FORUM: A reader asks
I'm trying to find a superb Secular curriculum that for my daughter's this year. I have two girls, one will be entering the fifth grade and one in the third grade this year. I am a mom who likes having a plan to go by. I can always incorporate other ideas of my own, but I like having a sense of direction in what I am to teach them to begin with. We are in the Kansas City, Missouri area and I can't afford the K12 private program that many seem so happy with. Any other ideas?
“Superb” is in the eye of the beholder 🙂 Plenty of people use plenty of different programs and philosophies to produce well educated kids. There is no “one size fits all” in homeschooling any more than there is in the public schools.
Have you read “The Well Trained Mind” by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer? That’s quite thorough, and gives excellent guidelines for getting started. Many of us use it as a guide, but don’t always follow their suggestions. After all, they are only suggestions and knowledgable as those two ladies are about homeschooling, they don’t know you or your kids personally. See if your library has a copy, or buy one. If it appeals, join their message board. That has many knowledgable mums and dads who can answer pretty much any question you can think of 🙂
Homeschooling costs as much as you are willing to spend. Some people educate their kids using nothing much other than the internet, their local library and whatever they pick up from garage sales. It all depends what sort of education you want for your kids. You can’t really homeschool them until you have a concrete idea of what “superb” entails, for you.
Here is a link I’ve found very useful: http://homeschoolreviews.com/
Many people on that site leave great reviews, explaining why a program did or didn’t work. If their reason for disliking it isn’t relevent to you, it may be a program worth looking into. Like everything else in life, you have to decide when to scrimp and when to spend. It’s not necessary to follow a boxed curriculum. You could also have a look at: http://www.amblesideonline.org/ if you are looking for a very literary focus. It’s a plan to follow, that won’t cost, and the required books can be bought as Christmas presents, found in the library, online or substituted for other similar books. Many people use this, or parts of it, and do well 🙂 I believe many users, and the creators of Ambleside Online are Christian, but you can always leave the religious bits out. Lots of people do that too. Myself included 🙂
Connections Academy–new this year in Missouri. http://www.connectionsacademy.com/state/… Completely free and paid for by the state. Limited space so if you want your girls in, you’ll have to enroll quickly.
The virtual public school programs are secular. Here’s some information about virtual public schools:http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/…
Here are some tips for affordable homeschooling:http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/…
Good luck!
I agree with Rosie!
I also want to add Old Fashioned Education to the inexpensive curriculums. 🙂
It’s completely free, with the exception being the cost of toner and paper. Printing off all the year’s books for grade 2 cost me under $15.
It is also put together by a Christian woman, but the curriculum itself can be used as a secular curriculum very easily. Actually, the Christian parts of it are added in, so it really is a secular course of study on it’s own.
Some of the Ambleside Online books have to be purchased – some cannot be found for free online. However, they can be found for a reasonable fee. 🙂 Much more reasonable than brand-new pre-assembled curriculum packages. 🙂
I found several free things outside of that as well. Grammar by Scot Foresman, a free year of science and more. I linked to them at my blog.
There are also a lot of great people sharing their free finds at the Yahoo group, 3RHomeschooling. 🙂
I live in Kansas, several hours away from Kansas City. I hope you have good luck in your searching!http://oldfashionededucation.com/fullcur…http://dancingamonginfiniteloveyahwehs.b…http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3RHomescho…