Is any one using Robinson Curriculum here?

[CalicoKat]

this is very interesting to me.

 

Could you describe to me a little bit about what a typical 3-4th grade student's day might look like.

 

How would you know where to place your child if you're starting late.

 

If you tried this and don't like it why?

 

Thanks

[CalicoKat]

OK, has anyone looked at this and would they be willing to share their thoughts?

 

Good, bad, the ugly?

 

I've read their forums, FAQ's, comparison lists and but because there is no demo I'm still wondering. . . .

 

Talk to me people.

 

 

 

I'm attracted to their philosophy of independent learning. I'm feel like daily life interruptions and my kids being kids and taking advantage of these moments are giving them less than if we didn't have so many littles.

[mom2abcd]

Cathy in KY used to post on these boards and she's a pro at RC. I've been on the email list, gleaning from them.

 

You probably know that Dr. Robinson came up with this plan when his wife died and he had several brilliant children that he wanted to educate at home.

 

Personally, I prefer to use some of his methods or principles. The old, old classics aren't our cuppa tea. But I like the ideas of simplifying. We usually do end up doing just the 4 R's.... Religion (Bible), Reading, WRiting, and ARithmetic. (We do still like to piddle with Greek, critical thinking activities, music, art, etc.) But it helps me a LOT to think of those 4 basics. (I'm a perfectionist so my ideal list of goals/what we ought to cover is unattainable. And I can give myself the worst guilt trip if I don't give myself permission to simplify.)

 

We also don't care to print old books off on the printer and read from 3-ring binders. Many of the RC books can be purchased from Dover, but like I said, I like to choose my own reading choices. (Or let the kids choose from within my choices:o)

 

RC promotes Saxon math and it's not the best math curriculum for us so we use other math programs.

 

Our kids do well with just writing. I've tried writing programs with our older dd and they just stifled her love for writing. So I like their method for writing.

 

I hope this is helpful. Many, many people on the RC list I'm on do seem to use RC as a method rather than a curriculum. (They do the basics, but don't necessarily use the RC materials.)

 

There's a discussion going on right now about how the RC method is similar to the Thomas Jefferson Education method.

 

 

HTH.

[mom2abcd]

You can go to the RC site and look for it http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com ,but here is the direct link to it.

http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/view/rc/weeklyrecord.pdf

--

We are, somewhat, a loose schedule family. Our boys are ages 14 &

12. Generally I am up about 6 am and straighten up the main part of

the house, get laundry going, do up any dishes left from the night

before etc. The boys get up about 7 am.

 

The oldest gets his chores done without much pushing and starts in on

school after he eats breakfast... usually about 8 am unless he wants

to check the news online then he dawdles until I remind him to get

going on school. This varies because some days he decides that the

animals (rabbits) need a thorough cleaning etc and spends half the

day out there. But he always gets his school work done before his

violin class in the afternoon so I don't worry about him much.

 

The youngest gets up and will read a novel until I push him to do

anything so his starting time varies with my schedule and energy. My

neighbor comes daily for coffee so honestly, he doesn't usually start

school until about 11 am. He will get his breakfast and reluctantly

get his chores done while she is here. He generally gets done with

school by 3 pm and is ready for his piano class at 5pm.

 

We generally eat our big meal of the day around 3 pm (Mexican

schedule). Our afternoons are generally tied up with running the

kids to music classes and picking them up.

 

I would say that we have a routine versus a schedule and that is okay

for us. I see my kids making progress and that is the most important

thing. HTH!

 

--

I

don't think the kids always spend a full hour on their reading but they get

their assignments done. We don't have set times for things.

 

We actually go to the Y almost every morning until I got sick last week. So

if the kids start at 8:00 they usually have Math done before we go (some

days we go at 9, some at 10:00) then we come home, eat lunch & they work on

the rest. I go to classes or do a workout & the kids swim or sometimes play

in the gym. I think it's important for them to have physical activity &

this is a way that we all get it.

 

Also, I started something that we haven't done now that we've been sick but

each morning we would do a "15 minute tidy" - so we just all work for 15

minutes to do the jobs & it worked out really well. My husband made a

computer system but I haven't started it yet. It has all our little tasks

assigned & it will randomly assign us different jobs each day so that by the

end of the week everything should have been done at least once! I think it

will be really cool once we get into it.

 

I have tried strict schedules & loose schedules & I agree with Nancy who

said she has a "routine". It is much easier to have a routine you can live

with than a strict schedule you can mess up.

--

We get up 6:30 to 7:00am and I have my devotion time, usually for about

an hour. We get dressed that's about 8:00 next we eat breakfast. I

have a chore checklist of things that must be done after breakfast,

mainly for my happiness. I find it difficult to concentrate on school

if the house is a mess. Once, this is done we start school. This is

usually between 10 and 11. At this point I use to be very frustrated!

Then the Lord began to show me that I can be flexible and content,

because next is school and it can take until 5pm if need be and if we

get interrupted we can always finish in the evening. My husband is

willing to help me and I am amazed at how much we can get done in a

little bit of time.

 

We start with Math, then writing, and anything else that needs to be

done at the table. We do eat lunch between 12 and 1, this means school

stops. Once lunch is cleaned up, I rock our 3 yr old to sleep while my

7 yr old reads outloud to me. My older girls can go on with reading at

this point, in seperate rooms. I take a nap or rest every day. A sleep

deprived Mom can not be as meek and quiet as she should be. Sometimes,

my 7 and 9 yr olds nap and sometimes they do their reading. When I am

finished resting we start where we left off. Whether we were writing or

doing math (somedays we are STILL doing math [:(] ) What ever time we

are finished with a days worth of school we are finished. Whether

that's 3 or 5 or occasionally 7.

 

I have read and used Managers of Their Homes and Managers of Their

Chores and for this season of my life a rigid schedule will not work. I

have a simple list on the refrigerator of what needs done and when it

needs done. I usually can get through it. I put the most important

things on there first and the least important last and work through it.

Our children know it's Breakfast then choretime, then Math, etc... We

don't have set times that things must be done we only do them in a

certain order. What's amazing is we can usually finish everything we

need to do. I have to remember school doesn't have to be done like I

use to do it in public or private schools, that's the beauty of

homeschooling. It's o.k. to sit in the living room and read or cuddle

on the couch and do math, if need be, what's important is that we do

school.

 

We only have a short amount of time with these children and I don't want

them to remember me frustrated all the time because work didn't get

done. I want to be a joyful mother. My devotional journal reads,

"Family is more important than cleaning standards (or anything else for

that matter) I am cleaning and doing school for them and if I make them

miserable cleaning and doing school I have failed." I need reminded of

this daily. That's why it's written in large letters. I need to be

thankful for each child and every trial that comes each day.

 

I read a book a couple months ago "Passionate Housewives Desperate for

God" it is published by Vision Forum. It helped my perspective a great

deal. They talk about a myth that we as American's have come to believe,

that our houses must be perfect and our children always dressed to a tee

and looking lovely, beautiful meals on the table all the time. Reality

is I am not June Cleaver and I never will be. I am a Mom with 4

precious children that need taught God's Word and educated well and

that's all that really matters. The rest must go by the wayside until

they are grown and then my heart will be sad, and I'll easily be able

to do all that I want then.

 

Hope this is helpful. Remember you have small children that won't

always be small and this season in your life is just that a season. It

will pass and they will be able to help more eventually. Enjoy them.

--

.

[mom2abcd]

Our first year or two with RC, we did exactly as Dr. Robinson

suggests in the Course of Study. (with the exception of eliminating

sugar and TV/computers, all of which were limited) We even did math

on Saturdays! After using Sonlight, Weaver, and AlphaOmega, we were

ecstatic. One of my sons had trouble making all the transitions

between subjects, so RC was working great for him. Another son likes

to know EXACTLY what's expected, so it was great for him. My oldest,

dd, just loved to read and write, so she was great (except for the

math! but she did it :)) And I'm sure my youngest loved it, she had

her mommy back (2 y/o) It was far from burnout. It was quite

refreshing. We started at 8AM, stopped at noon for a short lunch,

finished school early afternoon and still had plenty of time for

extras (piano lessons, 4-H) or personal free time in which to

discover and pursue their passions (one son would head down to the

pond and "fish", one son would take his hockey equipment out to the

cul de sac and shoot, and dd would squirrel herself away in her

bedroom to sew). I have NEVER been tempted to look at another

curriculum!!

 

--

Hi. We have 2 sons (ages 13 and 14) using this approach. I usually

wake them up around 8:30. We eat breakfast and then we pile on my bed

or our couch and I read to them for about 30 minutes. We then discuss

breifly what they are working on (specifically what problem set they

are on and difficulties they are having, writing topic and what their

reading choices are) then they read for 2 hours, write and do their

math. They are usually finished between 12-1:30..and that is with a few

skateboarding or trampoline breaks in between. They usually go to work

with me at a Boys and Girls Club in the afternoons where they help the

schooled kids with homework and just play or they go to an activity of

their own. (soccer, Civil Air Patrol,etc.) On Mondays they do not do

anything except read with me in the morning and then Odyssey of the

Mind.

As for chores..I ask them to put away laundry and make their beds each

morning. If we are at home (I also sometimes work at our church in the

mornings. At these times the boys do their stuff in the church library)

the boys take short cleaning breaks between math and writing. Or

between one book and another.

 

--

We usually read 1.5-2 hours of Robinson books (we go in order) each day. They also read other books I assign (usually 1/2 hour, or maybe one chapter) as well as our Bible time. If it is a book they enjoy, then I will let them read for their 2 hours straight. If it is a drier or more difficult book, then I will break it up to 30 or 45 minute sessions with other school work or chores in between. Pleasure/personal reading doesn't count for school. My oldest will read another hour or two on his own time, my youngest will read less on his own time, but usually some, each day. I should add here that my youngest reads slower and so covers less in the time allotted, though I think this is more a case of the older brother being a very fast reader than the younger being a dawdler...

 

As for math, my oldest has occasionally struggled. (My youngest maybe has a question once or twice per book.) At first, he would have a question or a problem maybe once per week. I would try and make him figure it out, but I would often be even more impatient than he was to get it resolved. So I did help out occassionally. But, if I felt the issue was something he could easily figure out I would make him do it on his own. After our first few months, he was able to figure things out more by himself. Once we hit Advanced Mathematics, he again started to have questions occasionally. I would help when I could, and HE would help ME when I had a question (Since Alg II I have done the lessons myself as well) so it has been fun and a nice way to cement our learning, through teaching. Now he is cruising through Calculus without any trouble so far.

 

We do 1 lesson per day. I have allowed 1/2 lesson per day on occasion (when the lessons have gotten particularly hard, or when we have been very busy, or in summer sometimes, etc). Usually we accomplish this is less than 2 hours, but not always. My youngest is a natural and can whip out a lesson in 30-45 minutes. In Algebra I, I would have him do two lessons, but he felt he was being penalized for getting his work done quickly and efficiently. .. Now he is nearly done with Alg II, and is only in 8th grade, so I just let him do one lesson. As long as his accuracy is good, I'm thrilled that it takes much less than two hours, and I don't see a reason to accelerate his progress any more than has already happened naturally.

 

I'm a fairly regimented parent, and we stick to RC closely. I like the training of long hours reading and doing math. I love the ideal of a self-taught program. I don't have a problem with letting a child sit for 5 hours figuring out a math problem. BUT, I think we all need to do what works best for our own families. And even within a family, different children have different needs!

 

To this 2 hours of reading, and two hours of math, we add another hour or hour and a half for writing (page per day, rewriting/correctin g it for the next days assignment), vocab, spelling (we learn to spell the vocab words) and short grammar lessons. We also study geography and chess. Usually these come on top of the other school work, but sometimes we will skimp on RC to fit in the geography. My boys help in the home, and also 'workout' five days per week. So, we are usually pretty busy and it IS a lot of schoolwork. But, they are teens, and I feel it is good training for them in several ways: They learn to budget their time! Free time is precious around here, and so they are not going to want to waste that playing video games (not that I would allow that...) or dawdling. They also learn a good work ethic and the discipline they will need to do well in college and in their chosen careers. We do not have a lot of outside activities other than occasional art classes (for my youngest), chess (for the three of us) and my oldest is on the Jr. rifle team which is a minimal time commitment and a short season. We also volunteer in the community.

 

I know that this doesn't sound like an exciting regime, but we all thrive on it. My boys are less than two years apart (but 2 grades), so they are built in friends. They get plenty of social time with the above mentioned classes/activities (especially chess) and with our church group, family, and friends. And, we don't waste any of our precious time running around and driving to lessons and activities that drain the checkbook but don't really enrich our lives.

 

We started this 3.5 years ago when my kids were 10 & 12. Previously, we spent less time in schoolwork and more time in activities, especially soccer, baseball, and scouts. But as a family we found that we did not thrive with evening activities because we weren't able to eat together as a family- with a proper, healthy, homecooked meal every night.

 

Anyway, I have written quite a tome here! We love RC, but my experience has been that it definitely works better for disciplined, academically inclined families. It can be adapted, but if you are daunted by a lot of school work, then you may do better with something else.gabrielle

Three hours of reading time…

 

Sometimes they read the same book the whole time but most

often they switch things up. We require a chapter of the Bible and some

non-fiction reading time and then they can choose what they want for the

remainder of the time. We have a personal library of books we find

acceptable that they can choose from (which includes the RC list). We

require an hour of reading for "school" but since my girls love to read

they also read on their own time which usually adds up to another hour

on average. We also read to them in the evenings - not every day but

often. Sometimes I start school out with a chapter of some book.

Depends on whether there is a book I really want them to hear. We just

recently finished "Carry On, Mr Bowditch" which was a great book for why

we need math, hard work, and self-learning. The man stopped school when

he was ten but had taught himself the equivalent of a Harvard education

by the time he was 21 and that during his spare time as he was working

full time. Its a great historical fiction/biography.

 

Its all about what works for your child/family.

--

[mom2abcd]

I have four girls two of which are school age 7 and 5. And even at this young of ages the girls are learning independently. It is wonderful... part of our reason for choosing rc was because I knew that we needed something that would allow me to spend time changing diapers and bed sheets (you understand) with out disruppting the others work day. Having said that this is what our day looks like ( and it can be different for each child based on age or personality)

get up when ready usually 6-6:30 (they are young :) )

up -7:30 read together (in bed in jammies usually)

7:30- 8 get ready for the day

8 breakfast

finish of breakfast start work

 

1.5-2hours Math 7 yr old Math Facts worksheet and 1/2 lesson saxon 5/4

5yr old using manipulatives to understand four operations she usually only works here for 30 min and I do need to help ocasionally

 

20min-1hr (child and day dependent) 7yr old writes one page large lines of her choice of topic alternating with copy work from Bible or Book of Knowledge or other good literature. 5yr old penman ship sheet(included in the curriculum) 3-4 lines. At this age I mostly correct and have them rewrite the same day but am moving to having my 7 yrold do her corrections the next day as well as her current days writing.

 

10-15 min vocab. 7yr old reviews words from current book learning them on her own and testing when she thinks she is ready (I do go over the words with her when she first gets them as they need a lot of explaining at her age)

5yr old nothing here now possibly some spelling work comming

 

1.5-2 hrs reading 7 yr old reads independently 1.5 hrs we are slowly increasing her time to hit 2 hrs by yrs end. (if she is reading a "slow" book I will allow her to read 1 hr in that and .5hr in a book of knowledge)

5 yr old reads with me for 10 min and alone for 10 min.

 

We break for lunch usually the 7yrold finishes/starts her reading after lunch. Hope this helps, RC has been wonderful for our family and allowed me to continue being a mommy to my little ones while not skimping on the older ones educations

--

I have had schedule after schedule after schedule over the years. Enough

that when I would say something to effect of having a schedule, my kids

would say "why.it only lasts a week or two!!"

 

BTW: My kids are 15, 13, 10, 8, 5, 2 1/2 and #7 due in about 4 weeks)

 

Well, in January I came up with more of a routine (as several others have

mentioned) There were certain household type things that were not being

done and so I was constantly frustrated with it. So we made some changes.

I've tweaked it a bit, but the basic concept is there.

 

They get up 6:30/7:00'ish and take care of personal stuff.shower, make bed,

brush teeth, dress, tidy up bedroom, etc..

 

Then they have some household "rotation" stuff to do: put away all clean

clothes that were folded or put on hangers the day before, put away all

clean dishes, make sure more don't need washing, bring down all dirty

clothes, have them sorted and start a batch of laundry, start the crock-pot

for the day, clean whichever bathroom needs to be done. (the longer tasks

are divvied up between them)

 

THEN they get to eat breakfast. It usually takes about an hour or less for

all the rotation stuff to get done.

 

When we first started it, it might be 11:30 or so until breakfast, but now,

they have picked up the pace a bit..it is usually 8:30 ish. I told them

their stomachs was my best ally!! J

 

After breakfast is cleaned up (and it is usually fairly quick and easy) and

dirty dishes loaded in the dishwasher, they get to school work. They are

SUPPOSED to start with math, then writing, then reading. My oldest two are

in an Apologia Biology class so they have to add that in the schedule. They

also are involved in AWANA and one is in Scouts and one in Civil Air Patrol,

so they allocate some time for that too. And my next three down (10, 8, 5)

"do" Story of the World, listening to the Audio Cd's, the coloring pages,

and map work.

 

We do lunch about 12:30 or so (a bit more flexible, depending on the work

that is getting done)

 

Then they get back to school work.

 

We do dinner 5:30 ish, depending on if we started the crockpot or whatever

else is for dinner.

 

Sometimes the kids have evening activities and they go do that. Otherwise,

they either finish up their school work or have free time to check their

emails, work on other stuff or take care of backlog of things they are

supposed to get done. If they have things done, they get free time. But

they are having to learn that their free time is dependent upon THEIR focus

and activity!!!

 

Is it perfect. Nope! Does it work? Occasionally J At least it has

lasted more than a week or two (almost 2 months and still going!!!)

 

Also, we had a short notice trip that we made to Florida (I live in Texas)

to help with some family issues and the general outline of activities even

worked on the road!! Not that we took everything, but we still did math!

 

The reason I kind of insist on math first is so that if life gets in the

way, they have at least done their math work.

 

We do the Saxon levels for oldest three (8 yr old uses Abeka math, and the 5

yr old is just learning numbers/letters, etc.). Writing with IEW - we use

the dvd's for the student writing intensives, and then the reading is a bit

less than he requires. My kids are avid readers, but balk at some of the

"old language" in some of the RC books, so we just require about an hour and

then vary that if we have time with stuff they prefer.

 

Hope that gives another perspective

[CalicoKat]

I have four girls two of which are school age 7 and 5. And even at this young of ages the girls are learning independently. It is wonderful... part of our reason for choosing rc was because I knew that we needed something that would allow me to spend time changing diapers and bed sheets (you understand) with out disruppting the others work day. Having said that this is what our day looks like ( and it can be different for each child based on age or personality)

get up when ready usually 6-6:30 (they are young :) )

up -7:30 read together (in bed in jammies usually)

7:30- 8 get ready for the day

8 breakfast

finish of breakfast start work

 

1.5-2hours Math 7 yr old Math Facts worksheet and 1/2 lesson saxon 5/4

5yr old using manipulatives to understand four operations she usually only works here for 30 min and I do need to help ocasionally

 

20min-1hr (child and day dependent) 7yr old writes one page large lines of her choice of topic alternating with copy work from Bible or Book of Knowledge or other good literature. 5yr old penman ship sheet(included in the curriculum) 3-4 lines. At this age I mostly correct and have them rewrite the same day but am moving to having my 7 yrold do her corrections the next day as well as her current days writing.

 

10-15 min vocab. 7yr old reviews words from current book learning them on her own and testing when she thinks she is ready (I do go over the words with her when she first gets them as they need a lot of explaining at her age)

5yr old nothing here now possibly some spelling work comming

 

1.5-2 hrs reading 7 yr old reads independently 1.5 hrs we are slowly increasing her time to hit 2 hrs by yrs end. (if she is reading a "slow" book I will allow her to read 1 hr in that and .5hr in a book of knowledge)

5 yr old reads with me for 10 min and alone for 10 min.

 

We break for lunch usually the 7yrold finishes/starts her reading after lunch. Hope this helps, RC has been wonderful for our family and allowed me to continue being a mommy to my little ones while not skimping on the older ones educations

--

I have had schedule after schedule after schedule over the years. Enough

that when I would say something to effect of having a schedule, my kids

would say "why.it only lasts a week or two!!"

 

BTW: My kids are 15, 13, 10, 8, 5, 2 1/2 and #7 due in about 4 weeks)

 

Well, in January I came up with more of a routine (as several others have

mentioned) There were certain household type things that were not being

done and so I was constantly frustrated with it. So we made some changes.

I've tweaked it a bit, but the basic concept is there.

 

They get up 6:30/7:00'ish and take care of personal stuff.shower, make bed,

brush teeth, dress, tidy up bedroom, etc..

 

Then they have some household "rotation" stuff to do: put away all clean

clothes that were folded or put on hangers the day before, put away all

clean dishes, make sure more don't need washing, bring down all dirty

clothes, have them sorted and start a batch of laundry, start the crock-pot

for the day, clean whichever bathroom needs to be done. (the longer tasks

are divvied up between them)

 

THEN they get to eat breakfast. It usually takes about an hour or less for

all the rotation stuff to get done.

 

When we first started it, it might be 11:30 or so until breakfast, but now,

they have picked up the pace a bit..it is usually 8:30 ish. I told them

their stomachs was my best ally!! J

 

After breakfast is cleaned up (and it is usually fairly quick and easy) and

dirty dishes loaded in the dishwasher, they get to school work. They are

SUPPOSED to start with math, then writing, then reading. My oldest two are

in an Apologia Biology class so they have to add that in the schedule. They

also are involved in AWANA and one is in Scouts and one in Civil Air Patrol,

so they allocate some time for that too. And my next three down (10, 8, 5)

"do" Story of the World, listening to the Audio Cd's, the coloring pages,

and map work.

 

We do lunch about 12:30 or so (a bit more flexible, depending on the work

that is getting done)

 

Then they get back to school work.

 

We do dinner 5:30 ish, depending on if we started the crockpot or whatever

else is for dinner.

 

Sometimes the kids have evening activities and they go do that. Otherwise,

they either finish up their school work or have free time to check their

emails, work on other stuff or take care of backlog of things they are

supposed to get done. If they have things done, they get free time. But

they are having to learn that their free time is dependent upon THEIR focus

and activity!!!

 

Is it perfect. Nope! Does it work? Occasionally J At least it has

lasted more than a week or two (almost 2 months and still going!!!)

 

Also, we had a short notice trip that we made to Florida (I live in Texas)

to help with some family issues and the general outline of activities even

worked on the road!! Not that we took everything, but we still did math!

 

The reason I kind of insist on math first is so that if life gets in the

way, they have at least done their math work.

 

We do the Saxon levels for oldest three (8 yr old uses Abeka math, and the 5

yr old is just learning numbers/letters, etc.). Writing with IEW - we use

the dvd's for the student writing intensives, and then the reading is a bit

less than he requires. My kids are avid readers, but balk at some of the

"old language" in some of the RC books, so we just require about an hour and

then vary that if we have time with stuff they prefer.

 

Hope that gives another perspective

thank you for all the information. I have a lot to digest. :)

 

May I PM you if I have further questions?

[CalicoKat]

Cathy in KY used to post on these boards and she's a pro at RC. I've been on the email list, gleaning from them.

 

You probably know that Dr. Robinson came up with this plan when his wife died and he had several brilliant children that he wanted to educate at home.

 

Personally, I prefer to use some of his methods or principles. The old, old classics aren't our cuppa tea. But I like the ideas of simplifying. We usually do end up doing just the 4 R's.... Religion (Bible), Reading, WRiting, and ARithmetic. (We do still like to piddle with Greek, critical thinking activities, music, art, etc.) But it helps me a LOT to think of those 4 basics. (I'm a perfectionist so my ideal list of goals/what we ought to cover is unattainable. And I can give myself the worst guilt trip if I don't give myself permission to simplify.)

 

We also don't care to print old books off on the printer and read from 3-ring binders. Many of the RC books can be purchased from Dover, but like I said, I like to choose my own reading choices. (Or let the kids choose from within my choices:o)

 

RC promotes Saxon math and it's not the best math curriculum for us so we use other math programs.

 

Our kids do well with just writing. I've tried writing programs with our older dd and they just stifled her love for writing. So I like their method for writing.

 

I hope this is helpful. Many, many people on the RC list I'm on do seem to use RC as a method rather than a curriculum. (They do the basics, but don't necessarily use the RC materials.)

 

There's a discussion going on right now about how the RC method is similar to the Thomas Jefferson Education method.

 

 

HTH.

can you share the email list link too? thanks.

[mom2abcd]

can you share the email list link too? thanks.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RobinsonUsers4Christ/

[Peela]

mom2abcd, I have always been curious as to what "just writing" means in the RC. Does it involve the child picking a topic to write about and writing a page? Or does the parent pick the topic? and are they supposed to rewrite it the same day it is marked? is there any more writing instruction than "write a page" in the higher years?

thanks

[runningirl71]

I became aware of the Robinson Curriculum ealier this year and went out to research it. In my research I came across a very similiar curriculum called A2 (Achievement Squared). It is almost the same thing in regards to philosophy and books used but it has been updated in the program aspect. I think RC has 22 cds or so and A2 has all that info on one cd. Also, there are some differences with formatting of the books to make them easier to print off. And on the cd is a virtual library where you can find all the books for all grades in the same place. If you go to the site, there is actually a comparison chart of the two curriculums, and A2 has a demo cd you can order for around $5. This curriculum is also $99, so it isn't as expensive. There is a yahoo support group you can sign up for to ask questions and it is run by the creator of the curriculum. I have found him to be very personable/accesible.

 

I don't know about RC, but I do have the A2 cd and there doesn't seem to be much teacher instruction, or teacher helps. It tends to say "Have your child do writing each day" so there is a lot left to the parent to construct, imo. I LOVE the books used as I am a "vintage" person. The McGuffey readers are used in the lower grades. There are grammar and composition books called Graded Lessons in English and Higher Lessons in English from the 1800's as well. These are quality books, meaty, but they don't come with answer keys, and I can question myself when it comes to things like diagramming/parsing. That is where the yahoo group comes in. You can go to the group and ask questions, which is nice.

 

This curriculum also emphasizes the 3 R's and believes all other subjects come out of these three. There is a basic math worksheet generator for lower grades, and a basic math book, but no higher math is included, just links to books on the internet. And, no science curriculum, just suggestions on what to study each year.

 

I am slowly trying to implement this, but not sure if it is the perfect fit for us. I like the simplicity of it and the quality of what is studied.

 

Now, all of this to say, you could go ahead and order the A2 demo cd, since these curriculums are so similiar, to see if you like it, and then make your decision if you want to do the RC or not. The demo cd is exactly like the real one, you just don't have access to print anything off.

[mom2abcd]

mom2abcd, I have always been curious as to what "just writing" means in the RC. Does it involve the child picking a topic to write about and writing a page? Or does the parent pick the topic? and are they supposed to rewrite it the same day it is marked? is there any more writing instruction than "write a page" in the higher years?

thanks

 

Peela, I'm no expert on RC. We don't use it; I've never seen the cds, etc. I've just researched it and followed an RC email list.

 

Here's a quote:

http://my.homewithgod.com/joyfullight/writing.htm

With the Robinson Curriculum, students 10 years old, or older, are required to write a one page essay daily. The parent then corrects the essay for errors, and the next day, the student corrects their errors before writing the next essay.

To prepare a student for writing an essay, the youngest students begin learning to write with penmanship pages. Penmanship pages are included on the Robinson CD's, you can buy penmanship workbooks, or you can use these links to find other sources for learning penmanship.

Once they know how to print well, they then begin copywork from a well-written book. It is best to start off small with just one or two sentences at a time. When they are ready for cursive, cursive penmanship pages are started, and then copywork using cursive. If a young student chooses to write their own essay, they may do so -- but it is not required until the age of 10. Until the age of 10 let them read a lot, and copy from good quality books. This process alone teaches good grammar and spelling in an informal way.

--

From what I've seen, a lot of the families use IEW.

[kpupg]

No, and you didn't ask this, but I'm gonna but in anyhow ... the Robinson family story and approach inspired me a great deal. We are very very eclectic, but I was inspired toward literature-rich curriculum just by reading their book lists. I was inspired to really work at making my children pull their own weight in the household by learning about the Robinson children's responsibilities. I was inspired to set up our family's routines to include academic areas where the children are expected to work independently on a regular basis. And I was inspired to require math 6 days a week, year-round (yes, they get time off at Christmas LOL, and other breaks, too) -- I really appreciated Dr. R's explanation that a brain that expects to do math every day develops differently from a brain that doesn't. When reading about the Robinsons, all these concepts seemed so very obvious and fruitful to me, and it gave me confidence that this type of approach can be done. So we look nothing like the Robinson family in any way (I have Oreos sitting on the table behind me at this very moment LOL), yet some of Dr. R's principles have taken root and blossomed in our family.

 

Karen

[Lovedtodeath]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RC_A2_Group/

 

Here is another group. And another link for you. I loved, loved, loved it for K, but don't use it much at all anymore. I would definitely recommend anyone get the A2 demo. http://www.hstreasures.com/ the demo can be ordered here and information comparing the two is here http://www.hstreasures.com/A2/A2vsRC.html

[MelissaM]

Here are some of my thoughts:

 

1. With RC the children are supposed to be independent. While it's good in theory and works for Dr. Robinson, I like to interact more with my children in their academic work.

 

2. The literature is fine. Not, in my not so humble opinion, fantastic. There are no fairy tales, myths, twaddle, mind candy, or risque books. We don't mind a little twaddle around here. We also love fairy tales and myths.

 

3. I don't like the flashcard vocabulary. I like to do it my own way. But I do love pulling vocab. from the book they are reading.

 

4. I don't care for Dr. Robinson's view on grammar.

 

5. Six days a week school? :001_huh: No thanks.

 

Overall, RC is not a good fit for our family.

[CalicoKat]

Here are some of my thoughts:

 

1. With RC the children are supposed to be independent. While it's good in theory and works for Dr. Robinson, I like to interact more with my children in their academic work.

 

2. The literature is fine. Not, in my not so humble opinion, fantastic. There are no fairy tales, myths, twaddle, mind candy, or risque books. We don't mind a little twaddle around here. We also love fairy tales and myths.

 

3. I don't like the flashcard vocabulary. I like to do it my own way. But I do love pulling vocab. from the book they are reading.

 

4. I don't care for Dr. Robinson's view on grammar.

 

5. Six days a week school? :001_huh: No thanks.

 

Overall, RC is not a good fit for our family.

Can you tell me how you do vocabulary?

 

I got my cd's and am printing off books for my kids at their levels. What method of binding do you use?

[8filltheheart]

I have read RC's philosophy and at one point in time owned all the CDs (a friend gave them to me....I still see the odd one floating around our school stuff every once in a while!)

 

I agree with some of his philosophy, disagree with other parts. I agree that there doesn't need to be that much of a focus on science during the younger yrs. Most science is math based. I am not as extreme as he is though. We read tons, do nature study, but definitely not like many of the posters on here do. I don't test, I don't do science vocabulary. We do do nature notebooks and science sketches, etc.

 

My kids also read for extended periods of time daily. (not RC printed books though. Quality lit we own)

 

I firmly believe that kids do need to be taught. So......that really made me disregard the majority of his philosophy. While self-educating has its place, kids are incapable of formulating accurate perspectives or understanding nuances without discussion and guidance.

 

My kids read when I have to deal with other things, but direct educational dialogue is the foundation of our homeschool.