ASK HSF! ARCHIVES

Dear HSF,

I am trying to get ready for next year and am having trouble deciding which homeschooling curriculum to use. I want to hear from other parents who have used the programs about how their kids did with them. How can I get more ideas on what to use?


Dear HSF Reader,

For reviews of homeschooling products there are a few resources that I always check first.

Cathy Duffy’s reviews, including Top 100 picks.

Rainbow Resource Center reviews: Also, if you order their catalog you get detailed descriptions of every product with the author’s opinions as well. It is as big as a telephone book so be prepared to enjoy many blissful hours just perusing this one!

The Old Schoolhouse Reviews : This site boasts over 4000 product reviews organized by category for ease of use.

Homeschoolreviews.com : some of these are a little old, but still worth checking.

But my all time favorite resource is the user forum on the Well Trained Mind homeschooling website! This website is primarily used by “classical” homeschoolers, but there is great feedback on a variety of products. Just type the name of the product you are considering in the search field, or the topic you are investigating (i.e., “hands on science”, “2nd grade math”, “art ideas”) and you are sure to get recommendations or reviews from users.

For high school, in addition to the Well Trained Mind forums, you can also get lots of good feedback on high school level curriculum at the yahoo group, Homeschool2college.

Finally, for ideas for reading material that is leveled to your child’s ability, I like to check the Sonlight catalogue for lots of quality books with the appropriate reading level noted. You can order the catalogue from Sonlight or view it online.

If other readers have more ideas for investigating curriculum/products, please send your tips to be published in an upcoming issue.

Sincerely,

Beth Redmond
Editor, Homeschool Frederick!