I'm still on the fence about many things but here is what I'm thinking. My son will be in 2nd grade. All About Spelling Mcruffy Math Sonlight History and Science Lots of readers picked from Sonlight's list as well as read alouds. So do you think I need a separate phonics program? What about handwriting? Is it too soon to start cursive? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I love them. Handwriting.. I would just do some "copywork" that helps show proper grammar structure and at the same time works on forming letters. Phonics.. is he reading yet? For Rylee, we are using the Sonlight grade 1 reader list, including their I Can Read It series. On Monday we go over the word list in book 4, and she reads the first story of the lesson, Tuesday we read down 1 row of words, Tuesday another, Thurs the 3rd and Friday the 4th... along with the stories. We talk about why the letters make the sounds that they do. I don't have the lesson plans, I have gathered the books from here and there and Amazon..lol. I have heard many use ETC with the Sonlight readers, but so far, this is working for her. Reagan on the other hand is working on HOP, it is what fits him better.
This will depend on your child. Ems started cursive in K and thrived. She only writes in cursive and has since K. However, some students are not ready in K. Some people do not start cursive until 3rd or 4th grade. You can start your child on cursive and if it is still to early, put it aside for another year and pick up on it later.
Wow sounds good. Cursive can be started in my books anytime you think your kids are willing and capable. Some schools no longer do cursive writing and others introduce it before printing. So really I think its one thing that is up to you and your kids.
Thanks for the replies so far. To answer Sommer, yes Jared is reading and actually quite well. He actually learned to read using HOP and really liked it. He has been doing well with the Mcruffy 1st grade readers this year but is a little bored with the stories. I'm not sure if I'll start cursive or not. I would really like to get a good typing program though. Any recommendations for that? For my 3 1/2 year old we will just be doing lots of activities so he feels included. I will start him off with HOP too and see how it goes. He knows all his letters and sounds but I don't want to push. Thanks again!
We use Meavis Beacon for typing. We have a SpongeBob disk, but never could get it to work right. I was the one bored with the McRuffy stuff. It was too school at home for me, though some days I miss the open and go ease of it. My advice on reading is to just find real books for him to read, Rylee really is thriving on reading this way.
Thanks Sommer. Yes, I have to admit that I got bored with Mcruffy too. My son loves the math though so I'm sticking with it. My only concern is that with Mcruffy I have nice neat folders of worksheets for each subject just in case I should ever need to prove that we are indeed schooling. I'm a little worried that I won't have this with the path I've chosen for next year.
I think you will have plenty, I think there are some worksheets with the Sonlight, if you are using the actual curriculum. I use their lists for books a bit, but I don't think I could handle the whole trying to secularize it enough for us. But it's definately one I dream of.
My 5 yr old will be starting cursive towards the end of kindergarten. My son is required to only write in cursive. It's more of a personal choice, whether you think they're ready, and what handwriting curriculum you decide to use. My kids learned to read and write using phonics, so if you think your kids need it, I would incorporate phonics into the curriculum, IMO. Your choices look great! It's all about what works for you and your kids!!
