Anyone NOT doing a boxed curriculum?

CiderWench

More specifically, anyone going the Charlotte Mason or Well-Trained Mind route? I am not a fan of boxed curriculum or textbooks, and am doing a living books approach. We are secular home educators, but I still rely heavily on the AmblesideOnline book list and follow the Classical history 4-year timeline.

xnbride

Yes, we do a hodge podge of stuff and I am actually going to do Charlotte Mason for DS2 because it will work very well for him because he loves books.

For DS1 we do Saxon Math (which is ok) I hear good things about the Life of Fred which you may like. There is also a computer based programs that are really popular too.

I really love Story of the World for social studies.

Another fav is Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-2. It takes some preparation but the kids love every lesson and you can tell that it really "sticks" with them.

We also do journaling and I do basic outlines associated with our reading. We do lots of field trips too. For instance, they get to become experts on a certain animal at the zoo and they can take a picture of it, journal about it and/or create a book all about their animal so it incorporates a variety of concepts. YOu could even add an element of math in there by figuring out how much they eat or how much it costs to house the animal there etc.

It is a lot of fun keeping things flexible. That is what is so great about homeschooling.

 

CiderWench

We use Horizons math K-3, then switch to Saxon for 54 and onward. I hated Saxon K-3! This is our sixth year homeschooling and, like you, we do a hodge podge, but with a Charlotte Mason flair. What sites are you using to guide you with the Charlotte Mason approach? My favorites are www.amblesideonline.com, www.charlottemasonhelp.com, and www.secularcm.com.

bridein08

We are going the WTM route (if you haven't checked out the well trained mind forum on the website, it is great!), though I have researched CM method extensively. I don't think CM is as intensive as we are striving for, and I am excited to try out a WTM-style classical education when DS is old enough.

calimama2007

Ooh, us, us!!

Just re-read your post, so editing here: We are following Ambleside for the nature study, art study, composer study, and language arts, as well as copy work. 

I am also interested in following the Classical Approach, so we have separate curriculum for History and Science, both of which we have from Pandia Press-- they are called R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, and History Odyssey. I highly recommend both, the history in particular calls for several different resources, including real books, and I feel like both are very hands on. It's my understanding that they designed these to fit within the Classical style. 

What I really like about the well trained mind is the conception that you study certain periods of history with certain types of science, e.g. because we are studying Ancient History this coming year for first grade, we are also studying Biology (life), because that is what the ancients would have known. Then next year, it's planets/earth science with the middle ages-- it's neat b/c the kids have the chance to draw a connection between the two. 

This is one of my favorite homeschool topics to discuss, lol