Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Choosing a homeschool curriculum

There are public charter schools that uses K12 curriculum. You should look around before you buy it. In my state, California Virtual Academy uses K12. I have never tried K12, so I cannot tell you much about it. Instead, I joined a public charter school in my area. They gave me $400 a year to pay for books and they have free classes on campus a couple days a week.

We are using Michael Clay Thomson (Language Arts), literature and writing packets provided from school, Time4Learning (use when he is bored, just as a supplement to make sure he meets the state requirement), Zaner Bloser Handwriting, Singapore math, Story of the World (History) plus classes from school, Science 2 U (Classes for homeschoolers), Beginner's Geography and Mapping Activities (By Goematters), foreign language (Chinese, Greek and Latin in the future), Music and Art once a week.

I know finding a curriculum can be overwhelming. You might try to fulfill LA, math, social science and science first before adding other subjects.

I go to library resale shopping all the times over the summer and I have picked up many nice homeschool books (not curriculum, just history and science readers etc.) for 50 cents to a dollar. My library calls it Friends of the Library Bookstore. I don't know whether your library has it or not. Not all library resale bookstores have good books. I have been to a few of them before I found one that is good.

Thank you very much for all of the suggestions. It's a huge help!

I know many people who have mentioned K12 and many people love the program. One word of caution. If you sign up with a charter or online school in your state that pays for it, then you are a public school student. For many that doesn't make a difference but I just wanted to make you aware. Others use it independently and pay themselves so they have more freedom of choice. Sometimes that isn't made very clear in the wording depending on the state.

Good point, Melissa. We're independents (no VA's in our state), which gives us a lot more freedom. Join the K12gifted, user and parent2parent Yahoo groups to get opinions from current users.

I really like the concept of the online school, and I'm debating between Seton Catholic Home Study School, Connections Academy, and K12. However, I don't like the lack of flexibility we'll have. I like the fact that I don't have to worry if I'm covering all the right material, but if it's not working then we're stuck, right? Anything we do is going to cost much less than what we're paying for private school right now, so I'm not too worried about that. I don't want to waste money, however. Any thoughts on the level of flexibility with the online schools? Please keep in mind that we are only committing to trying this for a year. That's not to say we might not all love it and do it forever. Or, we might use the year to determine ds's learning style and areas of strength and research schools for next year. I feel like I need to make a decision this week on curriulum, as I'm not sending ds to his school next week. Ahhhh!!!! Thanks for all of the advice!

Hi - I talked a little bit with the folks who do K12 in MN a while ago. I think the flexibility lies in working at your own pace, and not in choosing curriculum. Specifically, I asked about what happens if your child goes through the curriculum at a faster than normal pace. They said they could just move ahead in the curriculum, but that when it was time for state testing, they would still take the test for the grade they were assigned to. I didn't check more into it, because I was just curious but not really interested at the time. I would recommend calling each of the online educators and ask them all of your questions.

I would say the flexibility depends on how focused your son is. There is x amount of work that needs to be completed. I have found that if we do a little every day (even Sat and Sun) it is not overwhelming. We have been able to work ahead and have several days saved up so far. We do Connections Academy 3rd grade. Feel free to PM me if you have more ?

Thought you all might enjoy this:
Q: How does a homeschooler change a light bulb?
A: First, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life. Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles. Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill. On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill. Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed. And there is light. ~Author Unknown

ROFL sittin pretty!