peacefully
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Posts posted by peacefully
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We just got the new timeline from Pandia Press (the folks who produce History Odyssey and Real Science Odyssey). I'm very impressed. There are four long sheets that are folded up in such a way that you can store the timelines in a binder. Or, you can also mount the timelines on your walls if you wish to see the whole thing. You can purchase stickers for the timeline separately, and there is also a Pre-history timeline that goes back to 2 million years or so (also available separately).
The paper feels durable, the printing is beautiful, and it wasn't too expensive. My kiddos are only 6 and 3, so I imagine that we will do several iterations of a timeline in the coming years, but this one felt like the right size and level of detail for us right now.
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I know it's brand new, but I was wondering if there were any early adopters who could share their impressions. Thanks!
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So late to this thread, but I'm excited to I had to share. It's not as if dh is going to understand if I tell him all about my homeschool plans. He'll just smile politely and try to change the subject as soon as possible. :001_huh:
I just finished slicing off the spine of my humungous CK Teacher's Handbook. Instead of doing the file-by-week method, I divided up all the subjects into two large notebooks, each containing 6 months worth of tabs (we hs year-round). Since the CK sequence is easily broken into monthly themes, I can just start filing materials, resource lists and schedules behind the appropriate monthly tab. I can already see how this is going to make planning a breeze for me next year. I couldn't possibly schedule out each week for a whole year, but I can see how I could easily schedule out each day, a couple of months at a time. I am a very happy camper right now.
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Well, you can never really cover everything. While the highly "rigorous" and "complete" boxed curriculum packages like to give the impression that they have got it all covered, they don't. The state standards don't cover everything either. I have looked over the boxed packages, our state standards, the Core Knowledge Sequence, WTM, and quite a few other sources. Each has decided to emphasize some things over others or omit certain subjects entirely. Since I happen to be quite eclectic in my approach, I figure, I've done the research, I understand the goals of these different programs, I've compared those goals with my own, and I've got a game plan that I'm comfortable with.
For me, it's more important to observe and assess my child's readiness to tackle a new skill or move on to a different topic than it is to go by an arbitrary schedule. If memorization is important to you, I'd just start adding memorization and see how it goes. That would give you a pretty good indication of how soon, how much, how often, etc.
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Have you seen the free science lesson plans at the Baltimore Curriculum Project?
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I use CK. I have the whole 1st grade Starter Set (with 2nd and Preschool coming next week), the print Sequence, Books to Build On, and the K-8 Monthly Guide. I use CK primarily for history, art, music, and poetry. The literature selections are nice too, but my kids generally encounter them a couple of years before the CK recommended grades. The sayings are also useful for copywork and discussion. The science units are also very good, but we tend to be interest-led for science. The art and music units are awesome and very easy teach. Thank goodness, because I wouldn't know how to cover those subjects otherwise.
I personally prefer the CK history sequence over the 4-year history cycle. I like the way that CK covers American history twice (IIRC), world cultures and religions, and geography. World history gets a gentle introduction, although ds also tends to study world history just for fun too. The Teacher's Handbook is a wonderful resource, going into much more detail than the Sequence. Each unit as learning objectives, key vocabulary, background information for teachers, additional resources, and some activity suggestions. I like it because they are not lesson plans. I prefer to do that myself, but the guidelines give me the right amount of structure and focus.
OTOH, I am leaning more and more toward a WTM approach to language arts and how those skills might be integrated with the content area subjects. In that respect, I suppose I agree with the poster who said that CK tells us what to learn, while WTM shows us how to learn.
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I think it could be helpful.
If you want recommendations for other resources, let me know and I'll post things that have been helpful for me.
:bigear::bigear:
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At this very moment, ds6 is happily "playing" on Read, Write and Type by talkingfingers.com. In two short months, he is doing awesome with finger placement and familiarity with the keyboard. I like RWT because it also reinforces phonemic awareness, spelling, dictation, even some sentence conventions. It doesn't do those decontextualized time letter drills which are so frustrating to the little guys.
I've also heard good things about Dance Mat Typing, and that's free.
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Tell me NOT to change what is working!!!
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Another CK homeschooler here. I know that K12 is aligned pretty closely to the CK Sequence, but I found much of their offerings to be pretty light. I had to do a substantial bit of supplementing, and since I was an independent K12 subscriber, I was pretty annoyed to be paying so much for relatively little. I don't mind putting together programs, particularly for science. I also vote to stay the course. Your science program sounds fun and manageable. No need to change!
If you are following CK sequence of science topics, you might want to take a look at the pdf samples of the teacher manuals for Delta Science Modules and FOSS. The sequence of topics and experiments within the unit of study are sooo well-done. Really, these units, along with the GEMS handbooks, are some of the best inquiry-driven science units I've seen. They are forming the core of much of what I am planning with my rising 2nd grader. They are a great source of inspiration.