Homeschool Curriculum Gone Wild

So I’ve already veered off the path from the original homeschool curriculum that I chose. I think we are on path number four, or five, maybe six – I haven’t kept count. That sounds a little crazy since we’ve literally just started schooling.

To break it down I’ll explain a little on how I got to my (current) choices. At first, I thought the best way to go for the first year would be a boxed curriculum like Abeka or BJU Press. I’ve heard good things about both of these and they make it sound easy. Really easy. In fact, both of these companies offer the textbooks, reading books, work, teacher guides and DVDs with the actual teacher teaching a class on the subject. All your kid has to do it sit and watch and then apply the lesson to their worksheets. So yeah, to a first time homeschooler like me, this sounded like THE answer.

And then research happened. As a writer, I research things daily. For a living. I have to know what I’m talking about (or at least know enough to appear like it). So I researched a lot. I made a homeschool curriculum chart with the pros and cons of Abeka, BJU Press and Sonlight (the reading curriculum). I was almost ready to throw down the money for them when I changed my mind.

I do that a lot.

I talked to some veteran homeschool moms and though a few of them do use and recommend Abeka, BJU Press and Sonlight, most of them recommend finding my own.

Whoa.

Find my own?! But I don’t know what the heck I’m doing here. That’s why I asked these moms their opinions! But I did start looking at curriculum by individual subjects rather than full grade levels.

The main reason I changed my mind and went with picking my own curriculum was a webinar put on by a veteran homeschool mom.

I’ll list what we are using this year. Well, this semester. I’m sure I’ll end up changing a tweaking a few things this year, but as of now, this is it.

Our Current Homeschool Curriculum

Here is what we are using right now:

Math – Teaching Textbooks

English – BJU Press

History – Notgrass (Starting with From Adam to Us)

Science – Apologia (starting with Exploring Creation with Astronomy and Exploring Creation with Zoology 1)

Health – Abeka

Reading – I chose some unabridged classics – your kids are WAY smarter than you think!

This is all we’ve got for now. I also have a great geography book called Expedition Earth with a little info on each page about a different country. I also have a huge map of the earth. As we come across a different point of geography through reading or other things, we’ll refer to these resources.

So that’s what we are doing right now. I’m slowly coming to realize the great thing about homeschooling is we are free to choose our own path. It doesn’t have to look or feel like public school for our kids to learn everything they need to know.

Please feel free to share your experiences!