So it’s definitely that time of year again. The one where it’s time to ‘make a call on school’.
I mean, technically, if I were responsible and stuff, it would have been last winter or something for waiting lists and interviews. But things are a little up in the air for us, so we know it’s time to call it, and have a proactive plan.
When we first put our home up on the market, we thought we’d have plenty of time, and lots of options. We even toured some schools in the Franklin TN area, and got super excited. The kids were excited, too… considering it as a fresh start and possibility. But the market here is very slow. We have to be okay with that for now. So we have resigned ourselves {I hate that word, so maybe I should say, we are joyfully diving in (?)} to another year of Mills Academy.
Every single option out there has its pros and cons. I mean, welcome to parenthood, right? And we believe that every year should be carefully and prayerfully considered. At the end of the day, we think we’ll always be a little torn on each option, and I don’t think I’m doing my job right, if I’m not torn. It’s my job to be really careful with everything I decide, especially with their education.
I almost feel like a slow motion coin toss in the middle of Friday Night lights, perpetually spinning in motion. It feels like we may never land. {You can totally catch me, Coach Taylor. What?} We have to be okay with the unknown right now.
There are so many directions everything could go depending on the market here and what happens when. So for now, we have decided to be patient, and go ahead with one more year. At the very least. We think it will make the entire moving/adjusting process much smoother for our children.
And next year, we will consider again.
For so many reasons, we want to keep going.
And for so many reasons, we don’t.
When we first decided to do this, we weren’t sure how long it would last. I found a passion I didn’t know I had.
As we’re only human, we’ve also realized what doesn’t work, sometimes after struggling for a while, and that’s made some aspects hard.
So here we are, ready to go into our third year. It’s been an amazing experience. It truly has. It’s a full time job, and not something we take lightly. With working from home, it may sound like the whole shebang should be one big breeze. But homeschooling is no joke. We’re working on an exciting project for next year, in addition to everything else. And it’s just a lot to manage for now.
Our kids come first. So it sounds like the answer would be a simple one. It’s not.
We just want to make sure we always have the very best option available for them.
This year, we feel like switching it up a little will help.
I found myself pulling from Sonlight for two years for a more streamlined schedule and while that was great at first for a little hand holding {because I had a ton of resources at my fingertips} I realized that there’s a reason people customize their studies each year.
We’re ready to try something different in the curriculum department, to fit each child a little better.
I clearly have my work cut out for me.
So we wanted to have a bit of an open forum here today.
We’re technically going into K, 2nd and 4th grades this year, though some subjects are super advanced for some kiddos, and some are struggling a bit in others. Just like learning to walk at different times, everyone’s maturity level and development will be different. And this is what we DO love so much about homeschooling.
So we want to hear it… what’s the best curriculum for each subject you’ve used for your child?
Why have you been happy with it?
What works for you and what doesn’t?
What are some things you’ve learned with it all?
Anything else you can add would be fully appreciated. We’re ready to dive in!
Please give us an earful. We would love to hear. We’re really grateful for what we’ve learned from you, and if you have any questions of your own, please let us know.
Have an inspired day!
Tara says
We are similar to you, in that it is a year by year decision for us. We did Kindergarten at home last year and are currently trying to decide if we want to homeschool again this coming year or try public school. I’m having a baby in October, so I’m apprehensive about homeschooling on top of that adjustment.
We used Story of the World for social studies this year and my daughter LOVED it. She really learned a ton from it and was so excited when it was time to do it. I liked that it could just be straight forward and easy, or if there was a topic that was more exciting for her, or if I was feeling especially ambitious there were lots more activities and ways to stretch the lessons. If we homeschool again this year I will stick with this curriculum.
For math we used Math U See, which we also liked. The manipulatives made it easy for my daughter to visualize the concepts she was learning and we found them to be really helpful. I would also use this one again. I also liked that once I taught her the concept it was easy enough for her to do the exercises on her own, without me having to hover the whole time.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thanks for those suggestions. Yes, you nailed it with the hovering thing. We need less hovering in our days!
Becky says
We LOVE our Classical Conversations group. It has been such a good experience for us, both educationally & socially. We use it as a “base” & springboard from our memory work. Everyone is studying the same topics, but your studies can easily be adapted for different grade levels. Add in a math program (we like Saxon) & a bit more language arts, you are well on your way!
ashley @ the handmade home says
That sounds like an awesome set up! Unfortunately, we know of absolutely no groups like that where we live, and it’s one of the aspects of homeschooling our kids have not been able to experience. One of the many many many reasons we can not wait to relocate! :/
Kristina says
I am a complete homeschooling novice (complete as in I am going to be very loosely homeschooling my preschooler this year as a “trial” run), but I found The Well-Trained Mind (book and forum) to be a huge wealth of information and resources. I’m going with a packaged curriculum (Memoria Press) and can’t wait to get started! I’m hoping I still feel the same enthusiasm for kindergarten come this time next year. 🙂 Good luck!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Yes that book is great! Thank you – same to you!
Lauren says
Shurley Grammar is wonderful! That’s the one thing I’ve never changed.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you Lauren! I will look into that. How old were you kiddos when you started Shurley grammar?
Elizabeth Byler Younts says
For learning to read: All Anout Reading…hands down.
We are starting Beautiful Feet Early American history this year & im really excited. Still living books but not as numerous as Sonlight & can combine grades.
CTC math has been my sanity for this non-mathy mom.
Audio Story of the World. ❤️
ashley @ the handmade home says
We’re definitely interested in American History this year, so I will look into that! And we have one really kind of struggling with reading… school in general… so I will look into that as well. Thank you.
Leslie says
Hi Ashley!
We will begin our 6th year of homeschooling (that doesn’t seem possible!) and with a lot of trial and error, here are our favorites:
Math U See
IEW for writing (they have all levels, but I wouldn’t start it until first or second grade.) I am passionate about this one! Maybe a little pricey if you only HS one more year, but they have a 100% money back guarantee, and I always say I would use this curriculum (esp from middle school upward) even if my kids went to traditional school. It covers everything from forming letters to writing research papers.
Obviously we use lots of other things, but these two are my favorites!
One other thing- I want to quit every year. Sometimes every day (did I just say that?). So I’ve started listening to podcasts, convention talks, etc to keep myself encouraged and motivated. It’s made such a difference. Some of my favorite speakers are Andrew Pudewa, Adam Andrews, Andrew Kern, Heidi St John, and Todd Wilson. Google any of them and you can find free talks as well as reasonably priced ones to buy. Hands down, the best investment I make.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Great resources, Leslie. I’ve been pretty disappointed with the writing aspect of our current curriculum – and great advice. Thank you so much for that! Because we are so ready to quit! HA! I will definitely look into those. {They need to make a hysterically crying and laughing emoji for my computer}
Elizabeth Byler Younts says
Me, again…
As for reading help. All about reading truly is amazing. And you might be interested in checking out a podcast with the creator of AAR, Mary Rippel. It is amazing glimpse into her thoughts and history in teaching reading. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/read-aloud-revival/id870178510?mt=2&i=320275804
And this is my favorite podcast ever also.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Could definitely use a little encouragement so I’ll be checking it out! Thank you!
Stacey M. says
The Lord has led us on an unexpected journey that allowed me to quit my job at a christian private school (where my daughter attended for 3 years), and make the leap to home school this year. This was not a fast or easy decision, rather one I labored over, prayed over, and researched. We settled on Veritas. I definitely need the hand holding. We are unexpectedly excited. My daughter will be in 2nd grade. All of our books have arrived and we are converting our traditional dining room space to a home school room. I’m excited to use some of your printables to make our room feel fun. I’ll look forward to reading the comments. If we continue to school I’m sure I’ll adjust curriculum along the way to fit her needs. Our 4 year old will continue to do PDO so I can focus on my 7 year old. Excited about what the year hold…and a little nervous. 🙂
ashley @ the handmade home says
Awe so glad you can use them Stacey! I hope this year is amazing for you… even though I know it can be hard at times, amazing! You will not regret changing that dining room over! I speak from experience! ;}
Stacey M. says
Ashley – I think we have some mutual friends – we go to Highland COC in Memphis. 🙂
Wendy Till says
Stacey M…Me & Ashley M go WAY BACK!!! I’m glad to know you follow Handmade Home. Ashley is a super talented lady!
ashley @ the handmade home says
embarrassingly far back! shhhh don’t tell her the awkward stories please. ;}
Hannah says
We’re going into our first year homeschooling, but I was homeschooled all the way through myself. I tried Sonlight with my kids at the beginning of the year (ages 5 and then 3.5) and it just wasn’t working for us, though I think we’ll revisit it in the future. Since my main goal for my young kids is sparking a love of learning in them, I chose Timberdoodle this year. My mom used pieces of their curriculum when I was growing up and I know other moms who are currently using it as well. I’m expecting it to be super fun and relatively easy, which is a good fit for our family in this season. I encourage you to look into it! 🙂
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thanks so much, Hannah! Hope this year is awesome for you!
Jennifer E. says
This will be our first year of homeschooling. My daughter will be in Kindergarten. I have Sonlight’s Kindergarten Curriculum, but we will also be doing Classical Conversations. We have been listening to Story of the World in the car and I do have the activity books, which I know my daughter will really enjoy. If we love CC as much as I think we will, I plan to use Sonlight’s language arts going forward and will have to figure out if we will stick with Horizons Math or switch to something else.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Awesome! I hope your year is wonderful! We’ve been happy with Horizons- I think it’s the only thing that’s staying! ;}
Jeana says
We are the opposite this year! I usually piece together our year, but this year we’ve brought my oldest special needs boy home for school and added a baby as well! So I went with Sonlight and memoria press for my oldest. We are so excited to get started! We do love Michael Clay Thompson for grammar and will be using some IEW for writing and memory. We’re using Christian Light Education for math which looks amazing! Oh and Explode the Code 🙂 You have encouraged me to use our unused front living room for a school room so I’m working on that, love yours! Hope you have a great year!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Jeana- I have heard great things about explode the code – I will have to check it out. Thank you for sharing your awesome recommendations – hope this year is amazing for you!
Jennifer E. says
I wanted to add that I’m still new and figuring it all out! I’m pleased with Sonlight’s literature choices, but when it comes to spelling and writing we may use something else, too going forward.
ashley @ the handmade home says
I am with you, girl! You are not alone. Thinking of you as you make these choices!
Shannon - AKA DESIGN says
Hi you guys,
Such tough choices. We’ve been homeschooling all along and this fall I have grades 6, 8 and 10! I cannot believe how time has flown.
We’ve used many different curriculums over the years. But for the last several we’ve happily used My Father’s World (www.mfwbooks.com). I encourage you to check it out – it’s excellent and makes teaching several grades much easier. We also use Math U See and prefer it to things like Saxon and Singapore. And of course Rosetta Stone makes languages come alive.
I hope you gave a blessed year.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you Shannon – will definitely have to check it out! I’ve heard great things about MFW. Thinking of you!
Alea says
I used Sonlight last year, and was really disappointed that it didn’t work for us. I loved the concept, it just wasn’t for us. I’ll second All About Reading and All About Spelling was great too. However, I was at a point this coming year that I wanted the kids to be more independent. I needed more time to tend to other things. So we are doing something I thought I would never do again. We are using Christian Light workbooks for most of their studies. I’m supplimentin with books from Sonlight’s reading lists, and I may add in some more hands on activities as I have time and the kids have interest. Good luck. We love homeschooling because we get to make these decisions about what to learn and how. It’s hard, but the best things always are. Prayers for you and your family!
ashley @ the handmade home says
YES! I think you just nailed it on the head. It’s the whole I-can’t-hover constantly that is hard. Especially with multiple children -we were spending way too much time in between subjects and working individually… We want them to have more independent time, and we need that done in a timely manner so we can also do things like, you know, pay our bills. ;}
Kimberly says
I’ve had friends use Calvert curriculum for homeschooling. I really liked what I saw of it and am considering it for my daughter who will be starting classical conversations pre-k this fall.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Awesome Kimberly! Hope this year is amazing!
Wendy Till says
-All About Reading is AWESOME!!!
-Life of Fred Math is great and so funny! You will enjoy the stories.
-History, if you are doing American History, we really enjoyed My Father’s World Adventures in US History and they also have a cycle where you can include all the kids for History. Text me and I will send you more details.
-Spelling, Rod & Staff Spelling or All About Spelling are both good programs and you could incorporate Spelling City online games for additional practice
-Science, Apologia Science is fantastic and I love the notebooking they have to go with it.
You can call or text me anytime girl and I can help you with curriculum questions. Love ya!!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thanks so much, girl! ;* hope you’re well!
Lynne says
We are set to begin our 8th year of homeschooling. Wow, it has gone so quickly, and I am so thankful for the time we have spent together. Here are some of our favorites:
My Father’s World has been such a help to me, in part, because it is all planned out. I love the weekly grid of activities that I can tweak to fit our needs.
The Writer’s Jungle aka http://www.bravewriter.com is full of inspiration and common sense advice for making your homeschool work for your family. This site is full of goodness, so much more than writing advice.
One of our very favorite language arts curricula starting at about 3rd or 4th grade is the Michael Clay Thompson program available at http://www.rfwp.com. These books are full of delight and inspiration, and they teach advanced concepts in a simple, engaging way. Truly, they are like language arts candy and are worth every penny spent on them.
At your children’s ages, we used and loved RightStart Math with its hands on lessons punctuated with games and critical thinking activities. http://www.alabacus.com
Best wishes to you! I love your website.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so much for the sweet words and great resources, Lynne! I will definitely check them out!
Brenda Deibel says
We are going into year 7 of homeschooling, and still mix it up every year! Having a baby this past year made it more challenging, but my kids got really good at helping each other if I was busy. We have loved Apologia, My Fathers World, IEW, Life of Fred, quite a few of the Evan Moore books (daily geography), Critical Thinking books, Galloping the Globe, plus love Timberdoodle.com, they have great reviews.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you, Brenda! Does it get easier after the second year? I’m hoping it gets easier – not in a way where I can slack but just getting into our groove and fighting with our difficult child less… I think I need someone to tell me that. ;} we thought we were done. But you are inspiring. Thanks for the great recommendations!
Alison says
This will be my first year homeschooling all 4 kids at once. They’ll be in K, 2nd, 5th, and 7th.
I recently blogged about my curriculum picks for this next year: http://happyturtlelife.com/blog/2015/4/16/homeschooling
Praying for you as you find what best suits your kids’ needs!
Alison says
I forgot to mention, if you’ll be living in TN at any time during the school year and are interested in which of the homeschool options to take advantage of (there are 5 legal options for homeschoolers) we use “Option IV – Alternative Statute—Operate as a Satellite Campus of a Church-Related School” and use HomeLife Academy http://www.homelifeacademy.com/ out of Jackson, TN.
ashley @ the handmade home says
I am certainly going to have to check all those out – and catch up to code this year on all of the things so that I don’t end up in jail. ;} Thanks so much for that, Alison!
Andria says
I’ve learned that less really is more for my family, several key contents are far more powerful than trying to do all of the subjects, but for my family (3rd & Kinder) we keep it really basic. My super creative 3rd grader (watch out Spielburg!) does Math (Math Mammoth), Spelling (All About Spelling), Grammar (First Language Lessons), Latin (Memoria Press), History (Story of the World), novel studies for writing and reading (I was a 6-8th grade Language Arts teacher, so I can create my own units for novels we study, we use Classic starts, or other quality chapter books), and I read to both boys from a chapter book daily. This year we’ll add cursive (Handwriting Without Tears) and Typing (Typing Instructor). My sporty little Kinder guy does simple stuff like alphabet games and counting games, where ever he is in his development. I don’t push my kids to perform outside of their abilities, but let them grow at their own pace and skills levels, because who wants that pressure, right? Plus, I just love how they direct their own learning, these little sponges. It’s amazing how much they learn on their on without me telling them all day long what they need to learning. I try to get out of their way when possible and let them answer their own questions. 🙂
We’re also part of a public school liason where both my boys go for fun certificated teacher-lead group and hands-on learning activities with other homeschool kids, and math and science are emphasized there.
I keep our homeschool time for my 3rd grader 3-4 hours long, and my kinder is 30 mins to an hour. We feel that a relaxed approach to homeschool is best for all of us. And I learned the hard way that buying curr. isn’t like buying a pair of shoes, meaning that expensive curr. doesn’t always translate to qualtiy curr. I’ve wasted far too much money on flashy, big names with high reviews, only to realize that I have to prep 2 hours in order to teach it every day, or it’s not a good fit for my guys, or it’s a snore-fest and we hate doing it, etc.
Every year I learn more and adjust to that new knowledge. It’s trial and error, and like you we always review our choice to homeschool each year.
You’re children are so blessed by your attention all they are and all they need! It’s so inspiring to see parents being so intentional and driven to do what is best for their children!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so much for all this info, Andria! We really appreciate all the sources. And for the kind words. Thinking of you this next school year! ;}
Kristin says
We reevaluate each year, too. This will be our 5th year. I’ll have a 3rd grader, Kindergartner, Preschooler (4 yr. old, who will spend most of his year playing), and 1 year old tag-along.
My daughter’s (8-yr-old) hands-down favorite subject is history because we use Story of the World. It reads like a novel to her. (You would need to skip ahead to the book on Amer. History if you wanted to study that this year, though.) There is an activity book available to go with each book. It includes review questions, crafts, maps, recipes, games, and more reading suggestions. This is a subject that you could read (or have your oldest read to the younger kids) to all of them and then do the questions/maps/activities with the kids whose age-level they fit.
Last year we started a new science curriculum and had good luck with it. The first book is called Science in the Beginning. It’s by Jay Wile (who wrote high school Apologia curriculum). Each lesson has a science experiment and review questions at the end (some for younger students and some for older). So next year, if my Kindergartner can get through reading and math and not be spent, he can sit through this and answer the younger children questions.
All About Spelling is great. My daughter gets bored with some of the activities, but we just adjust it to fit her, and I love that she’s learning rules for spelling and not memorizing words.
We use a Reason for Handwriting (I was also given Handwriting Without Tears this year, so I might try it with my younger guys). I like this because they are writing Bible verses as their handwriting work, so if I feel like I’ve been negligent in devotions/Bible education, I can feel like at least my daughter came across a Bible verse in her handwriting today.
We haven’t ever used this as our full curriculum (but some do with extra math added in), but I’ve enjoyed using Five in a Row with all of my kids. We tend to read it over lunch or in the afternoon. There are some literary concepts/art concepts and just fun stuff that my kids have picked up in this curriculum.
A few times a year when we’re getting burnt out (read: January in IN when it’s freezing an we still have to survive February, and the kids just came off of Christmas break): I will pick subjects the kids are interested in and we’ll do a unit study of some sort in lieu of our regular stuff. Teachers Pay Teachers is a good website to find unit studies. This year I’d like to do one on banking with my kids just to begin to introduce them to the financial world.
I’m going to stop now because I feel like I’m writing you a novel. Good luck this year!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Not a novel! I’m soaking up all the info I can get and really appreciate it. Thanks so much!
Gevay says
This will be my fifth year on the homeschooling journey. I have two boys, 4th and 2nd grade. We use many of the same things your readers have suggested. However, I didn’t see anyone recommend My Father’s World. We’ve used it all along and really enjoy the biblical world view it presents. They have a 2nd grade American History curriculum that is fantastic. You can use it with your 4th grader too and give him a little extra responsibility. You might be able to find it used on homeschoolclassifieds.com. I hope you have a great year and sell your house quickly!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so much for the info, Gevay! {And the well wishes!} My older two are your kiddos ages, so I will definitely look into it. Thank you!
Darcy Struckmeier says
We have 4 kids and have homeschooled for 6 years! I have used a lot of different curriculum.
My favorite for Math is Math U See! I use for all the kids and don’t believe I’ll ever change. It has video options, reading the lesson option, and the worksheets are laid out clearly. We absolutely love it.
This year I am using Five In A Row for my youngest two. It is something that you could use for all your kids to cover science, history, art, etc. Teaching the same thing to all definitely is a time and sanity saver! We are adding Winston Grammar, Age appropriate Math U SEE, and there you have it! I am really excited about our upcoming year. I love the gentle approach to Five In A Row. I met the creators of this curriculum at a homeschool convention and it turns out they literally live two miles from me! We have become friends and I am just so excited for the year upcoming. I love their hearts and education philosophies!
In addition, I feel if I devote 100% of my undivided attention for a chunk of the day to the kids schooling, I can be more successful with giving them some subjects independently as well. Giving them the majority of independent work does NOT work well with my kids when they are young!!!
Best wishes on all your upcoming endeavors!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Love these suggestions – thanks so much!
Ashley Van Zee says
Hey Ashley!
I live in Franklin. I am sure you have received plenty of advice on different school options in the area but if you need anymore feel free to contact me. I worked on staff at a church here in Franklin for 8 years with the youth and we had a variety of schools represented as well as homeschool and private schools. I have an 18 month old son and a little girl due next month so my opinions of the schools comes from a different perspective.
Welcome to Franklin! It is a great place to call home!
Ashley
ashley @ the handmade home says
I would LOVE to hear your perspective, about one school in particular that we were looking at. But I guess I would just love to hear your perspective in general if you have some time? I feel like we’re making our move in slow motion, which is obviously both good and bad… good for the reasons that we can absolutely take our time and check everything out! Would love to hear your thoughts!
Laura says
This will be my 16th year homeschooling! We graduated one, and he is in college, and our other 3 will be in 8th, 5th, and 3rd grades. We have tried MANY things through the years. Loved Sonlight with #1, but not for the others. We do a 4-day school week, and the kids spend time with my dad on Fridays-museum, parks, Toys ‘R’ Us, etc, while my mom and I run errands or goof off a little! We use Handwriting Without Tears (wouldn’t do anything else), Saxon Math (Works fine, so why change?), Winston Grammar (I finally understand grammar because of this!), and Sequential Spelling (Just started last year, and we really like it!). We will be doing The Mystery of History this year after doing Notgrass’ America the Beautiful for the past 2 years. Reading will be a bit of an assortment. We will be using Unlocking the Mysteries of Genesis (Institute for Creation Research) DVDs and accompanying books for science. We do Bible, pledges, spelling, history, and read-aloud all together, and they do the other things on their own. My 13 year old might not always be quite as challenged as my 8 year old, but it has worked really well to do as much as we can together. We use the Saxon CDs for the two older ones, and that frees me to go over the math lesson with my youngest. We used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons during the early years. We often do history 2 days a week and science on the other 2. Everyone reads alone for 30 minutes a day. It is usually a book of their choosing. I hope you find something this year that will bring joy to each of your children and also to you and Jamin! Homeschooling is wonderful and challenging and never the same from year to year. Sometimes it’s not the same from day to day! Enjoy your time with your kids, and try not to feel that you have to do the best job at covering every subject. You are doing a great job, and they will excel in some areas and catch up in others. Happy Schooling!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so much for all the suggestions, Laura. And for your sweet, kind words. It’s been a hard year, and we’re ready to throw in the towel. But it’s great to hear it from someone who has been down the road before us! Thank you!
Michelle Trujillo says
Hi Ashley,
We have homeschooled from the beginning, and I am so thankful to be a part of all of their learning adventures, good days and bad days alike, learning right along with them…seriously, I’m learning things I absolutely never learned in 16plus years of schooling. Just know that homeschool or out-of-the-home school, if God is calling you to it, then that’s the right thing for your family. Big hugs!! Okay, so my kids will be in 5th, 3rd, K, and a toddler. Here are some of our tried and true favorites.
All About Spelling – open & go (a little set up at the beginning of the year, and then that’s it) – amazing phonics based spelling program, quick, hands-on, and totally makes reading easier as well – can’t say enough good things about this program
Handwriting Without Tears – lives up to its name – I worked with my kids on the print books, but my two oldest worked independently on the cursive books and basically taught themselves – awesome!!
First Language Lessons – open & go – it is sometimes slow and methodical, but we would just sometimes combine 2-3 lessons per day and then we could skip some of the review at the beginning of lessons – my kids can recite definitions for all the parts of speech and lists of them (often to songs or chants) like nobody’s business – it’s awesome! Really solidified the basics
Daily Grams (by Easy Grammar) – these are meant to be an independent daily worksheets to supplement Easy Grammar, but I used them with FLL just as a supplement and a short 5-10 minute thing my kids can do on their own. Also, it does teach things that FLL doesn’t get to until later. Super easy, my kids love them.
Foreign Language – We’ve used Rosetta Stone for Spanish and my kids do well working independently, although my husband and I both speak Spanish, so we can help when they need it.
RightStart Math – pretty much open & go, however it is parent-led up until Level G, so you have to carve out the time for this one. For us, it has totally been worth it. It really teaches them how to “think”, not just memorize. The hands-on components are excellent for both tactile and visual learners, and the games are super fun. Even if you use a different math curriculum, you could buy their Math Games book and some of the math cards and that would make a great supplement to any other math program. We love this curriculum!!
Apologia Young Explorer series – We’ve used 4 of these books so far, and are about to start the Botany one this year. My son even reads the astronomy one for fun. ha! So easy to implement, read 2-3 pages 2-3times per week. Do an activity at the end of the lesson (we do a co-op every two weeks with other families for these activities). Love the in depth information on a single subject every year.
America From The Beginning – from Answers in Genesis – so good! Love seeing God’s hand in American history. Easy to implement with activity ideas throughout.
Mystery of History – just finished the first volume. Loved it! Again, so easy to read a few pages 3x/week plus label some maps and there are different activities depending on your kids’ age levels. There are also supplemental book suggestions. Also, an audio version, so on a busy day, my kids can listen to the lesson without me reading it to them, or we can listen to it in the car.
Who is God? – series from Apologia – excellent resource , there are several volumes and we’ve just done the first one, but we loved it and will continue with the rest
IEW – we’ve just done SWIA so far and it was excellent! My kids love watching the video lessons, and then we work throughout the week on the writing assignments. It’s pretty easy to implement once you get started. They have many themed curriculums as well, which would be great for younger kids.
Beautiful Feet Geography – so good – uses Holling C. Holling books – even if you don’t do all the “lesson” stuff, it is a beautiful way to introduce some American history/geography into your studies. (IEW has a themed curriculum that goes along with this program, and since it has been so many years since we did BF Geography, we are going to go back to it again and use it along with the IEW curriculum this year.)
All of our science, history, bible, geography are things that we can do with all of the kids together as a family. I also have my oldest two do writing together. It’s so helpful to only have language arts and math that I have to really sit down and work one-on-one with each one.
Okay, this was a novel. Hope it helps. Happy homeschooling from Arizona!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Never a novel, Michelle – thank you so very much for all the info!
nick says
Hello, I saw the response about classical conversations. My wife is starting to homeschool our oldest this year and we live in the same town you live in. Just wanted to let you know we do have a Classical Conversations group here along with many other co-op homeschool groups. We are excited about it and looking foward to meeting other children and parents in the area who will be in the group. My 5 year old will be starting Classical Conversations next month. Hope all goes well with your kiddos and if you need any information just shoot me an email 🙂
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey Nick! Would absolutely love to hear from you. We have been in a bit of a unique situation, and absolutely zero of our friends homeschool. Therefore, we haven’t known about any groups, and kind of wanted to do it through people we know. But I’m over it. Would love to hear the details. Will shoot you an email. Thank you so much!
rachel says
Ashley,
We live in Prattville and there are a couple of different groups here with activities for homeschoolers here, from Lego club, stem, art. If you want send me an email and I can get you more info. I have 2 boys that I homeschool 10 and 11. We are like you guys taking it year to year. let me know if I can help any.
amy says
Hello: We just finished our first year of using ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) We loved it! Its all individualized learning (no hovering required) 🙂 Each little booklet is very detailed in instruction, filled with character building information and its all in color – very easy on the eyes. It requires almost no pre planning or preparation, the science experiments are all included with each booklet (PACE, they call it). They cover everything! They take a test at the end of each packet, then move onto the next one at their own level. So, it helps with strengths and weaknesses.
Also, its very easy to pack up and take with you, you just bring some pencils and their workbooks!
I know there are so many great choices out there, but for us this has been great and it has Scripture worked all the way through it.
Be blessed! We’re all on this journey together! 🙂
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you for the info, Amy!
Erin C says
Going into year 3 with Classical Conversations! I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way with my 3 kids. I saw they have communities in Dotham and Enterprise. It might be worth looking into!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you for the recommendation, Erin… we are! ;}
Erin Miller says
My daughter will start kindergarten next month, but last spring we started The Logic of English Foundation series. It’s very interactive, and she really enjoys it. Some of the other teaching reading books we tried were just too dry, so I highly recommend The Logic of English. We’re also finishing the Singapore kindergarten math and will move towards Math Mammoth.
We are really excited about starting Song School Spanish. And we’re using Paige Hudson’s Intro to Science and Tapestry of Grace’s Primer for history (but will use Story of the World starting first grade).
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you for the recommendations, Erin. We will definitely check them out!
Bethany B. says
I have two kids who love books, and while I would have really liked to try Sonlight, it just wasn’t feasible for us. We found My Father’s World and it really clicked for us. We incorporated many of the Sonlight books and I particularly loved that it was all planned out for me and I could tweak it as I wanted to (but didn’t have to!!). We didn’t use the MFW math because my kids were already ahead of it, so we have used MathUSee and that’s gone well. We have also used the Explode the Code books for spelling/grammar and that has worked well also.
There are so many great choices out there, I hope you find something that you and your kids love!!!!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Yes – thank you for the great recommendations, Bethany! Every take on it is very much appreciated! hope your school year is amazing!
Shannon says
We are going into our 4th year of homeschooling (wow!). We will have a 1st grader and 5th grader. We use the Florida Virtual Academy (or K12) and love it. I love the structure it provides, the help that is offered (they have a “teacher”), the online program is very intuitive and it, for us, provides the best of both worlds of homeschooling. The kiddo’s are home, we are their primary learning coach, it is flexible but it provides the structure I need with also working full time from home. I agree homeschooling is a balancing act. It is hard, but it is also so rewarding. On the days i want to give up, I usually have something that reminds me why we still do this!! Good luck!!
ashley @ the handmade home says
I think our biggest thing is that we’re working full time from home right now, and it adds a lot of stress. And its about to get a bit crazier. Our kids obviously come first, but we also have to feed them ;} Enter guilt. I like to wallow in it. ;} So it’s nice to hear from someone who works full time. I will have to check into that as well. Thank you!
Susan says
Hi! We are in the same city as you and we have joined Classical Conversations for the fall. I have done tons of reading about a classical education. If you are interested in some info just let me know.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so much, Susan. Shooting you an email now!
Marsha Sefcik says
We use Oak Meadow and will be going into our third year of using it (grade 4 since I didn’t really use a curriculum for grade primary). With that being said both kids love Math U See for their math. It’s genius how the concepts are taught.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Marsha – have seen that over and over and over again here – will have to check it out. Thanks so much!
Melissa says
Thank you for this post!!! I am so excited to read all the comments about different homeschool curricula! This will be our first year homeschooling (K). We purchased Sonlight and I’m hoping it was a good choice. We are going to take it a year at a time. Once I feel more confident, I will probably assemble my own curriculum, but I really needed the assurance of an all-in-one package like Sonlight offers. I really enjoy reading your blog! Thanks again.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Melissa – I couldn’t recommend Sonlight more for first years! We are still using them for literary stuff this year, I think. That’s what I love about them so much… all the books. We were just ready for something different for our three kids as it is a lot. ;} I’m sure you will enjoy it!
Julie says
Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well-Trained Mind is so very helpful for finding resources. I’ve loved ABeka math, Story of the World for history, Apologia for science, Peace Hill Press for writing and grammar.
ashley @ the handmade home says
I have GOT to read it. Thank you for your recommendations!
Jenn @Home is Where... says
I’ve been homeschooling for a long time, and I’m totally in the camp of doing what is best for the kids/family each year. I’ve used a lot of stuff, but the standouts have been; Math-U-See (when they were little) Teaching Textbooks for when they are older (it even self-corrects!) Story of the World for History ( I love History, but I keep coming back to this as a “spine”) Rod & Staff Grammar, Writing with Ease for writing, and this year, I found Wayfarers charlotte Mason/history/LIt curriculum and I really, really like it.
much grace and peace to you as you decide on your new school year <3
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you for the list – I have definitely seen a lot of favorites repeated in all these – will definitely be checking them out! I have my work cut out for me ;}
Aja says
I’ve used sonlight for my son actually after reading you homeschool post. I want to try A beka streaming…but I’m not sure if that will keep his attention. I do love Sonlight program, it’s just sooooo hands on. I’m not a fan of their science or their history usually I have to do a lot of you tube searches or nextflix for history. I love the math and I do love the books I read with my son. I don’t know how to switch it up and to be honest it’s kind of scary. My two old step daughters use monarch online, they are homeschooled by their mother. I want to continue to homeschool my son, but i don’t know why I feel so completely nervous trying something new. I used Apolgia science when I was homeschooling my girls but I dislike it. So right now we do the tinker boxes. They come once a month even for kindergarten he likes the tinker ones.
Karla Sheridan says
We’ve been on the homeschooling journey for 9 yrs. now and continue to evaluate, make changes, and look at what fits our children’s needs at the time; I love the flexibility it offers for each individual. Here is a partial list of the curriculum we are currently enjoying and finding to be a good fit for our family. Mystery of History as well as Winter’s Promise for our history, Apologia science (we love!), A Beka Language, Horizon’s Math for two of my children and BJU for the other, Latin for Children, and LOTS of great novels, historical fiction, etc…
Maureen says
Just back from vacation so I just saw this post but wanted to give a suggestion that worked extremely well with my 3. It’s basically Pick A Book. Here’s an example: You or your kids are in love with ‘A Seed Is Sleepy’ by Dianna Hutts Aston, a book of incredible beauty about seeds and plants. So you have science. Sept or Oct is perfect when plants are going to seed. You read the book, you go on excursons,maybe greenhouses, farms, fields, back yard… you include Writing, Language Arts, Photography, Drawing, Painting. You plant seeds(avacado, beans….) You look at other books, like ‘In A Nutshell’ and DK Eyewitness Books-Plant’. You teach a little about GMO’s and about caring for the environment. You write stories and poems and make a beautiful journal. Maybe you “travel” to other countries and learn about their seeds and plants as well as other climates. That starts with just one book. Think of what you can do with any of your kids favorites… geography, history, science, cultures, language arts…. When we 1st stumbled on to this it changed school for us. It became an adventure and it was not abstract, It’s real world at it’s best. We saw what we could do with one book and it continues on for my kids even with the oldest being 32.
Courtney J says
This will be my 2 nd year homeschooling. I’ll have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader, and a newborn come early October
Last year I used Starfall, a comprehensive K curriculum. I liked aspects of it ( took the guesswork out of it for me) but some of it was overwhelming (targeted for a classroom curriculum, just a bit over the top for 1 kindergartner).
This year I am using McGruffy for my 1st grader. It’s a comprehensive Reading, Language Arts, Spelling and writing curriculum. Looks much more manageable. Fo both of them we’ve chosen Story of the World vol.4 and Apologia’s Anatomy & Physiology for our history and science co-op. For my 3rd grader we did All about Spelling last year and while I loved it, he didn’t so we’re trying Evan Moore spelling which he’ll be able to do more independently; Zaner Blosser cursive, Singapore for Math, IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) for writing (fingers crossed because writing (Daily 6 Trait Writing) was our achilles heel of homeschooling last year), and I’ve put together our own independent reading and read aloud curriculum based on The Well Trained Mind’s reading recommendations and a few Sonlight revommendations.. We’ve got Rosetta Stone Spanish on order and he’ll be doing an online typing course. Sounds like a lot but it should only take us about 2 1/2 hours each day
By the way I love all your posts, especially the ones on homeschooling because, solidarity, and I use parts of your planner for my own personal/homeschooling planner every year!
Keep up the good work!!
-Courtney
Nicole says
When I had our fourth, I realized I couldn’t “teach” every subject and cook and clean and care for baby…
I looked into independent style learning methods like Robinson curriculum. While I don’t follow RC. Verbatim, I do follow the methodology. Once kids are reading independently and have math facts memorized, they are given an outline of what they do daily to work through. I am still mediating but I am not teaching. My fifth and seventh graders are almost completely independent aside from the subjects I choose to being us all together for.
I also utilize many of Charlotte mason’s principles for learning…most of our learning comes from classical literature and living books. We use Saxon and DIVE programs for math.
Sonlight is pretty parent intensive; I think it you can find a less intensive program it would help relieve some of the pressure you are feeling while still allowing homeschooling if that is what you want.:)
Leigh says
This is year 14 for us and my answer would be shorter if I just listed the curriculum I haven’t tried! I came to your site for the home decorating aspect but when I saw this post, I had to see what you are up to in terms of homeschooling because no matter how many years I’ve been at it, I still love seeing what others are doing. Your mention of Sonlight caught my attention the most because I’ve returned to Sonlight this year. My oldest (homeschooled from 3rd grade all the way through) loved Sonlight and it was the perfect fit for him. For my second, it was neither a good fit for him nor me *at that time*. Now with my third, another perfect fit and, at this time, a perfect one for me as well.
There is an ebb and flow with homeschooling and I’ve learned to go with it. No matter what, it just all seems to balance out. Maybe not all in one school year, but over time it just always seems to work itself out. I remember the anxiety I felt with making the decision, years ago, to begin the homeschooling journey and how odd it would feel to no longer be in that school mode. Now I can’t imagine leaving homeschooling circles and being out of that mode. It’s definitely a lifestyle choice and at the end of the day I’d much rather be disappointed with myself for not providing the education and influence I think my children need than outsiders falling short. I have control of what I do and don’t do but absolutely no control of what others do or don’t do.
Ginni says
Have you looked at Apologia’s Zoology series for Science? My daughter is entering 4th grade, and we did Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day for third grade. She LOVED it. And we involved my “technically in kindergarten this fall” child through the whole way last year. You buy the text, and then the spiral – it is Notebooking. (They have a lap book, but we have not tried it yet.) My daughters beg me to do it every day- even in the summer. We read the text- I do it, or my older daughter reads. Then the girls illustrate and write important details about the animals from the sea. Now, the older one gets to work in the spiral, and I make an adjustment for my younger daughter to draw the whales on separate papers or a copy of that notebook page. For my little I either write the words or spell them out for her. Next up is Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. Apologia Zoology it has been a super blessing for this house. They look forward to science! (Even Mama I loves it.)
Happy Schooling -and Teaching them what you know they need!
God Bless! -Ginni
Leslie says
HI! I just saw this post. I am a homeschooling mommy (about to start year two) so I only have one year of experience to draw from. BUT… my kids are also technically Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th this year. I will be using My Father’s World (used it last year, several friends use it- it’s terrific!). I also looked at Sonlight but I like MFW so much better- and the curriculum works for a broad age range so I can teach to all three kids. My Fathers World will be our history, science, bible, art, music. Then I also use Math U See- love this. It’s a short tv video teaching with worksheets. I limit my kids screen time, so they actually ask to do extra math because they know I’ll say yes to math on the TV. I have two engineering degrees [meaning I had my fair share of duper super hard math courses and calculus homework] and the teacher on this video is PHENOMENAL. I learned something from him already. I also use First Language Lessons, another highly recommended program. This next year I’m adding in Wise Guide for spelling, as well as First start reading for my Kinder Gal. … I wish you the BEST!