Hi everyone! I’ve had several questions from readers asking how our 2012 curriculum choices are going. I think one of the things I like most about homeschooling is the ability to be flexible and note when something is working well and when something isn’t working! That said in order to maintain my own sanity, and thus the sanity of those around me, I’ve decided to change the things that weren’t working. And while I hate to waste money, sanity is priceless, no?
Change Number 1: Saxon –> to Math U See
I said at the start of the school year that we were trying out Saxon for the first time. Well, I have to say that Saxon just wasn’t a right fit for us! Partly because I had a hard time adjusting to teaching it, and partly because my kids just weren’t getting how they explained certain things. I found myself pulling out our Math U See blocks and trying to re-word it for them so it made sense.
The other reason I switched to Saxon was because I thought MUS wasn’t covering some of the side subjects as well such as money, time, and measurement type of activities. In this area I agree that Saxon does cover these topics well. However with the instruction time it was taking me to get through 3 different levels of math I found myself skipping some of those parts just so we could get through math and onto the rest of our day. Considering that was why I choose it to begin with, it didn’t make much sense to keep going. I decided it would be easier for me to add those things in on my own…and so…
After about 3 months of trying desperately to make Saxon work, and me wanting to tear my hair out, I made the choice to switch back to Math U See. I have to say the first few months of school this year were H A R D. Hard, like I think I’ll stop homeschooling and ship my kids to the nearest school, HARD. The day we switched back to MUS was like smooth sailing and I’ll never look back. If I do feel free to remind me about this post ;o)
Now, let me say I’m a “finish the book” type of homeschooler, we finish what we start, and typically it’s done in one year. Starting MUS 3 mos. in means we’ll either have to continue it next year, or I’ll spend the summer making my kids do math. I’ll keep you posted on that ;o) But the amount of peace the change has brought makes it all worth it.
Change Number 2: BJU Kindergarten –> All About Spelling + All About Reading + Abeka K
(We’ve been using AAS & AAR already, so no change there, just didn’t want you to think I stopped because NO WAY! You’d have to pry it out of my cold dead hands!)
I switched off of BJU Kindergarten just about a month into our year because I didn’t like the format of the phonics lessons. This was surprising to me because I’m still using BJU for my older kids. And I actually really like it!
The main issue for me was the BJU phonics. They are built around a family of characters that represent the vowels and consonants. They tell stories about the characters and worksheets are made using them. That said it’s really hard to get around the whole family of characters. Since we’ve been using All About Spelling Tinkerbell was confused. She didn’t understand why I was trying to explain this family and who likes to hang out with who when I could just tell her the phonics rule straight up like AAS does.
So…I stopped using BJU Kindergarten and also the phonics portion of the BJU Press English for my 2nd and 3rd graders (it’s weaved into the Reading lessons, and not hard to skip at all). And for my kindergartner, I am doing All About Spelling Level 1, and All About Reading Level 1.
I had Abeka Kindergarten already since I’ve used it previously, and so I just pulled out those workbooks and started going through their phonics lessons as well. What I’ve found is I really don’t need Abeka either, but since I had the workbooks already I thought it wouldn’t do any harm to have her doing some extra phonics and reading practice through Abeka. So for now, she just completes one of the phonics worksheets per day. I make sure to check the TM to see if there’s anything that AAS isn’t covering that might be on her worksheet, but so far that hasn’t happened. Next year I’ll probably scrap it all together, but I hate to waste a workbook!
What are we keeping? (a.k.a. What do we LOVE!)
Tinkerbell (Kindergarten)
- Art: World’s Greatest Artist Study Vol. 1
- Bible: Grapevine Studies
- Phonics/Spelling: All About Spelling , All About Reading, & Abeka Phonics
- Math: Math U See Primer
- Geo/Hist: Road Trip USA!
- Science: Young Scientist Club Kits (We are using these randomly right now. Some of the kits haven’t gone so well, and supplies weren’t quite working the way they should, yada-yada, but we’re going through as we have time.)
- Spanish: Speekee TV (Tinkerbell)
- P.E.: Family Time Fitness
Turbo (2nd grade) & Strawberry Shortcake (3rd Grade)
- Art: World’s Greatest Artist Study Vol. 1
- Bible: Grapevine Studies; Kay Arthur Jesus In The Spotlight (and others in the series)
- Phonics/Spelling: All About Spelling
- Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting
- Math: Math U See Beta and Gamma
- English/Grammar/Reading: BJU Press Level 2 & 3
- Geo/Hist: Road Trip USA!
- Science: BJU Press: I found BJU Press Science 3 at a used book store and started going through the lessons. They’re fun, easy, and hands-on! (We’re still doing some of the Young Scientist Kits as we have time…see Tinker Bell’s list for details)
- P.E.: Family Time Fitness
- Typing: Typing Instructor
- Spanish: PowerSpeak Spanish
- Writing: Write Shop Primary
Moral of the story:
I’m sure Saxon and BJU Press Kindergarten are solid programs, They’re just not for US and that’s what matters. No homeschool family will look the same, and when you find something that works, stick with it! If it’s not working, give something else a try. You might just relieve yourself a huge amount of stress in the process!
More awesome curriculum ideas available on my website:
Road Trip USA & Road Trip USA Animals!
Expedition Earth World Geography:
Expedition Earth World Animals:
World’s Greatest Artists Vol. 1
Hey Erica. Do you recommend using both All About Spelling AND All About Reading? My son (6yrs) is in K and we are currently using AAS. I LOVE this curriculum! He is doing great but does not enjoy reading. I’ve browsed over the AAR via their website but the sample pages seem to overlap what we are already doing in the spelling program. Does the reading curriculum teach different concepts from spelling? Do you think it’s necessary to have both? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I love your website – awesome information! Gives me encouragement to keep going. Here is my question – Do you do phonics, spelling, math, language arts, typing, history, spanish, science, etc everyday? How long is your typical school day? Just curious! Thanks and God Bless!
After struggling to find a way to help my oldest child (I tried out so many different curriculum) that the way BJU taught the word families in K5 was a blessing. It also helps that my youngest seems to be a natural reader. He has picked up the lessons so fast we are half way through the year and he is finished! He also go tired of me trying to read the characters and tell him who does what with whom, etc. So we skip it. My oldest had a Eureka moment when listening in to how my youngest practiced the word families. I always heard about “All About Spelling/Reading” but never tried them (its one of the few we haven’t tried). Having a program that is easy for mom to teach is huge! We have tried a couple things that I just couldn’t make it through another day with it. We are checking out your USA Road Trip, thanks for offering it!
I just stumbled upon your blog, and I have really enjoyed reading it! Especially the house rules. We are totally starting that this week! As I read about your curriculum changes I chuckled at the math section as our story is exactly opposite yours! Thank you for sharing, and my God bless you!
Do you create the curriculum you sell yourself? I LOVE all of it and was just wondering how you go about creating such in depth, informative and FUN curriculum. Thank you for being such a blessing to so many homeschool families Erica!
BJU press does look like it has a solid curriculum, but I am wondering how to get around the modern handwriting style???? As a former kindergarten teacher in a public school system that used D’Nealian handwriting, I found that children confused the lowercase letter “l” with a capital “J,” and a capital “E” with a number “3.” My children have been taught traditional manuscript writing in private school, and now that I have pulled them out to homeschool them, I hate to turn everything upside down on them! Even my preschooler has already been taught manuscript. Although he has one more year before kindergarten, I don’t want to switch his handwriting program. How are you working around that with your older kids? I’d like to use the BJU press for some of our curriculum, but just wish they’d use a traditional print in their workbooks!
I don’t use their handwriting, I use A Reason for Handwriting. I only use BJU this year for English and Reading, none of the D’Nealian handwriting is in that so it’s not an issue.
Hello, I am a tad bit late on this thread but wanted to add what I have discovered on the MUS /Saxon Math topic. I have been schooling my children for 8 years ( Son 9th grade, daughter 6th grade and tiny tot is 2 yrs old). We used MUS every year, loving it and feeling confident we were mastering everything. I enrolled my son into a math class for homeschoolers and in the 8th grade level discovered we had (still have) HUGE gaps in his math skills from MUS. While I love MUS and will use it with my tot however, I will not use it past 3/4th grade. My son has struggled and been so discouraged and quite frankly, MUS allowed him to feel so confident that now that he is working through his gaps with Saxon… he is frustrated that I did not switch him away from MUS. So… keep in mind for those upper levels of math.
What a nice site you have!! I just digressed from reading your info on blogging. I hope you post more helpful tips as I have only been blogging since last August.
I am leaving a comment because I want to encourage you. I have homeschooled for 25+ years (forgot how many) and we used MUS for years. I did the same thing as you by switching to Saxon for two years with my older two and then my younger five for another two years later. It was terrible!!!! MUS has improved over the years in the layout of their textbooks. It is such a wonderful curriculum especially for younger and middle children. We used it through Algebra.