I read the other threads on Konos and thought I'd just start a new one dedicated just to how it works. First, Konos is designed to use as you want to use it. You are several lessons that can be used for a particular day. Notice I said "can." It is not expected to have every activity done in order to accomplish a day. It is actually recommended to plan for two days for every Konos day given. For example, we are studying "Attentiveness," focusing on " Sounds, Music, and the Senses." The options presented for today were: science: sound reflection critical thinking: how does acoustical material for ceilings work science:what is an echo Literature: mythologicl story of Echo and Narcissus critical thinking: how sound travels science: dopplar effect research:compare bat and ship sonar practical living: make a phone from cans and string practical living: take apart an old phone. try to idenify parts and functions biography: read about Alexander Graham Bell music biography : Joseph Hayden (FYI- I abbreviated the lesson for time and copyright sake. The curriculum goes into more detail.) Today, we read a juvenile biography about Hayden and a picture book about him. We discussed the basics of his life, put him on our timeline, and labeled Austria on the map. We also listened to The Creation on Youtube. That's it. In about an hour we covered biographies, history, geography and music appreciation. Tomorrow we will discuss sound reflection and echoes. We will compare it to echolocation (which we studied in the fall) To wrap up we will make a phone out of cans and discuss how it worked. Sometime this week we will get to Lowes and look at accoustical ceilings. We did not come close to covering everything -it's okay. We'll catch it as they get older. The hardest thing about KONOS is the mind set of trying to do every activity. This just takes practice. You'll know when their eyes start to glaze over that you've overdone it. The next week's plan will be better. There is a Yahoo group for KONOS that is a wealth of information. A lot of people, including myself, post helpful tips, websites, field trips, etc. They also have an online co-op for those who aren't as confident in their abilities or who want everything spelled out for them. I've never done it, and I don't really plan on it. I like my freedom. I have, however, read countless praises about it and the accountability that it provides. They also have a list of blogs that tell about individual Konos experiences. I personally like the flexibility of KONOS. I can study what I want when I want. When we did " Obedience" last year it started off with "Kings and Queens" but I felt I was a little too green to tackle such a big unit. So I started with "Horses" instead. This was okay for a little while, but DS started geting that "glassy eye" look so skipped ahead to cowboys. This is where he blossomed. We found a fellow konos user in Texas whose husband and son were real cowboys. The son agreed to be DS's penpal. DS learned cowboy poetry, how to throw a lariat, make a quirt, build a chuck wagon and wrote a report on the pony express. He also learned about American history for the 1800's- the good and bad. As I became more comfortable with KONOS, I decided not to do the "King and Queens" unit until the Spring so I could have enough time and energy to host a "Medieval Feast." In the meantime, we studied "Orderliness" focusing on the solar sytem. We were in total control, not the curriculum. As for parent intensive, it just depends. Some days, I just need library books, others more supplies. In the Konos books, each unit lists supplies needed. Most times they are household items. I've never felt put out by supplies I've needed. As you can see, I am sold on KONOS for us right now. I'd be happy help where I can. I post a lot of our days on my blog (in my siggie) I hope this helps!!!
Thank you so much for all the great info. I am one of the ones who posted questions about KONOS, and after looking over their website, and your post, I am completely sold!! Do you recommend getting the KONOS Compass before beginning? We are in our 3rd year, and have always used an eclectic mix of curriculum. A few years ago, when we first started homeschooling, a friend mentioned KONOS, but we were just transitioning out of 5 years at a magnet school, and I thought you had to use a textbook or workbook for every subject, and answer every question on every page, etc. You get the picture. Is there a particular volume you recommend starting with. My daughter will be in Kindergarten, and my son will be in 8th grade next year. A big gap, but I like the idea of them being able to work on some topics together. It will be our first experience with unit studies, but I am so excited!
I didn't use The Compass but in hindsight I probably should have. As for the Volumes, I recommend using one of the character books to get your feet wet and then get into the volumes. I'm doing Attentiveness now, I really like it. We've done Orderliness, I really, really liked the solar system; animal and plant classification were okay. We also did Obedience. We did this first. It was good for our first try at Konos. Horses was okay ( Ireally think this depends on the interest of your child) so we spent more time on cowboys. We really, really liked Kings and Queens. This is good for wide age ranges because she specifically has stuff for older and younger students. As I said, there is a Yahoo group that is easy to join and is a wealth of information for every unit. There is also an online co-op (with a free demo at http://www.konos.com) that gives a day to day lesson plan. I hope that helps!
I was just checking this out- comments here prompted me to look at KONOS online. I'm confused! there seem to be so many options...maybe I need to look at it again, from your descriptions it sounds great and like a good fit for my kids. I like the freedom of making up my own stuff, but sometimes we travel a lot or we have a lot going on and I want something that's already made up for me....there's just no pleasing me! :lol: can someone explain the different packages?
