Jude 2

Tracy,

What literature do you use for home schooling? Is it accredited? Why would you recommend that I choose your literature as opposed to the many offerings available?

Thanks,
pa

pastorables wrote:Tracy,

What literature do you use for home schooling? Is it accredited? Why would you recommend that I choose your literature as opposed to the many offerings available?

Thanks,
pa

Pastor Ables,

What ages are your children? That makes a difference and might help me direct you.

As far as accredited, I operate as a private school and so am authorized by the state to use whatever I choose and it is accredited. Sometimes I write my own curriculum, and sometimes I use purchased things.

It really depends on the age and ability of your children.

Some good resources would be Veritas Press (although you might have to play with the grade levels--they tend to push the children too fast), Tapestry of Grace, the book called "The Well Trained Mind" (it has a plan and a list of books for each grade level), Sonlight Curriculum has a great book list but I wouldn't necessarily recommend the teacher's manual, and Rod and Staff--which is composed of several years of Bible stories plus exercises.

This year I will use Tapestry of Grace plus some of my own choices with my son who will be starting 9th grade, and I will be using Rod and Staff plus Tapestry of Grace and some of my own choices with my daughter who will be 4th.

Does this help? You might want to read the book The Well Trained Mind. While you won't follow it to the T (I don't think anyone does), it is the best full-scoped discussion and plan for homeschooling that I have ever seen. You have to tweak it for your family, but I highy recommned that you read it.

Blessings,
Tracy

I know you were asking Tracy, but thought I would respond also.

We use Abeka. They have curriculum from pre-school through grade 12. It is packaged in "teacher kits" and "student kits". You can teach it totally home school, or you can sign up for the accredited academy they operate. You send in the test and quizes for grading. They also offer a dvd program that my daughter in high school uses. We are totally satisfied with this curriculum.

We have been using Abeka for about seven years. Also, a lot of private schools here in MS use Abeka through the sixth grade.

But, the ones Tracy mentioned are good also.

Tracy wrote:

pastorables wrote:Tracy,

What literature do you use for home schooling? Is it accredited? Why would you recommend that I choose your literature as opposed to the many offerings available?

Thanks,
pa

Pastor Ables,

What ages are your children? That makes a difference and might help me direct you.

Tracy,

My son is seven. He is familiar with Abeka due to 2 years of pre-school, but for the past few years he has been in the public school system. He is an A honor roll student and doesn't seem to have any problem flowing with the speed of curriculum---however, I'm sure that could vary with companies.

We are currently considering the home school system, but know nothing about what we might be getting ourselves into.

Thanks to all the replies. Any information helps.

pa

My daughter is 5 and I bought "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Lessons". It is a traditional phonics approach, and it uses the old SRA/Distar reading techniques that I learned as a child. We're 21 lessons in and my daughter, who really did not read at all basically, now can make out basic words and sentences. Now, that's not a lot to most, but I was blown away by the ease of teaching it because she has just picked it up like nobody's business. In fact, she gets anxious and wants to read more challenging material in later lessons, and we do sometimes, but mostly we stay where we are. So, if you have a beginning reader in your home, I highly recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Child- ... 0671631985

PA, check your private messages.

Martha

Martha wrote:PA, check your private messages.

Martha

Hey no fair.. some of us are lurking..

SBW wrote:I know you were asking Tracy, but thought I would respond also.

We use Abeka. They have curriculum from pre-school through grade 12. It is packaged in "teacher kits" and "student kits". You can teach it totally home school, or you can sign up for the accredited academy they operate. You send in the test and quizes for grading. They also offer a dvd program that my daughter in high school uses. We are totally satisfied with this curriculum.

We have been using Abeka for about seven years. Also, a lot of private schools here in MS use Abeka through the sixth grade.

But, the ones Tracy mentioned are good also.

My wife used to be the director at a day care, and they used this for their preschool program, it was great, both my oldest two used it, and we were very pleased. A member of the day care board also worked for the local school and commented (unofficially of course) that they could see a real difference in the students that came from their day care and those that did not in terms of academic success in K & 1st

[quote="MacUser"][quote="Martha"]PA, check your private messages.

Martha[/quote]

Hey no fair.. some of us are lurking.. [/quote]

I sent PA a phone number that I didn't want to post here. Basically, what I told him was that I have friends who oversee a home school program and I gave him the information on how to contact them. If anyone wants the information I'd be happy to give it to you. They are highly qualified and had approximately 70 students who graduated this year. They have students who are children of missionaries and pastors as well as local students. The name of the school is Faith Covenant and is overseen by Pastor Mike Maze and his wife Dr. Kathy Maze. Pastor Maze graduated from Lee and Dr. Maze has her doctorate from Oxford. I have known them for over 30 years and Dr. Maze was my younger son's teacher. He was in the first graduating class from Faith Covenant.

There are lurkers here who also know them.

pastorables wrote:

Tracy wrote:

pastorables wrote:Tracy,

What literature do you use for home schooling? Is it accredited? Why would you recommend that I choose your literature as opposed to the many offerings available?

Thanks,
pa

Pastor Ables,

What ages are your children? That makes a difference and might help me direct you.

Tracy,

My son is seven. He is familiar with Abeka due to 2 years of pre-school, but for the past few years he has been in the public school system. He is an A honor roll student and doesn't seem to have any problem flowing with the speed of curriculum---however, I'm sure that could vary with companies.

We are currently considering the home school system, but know nothing about what we might be getting ourselves into.

Thanks to all the replies. Any information helps.

pa

Sorry to take so long to reply--I've not been able to log on all day and part of last evening

I have used a Abeka every year that we have homeschooled. I use it for the skill areas of phonics, language/grammar, and math (up until about 6th grade or so for math, then we switch).

While Abeka has a good reading program, I wouldn't advise using the readers very much. I believe children should read whole, living books rather than snippets of stories and publishing house creations. Use the phonic but ditch the readers. Take them to the library instead.

Check out the sources that I gave you for some excellent book lists by grade for your child. You'll find some treasures. Also go to Grace and Truth books on line, and also Vision Forum--they have great Christian books that build character.

Blessings,
Tracy