Homeschool curricula for elementary gifted kid?

[blackforest]

Don’t use Seaton curriculum.

They rely heavily on rote learning.

“Rote” isn’t necessarily a dirty word. Seton is a Classical curriculum. Classical education requires a fair amount of memorization, particular during the Grammar phase of the Trivium. I would encourage any parent considering homeschooling to learn about the different methods to determine which would best suit their children. I have seen gifted children blossom under a Classical education, but it does depend on the child.

 

[blackforest]

Cross-posting. Same wavelength. ((Cyber fist bump))

 

[ewohdrol]

It has holy books and mythology from many cultures

It is still a Christian book written by a Christian author for Christian customers.
Just because you don’t like the content doesn’t make it secular.

As for rote learning…I am not against it at all. But Seaton does rely solely on this. Gifted children need stimulation with higher ended thinking questions which rote learning cannot provide. It has a place of course in learning but will stifle a learner after time.

Personally I would avoid Seaton and use multiple sources to attain higher perspectives and pedagogical understanding.

 

[blackforest]

It is still a Christian book written by a Christian author for Christian customers.
Just because you don’t like the content doesn’t make it secular.

Uh, have you been reading my posts? I LOVE the content. I use it in my homeschool and just endorsed it here in this thread.

I just finished up a year of using Bookshark, an avowed secular homeschool curriculum that uses SOTW. Bauer is a Christian. She’s just not an anti-intellectual one.

If you’re down on Seton, (note the correct spelling), that’s fine. I often encourage parents to meet with other homeschoolers and ask to leaf through their curricula just to get a feel for whether or not it’s right for their family.

 

[ewohdrol]

I never mentioned if you used them or not? I was just pointing out you can’t really claim to the OP that they are a secular source.

The OP is asking for recommendations on curriculum.
I stand by mine as you are free to do so.

 

[13pollitos]

Story of the World is far, far, far from secular.

ETA: if you are seeking secular textbooks for homeschool use, numerous eBay sellers have them at very affordable prices.

 

[blackforest]

Christian fundamentalists disagree, as evidences by the reviews posted above. They take issue with the “secular world view” and “false gods,” as she covers other civilizations. Some atheists and agnostics take issue with her coverage of the Bible, an extremely important work of literature in the whole Western civilization, even if people don’t believe in its teachings. There’s a streak of anti-intellectualism in both arguments.

If you actually read through her chapters on non-western civilizations, you’ll quickly see that “far, far, far from secular” is an unfair way to describe it. I’m not engaging further debate because it hijacks and undermines the purpose of the thread. The OP asked for Catholic AND secular sources. I’ll leave it to his/her discretion.

 

[13pollitos]

I own the set and have used them at home with my own children. Several of my kids are history buffs and when they were younger would devour any history book they Can across. I found the set at Books a Million so i bought them back probably 10 years ago. They are neither Catholic nor secular. If the OP wants Catholic or secular, this is not what she is looking for.

In my opinion, Volumes 3 and 4 are the best of the set. As a teacher, i highly recommend if you choose to use them, also use additional history sources.

eBay has many sellers that sell secular homeschool and also public school texts and workbooks. Public school books are secular. Kolbe Academy out of California has a blend of Catholic and secular texts that they use. Maybe you could check them out. They also have some online courses available.

I have heard positive things about Homeschool Connections but I have no first hand knowledge of them.

I taught public school until the end of this year. When we move I will be homeschooling my two high schoolers and eventually the two babies. We plan to use Kolbe Academy.

 

[blackforest]

I’ve heard wonderful things about Kolbe, too! I’m leaning more toward Angelicum because their four-day schedule works in better with our homeschool activities.

 

[babochka]

Story of the World is far, far, far from secular.

ETA: if you are seeking secular textbooks for homeschool use, numerous eBay sellers have them at very affordable prices.

My children are enrolled in an independent study program of a public charter school. They follow a parent choice model and we are free to have the school purchase any curriculum we choose, with the exception of sectarian materials. The are very strict with the curriculum that they will pay for because they will lose their charter if caught purchasing religious materials. The Story of the World has been examined by state auditors in one of the most liberal states in the country and found acceptable for use in public schools.

 

[13pollitos]

The Story of the World has been examined by state auditors in one of the most liberal states in the country and found acceptable for use in public schools.

We were not allowed to have them in our classrooms for independent reading even in our district in Missouri.

 

[13pollitos]

The thing I like about Kolbe is it is very flexible. It draws from multiple resources and is customizable. My daughter will be a senior and is extremely gifted. Our son is special needs. Both are able to use their program easily.

 

[13pollitos]

I should be clear here. I do not dislike Story of the World. My kids and I have happy memories with those books. The activities that are suggested are fun as well as educational. They are not bad or wrong to use.

As a teacher I feel it is good to supplement things they miss. I also feel it is important to point out that they are not secular and not catholic. They teach with a Christian perspective. I do not find it wrong or objectionable but many others do.

 

[blackforest]

Yea, that’s odd. They were part of my avowed secular curriculum, Bookshark. But then, I don’t think it’s bad or wrong for Catholics to use any non-Catholic curricula. A lot of Catholic parents disagree with me, though.

 

[13pollitos]

It’s not wrong at all. I would recommend at least some exposure to secular materials at the very least. Especially if a child is destined for college.

 

[midori]

One of the cool things I liked doing when I was doing curriculum planning (pre-k, k, afterschooling) was to look at online schools and check out their syllabi. What resources were they using? And then I’d read up on reviews to see their strengths and weaknesses, and whether they were a good match for what I planned on doing. I ended up finding a lot of good stuff I wouldn’t have found otherwise. I also ended up picking up a few duds which I thought I would like, but then found something that worked better for us. (Which is par for the course!) I especially ran into that with math-- I had heard rave reviews about Singapore Math, but I ended up liking Math-U-See way better.

 

[blackforest]

I especially ran into that with math-- I had heard rave reviews about Singapore Math, but I ended up liking Math-U-See way better.

I’ve had the same experience! I’ve hopped from math curriculum to math curriculum and settled on Math U See. I’ll probably move to Saxon when they’re in high school.

One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that the kids pick the math curriculum more than the parents. You keep moving through trial and error until the right fit just clicks.

 

[midori]

I had subbed at our local elementary school, and they used Saxon. That was how I discovered that I had opinions about how math ought to be taught. Lots of people already know, but I’m just saying aloud for the studio audience-- there are two approaches to math. One is the spiral method; the other is the mastery method. With programs like Math-U-See that use the mastery method, they focus on one thing at a time… you start with single-digit addition, and get good at single-digit addition. You do single-digit subtraction, and get good at single-digit subtraction. You do double-digit addition, and double-digit subtraction, with a little bit of time-telling or whatever thrown in for good measure. But you don’t proceed on to multiplication until you’re solid on your addition and subtraction, and you don’t proceed on to division until you’re solid on your times tables, and so on. It’s very structured and organized and focused, and you get that repetition until you can do it forwards and backwards.

The spiral method, which Saxon and others do, is more hodgepodge scattershot. You do a little bit of patterns, a little bit of fractions, draw pictures to illustrate word problems, do a little addition, a little subtraction, a little time-telling, and so on. The theory is, you do that for a certain period of time… and by the time you hit the 6th grade, you’re fluent in all of it and can move on to pre-algebra.

But for my kids, they just weren’t getting enough focus on the basics to get them really solid. If I hadn’t done homeschooling for pre-K/K, they would have been lost. As it was, they were able to coast a bit… but I still had to trot out the math at home on top of the homework they got sent home with.

I’ve subbed high school as well, but it was calculus, and it was mostly “program your calculator and write down what it spits out” class, so my involvement was mostly limited to roll call. So I’m not too sure on when our local public school system transitions from the a-bit-of-this/a-bit-of-that approach into the focus-on-algebra/focus-on-geometry/focus-on-trig that I remembered from my schooling.

My kids really liked the manipulatives that Math-U-See uses— they helped make the abstract less abstract, but were way better than the school’s manipulatives. And the DVD lessons were great!

 

[blackforest]

I didn’t realize that Saxon spiraled. That wasn’t my memory of it. But a lot can change, and I won’t let on how old I am. I used in it high school, and as the kid stigmatized with, “Math just isn’t your thing, dearie,” I found it extremely helpful - no bells, no whistles, no gimmicks, just straightforward information.

I did use Singapore for homeschool, and the spiraling frustrated my kids. I’m loving Math U See’s DVDs - he does such a better job explaining new concepts than I ever could!

Math U See only goes up to grade 8, correct? If you have a recommendation for high school, I’d love to hear it!

 

[midori]

Math U See only goes up to grade 8, correct? If you have a recommendation for high school, I’d love to hear it!

What kind of high school math are you wanting for your kids? Are they prepping to be engineers/astrophysicists, and need super-rigorous/advanced math, or are they less likely to go into a hard science?

I did pre-algebra in 7th grade, Algebra I in 8th grade, and then homeschooled high school in Algebra I/Algebra II/Geometry/Trig. Then I went the BA path in undergrad and took Logic as my math. (I had hoped it would have been a class full of “If Tommy is sitting at the head of the table, and no one is sitting next to Suzy, and Margot has boys on both sides of her, then where is Fred sitting?” sort of questions, but it was more like statistics. )

Anyhow, if my kids ever end up doing calculus in high school, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep up with them.

I ordered a used pre-algebra MUS set for DH, because he wanted to brush up on his pre-algebra, and my old Algebra I book went a little too fast. I got the student workbook, the instructor stuff, the dvd, and the tests for $35, vs the $185 new. Yay!

On the MUS website, they have a link in their shop for “secondary math”. You might take a peek at that and see if you want to stick with them past the Epsilon level (fractions) and Zeta level (decimals, percents) for elementary math— secondary math includes Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Pre-Cal, Calculus.

Good luck!