Hi everyone! I am new to these boards and have only beeing 'homeschooling' since August but we are in it for the long haul My kids are 3.5 and 4.5 (11 months aart), so babies yet... I bought a boxed curriculum from Winter Promise and we hated it... it was just not for us. Too many crafts and if I pulled them, over half the curriculum was "poof", gone. Too much drawing for my 3 year old... and not strong enough on language arts for my 4 year old. Needless to say, we scraped it after not even three weeks.... but had owned it longer than the return policy allowed :-( Anyway, I immediately became 'eclectic', lol... pulling nature study, habits, and read-a-alouds from Ambleside, using Starfall for phonics (the 3 year old is just starting word building and the 4 year old has JUST started reading the starfall 'books'), and using MEP Reception for math with the 4 year old. I toss in some seasonal arts and crafts and VOILA. I am homeschooling. I think. See, that is the problem. I don't feel like I have any focus and it is driving me nuts. I keep wondering about next year and the year after... what year to start a history rotation, should I do Sonlight (my runner up against WP) or will I dislike it as much as WP? My goal is to have them somewhat near the same place in when they are 5 and 6 (K and 1st for us). I guess what would be ideal is a core for both kids... I prefer living books, no doubt... but I hear Sonlight is choppy and that worries me. I don't want the kids taking a lot of tests, but I do want to know what they are learning. I want school to be fun... and I don't want it to take all day... I don't to spend hours and horus organizing and planning but I don't want to be told what do do in every aspect.... Is it hopeless to find something that will work for us? Should I resign myself to the fact it's never going to be cohesive? Any thoughts?
They are very young, and really school should just be fun right now anyway I personally don't think K should be about academics either (jmho), although I didn't homeschool K myself. As for focus, I found a scope and sequence I liked and I mostly use it to keep me heading in the right direction. There are a bunch online (we use World Book, but your state website will have one, and I believe i found a crazy extensive one from the "What your _ grader needs to know" people, also free online). As my reviewing teacher said, though, really those things are just made up by other people and don't mean much :lol:. I needed one or i was in danger of going way off track (hey kids, let's do a year long study on tree bark!). But I pick and choose what I will teach. I refuse, for example, to teach food pyramid AGAIN this year, when my kids already know it better than I do. And ds and I laughingly went over phone skills and personal introductions. Again, though, you have plenty of time!
I'm with Meghan. At their ages, you don't need a focus. The focus is to be children, play, have fun, and oh yeah! We'll pick up some learning while we're at it! Learning is integrated in EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIFE! For example, I teach young children rote counting when they go into the store with me and their father. I have one hand, Daddy has the other, and we count to ten and then SWING. I teach one-to-one correspondence when we set the table. Here's a spoon for Mommy, here's one for Daddy, here's one for Sister.... I do not believe in strong academics for preschoolers, nor do I believe in preschool curriculum. Instead learn to trust yourself. If you want goals, write your child an IEP. List what she is currently able to do, and what you would like to see her doing by the end of your "school year". For example, currently knows all letters and the sounds they make. What you might have for what you want her to learn would be "Recognize initial/ending consonate sounds of words" or "Identifies short vowel sounds of CVC words". With math, if the child can rote count to 25, you might set goals for simple addition/subtraction with counters.
I used Sonlight. I wanted hands-on activities along with readings and was thinking of using Winter Promise If you like reading on the couch quite a bit Sonlight might be a good fit. The language arts is "choppy," but many people use the readers and something else for language arts. You will get the hang of things. Sometimes it just takes time. Decide what is important for your child to learn in the next year and find resources to help you reach those goals. I found all-in-one packages didn't suit us at all. Kids don't always fit neatly in a box. When you homeschool you have the ability to design the box around your child.
Relax and take a step back. It is easy to lose focus on the big picture when you are so involved. One- they are young and whatever "mistakes" you make in choosing curriculum is not going to ruin them. I think most homeschoolers have a difficult time with this choice. I would just urge you not to spend too much money until you are fairly sure you can comfortably use a certain curriculum. You may find out it is better to be eclectic and that is OK. I have done that, even though in the beginning I SO wanted just to buy a set and go. Two- Please don't make things to "schoolish" especially now. There may be a desire to give them a wonderful academic head start. If you have that desire, just don't let it overide the fact that they are very young and should be playing a lot during the day. Their individual time scales may let you do many things at the same level, but then again it may not. You will have to wait it out to see. I think if you could do a lot of stuff together it would be great. Anyway, don't worry too much, many homeschoolers have bought and sold and bought other stuff too many times to count (me). This is normal.
HI and welcome! I agree - your kiddos are very young to do just very much schooling yet. Most of us don't start with a formal curriculum until around what would be the 1st grade or so. Check HubbardsCupboard.org for some ideas. I really like the set they call the 3's curriculum. Look at My Father's World curriculum - it's absolutely what I would use for the prek-1st set had I the funds. For after that in your comparing things like Winter Promise and Sonlight, check out Illuminations by Bright Ideas Press (publisher of Mystery of History). HTH!
I used Sonlight P3/4 when my DD was 2.5 years old and they do have great books - she likes to read those stories now still so if you want great books then it is a good curriculum. Right now though like you I am using no curriculum and pulling things from anywhere and everywhere and like you I also wonder what will happen as she gets older, but I figure I can sort that out later. Like the others said, you can't really go wrong at their ages. I try and fit in some reading, writing (prewriting) and arithmetic (counting, measuring and playing with numbers) everyday and the rest is mostly play - sometimes I am enthusiastic and have a theme, other times its just what comes up that day. I also use a scope and sequence with my child and just make sure that during play those things get covered. The more she is outside the more learning seems to happen and the happier she is.
Yep, you're kids ARE young! LOL I know there are many who use Sonlight and love it. I would read the document that says "27 Reasons why NOT to use Sonlight" on their site (or they used to have....haven't been there in a while). What I love about Sonlight is that they design most of their subjects around each Core in History...so there's continuity. I've heard that the L/A is lacking. We did do MFW for a while, and like that. I found out I don't like others planning my schedule! LOL So, I pick the period of history we want to learn about and pick THAT text or program or what ever, and then fit everything else around it, Bible, Science, Language Arts, Writing, Etc. I really like the control of that...if it's MY schedule I can adjust without guilt! LOL Also, do some reading about learning styles. Curriculums work much better when you become a student of your child's learning style.
Hi while your kids are young why not try some simple file folder games with them? You can google and get alot. Or check out some of the awesome preschool free websites on the web. A lot of stuff for that age can be free. Save the boxed pricey stuff for when they are a little older. As to history you can work that in slowing while playing. Playing with older cars with ds we used to talk about the history of automobiles and so on. And with dd we read the usual kid books and discuss what it must have been like to live in Cinderellas time. Again another way to work history in that is fun for them is with paperdolls. My mom was an avid collector which made me think of it. And so occassionally we will have paper doll lessons. We recently learned about the vikings and I found some family vikings to print out and they had great fun reenacting the stories they learned with the dolls. Thus reinforcing the lessons they had learned. Have fun the kids grow fast.
I think the curriculum you're looking for is life As handy as it would be to have them on the same level, at such a young age, you're most likely going to be holding someone back or making someone feel inferior. That doesn't mean you can't do things together. Social studies, science, and some LA can often be combined for multiple grade levels. Unit studies and lapbooks are also good for multiple ages. I just recently wrote a post on this topic and my conclusion was I think the best thing to have for preschool is a ton of art supplies and a few simple toys. (Blocks, bendaroos, etc)
Yup - I have to echo the others. Play, play and more play. Wanna "curriculum" in it? Count everything. Forwards backwards and round and round. Daughter does three vitamins in the morning (two of mine and one of hers). She's counting them, 1-2-3-4-5. Two of them get counted twice, clearly. But it's fun. And I put some stickers on the floor (the removable kind) and wrote numbers on them. Now she bolts down the hall. She sees and hears the numbers and just plays. Perfect!
My sons are two and four. My Four year old reads very well..1st or second grade level. He knew all his letters and was beginning to read at two. My 2 year old recognizes maybe 2 letters. They are different kids. But what I'm doing with them right now is DS4 is learning to write. DS2 is learning to recognize letters. So we pick a letter (I am using HWT) and then DS4 works on writing and letter formation. DS2 works on recognition activities. Finding the block with the letter F, color the letter F. Make the letter F with wood pieces. DS2 really wants to do school with DS4 so this is a way to work on a similar thing for both of them but still at the level that is appropriate individually. As far as curriculum, I am in the same boat now. I often get overwhelmed as I have so much materiel already given to me. I just take it one day at a time. I don't need to plan a whole year for a two and four year old. It just kinda works itself out. I so want to just buy a set curriculum and have it all figured out for me, but that will never work for my kids. So for now, I pick and choose, and its mostly workbooks from target and library books. Manipulatives are toys and snacks. Playing cards is math. Science is nature walks. I am reading What your kindergartner needs to know, as I think it will help me to just make sure they are getting what they need by that age since I have an eclectic approach right now. I recommend that. I have first grade and second grade too...again all stuff that has been handed down from other HSing moms. School is play now and I hope it can stay that way for a long time. I'm at work...wishing I was home, schooling my kids
I was going to ask if you've looked at Five-in-a-Row and Before FIAR, which is a read-aloud with suggested activities that have to do with math, etc. TONS of read-alouds, and TONS of playtime! Enjoy those young-uns! They don't stay little long enough!
I never even considered buying a "curriculum" for any of my children until they were 6 or 7 years old. Your children are so little. They will learn all they need just through their interactions with you. Play with them, read with them, do educational puzzles, coloring, etc.. They will learn all they need.
I'm one that needed a curriculum at your kids' age. It gave me a scope, sequence, a plan, and goals. WP is okay, but I did the Pre-K Animal guide. WP's products ... good books, tons of paper projects/book projects, not always orderly, and hardly ever on level...IMO of course. With Sonlight, you may have less projects, but still books that are out of level and a lot of snippet reading; reading much information from several books. My Father's World is a good start and for me only up to Adventures. Then really it's good for combining huge age groups as some books you don't use if you have youngers or olders in the same program. I only have one, so there were quite a bit of books that were too young and too old. But, it reads portions of books and less "snippets". All planned for you. Science goes via unit study-ish. Household projects, some book projects. You can also choose your 3R's without affecting the program. MFW1st for reading was mainly learning how to read and moved quite quickly. So if kids are getting it, then the program needs to be moved slower or the program won't work. This just for 1st grade. HOD (Heart of Dakota) is also good utilizing all types of learners. It has a bit of everything project wise and you use living books in a way where you read a few and finish a few then start more. Less snippets. Completely planned for you and you can use whatever math, english (at the appropriate age) or whatever 3R's you wish, even though you "can" opt for theirs. Science can be light and scattered in topic in the first several guides, but that does not come without a good learning experience. Projects are done with most household items and hardly any "book" projects. FIAR makes use of a good book then uses a unity study approach on topics that the book you just read opened the door to. You'll need to put more of this together, it's not all done for you. With that said, at that age, I tried many and didn't really full-time "school" till 2nd grade. We did school here and there. No harm done whatsoever. So you need to figure out what YOU need as a teacher, how you teach. The best stuff is the stuff you can teach and are excited about. HTH
I am new to the forum. I’m a special education teacher and considering home schooling my kids who are little older than yours. One has ADHD and I’m wondering if I couldn’t do a better job since the curriculum the school uses spends way too much time on certain things and not enough on others. Anyway, about your situation-- I often work with young children. When you are working with kids this age, you want to have fun. You probably will find problems with anyone’s curriculum: too slow, too fast, too much of this or that. Language arts (reading mainly at this age) is what you really want to concentrate on-- it can be tackled by putting together materials from many sources. Some suggestions for reading material: Primary Phonics Storybooks by Educators Publishing Service. This series combines well with the Bob Books. Another great resource: My First Phonics Readers from Scholastic. These can be purchased through school book clubs which you can join as a home schooler. A Beka Book.--these readers are from a Christian view point. They are very well written and reasonably priced. Also, you might try the beginning Explode the Code workbooks; they are excellent for work on phonics and start with intro of alphabet. Emphasize the sounds of the letters rather than the names of the letters. This approach is used by Montessori schools, and it produces superior results with young children who are transitioning into reading. The materials below will help you with your home program. I suggest combining them with active games (an active game I use is after the bulleted list.) * This website has free material and interesting activities * LeapFrog - Letter Factory * Leap Frog - Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory * Meet the Letters: by Preschool Prep * Reader Rabbit: The Great Alphabet Race * Reader Rabbit: The Letter Factory * Jumpstart Phonics Learning System Ages 3-8: Software Jumping Game: Write letters with contrasting sounds on sheets of paper, perhaps use m, s, and t. Use lower case letters—you might want to start with only two. Set the letters out on the floor so they are all facing the same way. Spread them apart with about a foot of space between words. Review the sounds of the letters. Instructions: I will call out a word and you repeat it. Jump to the sound you hear at the beginning of the word. The word is [say word]. Your child repeats the word and jumps to the letter. You might have to demonstrate this. Bring me your letter. Now say the first sound. (Some children jump first and then say the sound, which is also fine.)
Welcome, Cathy! I taught Spcieal Needs children for over ten years before coming home to teach mine. My oldest one I actually wrote out an IEP for the first year, because I really wasn't sure what to do, lol!
