There is nothing more stressful for homeschool parents than choosing homeschool curriculum. (Well, except for teaching long division, but that’s for another post.) We want to choose what is best for our kids. I mean, that’s why we homeschool, right?
We ask veteran homeschooling friends what they are using. We read blogs. We check out curriculum at homeschool conventions. We pour over catalogs and websites. I have done the same thing.
Out of all those methods of research, the two that have been most helpful to me have been to ask friends and to read blog reviews. I feel they are more tried-and-tested opinions. And, those suggestions have been the ones that have worked out the best for us.
9 Years Of Homeschool Curriculum
So, here I am – your friend and blogger with 9 years of homeschooling under my belt. I am still no expert. I don’t have all the answers, but i do know what worked for my kids. Take a peak at our homeschool curriculum choices from 2nd grade to 11th grade and get some ideas.
These might help you confirm some of your choices or want to make some changes. If you have any more questions about any of the resources we have used, feel free to email me.
Favorite Supplemental Homeschool Resources
Over these 9 years, we have used supplemental resources that have been great. Here are a few of our favorites that I actually reviewed or just wrote about.
Awesome resource:
Science For Critical Thinkers
ISBN-13: 978-1974269747
ISBN-10: 1974269744
FULL COLOR VERSION
“Science for Critical Thinkers” is a comprehensive approach to developing student’s critical thinking skills in science. Written by two science educators with over 30 years combined teaching experience in middle and high school instruction, the book promises to educate and develop young minds ages 10-13, to think as scientists do. This 418-page, full color science resource is a complete curriculum for all students at this age level. It contains four years of science study conveniently packaged into one book; the Nature of Science, Physical Science, Life Science and Earth and Space Science. An exceptional value for discerning parents. Students utilize the text from late elementary school straight through middle school. Each unit is composed of fun labs kids can do at home, enrichment activities, critical thinking activities, a science art project, an engineering project, an oral skill building activity, writing activities, observation activities, online activities, practice questions with an answer key, problem solving questions and more than enough content to start properly developing scientific thinking. The book also contains a science pre-test to assess student’s prior knowledge before beginning the curriculum; a comprehensive glossary, a calculations section; instructions on how to use the book, instructions for answering questions scientifically; and graph paper for graphing activities. Content is presented in a ready-to-use and easy-to-understand format. From the onset of the course students start applying the scientific method in the design of their own controlled experiment. They use a science journal for recording observations, data, and completing their laboratory exercises. 18 inquiry and science process skills are presented to master. These include classifying, collecting data, hypothesizing, identifying and controlling variables, and more. Students develop a discipline of scientific thinking as they participate in activities outlined in each unit. They will take what they routinely learn with the curriculum and use it to apply science reasoning to the real life situations they encounter. The world becomes their classroom as students begin to question, investigate, explore and make discoveries on their own initiative. Online and library research is encouraged as students begin to think about science in more enlightened and intuitive ways. Pushing a cart in the supermarket will have them thinking about Newton’s laws of motion. When they see their cuts and bruises healing nicely, they will think about the process of mitosis. Learning about science from a critical thinking perspective helps kids to improve their problem solving abilities and allow them to think systematically and logically when dealing with issues of a practical and intellectual nature. The text provides excellent preparation for a systematic study of science later in the high school years.