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100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing the Right Educational Philosophy for Your Child's Learning Style
by
Cathy Duffy
The key to successful home education, homeschool veterans will tell you, is determining your educational philosophy and marrying it to your childs learning style. Then you can make an informed decision in choosing the right educational curriculum for the child. This is the formula for success. In 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, homeschool guru Cathy Duffy can hel...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
February 1st 2005
by B&H Publishing Group
(first published January 2005)
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I found this to be an incredibly helpful book. First, Cathy Duffy encourages you to take an honest look at your personality, learning style, time constraints, and confidence (because, like Willy Wonka said, "Confidence is key."). You then deduce these same items in your children. Based upon the results, the author makes suggestions regarding the method or approach you should take in homeschooling.
The second half of the book offers up the author's top curriculum suggest...more
The second half of the book offers up the author's top curriculum suggest...more
Margaret
rated it
Recommends it for:
homeschooling families
Recommended to Margaret by:
Lynne
Shelves:
homeschooling,
library-book
I found this one in my local library system. As AppleBlossom's first birthday is right around the corner I have been thinking about the future a lot. One thing in serious consideration is homeschooling. My first choice is a Classical Christian School like I substitute taught at in Georgia. But considering the tuition, and our projected budget, it would be more realistic to homeschool with Classical Christian elements.
Being at the beginning of research, this is the perfect book for peo...more
Being at the beginning of research, this is the perfect book for peo...more
I have read many a homeschooling book and I found this one to be one of the most helpful for choosing my basic educational philosophy. Duffy's "quiz" helped me to evaluate my educational beliefs from several different angles and then pointed me toward the approaches that best encompass those. Very enlightening.
I only gave the book three stars because, as another reviewer pointed out, the word "Christian" really should be somewhere in the title, so you at least k...more
I only gave the book three stars because, as another reviewer pointed out, the word "Christian" really should be somewhere in the title, so you at least k...more
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Since I'm still just investigating home-schooling, I read parts of this book and skimmed other parts. I think it's a great resource for seeing what kinds of materials are out there. It's good that the author started with types of home-schooling and learning types and then rated materials based on those things so that home-schoolers can find their best fit.
My kids are 12, 9, 7, 6 and 2 and four of them are in a terrific public school system. I'm playing with the idea of home-school...more
My kids are 12, 9, 7, 6 and 2 and four of them are in a terrific public school system. I'm playing with the idea of home-school...more
I found this to be a fairly helpful guide. It's a bit complex since the author tries to rate curriculum based many different features (ease of use, prep time involved, type of learner the child is, helpfulness of the teacher's guide, etc.) But once you get the hang of all of the ratings, this is a good book for the eclectic homeschooler who is not necessarily looking to exclusively use a boxed set curriculum. I was disappointed to not have more through reviews of companies who provide boxed se...more
I am homeschooling from a secular perspective and I found this book a waste of time and down right deceptive. Of course, I should of been prepared for that, but I was hoping for something less biased. Especially since the cover says nothing about religion. I was not familiar with Cathy Duffy before picking the book by chance at the library and now I am warned.
Coverage of preschool curriculum was dismal. Every curriculum presented was from a religious standpoint, so at least now I know ...more
Coverage of preschool curriculum was dismal. Every curriculum presented was from a religious standpoint, so at least now I know ...more
This was a wonderful book and more than I expected it to be. I highly recommend this to other homeschoolers who are just starting out or any veterans who may want to reevaluate what their doing, to try and figure out their kids' learning styles or even just to look through the reviews of the different curricula as you head into a new year. It gave me tons of insights and ideas. Once all my kids are established in school I'll probably buy the book (as I'm sure they'll be updates) and until then I...more
This book is great! The first half has you think through what you want to get out of homeschooling, and what your resources/limitations/preferences are. Then there's the list of 100 picks in a table that rates on things like ease of use, whether or not teacher manuals are necessary, how programs suit different learning styles, etc. After that there are nice, in-depth reviews of each of the 100 top picks as well as lists of "honorable mentions" with a brief description. You can then...more
Why did I read this? Oh, yeah, it was my wife's idea. She's on her deliciously long winter break and is looking for something to do. Me, I'm going to be putting in weekend overtime so that we can take a two week trip and not have the kids fall too far behind. So remind me, how is home schooling better than public schools? Seriously, this one is an overview of the wonderful world of home school materials out there. Ms. Duffy picks out what she considers the 100 best packages and offers her review...more
Great book for anyone new to homeschooling who is overwhelmed by the thousands of choices available. Cathy Duffy helps you to define your philosophy of education via a series of questions and a short quiz, which in turn helps direct you in your search for curriculum that is aligned with your philosophy and approach to teaching. My only regret is that the book limits itself to the top 100! I'd love it if she did a series of books such as "the top 100 for elementary", "top 100 fo...more
This book was so helpful for me, as I am going to try homeschooling in a couple years. It isn't just a review of different textbooks. Before you even get to that part, there are questions for you to answer that help you figure out your homeschooling goals, your child's learning style, what your child needs to learn at what age. Then there are charts that help you match up textbooks or other books/programs to the goals and methods you have chosen for your family. Then come reviews of each book on...more
This book was recommended by a home schooling friend. It is great because the author tells you the top curriculum's she has researched.
It also tells you which curriculum is best for your child based on their learning style and by completing a questionnaire you can tell which curriculum is best for your teaching style.
She also has an updated website online which lists updates.
It also tells you which curriculum is best for your child based on their learning style and by completing a questionnaire you can tell which curriculum is best for your teaching style.
She also has an updated website online which lists updates.
was a very helpful book in identifying my philosophy of the approach I would like to take to teach my own children preschool (they will go to public school for kindergarten and on, but I am teaching them preschool). It had a lot of ideas that I had not thought of yet...excellent resource for anyone who wants to do any sort of schooling with their kids.
This book is billed as a great resource for all homeschooling families, but that is just not the case. The author/reviewer is heavily slanted toward curriculum that focuses on biblical perspectives. None of the science curricula listed teach evolution and some of them actively teach against it. I'm glad I did not pay for this book.
I particularly enjoyed the part about learning styles. It gave a lot more information about learning styles than I have read anywhere else. It was revelatory. Also, the curriculum picks really helped me figure out where to start. I went to the website listed in the book, and it was very helpful in providing me with even more reviews.
This book was a great resource in directing us toward what curriculums to use when we started homeschooling. Up until I read this book I was confused and overwhelmed with the wealth of choices out there and I didn't know where to start. Reading through this book set my mind at ease and got me started in the right direction.
This has been one of my favorite homeschooling books so far. It gives a really good overview of each style of homeschooling so you can see the options you may want to go with. It also gives a lot of good resources and rates each website or book with a star rating so you know which are the best places to check out.
The author was far too preachy and political for my tastes -- had some good info in the beginning but the review setup made reading those early chapters a must -- not a basic review type book -- had some interesting tidbits but did nothing in helping to create a curriculum 1 1/2 to 2 stars
I always have this book at my side when shopping for the school year. Not only does Duffy give thorough reviews of her top curriculum picks. She also takes you through the process of identifying your learning style and philosophy of education, as well as your child's learning style.
Good reference book as a starting point for figuring out your child's learning styles and curriculum to match. I was glad she made also made me think about my educational philosophy for my children. Everyone is different, and it helped me to see what we wanted to do.
Meh. The author is biased on different curriculums, and biased against all things public school. It's not meant for a fence-sitter on the whole home-schooling thing. And just goes to show how complicated things are out there.
I found this book extremely helpful. I love that she doesn't only give you suggestions for curriculum, but explains how different people learn/teach and what to consider when picking a curriculum for your child.
Elaine
added it
now i did not read this cover to cover. It is not that type of book. This was very useful to sort threw curriculum's. Learning styles where helpful, I think we all hit on them all from time to time.
Fantastic book! I can't stress enough how valuable this book was for me. It did all the hard work for me so that I could take my time making the best school year possible!
I would give it 5 stars, because it is very helpful, but the author is coming from a particular type of religious background, and makes this a priority in considering curriculum. What I mean is that I am trying to avoid young-earth, creationist based materials while she maintains that creationism is the only way to go.
It is a wonderful resource for determining your and your child's learning style, and for wading through all of the curriculum options available, but her Top 100 list is bia...more
It is a wonderful resource for determining your and your child's learning style, and for wading through all of the curriculum options available, but her Top 100 list is bia...more
Naomi
added it
Reading this book was a turning point in my life, one I am very grateful for. I knew I wanted to homeschool, yet had no idea what type of curriculum to look into, let alone what types of curriculum there even were. My baby-sitter's mother loaned this book to me and after taking the questionnaire in it, learned my answers corresponded most with the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling. 2 years of homeschooling later, I can wholeheartedly agree that I am exactly where I was meant to be. This bo...more
The beginning of this book was very helpful. It helped me identify what methods of homeschooling I like best. It also listed many different curriculum and why she liked them. I didn't find this as helpful. Overall I was glad I read this book.
good resource
This is right up my alley as a spreadsheet lover. The author has given a bried overview of homeschooling including the different types. Structured to unschooling and many choices between, with a handy quiz to help determine which ones fit your style. She covers different learning styles of parents and students and then she has a spreadsheet of different curriculums and where they fit into this realm, along with reviews!
Really a great read with great information!
Really a great read with great information!
A must read for anyone preparing or thinking of homeschooling. EXCELLENT!!
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