Most homeschoolers have heard of McGuffey's Readers and Ray's Arithmetic. I am not unique, I too, have heard about these for years. The difference for me, is that I learned how to read using McGuffey's. No, I wasn't homeschooled, but the small private school we attended used them as our readers!
McGuffey's and Ray's were written in the 1800's, when I think of them, I always think of Little House on the Prairie, imagining the one room school house. So when I first heard about Ray's Arithmetic I was also intrigued by them. Wondering, what in the world would these look like.
McGuffey's use phonics to teach reading, and Ray's focus's on mental math. It is a very interesting way to teach math!
Overall, I love the idea of using old books to teach my children. So several years ago I purchased the full set of McGuffey's and Ray's. I have used them both in my homeschool over the years.
This year as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was given a free copy of the Eclectic Education Series from Dollar Homeschool, in exchange for my honest review. My impression was that it was going to be basically just Ray's and McGuffey's in PDF format.
While that is true, however, it is much much more! The shear number of books that are included in this package is staggering. In all honesty, if you put to use every single thing that is included you will not need to purchase much of anything else.. if anything at all for most of your homeschooling journey.
There are a couple things I wanted to point out, first is that several, if not all of these books are available free on the internet. However, you would have to scour the internet to find them, and then you would need to organize them,.. etc. With EES, all of that leg work has been done for you! And if you are anything like me, even if you want to get the most value for your dollar, this is something that is worth the cost. EES is available for $159, which is a $56 savings if you were to purchase the titles separately . .
Click Here to see exactly what you are receiving.
The set includes 5 cds:
Mc Guffey's Readers
EES Grammar
History
Science
Ray's Arithmetic
As I work through the books offered as part of the Eclectic Education Series, It was hard to know where to begin. Thankfully there is included in the series, is a book, called Manual of Methods. This book really explains the intent of the books included in the EES, and how to use them in your home. It was written in 1800 to go along with these books.
As, I read through the Manual of Methods, I wished that I had access to this book, when I first purchased my hardcover copies of Ray's and McGuffey's.
What the Manual of Methods offers that I did not previously have, is a guide book to these awesome resources. Telling you how to utilize the books and the lessons. Not only that, there are lessons to the teacher. How to teach reading and writing and arithmetic. How the mind works and how the material should be presented.
There were several times I was reading this book, thinking.. yes, that's right...... One of those times when I read the quote.."No matter what textbook is used, it should be used only as a guide, and it's subject matter should be supplemented or cut down, as in the teacher's judgment, necessity requires.' ~ Manual of Methods 1885
There is wisdom contained in the many volumes included with EES, and if you take the time to dig deep, you will be able to furnish your child/ren with an amazing education using these resources.
One thing that may or may not need to be mentioned. These books are old, so they are not chalk full of snazzy graphics, and color. They are very simple. However, there is quality within the pages of those books!
You can use this as a full curriculum or as a supplement, either way it is a great deal. I would not have had the time or patience to locate all of the books included.
Take some time and peruse the links listed to see if this resource would be beneficial to your family.
And don't forget to check out the crew blog, to see what my crew mates think!
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