Socialization of the kids is a vital part of homeschooling, but socialization of the parents is just as vital.  I am fortunate enough to be a part of two really great support groups that, between the two of them, gives me everything I could want for, but more on that aspect of homeschooling later.  There is an interesting phenomenon that happens when homeschool educators get together.  It happens every single time without fail....even if not at a social event.  Say you are at a library and you get to talking to a patron and it comes out that you are a homeschooler...immediately these two questions pop out:  What grades are your kids? and  What curriculum do you use?  It is our obsession.  Even when we find the "perfect" curriculum, something at the back of our mind wonders...what else is out there.

And, let's face it, there is a lot out there to choose from and everyone has an opinion about what is best.  It can be overwhelming when left on your own to pick out what is right especially when you are considering how many kids you are schooling, their individual learning styles, the COST, et. al.  I have faced many challenges in getting my kids set up and still question it almost daily...is this right?  It is like a mechanic...making sure all the bolts and screws are tightened...grease is where it should be....the oil is changed....  Tune ups....I think it is healthy to do periodic tune-ups on our kids education.

So...what do I use?  Well, for Sierra it's easy.  Her future desire is to do something in the fashion world.  She is very artisitic and not very scholastic.  Heavy emphasis on literature and math concepts will only frustrate her and one of the biggest pluses, in my opinion, to homeschooling is to tailor make their school experience to their needs.  That said, her choice for the majority of school subjects (Bible, History, Science, Language Arts and French) is Switched on Schoolhouse by Alpha and Omega Publishing.  Now, it is a pretty expensive program to buy (about $90/subject), but it is the path to least resistance for her.  It keeps her on track...it challenges her without boring her to tears...it makes her as happy as she could be.  She is finishing up 7th grade with this, but will begin Monarch for 8th grade.  SOS (Switched on Schoolhouse) is a computer based program where you load the program via cds into your computer...Monarch is basically SOS, but it is an online subscription instead of cds.  She can do the work from any computer simply by logging in and I can keep track of her work on my own computer.  It's all about convenience. 

For math, the program that has worked best for her these past 2 years has been Teaching Textbooks.  I have heard great things about this program, but I have also heard not so great things about it.  It works for her very well.  However, her next level would cost us a whopping $180.  Due to this, we are working with the Khan Academy site to see if this is a viable option for her.  If it works as it seems to for so many, this program is FREE and would be a great blessing to us.  It is a bit of a hassle to get going, but it is an online program and so far Sierra is finding it to be a good solution to the Teaching Textbooks issue.  If this does not work out, we will just fork over the dough to get her the math program that has proven to work.

For Daniel, it is quite a difficult task to find out what will work best.  For 1st grade, it was fairly typical at first, but as I got to know him as a student more, the more I realized the challenges that I would have ahead.  It is hard to know what to do for a kid like him.  For history and science, it is pretty straight forward.  His history for this past year was "Our Christian Heritage".  It was o----kay.  I wasn't thrilled with it, but I only bought the student workbook and it was a good introduction to homeschooling for us.  For science, I was very pleased with what we ended up doing...unit studies.  They worked out very well...Daniel loved it because we would cover whatever subject he wanted to cover.  We spent time learning about bats, the solar system, ocean life, frogs, penguins, etc.  It was really great.

I knew early on that math was a subject that Daniel would excel at, so I knew I needed to find a program that would not just teach him 1+1=2.  Thankfully, I found a program that would be a perfect fit for him and was a curriculum that I will continue with for as long as it goes.  Singapore Math.  At first, I liked it a lot, but did not know what the fuss was about...then I went to a homeschool store and had a lengthy conversation with a worker there who used Singapore and she explained to me that Singapore on it's own was good, but they have these workbooks called Intensive Practice that she said took it to a next level....and boy was she right.  This was very true and my son's love of math increased with the challenging problems presented in this.

Reading/Language Arts has been the biggest issue with curriculum for my son.  We started off the year doing Horizon's, but he was getting frustrated....not because it was too hard, but because it was too tedious.  He already reads well ahead of grade level.  He also does not do well with too much repetition which many curriculums do.  It's all about review...review, review, review.  He hates it.  He is a kid that gets presented a topic and remembers it.  Reviewing it over and over just frustrates him cause he got it the first time.  I had him reading Magic Treehouse books, but got adviced against reading these types of books since his reading level is so high.  By the end of the year, we were reading literature, but I feel like something is being missed.  We tried First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, but it got to be SO tedious and BORING.  Throughout the summer, it will be my biggest challenge to come up with a grammar curriculum as well as a good reading program.  His grade level reading programs just do not work for him...they are just too below his level.  We will, likely, continue reading literature and finding activities for comprehension that correspond with the book he is reading.

I recently got advised that I should not do grammar with my 7-year old son...it should wait until he is 12.  This doesn't seem right to me.  He likes grammar pretty good...he's got the equipment to learn it.  I would love feedback.  Some say my son is likely gifted....I do not know about that (his Kindergarten teacher thought he should be tested).  He is certainly smart and I do find it challenging to find activities that are on level for him.

So, for 2nd grade:  he will do Story of the World Volume 1 for history, Considering God's Creation for Science, and Singapore Math levels 2A and 2B with the corresponding Intensive Practice books.  I am looking at an Old Testament Survey curriculum for him....still researching it.  Language Arts is in the air...I am looking at Shurley Grammar.  He will also be doing artist studies...an artist a month (a free download....yay us).

Curriculum is a highly personal choice and one that should not be taken lightly.  If you are blessed to have kids who learn the same, than you can reuse the curriculum you have for each kid.  My advice, though, is to not force it on each kid just because you own it and want to squeeze everything out of it.  What is good for one kid is likely not good for both.  I had decided to keep SOS for Daniel to use when he got to Sierra's grade level, but then realized they are on two very different planes.  I would LOVE to reuse curriculum...Lord knows curriculum is OBSCENELY expensive and it often makes us SICK when we realize how much money it will cost us to set them both up.....but, we have to do what is best for each kid

You gotta love math.  We all know how important it is and many of our kids struggle with the most simple math concepts.  There are many factors to the problems with math, most of which falls on how our brains are wired.  Math is not a hard concept for me because  I tend to analyze the heck out of things and I like when things are in order.  I loved math when I was in school and excelled at it.  My husband, however, hates math.  He tends to be more whimsical, artistic.  For him, the world is not black and white, but full of all sorts of colors, shapes, etc.  *He currently works with pensions and crunches numbers all day long*

I have had some bits of experience with math curriculum in various stages and various learning styles with my kids.

When I first decided to homeschool my daughter, she was in 2nd grade.  I did not search for curriculum pros and cons on the internet then.  I simply took the word of one friend who claimed Saxon Math was the BEST math program out there.  So...I bought Saxon Math.  BOY, OH BOY, was that a MISTAKE.  I think I may have damaged my daughter's brain cells with that move.  I blamed myself and figured I could not homeschool and put her back in public school...she was VERY behind the other students and utterly confused.  Was that a curriculum error?  No.  Saxon Math does work for many families...our epic fail does not mean Saxon Math may not work for you.  It just means that we as parents should explore all p

What is the BEST curriculum ever for one kid may not be the best for another.  Saxon Math was NOT the best for her.  Upon pulling her out of public school the second time, at the beginning of 6th grade, I did my research.  I SCOURED the internet for information on ALL the available curriculum, but focused mostly on math.  My daughter's weakest subject, by far, is math.

I finally landed on Teaching Textbooks.  Everything about this program seemed ideal for her and her learning style and her weaknesses.  I learned from my mistake before and put effort into learning what she NEEDED.  It was, by far, the best decision for her and I could not be more pleased with the results.  She has far exceeded where she was in school.

Now, when I pulled Daniel out of school, I had the opposite problem.  Math came easy to him.  He is a natural problem solver and can be shown something once and get the concept completely.  My natural inclination was to get him in on Teaching Textbooks, but they do not start this young.  Once again, I scoured the internet to find out what would be the best program for his learning style and I landed on Singapore Math.  This is the perfect curriculum for him because it does a lot of mental math.  He never figures out a math problem on paper (not yet), but figures them out in his head.  It is beautiful to watch. 

I have been holding on to Sierra's Teaching Textbooks curriculum to later use wtih Daniel, but I started really thinking about the difference of Daniel's learning style and Sierra's and came to the conclusion that Teaching Textbooks will likely not work for him. 

There are SO many math programs out there.  I truly recommend that you research programs until your fingers are numb.  It is good to find out what your friends are using, but also find out why they are using it.  You might find that they like it because their kid is this kind of learner and you know your own kid is not.  I was recently reading reviews on a language arts program for Daniel and the chief complaint on this particular program was that it moved to fast and did not have a lot of repetition.  This was, for me, a pro...not a con.  Daniel does not need repetition; he needs challenge. 

Ask your circle of homeschool moms.  Research  the method itself, but also research what others think of the program and weigh out what they like/dislike about the program and think about your own kid.  Also, do not think that what works for one will automatically work for the other.  You are lucky if it does, but don't be surprised if it doesn't.  I do not think Daniel will follow in Sierra's footsteps at all.