For you Christian Homeschooling Mama's :)

[luvinmykids]

I have been looking into this quite a bit lately and have requested catalogs and pamphlets from several homeschool sites about their curriculums. Some look so awesome!! It gets me all excited to think about homeschooling my kids. Anyway, I wanted to know what you ladies use for a curriculum? I ask in here because we ARE looking for a Bible based curriculum and figured this is probably the best place to ask. Do you make your own curriculum? I am really not that great in that line of thinking, I would just like to be able to get everything that is needed sent to me.....wow, that just sounded really lazy on my part!! LOL!! but yes, I really do want that. I looked at Sonlight (which I TOTALLY love from what I have seen) but seems to be EXTREMELY pricey.

Alright, enough jabbering. Thanks for any insights.

[Sakura]

I need everything sent to me, too. I need the lessons plans already written and all nice and organized! We use Sonlight. Last year for ds we used the Core P4/5 with Kindergarten language arts and math. I was very impressed and ds loved it. So did dd1 for that matter. We have Core A for this coming year with 1st grade LA and math and we're really excited. It is really pricey, though. I've been setting aside the $ for it when we get our tax return for a given year. That way I don't have to pay for it out of our monthly expenses. And I'll be very likely using it with all 4 kids, so that makes it seem much more reasonably priced.

Prior to Sonlight, we used My Father's World kindergarten when ds was 3 (and he turned 4 that "school year"). And even for him, it was rather easy and I was sooooooo bored half way through the year. It was very repetitive. My SIL has used MFW, though, for 1st and 2nd and has liked it. I think she does supplement the curriculum with other things, though.

[KC's wifey]

No advice, but glad you asked! Stalking!

[JJorn]

I'm not sure what I will do either. I'd like to start something this fall with my three year old.

[Sakura]

Confessions of a Homeshooler also has tons of free printables and preschool and k4!

www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

[Cricket]

We have homeschooled 15 going on 16 years. We started out homeschooling using Abekas prepackaged curriculum. Over the years we started to pick and choose our own items.
I like to order from:
Timberdoddle http://www.timberdoodle.com/
Rainbow Resource: http://www.rainbowresource.com/
Home Science Tools: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/
Life Of Fred Math series http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html
CBD http://www.christianbook.com/
www.homeschoolclassifieds.com If you dont mind buying used.
Home school conventions are a great resource since you can meet vendors and flip through the curriculum you might be interested in.
Anyway, just a few places we have shopped!
Enjoy the journey!

[luvinmykids]

We have homeschooled 15 going on 16 years. We started out homeschooling using Abekas prepackaged curriculum. Over the years we started to pick and choose our own items.
I like to order from:
Timberdoddle http://www.timberdoodle.com/
Rainbow Resource: http://www.rainbowresource.com/
Home Science Tools: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/
Life Of Fred Math series http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html
CBD http://www.christianbook.com/
www.homeschoolclassifieds.com If you dont mind buying used.
Home school conventions are a great resource since you can meet vendors and flip through the curriculum you might be interested in.
Anyway, just a few places we have shopped!
Enjoy the journey!

Wow!! thank you so much for all the links! I will definitely have to check them out! And congratulations on homeschooling for so long!!! I have checked my states website and have seen when they have conventions. I will just need to head down there next time and check it out.

Confessions of a Homeshooler also has tons of free printables and preschool and k4!

www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

I love this site. She has such great ideas!!! I have printed a few things for DD from there as well.

I need everything sent to me, too. I need the lessons plans already written and all nice and organized! We use Sonlight. Last year for ds we used the Core P4/5 with Kindergarten language arts and math. I was very impressed and ds loved it. So did dd1 for that matter. We have Core A for this coming year with 1st grade LA and math and we're really excited. It is really pricey, though. I've been setting aside the $ for it when we get our tax return for a given year. That way I don't have to pay for it out of our monthly expenses. And I'll be very likely using it with all 4 kids, so that makes it seem much more reasonably priced.

Prior to Sonlight, we used My Father's World kindergarten when ds was 3 (and he turned 4 that "school year"). And even for him, it was rather easy and I was sooooooo bored half way through the year. It was very repetitive. My SIL has used MFW, though, for 1st and 2nd and has liked it. I think she does supplement the curriculum with other things, though.

I actually got a pamphlet from My Father's World. It just does not COMPARE to Sonlight!! i don't know if I am a sucker for marketing or what, but I LOVE how Sonlight does things. I have a friend that homeschools, but she puts together her own curriculums. I figure with 2 kids, it would be worth the money to do Sonlight since I wouldn't have to buy the curriculum over again, I would just have to supplement his curriculum after DD is done with it.

Thanks again for all your great advice!!

[JJorn]

I just spent the afternoon (while the kids were napping) looking at Sonlight and I so want to do that one! I haven't looked in depth elsewhere but I'm not sure that I'll like anything as much as this one. I plan to home school all my kids, too, and since much of it is reusable, it really makes it worth the money.

Wow.

[runningmomofmany]

We are getting ready to start our 13th year of homeschooling, and most of those years we have used Sonlight. I love it, and it still represents the way I really want to homeschool. I have had year where we did everything, and years where we only did the read alouds, but every year we have loved getting the big box of all those books. One thing to keep in mind if you do get Sonlight, is that they put *everything* in their teachers guides. But they do not expect everyone to do everything on there. Its flexible!

We are now using Teaching Textbooks for math, I think the earliest book they have is 2nd grade though. Saxon is my first choice for the first few years of math. Apologia for science. Notgrass for history.

By the time my youngest child graduates from highschool I will have been homeschooling for 30yrs! I can't believe I'm not even half way there. Sometimes I think that is great, others I'm ready to throw in the towel and register everyone for school, LOL! Homeschooling is rewarding, but it is *hard* too!

[luvinmykids]

We are getting ready to start our 13th year of homeschooling, and most of those years we have used Sonlight. I love it, and it still represents the way I really want to homeschool. I have had year where we did everything, and years where we only did the read alouds, but every year we have loved getting the big box of all those books. One thing to keep in mind if you do get Sonlight, is that they put *everything* in their teachers guides. But they do not expect everyone to do everything on there. Its flexible!

We are now using Teaching Textbooks for math, I think the earliest book they have is 2nd grade though. Saxon is my first choice for the first few years of math. Apologia for science. Notgrass for history.

By the time my youngest child graduates from highschool I will have been homeschooling for 30yrs! I can't believe I'm not even half way there. Sometimes I think that is great, others I'm ready to throw in the towel and register everyone for school, LOL! Homeschooling is rewarding, but it is *hard* too!

I just saw your post in NM and was going to ask you about this!! I think it is so great that you have homeschooled your kids. I know it is hard work, but the reward is so much better. I have a friend that homeschools her 5 kids....well now 4 since the oldest is off to college. She loves it and her kids are FANTASTIC.

Thank you so much for your input and suggestions. Glad to see you in here.

[glutenfree]

Hi! I've been a home-schooling mom for 12 years now. Still love it! The kids who have home schooled are now 21, 16, and 13 (the 24 year old went to public school). Started using ABeka, but after some use, I found that I LOVE Bob Jones curriculum for my older kids (grade 3 & up). I still like ABeka for the 1st & 2nd graders. I still find myself impressed with Bob Jones (BJU Press) for Kindergarten - my kids have become voracious readers with excellent vocabularies. I have done the BJU Bible Studies and found they were worth the time and energy. (My kids consistently have retained the information and are passing it on in Sunday School too.) I wouldn't trade it for the world. My 16 year old now is attending a small public school where she can work in online college courses half of her day.

You will find what fits your style and needs, just be sure to plug into others when you need to ask questions, vent, or just are having a rough day. Home schooling your family is a choice that can bring years of blessings, but remember - every day is not perfect, but your children are worth it. My 16 year old was my "handful" of a child and despite her high IQ, she still knows how to push buttons. It is okay to ask for help and make time for a mommy time out with the ladies to save your sanity.

Good luck!!!

[mommabert]

I'm trying to decide between Horizons (http://www.aophomeschooling.com/horizons/overview.php) or Abeka. I think I've decided on Horizons only because it isn't as regimented/attendance weighted as Abeka looks to be. Odd, right? I want to work at our pace and on our schedule which isn't always 8-12, etc.

[rachoochoo]

I was homeschooled and it's been many moons ago but my mom used Sonlight and I really liked it.

[Mynar]

We use CLASS. I wanted something with some accountability. This will be our third year using it if you have any specific questions. I also loved the look of Sonlight and have had several friends use that one, but I was afraid with as much craziness as goes on at our house if I didn't have someone to report to it would be too easy for us to slack off.

[caligirl07]

One good thing about living in CA (there aren't many lol) is that we have virtual charter schools, and that is a public school that caters to homeschool families. Tax dollars that a traditional public school would receive are used to provide me with curriculum and an education specialist to report to. I love it, because 1: the state pays for our curriculum and a few extra activities, Im given $2000 a year per child (kinder - 12 grade) to use and depending on what curriculum you choose if you have left over funds you can purchase musical instruments, lessons, dance classes...art supplies etc. The 2nd reason I love it is because I feel like my kids are still getting the education that my tax dollars are paying for. And 3rd because of the education specialist and the style of record keeping they would be able to transition right into traditional school if we ever decided we needed to go that route, they will also get a high school diploma, and transcripts to enroll into college.

The downside is that I have to purchase secular curriculum, and supplement bible teaching on my own, however the other benefits have lead me to go this direction.

Tristyn is in kindergarten and currently we are using Saxton for Math, Hooked on Phonics for reading/spelling and Handwriting without tears. Kaelyn is 3 and works on a few 'school' things from confessions of a homeschooler. And we all start off the day with a devotion/bible time and honestly its super easy to incorporate God/bible into everything else as well.


I've seen sonlight, and its awesome if you can swing it, especially if you have other kids that can use it as well! I know a few families who also love Abeka! I've read Abeka has one of the best phonics programs out there.

another great site for reviewing both secular and christian curriculum is: http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/

Also our charter is open to letting me choose from several different curriculum's, but another charter out there is: www.k12.com That one is available in several states, however it has its own curriculum (k12) which some families enjoy, but its free, and you are also provided with an education specialist and all supplies etc.

[pants]

glutenfree-I will be using the bju curric too for the most part..for preschool_about 2nd grade my friend and I will be alternating and sharing the bju stuff so that helps. Did you use the harddrive, books, online or a mixture?

katie-k12 is not approved or any virtual charter school in our state yet. We have a supper liberal school board that wants control over everything. BUT the state just past the ability for a virtual charter school to be set up. However, the school board has denied licensing for a virtual charter school. We are hoping after the election their will be a change of hands and more choice given to parents regarding that. If that's the case I'll be looking into that some.

[kellyowens]

I use Rod and Staff (it's a mennonite curriculum...although, we're not menonnite ) for preK-4th. I switch to saxon for math in 5th grade. In 7th-12th grade I switch to apologia science and in 9-12 I use Notgrass for history.

Rod and Staff is set up for use in mennonite schools so I have to tweak it a bit but that's the case with everything I've used .

I've homeschooled from the beginning...DH was homeschooled from 3rd-8th grades (most of his 10 siblings were homeschooled K-12).

Enjoy!! I LOVE homeschooling my kids !!!

[ColtsFan1912]

We use horizons right now
next year I'm going to use a mixture of Abeka (health), Horizons (math, phonics, reading, writing) & Bob Jones (science history)

[Young~ wife&soonMoma]

I was homeschooled from 2nd grade thru 12th and we always did A.C.E. ( accelerated Christian education) it's a great Christian curriculum but the high school work is very hard.. My mother in law has started using Abeka with her youngest since she is almost in high school and says it worked great doing A.C.E. first then Abeka the last few years