Well I think this next school year we will be trying something new in our homeschooling. I always thought that you should get one curriculum and stick with it. But I have seen so many homeschooling families do such neat activities. They study a subject and spend days learning about it...doing various activities such as making models or doing experiments etc... I want my kids to learn to work in their books and memorize, but I want some fun activities for learning. I think it is enjoyable when the kids can all learn together. I am looking at a lot of new books, but I will be looking into the Weaver Curriculum http://www.aophomeschooling.com/weaver/overview.php . It teaches all the kids together, but they learn on their own grade level. I am not sure if this is a right fit for our family, but it looks like a really interesting curriculum. I have used A Beka this year, and while I like what they teach, it is extremely time consuming. I am always worried that if I put together my own curriculum, that I will miss something that the kids need to learn, and that when they graduate that they will be lacking. I want to make sure that they aren't lacking when they graduate. One thing I want to keep up for my oldest is Japanese. A local friend of ours who is Japanese comes weekly and teaches our kids Japanese. Our oldest has done extremely well in learning it. He can write and speak some. I am hoping that when we leave and go back to the states that he can continue to learn it. I would like him to become fluent. Anyways for some fun projects, I have found a web site called Home Science Tools. They have some neat products. One is to hatch quail eggs. For $31.95 you can get 4 quail eggs and an incubator. http://www.hometrainingtools.com/incubator-with-four-quail-eggs/p/LD-INCUBAT/ I think this would be such a fun thing for the kids and a great way to learn to care for animals. They also have a frog hatchery kit. http://www.hometrainingtools.com/frog-hatchery-deluxe-kit/p/LM-FROGKIT/ Their prices are so reasonable, and the products look so exciting.
If anyone has any suggestions for books they have used, I would love to hear about it.
We are just starting "official" homeschool. I say official because we are instructed to teach our children from the time they are born into this world. Anywho, we have decided to try Classical Conversations. My husband and I attended an open house recently and fell in love with the classical training model. CC also focuses on Bible memorization and American history (a lost art!).
ReplyDeleteThere are so many curriculum choices out there it is a bit overwhelming ... a friend suggested a book that I got from our library called "100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum" which helps you match the curriculum to your family/children's learning style. I am going to read it as I pursue pre-k with J. Hope your switch works out well!!
ReplyDeleteThank you ladies! I will look at both of those. I am excited to try some new curriculums. :)
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