homeschool Archives - Page 6 of 6

7 Honest Homeschool Math Curriculum Reviews

July 11, 2016 by Susan 9 Comments

The ultimate review collection. Reviews of all of the math curriculum we’ve tried over 10 years of homeschooling. What worked & what we really wanted to work but just didn’t…pros, cons, hits, misses.

$Honest homeschool math curriculum reviews from 10 years of homeschooling. What worked, and what we really wanted to work but just didn't.$

When we started homeschooling, the one thing my kids asked was that we not use Saxon Math curriculum. The charter school they had attended used it and it was not their favorite.

Let me say clearly…I know lots of homeschool families that use and LOVE Saxon. It’s just not a good fit for us.

One of the very best things about homeschooling is that you can pick and choose what will work for your family. And if something doesn’t work…you can try something else!

Math Curriculum

With math, we have used a number of different curriculums (I know “curricula” is the correct plural, but it sounds funny, so I don’t say it).

When I was looking for things to try, I loved reading about other people’s experiences. So today, I thought I’d share ours. Each one of these had pros and cons, things we liked and things we didn’t. You can click on the images to read more about each curriculum.

Smashbooks

June 1, 2016 by Susan 22 Comments

A few years ago, Minnesota hosted the “Winter That Never Ends”. By the beginning of March, we began dreaming of a sunny vacation. Greg pointed out that with us homeschooling and him working from home, we had the freedom to be anywhere. We talked about how nice a condo in Florida would be, if only we could afford it. And then I remembered.

“Honey, your mom lives in Texas. Texas is warm.”

And so we went.

We made our home in Waco for two and a half weeks, one of which I designated as Spring Break. I wanted to take full advantage of our new environment for our schoolwork the rest of the time. And I wanted to do something creative. We had done lapbooks several times, including one before a trip to Disneyworld, but I felt the boys may have outgrown them.

Have you heard of Smashbooks?

They are essentially a type of scrapbook, but less structured and made on the go. Unlike a scrapbook that you make after an event, a smashbook you put together while you’re doing it.

Smashbooks can be in a regular notebook, plain scrapbook, or binder.

And having the word “smash” in the name made it more appealing to my two boys. 🙂

Spelling Wisdom

May 11, 2016 by Susan 3 Comments

While we never really subscribed to any one philosophy of homeschooling, the closest we got would have to be the Charlotte Mason method. I was always drawn to her belief in educating the whole child through discipline and exposure to art, music, nature and great writing.

My boys had a heavy phonics background in their time at the local charter school they attended. My eldest finished fifth grade and my younger third when we decided to homeschool. They were both strong spellers.

So when we began homeschooling, I was looking for a spelling program that built on the foundation they had.

What we landed on was Spelling Wisdom by Simply Charlotte Mason. We used the downloadable version, and only printed what we needed.

As described on their website:

Learn today’s 6,000 most frequently used words presented in the writings of great men and women of history.

A Class for Pre-School and High School?!

April 29, 2016 by Susan 2 Comments

Whether you have preschoolers in your life or you are planning a Child Development class for older students, this is for you.

Every Tuesday morning, my 15 year old son and I lead a small Nursery School at our church for 2-4 year olds. I structured it as part of a Human Development course he’s taking. It’s just a couple of hours, but it gives him lots of hands on experience, and we hope to be a blessing to the families as well. You can read more about his curriculum below.

But first I want to share some activities and songs we’ve done this year that have been an especially big hit with the Littles we work with at Pre-School. If you have Littles in your life, give these a try!

Time Management for Teens

April 10, 2016 by Susan 5 Comments

When we started to homeschool, we developed a rhythm to our days. My boys were both still in elementary school, 3rd and 5th grades.

Some subjects we would complete together, like History, Science, and Art. And with things like Math and Reading/Writing, they would work with me individually.

Once we hit the Middle-School years, and could peek over the hilltop to High School … I knew I needed to introduce more time management skills.

I found a great, free, customizable, planner sheet … very bare bones basic … that has worked wonders! We are still using it in high school.

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