Jump to content

Menu

Family Style Teaching Guides


Recommended Posts

For those of you who like to combine your children in as many subjects as possible, a family style approach rather than a separate path for each individual child, what are you hoping to find in a teaching guide set up this way?

 

Would you find a guide which includes many subjects but not all useful? Subjects such as literature, history, art, music, geography might be included but skill subjects such as math, grammar, foreign languages are not included. How would you feel about science? Can this be included in a family style approach or should it be separated, since much of science can hinge on math level? Or perhaps science could be included up to a specific age range (perhaps stopping at the high school level) or only some aspects of science taught together....so some reading and demonstrations could be completed together but separation occurs with regard to age for depth and output?

 

Would a guide which combines only for areas commonly thought of as extras...so art, music, poetry, Shakespeare and maybe one or two other areas be useful?

 

 

How would you wish for multiple skill levels (as would be the result from combining varying ages) to be handled?

Can the guide use different books for different levels? Would you be willing to read aloud from different books? Is it possible to find one book which will serve a wide range of age/level?

Would a guide which combines as many books as reasonable but then makes some adjustments as the age range becomes too wide be the best compromise?

How do most good family guides work? Is the main goal to keep everyone in the same time frame and to give the teacher one resource as the main guide for the family(vs. pulling from many teaching guides)?

 

 

How open would you be to a guide which keeps everyone on the same topics, although not necessarily all subjects following one time period? For example, if the guide focused on the Middle Ages but while the literature component might include some books to coordinate with the medieval time period, some books included might work to build a good literary foundation (so myths, retellings, classics etc.). And geography might include travel books or a book by Holling C. Holling. So, the history section would include map work to coordinate with the Middle Ages being studied but the geography component might include the former suggestions. Art could be coordinated and some poetry, but music include more than just a study of medieval music. In the end, the guide would be designed to include the whole family but with a variety of topics, although the main focus would be a specific time period. Does that make sense?

 

Thanks in advance for wading through this brainstorm of mine. :) I'm just trying to really narrow down what really matters for families with children of multiple ages/levels and what you might be looking for in a guide that combines them. Thank you!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hope you don't mind if I address your main questions in reverse order; it just worked out that way.

 

- I like what you've described in the second-last paragraph. :-)

 

- We've never had much success with approaches that divide the children into age groups, with specific books and corresponding exercises for each group. It takes too long, and some children don't seem to fit well in any level, and they usually want to read each other's books anyway. My preference would be for a guide that uses one main read-aloud for the whole family, then gives an annotated list of additional suggestions for books and activities. That way, the parent can decide which ones to use with which children.

 

- For this sort of guide to be worthwhile, it would have to simplify our lives, which (for me) means that it would include some of everything except grammar and math. This would serve as the main "content curriculum" for our younger children. For the older ones, it could either be a supplement to standard textbooks, or a starting point for self-directed learning.

 

I'd even like to see a bit of foreign language work included, e.g. vocabulary, cultural information, and very easy read-alouds. This would tie in naturally with some of the topics, and could serve as a gentle introduction for those who weren't yet studying the language, and a supplement for those who were. I know it would be difficult, especially since different families would choose different languages. But you asked!! ;-)

Edited by ElizaG
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I combined my dc quite a bit with read-alouds, history and science during the elementary years. Writing, reading acquisition and math was always done by individual level. Some second language combination has worked, but not as successfully.

 

I used SL teaching guides, with a good deal of tweaking on my part.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry, I wasn't very clear....

 

I'm hoping to really understand what a family really needs a muliti-age group guide to include. I'm hoping to write some myself in the near future. I've looked at many over the years and it seems that various guides rise and fall in popularity over the years. I'm hoping to get at what is really important to a homeschool teacher as far as what the guide includes, which layout works best, which aspects of a guide is the least confusing, how much of a book list can be shared realisticly as the age spread becomes wider, etc.

 

Thanks so much already...I'll look at some of the recommended but published ones that were shared too.

Edited by Kfamily
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favorite is Wayfarers. I really believe in differentiated learning and so family style programs that appeal to me have everyone in the same content areas but not necessarily in the same text. For example, Holling C Hollings is great for the late elementary crowd but not for your high schoolers (as a main text). I cannot see how you could get everyone in a big family or with wide age gaps on the same spine for any subject. With programs like Wayfarers, the spines for each level compliment each other, allowing ease of scheduling and field trip planning. I also like Wayfarers because it includes all the riches like art, nature, and composer study, as well as health and civics. It's also easy to switch to an optional text in that program if a child isn't connecting with it.

 

Edited to add: I looked at your post again and want to mention that Wayfarers (in my opinion) does some of what you suggest for age ranges. For example, it may specify an option that might work better for upper or lower dialectic. Or it might suggest that if you are doing fifth grade you may still need to use the grammar option for x,y,z reasons. And then it gives you the schedule for both. Thus, choosing to place a child on the cusp of one level or another doesn't throw off schedule and it makes it easy to combine children into more manageable groups.

 

I personally do not like it in any curriculum if every lit option is only relevant to the historical time period studies. A few are good, but some should be the idea you had for developing a base for good lit. Last, I really think it's okay to say everyone can be doing the same type of science, math level notwithstanding, if you are either a) going with a literary or Charlotte Mason style approach to science of b) suggesting texts and letting people follow the schedules for those like Build Your Library does in its later years.

Edited by bwdiaz
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...