Reviews

This area contains reviews of products that homeschoolers have found helpful (and not so helpful). Please email us if you'd like to add your own review or if you're interested in a resource that hasn't been reviewed yet.

Member Reviews

The following resources were reviewed by members who entered our various "Best and Worst" curriculum contests.

The Best List

The Worst List

Carolina Homeschooler Reviews

The following resources were reviewed by the editor or staff of Carolina Homeschooler:

Elson Readers - reading and literature program

Mathematics Worksheet Factory 3 - math software

This Old Schoolhouse - homeschool magazine

Wordsmith - writing course for grades 7-9 and up

Times Tales - math facts

The Best List

One Hundred Sheep Counting Tape (K-3)
Very easy way to learn skip counting. They listen to the tape over and over. No work on my part!
 

I'd Like To Be tapes (K-3)
We have from Astronaut to Zoologist. They listen to these almost everyday. One day my daughter (K5) explained to me how compounds stay together and mixtures come apart after listening to I'd Like To Be A Chemist. They enjoy the tapes and learn science in a fun way, with no work on my part!

Singapore Math - Primary Mathematics

We have used 1A - 4A so far. I love this math curriculum. It is straightforward, easy to teach, and easy to tailor for a particular child. There is no fluff. I often see it referred to as nontraditional, but in my opinion, it is traditional and that is why it is such a strong program. It teaches one topic at a time and teaches it thoroughly, but constant review is built in because the topics build on one another. The mental math tricks taught in Primary Mathematics were still being taught when I went to school. However, in conversing with other moms on various homeschool boards who are younger than me, it seems that most of them did not learn many mental math strategies.

Rod & Staff English - 4th Grade

I love the systematic, incremental way that Rod & Staff teaches grammar and writing. There is a lot of drill and review, so my daughter retains what she learns. The writing instruction is rather dry, but we've used Imitations in Writing and Wordsmith Apprentice to add a fun, creative side to our writing classes.

Tapestry of Grace, Year 2

I'm using this with 3rd and 5th graders. While I prefer a
traditional approach to the skill areas of math and language arts, I prefer a non-traditional, non-textbook approach to History and Science. TOG is a Christian approach for teaching history chronologically using "living" books and incorporating literature and government studies. The books used with the curriculum are top-notch. The program is easily adapted to fit the needs of a particular family. Discussion questions are included for history and literature to help guide students to think and draw conclusions about what they've learned, rather than simply memorizing lists of names, places, and dates. By studying history and literature together, both take on meaning that is absent when they are studied in isolation from each other.

Story of the World I and II, by Susan Wise Bauer

These books bring history alive and make it interesting for young children. We used Volume I with the accompanying Activity Guide when my older two children were in 1st and 3rd grade. We are using Volume II as our primary source (or "spine") with Tapestry of Grace, and the children are now in 3rd and 5th grades.

First Language Lessons, by Jessie Wise

This is a wonderful, gentle approach to grammar, copywork, dictation, and poetry memorization for 1st and 2nd graders. My daughter actually asked to do her grammar lessons. She painlessly memorized definitions for all the parts of speech and a long list of prepositions, among various other things.

Oral Language Lessons, by Abeka

My kids recognize good grammar and bad grammar when they hear it, partly because of the ear training they've received with this easy-to-use little book. It takes just five minutes a day. It's a gem that I highly recommend.

Spelling Power

My son loves this program. It is so easy to implement!  What we like most is that you don't have to study words you already know. We also enjoy the hands-on activities to reinforce the correct spelling of the words misspelled.

Saxon Math 3

My son enjoys the constant review that Saxon provides. He is also able to tell time, temperature, and count money like it is second-nature. Before, we struggled in these areas and it seemed like no other programs reviewed them enough for him. He actually enjoys math time now.

Addition the Fun Way

This has to be right up there with Spelling Power on how much my son enjoys it. My Kindergarten daughter has even told me she can't wait for her turn to use it. Math facts have not come easy in our home and this finally made the difference. It's amazing how my son can remember so many stories, but could never remember that many facts. We all love this program!

Explode the Code Primers

I love this series of books! I used these with my son when he was younger and I am getting to enjoy them again with my daughter. These are so simple to use, just pull them out and go. I don't care for letter recognition and phonics programs that are intensive.  I just want something short and simple. This program fits that.

Kindermath

This program comes with the Alphabet Islands Complete Set. Unfortunately, we haven't really worked through the Alphabet Island enough to decide if we like it or not.  It is pretty involved and that has held us back. But we enjoy the Kindermath program. Again, this is short and simple. You pull it out and don't have to plan ahead. We do use manipulatives occasionally, more for fun than anything.

Imitation in Writing - Fairy Tales (3rd and up)
Imitation in Writing - Medieval Legends (5th and up)
Imitation in Writing - Aesop's Fables (2nd and up)
These are all from Logos School. We continue to use and like these. They give a step-by-step plan to imitate a classic piece of writing. It is sort of a combination of narration, vocabulary study, and good literature.

Rod and Staff English (3rd and 5th grades)
The explanations are excellent, the review is excellent, and the old-fashioned grammar is excellent. The only drawback is that they are hardcover, not workbook format.
 

Spelling Workout (Levels A, D, and F)
These have excellent exercises in vocabulary study, editing, analogies, and a variety of other helpful skills. And all my children like them.

Saxon Math

I still love Saxon math. Math is the one subject I do not feel comfortable with and the one subject I do not want to leave "holes" in.  Although Saxon may not be as entertaining, I still love the  effectiveness of this curriculum.

Saxon -vs- Abeka -vs- Bob Jones

With Saxon math, I found that the students in the private school (elementary grades) would score (on the Stanford 10) a grade level or two below the students who used Abeka math. I liked the constant repetition and hands on activities of Saxon, however it was not as advanced in skill level as Abeka. My suggestion for those who would like to use Saxon, would be to use a grade level higher than their student's current grade level. I like Bob Jones history for grades 1st-3rd. However for 4th and 5th grade, Abeka is far more challenging. I loved the content of the 4th and 5th grade Abeka history.

Scott Foresman Science

For science I have been using the Scott Foresman Science series, and I love it! The pages are colorful and full of information. It seems there is an experiment at least every third page, making science very hands on. I think many science curriculums fail in this aspect. The fun of science is getting your hands into it!

Rod and Staff, Reading and English

Rod and Staff 3rd grade reading was our best resource this year by far. I think it was the best because it uses actual Bible stories to teach reading and reading comprehension, not just scriptures with fictional stories. At the top of each daily story the verse references are given.  My daughter has learned so much biblically this year through this program. We also used their English, which we plan to use again next year. The lessons are short and very well explained.

Schoolhouse Test 2 (software by Schoolhouse Technologies)

This program is FANTASTIC! I have already showed it to so many other teachers.  I am going to take it to my old school principal and get her to purchase it for the school. I wish I had this program back when I was a classroom teacher! It would have made my life so much easier. It is so user friendly, and can be used for more than test & quizzes. I have used it to make review sheets and other kinds of worksheets for my daughter. It is an amazing resource!