Homeschool World Forum

[hatcher1999]

I am looking for a curriculum that is non Christian based. If there are any textbooks out there that are avaliable for homeschooling please let me know.

Also... I have started my children on the LifePac program from Alpha Omega Language Arts.

Note: I believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and Our Father in Heaven I have nothing against Christian based learning I would prefer something close to what my kids were learning from.

[Redhead]

Have you looked at McDougal Littell's stuff? They're not technically geared for homeschool, but I know their English curricula is pretty good. I used to be the English Department Head at a private school, and I ended up going with their English curricula for our middle school because I found the Christian curricula to be too weak in terms of the literature.

You don't indicate your children's ages, so I will state that mcDougal Littell, I believe, only has curricula for middle school and up. They also have some free online novel guides if that's of interest to you as well as other freebie stuff.

Here's their site: http://www.mcdougallittell.com/ml/la.htm

I'm afraid I don't know about elementary secular curricula as I taught secondary level and never really looked at anything under sixth grade.
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Redhead
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." C.S. Lewis

[hatcher1999]

The ages of my children are 10, 7, and almost 5. I have begun using the Alpha Omega Language Arts program with both my girls. I just completed the Alpha Omega Math Diagnostic on both my girls and I am kind crazed right now at how much they didn't know. My oldest was an all A studnet until she reached the 4th grade then all of a sudden B's and C's started popping up. She never brought homework home guess I know that she should have been.

I need something for Social Studies/History and Science. Inexpensive extra activities suggestions would be great.

[deb]

I an also a mom searching for HS curriculum for Biology, chemistry, & physics. I would also like a non religion based text. My kids are both require more assistance than most and the religious text just confuses them and adds more explanation to what is already needing much explanation.
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From Deb in Indiana

[Theodore]

Maybe go to your local community college and see what they have for sale in the way of older, used textbooks? Biology and/or Chemistry textbooks will probably have a whole section on evolution, but if you just want to focus on the science and not the whole issue of origins, you can rip those pages out and worry about them later. Nothing about origins will be on a nationally standardized test.

[o&lsmom]

http://www.uen.org/search/

This is a link to the site index for the Utah Education Network. If you click on the Curriculum Search, you can find all kinds of stuff by grade level or subject. There are lesson plans, etc. Hope this helps.
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Jen, Idaho Wife and Mom to 2 boys,6 yrs & 1 yr

[mizblonde]

Hello! I'm new to this forum, and I'm a homeschooling mom of two boys, ages 14 and 4. I too have been looking for non-religious textbooks for my son, who is doing freshman-level work. My son, like most children his age, is able to read anything and comprehend many things. So I went to amazon.com and ordered an American History series (to 1887 and after 1865) by history scholar Alan Brinkley. The textbooks are college-level textbooks meant for a freshman-level survey course, but they are no harder to read and understand than a high school text. We have really enjoyed reading this series together, and I usually supplement with other activities.

I plan to go the same route with World History, Algebra, Geometry and all sciences. If you choose to browse amazon.com, or textbooks.com, search for "American History survey" or "biology survey." This will lead you to basic textbooks. They are cheap too! I purchased the American History series, in excellent condition, for under $20 (with shipping).

For grammar, we use Abeka, but I want my son to be exposed to this kind of curriculum as these kinds of books will be the norm when he begins college.

Hope this helps!

[Star]

Hello.. I am also new to the forums and have recently decided to home school my daughter, who has just turned 4.

At the advice of a friend, I was pointed in the direction of Sonlight, Abeka, and Saxon, though warned that they are Christian based.

How it is Christian based? We are spiritual, but not religious and we'd like our daughter to have a well rounded education on religion when she's ready so she can decide for herself what she believes. With that in mind, I would love some illumination as to what sort of "religious" content might be included in the curriculum.

Also, in looking at the preK programs available I'm seeing that my daughter may well be beyond most of them. She knows her colors, shapes, alphabet, counting, etc. She actually plays her own computer games online, and I would like for her to be challenged, but not overwhelmed.

I would like to start her right away, even though it's spring and not an actual school year cycle. Once she is 5 and would normally attend kindergarten I will register her with the state, etc. Does this sound like a good plan?

Any information or suggestions that the experts here can provide would be so very helpful. I'd like to not be overwhelmed myself before we even start!

Thanks in advance!
Star

[mizblonde]

Hi Star,

Let me be clear: although we are using some non-religious materials for our older son, I do think Abeka, BJU, etc. have lots of value, and we are planning to use Bob Jones University materials with our youngest son, who is 4. The way in which these materials are "religious" varies a little, but not a lot. Basically the Christian faith is just presented throughout any and all materials. You can purchase materials specifically for Bible work, Christian history, virtues, chastity, etc. But many of the companies offer materials that are also very academically rigorous, which is great. I am also a fan of having well-rounded children, and knowing the Bible inside and out is a great way to accomplish this.

My 4 year old is also well past knowing his colors, shapes, numbers and alphabet. So right now we are working on sight words, printing, sorting, grouping, calendar work, days of the week, months, time and money. There are lots of things you can do with your daughter before you even need to purchase curriculum. Reading is a part of our day, every day. We do predicting exercises, music, movement and daily weather. We've planted flower seeds and flown kites this spring.

Although I'm not a big believer in testing, I did contact a local preschool to obtain a list of things their students needed to master before they went to kindergarten. This let me see approximately where my son is compared to other kids. Most things he was already working on, and the rest we'll get to. That's the wonderful thing about homeschooling -- you have all the time in the world

[keptwoman]

Hi,
We also are secular homeschooling and I have tried really hard to find secular materials. So far I've been happy with the lack of religious content in what we have chosen. So I'm not repeating myself, I've listed why I wanted secular materials and what we are using in the "what curriculums do you use" thread.

In addition to the things we are currently using, next year I'm looking at Growing with Grammar.
For science so far I have bookmarked
http://www.arn.org/realscience/realscience.html
http://www.myworldscience.com/
although we are still undecided on when we will start formal science.
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Sandra, Homeschooling Mum in Australia

[Star]

Thanks for the input!

I'm happy to say that we've chosen Sonlight's Core Ultra C for our daughter. We are starting a bit early, as she has only turned 4, but we'll have well over a year to learn the material and get accustomed to the home schooling before she becomes "of school age" where we live.

She's as excited as I am and I hope this is always the case. When we thought of all the things going on in public schools these days, there was no other choice for us.

Sonlight seems to provide a very well rounded curriculum, despite the fact that we were looking for something secular.

Thanks again to everyone who posted a reply and to everyone who takes the time on the forums to educate those of us who are new to the process.

Star

[Mark]

welcome to the forum, Star.


mark
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My new blog:
http://exwitch.ancientcrossroads.org/

[DESmom]

A friend uses Calvert totally secular which is what she wants.
Also my girls are using right now science for real kids, and both love it. It is secular also.
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Chele
Homeschooling mom to
Katelyn, Breanna, Danelle, Morgann, Terresa, Timothy and Isabella

[phiferan]

For middle school and high school level science, I use the Holt, Rinehart and Winston text, which you can purchase at their web site. Evolution was only talked about for one small unit in a book with hundreds of pages. However, because the book is really written for public schools, homeschool teachers cannot get the answer keys without being a certified teacher and you have to buy science lab kits and lab equipment separately, as it does not come in one inclusive package together. Nevertheless, the Holt books explain the required science subject matter in depth, in a way that is easier for us to understand (even if you are not that good at science) and with many color photos and color diagrams on every page (even for the high school level). They also have a middle school and high school level health text, with the same great color pictures and diagrams, and through, yet easy to understand explanations.
For middle school and high school level, I agree with McDougal Littell for Literature, as well as History, and it has a more multi-ethnic view of American History, covering European descendants, African Descendents and Indian Americans, as well as ethnic groups that immigrated to the United States in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s – eastern European, Asian, Latino, etc. And, there are many color photos and color diagrams on every page (even for the high school level). Nevertheless, the World History text is not hostile to Christianity, as it uses the terms A.D. and B.C. and it discusses Christian heroes like Martin Luther (Lutheran Church), the Christian protestant movement and historic American Christian revival movements. The Literature selection has many different choices, such as women writers, African American writers, Latino writers as well as standard American favorites, such as Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, etc. Again, because the book is really written for public schools, homeschool teachers cannot get the answer keys without being a certified teacher, but for History and Literature, you don’t really need them (you just read the text and the “answers” are there – nothing to figure out, like math).
I have been using Saxon math for years, and I have not seen anything from a Christian Worldview, or otherwise hostile to Christians, as public school can sometimes be.
I am a Christian too, my son is enrolled in a Christian umbrella school for homeschooling children and I teach a required Bible course to my son each year (which I love doing); but, because I took my son out of public school later (during middle school) I wanted text more like what he was used to in public school and more multi-ethnic. However, I did not want something hostile to Christianity. I think these suggestions are a good balance. God bless.

[Dolly-VA]

Phiferan, I just purchased the McDougal Littel Middle Ages e-textbook for my 8th grader (so I'm happy to hear others like these books.) I also purchased the workbook that goes with it and the teacher answer key (they only required I sign a paper basically stating I'm homeschooling and not purchasing it for any PS underhandedness...) It looks very cool, very interactive and the writing is not dull at all, and there is a website for additional work on the lessons (flipcards, crosswords, test practice, etc.) Anyway, so far I'm happy. My son has yet to start it...