Ah, there’s nothing like talking curriculum in July. It’s my favorite month to talk about the technical side of homeschooling because it is all so exciting.
- We got two packages in the mail last week which set my children to begging for “Just one lesson mom? Please?”
- I just spent two hours punching apart little cards with my daughter as she asked questions and sounded genuinely interested. In spelling!
- We have a stack of school supplies divided amongst four crates, our new organizational tool for this year. And the children can’t stop looking at them and through them and wondering what treasures they contain as they beg, “Just one lesson mom? Please?”
- And yet more stuff will continue to trickle in over the next few weeks as we near the magic start date marked on my imaginary calendar: August 23, 2010.
It’s all so exciting, and it’s all so perfect. Because my plans for the year always work on paper. The children always love the fruits of my labors and never quarrel and never storm off in the middle of lessons until we actually begin doing lessons.
And I need all the excitement I can get. Truth be told, I’ve had a little difficulty mustering enthusiasm for the coming school year because it represents a major shift in how we do things, one that sort of feels more like giving up than moving forward. Well, at least until some online friends and I decided to leap into this thing together, but more on that later.
See, up until now, I’ve always written my own curriculum for everything but math. The Internet, library and occasional Amazon purchases have been the staple of our homeschool diet, and I rather enjoyed the creativity, learning and control that gave our family over what we were learning, how and when. But then we moved. To five acres in the country. I have a growing flock of chickens to tend to. And geese. And now ducks even. I have a 3000 square foot garden. And I’m expecting number 6 in November.
Something had to give. And I decided it was planning. One of my favorite parts of homeschooling, to be sure, but also the most time consuming. So now we’re chaining ourselves to someone else’s plans, someone else’s goals, someone else’s ideas of which ideas in history are worth lingering over and just how long we should linger there. This year’s line up:
For Bible: Walking With Jesus. This has actually been sitting on my bookshelf for two years. It looks really good. I just have a lot of stuff that looks really good.
For Spelling: All About Spelling. Mostly because this program looked the most like what I was already trying to do with spelling but never quite got it pulled together as well as I would have liked.
For History, Geography, Literature and Science: TRISMS, History Makers. And the greatest part is that I’m not doing it all by myself which turned my general thoughts about handing over history to some book publisher from resignation to enthusiasm. I also liked the fact that the lesson plans aren’t too detailed so there is a lot of room to modify and adapt. I know you can do that with any curriculum, but you don’t know me. The last time I tried to follow a publisher’s plans, well, it ended badly as I tried to do every single little thing written and got way too overwhelmed. The only real problem I have with it is that it moves frighteningly fast, covering 8,000 years or so of human history in a year. Seriously, how much can you really learn about Ancient Greece in a week? So I’m glad we all agreed to slow it down and take two years.
For Math: Right Start. I’m yet to find a math program I actually like, so we’ll see how it goes with this one.
For a sort of science supplement extra curricular sort of thing: Chickens, chickens and more chickens! My daughter seems to be getting hooked on showmanship this summer as she prepares her little Ameraucana and nine little broilers for the county fair. I can’t believe the amount of time she is investing in those birds and in her spare time she is researching starting her own flock of salmon faverolles for next year. Anyway, she has decided to join the APA/ABA Youth Poultry Club and has a notebook to fill out and levels to test for and poultry shows to prepare for as she plans for and manages her little flock.
I’ll let you know what I think of it all later, once we actually start. But for the moment, my children really like packages in the mail that are then stored in a closet. Who knew you could build so much anticipation just by putting away boxes?
For more curriculum posts and to share your own, check out A Classic Housewife in a Modern World and Heart of the Matter. And don’t forget to let me know how you “do school.” Have you used any of these products? Or have you found something else that just really works for your family? I’m sort of new to this whole curriculum buying thing…
Welcome to Roscommon Acres, my little home in the country. I write here about life more abundantly, from the joy of a baby’s smile to the almost unbearable grief of losing a son. I am seeking beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3).
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I think I know how you feel, kinda.. With my oldest I didn’t buy “real” curriculum until first grade, and then it was just math. Up until that point I was just teaching her, just learning with her. I didn’t mind buying “real” books too much, as you say all the boxes and packages are quite exciting. But I know my husband and he would not be supportive of me “making it up” (because that’s what he would call it.) And I know me, and I may never really get around to finishing it or fleshing it all out, so I do well to at least have a book to follow, even if I choose to skip lessons or spend more time on one. (I have no problem skipping all those little details and suggestions.) =P I do, however, “do my own thing” for teaching my kids to read and spell and write. Because I can’t see spending money on those things if I don’t have to.
Anyway, I’ve always enjoyed picking and choosing until last year we used Switched on Schoolhouse for Princess. It was cool having it all in one box, but I felt the loss of picking and choosing. I have mostly liked the SOS but not 100% which has just worked to strengthen my resolve to hand pick every little piece again this year.
You’re not giving up, though! I promise. There are plenty of really good things out there. I, too, looked at that spelling program and was really interested. It’s very similar to what I’ve been doing with my hands on 2nd grader, making my own “tiles” with index cards cut into thirds. I think I’m going to continue doing my own thing this year, but I’m definitely keeping that in the back of my mind as an option! I’ve never looked at the Right Start math but I’ve been thrilled with the approach in my 2nd grader’s Horizons mathbook. It’s a very good fit for her. It does encourage the use of flash cards but I’ve found that she feels a sense of accomplishment when she masters a set and I’m supplementing on my own with math games on top of it outside of math time. And DUDE! I was *going* to say “Maybe Right Start would be a good fit for my 4yo, next year” and then I looked at the price. Hubs would choke on his coffee.
Hey, it looks like we’re doing the same thing.
Oh, except spelling. I use Spell to Write and Read.
Bug has been doing the Walking with Jesus curriculum for a few weeks now. I do like it. We all read the verses together during breakfast, and then he goes off to look up words and complete the assignments. I’m thinking I should add some stuff for my girls to do though.
I hope RightStart works for you. It is more time consuming than other math curriculum, but it’s worth it to me. I can’t believe how well my son is doing with fractions. I learned a bunch of rules, but he is learning by working with them.
P.S. Amber, sometimes you can find RightStart used, especially the first levels.
Yeah, the cost of Right Start has kept me from it. It is actually what I wanted to start with way back in Kindergarten, but we opted for Singapore. Which I actually did like, the children didn’t. Then Math U See because everyone seems to love it but we just never got into it. Then Switched on Schoolhouse but we just couldn’t get the program to work and by the time we finally got technical support we’d already decided to go with something else.
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Back to Home School 2010- Curriculum =-.
I don’t mind time consuming so long as we’re learning. I think my son will love it and I am hoping it will help my daughter understand some things better. Though she actually comprehends fairly well. She just doesn’t have that automaticity down I think she should have by now. Maybe confidence?
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Back to Home School 2010- Curriculum =-.
Oh, and All About Spelling is very similar to Writing Road to Reading in some ways (which I think is related to what you’re using, but I’m not that familiar with it.) It builds on the phonograms and is very sequential. It just has a lot of hands on lessons as well with letter tiles and cards and tokens and all that which are very nice for my active little boy who likes to “play” while he’s learning.
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Back to Home School 2010- Curriculum =-.
Looks like a great year! I’m seriously considering All About Spelling for my reluctant speller. It looks great, but it’s a little pricey.
.-= Kara @ Home With Purpose´s last blog ..Weekly Wrap-Up 73010- Attempting to Gear Up For the New School Year =-.
Pricey, but it does come with a lot of little manipulatives. Some tagboard punch outs but the letter tiles are a plastic that looks like it should last a while and you don’t need a second book for a second child. Since we have a few more coming along behind, that is a huge consideration!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Back to Home School 2010- Curriculum =-.
Looks like you have some great plans. I so know what you mean about it all looking perfect in July. I love looking at curriculum and find this is a good time to reflect on why we homeschool.
My hope is my plan will still feel perfect in November.
.-= Dusti ´s last blog ..Back to home school 2010-11 year curriculum plan =-.
This is my first year to homeschool. I taught high school at a private Christian school for a few years before I started having babies. I like curriculum, but since I am solely in charge now, I see its downfalls. I always supplemented when I was in the classroom, especially in Bible and English (I primarily taught English). I didn’t always gel with the viewpoints of some of the textbooks–especially the anti-Catholic bent and the terminology used for American Indians (i.e. savages). However, it does help me to have something to follow.
My son is in kindergarten, and after talking to so many mommies, I heard the same thing over and over–”keep it simple”. So, I have tried to do that. Actually, I am disappointed in my phonics/reading curriculum (A Beka), not because it isn’t good, but because my kid is advanced. This is all trial and error for me, so it is a good learning experience. I’m also disappointed with math (Bob Jones) because I feel like it is overwhelming. And so much is review! Either my kid is really smart, or I just taught him stuff without realizing it!
What I’ve found though, is that I am learning so much about my son and his strengths and weaknesses. I am also learning about myself–what I like and don’t like, what I will do differently next year, and what I WON’T spend money on!
It helps me to see what they need to learn, so I can make sure it happens. So, I guess it hasn’t been a horrible investment–I’ve actually learned a lot.
We are expecting twins around New Year’s, so I started school a month ago so I could take off a little extra time when they arrive. We’ve been doing school for four weeks, and my son has completed 8 weeks worth of phonics/reading curriculum with NO NEW MATERIAL INTRODUCED (all I did with him prior was a Hooked on Phonics beginning reading program) and 6 weeks worth of math curriculum. I’ve just doubled up lessons until we get to unfamiliar waters. I also just started Handwriting without Tears, and it is going well. For Bible, we memorize a verse each week, and my lesson each day is stuff I come up with to help him understand the verse, what it is saying, and how we can apply it.
Sorry this is so long. I think I’m just processing all of this myself. Glad I stopped by!
Processing is what this blog is all about, so process away!
I think having been a teacher makes it much easier to go out on your own, make your own curriculum and tweak it to suit your needs. I don’t do as well with modifying it, but I always wrote a lot of my own things in the classroom, using the textbooks more like a resource.
Congratulations on the twins! It will be nice to have the time off when they arrive without feeling guilty. I took the time off last time, but felt bad for not doing much the whole time!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Back to Home School 2010- Curriculum =-.
Hello! I just stumbled upon your blog post and love the things that you picked. I really find it exciting to find the perfect things too, but I usually tend to over due it because it all looks so good.
We travel the world now as we homeschool, so I can’t buy everything I want, but I still love reading about it all. I still have too many bookmarks and books about homeschool ideas.
.-= soultravelers3´s last blog ..Darling Dordogne- Vacation Holiday in France =-.
All About Spelling is amazing. Two of my kids (so far) really need the multisensory approach it offers, but if it wasn’t for the everything-planned-and-ready-to-go aspect of it I know I wouldn’t get it done regularly enough to make a difference for my kids. I hope it works as well for you and yours as it has worked for me and mine.
Thank you for sharing on the NOT Back-to-School blog hop.
.-= Robin E.´s last blog ..Curriculum Week =-.
I haven’t used any of your choices, but did want to comment on the anticipation of the beginning of school. It’s one of the things I love about homeschooling. The fresh start each school year is refreshing! I also love your chicken project. I have a friend that raises quite a few different breeds of chickens. It’s quite interesting to learn about all the differences between the breeds. Thanks for taking the time to share your plans!
.-= missmoe´s last blog ..Declare Your Curriculum! =-.
Thanks for the info about the poultry club. I need to check in to something like this for our daughter since we have started a small flock.
Blessings
Diane
.-= Diane´s last blog ..Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy =-.