Mother4Jesus

Many have asked me why I don't use a "boxed" curriculum set. I agree that it would be easier...not necessarily less expensive but definitely easier. Last year I used Bob Jones for kindergarten. While this is a fast moving , advanced curriculum, I didn't find it to be as thorough as I would of liked. I would prefer to spend more time on a concept and have the child master it, rather than throw a bunch of topics at my child and see what sticks. This year I decided to use Math-u-See, (MUS), Logic of English, (LOE), Biblio Plan for History , (BP), and Apologia for Science. Why separate curriculum's for each subject?? If you'll notice, each curriculum is a specialty for these companies. For instance, I started 1st grade with Sarah this month, June. We school year round and had taken a few weeks off for me to prep for `1st grade. What i'm noticing is that with MUS we spend more time on each concept. A full week. If my child mastered the concept, then we...

I've decided to use Math U See this year. I looked at all the others... Singapore, Saxon, AOP, BJU, and truth be told, they are all pretty much the same. What I liked about MUS is that the manipulatives give children a good look at the numbers and how they work together. Yes, the other curriculums like Singapore and Saxon have manipulatives, but they're the same things you can buy in your local walmart. I love the 10 minute dvd's, which not only teaches the students but helps the parents to reteach and explain when needed. Another benefit is that they encourage memorization. ALL curriculum's teach for mastery, It would be hard to find one that says, "Yea, we teach it but we don't care if your child masters it.". The problem is that addition and subtraction are easy to understand conceptually, but I want my child to memorize her addition and subtraction facts. I don't want to see my child in 2nd or 3rd grade counting on her fingers. The only problem I...

It's been a while since I blogged and published. This post may upset many but it needs to be said. I was never able to meet my grandfather. My mother's, dad. He was from Germany. What I know about him is from the many stories my mother shared with me. The stories were powerful and still have a hold of my heart. Although I was never able to meet him here, I look forward to the day I meet him in our real home, with the Lord. My grandfather came to America via the "under ground". At this point Hitler was in full command in Germany and although he hadn't unleashed his full power it was coming and many knew it. My grandfather was one of them. He took all the money he had and left in the middle of the night. Arriving here in America was a dream for him. He went straight to St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. He walked in, put the last of the change , that was in his tattered clothing, into the offering plate and prayed. Thanking the Lord to be in America. Once ...

This was how I felt as I was quickly approaching Kindergarten with Sarah. I've homeschooled two children through high school. I figured Kindergarten was going to be easy to decide. I quickly learned that each child is different and that there are TONS of new curriculums out there. I found it overwhelming. I figured that if I found it overwhelming, I can't imagine what it must be like for parent's who are doing this for the first time. 1st i'd like to say that "less is more". While I appreciate all the different curriculums, sometimes having less to chose from makes it MUCH easier. Kinda like my wardrobe. I don't have much to chose from because i'm always gaining or losing weight, so what fits this week , may not next week. I just pick what isn't stained and fits. yes, I'm aware that i'm a fashion nightmare. Too bad we can't apply this logic with curriculums. Or can we? What fits with one child, may not fit with others. You may hav...

    Week 1 of BJU Kindergarten is complete! I think we found the curriculum for us. At least for this year. I'm learning to take it year by year and to NEVER say, "Never" to any curriculums. The first week was mainly review of some basic prek concepts. Sarah loved the dvd's . The teachers are really sweet, and they make everything very interesting. Sarah enjoyed the characters , like Hopscotch for Language arts and really loves Melody-Joy for Bible. What I liked is that they go over each topic in detail, they interact with the student. Sarah answers questions and sings. One of the benefits is that my 2-1/2 year old, David is also enjoying it. I didn't think that he'd enjoy it so much. Not only is he enjoying it but he participates and is learning. This is a great benefit because I don't have to worry about keeping him busy and we can all enjoy this year together.   Another benefit of this curriculum is that the worksheets are not the same over...

It's been a while but hopefully someone will be helped by this post....or my humiliation. Either way, enjoy. Earlier in the year I decided to use MFW k for Sarah. We had done a lot of pre-k work and were ready to take the plunge. I purchased MFW K and started it. It was not for us. It was very slow moving and at this point, Sarah already knew her ABC's...and the sounds. This curriculum is cute but is more pre-K in my opinion. I sold it and ...... What did I do?? I decided to go with Sonlight. Same type of curriculum , I used it with my older two children. What I liked was that the books were more mature... we got our two HUGE boxes from sonlight and organized for the year. I started using it and quickly became disappointed. I did NOT like their science and history...they use the Usborne books and i'm not a fan of those books. As time when on, I was using less and less of their books. The phonics moved too slowly and I wasn't crazy about some of their books. wh...

I started using MFW Kindergarten with Sarah and I quickly realized that it wasn't going to fit our needs. It's a cute curriculum but it's really closer to a prek program. I decided to go with Sonlight.... I'm hoping to keep a running blog on our Kindergarten adventures with Sonlight. Lets see how faithful I am. God Bless, Laura