Anyone bought a structured curriculum box set?

[tiggy114]

Hi, i think we're returning to home ed as school isn't suitable. For many reasons, but mainly to take off the pressure as i hVe a toddler to look after, i am looking at buying a national curriculum based school in a box type set for the whole year. You get a timetable and all the books needed. The only UK company i can find is "structured home learning" and their year 5 set is £400. You can't see the books before you buy though so i can't see if they're any good. Has anyone had these books? Also has anyone used a different company in the UK? There seems to be loads in the US and even a montessori ste one but not much over here. Any recommendations?

£400 sounds excessive for anything. I would look on EBay for some cheap books for yr5.

It's a full curriculum and timetable to work to so i guess your paying for them to plan your childs lessons for you, for the year. So literally like school at home. But i'm hoping that on a one to one basis, we can get through stuff in the mornings and have more free time than he would be getting at school.

You could look on the Internet and get the planning for free! e.g here

I think it depends on

what style home ed you want-so structured not autonomous.

how confident you feel-had you home educated before?

what did you use then?

Noticed theres lot curriculum in states in quite faith based like sonlight.

at home you dont have to follow national curriculum

will child be returning to school at state?

I suppose 400 for every subject in a years ok.

But think it be more fun to cherry pick what you thinks best.

so maybe singapore maths/science.
but galore park for english, history.
add a language.

you can get some stuff off ebay even teachers packs.

also lots for free online.

most shops sell workbooklets.

got some letts ones in lidls for 99p each.

I joined the well trained mind forum and erad some home blogs mostly usa and they seem to lay out their curriculum and discuss it seems way vaster than uk state curriculum and some interesting bits.

Guess be more fun to tailor it to what yours childs interested in.

I actually liking computer based learnings ixl looks good and only £59 a year for maths. combined with some free worksheets and some cheap keystage 2 workbooklets .

good luck, im sure someone more experienced have something to add.

Thanks. Yeah i have some galore park books. I just really struggled when we home edded before to get him to do anything besides minecraft, which caused alot of arguments with other family members and i can't take the stress of all that again. Plus i had a babe in arms before and now i have a lively toddler. Thats why i think a structured but mornings only timetable would be a good compromise. I've seen stuff like sonlight but we're not christian or indeed relugious at all so have been a bit turned off by them. Hmm lots to think about.

Are you sure that he thinks that a mornings only structured timetable is a good compromise? I would sort out what you are going to do before you take him away. A lively toddler makes it more difficult than a baby IMO.

Yes your right exotic. It's very difficult with a toddler but school is causing mental and physical problems so i don't see a choice but to home school. Plus i do think it's a better way for kids than boring school anyway. It's just the fact that i have a toddler and will be doing all the educating myself as dad works long hours.

Oh goodness, the "I really struggled ...to get him to do anything besides minecraft" really rings a bell! My son is 12 and would happily play Minecraft all day if I let him. We are starting home educating again next week (have had the summer off) and we are going to be doing a mornings only routine four days a week, leaving afternoons and Fridays free for flexible learning/outings/projects/socialising/sports, etc. I haven't ordered a boxed curriculum, but I have ordered a Science course for one year from Little Arthur, however their courses start from age 11, so no good for your son just yet.

I home educated DS1 for a year during Year 6 and we used BBC Bitesize and some revision books for Science, English and Maths. I know what you mean about wanting a boxed curriculum, but we found following the revision books and online stuff worked fine and I was surprised when DS had gone up a level in all his subjects when he went back to school because I had thought we weren't doing enough.

Sorry, this doesn't exactly answer your question, but it may be that you don't have to fork out £400 and can still cover all the stuff your son needs to know. If he is amenable to working through workbooks (lots of children aren't), then your lessons for those subjects are sorted for him anyway. We used MathsWhizz for a while too, so I could get on with other things whilst he was learning Maths online.

Something I have organised for our latest attempt at home educating is CD-ROMs for Maths and English. My plan is to let DS1 use them, but disconnect the Internet, so he can't sneak onto Minecraft when my back is turned! These have the advantage of seeming like play, whilst he is actually learning. My son is going to be using the Times series of CD-Roms, but for your son something like this would be more useful. There are lots more on Amazon that you can browse through. You could leave him to play on a CD-ROM whilst you are busy with your toddler.

I know what you mean about family members judging. One lesson I learned was to give us a day off home educating whenever a family member came to stay, as the stress of being watched and judged to see if we were 'educating' enough, combined with the break in our normal routine because we had a visitor, proved to be a disastrous combination. Our home education goes just fine when it's me and DS1 together in our usual routine, but it goes awry when people are watching us.

Lots of outings might work well for you with a toddler too. You can hopefully satisfy family members' doubts by saying you are going on 'educational trips'.

That was going to be my next question

whats he been like since returning to school after home ed?
has he freinds, is he happy and settled, coping with the work?

I do sympathise as have husband who works long hours and 2toddlers at home.

My 17month old quite easy going but OMG my 3year olds hard work.
she does 1 fullday a week nursery at cost to us since 18months and its been really good for her as was very clingy before and she now has some freinds as dont have freinds with kids in that age group.

shes starting preschool in sept one afternoon and one day.
its more like plagroup no formal schooling.

I like idea of home ed but my eldest nearly7 and going into year 2 likes school but would like to flexi school on day toddlers in nursery.

If I was to home ed I would

be in a routine
I would be structured
especially if teaching more than 1child or have few kids at home as would be only way i would feel would get some things done .

I would have to a loose curriculum and lessons planned.
But in afternoons would like to be more autonmous doing topic work and going out .

I would do hours literacy and numercacy in morning.

I have no idea what minecraft is. assume its computer game.
maybe some computer based learning with maths might be cheaper and better suited to him.

What concerns me is how co-operative he might be.
you say he wont do anything but minecraft.
how do you get him to do other stuff?

would hate for you to spend 400quid on curriculum he wont do.

on the well trained mind noticed people cherry pick curriculums and some get loads for free.

theres quite a bit out there.

would you consider honme ed at secondry?
would you join a local group?
does he go to any clubs or classes outside school?
some other hibby maybe to distract from minecraft.

also you say caused rows between you and your partner?
as think you both need to be in agreement.
Or other family members?

Have seen this site reccomended

alittlebitofstructure.webs.com/

good luck hope works out for you.

maybe you can ultilise some resources byou already have
look for free stuff
then buy stuff around the gaps maybe searching ebay and amazon for potential bargains.

No my son is very unhappy at school. He had stress problems related to ASD. But has now developed tics as well leading to bullying. He is really unhappy. I think he would do the work set now, as he'll do anything not to go bsck to school it's awful. But taking a break from hime ed when family visits won't make that situation better either as unfortunatly i have been threatened by a family member with sovial services if i take my son out of school again :( will look at that website and see if i can get some ideas.

Ahh tiggy sounds awful. Does sound like in sons case home ed maybe better soloution.

I often read blogs about people home dding 4-5kids so im sure 2kids including toddler can be made workable.

when you say family visits you mean family come to stay overnight?

I know some are not keen on la involvement.
But I spoke to my education welfare officer other day he seemed nice I think some la more home ed freindly than others maybe.

Some have vists from education officer who seem mosty happy with what they done.

Its legal option so dont see what social would say about it?

For me I like structure and set times as sometimes kids like som routine and then after certain time can have some downtime do whatever we all want and not feel guilty or worrying we havent done enough.

Toffee whirl gave some good suggestions.

Dont know hold old toddler is but maybe look up free crafts ideas,toddler play and try occupy toddler whilst you teaching son in morning then do a trip out in afternoon even if just to park-could do nature journal.Maybe if he had his own camera he could take photos, drawing book and pencil do some sketching try and find some nice hobbies that he enjoys and build up portfolio of whats hes learning.

Theres a link by julian shoes to few home ed books which might be beneficial. have you contacted education otherwise?

workbook wise -whsmith even supermarkets and shop called the works has quitea few books cheap so maybe start off small with online maths subscription and few workbooklets and build up routine and extra curriculum as months go on.

I would investigate your local HE scene and get advice from them and see what they offer.

"..I have been threatened by a family member with social services if I take my son out of school again..."

You do know that social services won't do anything, don't you? You have the law on your side and are perfectly at liberty to deregister your child from school. You are not neglecting your child!

And, let's get this clear, your son has ASD and tics, is being bullied at school and is - surprise! - very unhappy there, but your family member thinks it's better to threaten you with social services than to support you or him in coping with his special needs. Honestly, this just makes me fume on your behalf.

Incidentally, like mam, my LEA contact is very supportive of home ed. It stuns sceptical family members when I say that. If you are lucky enough to have an LEA supportive of local home educators (you could find out by asking on local HE Yahoo forums) that might silence your difficult family member.

Hi Tiggy - how old is your son?

I know that for a lot of families even the idea of a curriculum in a box/structured plan to work to is not something to investigate but it does work for many - especially if you have little ones at home too.

Our household is better with structure for a lot of reasons. It doesnt necessarily need to cost a lot either. - There are free online resources (though I havent found many I am personallly a fan of).

If your family want to threaten you with calling social services I say let them! If social services do visit your home they are likely to see a loving mum with her children playing together, books in the shelves and in their hands, a garden to play in and a clean, tidy home (mostly!) They are most likely to 'close the case' and wish you well. (based on what I have read)

Your son is desperately unhappy at school and has started to develop additional problems as a result. (my ASD son was at 7 talking daily about killing himself, refusing most food at school and possibly becoming a self harmer)
You as his mother, know him and his needs best. Do what is best for him not what will make your family happy. (especially as its presumably you who deals with the daily fall out when he gets home from school).

I have HEd for 3 years with almost no family support (but no toddler!) and although difficult sometimes it is definitely worth it when I realise the enormous difference it has made to both my dc.

My advice is take him out of school, see how you go until Christmas and consider your options - by Christmas you may have found your groove a bit more.

Thanks all for your advuce so far. My son is 9. I know social services won't do anything but i'm worried about my relationship with the family member conserned. I feel if they call SS, i may have to sever our ties which makes me sad. Anyway, through some of your links, i've come up with a vague 2 hr a day structure. So like half hour each of maths and english, half hour topic and half hour of reading and spelling a day. I can fit this in to coincide with toddler nap times so should be do able. Does anyone know where i can read the curriculum for year 5 online? Had a little google but couldn't find anything.

This school site provides a guide to Year 5. The BBC provides Science topics for specific ages here. There's a Year 5 spelling resource here. Do a google search for KS2 stuff generally as well, eg. the BBC schools website.

HTH.

I really would avoid boxed curriculums as I think it can slow down progress and is too rigid but it will be interesting to see if you find success with this one. :)

Woodlands Junior School is one of the best sites here and Crickweb here

I bought one when my first son came out of school. Can I say that the books cost so little money in the pack. It's a really huge mark up. Yes it gave me this reassurance that I was covering what was needed, as I thought I had to 'teach' him. The pack sat unused after a month. He couldn't cope with school at home. He has unschooled now for 6 years. Gamed for a long long time, but also gained so much knowledge from gaming. He has learnt how to pull computers apart, build computers and repair them. I didn't pay for anything to teach him how do do that, he has found out how to do all of that from hunting on the Internet.
Sonlight can be used secular, I am reading lots of the books to my seven year old. They have some really good stories such as robin hood, mr poppers
Penguins, aesops fables. Charlottes web. We really enjoy them.
There are lots of free resources you can find on the Internet. Are you on fb as there are some great home ed groups on there where people share websites.

Hi, it has been long time but did you ended buying this homeschool kit and were you happy with it?