Homeschool Curriculum Reviews

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Starfall offers both a free online phonics/reading program and a (fee-based) reading/language arts curriculum that is “magical, creative, sequential, integrated, and combines content area instruction in Social Studies and Science – that’s kindergarten, the Starfall Way. Starfall uses fantasy as a springboard for motivating children to use their natural sense of wonder and curiosity to [...]

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According to its publisher, “Saxon Math is the only major math program on the market today that systematically distributes instruction, practice, and assessment throughout the academic year as opposed to concentrating, or massing, related concepts into a short period of time–usually within a unit or chapter. Saxon Math’s approach to math instruction ensures that students [...]

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This is a hands-on curriculum that uses workbooks, videos and manipulative blocks to teach math concepts. Students learn how to perform math operations and understand why they are performing those operations so they can apply them to everyday life. The program was described in 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy as “easier [...]

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“Easy Grammar texts use the prepositional approach combined with effective strategies. This helps students to understand grammar, a tool for speaking and writing properly.” The courses are for grades 2 – 12, and involve student texts, workbooks, a teacher’s guide and a mastery review intended to be used at the beginning of each days’ instruction. [...]

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This extensive collection of texts, workbooks, tests and recordings presents the history of the world from ancient times to the modern ages as a series of narratives. Told in a straightforward, engaging style that has become Susan Wise Bauer’s trademark, The Story of the World series covers the sweep of human history from ancient times [...]

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Rod & Staff curriculum is designed to make the child God-conscious. This curriculum not only teaches the Bible but uses many illustrations of how Bible principles can be applied in everyday life. The various courses are comprised of texts, workbooks, and teacher guides. The science text is written from the perspective that evolution is “logically [...]

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Bob Books are simple readers that start with 3 letter words. They allow the child to complete an entire lesson by him or herself, thereby developing confidence. The books are sized to allow children to hold them comfortably as they read. Parent’s guidance is included within the text of the books themselves. The books come [...]

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My Father’s World is a full package curriculum (math & language arts are from other vendors) with a Christian perspective that, like Sonlight but less intense, has history as its backbone and relates the rest of the curriculum to it. It was originally created for missionaries. My Father’s World 16

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This program uses fun, entertaining, and educationally sound instructional methods to teach handwriting to all students: pre-k through cursive. The lessons require minimal preparation time. According to publisher’s materials, the program “follows a developmental teaching sequence by teaching easy letters first, beginning with capitals and then teaching letters in groups of similar stroke sequence. When [...]

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Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is a complete, step-by-step program that shows parents simply and clearly how to teach their children to read. Twenty minutes a day is all you need, and within 100 teaching days your child will be reading on a solid second-grade reading level. It’s a sensible, easy-to-follow, [...]

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