Homeschool Curriculum-What We're Using Now

Um, if you haven't guessed by my last post, I am rather addicted to researching school stuff. I heart not only shopping for school supplies but also reading up on just about any type of curriculum. It can get really bad at times.

I read blogs of homeschooling moms, I read reviews on HomeSchool Reviews, and I'm constantly scouring the Internet and catalogs for the best stuff out there. I think most moms who homeschool wonder if they're using the top of the line curriculum and doubt themselves and the choices they've made. There is so much out there!

Last year, when I was trying to decide what I was going to use, I came across a company called Sonlight. Their website was colorful and engaging and I was interested in learning more about them, so I requested a catalog. When the catalog arrived in the mail, I read it cover-to-cover. It was a beautiful! I thought everything looked so great, but the prices put a damper on my excitement. It just seemed so expensive! As much as I wanted to use their curriculum, I knew we couldn't afford to spend the amount of money it cost to order from them. I saved the catalog and stored it on my bookshelf, but decided to order from a variety of sources and companies for kindergarten.

I'm glad I found material to use last year that we really loved, but I still thought about Sonlight. I liked their philosophy, and their Christian worldview, literature-based program. Students read real books, not a bunch of dry textbooks. Sonlight lists all sorts of good reasons why their curriculum is one to consider, but they even list reasons why their material wouldn't be a good fit for you! They have a heart for missions and spreading the name of Christ all over the world. And what I love about it is that it's written specifically for homeschoolers so there aren't any classroom based activities to skip. Yay!

When it was time to start planning for first grade, I still wanted to consider Sonlight, despite the expense. My friend was also thinking about using Sonlight for her girls, so we'd talk back and forth about it. Raymond and I finally sat down so I could ask him some questions about homeschooling and what we wanted to do. I told him about Sonlight and how much I wanted to use it. I asked him if we wanted to mainly focus on the cost or on the quality? Yes, we could homeschool very inexpensively if we so chose, but I wanted something I was passionate and excited about, something that would work well to spark a love of learning in our boys. Even though I haven't even used this curriculum yet, I really thought it would be all of these things for our family and worth the expense. We both agreed that yes, money should not be the deciding factor, and we would work it into our budget. I've looked at Ebay and see that the resale value is very high, so I can always sell the curriculum when we're finished and help recoup some of the costs.

After I received the 2010-2011 Sonlight catalog, I found out that they had financing options. I signed up for their email list so I would know about any specials. Shortly after reading through the latest catalog, they sent an email saying they were changing their financing policies. Instead of charging interest, you could now divide your order total into monthly or bimonthly payments for 3 or 6 months depending on which payment plan you choose, at no additional cost. This was how we were going to be able to afford it! I ordered everything I needed (with the charter school Jonah is enrolled in ordering some of the novels and books I needed at no cost to me) and was able to have my total bill divided into 4 payments, spread out over 6 months! How awesome! I paid 1/4 the cost up front, received my entire order up front, and now am paying the rest over 6 months. Every 2 months, I'm paying the amount owed in 1/3rd installments, without any interest or additional fees. Yay!

The thing is, they only offer the 6 month payment plan for a limited time. The last day to sign up for it was June 30. But I got an email saying that they had a special offer-the six month plan is available for one week only, it expires Monday, Aug 2! I don't know that anyone would want or need this, especially so last minute, but I'm putting it out there in case it helps someone. :) The three month plan is offered year round, but the 6 month plan is only offered from April-June.

And no, I'm not getting paid to advertise for them, (I wish! haha!) I'm just that genuinely excited about using them! Now that I've talked them up and read through my catalog over and over again, I really hope I like them as much once we start school!

Every customer gets a code to refer friends to, and if you make an order that is over $50 and use your friend's code, you get $5 off your first order. Then you'll get your own code to share with friends. You get points based on orders your friends make using your code, that you can use to get a small discount off your next purchase. The button below is a link that has my code in it if anyone wants to order something and get $5 off!

Anyway, all of that to say, we're using Sonlight for History and Science.

They have several math programs they recommend, (they don't write their own, they use other publishers), and Horizons is one of them, and we already planned to use that. We're going to use their reader package, but I'm using other stuff for the rest of Language Arts. For handwriting they also have several programs, one is Handwriting Without Tears which I'm going to use with Jonah.

For writing, spelling, and grammar, I'm using a variety of sources that Sonlight doesn't sell. For spelling, I've heard wonderful things and rave reviews about All About Spelling, and I can't wait to get started. I love their approach to teaching spelling, there are no "time wasters and page fillers" as they call it, no writing a word 3 times over, no crossword puzzles and word searches. Some kids like doing those things, but it doesn't really help you learn how to spell words. For grammar we're using First Language Lessons, a 2 year, gentle introduction into grammar. Writing practice will come from The Complete Writer:Writing With Ease. I read The Well-Trained Mind, which was written by a mother and daughter and learned a lot. While I didn't agree with everything they said, I liked what they said about not pushing creative writing on young students since most kids are not ready for that until about 4th grade because kids are still learning the basics of writing and grammar. They wrote the other writing books I mentioned, so I want to try the books out with Jonah and see how he does!

Anyway, that's what we're using and I'm itching to get started with first grade. I'm so excited to start all of our new stuff! If this happened to help anyone, all the better! :)