If money was no option, what curriculum would you buy?

[Letty's3Angels]

This will be my first year hmscing and am undecided. What would you buy? secular ok.

[RanchGirl]

if money was no concern, I would probably hire a few tutors! But can you tell us about your kids and how you envision your teaching style? That would help narrow it down a little.

[Colleen in NS]

This will be my first year hmscing and am undecided. What would you buy? secular ok.

I would buy most of the skills recs in WTM (which I already do), and I would buy all the lit. recommendations instead of hunting through the library - just so I could have them on the shelves already.

[Letty's3Angels]

I will be HSCIng 6th grade, 2nd and 1st. I would like an all in one with lots of support. I am looking for a program that is very academic.

[Letty's3Angels]

By the way I have thought of tutors, but I feel guilty for thinking that. I have looked at Tutors of America.:tongue_smilie:

[patchfire]

Primarily I would buy all the books I think we could ever use. I'd also hire a private instructor for drawing & other visual arts. Oh, and I'd not worry about finding the best deals on science kits, I'd just buy the ones I thought were the best, plus I'd buy a lot of generic lab equipment.

[kayinpa]

I would buy the curriclum I have bought, Heart of Dakota, but I would get a bunch of extra stuff like the Liberty Kids DVD, Schoolhouse Rock DVD, more books etc. I might also try Teaching Textbooks too.

[Harrison_B]

I would buy more curriculum from IEW, a very expensive microscope, more DVD's from Teaching Company, and possibly a spa day for mom :lol:

[laylamcb]

If money were no object? Tapestry of Grace and all the lit that goes with it. Then for myself I'd buy Teaching Co DVDs and a Latin and Greek tutor.

And a maid service and cook. ;)

[tricia]

Hmm, I would just buy a computer and printer for each child because we use the Robinson Curriculum and A2.

[Staci in MO]

If money were no object? Tapestry of Grace and all the lit that goes with it. Then for myself I'd buy Teaching Co DVDs and a Latin and Greek tutor.

And a maid service and cook. ;)

:iagree:

[Melissa in CA]

If money were no object? Tapestry of Grace and all the lit that goes with it....a Latin and Greek tutor.

And a maid service and cook. ;)

:iagree: Those all sound wonderful! Especially the tutors, maid service, and cook! Wooohooo...I'd be a happy, happy woman! :lol:

[MSNative]

For math - MUS. It's not even that expensive, but we love it. I'd also buy all of the Singapore math books to go with it.

Science - a started chemistry set in its own case, a rock hound/geology set, microscope, and lots of boxed kits that have everything you need in them.

History - TOG and all the books that go with it. All the books recommended in WTM.

All the MindBenders and Critical Thinking Co books and cds.

Art - a real art set with high quality supplies and perhaps someone with a smidge of artistic talent to teach my kids. :)

Maid service -definitely!

[Confuzzled]

I'd buy all the books and extras for Tapestry of Grace instead of getting what I can from the library. I'd buy it all, including the lapbooks and evaluations.

I'd also buy a good microscope and lots of cool experiment kits. My daughter would have her own laptop with Rosetta Stone and a typing program.

I'd buy a new piano and weekly piano lessons for both of us and a laser printer.

Wow... I could thinks of lots more...

Kris

[Cadam]

If money was no object...


If I could only pick one it would still be the stuff in my sig. If I could buy anything at all I would get TOG and all of the Sunlight books just to have and use pieces of those when they fit in with MFW.

I would also get "mapping the World by Heart"

The Introductory Logic set and the Traditional logic set

4 or 5 math programs, just to have them at my disposal

I would sign up for Time4Learning just for fun, I would get all of the major Latin programs and a few languages from Rosseta Stone.

[lovinmomma]

I would buy more curriculum from IEW, a very expensive microscope, more DVD's from Teaching Company, and possibly a spa day for mom :lol:

Teaching Company link? Please?

[Beth in Central TX]

Teaching Company link? Please?

http://www.teach12.com/teach12.aspx

I have purchased & downloaded many items from The Teaching Company to help as part of my own self-education. I plan to use them to supplement our high school subjects too.

[Melissa B]

I will be HSCIng 6th grade, 2nd and 1st. I would like an all in one with lots of support. I am looking for a program that is very academic.


I don't use it myself, but many people use and really like K12 and that sounds quite a bit like what you are looking for.

[eclecticmom]

Not too much. I'd buy..
Math U See - all levels, all manipulatives
CLE Math - all levels
Sonlight - all levels PLUS the electives
Switched On Schoolhouse - all levels
My Father's World - all levels, all books
A really awesome art curriculum with supplies included
A lifetime membership to Rosetta Stone - for Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian & German
All of the Story of the World Audio Tapes, Activity Books and Hardback Books
Drawn Into the Heart of Reading
Every book listed on Tapestry of Grace along with the Teacher Manuals
A quirky old two story house to store all of my books. It has to be decorated in English Cottage style and be heated by a wood burning stove. The library would be one of those ones that requires a rolling ladder and there would be an amazing reading room for kids that is done in a jungle theme.

[Prisca Sapientia]

If money were no object? Tapestry of Grace and all the lit that goes with it. Then for myself I'd buy Teaching Co DVDs and a Latin and Greek tutor.

And a maid service and cook. ;)
Hmmm...a Firefly fan!! :D

[lovinmomma]

Thank you!

http://www.teach12.com/teach12.aspx

I have purchased & downloaded many items from The Teaching Company to help as part of my own self-education. I plan to use them to supplement our high school subjects too.

[Letty's3Angels]

I got some really great ideas, of course some over the top. I'll take the cook for sure.:lol:

[Amber in AUS]

To be a little more realistic I would go with -

Right Start for math plus a little Singapore for good measure

All About Spelling

Lots of books especially ones from the AO schedule.

I would outsource art for sure.

I would also get a lot of Monti materials. I LOVE the puzzle maps! Excellent for geography.

[GVA]

I'd buy it all new though. I'm tired of eight years of scouring the interenet and used bookstores for cheap books. I'm already working on 2010-2011.

And we'd finally take piano lessons (sigh).

[MIch elle]

and that has been a problem over the years - I have too much stuff. :tongue_smilie: I buy what I think is the best available for our family.

Wanna buy some!

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87145

I'm still frugual and try to buy used when I'm not sure if I'll like the curricula. We're not millionaires!!

[Melinda]

I would buy what we have...

First step (IMO) is a learning style assessment book, so you know how to approach your children in teaching. Here is the one we use:
http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Childs-Learning-Style/dp/0761520139

Second step is to find out what reading and math levels the kids are working at.
Reading:
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/academic/product/0,3110,0205443273,00.html
and/or
http://www.pathwayreaders.com/tests/pathtest1.htm

Math:
http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_s/12.htm

Once you know what levels they are working at and what their learning styles are, it will be much easier to choose curricula that will work. In our case, here is what is working/has worked:



Math:
A combination of Singapore and Right Start. We are also using Timez Attack and time4learning.com. We have not tried livemathbowl.com yet, but are planning to.

Language Arts:
Reading:
Pathway Reading program. It goes from K-8th and includes stories to read, vocabulary pages, comprehension pages, and assessments. Oh, and it's *cheap*. The workbooks are $1.95 each. We are also using the McGuffey readers as a supplement and the Elson readers to follow up, in order to improve fluency. Oh, and time4learning.com as well. If I had to choose one program though, we would stick with Pathway.
Spelling:
We are using All About Spelling and spellingcity.com.
Grammar:
First Language Lessons, which will be probably be followed by Rod and Staff grammar.
Writing:
Writing With Ease, which will be followed by Writing Tales and Writing Strands.
Read Aloud/Literature:
We are about to begin using Five In A Row, and are very much looking forward to it. We will also be doing Ambleside Online's book lists starting in the fall, and that one is free.

Science:
I bought NOEO Biology I for the fall, because there doesn't seem to be a lot of great, already prepared science curricula out there for kids that are my kids' ages. Once they get a little older, we plan to use The Elements, Rainbow Science, and Supercharged Science. My two favorite free science programs are Classic Life Science at eequalsmcq.com and Otter's Science at ourlosbanos.com.

Social Studies:
History:
I am very excited about using Story of the World starting in the coming year. HOWEVER, Tapestry of Grace looks amazing (but felt too preachy to me). I am considering using History Odyssey as my main History curriculum now, though and using SOTW as a supplement (it is listed that way in HO).

Art:
We love Atelier Art, despite the fact that it is prohibitively expensive. You can get a better deal by buying 2 levels at once.

Music:
My own music program, plus piano lessons. We will also be doing Music Ace starting in the fall.

Health:
My own health program. Also, health fits in nicely with science and we count cooking/baking together as health.

PE:
My kids are involved in year-round swimming at the Y. They also do gymnastics and would like to start riding lessons. Oh, and Hannah does ballet.

We also use (and LOVE) the KONOS curriculum heavily. That is our favorite part of school.

I know this is more than you asked for. Sorry about that. Guess I needed to get it out...haha

[Aurelia]

Sonlight and Moving Beyond the Page so I could mix and match as I see fit. All the books and resources listed in WTM for Story of the World. Loads and loads of hands on science stuff. Right Start for math (we already use this and love it). Horseback riding, art and music lessons.

[sagira]

I would indeed buy all the books for literature, science and readers, buy more bookshelves, and buy a great printer so I can print out more stuff. I would also buy things way ahead of time to start building my homesschool collection. Oh yes, and all the science kits and materials I could ever need. More travels, and to distant countries. More field trips, and more expensive ones. Aaahh.. one can dream, can't one? Otherwise, I think I'm pretty set. I like the way things are so far. If I ever deviate, or something doesn't work out, I would consider getting a year of Living Books Curriculum or Sonlight or WinterPromise. But I'm having too much fun right now with my own way of doing things! :D

[dani3boys]

I would use most everything I already have, but would buy the following because I'm curious about them.

Chalkdust Math
Jacobs Math
My Father's World (five years for middle grades)

I have bought all of my curriculum for 09-10 school year, but these are things that intrigue me.

[ChemMommy]

MUS

Sonlight (and order the entire package without guilt!)

The God's Design for Science programs plus ALL the supplies to do the experiments

Rosetta Stone or the Learnables so my kids could get a start on a foreign language

The new version of TWTM

A reference library of Kingfisher, DK and Usbourne books

Fun logic books from Bright Minds


Hands-down, I'm thrilled that I went with SL for the younger grades. We had great years reading books together at home and on trips. My kids became wonderful readers and we enjoyed our time together so much.

[RanchGirl]

All in one packages haven't worked well for our family so I can't really give you any advice there. We tried Sonlight, My Father's World, and Learning Adventures and neither was for us. Which surprised me because I really though unit studies like that would be my thing. If money was no object, I would continue with what we have been doing (listed in my signature), plus add...

a new piano and more lessons (we only do once per week right now but they could really use more)
Spanish immersion experiences for the family (preferably on a beach in Mexico!)
Spanish speaking housekeeper, preferably one with a Spanish speaking child she could bring over to interact with my children
LOTS of travel... we'd probably travel around the US for at least a couple months, then go overseas with the Adventures by Disney tours, and then... oh sorry I drooled on the keyboard
an art tutor for both art history/appreciation and lots of fun messy art projects
more legos
a cool homeschool studio with a huge reading library/sun room in one corner, a legos station, an art station, etc.
and a new grammar & writing program, which is the only thing on this list that will be happening this year!