Does anyone only purchase math, language arts…and do your own history and science? That was suggested to me to save money, but I’m not sure. My daughter will be in 6th and there are tons of freebies out there, just wondering if anyone else has found this successful. History would be simple I think. Hmmm…
That is exactly what we do. I create our own history and science units. They are very in depth, hands on units (about 10 history units and about 10 science units each year - each unit lasts about a month). I don’t do this to save money - in fact, it probably costs me more because of the projects and experiments we do. The reason I do it this way is because I’m yet to find anything nearly as hands on and in depth as what we want to do (we are not ones to use many worksheets or busy work things). Any time I’ve looked at purchasing these curriculums in the past I immediately begin to focus on what I need to change/tweak, etc - so I may as well just do it myself. No matter what, you can’t go wrong - buying the curriculums vs creating the curriculums - our children are gaining so much by this journey and they will learn much along the way, regardless of what methods or curriculums we use to teach. :-0
I just pulled my kids (Kinder & 5th grade) out of public school and will finish off the school year just focusing on Math, Reading & Writing! All other subjects I will add on in the new school year I don’t want to overwhelm myself being it’s my first time homeschooling!!
I’ve always done interest led science (K and 1st my son is in private school for 2nd). I’m looking at purchasing for 3rd next year (when we return to homeschool). I want to make it as easy as possible on myself next year as I’m going to be starting up a home photography business.
In the six years we’ve been homeschooling, I’ve bought very little curriculum. I can remember buying AAS, Truthquest Volume 1, AiG Human Body, and Simply Stated. I’ve paid for Starfall for two years. I recently bought used copies of three ABEKA science books. I think that’s about it so far.
Next year and the years after that will be a different story, though. My son is getting to the point I think he needs a change. That’s why I bought the ABEKA science. Next year we’ll probably try a boxed history or geography. I’ll give him some input as to what, but I’m considering The Adventurous Mailbox, Mystery of History, or Fifty States under God/Geography of the Fifty States. I’ll pay for a keyboarding curriculum, as I need the parental tracking. And I’ll pay for Spelling City, for the extra features and parental tracking. I’ll still be doing math and language arts from scratch, but as my son enters middle school, I will definitely be purchasing materials there, as well.