,
I have 3 boys, 17, 12, and 7. However, I only homeschool the 2 younger ones. They are in 2nd grade and 7th grade. The first year I started homeschooling, I used an eclectic approach. The second year, I used SOS for my 7th grader and Abeka for my 2nd grader.
I really like the SOS and so did my 7th grader. I used SOS for all the subjects except Math. For the Math I used Saxon. I also used Rosetta Stone for Spanish.
I will continue to use SOS next year as well for both of them, 3rd and 8th grade. I will also continue to used Saxon for the Math.
I purchased their curriculum this year from support group members, used book sales, and ebay. Which is a lot less expensive. I was able to purchase the SOS (7th grade 2006) this year for $80, the Saxon materials (2nd and 7th grade) for around $50, and the abeka (science, history, reading, and writing) for $20.

Thanks, Christy

[parent21lilgrl]

Hi everyone,
My dd is 6 in 1st grade,we started out using Calvert I really loved it cause everything is set out for you,you don't have to do much to prepare and if your new to homeschooling you can't go wrong with the teachers guide.

Math-love the Calvert math dd loves it too
Science-we both loved
History-very weak.the geography book is great but,the other book is very dry I basically just used it as a guide and searched the INTERNET for crafts to back it up.
Spelling-love it
handwriting-we didn't use it cause my dd is in no way ready for cursive writing.
Reading- this was our biggest problem with Calvert I felt that it pushed too many sight words in a week and dd wasn't getting it at all. we are now using explode the code,board games and card games that I made up plus, the bob books
Will we be using Calvert next year? No
we are going with
English-explode the code and gonna try Shurley English
Math-Singapore(alot like Calvert)
Spelling-?????
science-the living books
history-story of the world
hope it helps
vicki

[Dianna]

Hi everyone :wave:

Thank you for participating in our What Worked, What Didn't contest. Everyone who participated by 4.24.08 is eligible to receive a prize. Please read the list of prizes on our Contest page at http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/contests.htm and choose three prizes in order of your preference.

You must email me at editor@carolinahomeschooler.com to receive your prize (no private messages, please). Please state your Forum Username when you email me so I'll know who you are.

Since we have multiple winners, I will need to award prizes in the order that I receive your emails. You may not get your first choice, but you'll get the next prize on your list that's still available.

Due to the rising cost of shipping, you'll be required to pay postage. I will calculate Media Mail postage once you decide on your prize and we'll go from there.

Congratulations, and thanks for helping me clear my shelves!

Warmly,
Dianna

[susyg]

Hi,
Just found this site and wanted to share a book my daughter (16) found.
It is Teaching Textbooks, wonderful for the higher maths. It is a little expensive but includes CD-ROMs that have the lectures (very clear) and ALL the problems explained. This has been great for geometry because I didn't learn it at all in school.
We have used Sonlight off and on for all of my 3 older kids and now this last one. It is intense, lots of reading, but I feel she is getting a great education.
Susan

[Rox]

I've enjoyed reading all the post. :wave:thx!! I've heard of most of the programs mentioned and glad to learn about some others. We've just completed My Father's World from A to Z for kindy. IT WAS FANTASTIC!! We are planning to do 1st grade with MFW next. It is a literature based unit study. I'm now hooked on unit studies and quality children's picture books.

What did not work? Well....as time passes with our homeschooling, I'm sure my list will be longer, but for now I'll say Muzzy Spanish was a flop at our house. I sold it after a few viewings. The boys have learned tons of spanish from the DVD Professor Spanish. I'm planning to use Rosetta Stone next.
Keep this thread going!!!!

[TAT191]

I love this question! My son's are 5 & 7. Because they are so close in age my goal is to keep all science, history & elective type subjects together. This is why we love Sonlight & plan to use it to the end of Highschool. (That is the plan anyways!)

My 1st just begged to do school, the boy just loved workbooks! We started with Walmart type workbooks then when he was 4 we purchased Sonlight pre-k (both listened to the reading), Explode The Code (get ready, get set & go), Singapore Earlybird math & Signing time's DVD's. - All of this was a perfect fit! I could not have asked for a more pleasant 1st year for Homeschooling. (I did wait on all of these workbooks until "k" with my younger son)

For "k" for my oldest we did Sonlight again (both listening to all the reading). I ordered the next step in explode the code (they set it up for 3 books each year) but because of the difficulty we slowly did the 1st book only). Here is where the trouble begins ... Sonlight does not sell a "K" Singapore math so I did not know that one existed. There is a BIG jump so I strongly suggest you go to the Singapore web site and order the K book of you plan to do Singapore math. We did the 1a book slowly over the year. We also liked the K language arts that Sonlight sells. We just Love Sonlight's science & History also. We also continued with the Signing Time DVD's.

For 1st grade we again did Sonlight (Core 1). This core gets a little harder but my youngest did comprehend more than I thought he would. We did Singapore Math again but we did the 1a book again to make sure that he had a firm understanding of math & then we also did 2a. This was a good fit and I love Singapore Math. We did the other two Explode books in the 1st grade set. We also did Sonlight LA 1 and we did not like it. I am not sure if it did not work because my son was not ready to read or if it did not work because it did not help him learn to read. We will not do Sonlight's LA again. I knew early on that the LA was not working for spelling so I ordered Spelling Workout. Did not like it at all! It is more a learn to test type book and I do not want that. I want something that teaches the rules so that you know why you spell it that way. He loves the word puzzles in it so I will keep looking for a better spelling book. We are still hooked on Sonlight's science & History. (during this my youngest did K with all the workbooks that my oldest did for pre-k).

This year we will be in 1st & 2nd grade .... We are taking a year off from Sonlight so that my youngest can catch up a bit and get more out of the cores. We are doing Scaredy Cat Reading, All About Spelling (with wordsheets software to make word puzzles) Story Of The world, Winter Promise Science, Singapore math, and Learning Lessons from Queens Homeschool. I have really looked and looked so I think that I have what will work best for us. We will see! Next year we will go back to Sonlight and do core 2 for their 2nd & 3rd grade years. My goal this year is to really work on reading and spelling with my oldest.

I am really enjoying hearing what everyone else is using and what you liked/disliked about it.




Stephanie B.

I have two wonderful boys ages 7 (10-3-00) and 5 (8-2-02).

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Eastover-homeschoolers