We have had a fantastic school year. As always, there were some things that worked and some that didn’t work, but that is the exciting part of starting a new year, right?

I thought it would be fun to share my three favorite curriculum choices for this past year (and these are not in any particular order).

First, Khan Academy has been a huge help for my children this year.

We have taken biology, math, natural selection/evolution (yes, we do encourage reading about these theories), and some history classes. I’m sure I’m leaving a few out.

It’s free. It’s self-grading. It allows the parent to set the pace and direction for learning should they choose to do so.

It does contain some “politically correct” view points regarding over-population and religion, so do use this link with caution and oversight.

Second, we tried Teaching Textbooks for the first time last year with our children for math.

I’ve avoided this curriculum for years since I thought it was too expensive for our budget.

I’m realizing now it is actually incredibly affordable, re-usable for each of our children, self-graded, and self-paced.

It is my favorite find of 2014.

I can’t imagine homeschooling without it now.

We purchased the disk/book combination package. My children can watch the lectures, work through practice problems, and test through new concepts. If they have issues or if we are on the road for the day, they can go back and look through the lesson in the companion book.

It is a perfect fit for our family.

Hoffman Academy was also a great find for this last school year.

It is on You Tube and completely free. You can purchase optional books and flashcards to go along with your lessons from the Hoffman Piano site.

My children have been taking piano for several weeks using these lessons. Though I don’t think it replaces an actual teacher, I’m not in a position to have private piano lessons for all of my children and this was a great option.

There you have it- my 2014-2015 top three favorites.

What about you? Did you use something you loved this last year?