Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Homeschooling and "THE Curriculum"

I thought I would go ahead and address this once and for all. There is no curriculum out there that is one-size-fits-all. I am tired of everyone bashing others because they think their curriculum is the absolute best on the market (and they probably paid a pretty penny for it too).

I personally love the flexibility that Ambleside Online affords me. I also spend $150 or less each year AND I only have to purchase these once and I have them for "free" for every other child in our home.

I posted many links on my Facebook page today. The links I posted and will post on here are the very few of hundreds I weeded through, to make sure they fit my ideals of what I wanted to do with our homeschooling experience.

I use Ambleside as our base, then I go from there. Most of the books are free to download at Project Gutenberg

I use the KJV and Geneva version to teach Bible. I found a read through the Bible list for children.

I purchased the Eclectic Education Series Cd's, which will take my children from Kindergarten all the way to college. I think that is a good deal. I also really like that they are God based books. I don't have to worry about what my children may accidentally read from day to day. These cover math, phonics, reading skill building, grammar, some science and some history.

For handwriting, I went with the same curriculum I was taught in school. D'Nealian is a much simpler type to teach and transfers easier when you start cursive.

For Nature Journaling, I have done a few things so far. In years 0-2, we learned about an animal in our science stories every week, so that was simple. Now that we are in year 3, it became a challenge until I came across these beautifully detailed coloring books on Amazon. Tabitha copies the picture, then writes about the particular plant each week.

For Health, we have struggled to find something that is not mainstream and full of things I do not think my children need to know about just yet. I have just recently had a suggestion for a AO board room discussion that I could use my homeopathic, essential oil, medicinal herb, and Nourishing Traditions book. Why had I never thought of that before? I will also use our encyclopedia health books as needed.

Music is very easy right now. I bought 2 recorders and a lesson book, which we use infrequently. I also have a beginner piano book. I also have everything from when I was younger to teach violin and flute, but that is down the road. Weekly, we work on learning hymns and listening to classical works. I also have a book we learn about composers.

I really like Art. We learn about a new famous artist, with this series of books, every few months and they draw on paper every chance they get. I really like that AO tells us NOT to do all of those fufu-ish crafts that you put together and throw away. If they want to make something, that is where handicrafts come in. If they are going to take time to make something, it had better be usable. Both children have just started a sewing curriculum that I found on Craftsy and they Rainbow Loom. Tabitha has also started to learn how to crochet.

For foreign language, the children start out learning American Sign Language. This year, I have added Latin to be started in year 3. I will probably add Spanish and French in later years, so that they have a well rounded international vocabulary.

As for workbooks, I do not let anyone write in them. We either go over them orally or I copy the pages and put in a 3 punch folder. For any writing, I print off the lined pages, until they are old enough to use the regular ruled paper.

In Ohio, testing or evaluation is required. I use this company, purely for the convenience. No filling in bubbles for us!

I feel like I am forgetting something, but this is the majority of what we do every week. I also do not follow the school year. We start our years in January and go all year with a break every 4-5 weeks depending on what is going on in our family, be it birthdays, Biblical holy days, or illnesses.


Another great free curriculum site is this. I have looked through it, but have not used any of it yet. I stays in my bookmarks for future use.

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