The Past & The Future

I've decided to go into what I've done in the past and what I'm doing in the future.

1st grade:
A Beka Year
This was the A Beka year. It was our first year homeschooling and I needed to do something that would have little parental needs because I was trying to finish my BA. I know it sounds horrible but I did participate...just not to the extent that I participate now. She sat in front of a computer for a couple hours and listened to a video. I know that BJU has this as well but it’s more of a one on one with the teacher instead of A Beka where they are watching with the whole class.

We liked it to an extent. It explained things very well. She got through the year with flying colors but the videos were boring and she became restless! Wonder why!? All in all...if you’re looking for a product that lets you have a lot of time to do other stuff while your kid is doing work...this is it. They also have a way for you to download it onto a computer so that you can travel with it.

The only thing that I can say with certainty that we didn’t love is that the reading books were all A Beka books and she got very nervous about what level she was at etc. during library visits. It was very overwhelming for her!

2nd grade:
Sonlight year
This was the Sonlight Year. We did it during the first half of the year and the second she went to a private school which she ended up not liking and asking to go back to home-school for third grade. Thank God!

We liked Sonlight but there were some texts that were boring and I was creating Social Studies worksheets for her because their curriculum didn’t have any. Some of the Reading books were boring for her so we went to the library now that we had a better idea of what level she was at and started to choose from those while reading the Sonlight books. She loved the science Osborne books...she read them faithfully without me multiple times.

3rd grade:
Mix Match and Everything Else
This year will be the mix match year since boxed curriculums don’t seem to fit within our family. A Beka was too strict, Sonlight was to literature based. We need workbooks that we can work through and put away, some literature stuff, and some creativity.

Math: Teaching Textbooks (Has a video that seems to go through all the lessons so that if you want to have her work on it individually you can or you can work on the workbooks as well.)
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/v/vspfiles/tt/Math3.htm

Science: Apologia Astronomy (It is a textbook with a junior notebook for her to take her notes. Not a worksheet but good enough that I can see that she’s taking notes on what she is learning.)
http://shop.apologia.com/astronomy/115-exploring-creation-with-astronomy.html

History/Reading: American Girls (Books within her age group that study the historical era of that particular girl. I’m hoping to try and find books that my daughter will learn to enjoy other than the books that she has gotten comfortable with.) http://www.girlsofamericanhistory.com

Geography: Road Trip USA (I don’t know much about this curriculum but I’ve heard a lot of good things about this curriculum. So I’m going to try and mish mash it into the American Girls curriculum)
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/u-s-geography

Vocabulary: Wordly Wise (Another workbook that should enhance her vocabulary.) http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?series=2818M&utm_source=ww3000_free_site&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=ww3000

Spelling: Spelling Power (1000 spelling words and more I hope that will enhance her writing.)
http://www.spellingpower.com/

English: Rod and Staff (I’m so excited that I finally decided it on this curriculum but it’s just a workbook. Other than that I don’t know much about it though. It’s the standard curriculum on grammar and writing!)
http://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-123--/?list=Building_Christian_English_Series