So I visited a few other forums yesterday, mostly because I'm hopelessly nosey and wanted to find out what another thread here was about :lol: And what stood out to me I think was that.. my 'course load' looks totally light compared to what other people teach. Now, I don't mean they are teaching three maths, like the other thread... just that I only teach a few subjects ALTOGETHER. For instance, the other homeschooling people seemed to separate say.. Grammar and Spelling and five other topics that I sort of use as all Language arts. Our courseload literally looks like this: Reading (phonics) She practices reading from a list of words from the current skill, occasionally she reads me a book. Math (have been teaching money, but we do addition/subtract practice almost daily as well because she knows them, I just want to get her to 'mental math' level) Language Arts- mostly just copywork right now plus I read her one story and we discuss. Sometimes we discuss story elements (characters, plot, etc). Sometimes we discuss what the story is about if it's relevant to something else we are studying. Right now she's making an 'about me' book. Same subject time slot gets grammar lessons for punctuation, capitalization, etc) Social studies (right now is American History, but also covers cultures, traditions, geography, etc) 2 days a week. Science (right now is earth science. We are learning about plants) 2 days a week. Music 1-2 days a week Art 1-2 days a week and as many other days as she can get me to assign a project Health 2 days a week phys ed (still working on this.. my fault. We do it at least 1ce a week, but I want it 3 days) Is that enough? I noticed some people teach social studies AND geography for instance. I treat all math as the same subject, but I notice other people separate them? Once she can actually read, we won't have a separate 'reading' slot, either, but that will get rolled into Language Arts as well. Our days run about 2 hours, a bit over if we have PE. I really don't want to make it longer than that, since it's about her level of focus. Dh is also pushing for spelling lists and spelling tests, but personally I don't think she's ready. I also tend to teach just one new skill or one new piece of information per slot per day. So, for instance, she won't be working on Sentence structure AND characters on the same day (unless she already knows one or both). She won't be learning about measuring AND learning about 2-digit-addition on the same day, she won't be learning map reading AND U.S. History on the same day.. etc etc. I AM thinking of switching to an actual curriculum fairly soon, since it will take some of my anxiety out of this process. Just wondering if I should consider adding more 'subjects' than just the basics or if we are covering enough?
From a non home schooler point of view, it sounds right to me. Do you have a goal in mind for what you would like to accomplish, more or less, by the end of your academic year? Are you on target to reach that goal so far time wise? If so, then I think you're just fine.
In my honest opinion, what you're doing sounds like plenty! If you're happy with the progress being made, and the child is too, why just weight her down with extra stuff? Plenty of time for spelling next year. Just one tiny nitpicky comment, though: learning about plants would be life science, not earth science, even though the plants grow in the earth...
Yes I have definite goals which we are on track for. Sorry about the 'Earth Science' thing. My hs earth science class included that as well.. didn't realize it was considered something else
Looks fine to me.. read the thread about stopping from going to that other place. There will always be those who do more than you and those who do less than you. As long as your kiddo(s) are happy and you are satisified with that they are doing, that is all that matters. We do lots of things that others would definately think was inadequate but then we do things that some others would think was way too much. For us it works and we are fine with it all... even if it looks like we do no school work on some days
I separate things out for two reasons: (1) because people are curious which methods or curricula other people use, so it's nice to see it all laid out like that and (2) because we don't do every subject every day, or even every semester. For example, I like to do things like health in the summer only. I like to work on a trimester basis so that we can accomplish more in less time. Geography is separate for us, because it's on a CD we listen to in the car. When we do geography depends on when that CD comes up in the rotation. (I have a 12 CD changer, so we listen to all sorts of stuff, educational and entertainment.) On any given day, you can pretty much bet we'll do Bible, math and handwriting. Everything else gets thrown in based on how busy we are that day/week. Spelling is usually once or twice a week. Same with science and history. English is usually 3-4 days a week. It looks like we do a lot, but really, we don't. We spend about 1.5 hrs on school, usually (including breaks).
I always did "language arts", too. AND I taught science and history to all three kids at once. AND I don't teach any formal "reading"! So, if it's working for you, you're doing just fine!
Sounds like you are doing fine. At age 6 the focus should be on phonics and reading instruction instead of grammar and spelling anyway. I'm pretty informal with my 6 year old's LA instruction. I might start a grammar or spelling program with him next year depending on what his skills are like at the end of this school year. Different families have different educational goals so they may want more of a focus on math or geography than another family. For instance we focus on geography and languages because of our lifestyle and global perspective. My children will move to their third country soon and live among people speaking a different language. That focus makes sense for us, but probably wouldn't for many families. Look at your goals for educating your child. If you are meeting them then don't give a second thought to what others are doing.
Thank you again! I really appreciate you folks who took the time to explain the 'extras' in your curriculum as well. It makes sense when you put it in that context. At this point, I'm trying to build up a solid foundation in the basics, which ps failed to do. I'm realizing even my 3rd grade ds in ps seems not to have learned things I feel like he should have by now (he didn't know what the Boston Tea Party was for example :shock: )
Your last sentence is a good example of why not to compare your curriculum with that of others. My kids are 8 and 9 and know very little of American History. That's because we are doing history chronologically. We started at Creation and ancient Egypt and went into ancient Greece/Rome and are now in the Middle Ages. My kids don't know about the Boston Tea Party and won't for another couple of years yet. Just do what works for your family and let others do what works for theirs. And don't worry about why they're different. They're different because all kids and all families are different.
My kids learned ALL about the Boston Tea Party from watching Liberty's Kids, lol!!! We also do chronological history. But you are ABSOLUTELY right in that you want to focus on building a solid foundation. And it might take more than a year to do so. If so, THAT'S OK!!! Do what you have to do, and don't worry about what anyone else says. You can always come here, and know we'll be standing right behind you!
I haven't technically started HS yet (my 4 y/o's are gonna start next year, maybe sooner, if they're ready), but for a 6 y/o, that looks like plenty. Of course, I'm in Canada, so American curriculum for that age might be different than here. (Like on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? we didn't learn any of that in gr 5.) I think as long as she's happy and learning, and happy to learn , you're doing just fine.
Not implying anything if you chose not to teach American History right now Just surprised that my ds, who did learn about Lincoln last year (in five nearly identical worksheets :roll: ) hasn't learned anything else beyond a rudimentary idea about Native Americans and... that's about it. No ancient history stuff, either. In ps, with our own state standards, seems like they would HAVE to at least introduce some of this stuff. Has been fun for me though.. dd had to sit and watch Colonial House (taped in our state, so that was fun!) and ds watched and learned from it, too.
We love Colonial House! Well actually we love all of them and I would have totally loved to have applied for the show. I thought the families they chose were all kind of strange...
You are doing plenty. For us, math of some type depending on the grade is every day. English and reading or literature is every day. At least one assignment of Spelling is done for anyone in grade 8 or under every day. Social Studies (History or Geography depending on the grade the child is in), Science, and Health, are three days a week. We have a working farm. All of the kids have outside responsibilities that require plenty of physical activity, so I don't worry about them not getting enough in that department.
Shelley, what do you use for history? I love the idea of starting at the beginning and working your way up to the present!
sounds good to me! You have it all there.. .this coming from a veteran homescoolers in her 14th? year?
Just go with it and do what you want. Remember you are homeschooling which means you can teach what you want, whenever you want. You'll know if they need more work. I know were not talking abou time but My kids only school from 9-12 or whatever. Sometimes not even that and they are still well above their PS friends. I have friends who HS and they school from 8-4. My kids would have a fit because that schedule isn't right for them. One is an Aspie and the other has ADHD. When my kids are done with the work I put out for them, if they want to do more then they do, if not then they don't. I get nasty comments all the time from my mother and her stupid boyfriend, about how my kids don’t have enough to do. In 3 hours they can cover every subject per day unless they are having trouble with something. In 3rd grade DS learned his presidents. Around here they don't get them until 5th or 6th grade. In 4th he learned half of the periodic table, this year in 5th he is learning the other half. Here that comes in 10th grade, but he’s into science & history so our curriculum is heavy in those areas. For L/A as long as he can recognize the parts of speech, and write a decent paragraph using vocabulary from his word bank. I am fine with keeping it light. Reading is everyday, I only require 30 minutes but they will read for hours.
