Any opinions on this curriculum? Is it very labor intensive for the parent? I like the idea of hands on, and unit studies - but I haven't seen the actual books. I'm trying to narrow down what I want to try with our dd in the fall. I know I have a while! but it takes forever to sort through the mountain of choices!
We use KONOS and love it! It is different in the sense that it isn't "school at home." As far as labor intensive, it's what you make it. It's spelled out very clear that you do what you want and really cannot do all of the options. You choose what fits your family. I like it because we are not a workbook family and I have one curriculum that fits all. If you want to read about what we've done, I have a blog:www dot homeschoolblogger dot com / orallacademy When you see the projects, understand that only one was done a day and that we usually take about 8 weeks to do a unit. I am constantly amazed at what my children retain by learning this way, esp my 6 y/o.
loreal, I had never heard of KONOS, but now will be looking into it. This is my first year homeschooling (kinder and preschool) and I am using units that I create myself, for now this is working for us and we are having a great time. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed looking at your blog. I especially liked your entry about letterboxing, reminded me how much fun my boys had with it the one time we went. Our backpack with our log and stamp were stolen later and we haven't gone since, but reading about how much fun you had and remembering how much fun we had made me realize that letterboxing would be a great part of homeschooling. So I am going to have my hubby make us a new stamp so we will be ready to head out in search of boxes as soon as teh snow melts. Sorry to ramble, I just wanted to let you know you inspired me today
Sounds interesting. I have always wanted to try KONOS. Maybe I will look deeper into it. Not for next year though...with a new baby and a toddler I think I need something more student driven for a year like Lifepacs.
Thanks! I needed to hear that today. This was not one of our finer days Kids were more concerned over mechanical pencils than learning how the ear works. I worked my way into Konos. The first time I saw it I said "no way!" but came back to it after realizing that we were indeed a unit study type family. I started making my own too but as DS got older I liked having a format. If you are interested, there is a Yahoo group for Konos user that has tons of ideas!!! When we did Russia, I didn't even have the KONOS outline for it. I just used ideas from the group and different blogs. Once you find your groove, you'll wonder why you didn't use it sooner. Thanks again for the encouragement! Lori
Sorry to hear that it was one of THOSE days in your house. I'm sure we all have them. I know I sure do, LOL. Today my six year old did really well. The problem is the chaos the 3 year old created in the playroom while I was giving one on one attention to the older. Looks liek a tornado went through. I will be looking into KONOS. Not sure I will move to it any time soon, since right now we have themes planned for as far ahead as I am willing to plan (and take that word plan loosly, it just means I have the theme picked and am starting to fill in ideas).
thanks loreal Okay, we're in. I wish I had looked into KONOS when we started homeschooling our ds. I think THIS is what elementary homeschooling is meant to be. And, I think it is exactly the mix of structure and creativity I have been searching for. Thanks for the link to your blog. Great pictures!
I found KONOS volume one at a used bookstore for $10 and didn't pass it up, but I did end up passing it on to a good friend because it wasn't quite the right fit for us.
