What Homeschool Curricula do you use?

[mother of faith]

What curricula do you use? Since our children all have different needs what is the best the curricula that you have found and actually use? This may help the homeschoolers plan for the upcoming here to see what others are actually using.

Do you use any technology incorporated into the curricula like a leap frog, or playskool product?

We use a wide varity in ours, and since I help 18 children homeschool I will post some of what I use to help you guys who may be thinking about homeschool or who are planning for the upcoming here, after the holidays ofcourse. But it is never to late to start planning and setting a budget.

[mom2bee]

Of course I plan to use a combo of Doman, LR, MonkiSee, MonkiDoo for reading from birth to 3, plus tons and tons of library books and maybe even starting our own library.

I also plan on using Doman, LM and a few dozen specially designed learning games (most of which I will be making myself and/or adapting to their level) for Math

and for everything else there are Bits Of Knowledge and books.

If I were going to go with a formal curriculum, I'd want something that is good, easy to do, versatile and "not too much frills"

I like Spalding for Lang Arts (it covers it all, handwriting, spelling, reading comp, writing, lit appreciation, oral presentation, etc) and Jones Geniuses for Math after Doman, I can see us doing all JG's math programs.
I also like Calculus Without Tears and I have a not to well heard of brand of Algebra books that I'm going to revamp to be more kid friendly and use for my own kids.

I think we'll do something like read an entire Encyclopedia and of course I want my kids to be physically excellent. I hope to teach them swimming from birth and gymnastics and martial arts from about 2 or 3 until they are teens at least.

I have a core program that I will require my students to do "Lang, Math, Physical" everyday and a few things that I will rotate but hope to help them develop (I want them to develop and practice some sort of artistic and musical activity regularly)

I hope that I can provide them with a multilingual environment from birth (Arabic, Spanish, English and another Modern Language) and want them to have a good understanding of the historical and cultural identities and roles of the countries/nations that speak these languages.) but mostly during their "elementary years" I want to enable them, I want to find a way to use their interests to drive my curriculum building.

[texaslady22]

Technology-wise, we like Starfall.com and we have a new video game system called a Mobigo he's getting for Christmas.

As far as actual curricula, we like My Father's World because it incorporates our faith into hands-on learning activities and that works well for us.

[aangeles]

I am not a homeschooler and Ella is only 28 months old. I work full time while Ella goes to daycare at my place of work. But since we started on this path of early learning, Ella has developed a great love of learning and she is thriving! I did not want her to lose her momentum so I decided to supplement her learning at home. This is currently what we are doing. We do reading in English and in Chinese everyday as well as Math, and Music. Then she gets to pick one other "subject" for each day of the week (Art, Science, Social Studies, Life Skills, Spelling and Language, Critical Thinking, etc.) I try to guide her choices so that she chooses an activity from each topic at least once a week but sometimes she gets obsessed with one thing - like the Human Body for the whole of last week. Her schedule is in no way regimented and I try to make each activity as fun as possible. These are the materials that I have found useful/effective/fun:

Reading in English - We have graduated from YBCR and YCCR long ago and are currently on the last month of LR semester 2. She is now reading comfortably at a 2nd grade level so I am now focusing more on reading comprehension, reading fluency, and increasing her vocabulary. We read lots and lots of different books for this but her current favorites to read by herself are: Ladybird Read-It-Yourself books, Usborne First Reading books, I Can Read! Level 2 books (Frog and Toad, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Little Bear), and ORT Stage 5 and 6 storybooks. I have also started reading chapter books to her starting with E.B. White's 3 books. To check her reading comprehension and phonemic awareness, I use Carson-Dellosa's Home Workbooks for kindergarten/1st grade phonics and reading comprehension - the activities are just right for her attention span. I recently started to teach her spelling and we are using letter stamps and homemade spelling puzzles for this, sometimes SpellingCity when I remember.

Chinese - She is reading at a 1st-2nd grade level. We are working on recognizing more chinese characters using LR, reading comprehension, and increasing vocabulary words. It is hard to find a Chinese curriculum to adapt to a toddler's level so I just use graded readers from Wo Hui Du, Reading Lads, and Taoshu. To improve her conversational and listening comprehension (I am the only one who is able to speak Chinese to her on a daily basis), I like the Qiao Hu 巧虎 DVDs, CDs, and activity books. And I use LR to teach her to memorize 1-2 Tang Dynasty poems per week.

French and Spanish - We do not speak either French or Spanish at home so I am using a lot of technology for this: Little Pim DVDs, Whistlefritz, Professor Toto, Muzzy, music CDs, etc. (not all at once but one at a time). She brings leveled French and Spanish readers to daycare for her teacher to read to her. I am planning to get Babybit in French and Spanish soon, and probably Rosetta Stone later on when she is older.

Math - I am currently using a combination of Singapore Math and Jones Geniuses curriculum with her. I think they are complementary to each other and emphasize different but equally important aspects of math. JG Matrix 1 focuses mainly on learning math facts and mastering addition and subtraction. Singapore Math starts off with concepts like comparing, contrasting, sorting, patterning, etc. So far, she seems to like both approaches equally well. Some days, she likes doing the matrix dots more, and on other days, she chooses the singapore math workbook and completes a couple of pages. It really depends on her mood and I just go with the flow. I am taking it easy and not rushing her in math (or anything else for that matter) since she did just turn 2 years old. She has finished about 1/3 to 1/2 of the Singapore Math kindergarten textbook and is able to do the addition/subtraction JG worksheets. We are currently working on finishing the Singapore Math textbook and mastering addition/subtraction (being able to answer 100 addition/subtraction problems within 20 minutes). We use a mix of math manipulatives from Lakeshore Learning and Montessori to supplement.

Music - She is currently able to identify about 30-40 pieces of classical music by 10-11 different composers from different periods. We have the Themes to Remember curriculum but I am not using it now since I can't find the time for it. Basically, I just let her listen to my collection of the top 100 masterpieces and identify the title and composer of each piece for her. I wasn't sure how much was sinking in until a few days ago when we were in the car and her dad happened to tune in to the classical music station on the radio. A piece of music was playing that her dad and I could not identify and Ella piped up from the backseat: "Papa, Mama, it's VIVALDI!" It turned out she was right!    I have also just started the Soft Mozart program with her for learning to read notes and play the piano and I am following the Soft Mozart 1-year curriculum.

EK - We use Tweedlewink and the Doman picture dictionaries. I don't have time to make bits and Ella has never really liked flashcards. So I am gradually transitioning her to the Montessori method - we are starting with the pin maps, nomenclature cards, and 3-part cards - they are like bits only smaller and have a hands-on component, which I think is a better fit for Ella's learning style. I love their geography and culture cards and materials.

Life Skills - We are working on learning the days of the week and months of the year. I use the Learning thru Music CDs by Hestia and type the lyrics into LR. After that, we will be learning to tell time and money. For this, I printed some homemade books and made matching puzzles. I also got the Money Sorting Cash Registers from Lakeshore Learning that she just loves playing with (choking hazard alert!).

Problem Solving/Critical Thinking - Ella loves jigsaw puzzles and is now able to complete 36-42 piece puzzles easily. She usually gets them all by herself on her 2nd try. I am going to challenge her with 60 piece puzzles soon (some of her Christmas presents) and also introduce her to Lego building sets. I am thinking of getting either the Logico Piccolo set or the Fun Thinkers set from Grolier for her as well.

Science - I am following the Earlybird Science curriculum (which are published by the same people who publish Singapore Math). I let her watch the Peter Weatherall science music videos depending on which topic we are currently discussing. I also use lots of manipulatives - life cycle puzzles, human body models and sticker books, animal sorting cards, etc. I chanced upon a whole lot of Scholastic Science graded readers on ebay covering Life Cycles, Animal Habitats, Weather, Human Body, Solar System etc. that I plan on gradually reading with her. They are a little too advanced for her now but I couldn't pass up the bargain. 

Art - We usually do this on Saturday mornings since the projects tend to take more time. I use Usborne's Complete Book of Art Ideas and the Usborne Art Treasury adapting them to her level. I supplement with LR art presentations and Montessori art cards. I read Anholt's Artists books, the Katie art books, and Art Up Close books to her (these are still a little too long for her attention span - I just stop when her attention starts to wander).

Then every night before bed, we have Journal Time - she tells me something about her day and I write it down in her words in her "journal." Sometimes, she scribbles a little or draws something to accompany her "journal entry." I got the idea of doing this with her from another mom's blog and from Doman's Teach your baby to Write. This is followed by reading a story from the Beginner's Bible and, soon, I will be getting the Nativity and Noah's ark felt sets from Mother of Faith to supplement our bible reading time.

Wow! When I write everything down like this, it sounds like a lot / too much for a 2 year old! But, really, when I am doing these activities with her, most of the time she's actually playing and not realizing that she is learning. Plus, most of the day, she is actually in daycare playing, climbing, running around like the rest of the kids there. She actually looks forward to these activities with me because she will start telling me in the car while on the way home, "Mama, today I want to do human body... " 

I hope you get more replies, MoF. I would love to read about what other moms are using! 

[reei]

aangeles, you are doing so much for ella, you are truly amazing.
I am doing Tweedlewink, Little Reader (English + Chinese) , Sydney Ledson, Suzuki violin and books reading, and soon to be added Jones Genius early learning program, English and Maths. (ordered but not yet received).
I am trying to squeeze in some time to watch Naruto..

[karmie]

*faint* ... how do you do SO MUCH, aangeles???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

[hypatia]

The journal is a great idea aangeles!

[mother of faith]

Wow! aangeles K to you............

Good job everyone, and thank you for sharing......

My thought is----Homeschool isn't just about 'a school thing' it is about home educating your child no matter what your schedule is like........teaching a child no matter what day or how long....some of us do have to work and still home educate their child.......

Thanks for the great ideas everyone. And I am so glad to see parents taking the needs and desires of their child before selecting the right curricula, after all parents know best...

And the journal is a good idea, we use journals for all kinds of thing here at our co-op. We have the progress journal, the content journal like math, science, art, people of the world, people in our community, and so on. The kids love to go to the cubbie like Sid the Science Kid and explore, observe, and investigate. We use Sid for our science content from Toddler to 3rd grade. I modify the content and make worksheets and a lapbook to go with each video. We teach spanish from www.123teachme.com they kids love it as well.

Keep up the good work, and keep posting please....and I will post more soon of what my Link Homeschool Students use.

[susankhan]

If you want a good overall curriculum with tons of hands on activities check out  ALL FREE

http://www.lessonpathways.com/

and

http://www.theheadoftheclass.com/

These 2 sites give lots of ideas to work around and best of all they are FREE....

[arminta7]

aangeles - How did you build up to that kind of program? My daughter is 12 months old and I am wondering what kinds of things you were doing at that age?

We are currently doing LR and LM twice a day during mealtime. We also watch a lot of Little Pim, Muzzy, Baby Einstein and Baby Signing Time. I play violin, guitar, piano and sing, so I let her watch me play and let her play with the instruments. We read a TON because books are her favorite thing I have music playing all day long and we sing a lot. We also frequently go to the library, Imaginarium, and swimming.

I plan on starting TweedleWink after we get it for Christmas Within the next few years we'll be starting Piano Wizard, Suzuki Violin, Jones Geniuses, dance classes, TheoryTime, Signing Time, Math with the Abacus, and Wink. Plus whatever else I find out about in that time!   

[aangeles]

aangeles - How did you build up to that kind of program? My daughter is 12 months old and I am wondering what kinds of things you were doing at that age?

We are currently doing LR and LM twice a day during mealtime. We also watch a lot of Little Pim, Muzzy, Baby Einstein and Baby Signing Time. I play violin, guitar, piano and sing, so I let her watch me play and let her play with the instruments. We read a TON because books are her favorite thing I have music playing all day long and we sing a lot. We also frequently go to the library, Imaginarium, and swimming.

I plan on starting TweedleWink after we get it for Christmas Within the next few years we'll be starting Piano Wizard, Suzuki Violin, Jones Geniuses, dance classes, TheoryTime, Signing Time, Math with the Abacus, and Wink. Plus whatever else I find out about in that time!   

arminta,

When Ella was 12 months old, we were only doing YBCR, Baby Learns Chinese, and Signing Time as well as reading books and playing with knob puzzles. We were speaking to her in 3 languages but I did not know about Doman, Math Dots, EK, Tweedlewink, etc. at that time. I only discovered this forum and all the rest of the early learning stuff when Ella was 14-15 months old. So, I think you are doing really great at this age! I think it's also wonderful that you play so many different instruments and can expose her to them so early. I am also planning to start Ella on Suzuki violin, abacus/mental math, and dance when she gets a bit older. She loves music and dancing. 

[mother of faith]

Thanks for the lessonpathways site this helped me out a lot with my homeschool co-op. K to you!

[ruamulla]

Dear aangeles.
My baby is 22 months old and would like to get him some jigsaw puzzle to solve.
what was Ellas ability to solve puzzle when she was his age??? and what puzzle that u think is appropriate for his age and that Ella enjoyed??
Thanks 

[aangeles]

Dear aangeles.
My baby is 22 months old and would like to get him some jigsaw puzzle to solve.
what was Ellas ability to solve puzzle when she was his age??? and what puzzle that u think is appropriate for his age and that Ella enjoyed??
Thanks 

Ella started playing with this puzzle http://www.amazon.com/Infantino-Colors-and-Shapes-Puzzle/dp/B000BTNIC2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1298662195&sr=8-4 when she was 19 months and was putting it together with ease in a month's time. Sometimes, I would need to help her fit the pieces together physically but she knew where each piece was supposed to go. At 22 months, she was putting these together: http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Animals-Floor-Puzzle-Pieces/dp/B000FGKD0G/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1298662471&sr=8-25. What I like about these puzzles was each animal was made up of 2 to 8 pieces individually so you could start out initially with just one animal each time so they don't get overwhelmed with too many pieces, then you can teach them  to put all the animals together into 1 big puzzle as they get better. I also taught her to sort the pieces by color before she starts doing the puzzle and she now knows to do it by herself each time she encounters a new puzzle. She was doing 36 to 42 piece puzzles when she was 23-28 months old. She also liked cube puzzles and could do 16 piece cube puzzles independently by the time she turned 2. This is not exactly the one we have but here is a link to give you an idea: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Pets-Cube-Puzzle/dp/B000FULOBE/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1298663014&sr=1-1 She likes doing tangrams: http://www.amazon.com/Rex-Games-JRT001-Tangoes-Jr-2e/dp/B000F6RWW8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1298662904&sr=1-1 and is currently doing the level 2 Tangoes cards at 31 months old.

Hope this helps! 
 

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Ella is a great inspiration to me! I never would have thought my daughter was ready for "real" puzzles but after reading about Ella's puzzle solving, I took the plunge and introduced 12 piece jigsaw puzzles to DD at 25.5 months or so. Previously, she had done LOADS of peg puzzles and a few four piece puzzles but she wasn't that into them. In hindsight, I think it was because they were cut oddly (not in a typical jigsaw fashion) and they were also a bit boring.

Anyway, I purchased a 12 piece wooden jigsaw puzzles that fit inside a frame with a back-picture on the frame to help her match up the pieces. Within a day or so she go the hang of it. We graduated to 24 piece floor puzzles from there. It took about 1-2 weeks of me doing them with her and guiding her and they quickly became too easy for her, although she does them for fun sometimes because she likes the pictures. I also transitioned her to 25 piece smaller wooden puzzles so she wouldn't get "spoiled" by the nice big 2 x 3 floor ones, and she put those together in no time at all as well. From there, we started doing 48-50 piece floor puzzles which is what she is working on now at around 27 months.  I introduced them over the last couple of weeks and she is just a puzzle machine. She needs guidance on some and others she can do unassisted. It's been so neat to watch her development skyrocket in the last month and a half since we gave her the first one.

I am going to get the 4 piece ones in the link to start with my son soon. We are still trying to teach DD strategy and putting together the edges first.  This puzzle we divide up into yellow edges first and have her complete it, and then do the middle. It's nice because it gives "clues" in the fact that the ABC's are in order so I taught her to sing her ABC's and figure out what comes next when she is stuck. She still prefers mommy sing it to her though! http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Doubles-Find-It-ABC/dp/B002ZZY5A4 I see that they have a US Map puzzle too, I might have to get that one next. She loves this one too http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Underwater-48-Piece-Puzzle/dp/B00004WHN9

I need to figure out what the next step is from 50, I am only seeing 100. When she is ready for that, this one looks super cute but it will be a while until she is I think. http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Safari-Floor-Puzzle/dp/B000BYNTYY/ref=pd_bxgy_t_img_b

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