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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Duggars on Homeschool Curricula

Several readers have asked about the wide variety of homeschool curricula that the Duggars use. Here are several websites that they recommend: 

Switched-On Schoolhouse (Grades 3-12)
Teaching Textbooks (Math)
Advanced Training Institute (ATI)
ACE
College Plus! (Personally recommended by Jim Bob Duggar during on of our interviews)
The Teaching Home
Bob Jones University Press
Bob Jones University 
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Sing, Spell, Read & Write
Homeschool Legal Defense Association 
A Beka Book
Majesty Music
Way of the Master
Verity Institute

Do you homeschool? If so, what resources do you recommend?

51 comments:

  1. As a home schooled student, I recommend Teaching Textbooks' math curriculum. Math is definitely not my favorite subject, but Teaching Textbooks clearly explains everything, helping me understand it better.

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  2. I homeschool, and I definitely recommend Calvert School for grades PK-8, Keystone National High School for grades 6-12, and Saxon Math for PK through Calculus. :) They are all excellent!!

    Thanks for this great blog, I really enjoy reading it to keep up with the Duggars (I don't have cable TV...). :)

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  3. Somebody please tell me. But does anyone know when and if the duggars are going to be in New York, or philadelphia?? Please please please some one get back to me

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  4. I know most of the things that the Duggars recommend, - and I recommend them too! (Yes, I am homeschooled) However, I do not do most of those particular rescources because we do not live in the U.S...

    In addition, I would reccomend Math-U-See, - it's really good, but you just have to experience it, to find out. :)

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    1. I second Math-U-See. It's very visual and hands on math. Perfect for sensory kids too! :-)

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    2. I love Math-U-See it's so much easier to understand and use.

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  5. I know this is has nothing to do with homeschooling but recently the Bates family posted on their website that their baby they were going to name zion has died at 10 weeks gestuation.My prayers are with the Bates Family.

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  6. BJU Press is by far the best! oh, and Apologia for science =)

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  7. I am a homeschooling mom and we use ACE I dont care for the math very much but the other subjects are great and they use KJV verses which is the only Bible we use. But, out of curiosity does anyone know if the ACE curriculum is behind compared to other curriculums ?

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  8. Does ACE use the packets broken down into 10 units? If so, then from what i have seen, I don't think it is very challenging but I haven't see the highschool curric. We use ABEKA for most of our curriculum and I feel it is one of the best. This is just my opinion. You could check on Kathy Duffy's website since she reviews most every curriculum.

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    1. I graduated from a private school that used ACE curriculum. I went on to college and attained degrees in English/Education and Theatre/Psychology. So my assessment of their curriculum comes from both personal experience and a background in pedagogy. If the student is a slower learner that consistently plods along, then the ACE curriculum is excellent for them in that they can take their time, they get the necessary repetitiveness for them to retain it and get better grades thus increasing their self esteem as well as their knowledge. If the student is gifted it is a great detriment in that they throw everything into short term memory, take the test, get an A, and forget it. There is little higher order problem solving and independent thinking challenges that are so important to the gifted learner. Then there is the issue of the curriculum being quite sexist. Unless they have changed it since I last participated in it, there were few to no examples of women doing anything but being a wife and mother. This is the most noble of careers for women, but I don't think one would be doing a service to a gifted girl who reads A&P for fun and dissects the chicken rather than cooking it, by giving her the ACE curriculum.

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  9. Hi Anonymous!

    Each ACE level consists of 12 ACE PACEs, similar to units in a textbook. You can read more about the ACE curriculum here: http://www.aceministries.com/curriculum/?content=main.

    Hope this helps!
    Lily and Ellie

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  10. I personally went throw penn foster for my teenager. It's amazing. You read, study take the test, My teen had his diploma in 6 months, But that is only the high school program. Plus they have payment plans.

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  11. I have seen Jen pos on here from duggar family so I hope one one the duggars can read this and respond in their busy schedule. Baby Josie is so sweet just thought I wuld mention. I watch your show every mornign faithfully you guys are such a great example of our family values. Up untill last year all 4 of my children have been in Christian School. Last year I had a major next surgery and we are unable t afford it anymore. I decided to try to homeschool,and I was very unsuccessfull. I enrolled them in our local public school for the remainder of this school year for maybe better planning for next year. I purchased the abeka program for 5th and 2nd grade book ciriculum last year because thats what they were using already in christian school, after trying online streaming first and neither worked I wasn't sure where to turn. I have prayed about this alot and just really feel the children have total different personalities in public school but want to be succesful in homeschooling too. My daughter is 8 2nd grade and really struggles with phonics,spelling,reading. She severly struggled in private school to the point of almost failing she was diagosed with ADD and I believe this is her problem in those areas of school. She complained of just haveing too much work to do on either of abekas ciriculums. My son on the other hand is 10 in 5th ad is in gifted classes however puts very little effort into anything involving school work. My preschooler does extremely well at home on abc mouse.com and I hope will do great at home with me. I do well with a daily schedule of what needs to be done plan by plan how do I become succesfull with this? We were starting with abeka at around 8:15 each morning and just with my 2nd grader we were not finishing untill 3:00 if we did and she was miserable. Apaently they dont do as much work at school as I was expecting at home. She does extremely well grade wise and in comprehending the public school ciriculum it much more on her level than the private was . However it of course is not biblical. HELP ME Mrs DUGGAR you are amazing.!!!
    Blessings

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  12. Hi Mrs. Fink,

    This blog is not run by the Duggars, but you can email them at duggarmail@gmail.com.

    Many of our readers homeschool their children, so perhaps they can help answer your questions.

    ~Lily and Ellie

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  13. So sorry I wasnt aware the Duggars didnt run this Blog:) However I like your suggestion on other homeschool moms on this blog who may could help. If anyone that read by long blog sorry above to the duggar family and has a suggestion that would be amazing!
    Blessings

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  14. My daughter uses A Beka Book.

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  15. My 6 children use LCA through ACE and love it.They are 9,10,13,13,15, and 16

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  16. Glad to see the recommendation for HSLDA!

    We homeschool, primarily with My Father's World Homeschool Curriculum.

    We will be starting our oldest in 5th grade.

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  17. I am actually just starting homeschooling here in a few weeks, but we are using a program run by Alpha and Omega Publications called Monarch! I have been on the website to look around and it seems awesome, I wanted to do S.O.S like the duggars but that program only works on a PC and we only have macs in our house! Anyone else use Monarch too?

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  18. @Nicole FInk
    I have 5 kids and homeschool. I use My Father's World for everyone for our core (all grades together at different levels) and Christian Light Education for Language Arts and Math (individual workbooks). I like these things because they require little to no prep work from me, they are Christian-based, and they are affordable compared with a lot that is out there. Hope that helps!

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  19. i am 14 and homeschooled. i heart it!

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  20. First Time HomeschoolAugust 12, 2012 at 12:03 AM

    I started homeschooling my 4 year old recently and am using Math U See along with Explode the Code. I'm very excited and enjoy our time together!

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  21. For science: http://www.homeschool-curriculum.co

    12 weeks, 52 pages per unit, only $4.99

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  22. I am switching from A Beka, only because of price. My son is going into 2nd grade & we find it crazy to pay the price for that grade level. We are looking at My Father's World or ACE, the price for either of these with starting Spanish through rosetta stone is right at $600 maybe a little more after shipping & taxes. We only read King James Version Bibles, so that is a must. He is advanced in math. Can someone give me some tips on what we should be looking at. He doesn't like to read, much, unless its something he is interested in. I don't want him to be bored. I have planned to be making trips to the library at least once a week for us to pick out new books or his choice to read. We travel with his dad for his work so we are literally all over the U.S.

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    1. I would recommend buying used if you love abeka but cant afford it. Go with what works for you, but there are a ton of used curriculum books out there for 1/3 of the price, and normally you can just buy the workbooks that they write in after that. I know abeka is a little bit more advanced at the younger ages than some curriculum so if you do switch do your research because he may get bored with repeating things!

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  23. Love the blog. I'm new to homeschooling online and I was looking for homeschool online material and I must say I love your selections. I will definitely look into that!!

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  24. I have a child who needs repetition and Core Curriculum in the public schools doesn't provide any repetition. He is also a visual learner. Any suggestions regarding homeschooling curriculum that would improve his grades and interest in learning?

    Deb

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  25. I have three children 11, 13 and 15 I have just started the ACE programme this year and so far I am really seeing fantastic results in the children's abilities and progress in work. I would never go back to a government school. I love the home school and Christian way of learning in the ACE programme. Donna

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  26. Has anyone had success teaching dyslexic children on ACE? I was thinking this would be a better option for those who may need to "go at their own pace".

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    1. We are starting Paces next week. My youngest is 14, has dyslexia, and was struggling. a friend uses Paces for her 2, who are both dyslexic, with great success.

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  27. I am becoming homeschooling because God and my family are the only people that aren't mean to me. I recommend K12, Keystone, Christian Fellowship Academy, and Heritage Academy are some of the better ones I have found not on this list

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  28. We homeschool and are a part of classical conversation. Absolutely love it!

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  29. I would recommend as some other Homeschool Material
    - Saxon Math! For students, you can do it yourself so it would not take a lot of the Moms time! It is also a textbook you can use over and over again. Starts in K-3 with simple ok math interactive programs, but gets really good textbooks from Grades 4/5ish- Grades 7/8ish!
    - For science Bju is Great!
    - For History, I recommend Mystery of History! Really a great program for all ages!!!
    - for English BJU is good!!!

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  30. Our children are currently in high school. They have been taught, throughout their education, using ACE Paces and Saxon Math. Although there are 12 Paces per subject, per grade level, there are additional Paces depending on the desired diploma; General, College Prep, or Honors.

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  31. I am a Sonlight user. We love the program as a whole. But I recommend Funnix for teaching children to read. A fantastic dvd rom program that totally simplifies the phonetic process.

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  32. Hello, I really like the Duggars, so much that they inspired me to start homeschooling myself. We do something called Classical Conversations. It is a Christian based curriculum where you are on your own doing school Friday through Monday or Wednesday through Tuesday, it really depends on where you nearest Classical Conversations is. But, anyways... Once a week, you go to a small homeschool group in the same grade/same age, as you and you go over what you have done in the week, if you have any questions or problems they will help you with it. Also it is small like I said. The maximum is 12 Children per grade for that area, but they prefer 5-7 children. We, currently have only 3 children in our group. I really like this homeschooling curriculum, esoesially that one on one teacher- student relationship.

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  33. Hi I would like to know if any of these would be good to just finish up high school like I'm 19years old and I would like to know if I can just finish high school with any of these like so I can just get my high school diploma but online and would I have to pay for it??

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    1. Hi Liliana! I'm no expert, but I think that you may want to look into homeschool academies if you are looking for an accredited diploma. They do usually charge, but a lot of them are quite reasonable. You can also see if your state offers a free online homeschool option through the public school system. Several states do. It's a great option if you just need to earn your diploma.

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  34. I really love Lifepac's!!!!

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  35. I bought my grandson, "Is the blue whale the Biggest thing there is?" hoping that its ultimate intent was to give glory & honor to God as ultimate Sovereign Creator , I've heard that is fails to do that. Is there any christian based learning pre school age books that do?

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  36. Southeast Academy is accredited online school and so far I am happy with the curriculum. It is a Christian based academy. My son is 5 and I first enrolled him in pre k through them last school year and he is in their Kindergarten program this year. I will continue to use them for my sons education if the good Lord willing! Their pricing is reasonable and they provide different options for you to choose from. You can choose to do all books curriculum or all online curriculum or both, whichever you decide that's best for you and your child. They provide quarter and semester report cards and they provide teacher support.

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  37. Yes, it is. By far, I believe A Beka is the most advanced, next probably Bob Jones, with ACE being the least.

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  38. does anyone have experience with AOP's Life Pac? I'm looking into it for My two 8 year olds. I want to bring them home from public school and integrate God into their school.

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  39. My information is a bit dated, since I was homeschooled two decades ago, but:

    1) The Alpha Omega "Lifepac" curriculum felt like it was designed for less gifted students. They were basically just really boring, and not teaching me any information I hadn't already learned. They might be good for students who are not as advanced in a specific subject, but they just didn't feel like they have much "meat" to them.

    2) Saxon math rocks. I know they use fantasy creatures in their word problems, but aside from that, it's truly a wonderful way to teach math. We used it not only when I was homeschooled, but it was the textbook choice of a private school I had the luck to attend in 5th and 6th grade. The constant review of material in their homework and tests force students to truly absorb all the information, instead of learning something for a test and then forgetting it.

    If your child is dong well enough in math in another, less secular curriculum, you may choose to avoid exposing them to Saxon's word problems. However, of all topics that can be secularized, math is the one that suffers the least. If you think your child needs the unique structure of the Saxon program, the mention of elves, dwarves, or faeries in word problems is easily addressed with your child.

    3) Bob Jones University Press had a very good high school level history text set, but because I was homeschooling with the goal of college admission and my mother still had her college-level American History and Western Civilization textbooks, we utilized BJUP and those texts together. Unlike Alpha Omega, BJUP definitely felt like it had "meat" to what it was teaching.

    4) Duke University and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln have correspondence courses in math and science -- the UNL courses also included lab materials. It appears the UNL program is now the University of Nebraska High School, and includes an accredited diploma. Proctors must be used for all tests.

    Sadly I can't recommend a good high school language arts curriculum. We did a quick review of a 12-grade grammar textbook (having me take the tests) and then went straight into literature and writing. We were able to find the local high school's reading lists online, and when I ended up re-entering public school in the hopes of getting an accredited diploma, I had already read all the books I had to read for English. I ended up recycling several papers.

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  40. Was really sad to see Saxon Math, Understanding Writing and Beautiful Feet unit studies left off the list. I homeschooled my children all the way through school and these were the best of the best.

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  41. I have a special needs son that I will be home schooling next year, does anyone know what's best

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  42. We used the ACE program for our daughter,who is now 6 and we are using the 2nd grade program for her as 1st grade. I have health issues and unfortunately it limits the normal structure for a "regular" school schedule. We get the work done (PACE books). Our daughter is also easily distracted. Since we haven't tried other programs, I'm not sure if ACE is the best for us to use. Due to my health issues most of the schoolwork needs to be mostly a type program where she can do work on her own through the materials and I'm here if needed. Suggestions would be great! Blessings to all. Thank you in advance.

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  43. Which curriculum do the Duggars use for grades 3-12?

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  44. I homeschool and I suggest Winterpeomise, Mystery of History, Learning Language Arts through Literature, Life of Fred, Math Mammoth, Spelling Through Copywork Queen Homeschool, Apologia Science and Layers of Learning there are so many wonderful options.

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  45. Hi, is there any advice on character building ciriculum for little ones? I have a 2yo and 1 yo.

    Also, a lot of the links and videos are "no longer available" on the Duggar blog website. Is this because they were removed or the link is incorrect?

    Also, is there any parenting advice Michele can offer for little ones as far as correction and discipline? I see a lot of adivce for slightly older children than mine and sometimes feel at a loss for the right action for the little ones. I try to train my little ones so I don't have to discipline but when they disobey should I spank them? I assume the duggars for legality reasons may not publicly encourage spanking, however I do believe it is biblical and would assume they do to since they follow biblical principles. Regardless, I want to give appropriate correction and discipline, for the appropriate age, and for appropriate action that has taken place. I struggle at times what I am supposed to do as a parent. Any adivce would help.
    Ty!

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