It is one of the first questions people ask me 
Which curriculum do you use? (And it is what I always ask others!) Here is an attempt to answer that question:
I bought the Robinson Curriculum because I wanted all the books included and it sounded so simple! I have not regretted buying this as it has such fantastic classics. It is a great resource to have. It is also fantastic value for money since it covers all years of schooling.
“The Well Trained Mind” by Susan Wise Bauer should be on every classical homeschooler’s bookshelf!! It is a wonderful resource that I come back to time and time again. Many of the books she has included in her suggested reading I have been able to purchase. It is a great guide to see what you could be doing with your child at the level they are at.
I also recently bought “How to design your own classical curriculum” by Laura Berquist. Although the author is Catholic and we are not, there is still a lot of information there that I can use. At the same time I bought “The Laurel Wreath” which is where she has put together a whole selection of copywork for all grade levels. Again, a wonderful resource!
Cindy Rushton’s “Homeschooling the Easy Way” and all her other books have also made a big impact on the way we homeschool. Her use of notebooking was a confirmation of what I have done all my life and how I learned things myself!
Last year I went through a slight panic attack stage since our oldest was nearing highschool and I thought I’d better do something “proper” with him! Ever thought this way?! Well, I searched the internet and researched all sorts of curriculum. I finally decided to buy Sonlight Core 2.
I was so excited when I got my box of goodies! I loved all the books and started the year with a bang, following the suggested schedule in the teacher’s manual. It didn’t take long until we were behind! I was finding it took too much time to read everything aloud with the children. This was a complete opposite approach to Mr Robinson who wanted the children to do it all on their own! I was thinking – now why should I be reading these science pages to the children? They can do it on their own! I also found the pace to go soooo quickly with Science and History. We wanted to spend more time on the Human Body and make a lapbook on it! But it put us behind schedule.
So, I again let go of my perfectionism and made the curriculum suit me. I have already ordered books from Cores 5 and 6 for next year – but only the ones that will fit into my school plans. I haven’t ordered the teacher’s guide because we don’t stick to it anyway. Sonlight is a fantastic curriculum and I am using it in my own way.
A few years ago my eyes were opened to the wonderful world of ebooks! My favorite ebook sites are:
Teachercreatedresources
Ebookdestination
Evan-moore
Homeschool estore
Now a lot of the books I purchase from these sites are WORKBOOKS!! Doesn’t really fit into a classical or Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling, does it? Well, as I have said in another part of this website, my children love them and they learn from them, so we use them.
We use them to put into our notebooks, lapbooks, or just to have a week where we go to the pool and fill in the blanks
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