Ideas for Materials

Hey Toni!
I didn't know you guys were considering it. For all the boys or just some of them? I LOVED Saxon Math--but I didn't use the other things. For us it was better not to go ith one curriculum. I learned that different kids needed different things. Some of my friends LOVED Sonshine (not sure of the name--something close). It is ALL based on reading. Bacall and Santana would have HATED that--but Levi and Dillon would have loved it! Is there a homeschooling store that you can go to around here? Lots of times you will find GREAT stuff in there that you've never heard of. I wish I could think of the reading program I used for Dillon. They used contemporary books--but asked Christian/character questions and really made the kids think about the story. I'll see if I can did them up. let me know who you are considering for (their ages) and I will see if I have anything left.
K.

Toni,
Alpha-Omega is a good curriculum if you follow it through completely. When choosing a curriculum, don't pick and choose from this publisher or that one, unless you are a trained educator who can determine how to fill in the gaps before they appear. Most parents are not, so you do want to make sure that you select a curriculum that is geared toward the home-schooling setting.

I used to work for A Beka Book, based out of Pensacola, FL, and they do have a great curriculum for home schooling. Their daily lesson plans spell out for you what to say, and there are great flashcards and supplements to help you along the way. It is a little more expensive than Alpha Omega, but it is worth it to reduce your prep time with 3 boys to work with

Good Luck!

My husband worked as an administrator for Switched-on Schoolhouse for several years until they moved their headquarters to Iowa. Their program is excellent, especially for children who need a hands-on approach to learning. It's very interactive and gives the parents to be the primary teacher or allows their staff to oversee the progress. It is also accredited.

Have you homeschooled before? Or are you thinking about it for the first time?
I have home-schooled for 25 years and have used lots of different materials. Alpha Omega has really great material for the inexperienced (or busy) home school mom. It covers EVERYTHING your child needs to know in very easy to use format. It is wonderfully Christian based. Lots of scriptures. The only drawback I found was the format was repetitious after a couple of years, they were bored with it. We didnt have that problem with Switched on School House. I would recommend using Saxon Math. And for older children there is a wonderful Science curriculum by Jay Wile that is far superior to anything out there. Good Luck , have fun, Being a home-school mom is a GREAT life!

Alpha Omega Publications is excellent for home schooling. We home-schooled our two sons on mainly Alpha Omega material. Unfortunately, we could not afford to go with Switched on Schoolhouse or would have done so. Good luck on your home-schooling endeavor!

B.

I used both the Alpha Omega lifepacs and the SOS (Switched on Schoolhouse) this year for my 14 yr. old son. We used the lifepacs for Math because I thought it would be better to have a printed page for math. We also used the lifepac for Science but this is because we were doing it with another family. My son prefers the SOS.
The SOS is easier for me as well because it does the lesson plans and grading for you. You still have the final say if you need to change the schedule or if you need to change a grade. Sometimes the computer is a little too specific when it grades or it is just plain wrong so you can go in and change the grade if you feel.
I love the language program and I feel the math is easy to understand and nicely broken down. The history provides a biblical perspective which is a nice change. I wasn't too thrilled with the Science for high school because it bounces around on too many different tracks. This would probably be fine for grade school or even Jr. High but for a high school transcript it doesn't really work.
The other thing you need to know about Alpha & Omega is that they are really big on projects and essays. It seems that there is always something in every subject all the time and it gets overwhelming. We did about half of them (there is no law that says you have to do them all - a public school teacher wouldn't). I would also combine things like a language assignment and a science report.
I would probably mix the lifepacs and SOS if I were you because if you have 3 boys and only one computer (if that is the case) it would be hard to get lessons done if everyone used the computer. I like to mix it up anyway because I think they get bored doing the same thing over and over in every subject. We are doing half and half again this year and are switching to Aplogia Science for Biology.
Hope this helps. If you have any further questions please feel free to e-mail me. C.