Are there any secular literature-based curr.?

[gandpsmommy]

I'm just wondering if there is something like Sonlight or TOG that isn't necessarily from a Christian perspective?

[LadyAberlin]

There is Pandia press that does History odyssey and R.E.A.L Science.

[Karen in CO]

FIAR is a Christian company, but their book selections and lessons are not religious. I have used them and didn't find any objectionable content. IF they didn't sell a separate Christian supplement, I probably wouldn't have guessed that they weren't secular (except for the little dedication page in the front the of the book).

Pandia, has already been recommended, but it does not provide as much commentary in the guide as Sonlight and TOG.

The SOTW AG is actually a great starting point. SWB's book selections are usually excellent.

I think there is room for a new company here. Many of us edit and customize what is out there. We want a literature based curriculum that is secular and has great writing assignments and good commentary. We need to collaborate.

[Audrey]

I think there is room for a new company here. Many of us edit and customize what is out there. We want a literature based curriculum that is secular and has great writing assignments and good commentary. We need to collaborate.


:iagree:

[sagira]

Peak with Books (http://www.amazon.com/Peak-Books-Childhood-Resource-Balanced/dp/0766859487/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227385453&sr=8-1)is an excellent literature curriculum for children from K to 2nd grade (approx.). I see your LO is almost 5. In addition, there is History Odyssey and R.E.A.L. Science as a PP mentioned, and these would be starting in first grade I believe, so the 6 to 7 set.

Besides these, I don't know of other ones off the top of my head.

HTH

[melissel]

I think there is room for a new company here. Many of us edit and customize what is out there. We want a literature based curriculum that is secular and has great writing assignments and good commentary. We need to collaborate.

I totally agree. I wish I had more time--I'd love to start thinking on something like this!

I've found that the WP programs I own can very easily be secularly (just by dropping the religious materials, but I've heard that gets more difficult in the programs for older kids. I also know that some use Sonlight secularly, and I've heard it's pretty easy to do.

[Audrey]

I totally agree. I wish I had more time--I'd love to start thinking on something like this!

I've found that the WP programs I own can very easily be secularly (just by dropping the religious materials, but I've heard that gets more difficult in the programs for older kids. I also know that some use Sonlight secularly, and I've heard it's pretty easy to do.

Yes, I've heard these programs are easy to adapt, but that still leaves the ethical dilemma of giving your money to companies who clearly espouse an agenda with which you cannot agree.

There have been many times I've said I should package what I do, or that I've read what others are doing and thought they should package it, too. Collaboration would be a good approach, as it allows for people who have varying strengths to play to those. Plus, I don't have the energy to design curriculum for any other grades than what I'm doing, and I would guess most of us don't! That would be another bonus to a team effort.

[lovemykids]

Moving with the Page has a lot of literature. It looks nice but not many people have given a review yet. :glare:
So who knows? I did hear one mom say it was loosey goosey. LOL. And it doesn't go very far grade wise.

[melissel]

Yes, I've heard these programs are easy to adapt, but that still leaves the ethical dilemma of giving your money to companies who clearly espouse an agenda with which you cannot agree.

Yeah, I've struggled with that. My boycott energies are elsewhere these days. I'm less worried about avoiding the mythologies of people I don't agree with than I am about avoiding shopping at places like Target and buying things made in China. I do think you should consider prepping what you work on for bundling though! Even if you just put it on Lulu for a few dollars or something...

[fortheboys]

We used Moving Beyond the Page. The books are great, but I thought that activities were less then fabulous.

[Audrey]

Yeah, I've struggled with that. My boycott energies are elsewhere these days. I'm less worried about avoiding the mythologies of people I don't agree with than I am about avoiding shopping at places like Target and buying things made in China. I do think you should consider prepping what you work on for bundling though! Even if you just put it on Lulu for a few dollars or something...

I completely understand that! If that's not your battle, that's cool. Free choice and all that. I respect that. I still can't manage to completely avoid Wal-Mart, even though that bothers me to no end. I think if you can find something that works, and you can make it work FOR you, then that's the way you should go. (general 'you' there)

I haven't thought of Lulu before. In the back of my mind, I daydream of having a community of funky, fun-loving, free-thinking homeschoolers with whom to write curriculum for our children and share an organic collective to support ourselves. 'Cause it would be really nice to have another 20 or so hands to help out.

You may say I'm a dreamer... :D

[Karen in CO]

Oh Audrey, I am there with you. That is what my girls dream of too. They want a petting zoo too.

[Jenny in Atl]

I've used SL for the last six years in a secular manner. It's really not hard to put together something similar on your own. If you take away their grammar and writing (which gets pretty low reviews of late), your left with a schedule for when to read the bks( most of which are secular) and report projects. It's easy to find reading lists that go with the historical period you are studying. Match that with your own LA/math/science/etc, and you are good to go.

[Carrie1234]

I completely understand that! If that's not your battle, that's cool. Free choice and all that. I respect that. I still can't manage to completely avoid Wal-Mart, even though that bothers me to no end. I think if you can find something that works, and you can make it work FOR you, then that's the way you should go. (general 'you' there)

I haven't thought of Lulu before. In the back of my mind, I daydream of having a community of funky, fun-loving, free-thinking homeschoolers with whom to write curriculum for our children and share an organic collective to support ourselves. 'Cause it would be really nice to have another 20 or so hands to help out.

You may say I'm a dreamer... :D

But you're not the only one
I hope some day we'll team up
And our text will meld as one :lol:

[Peela]

I'm just wondering if there is something like Sonlight or TOG that isn't necessarily from a Christian perspective?

That's why I like using Ambleside- it's free, so I can tweak it to my heart's content without feeling like I am wasting my money! Meanwhile it looks less and less like Ambleside and more and more my own concoction, but it was a starting point and I appreciate it for that.

[Kareni]

When your children are a little older, you may wish to investigate Mosdos Press (http://www.mosdospress.com/). They have literature programs for middle and high school aged children (starting with 5th grade).

Regards,
Kareni

[one l michele]

We use Sonlight secularly by skipping the books that aren't secular, the catalog shows you which ones are religious.

[Aurelia]

We use FIAR and Moving Beyond the Page. There are one or two FIAR books that have religious content, but you can skip them without missing much.

[April in NC]

I've put some of the materials that I've come up with on my website:
http://bringinguplearners.com/mosaic/

You can choose from evolution or no evolution versions, and versions w/ SOTW or LHOTW

I've done a year for ancients, and am in process (slowly!) of finishing up medieval.

Hope that helps - at least the price is right! (free, of course )

[Kareni]

I've put some of the materials that I've come up with on my website:
http://bringinguplearners.com/mosaic/

You can choose from evolution or no evolution versions, and versions w/ SOTW or LHOTW

I've done a year for ancients, and am in process (slowly!) of finishing up medieval.

Hope that helps - at least the price is right! (free, of course )

April,

What great resources you've provided! Thanks for so generously sharing your work.

Regards,
Kareni

[smg0918]

Moving with the Page has a lot of literature. It looks nice but not many people have given a review yet. :glare:
So who knows? I did hear one mom say it was loosey goosey. LOL. And it doesn't go very far grade wise.

Ruh roh. That was me who used the term "loosey goosey." I feel like I should just point out that what is loosey goosey for my admittedly anal-retentive personality may not be loosey goosey for anyone else. I'm a "follow a schedule" type of person and the unit study philosophy of MBTP left me feeling as though we weren't accomplishing anything. My guess is that other homeschooling families who embrace the unit study approach might find MBTP to their liking.

I used one full concept and part of a second concept of the 7 - 9 curriculum and found the books to be wonderful but the assignments were just sort of "meh" for us. I think it is stronger as a language arts program than it is for social studies and science. A full year of MBTP and I'm sure my kids would be sorely lacking in social studies and science. Needless to say I'm in the process of changing everything at the moment. We may still work on a few of the language arts lessons in MBTP, but we're going back to the basics of grammar and writing lessons (GWG and Writing Tales) -- anything we do in MBTP will be "extra" rather than the core of our studies this year.

Just wanted to clarify!

[Osaubi]

I've put some of the materials that I've come up with on my website:
http://bringinguplearners.com/mosaic/

You can choose from evolution or no evolution versions, and versions w/ SOTW or LHOTW

I've done a year for ancients, and am in process (slowly!) of finishing up medieval.

Hope that helps - at least the price is right! (free, of course )


I love this program!!:001_tt1:

Just wanted to say thanks for putting it all together for us. I love the new lapbook pieces