Too Cool for School

So, we've decided to home school.  Look at them up there in that picture. Too sweet, too cute, too long ago! That was Pony's first day of K and she was 5 years old. PNut was only 4 and she looks soooo tired. Now they are 11 and 9 and really don't enjoy posing like that anymore. Soon, I will post pictures of what a moody tween looks like when she goes to school. NOT that cute at all, my friends! Anyway, back to deciding to home school. That, I soon learned, is the easy decision.  The harder decisions are how to teach and what to teach. While I would love to show my chicks the fine art of home decor and how to reclaim Craigslist finds, I'm sure my hubby would object. 

So we need a curriculum, a plan of action, a direction.  I assumed you bought the teacher manual and the student workbook from the local home school store then flipped through magazines while the lil' chicks wrote fast and furious for a few hours.  Then, when the work was done I would whip out the answer key and, with my big fat red marker, show them the error of their ways. Just kidding.  Except about the teacher manuals - desperately need those!

Otherwise I would be a fish floundering in water while my lil' chicks look on in horror!  Nope, we need a curriculum.  Or curricula.  Multiple curriculums.  And after many long hours researching the subject I've developed curriculitis - usually not fatal, but definitely debilitating!

We are leaning towards Classical Education around here.  For an explanation go here.  You could buy the All-for-one-and-one-for-all curriculums but really, that would be too easy.   Instead I am picking and choosing programs that better suit our lil' chicks.  So, here is what we are looking at:

Writing - I am leaning towards The Brave Writer program.  Very impressed with this one.  Then there is the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  IEW is more structured, giving you day to day lesson plans.  This gives you what to write, then they work on how to write.  Brave Writer gives the student more freedom in what to write and they work on the "rules" later, when they are more confident writers.

History - Totally going to do an eclectic approach but all materials are Classic Ed.  History Odyssey by Pandia Press will be our spine and we will supplement with Usborne Book of World History Dates for the timeline.  I also want to read Asimov's Chronology of the World.  Story of the World will be read, although I have heard they aren't always accurate and blurs facts with myths.  But, we will cross those bridges when we come to them.  

Math and Science - oh boy!  My weakest and scariest part of HSing.  My lil' chicks eat this up and excel in both these subjects.  And they have been in PS all their young life, will that matter?  Has it made an impression on their learning style?  I have no clue which to use so we will pick one and if it doesn't work we will move to the next.  Here is what's on the buffet:  Singapore Math and Science, Saxon, Aleks, Math U See, Living Math, R.E.A.L. Science, and Real Science 4 Kids.  Who knew there were so many?  And believe me when I say these are just a few.  Any suggestions or reviews on any of these would be appreciated.

O.kay - this is all for now.  My curriculitis has taken over my brain. I must get back to my HGTV and my pile of decorating magazines, at least for a bit.  Oh yeah, and my laundry pile, and the pile of paperwork, it all takes over. 

Tags: home school, curriculum, math, writing, science, history

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