First impressions

We are now finished with Week #2 (and 12 days worth) of our official homeschooling year. While there is a great deal left to be discovered about the curriculum I am using this year, I thought I'd give a bit of a First Impressions review.

First for the Pros:

1. The price is amazing! I spent only $180 for all the textbooks and workbooks for both Gabriel and Bronwyn and I have been so pleased with how comprehensive and complete this package is! All I've had to buy in addition to the curriculum itself, is pencils, construction paper, and paper clips. Oh, and the other day I used some aluminum foil from the kitchen drawer for a science project assignment. Last year I pieced together a curriculum for Gabriel, thinking I would both enjoy that (which I did, but I didn't want to have to do it x2 students this year) and that we would save money. At well over $100 for just one student last year, I definitely didn't save money!
2. It is so great to have much of Gabriel and Bronwyn's work combined. Our "book" school time is seriously no more than 60 minutes total-- and I don't have to multiply that as I cover a million different things with different children. Devotions, history, science, read-aloud, and phonics are all combined. When they do their grade-specific handwriting, math, and fine motor skills assignments, I give them their separate books and find it's very easy to oversee them simultaneously.
   
3. The assignments are simple and so clearly laid out for the teacher. Wow. I love that instead of having to create our work plan from scratch, I simply get to tweak it to work best for us.
   
4. Everything is tied together, from devotions to history to science. At the end of the day, the kids have learned lots of little things, but there is clearly one Big Idea. I love this!
5. The history/social studies book is terrific! We are already covering things that Gabriel's books last year never began to touch on, such as how to make timelines and what B.C. and A.D. stand for, the definitions of various pertinent words, what the different continents and oceans are, and more. And we've only gotten as far as Unit 3, Day 2 out of 34 units!
   
6. Daniel and I are both really enjoying the family devotional assignments (we do this portion of schooling during our 8am breakfast so that Daniel can be part of it). I went ahead and purchased the devotional HoD publishing recommends-- even though we already have lots of children's Bibles-- because I thought we might appreciate how they link daily devotions with what the kids are learning in history and science. I'm so glad I did! We don't usually end up reading right from the book (it's just our preference to have it coming out in Mama or Daddy's words), but it has been a great springboard. And I have to say that so far I am very pleased with the specific verses that have been assigned for Scripture memorization.

Now the Cons:

1. I'm most disappointed with the handwriting workbooks. They are way beneath my kids' skill levels and are, consequently, quite boring to them. This could be a case of You-Get-What-You-Pay-For, since there was a more expensive option, or it could just be that the need for a handwriting curriculum really does vary from student to student. Honestly, between making birthday cards and various little art projects my kids are always doing, they get much better handwriting practice than most curriculum provides, it seems, and I think in the future I will just skip it and design something of my own using a children's writing tablet.
2. The science textbook is far less exciting/interesting than the history/social studies textbook. Sure, the lessons cover the basics and there are some nice science "games" that help reinforce what's being learned (and that the kids love!), but there is no real depth (comparatively). I can't say that I'm crushed by this since I personally have no great love for science, but I do hope in future years (assuming, as I do now, that I will continue with HoD) for something the kids can really sink their teeth into.
3. I have to do a good bit of flipping to the Index of the Teacher's Manual for the 1st and 2nd grade text/workbook assignments because the basic daily assignments are all assuming usage of K books. This isn't the end of the world, but it would be nicer if all the work was listed together (i.e. the 1st grade math assignment following the K math assignment vs. the 1st grade math assignment being listed in the Index only).

I'm sure there are more cons, but I haven't discovered them-- yet! I am very, very, very happy with this curriculum choice. Overall, it is a great fit for my kids and for me, and it an especially ideal situation as we head into a school year that looks to provide lots of upheaval (namely, a new baby due in mid October).