Congratulations! Boys are such a blessing!

It seems as if there is a controversy over whether or not you should teach your child to read when they are very young- like 3 or 4. I have noticed that those who believe you should wait cite research and also say that you might do damage if you teach your child to read before they are ready. I was wondering if this is the same for other subjects. Should you not teach your child math before a certain age? Or science? Or history? Is there any research on this like there is on reading? I would be interested to know what you all think. I am not trying to start a controversy or be argumentative. I am just genuinely curious if any research has been done on other fields of study besides reading. Does anyone know and what are your opinions?

I have noticed that a lot of people around here are using multiple math programs. (Especially with the Beast Academy Craze!:lol:) I was wondering why you use multiple ones? Do you have a specific reason? Do you feel that there are gaps in one that need to be filled with another? I just feel a little confused about it all! Thanks!

I figured out how to use the multi-quote button!:001_smile: Thank you for this lovely reply. I love the whole thing but I wanted to ask how you initially choose curriculum. I have no idea what my children's learning styles are so I guess I am at a loss to figure out what to choose. It seems like every curriculum is recommended by someone. (Although, I must say that certain people on the boards here are completely set on one curriculum- Miquon and Spalding come to mind!) Do I just jump in somewhere and choose one? Thank you! I will look into these! Thank you so much! I have the same question as well for you as well as Regentrude. How did you initially choose curriculum? It just seems like that every curriculum is liked by someone and the same curriculum is hated by others.:confused: I am so sorry to be dumb but what exactly is an integrated approach? Thank you! I will be reading your blog and all of the information on it! Thank you so much for that! I am so very grateful! I already read your post on the educational pedagogy and I am so grateful. I am excited to read the rest of your blog. I also was wondering- do you really read 52 books in a week? This was really helpful and a good reminder. Thank you! Thank you!

Hello, I am a little hesitant to post this as I am not sure if this is the right place and from reading a lot of threads on here I am in awe of all of you. So, please forgive me if I have made a mistake. I am new to homeschooling and have three little sons. I have recently started realizing that I need to work on educating myself in preparation for teaching my children. In reading a ton of threads on these forums, I have realized the wisdom of many of your ladies and quite frankly I am dumbfounded and overwhelmed. You ladies are on a whole other level of knowledge that I am just not at. I have loved the in depth conversations you all have. Wow! (I also feel like I have been eavesdropping so I decided I would just come out and ask some questions instead of just lurking. I also decided to post here as it seems that a lot of mothers who have been homeschooling for a long time post here.) I thought I had a fairly good education but I have been delving into the world of homeschool and realize how much I need to learn. Through reading these boards, I have come to realize that I would like to try and teach my children more on my own as many of you do. I am not really looking for specific curriculum recommendations and I have/already am reading WTM and Charlotte Mason. Also, I am interested in the technique of teaching rather than the "philosophy" of homeschooling (i.e. unschooling, CM, etc). I realize too that there is a lot of overlap as well between the two. (Oh dear, I hope I am being clear!) My questions are more related to my own self education in how to teach effectively. So, here goes: 1. How did you learn to teach your children on your own? Was it through trial and error? 2. What resources helped you learn to teach? 3. How do you learn to use curriculum and tweak it to fit your children? 4. How do you choose resources/curriculum? I am not interested in a boxed curriculum and truly am prepared for " a lot of work" to be able to teach well. But, I don't really know how to get there. 5. How do you educate yourself? 6. What advice to you have for a new homeschooling mother? I would be so grateful for anything! Well, I am so grateful for your time! I will go back to lurking now...:001_smile:

If you have not seen AbeBooks (which I love!!!) you also might want to check out bookfinder.com. It checks a whole bunch of websites (Amazon, Abebooks, Half.com, etc.) and shows you the cheapest price! It is so handy!

:iagree: Trail and error will help him learn the best. Someone also mentioned the Betty Crocker Books. I would recommend the older versions as the newer versions are a "add this can plus that can" type of cooking. This will not allow him to really learn how to cook. The Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook is the one you want.

...are there any good places to buy yarn online? Also, is one brand of crochet hook better than another? I have fallen in love with the Granny Stripe blankets and really want to try and make one. I would appreciate your advice!

I was wondering if anyone has ever done a unit study on Brambly Hedge. We just purchased "The Complete Brambly Hedge" used and just love it! I was thinking of creating my own unit study (perhaps FIAR style) on this book since my boys love it so much. Has anyone ever done this? Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!

I have a lot of the FIAR Vol 1 books as we are planning on doing it next year. (I am looking for The Rag Coat, Who Owns the Sun?, Very Last First Time, Papa Piccolo, and Another Celebrated Dancing Bear. I am trying to find them used!) Right now we are just enjoying the books though! We really have loved them all so far of the ones that we have. Our favorites are Mike Mulligan, Cranberry Thanksgiving, Katy, How to Make an Apple Pie (love the geography!), and Clown of God. We really love all of the ones that we have. I think no matter which ones you choose you will be happy. Also, this is a non FIAR recommendation but we just purchased "The Complete Brambly Hedge" by Jill Barklem. It is all eight of her books in one volume hence the hefty price tag. I found it used for cheaper and you could buy the books individually as well. The paperback books are reasonably priced on Amazon. We just love this book! My boys really like it, especially The High Hills. But, I think that the book was meant for girls. Your 4 yr old daughter would enjoy it so much. The pictures are so lovely and detailed.

I will be praying!

I really like this blog for the FIAR ideas!

:bigear:

I am so sorry that you lost everything. :grouphug: I will be praying for you and your family! Have you heard of "An Old Fashioned Education"? She has a whole curriculum made with free public domain books. She has organized it so well.There are some wonderful books there that we have used.

I am new to homeschooling and have really been researching the Principle Approach. But, I feel confused about how to actually implement it. I understand the overall picture but was wondering how to translate that into day to day work. I was wondering if anyone here uses this approach and what materials have helped them learn how to implement it. If you have used it, do you make up your own lesson plans or use something else? How do you plan for this? I would appreciate any help! Lauren

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I will be looking into these!

My oldest son is starting to learn to read. He knows all of his phonograms very well and is just starting to read his first words- cat, bat, etc. My original plan was to do an intensive phonics course that also teaches handwriting at the same time. But, it is not going as I expected. Because my son is progressing well but very slowly through the handwriting, I want to lay aside the program for a little while as my son's excitement seems to be dampened by the handwriting. So, I am now doing things on my own by working with him on blending the phonograms together. We are still doing handwriting a little but really low key. Anyway, I wanted to find some beginning phonics readers that my son and I can use to work on his blending skills and be able to progress forward in his reading. I have to confess that I am a little overwhelmed with how many phonics readers there are. I was wondering if people here might be able to tell me their favorites. I have heard of these ones: Bob Books Explode the Code Nora Gaydos I have also looked a little into these: I See Sam Progressive Phonics Which ones do you like and feel that are worth the money (or time, in the case of the free ones)? Are there other good ones? I also don't really want my kids to have much (or perhaps any?) screen time. We tried Starfall for a little while and my son just wanted to click on certain ones to play with it and was not really learning all that much. I would appreciate all of your advice! Lauren

Hi Amy, Check out this blog for great FIAR ideas and pictures of activities. It might give you a better idea of what FIAR is all about. Make sure to check out the top tab with all the FIAR books listed and how she "rowed" them. She also says what she supplements with. I am also planning for FIAR next year and am grateful for all the supplemental ideas. Lauren

I have found everything used for FIAR and it is so much cheaper! I would check here on the For Sale Boards, Homeschool Classifieds, and Ebay for saving on FIAR costs! I have found even some of the OOP ones cheaply too! They are such lovely books and a wonderful program. I highly recommend it!

Hi April, Have you heard of the Noah Plan/Principle Approach? I have little ones like you and have also been researching curriculum and using some. Sonlight is not for us as well because of the reasons you have stated. Anyway, in my research, I came across the Principle Approach and I think that it will be a great fit for our family so far. I love how the Bible is the central theme of every subject and not just a separate subject mixed in with all the rest. I think that it is pretty teacher intensive, especially learning everything at first. But, I am so grateful that I have found it and it has been so worth all of the effort I have put in so far! My own education has been advanced so much! One of the main website for it is here. The Noah Plan is their "Boxed" curriculum. To me, their website was a little daunting but don't worry! The other option is to make your own curriculum using the Principle Approach, which is probably what I will do. I have a lot more sources I can give that will be great help. But, right now I have to finish up dinner. If you are interested you can PM me and I can send you more information. I don't know if this will help you a all but I thought you might want to look at it.:001_smile: Lauren P.S. Right now I am planning on doing FIAR with other go along books. Have you seen the Delightful Learning blog? She has lovely ideas and great go-alongs!

Can I come to your house?:D You have lovely ideas! Thank you!

Here are some of the books we have and love: Book for younger ages: Jim Arnosky books- we especially like his Field Trips, Crinkleroot, and All About Books Fun with Nature and other Take Along Guides The Big Bug Book by Taylor and Green Flip Flap Body Book Moonfinder Science Through the Microscope Kingfisher Flying and Floating What is an Atom? by Gabriel Reuben- This is an older book but my kids really like it Snowflake Bentley How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightening What's Inside and See How They Grow series Eyewitness Science series- we like Light and Electricity Older ages: Handbook of Nature Studies The Wonders of Creation series Snowflake books by William Bentley Famous Firsts in Medicine by Crook Famous Men of Science by Bolton Giants of Invention by Tharp Landmark books about science/biographies- Wright Brothers, etc. "Immortals of Science" series Books of particular interest to my boys (i.e. we are in danger of wearing these out!): The New Way Things Work The Ultimate Book of Cross Sections Free Science Books We Have Enjoyed (Google or Homeschool Freebies): Little Busybodies The American Boys Book of Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies This is all that I can think of for now.

I just have to add a little note about Hudson Taylor. For Christmas I received the two volume biography about Hudson Taylor by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. (You can purchase this through OMF International. It is quite pricey but is well worth every penny and it is on sale now!) I have read through the first one and I can't tell you how wonderful it is. What a blessing to be able to read these books! I think that they are too advanced for 3rd grade but I wanted to add it as the books would be a great blessing to you. They read like a devotional and have strengthened my faith so much. I love seeing how one man can influence so many others as Hudson Taylor started China Inland Mission (a model for so many other missions), influenced George Muller, and did many other things. There are also others that have not been mentioned- CT Studd, JO Fraser, Nate Saint, Andrew Murray, John Paton (free online!), Mary Slessor, John and Betty Stam, Isobel Kuhn, Amy Carmichael, etc. There are also two old books that are wonderful and you might be able to find them free online- "The Book of Missionary Heroes" by Basil Mathews (1922) and "The Romance of Missionary Heroism" by John C. Lambert (1907). I think that there might be a newer reprint of the one by Lambert. I love reading about missionaries! I hope you enjoy the year! Lauren

We are currently reading through "Little Busybodies" and love "The American Boy’s Book of Bugs, Butterflies & Beetles by Dan Beard". Check out "An Old Fashioned Education" website too!

There is also a Yahoo Group for this that is so helpful! You can ask any questions you have there and Sanseri (author of SWR) or other trained instructors will answer your questions. I just started using it very basically with my almost 4 year old son who is begging to learn to read. I love the phonogram cards! I agree there is a bit of a learning curve to all of this and I am still learning but I think that this will really be worth it. I did not learn to read with phonograms so perhaps this is why it can be confusing to me. However, my husband was taught with SWR and he still remembers everything to this day. I think that the program has been a huge success for my husband and that is why I am excited to be able to teach it to our sons. Oh, and there are also You Tube videos on how to teach a lot of the skills. Check those out too!