Thursday, September 17, 2015

Anna Duggar's Homeschool Curriculum

 Marcus Duggar, Michael Duggar, and Mackynzie Duggar

This post is for all the homeschool families out there. One of the most challenging parts of home educating is choosing a curriculum that is appropriate for your children. A few months ago, we chatted with Anna Duggar about the materials she uses to teach Mackynzie (age five) and Michael (age four). We hope this is an encouragement to those homeschooling young kids.

"I use Math-U-See for math, and I absolutely love it! Michael is doing the Primer, and Mackynzie is doing the Alpha. It's great because it has the blocks, so they have a hands-on way of learning, and there's a little DVD that comes with it, so they can watch their five-minute lesson and then do their work for the week. It's a great resource for me because I am able to be there as a guide, but I don't have to explain the concepts. 
 
I use Sing, Spell, Read,and Write with Mackynzie. She reads the basic words very well. It's fun to see her read little stories to the boys. 

And then I use a lot of other random things. For writing practice, I find worksheets online. I really like the websites where you can download the dotted font and make your own worksheets. It's fun to do a little verse or phrase."


What homeschool curriculum do you use?


Photo courtesy of duggarfamily.com

119 comments:

  1. I think it is so beautiful that she homeschools her children. It is a more personal way of learning and she will always be there if they need her. Best wishes to you and your kids Anna!

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  2. Does she teach them science?

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    1. They are 4 and 5. How much science is a child that age supposed to understand? Here is water. Here is water boiling. Hot, don't touch it.

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    2. Wouldn't science be a little early for a 5-year-old?

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    3. At age 4 and 5??????

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    4. At age 4 and 5??????

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    5. I happen to think science is an important educational component, but at this early age, formal science curriculum is not as important as letting your children explore the world and engaging their curiosity. I hope she is implementing these things.

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    6. Well, I don't know about where you live, but no where I have lived in the US (including AZ,CO,CA,KS,SC, to name a few) has a science (or history) curriculum in preschool or kindergarten. Some have had the odd science experiment that taught while being fun, but this seems like an odd question based on their ages and grade levels. Almost like you are looking for something to be derogatory about.

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    7. They are four and five years old. There is plenty of time to incorporate science after they have a basic foundation.

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    8. Not yet, her oldest is only 5.

      Nature walks work great at 5.

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    9. I feel like assuming the comment was derogatory in itself was derogatory. A well rounded foundation in education might just be important to them. Science at young ages is simply taking the time to help them understand the things and phenomenons that they experience in daily life. Weather, nature, animals, water, magnets, how sound works, what gravity is.. all can be applied in age appropriate ways that even pre-k can begin to apply. Don't underestimate the minds of our young ones.

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    10. Science is taught in kindergarten public schools of course she introduces it to her children now. Why do people behave that way?

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    11. Why are so many people defensive here? The person just asked about science. There are lots of fun ways to teach little ones the principals of science.

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    12. I used Sing, Spell, read, and write with my son and still use it at the homeschool co-op with the little guys. It's an active way to teach reading. I heard the children singing one of the songs on the vacation episode and it just tickled me!

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  3. It's very good to know what the modern homeschool moms are using. I am in my 30s and don't have kids yet, but if I do, I'll teach them at home. I was homeschooled, but there's so many more new tools out there to use than when I was in school.

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  4. I just love that you homeschool your kids, public shcool's can be rough....you are a great mom to take that on...

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  5. As a former teacher I founds tons of great resources for students online that homeschoolers can use as well. There are BrainPOP learning videos (BrainPOP Jr for K-3, regular BrainPOP for older kids and teens), Starfall Reading, Storynory, Busy Teacher Cafe, TeachersPayTeachers, ABCMouse (for younger children), Raz-Kids Reading, etc.

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    1. Thank you for the information. I'm new at homeschooling, and need all the resources, and help I can get.

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  6. How funny! That is exactly what we used when we started on our homeschooling journey. Now we're use Abeka as our curriculum and love it. Math-U-See and Sing, Spell, Read & Write gave us the foundation needed to succeed with Abeka.

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    1. I graduated from ABeka and am definitely planning on it for my children as well! Awesome curriculum!

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    2. We use Abeka academy and we love it. We are doing K5 and last year finished K4 and they learn alot. I love how Scripture is incorporated in the whole curriculum

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  7. Thank you for sharing this! I am a young mother who is just starting to homeschool my little ones so anything of this topic is very encouraging and helpful to read! Please share more posts like this! :)

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  8. I'm in 9th grade and my brother (8th grade) and I use Khan academy for math (online) and we use Apologia for science and then for a couple other classes we use Alpha Omega Publications!! Great stuff!

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    1. Glad to hear from a student that Khan Academy is helpful to you. We also use it, especially for math and science for our 6th grader!

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    2. I forgot to also say, we're doing biology in science.

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  9. ACE where u work out of PACEs

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  10. We are just starting our homeschooling journey! We are Pre Kinder, aged 4 1/2, mostly finding worksheets on the internet, reading books together, and using math manipulatives. Its so fun! We are considering math u see as well!

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  11. I use Spectrum for major subjects, LifePac for Bible studies, various online programs and site for supplementals. Horizon as well.

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  12. We LOVE and have used Rod and Staff!!!

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  13. Classical Conversations! Love our CC community!

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  14. We use Apologia for Bible and Science, Teaching Textbooks for Math, Alpha Omega and Veritas Press for History, and Total Language Plus for readong, vocab, spelling, etc. I think of you and pray for you often Anna! God Bless!

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  15. We love Heart of Dakota unit studies. My 14 and 11 year old have used them every year except kindergarten when we used abeka.

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  16. Home-schooling is something you'll never regret. We love you, Anna. Stay strong.

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  17. We use Classical Conversations. If you join as part of a community, you meet once a week for "classroom" time with a tutor that presents all the new grammar (lessons for the week). Then you just supplement with a math/reading program! It's wonderful!! It's a Classical, Christ-centered curriculum.

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    1. We did Classical Conversations for four years and it was a huge blessing to our family. I even tutored two different levels. It is an excellent enrichment program, but NOT a curriculum.

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  18. We homeschool our 4 kids aged 16, 11, 9, and 6 (11th, 5th, 3rd, and K). We use Apologia science curriculum (currently Anatomy & Physiology for the younger and Chemistry for our oldest) and a mixture of other resources for everything else. Teaching Textbooks for math, Beautiful Feet history guides or The Story of the World for history, IEW for writing and speech, and various sources for Language Arts. And of course lots and lots of reading and music. :-)

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  19. Thank you for this, I am planning on homeschooling my daughter.

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  20. My kids are grown, but I will definitely let my adult children know about this, so when they have kids they can do this.

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  21. Do you have a schedule for preschool

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  22. I homeschool and have now for 10+ years. I don't do science till 3rd grade. Why push all this stuff on them early? No need to. Make it fun and simple when they are young! ---this is to answer a question about if Anna teaches Science. You are doing great Anna!

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  23. We use math u see and sing spell read write as well! I'm finding so much free stuff online that we won't continue to purchase anything other than math after this yeat

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  24. Keep up the good work!! Anna you do wright for yr childrens.Bless yr sweet heart.

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  25. @Anonymous
    Science as a concept isn't usually taught at such a young age. Basic things like measuring foods in the kitchen, watching the weather, talking about seasons - that would be "science" and a formal curriculum isn't needed for that.

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  26. Will Anna have playgroups and/or teaching co-ops so the children can learn to socialize with new kids other than family.

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  27. My sons started out in public schòol. When my oldest son was a sophomore I took him out of the traditional school building and did online public school. This literally saved his life as he has Aspergers Syndrome and was bullied mercilessly. He was having suicidal ideations. I then started my youngest son in online public school. Only regret is not doing it sooner. This was in Wisconsin. God Bless You Anna!

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    1. Bless your heart, you're such a wonderful mom. God bless you, and your son he's a star . Prayers for you.

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  28. When I homeschooled I used Abeka Math, Learning Language Through Literature, Apologia for Science, Around the World in 80 Days for Geography. I read several Charlotte Mason books. I loved her way of teaching.

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  29. We also use Math U See for our younger kids. We use Teaching Textbooks for our upper level math. For our History,Bible,Science, Arts we use My Father's World curriculum, and add Apologia Science for my older son. Institute for Excellence in Writing is also a fantastic resource for our 8th grader. There are so many wonderful resources available that parents can experiment and find just the right fit for each individual child.

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  30. We homeschool and love it.

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  31. I am a homeschool mom of two. My daughter is seven. For her, we use explode the code for phonics and spelling, horizon math, apologia science- oceans this year, she alternates reading a book one day and writing a letter the next. For the younger one, he has ASD so we watch educational programs and take ASL as a family. Everyone participates in life skills such as clraning and cooking. If either has a particular interest, we go with that. We take lots of trips to the ocean, grocery store, and playground. As always, we are very active in our church, and we use bible stories. We use the children 's golden bible.

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  32. I used SSRW and Cuisinare Rods for math. All other subjects can then be integrated with the reading and the math.

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  33. We use abeka for our third grader but our first grader loves ACE paces.

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  34. I used McGruffy press K-3
    4-6 sos loved it all no regrets
    now using Monarch for highschool

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  35. I agree that school can be rough and that we as Christians are increasingly frustrated by the public schools. However, there's so much value in learning how to get along with and show God's love to others who may be unkind or very different than you, how to work in groups on class projects when your classmates won't pull their weight, how to stick to your beliefs even when your teacher and those around you have different beliefs, even how to deal with teachers who may treat you unfairly. All of these skills will help kids survive and succeed in their careers. Plus, you learn that there's life outside your family and that the world really is filled with wonderful people in all walks of life, and hopefully you make a few friends to last a lifetime.

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    1. Agreed! I feel that public school also teaches valuable life lessons that prepare kids to be in the real world. However, to each, one's own.

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    2. All those things you mentioned can be done in homeschooling. We homeschool, not lock them in closet. lol. Homeschool parents do allow their children to interact with others and actually make sure they learn social graces. For us, it is all about preparing them for life.

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    3. I would imagine, just like our family, the children have plenty of time for socialization--probably more than public school-in fact, as the children aren't made to sit in desks 8 hours every day with a 15 minute recess, 15 minute lunch time (where the children must be quiet during eating time). My daughter was public schooled through 4th grade and this is our second year homeschooled, and she and my kindergarten son have much more socialization opportunities at home and out and about with their mother in our community during the day, as opposed to the ridgid public school schedule where they are expected to behave like adults. We also participate in a co-op and Classical Cinversations, where they do art and a full day of classroom activities with other children their age once a week. People who do not homeschool will never understand something they know nothing about. Good questions, though!

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    4. Children aren't adults and do not think like them. Please do not assume they will learn positively from all social situations. I was made to think I was dumb, due to my public school experience, and I want better for my own children.

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  36. We switched to Sonlight this year after 5 years with a Waldorf based curriculum and we LOVE it ♡♡. We us Apologia for Science and Teaching Textbooks for math :-).

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    1. What do you use for English and History?

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  37. Ace was a major fail here...read, answer questions, repeat. We mixed it up with as much hands on as posible.

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  38. Keep up the Good Work. I homeschooled my yougest. I LOVED IT.

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  39. Well now I plan to try all of those on my grandson. Thank you Anna, God bless you.

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  40. We use time4learning.com and supplement w/stuff I find free online. Also books from thrift stores help a lot!

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    1. Good for you. I use time4learning for my kids ages 5, 6, and 9. I love it, and they enjoy it too.

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  41. Somehow without knowing Anna or Michelle personally, I trust Anna homeschooling her children successfully!

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  42. We use Abeka with my 4th grader. We use apologia for science and Bible.

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  43. We use the Robinson Curriculum for the same reason Anna likes Math U See, though ours uses Saxon Math. No matter what my own abilities are, my children benefit from being able to far surpass me using classic literature and self-teaching methods :)

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  44. For my K5 student, My Father's World, A Reason For Handwriting, Singapore Math and Classical Conversations. We love being a homeschooling family. The time we have together is so precious.

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  45. My home school curriculum was rod and staff Christian curriculum but I was only homeschooled seventh through 12th grade but went to public school preschool to 6th grade but I sometimes wished that I could go back to school to see my friends and just hang out and be with my friends and are made in public school

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    1. Why was the change made? Are you in college now?

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  46. @Anonymous
    At 4 and 5 Science is in everything they see and do. Taking the kids outside to experience changing seasons, look at a birds nest, and dig in the dirt is Science. Not everything has to have a curriculum.

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  47. We use Time 4 Learning, Supercharged Science, and My Catholic Faith Delivered. My kids are now 13 and 14 and are really doing great. They both also take piano, one does guitar, and one plays drums. We are a very learning engaged family...we ate very cautious with the tv, computer and radio. We play lots of games and also play music and sing together.

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  48. For the past few years my 3 boys (grades 10th, 5th, and 4th) have been using ACE PACES for everything but Math, for that we use and love Saxon. Before that I've used and loved Christian Liberty Press (especially the kindergarten and 1st grade readers!) BobJones for English and also Abeka for Science.

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    1. We luv the PACEs! We use them also!

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  49. God Bless Anna you have a very important and challenging job with homeschooling.Please know how much you are loved and missed. We pray for you all daily. God Bless! :)

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  50. To the commenter asking about teaching them science: I'm sure they incorporate a lot of biochemistry...... put food into a baby and see what comes out! :) They are just little tots, science is not needed in a formal setting for many years!

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  51. Right Start Math has been awesome. It really teachs the kids to think mathmatically. We also love All About Reading and All about spelling. Charlotte Mason methods are great too. We love living history books.

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  52. My sister and I have used Abeka our whole lives and absolutely love it!

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  53. thank you for sharing miss seeing on tlc maybe all yall be back thank you again for keep the fans in touch.

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  54. We use so many different things. For my Kindergartner, I use the Abeka K5 Curriculum. My 4th grader is doing My Father's World for Bible, Science, and History; Abeka Language, Christian Liberty Press Spelling; and Saxon Math. We love homeschooling!

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  55. I think it would better for the Duggar kids to be in the community more and use local private or public school.

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  56. We used Alpha Omega. When our son was younger, elementary through 6th grade, we used the LifePacs. When he graduated into the older grades we used their Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS), which was on the computer. Great curriculum, easy to use and came complete with teacher's books. When our son graduated from high school at the age of 15, he went right into our local Community College, which was great because I am not that math inclined, so he took his higher math courses there. Ended up with an Associates Degree by 18. Homeschooling was definitely a great experience for us, we took lots of field trips, got to do our lessons 'hands on' and I was able to spend quality time with my son.

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  57. It is never too early for science. I planted asmall garden so they could watch it grow. They helped weed and water. I got a cotton plant from a generous farmer and we talked about the uses from clothes to Qtips. They watched an avocado pit grow into a plant. Never underestimate a child.

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  58. It's never too early for Science! Leaves, acorns, magnets, water discovery bottles. Google pinterest for preschool science ideas and see just exactly what science is!

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  59. our kids are 6 and 8. the one thing we've done that is a bit different, but works for us, is to ignore the calendar completely. other than making sure our kids are on track to pass the state assessments (which are very easy) we incorporate math into our lives through shopping, cooking, woodworking, knitting and some other types of projects. our 8 year old is learning how to balance a checkbook. we do not keep to a Mon - Fri calendar at all and summer is no different than winter. It is amazing how much these kids can learn all the time.

    They go to classes at a local gym, belong to sports and scouts. we don't segregate them into a homeschooled only world.

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    1. That is awesome. I like the homeschooling plan you have the most of all the others I have read. Socialization is very important as well as learning. You also seem to have a large variety of learning techniques.

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  60. I use Math-u-see and love it my 8th grader is using it and she is doing great!

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  61. Anna wishing you a successful homeschooling year.
    God Bless
    Joan and Marion

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  62. Anna would have made a great teacher. It looks like Mackynzie is a little scholar! God Bless All.
    Marilyn

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    1. It is never to late for Anna to get her teaching degree. She is only 28. I agree she would be wonderful. She should go for it if she chooses to.

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  63. We use Saxon for Math and Grammar, we were using Abeka for everything else but changed this year to a Family School curriculum.

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  64. I use Singapore math, abeka phonics and rod and staff for bible lessons and filling in other gaps when needed.

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  65. @AnonymousMy son LOVED Brain Pop, especially BrainPop Jr. We also did Fast ForWord but hated it. He has processing disorders, so it was harder for him. There was another reading one that I can't remember right now. It's amazing what they have out there now.

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  66. If you look at public school science curriculum, you'll find that it is very basic. Far more science can be learned in the lower grades by simply experiencing life in the great outdoors, gardening, hiking, fishing, caring for a pet, going to the beach, museums, working in Daddy's shop and even in the kitchen. Real life makes an incredible science lab.

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  67. My brother is a college professor and he says that he would love to have a whole class of homeschooled students . In his experiences he says they are well mannered, kinder and do better on test scores, basically better student's all around. It's pretty universal he has stated, while discovering this to be true nationwide.

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  68. I use My Father's World. My daughter loves it!

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  69. home schooling is not for everyone and my kids did well in public schools. and went to top university in the country. why do the duggars put down public schools when michelle went to a public school herself.

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    1. My kids go to public school and do very well. They love it. Every family is different and neither homeschoolers or public should be judged. As long as they are succeeding it really does not matter.

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  70. My mom uses Saxon math and phonics. Learning Language Arts through Literature, as well as Abeka English books for the older grades (highschool). Apologia Science for grades 7 and up, and Abeka science for younger grades. Abeka health books. Abeka history and geography (except, because we are Canadian, she supplements those with Donna Ward Curriculum and skips Abeka's "America: Land I Love" geography book). Wordly Wise for vocabulary. Abeka art books. Easy Grammar (Daily Grams). And anything else to tailor each child. Sometimes, the children don't go through all of them. Or they wish to learn more. It almost, sort of, gets tailored to each child. Math is the one that is paramount, though.

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  71. We also take field trips and nature walks and all sorts of things.

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  72. They look like they are enjoying their teachings. Best way to learn, with excitement. Blessings to you and yours.

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  73. So much wonderful effort to open little minds. I must beg to differ about the science comments above. I was sliding kitchen saucers apart explaining platelets and volcano at age 4 so if a child enjoys exploration I say go for it. Earth Science is incredible at any age and who knows NASA maybe interested in your daughter too.

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  74. I use Teaching Textbooks for upper level Math and LOVE it. I also use the Notgrass History and mostly Apologia Science. We attend a co-op and the kids get most of their Science, English and History there. I do Math, Bible, and any other stuff at home.

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  75. we started homeschool this yr with our 6 and 2 .5 after a tough yt in jk. for science we had our oldest help wirh canning help with math 2

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  76. @Anonymous

    With the children being that young, I'm pretty sure that science isn't in the curriculum at this time. My daughter went to public school until third grade. She went to all day kindergarten and science was not taught. At this young age it's more important to learn basic skills like reading, writing and arithmetic. Also, every homeschool parent must teach accordingly to school curriculum (whether by public or private schools). My daughter is now in eighth grade, she has all standard courses as well as biblical courses.

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