My son has been like that... He knew his letters and sounds before he was 2, from watching SuperWhy! (while I was collapsed on the couch dealing with morning sickness.) So when he was 3, and "reading" everything he saw letter by letter, I wanted something a little more structured for him. We were also just bored, since we stay at home every day.
After doing tons of research, I made the plunge and started our "official" homeschool journey. Here's a summary of what we have tried, in the order in which we tried them.
1. Sonlight P3/4
I love books so I wanted to get this for my son! I tried to cut costs by purchasing about half the books in this core, but now I wish I had bought them all (since I think that if I ever purchase the rest of it, I'll end up spending much more in the long run).
These are the books/materials we purchased: 20th Century Children's Book Treasury, A First Book of Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics, The Usborne Flip-Flap Body Book, What Do People Do All Day?, Mighty Mind, Teddy Mix and Match
What we liked: We love all the story book and fairy tale collections! (but... see below). Teddy Mix and Match and Mighty Mind are also a success, although Mighty Mind requires adult supervision if it's not to be eaten by a younger sibling, become projectiles, or become lost.
What we didn't like: I don't like the ending of the Little Mermaid story in the First Book of Fairy Tales (I edit the ending), and the Harper Collins collection is a HUGE book and not easy for a child to carry around and read (although I'm happy with the full sized illustrations!). The Flip Flap Body Book seems more appropriate for an older child (perhaps 4 or 5 year old?).
Verdict: Success! (although we didn't try ALL the books)
2. My Father's World Toddler Package
Since I wanted to try My Father's World in the future, I decided to try out their toddler package which I hoped would help my son with sorting, classifying, colors, shapes, and motor skills.
What we liked: These are fun! Even I like to sit down and play with them. These toys are sturdy, colorful, and educational.
What we didn't like: The activities were too simple for my son. Although he enjoys playing with the toys, he loses interest after a few minutes. I wish we had gotten the preschool package instead, although now my almost 2 year old loves playing with these!
Verdict: So-so (my son could have used the preschool package instead, but this is excellent for a 2 year old!)
3. Heart of Dakota: Little Hands to Heaven
This looked like such a sweet program! But it was WAY too simple for my 3 year old! We were both bored with it and ditched it after I made us go through with it for about two weeks. I still think this is a good program, but I think it would be better suited for a 2 year old.
What we liked: The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes and Big Thoughts for Little People (I had these when I was a little girl! Maybe that's why I love them so much!)
What we didn't like: Most of the activities and The Singing Bible. This music drove me crazy. I didn't care for the music, the lyrics, or the voices. Yep. That pretty much sums it up.
Verdict: Failure (for our 3 year old)
4. Rod and Staff Preschool ABC books
I had heard a lot about these workbooks, and they were cheap so I decided to try them. There was only one problem: my son didn't have the fine motor skills to do workbooks yet. We spent a year working on the first book, doing a page over several days. I also learned that my son got frustrated when his lines weren't "perfect." So these books showed me what a little perfectionist my son is, and how in the future I'll have to watch that he doesn't give up when something becomes too tough.
What we liked: My son just wasn't ready to use these to the fullest, so we just pulled them out whenever he asked for them. As the year progressed, my son learned to hold a pencil correctly (when reminded frequently) and he became so excited when he was able to draw a line "all by myself!"
What we didn't like: My son became frustrated whenever we tried to do too much (we could only do about a page every couple of days). But that was because of his maturity level.
Verdict: So-so (for my 3 year old's motor skills)
5. Sonlight P4/5
After our failure with Heart of Dakota and success with the Sonlight books, we decided to try more Sonlight books and go with the next core!
What we liked: I loved most of the books.
What we didn't like: These books were over my son's head! The suggested age range is 4-5, and I think that's about right! My son couldn't sit through these books at the beginning of the school year, so I sold the set I had purchased. (By the end of the school year he was sitting through long stories, so I repurchased the core for next year, and I'm excited about using them!) There are also a few stories from Stories from Around the World and one story from the Children's Book of Virtues that I'm planning to leave out (due to references to gods/goddesses and North American Indian spirituality.)
Verdict: So-so (Failure for a 3 year old, but I'm planning to try again in the fall with a 4 year old)
By mid-year, I had finished with my experimenting and stuck with what worked: reading lots of stories, listening to fun music, coloring, and playing with play dough.
Do you have any initial homeschool curriculum failures?
