If you’ve seen my curriculum choices, you will have noticed I use a lot of Peace Hill Press’ products! We are currently using Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading, First Language Lessons, Story of the World, and Writing With Ease.  Here’s what I love about their programs:

Classical

Peace Hill Press is led by the authors (Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer) of The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. This book is among those I consider to be the most influential both in my decision to homeschool and in my overall educational philosophy. PHP’s products follow the methodology set forth in TWTM’s particular flavour of classical education.

Teacher Friendly (Open & Go)

You most definitely can homeschool according to TWTM without using PHP’s programs. There are many other curricula recommended in the book aside from their own, as well as information on how to put together your own course of study. Before I started homeschooling formally, I planned on using relevant passages from our history and literature selections for narration, dictation, and copywork. While I still think this is ideal, as a new, busy, and inexperienced homeschooler I decided to go with their prepared writing curriculum which uses selections from children’s classics.  No preparation required.  FLL, OPGTTR, WWE, and SOTW are all well scripted and easy to use. Of all their programs, SOTW requires the most prep and even that I find minimal. I request the recommended supplemental books from the library a few weeks in advance and make photocopies of maps, templates, and colouring pages. That’s it! If there is a craft or activity I want to do with the kids, I do have to assemble the materials.

Non Consumable and/or reproducible

As a homeschooling parent with multiple children, I really appreciate this! I can photocopy extra colouring pages for my 4 year old without violating copyright, AND use the whole program again with her when we cycle through history with her later. The WWE & FLL workbooks also allow copying for use within your own family. FLL 1 & 2 and OPGTTR are also completely non consumable. So once you purchase a given level of any of their materials, you’re good to go for the rest of your children!

Affordable

Peace Hill Press’ products are not costly. For example, OPGTTR can be purchased for less than $20. Compare that to leading phonics programs that requires teacher’s manuals, student worksheets, manipulatives or readers. PHP materials can also be purchased on Amazon, unlike many other homeschool curriculum that must be purchased either directly from the publisher or from homeschool/educational suppliers. This means free shipping and no duty, which for me as a Canadian is definitely a plus! While I do recognize that you may be able to provide your child with a first rate education solely with a library card and an internet connection, the cost of purchasing curriculum from PHP is small compared to the cost of some of the boxed curriculum providers which cost around $1 000/year per child!

High Quality, Simple & Effective!

It is amazing to me how simple, yet effective their programs are. My first daughter learned to read using OPGTTR just a few short years ago and now there is no stopping her! When you are finished with that book, your child is reading at a 4th grade reading level. Which for her was early in the first grade. I love the emphasis on focusing on the basics in the early grades and building skills rather than emphasizing creativity which the child will be better able to express once they have mastered the basic skills required for doing so. I’ve only seen the fruit of two years of writing and grammar instruction, but I am amazed so far!

Some other things about Peace Hill Press that may appeal to you:

• Their books are available for PDF download offering both financial savings and ease of use for printing those reproducible work pages.
• The have high quality audio companions for many of their products, most notably The Story of the World read by Jim Weiss. He’s so talented and a treat to listen to!
• They now offer “School in a Box” with all the recommended curricula including those not published by themselves. They are currently offering Kindergarten through Second Grade packages.

Are you a Peace Hill Press user? What do you like most about their products?

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This post shared on Trivium Tuesdays and The Hip Homeschool Hop.