# Curricula suggestions



## krebolj (Feb 23, 2013)

Hello Everyone!

I am in the beginning of my homeschooling journey, and am having a very hard time selecting curricula to work for our family. I have two girls (ages 3 and 5), and run all aspects of our small farm often by myself (my husband works for the Sheriff's Dept. and would like to help, but his schedule has not permitted). I originally selected Bob Jones University for us, as I really liked how black and white it was, but I am now finding that it is too strict for our schedule and that neither one of my children like sitting down to do work. I also purchased a used copy of "The Weaver", but I'm not a fan of having to go out and search for all of the different library books, as many of them are out of print and substituting can be difficult. 

I have looked at My Father's World, but haven't been able to find anyone with personal experience. I like the idea of unit studies, because my girls are close in age and I am limited in time....but I need one that doesn't come with an obscure book list where I have to spend weeks searching for library books. My girls also learn much better through reading, repetition, and games instead of seatwork, from what I have found...I do like to have some worksheets though, to track progress and file just in case they ever check up on us. 

Does anyone have any suggestions?? I feel so lost!


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

We use Sonlight, and I like that it comes with everything I need for history and language arts. The instructor's guide is laid out day-by-day. My kids are 2 years apart in age and they are doing the same core (history and Bible) and science but different language arts and math. This has been out first year of homeschooling, and I believe that a huge part of why it has been enjoyable for the kids and for me is Sonlight. So that's my two cents. Good luck on choosing. I know how overwhelming it is.


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

I don't think you need anything formal at those ages. Just go out and play, have them cook with you, read to them, and play lots of fun games. They will learn more that way than they will if you have them sit down and do school.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I agree with mammabooh. With a 3 and 5 year old, I wouldn't waste my money on curricula. Read, read, read.  And just talk about letters, words, colors, numbers, etc. 

Btw, thank you for knowing that the plural of curriculum is curricula! I've been researching for next year and smack my head on my laptop every time I read "curriculums" in blog posts and reviews


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## krebolj (Feb 23, 2013)

Thank you for the suggestions! 

That is essentially what I have been doing with them, nothing formal just whatever we can fit in. I just worry that I'm not doing enough.


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## 78Parrothead (Apr 6, 2013)

I agree with the others. Let K and pre-K be a time of exploration instead of rigid schedules and lots of seat work. Think of ways to play history (everyone get on a pretend horse and cry, "The British are coming. The British are coming." Play Egyptian and mummify a chicken. Do nature studies. Go outside and look at bugs under a magnifying glass. If you have woods go find bird's nests and mushrooms and animal tracks. 

Get a good phonics book - Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading or Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I used 100 Easy Lessons with great success. If it doesn't work out right away, wait a few months and try again. Let your kids let you know when they are ready to move forward.

Count lots of things. Grass, plants, cups, shoes, M&Ms. Once counting is good start adding blades of grass, plants, cups, shoes, M&Ms. Make patterns with whatever you have on hand.

There are some really good foreign language videos for little kids. If you are interested Google is you friend.

Good luck. Enjoy these times instead of pushing. Otherwise you and the kids may suffer from burn out early in your homeschooling career. 

Pax,


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## TenBusyBees (Jun 15, 2011)

I have used MFW 1st grade, Adventures, and ECC.... loved all of them but for your children's ages....3 and 5, correct?.... i would not go rigid or formal yet. I'd keep it light and enjoyable and very hands on for them. For preK and K i have used Five in a Row.... I've actually used well into 3rd grade for.some of my children. It's a weekly unit study of great children's literature....you read one book five days in a row and each day there's a different lesson/subject....math, social studies, science, language arts, and art. You can make it as in-depth or as light as you need to fit your daily schedule and their learning.g needs. Another great thing about FIAR is you can use it with multi ages.


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## Mrs. Jo (Jun 5, 2007)

And don't forget Bob Books and look for free printables on the internet for phonics, numbers, letters and other pre school skills. File folder games. There is so much free stuff to print. Use them and save the money for good books and building a nice home library. I started a library wish list on amazon where I am just keeping track of good book ideas and when I have some extra money, I can order a few books. For this age you don't need much at all, mostly some good books to read to the kids. Some good art supplies and little craft ideas. 
Make it fun, what you do at this age is mostly train them to sit down and learn with you. Getting them used to this now makes it easier for you later when they are bit older. 15 minutes for an activity and 40 minutes to read to them is fine a few times a week. 

On the subject of keeping records. Start building a portfolio for each of them. Get a big three ring binder and page protectors and when they do a bit of work put it in there. If they do a field trip take some pictures and put it in there. Keep building this as they grow and you will have a nice record of a school year. You can keep all kinds of info in this, like lists of books read or skills learned, or whatever. 
Gosh, you are at such a fun stage right now!


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## Teri (Jan 13, 2003)

Rod and Staff has a very sweet set of preschool/kindergarten workbooks good for that age. They are inexpensive. I used them for all 7 of my kids.
Otherwise, what Mammabooh said.
Lots of trips to the library, read alouds and some basic art supplies.


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## krebolj (Feb 23, 2013)

Just in case anyone comes across this in the future with a similar issue (this happens to me frequently when googling), I am now having a lot of success with taking a more relaxed approach and using The Weaver as a guideline. Just picking up books from the library on the subjects being covered (for my older daughter, she loves to learn and is well past coloring and counting) and using the teaching tips covered in the weaver supplement has helped a lot. Also, scholastic usually has great deals on e-books for teachers that you can print what you like from (example: those subject coloring books for $1) I bought a couple on cities, neighborhoods, and community helpers to help reinforce what we are reading.


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