Alternative LearningAre you a homeschooling mama? or maybe you unschool... or maybe you are interested in another alternative learning style? or maybe you don't have any idea what i am referring to?? this forum might just be for you! share your thoughts and ideas
Can you recommend a good 'structured' curriculum ???
And when I say structured, I mean more for *me* as this will be our first year of homeschooling.
I know a few people have recommended CLASS, and was wondering if there were others out there.
I think for the first year at least, I would prefer a 'full' curriculum, that basically tells you what to do, until we get the hang of it.
I have a 1st grader, 3rd grader, and 6th grader... I will also probably be buying 5th grade curriculum too, as the idiots at the PS held ds back without telling me mid year.
DS' will probably be off for quite a bit ("deschooling", but my dh has requested that I start HS'ing DD right away, to make sure it's what I want to do, before regular school starts again for the boys. (She's in 1st grade)
TWTM is excellent for recommendations and a few choices for each subject.
If you want everythinf from the same place. ABeka, K-12, Calvert, Switched on Schoolhouse (pc based) all get good reviews. the only one I have personal experince with is Abeka, we use it for a few subjects and it is great. Very comprehensive but easy from a planning , teacher standpoint. All of these can be prety $$, especially with multiple kids.
A World of Adventure is a excellent unit study program that covers everything but math. It is good because it can be used w/ multiple ages. It does reguire alot of library or supplemental reading books. I dont' know where you live but my library has awesome system, I just go online and read summaries, reviews, etc... then reserve the books I want, a few days later I stop by and pick them up. I get a bunch then let dd go thru and pick the ones she thingks she would like.
dawn
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Dawn w/
Jessica 13 yrs
Scott 2.5 years
My suggestion is to combine as much as possible!!! ESPEVCIALLY with the younger ones... the grades 1 and 3. This was our first year 'schooling' 2 and it was soooo frsutrating at times. Just getting everything done is very difficult most days. What helped was combining as much as possible.
We combine History, Science, Art, Music and Math. You can usually combine all but Language Arts and Math especially if they are close in age. Also, I would even have the 5/6th grader do the same History/Science but have him do 'more' indepth study. THat way you could do the main lesson with all 3 of them... requiring differing amounts from each child.
Honestly, if you want to combine them as much as possible, I would HIGHLY recommend TWTM or Sonlight. Sonlight lays out the lessons for you. TWTM is a guide of what each grade should be expected to do and how to keep track of it.
Don't burn yourself out. Remember that you can go slow, and they will get more out of it. Follow your child's lead.
Oh... and the longer I am homeschooling, the more I am hating the numbered grades. They honestly don't mean much at all! So what if your 10 year old is doing a '2nd' grade reading book... as long as that is where he needs to be. He could also be doing an '8th' grade math book. Just don't lock yourself into thinking of grades - because that limits so many things... especially if you need to combine.
Congratulations on your decision to homeschool. I think once you figure out what your family's learning style is you will be able to find lots of different curriculums.
Oak Meadow is Waldorf inspired. There is Enki written by a Waldorf teacher. Calvert has what looks like a very structured and challenging curriculum. You can find many religious based ones depending on your faith. Laurel Springs has a website and for each grade you have 3 choices style wise how you'd like the curriculum. Some sites offer sample lessons too. I found that helpful to look at.
Hope that gives you some ideas to start your search.
A couple of points: although I love the feel of Calvert, keep in mind that you are essentially *renting* the materials - you return it all at the end of the year.
I use Well-Trained Mind. I love Well-Trained Mind. But I wouldn't recommend it to a first-year homeschooler. Why? There are wonderful lists and recommendations, but you still need to create your own scheduling, lesson plans, combinations of materials, shopping for materials from different places, etc. This can be really fun if you only have one child or you've homeschooled at least a year, but your first year? I don't know.
When I am approached by first-year homeschoolers, particularly trying to combine ages, I always recommend Sonlight unless there are particular objections, such as religious ones. It's all scheduled out, yet offers flexibility . . . to figure out your family's placement initially is challenging, but once you've ordered your box of stuff, WOW it's all laid out for you
And no, I don't own stock in their company or anything
Military wife of a deployed soldier. 
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