Hello a1wheeler,
I've been homeschooling my children for a total of 5 years. Here are some possibilities you could consider; These concepts work for our family very well. I would avoid buying a 'boxed' curriculum all from the same publisher. We actually don't need to purchase very much at all to make this work. Here's what I've found works best for our family:
Math:
I like to start with Singapore math through 2nd or 3rd grade (http://www.singaporemath.com/) then move on to Silver Burdett Ginn (http://sbgmath.com/) for 4th and 6th grade (skip 5th because there are NO concepts taught in 5th grade that aren't thoroughly explained in either 4th or 6th ... look at the table of contents if you don't believe me). Now we're moving on to Algebra 1 with Teaching Textbooks (http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/). I've heard a lot of good things about Teaching Textbooks but haven't had experience with them myself yet. Both Singapore and SBG are very detailed and show WHY the rules of math are the rules. It doesn't just teach the children a process, it shows why the process works that way.
Reading:
For reading I like to use literature guides and not buy a set curricula at all. Here are some of the best sources on the Internet: http://glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/ http://www.discoveryjourney.com/ContentList.asp http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/?ref=Homepage-TopNav http://english.byu.edu/Novelinks/index%20of%20novels.htm http://litplans.com/authors/ http://www.webenglishteacher.com/childlit.html
Also our library system has most of these that I like to check out also: http://store.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchEndecaCmd?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&searchTerm=reading http://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/reading/literatureUnits
I also incorporate short story and poetry units sometimes instead ... these are all things you can find by google-ing them. We end up frequently doing a unit studies approach while using the literature guides. There are so many suggestions in the literature units that almost every subject can be incorporated if you want to do it that way.
Writing:
Once the kids already know the parts of speach and how to compose a paragraph correctly, I use the literature guides for teaching writing too. Also, make sure you incorporate harder assignments; Some younger children are perfectly capable of doing harder research assignments and learning how to properly cite their sources using MLA or APA - these are great for using with a science, social studies, or even P.E. (history of basketball) paper. You can often check out writing curriculum out from the library to get ideas and formulate some of your own lesson plans. Also, http://abcteach.com/ and http://www.webenglishteacher.com/writing.html have some good ideas for teaching writing.
Science:
This website is all you need to incorporate more science than you'll ever need into your plan: http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/benchmark_index.cfm. Beyond a good science museum and a plastic human with all the body parts that you can take out of it, this is all you need to teach science. If your child is particularly interested in a subject, let them learn more than they 'need to learn' even if it takes an extra week or two. We spent about 5 weeks learning about the taxonomy of trees last year because our kids were absolutely fascinated with it!
Social Studies:
Look at the Benchmarks for your childs age (and all the grades above her level too). Then check out nonfiction books from the library so your child can learn everything that is necessary, plus way more. There are some great sites on the net too: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/ http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/outusgov/ch1.htm http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html
Arts:
We just do crafts and things. I'm not a particularly art-inclined person myself, so we follow the lead of another homeschooler in our area and they help us with this area. There are tons of books at the library that have crafts and art ideas that would work too.
Religion:
We also do religious courses of study, but feel it's a) not as good educationally to use "Christian" programs b) a little too pushy onto our children to have every subject focused around a religious theme - I can do that on my own without someone else pushing it c) sometimes not exactly our same Christian beliefs are being taught. Set a good example and your kids will learn from you more than from any curriculum.
Conclusion:
I'm sorry you've had 'Christians' attack your freedom to believe what you want may or may not believe on this forum. Based on your posts I don't even think it's clear that you're either religious or athiest. One last link that I initially found helpful when I went this route for schooling is this: http://docsdomain.net/blog/?page_id=706 http://docsdomain.net/blog/?page_id=637 ... actually there's two links, but they're both the same website, just two separate pages. Their philosophy is a bit different from mine (they're 'unschooling'), but I really like all the links and their philosophy to homeschool for free. It really can be done if the parents are excellent in math (but I have forgotten much of what I'd learned so that's not me).
