Within the Lines

Curriculum Faves

Since the most recent Homeschool Minute from Old Schoolhouse was about choosing curriculum, I decided I wanted to write about some of my favorites.

1) Math-U-See.  Ours is a typical MUS testimonial.  Math has always been my least favorite thing in the universe; this sentiment is shared by my Bug(9).  For 1st grade, I purchased a used Bob Jones math curriculum.  It was so dry, boring and "schoolish" that I decided to switch to Saxon, after seeing how they break the lesson into a variety of things.  I stuck with Saxon for two years (or was it a year and a half) that felt like 10 l-o-n-g years...      in a desert...    with no water...    except the pool made by our tears.  (Not to criticize Saxon fans at all; I realize everyone has their own preferences.)  Finally my husband in desperation went online looking for alternatives and found MUS.  I had seen info on it before but didn't like their previous approach.  With the revamping, it looked a LOT more intriguing; thus, given the emotional status in our home, husband ordered it immediately.  We have loved it right from the minute we started till now, 1 1/2 years later.  Steve Demme helps me understand math, which is no small feat in itself, and has helped reach the one goal I had for Bug's math instruction this year -- that she would gain confidence and enjoyment of math.  She actually really, really likes it now, tho I doubt she'll major in math in college.

2) SpellingTime.com  Anyone who begins to talk homeschooling with me right now soon knows how much I love this site.  I had purchased Spelling Power a couple years ago and really liked their approach and lists.  When I used it for a year, I discovered that I am not to be depended on to spend a bunch of time ahead to prepare games and supplies and stand on my head (not really) in order to "flesh out" the lessons.  I managed pre-tests, oral tests, sentence-writing, and final tests, but nothing really fun.  SpellingTime has filled in that blank for me.  For those of you unfamiliar with it, it's a free website for teachers and homeschoolers to use to help their students practice spelling.  You can either use their grade-appropriate lists or modify them to suit you.  I modify them using the Spelling Power lists.  Son(5) and Bee(2) go running into the office when it's time for Bug(9) to do spelling because it's such fun.  Because of this, I've recently started Son(5) on it using lists I create from his AlphaPhonics lessons.  He is so thrilled, he talks about it non-stop all day long.  You can't help but be impressed with something that makes spelling the most fun part of the day!

3) Social Studies.  I've just this year created my own plan for social studies that I'm really enjoying.  I decided to divide the subject into 4 topics: Bible/Character, History, Geography, and Science.  We school 4 days per week thus one topic per day.  Monday is Bible/Character;  we are going thru chronologically, hitting the age-appropriate highlights and discussing the issues and virtues that arise.  Tuesday is History;  I use All Thru the Ages, Story of the World, and the library to cover history chronologically, relying largely on living books and lively discussion.  Wednesday is Geography; I have sort of a two-pronged approach to geography right now.  We study natural regions of the world connected to science studies, and we study missionaries and the countries they're working in.  For this second area, I love Window on the World, and I also use several online sources such as Glimpses for Kids and 40 Missionary Stories.  Thursday is Science; we are studying life in 6 natural regions for the rest of this year using various resources of our own and the library.  This is just the bare-bones outline of what we do, but it is something that is really working for us (finally) and we are all really enjoying -- and learning besides!

That's all I have time for now.  We'll see if I come up with more I want to write later.

Great info

{ 06:34, Thursday, April 12, 2007 } { Posted by HSBFrontPorch }

I'll have to check out that spelling site!
~Nancy