Is there a homeschool course

Question:
I'm in Australia and my wife is currently doing ACE homeschool with our eldest son (5). We began right at the start - with the ACE Preschool and he is about to start ABC's with Ace & Christi. This section only lasts a matter of weeks and cost us $75. Not to count all the affiliation fees etc., that we haven't yet paid because we're still at a basic level. Then there's the novels later on, score keys... Who can afford this!?

Anyway... Is there a cheaper course that is all laid out (preferable Australian content - but all suggestions welcome) - OR - does anyone know of a complete curriculum maybe on CD-ROM (I thought I saw this somewhere recently, but I can't find it now.)

Answer:
-Have you considered buying your ACE curriculum directly from ACE? This might help. I used ACE for my children through 8th and some beyond. I never paid affliation fees. This program is consumable except for the skeys.

Their website is www.schooloftomorrow.com.

-In our "heyday," the homeschool curriculum from A Beka would cost us over 600 dollars for four children. We would try to maximize re-use. Our oldest was sort of a pioneer in that we'd buy his curriculum, completely new, every year. Now he's in college and there is are no more curriculum pioneers in our family so the cost definitely came down. Not sure how much - it's been months since we wrote the check.

-Have your ever thought of designing your own curriculum? It's not at all difficult. Between the library and less expensive books you can really reduce the cost. For example, for phonics many of us have used _Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons_ or _Alpha Phonics_. TYCTR is $13 American, and AP is also inexpensive. Plus these are designed to be reused.

Many other books and book sets can be used in such a way as to make them reusable, by copying (if it's not a violation of copyright laws) or by writing answers on a separate paper. Some, like Math U See, only require purchasing another student workbook for additional children (one part of the total package).

If you feel strongly that you need a curriculum which outlines everything for you, and if you are interested in classical Christian education, I've been looking at _Tapestry of Grace_. For about $130 American, you get a whole year of history which includes grammar, writing, science - everything except math, along with lesson plans, teacher notes, etc. The best part is that you can use it with all your children at once, as it list separate assignments for different levels. The reading assignments are not included, but should be easily obtainable from the library.

You can peruse their site at www.tapestryofgrace.com.