Homeschooling Curriculum - Lincoln,NE

I think heading to your local conventions and curriculum fairs is the best way to actually see and page through any curriculum before making the financial investment. You can contact the publisher of MFW to see if they're coming to town. They are pretty big so I'm sure they'll make a stop at your state's upcoming fair.

The other nice thing about these conventions is you also get to meet parents who have used it and get their opinions. You'll probably find them buying next year's books at the vendor table for MFW. Besides parents, you'll get to meet the actual publishers/vendors of the products and get your questions directly answered and specific recommendations for your special needs and concerns.

Last but not least, because just about every curriculum vendor on the planet is at these conventions also, you can compare and contrast or pick and choose from many programs before you buy. You may find you want to use products from several programs and design your own curriculum from scratch, or just purchase one boxed curriculum program and stick to their recommended schedule. It's a win-win doing it this way and one stop shopping at it's best, if time and money allows.

By the way, if you choose to design your own program from scratch, get these books! They're a great starting place on how to do it:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/ and http://books.coreknowledge.org/home.php?cat=298

Also, if you are new to this, there are usually workshops at these things covering topics from how to get started, local laws, parent support, where to find co-ops and support groups, local museums, schools, parks, zoos that host homeschool programs to supplement your home program too.

Here's what I found is coming to your area. There may be others, but I'm not sure since I'm not from Nebraska, so be sure to check around:

http://www.balancingthesword.com/homeschool/conventions/c...

I am homeschooling my daughter who is in first grade. I will be switching to MFW for next year. I have not used it either but have heard wonderful things about it. I am looking forward to it.

My daughter is dyslexic and we will be buying the Verticy program
http://www.verticylearning.org/
They are associated with the Calvert and Jemicy schools which have tabs at the top of the webpage with links to theirs.
I have not started it yet, but did take a webinar on their program and it can be used as a complete homeschool program or just components of it (in case your child takes some classes at the public school or via a tutor). I am impressed with the completeness of it, from providing you with the books, worksheets, tests, grading and transcript plus teacher assistance as well as tutoring sessions (some things cost extra, there is a price page on the website above). Others have commented that this is only how first time homeschoolers start and experienced ones prefer the freedom to stay on topics their kids like versus the required daily tasks. Also make sure to find your local homeschooling groups, even just a few other moms who have done it, since they can guide you as to what they like. One mom said she just went to the school, got their books for the grade, divided the page numbers by the number of school days (181 here in Mass) and found she needed to do x pages of each subject per day or week.
Homeschool goes all the way from "unschooling" where you allow the child to guide the study interestes to the above type completely purchased curriculum. Here is a good website for info:
http://www.youcanhomeschool.org/starthere/tips.asp
Enjoy!

Aleks math is what I use for math tutoring. It is also used by a lot of Homeschooler's.

i used a variety. depended on the subject and what worked. had to change some things along the way to fit my daughter's learning style. that's one of the many perks of homeschooling! my school district had a resource room that provided curriculum items for us to check out since they kept tabs on us homeschoolers, but they couldn't be religious-based. i wouldn't purchase a whole set until you know it'll work for you both.

S.

I don't know much about MFW but a homeschool friend has used it and loves it.
I use a hodge podge of different programs.

Singapore Math
Shurley Grammar until 6th grade, then Rod and Staff
Bob Jones Science
Story of Our World History and Mystery of History
The Latin Rod to English Grammar
Books on their level