hi - my daughter turns 4 in december and we are doing some pre-k stuff now (not much, really), but feel as though we will start something "more" next fall. i don't feel as though she needs to wait until the next year to start, even though that is when she would start ps if she went. i have another daughter who will be 2 1/2 next fall and i will have a 3 mo baby. i am struggling between...sonlight core b plus, mfw k with some sonlight books, rod and staff workbooks, or just going with the abeka k for now (i am not a big fan of doing abeka all the way through, but would consider doing it, with lots of supplemental reading for younger years because of the basics they have to learn...reading, math, etc.) i read 100 top homeschooling picks and it turns out we prefer a charlotte mason approach; but it is important to me that she learn about the same things other kids are learning at the same time...give or take a few things. any thoughts from a veteran??
If you're wanting a Charlotte Mason approach, ABeka probably would not be the best choice. It is a lot of seat work even on the K level from what I have heard. (I've no experience with it though, I'm sure some here do.) In fact, Charlotte Mason really pooh-poohs ANY kind of textbook at all. LOL I don't know much about Sonlight, only that it's Christian and it's expensive. I've heard a lot of good things about MFW - you can make it as hands-on as you want. It's a unit study type of approach, also Christian. We use Rod & Staff for our 3rd grade English, and I have a "sample" book for first grade. It's also a lot of seat work, but looks to be an excellent program. It is of course, I assume you realize, also very Christian in nature. To take a Charlotte Mason approach, you'd probably not end up purchasing ANY of those, or anything else for that matter. A good site to get a "scope and sequence" to make sure your K-er "keeps up with peers" etc is the World Book site. This page is the K list; see the prek list as well. Another good resource, from your library, are the "What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know" book series. Insert "kindergartner" or "first grader" etc in the blank - there's a different book for each grade level. Charlotte Mason is about letting life teach the lessons it needs. She works with phonics, and reads "living books" to the children. She focuses on very short lessons, 10 minutes or so at this age. She's very big on getting OUTSIDE and observing, talking when children ask questions but mostly just letting them absorb. Maybe directing their attention to the blades of grass or a bug on the sidewalk etc, but not much more "teaching" than that. Anyway. Phone is ringing - hope this is of some help!
thanks! i have read "for the childrens sake" so i am somewhat familiar with charlotte mason...i just loved that book! it turns out mfw sends you that book with your k curriculum...that tells me, i probably agree with their philosophy. LOL i will probably go that route (mfw)...extra books, and extra time outside...i think...LOL
I started my daugher's K with MFW...I like the first...oh...8 lessons...then it got mildly burned out on it...and I think she did too. I, however, didn't have enough confidence in myself to keep things interesting b/c there was SSOO much that i felt I needed to fill in w/ my imagination to keep it fun (I was pregnant at the time and in NO mood to be creative). So I spent $800 on the Sonlight core+ thinking I would like the structure....I did. Loved the horizons math, LOVED the I can read it books and worksheet lessons, loved the history...HATED the price and the readers...They were waaaay too old for a K student. Now that she's in first grade and I'm much more confident in myself I'm really having fun putting together my own curriculum.
MFW is probably one I'd purchase if I was one to purchase boxed curriculums. We piece ours together from a little of this, a ltitle of that, stuff given to us, the library, internet resources, and cheap things that I just *MUST* have because it's the best for us for whatever reason. More books on Charlotte Mason include the two by Catherine Levison; I think they're titled "A Charlotte Mason Education" and "More Charlotte Mason Education". The first outlines some basics, and the second shows how to put them into practice. Ambleside is a free online curriculum that is based on the CM philosophy, and includes for all grade levels.
If I'm not wrong, Five in A Row is sort of a Charlotte Mason perspective. And it's not expensive. I think it's $20 for the books for each volume? The expense comes in collecting the outside materials. (ETA: that's not expensive, either. Dollar store stuff. I think my daughter's kindergarten year cost me about $100. We were able to borrow all but two of the books from our library). I did FIAR Volume 1 with my eldest when she was in Kindergarten. We LOVED it. Although, as she grew she became more of a workbook, check it off, kinda kid, so now we use Alpha Omega. My daughter's involved ina book club, so I usually use a FIAR type approach to the book and see what kind of lessons we can learn from it. Anyway...hope I helped.
I'm no veteran, but I am looking at MFW K as well. In fact, I called MFW today, lol! They are very nice and informative on the phone. I have a dd in 1st grade (not using MFW) now, but I'm looking at starting up my 3yo next spring. She is a little younger than yours; she will be 4 in March. However, she is wanting to tag along with her big sis at this point and so I'm thinking of starting MFW K slowly. I believe our main issue will be fine motor skills, ie for writing/penmanship. Of course, this is just not developed at this point, but she does try to color in the lines. I don't want to try too much too soon...so I'm still debating. I did not like what we did in K for my older dd (Calvert); I felt it was too scattered for me. One thing to think about (it sounds like you already have), is HOW you like to teach. I have found that I (we) do like workbooks (but I think Abeka would be too intensive for us), I'm not a sit-down-and-read a lot to my kids type (although we DO read, I just wouldn't want a curriculum based on that, such as SL), but I do like some structure and some reading and some workbooking (which why I think MFW could work for us!). I'm really thinking I like the biblical-based application, as everyone says MFW is just excellent for this. I started out this year with A/O Lifepaks (1st grade) and wasn't crazy about these, as they are clearly written for classroom teaching, which I did not understand prior. I like that MFW is written specifically for homeschoolers by homeschoolers! I am also comptemplating using MFW for 1st, but I really like what we are using now (it's working and it would be our 3rd switch this year!). But I am thinking MFW K science and bible could work for her...I'm in a bit a quandry here, which is why I called MFW this morning. Sorry if this is too much info...I've been sorting this out myself over the past week or so too! When exactly are you thinking of starting?
i'll try to respond to everyone at once...without quotes, since i'm fairly new and haven't mastered that yet. :lol: dalynnrmc - thanks for the book rec! i will look into those...as far as the ambleside online, i've looked at it a million times and cannot wrap my head around what i am supposed to do. there's no direction for math or handwriting...i would have to get those elsewhere i suppose...i think the website is hard to follow. about fiar and about putting together my own curriculum - i like fiar and actually went to a conference where the guy spoke recently...i just don't feel like i have the energy or creativity to put things together myself. (i'm 8 weeks pregnant) i want something to show up on my doorstep with instructions, worksheets, books, etc. maybe that's lazy? we LOVE to read together...my girls love to be read to, so a literature rich curriculum would be good for us. spinning - you sound like me! going back and forth, thinking out loud, etc. LOL i am planning to start either in jan or sept...probably i'll have it ordered by jan either way. here's the thing...i can't get something with so many activities that i will feel like a failure if i miss something. it is important for my morale that the first year be successful...or at least not a complete mess, kwim?? i have been debating over curriculum for months! :? i love the sonlight philosophy...but i've seen mixed reviews...then there's mfw, which sounds great too, but lots of activities...what if i can't fit everything in? and my daughter loves the whole worksheet thing...she is very organized, etc. okay, now i'm rambling. sorry! :lol:
Check to see if your library has FIAR. Mine did, and I decided it was NOT for me, so I was glad I didn't invest in it! (That does NOT mean that you won't like it! Most people think it's great; I'm just one of those weird ones, lol!) A good language book for that age is "Language Lessons for the Very Young" by Sandi Queen. You can check it out at www.queenhomeschool.com You will find a lot of Charlotte Mason-type stuff there!
Gosh...I hear ya! I like the activities, as I'm not much of a crafty person...but I won't feel horrible if we don't get to them, either. Everywhere I read seems to have the consensus that MFW K is FUN!! I can really use some help in that area! I'm thinking the ant farm and butterfly habitat looks pretty cool. Okay...well...we did try our own butterfly habitat with a caterpillar that died, so hopefully theirs will be better. I think my DD played 'earthquake' with the poor caterpillar too much. I read somewhere that MFW K goes through the whole bible (but I'm not sure about this), which I think is really cool. My DH is a pastor...and I'm ashamed to say this has kinda been like the proverbial mechanic's car. I really gotta get working on that! :lol: Kbabe...I haven't checked out FIAR...thanks for the suggestion! Hehe...do you need any 1st A/O Lifepacs??!
that is so me...i am not crafty at ALL! in fact, i put my dd in a homeschool art class so i would feel better. LOL i DO like how mfw incorporates the Bible throughout the entire curriculum intead of adding on a Bible story at the end...in fact, that is the reason i was drawn to mfw in the first place.
What have you been doing thus far? She turns 4 in December and you are looking for future, right? Keep in mind that PreK and K aren't all that different and you can do a lot for cheap. Once you hit 1st and beyond then you need to crank it up. Get some workbooks from Walmart/Sams Club/where ever where it is a big book of activities for like $10. See if she likes them. Throw in some crafts/painting/playdoh/food craft things are cool, too and READ TO HER...poof you are set for K level things. That way when you get a bit more settled you'll be ready for 1st grade and ready to spend some $$$$ Food crafts can be great fun...we did spiders a week or so ago (oreo cookie, mini m&m's for the eyes, pretzels for the legs, icing for the "glue") YUMMY! We've made fire engines before, too. (graham cracker, pretzels make the ladder, oreos for wheels, icing on the graham cracker, cherry for the siren, I think that was it. You could do the string licorice (sp?) for a fire hose, too.) Fun!
I do rod and staff workbooks and love them. I am doing the first grade now and did the preschool ones last year. The preschool is great cause there is no prep work for you. Great with a new baby.
Spinning, we had several caterpillars that died. We had one that we hatched, and it disappeared. One we "roasted". It was in a glass jar in the car (windows open). I had left the jar lid open, because I didn't want it getting too hot inside the jar. Rachael was about 8 at the time, and she noticed it was open, didn't want the caterpillar to escape, and tightened the lid. We had another in a box, and it got in a tight spot and squished. So we talked about how in nature very few caterpillars actually "make it", too! We have had several that made it to butterflies. All of ours were wild ones we found. I will check milkweed plants for monarch eggs.
I totally forgot about FIAR. It's a book of activities based on library books - what's called Literature Unit Studies. Basically it's a unit study based on a book instead of a theme. MFW units are based on animals I believe, for each letter of the alphabet. I agree that Ambleside is difficult to navigate and figure out. I think that CM doesn't do a lot with math that young though, so that may be why you weren't finding much. For science, the instructions basically consist of "go outside and see what you see". LOL Hubbard's Cupboard is excellent. Check out the 2's curriculum for the bible stories, and incorporate the Kindergarten themes. It's all great, check out the whole site! Free of course, and pre-written lesson plans. Fantastic.
We are using the Rod and Staff K, just finished Pre-K last month. I like it because it's very low-key, no planning or prep. I let ds decide how many pages he wants to do, sometimes we do a lot sometimes only 1 or 2. I also read the bible story to him while he colors the picture that goes with it and then we discuss the story. There's no teachers book or anything like that and it's not colorful. The pages are black and white and ds does the coloring. One thing they stress is *proper*coloring, staying in the lines, etc..... I ignore that part! Ds loves his workbooks. I round it out with lots of reading to him and he also likes to play on Starfall. Lisa
My best friend was a K teacher at the local Christian school. When I was going to start dd#1 I asked to see her teacher's books to find out what she would be teaching them. I wrote the teaching objectives out for each subject and then found work to accomplish this. I had month by month planned out. It went well, but too much work for me. I needed someone else to plan for me. We went to a homeshool conference and decided that Alpha Omega's horizons and LifePacs would fit into our lives well. I am still using them for all subjects except handwriting and Bible. There I have switched to Bob Jones. All this said, I would encourage you to go to a homeschooling conference and go to where the vendors area. Plan to spend a lot of time there and really look at each one. It is really fun!! Wishing you the best!
Just be aware that your first conference will be rather overwhelming! There are SO MANY choices!!! I think I stood in the Vendor's Hall, my mouth wide open, with NO IDEA what to do. Then I wandered around for about an hour, still uncertain about ANYTHING! Now, I go in knowing pretty much exactly what I'm looking for, where to get it, and how much it will cost me. I can get in and out in less than an hour! But then, I will go back through, and do some "window shopping", taking notes, and seeing what all's out there. (OH! And visiting with friends!!!)
i actually went to a conference last spring just for the heck of it. i didn't find it any more helpful than surfing the web really...not at this stage anyway. LOL i actually have the bfiar book, but not fiar. i looked into it, but couldn't tell what it really entailed. i imagine you have to supplement your own handwriting, etc.? we bought a couple books from sams to see how she did, what she thought, etc...she finished the first one, so we bought another one, but this one is too far below her level. i might check out sams again and see what else they have...although rod and staff workbooks look reasonable in price, and similar in content. i might just try those...then i'm only out $20 if it doesn't work. LOL can someone tell me about fiar - do they think 4 and 5 yos need only read books or do they have anything for handwriting, learning to read, etc.?
I'm not a veteran but my daughter is 4 and we are not using a "curriculum" for kindergarten so to speak. We use Phonics Pathways for reading, and use manipulatives for math (just stuff around our house), a book for practicing writing, and the occasional science experiment off the internet. We keep it relaxed and I don't make her finish anything if she is obviously not into it. We do school at her pace but we do do it every day. Amy
