So as many of you know, I'm moving away from curricula type learning, going back to where we started, and what was working best for my family. I want to know what methods to look at that don't use traditional methods for learning for more ideas. I know I'm moving somewhat towards CM, but don't plan on using so many classic books as my resources (I'm thinking of bright fun colorful books and loads of games and hands on) and also don't plan on using narration. What is WTM all about? I have never read the book, I guess I need to get my hands on it, but it has to wait till I have some more money to spend.
Sommer- try the library for the WTM book. That's where I get it when I want to browse for ideas. (They can inter-library loan it too...) I can't do a whole CM/classical approach, I need the textbook structure more for ME. However, I am trying to move to more unit studies with my youngest (he's 10). For example, we are going to do the periodic table lapbook from homeschool share (with the book). More hands-on type of learning with this son is needed. I'm not much help, but did want to encourage you to do what feels best for you! MT3
Also, have you ever looked at KONOS? I heard Jessica Hulsy at a convention, and while that style of learning would NOT work in my house, it has worked for many. MT3
What is WTM? Sorry I don't know. What things worked before that are not working now? Did you completey abandon what you were doing at first or just added to what you were doing? Do you use the same curriculum for all or different things for each learning style. Personally I got a book from the library recently Making the Grade Everything your Kindergartner needs to know. There is another book What your "insert grader" needs to know. Finally another one that looks interesting for people who want to put together their own curriculm is Home Learning Year by Year how to Design Your Curriculum.
I'd look into living books. You can choose colorful books on the topic you want to study and add games and activities to it. I pretty much utilize this approach for things like history, science, geography, etc. You can see our recent study on ancient Mesopotamia here. Well Trained Mind is a book by Susan Wise-Bauer. It covers a systematic plan for educating your children. If you are looking into heading into more hands-on and fun activities it probably won't be what you are looking for. However, it is a great resource for book lists and topics to cover. Check your library. Even my library has a copy.
Ok... first I will answer questions..lol MT3, I didn't think of the library, ours sucks and I buy everything..lol. I may check there, but I think I found what I was looking for. I'm not a fan of unit studies, they tend to feel all over the place to me and I can't handle it..lol We have tried a few, and well they just didn't go so well. Tuzor... WTM is The Well Trained Mind, a book about classical education... and now I know that isn't what I was really looking for a few minutes ago, but more on that later. If you read my latest blog post it kind of goes into what happened that things went wrong in our adventure. Basically, when I first started homeschooling, I didn't know much, and went my own direction with things.. well over time I found places like these boards, and well I felt that I was supposed to be using the different curriculums that were working so well for others... so over time I completely dumped the stuff we started with (some good books and a simple Comprehensive Curriculum workbook) and things started going down hill fast. Embassy... we are definatly going mostly living books. I was looking for a label, even though I hate them, of what direction I feel we are supposed to be on. After some searching I guess "relaxed" is the word I was looking for. Funny thing... I have called us relaxed before, but I never knew it was an acutal style! I just meant we didnt' worry if we went the way the winds blew us. Well.. it is an actual style from what I am reading. Anyway... I'm off to read some more. I love learning..lol
Charlotte Mason and Living Books often go together, but you can do living books without doing everything Charlotte Mason.
My husbnd and I didn't care AT ALL for WTM. There was something about it that just rubbed me wrong, and when we discussed it, he felt the same way. That's not to say that I'm against everything in it. She makes valid points. And I think it is possible to combine a classical approach with Charlotte Mason.
Right... but CM also usually trends towards more classic books, I want to use things like the books by Brian P Cleary and the Scholastic Grammar Tales for learning grammar and Let's Read and Find out and Magic School Bus for science and If You Lived... and the You Wouldn't Want to Live... for history instead of books that are black and white and IMO dry to a child (well even most of them would bore me to tears). I guess what I was looking for was others who are going this route for inspiration.
THose books are FINE to use with CM!!! "Living Books" are simply books that bring the subjects alive to your kids! Boring, "black-and-white", "dry" books are NOT "living"!!!
Something that you might be interested in adding is an independent study. I read this idea on a homeschool board, but I can't remember whose idea it was, so my apologies if it's something from here. Basically each month this person would have her students do an independent study project of their choice. And her directions were something like this (with slight variations according to age): - Find 3 non fiction and 2 fiction books related to your topic - Find 2 reputable websites related to your topic - Write a book report on one of the fiction books you chose - Make a poster or other display related to your topic - Write a report about the non fiction books - Make a drawing, poem, food item or craft related to your topic - Find a scripture related to your topic At the end of the month the student was expected to have completed and edited all of these assignments and present it. I've heard of others who do this with lapbooks where it's entirely student led, but with a list of expectations.
What qualifies as a living book and where do I find them? Are they just regular books found at the library??
http://www.amblesideonline.org/LivingBks.shtml ETA: living book book finder http://apps.simplycharlottemason.com/ ETA: again... many living books are free online in PDF or for kindle. http://gapeachhomeschool.yolasite.com/books.php here is a list of sites that offer some great free downloadable books.
Lol, I'm going to say NO, they are NOT just any book at the library, lol!!! There are also books that are "twaddle"...mindless stories that are "cute" but have no sustanance to them. It's very hard to explain, and there are books I consider "twaddle" others would consider "living", an vice versa. I use them mostly in teaching history. Here are some of the place I go to for book lists: www.redshift.com/~bonajo/history.htm http://www.abookintime.com/ http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/curriculum.html http://www.pennygardner.com/history.html http://web.archive.org/web/20071223223946/ (Valerie's Living Books) http://www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx I also like Bethlehem Books. I've tried twice to paste the link, but for some reason it's not working. So do a search for Bethlehem Books, and they've got some excellent ones. I've read many of them to my kids.
That is a really cool idea, I'm so gonna steal that for topics I can't find a free unit study for-and maybe even some I do find a free unit study for! LOL
