Something Old, New, Borrowed, and...Green?

I promised a while ago to give my input on the various curriculum types we've used. Until now, I haven't felt ready to do that, mostly because I wanted to give everything a good, fair trial before offering my thoughts. As I've mentioned before, we use what we're given, so we've been privileged to sample a wide variety of books and styles. We have curriculum old and new, and we've borrowed lots of books from the library and other sources. I was most excited, though, to be given a set of Bob Jones University's reading program - the same one I grew up with, and what I affectionately called my "green" reader (they're green from 1st through 12th grades).

I'll just list out what we have and give some feedback for each.

Preschool:

Winter Promise Unit Studies - This set comes with several non-consumable craft and science books, manipulatives, and a Bible stories book. Over all, I really liked it. It has a teacher's guide complete with lesson plans, which was great for me since I hate prep work. The only thing I didn't like is that it bounced around all of the books instead of moving through each one in an orderly fashion. We'll continue using some of the activities throughout our home school experience.

Usborne Phonics Cards, Alphabet Book, and Prewriting Skills - I love this set. I chose to photocopy the prewriting skills pages so that I could use the book for all of the kids instead of letting one child use it up. The flash cards are great, and we take them along with us when we're running errands and the kids need something to do.

Kindergarten:

Bob Jones University Press (BJUP) K5 Program - This is the curriculum that I largely grew up with, so I was thrilled when I was given a complete, brand-new set. It has three sections, and the first was definitely my favorite. After that, K seemed to lose interest, and he's struggling with the smallish font when trying to read words. I love the pre-cursive writing that is taught.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - At first glance, this method looked really confusing. There are big squares between each word, dots underneath each letter, and directional arrows below each sentence. That said, it's K's preferred phonics text, and he can read quite well. Once we began the lessons, all of the above-mentioned marks now make sense and actually aid his reading instead of distracting from it. This method also worked for my younger brother who really struggled with reading. The large font is perfect for little eyes, too.

Funnix - We found a link to download this for free, so I thought I'd share. The link will expire the 31st of January, so hurry if you're interested! We've not used this yet, but since it's computer-based, I'm assuming the boys will love it.

http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/01/educational-freebie-free-funnix-downloadable-childrens-reading-program-249-value.html

BJUP Math - This has lots of colorful pages, and K really enjoys it. As a teacher, I found some of the concepts a little difficult to comprehend.

Mortenson Math and Cuisinaire Rods - This simple mathematics course has been lots of fun, and the boys and I both like it. I do wish it had more subtraction, though; thus far, we've only encountered counting and addition.

First Grade:

BJUP English/Reading Skills - I was really excited to have this set as well. I grew up with BJUP's "green" readers, so I loved the thought of using them with my own kids. However, I found the numerous texts, charts, teacher's manual, and workbooks to be overwhelming. After a few weeks, we finally found a workable rhythm, but I skip a lot of the exercises since many seem to be merely busywork instead of helpful for instruction. As much as I loved them when growing up, we've decided to alter our course for next year since the boys learn differently than I did. I do love the in-depth-ness (is that a word?) of the BJUP curriculum; there is a lot more to it than several other same-grade publishers. I think it is laying an excellent foundation from which to springboard into something a little different.

I am truly grateful for all we've been given! Whether it's new, used, borrowed, or green, we've been able to use everything given to us. Next year, we'll be trying out The Weaver unit studies at the recommendation of my mom-in-law. It looks really good, so perhaps I'll post an update on that once we've tried it out.

The best thing about curriculum is that there is so much of it available. If something doesn't work for your family or your child, there's always something else to try! We are truly blessed to be home schooling in this day and age. Although there are more stringent laws to deal with, there are also a lot more choices. Happy hunting!