Workbook Guided vs Textbook Based Key words in the title are Workbook "GUIDED" and textbook "BASED." So, this summer I've been using lots of "spare parts" for my students education. My Main students (6yo and 4yo) probably have at least...1/2 a dozen workbooks a piece, almost all of them are for Math. There were a couple of them on Reading or letters and sounds. 6yo has one for 1st grade grammar that we haven't even started yet. (I only bought 2. As 6yo and 4yo have a copy of "101 Things Every Kindergartener Should Know About Reading".) Anyway, I have been looking at these books for a while now and I find that many of them are rather comprehensive. Especially as far as "grades" goes. We've just been using up the books to keep busy and keep learning and prevent them from going to waste. (The books are K-1 in level). They've been just the right level of challenging for 6yo and 4yo. We've done several 1st grade books and some K level books too. If I had my way, we'd use these type workbooks (along with extra "practice sheets" for math) and select videos from the library for all of elementary school ATLEAST. To me, The Elementary Stage, is complete when student can read fluently with good speed (do I even need to list 'comprehension'?) and perform basic (+,-,*,/) Arithmetic accurately and speedily. Elementary stage should only take about 3years if you begin your student when they are ready and work continuously. 6yo and 4yo are both burning through their cache of books at an impressive rate. I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing 2nd "grade" work by New Years. I find that many workbooks are so comprehensive that I cant imagine what I'd need a full fledged 'TEXTBOOK' based curriculum for. (Besides getting off on the right foot with reading.) Whats your opinion or feeling on Workbook Guided vs Textbook Based education?
I'm not completely sold on workbooks personally, for a couple of reasons. My son does poorly with them and is much more an experience learner than he is a book learner (so far). Books and worksheets certainly have their place though. The only thing I would wonder about is if they would be getting enough practice in to remember what they've learned. My son went successfully through one of the Kumon alphabet books, and he learned a lot, but he had to go through three or four more alphabet workbooks (of the same level of difficulty, not more advanced) before things started sinking in more firmly. So that would be my only reservation. Also, the older they get, the more complicated it gets. So while a workbook alone for addition/subtraction would have been fine for me when I was a kid, by the time I was doing pre-algebra I *needed* a full-fledged textbook to get the lesson out of it and not just the worksheets. Overall though, I say if your kids are doing great with workbooks, then there's no reason to change it now. Ultimately I think it just really depends on the kid and what their needs are. I wouldn't marry myself to any one style. (But I was homeschooled, and my mom put together her own curriculum from several different sources, so part of it is just that this is what I experienced personally.)
Yeah, definitely dont marry one style, but lately I've been thinking that Workbook Guided (Keyword: Guided) versus Textbook BASED would be better for 6yo especially who isn't looking forward to "OFFICIAL" 1st grade. As I said, Workbook guided probably needs heavy supplementation with extra drill/practice to get everything "down pat" but I am a little nervous as "Official" 1st grade approaches, how 6yo will react.
I think it could work really well, especially in the early years where you are teaching the basics. I think I missed your comment about doing extra drills and practice in the OP--sorry about that! And it definitely sounds like a good method for your 6yo, since they are having mixed feelings about school at the moment. Textbooks can certainly be intimidating for kids. It must be awesome to have the 6yo and 4yo doing the same level of work--that must simplify things quite a bit! =)
Gizzy, "curriculum" actually means what you plan to teach, the course of study itself, the syllabus, not the materials you use to do it with. As homeschoolers, we (including myself here) tend to play fast and loose with this word and have misapplied it. Someone who is simply looking at the World Book grade level list of topics and finding stuff to use to teach to that, then the World Book list is their curriculum, their plan to go by. Their materials might come all from one publisher (like Abeka, BJU, AlphaOmega, CLE, etc.), with a particular scooe and sequence, as a set with TM, student book, worksheets, and tests, or they might come from library books and various workbooks and internet sources, or they might include all of these. If someone says, "I am using Abeka curriculum," what they really mean is that they're using Abeka's plan -- when they should say, "i'm using Abeka's curriculum AND materials" or "I'm using Abeka's materials." OTOH, someone might be using some of Abeka's readers (materials) to accomplish their own plan of reading instruction for the year, their own curriculum. Or they might use some Abeka histories as resources for information along with other sources of information to accomplish their own social studies curriculum (plan). Your curriculum, based on what you've said, is reading fluency and comprehension by using various materials and methods including phonics, and a certain fluency in the four basic operations of arithmetic computation (and presumably using these skills to solve real life problems) by using practice with various materials from worksheets/workbooks, internet sources, and practical applications exercises. So, to answer your question - workbooks or curriculum? - my feeling is that the progression of skills is planned in your head, and whatever choice(s) of materials you use to carry out your plan is nearly irrelevant. (It really helps, though, if the pace of instruction and the style of the materials fits well with the students.)
