This page will give you some good ideas. We like 'The Light in the Lantern' and 'Mary's Little Donkey'

You might like these books. Lovely illustrations and poetic writing. They're a collusion of science and pre-history.

I just got a copy of the SOTW AG vol. 1 today and while it looks like it could be a good resource I'm leaning more now towards using History Odyssey with the Ancient Civilizations Pockets. I find the layout of the SOTW AG overwhelming and dc isn't fond at all of coloring pages. The pockets are already on their way but I haven't purchased the Odyssey curric pages. Does anyone have a comparison of these and which you did you prefer? TIA

Our day begins with circle time which gets us active and engages the body as a nice preparation for the mental work. Perhaps that would help.

Christopherus is one of the more purely waldorf homeschooling models out there. You may find it confining if you don't subscribe to the waldorf philosophy. The kindie program is very good but there's nothing classical ed about it. Circle, story time, block crayon work and crafts as well as celebrating festivals are offered as rhythms to incorporate within the larger container of your own family rhythms. Family rhythm=school at that age. The Grade 1 curriculum is also very non-academic. For example in LA consonants are introduced through a series of linked stories but not alphabetically. The vowels are introduced next also through stories. There are lots of fairy tales but there are very specific ages as to when to introduce a particular tale. I think that this model is wonderful for some children but others need more 'meat'. If yours is one who needs more details, facts etc then you'll find yourself chafing at the bit over what is acceptable to teach for that age. There's a forum for the Christopherus curriculum users but be warned it's about as far from classical ed as you can get.

You can always incorporate gentler aspects into your homeschool day. The book 'Earthways' will give you some wonderful seasonal ideas for crafts within a waldorf framework using natural materials. Finger knitting or finger crocheting are also things to add in. One of the reasons these are taught to this age group is the belief that the right-left crossover that occurs with the fingers opens up pathways in the brain that are necessary to be in place before reading occurs. With children as young as yours adding in circle time might be a nice addition. This is a fabulous resource for circle material organized not only seasonally but also grouped according to the different aspects of the developing bodies of the child (vestibular, proprioceptive, crossing the midline etc). Anyway it sounds as tho your children are giving you your answer but in case you don't want to go with a whole curriculum some of the suggestions above might be helpful. One other book that might be useful is 'All Year Round' It will give you a glimpse in what a waldorf year looks like celebrating the various holidays and seasonal events with young children and has loads of ideas and crafts to do to. OP I realize this is not specifically about OM but if you want a gentler approach and don't want to purchase the whole curriculum some of these ideas might balance out what you've already got in place. HTH

Thank you, ladies for your replies. They've been so helpful. Denise, the first link you posted is the one I'm referring to. The third link you posted is also one I've been considering and now based on your input I'm thinking perhaps that might be more what I'm looking for. Am I correct in understanding that the 1st linked book is very detailed and the third linked book is the exact same material in the UILE of World History? If so what is the presentation like in the 3rd linked book? Lots of photos? lots of illustrations? Paragraph style writing or blocks of info. I'd prefer illustrations to photos and I don't want any comic book style content. Aesthetics matter.

OM is a waldorf inspired curriculum however it's considered by those following a Steiner approach to be the least waldorf of the curriculums out there. The moms I know who've used it felt the need to supplement both science and math in the lower grades. Waldorf is about as far from classical education as you can get. Steiner's vision of the developing child centered around the unfolding soul of the child and his educational philosophy focused on allowing the child to emerge at a gentle pace based on rhythms of expansion and contraction. This is a very simplified interpretation but it gives you an idea of the framework you'd be drawing from should you choose OM. I think there's an OM yahoo group.

Here is the link. Carmen, this one is slightly different than the UILE of World History. This one focuses only on the Ancient World. I'm hoping someone here has used it since my local library doesn't have it for me to try out before buying.

Has anybody used this? I'm trying to pick an encyclopedia to complement our Ancients study this year, 1st grade. We're using SOTW but I'd like something else to have out for browsing. I'd prefer something with illustrations rather than photographs and I'm not keen on the internet linking since we're low-tech in our learning at this point. I did a search for encyclopedias in general and there were lots of cons for the 'manic' style of Usborne. I don't want a world history encylopedia but rather an ancient history one and this seems to be the only child's version available. If you use it do you like it? If not what do you use? TIA

I second the suggestions for R.E.A.L Science Odyssey. The lessons are well laid out, there are lots of experiments and the prep work is relatively minimal.

This is very similar to the approach I'm thinking of taking next term. Of all the phonics programs out there Phonics Pathways is the one I felt most resonant with. I've been looking at the Webster Speller on Don Potter's site but am having a hard time figuring out how it's to be used. Is there a guide that goes with it? Grammar won't be happening till grade 2 tho indirect teaching of grammar through exposure to good literature will be a strong component this year with narration and copywork, spelling tied to dictation etc. In terms of reading level, he's able to read a Magic Treehouse Series chapter book in a few sittings. However he reads the ones he knows the stories of already which I realize is a stage in reading. When he reads aloud to us he does pretty well but definitely still stumbles on words. However as I listen to him sounding them out it seems like his comprehension as to how the rules of phonics work is good tho definitely in process. I don't want to leave gaps in his understanding of how language works but at the same time Pathways is on the pricier side and I want to be sure it won't be redundant before I buy it. I think I'll need to have him read aloud more to see just where he is in terms of his level as most of his reading is done independently in silence and I'm not sure how many words are being misread and what the comprehension level is. Thanks so much for your reply. It's interesting to see how close our approach to teaching LA is right down to books chosen etc. I see there are other intersections in our curricula based on your siggie.

Wow, thanks for all this great info. I guess my next question is whether or not we really need a phonics program at this point. Reading is moving along swiftly. Step into Reading books level 3 are being read easily. Feeling ready to move onto level 4 so I'm thinking that phonics may be redundant at this point but maybe not? Are they a necessary component even if reading is already strong? I'm thinking of getting the Elson Readers level 2 even tho we're technically doing 1st grade. I do like the idea of using the PLL to the fullest so may hold back on that till writing is a lot stronger. There are so many things to choose from, English for the Thoughtful Child, FLL and so forth. It's hard to make a decision. And then there's all the good stuff on mainlesson.com I figure if I can get a sense of how a CM/classical education program proceeds with language then I can use a lot of the material from sites like mainlesson to enrich our language arts. I'm waiting on a copy of TWTM from our local library and perhaps that will give me further direction. I'm loving the glimpses into everyone's curricula and how they implement it.

Thanks for the replies, ladies. Yes, I'm planning on using the teacher guides with both of these books. I did look online to see what an actual lesson looked like but couldn't tell how they differed. I'm wondering if anyone knows whether PLL contains phonics work. I'm imagining yes if for no other reason than it is a series of lessons on language. But being new to this type of curriculum I may be mistaken.

Hello all, I'm just making the transition from waldorf to a classical education/CM approach, basically a 180 degree turn around :001_unsure: We're doing 1st grade and reading is progressing above grade level but we've never done any actual lessons. I'm wanting to introduce the basics, copywork, phonics and reading in a fluid, organic way and have been looking at PLL and the Elson readers. I like both of them a lot and am wondering how much overlap there is between the two. It looks as tho one is specifically for reading and one for gentle grammar but the approach seems similar. Has anyone worked with both of these simultaneously? Thanks and I look forward to learning from you all.