kiwicad
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Posts posted by kiwicad
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I'm currently trying to work out what to do for my DS with spelling. He is 6.5 and will be starting grade 2 in the fall.
Last year we did Spelling Workout and he burned through it. He completed A, B and C before the year was up and had no issues at all, he quite enjoyed it.
I'm hesitant to start him on D as I'm wondering why he is finding these so easy (C is apparently meant to be for grade 3) and I'm starting to think he is missing out on something or it isn't intensive enough for him. I'm wondering if it's just designed to be a supplement to something else?
He is a fluent reader and I thought about starting him on All About Spelling as it looks a bit more thorough but when I looked at it, they said to start at level 1 or 2 and the lesson plans for those levels seem too easy for DS however I understand the way it's designed to build off each level so I wouldn't want to skip levels. It's also expensive especially if he starts at the beginning and works his way through quickly like he has done so far. He's not that keen on manipulatives either.
So I'm kind of stuck as to what to do, does anyone have any advice on alternative curriculum that is more intensive than Spelling Workout? or should we just stick with it seeing as he seems to be doing well?
Thanks!
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We used both Singapore and Miquon this year at the same time-but I have a kid that loves math. I think Singapore on it's own would be enough if he didn't love math so much. I don't match them up, we just work through them as they are, seems to work just fine for us.
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We have only just started HS'ing but a weekly binder seems to be working for us so far. We only have one DS who is in Grade 1 so loading it each week is fine. I can see how it would be a pain for multiple children though.
DS binder has tabs Mon-Fri and I put all his work sheets in there. In the back I have an 'extra' section for anything extra we have that week or anything that we don't finish (this hasn't happened yet though) and I have blank paper in an insert in the back and lined 3 hole punched paper in the back also.
We travel often so this seems to be working for us. History and science have their own folders at home but when we are away I load the appropriate sheets into the back of his weekly folder under the extra section.
In the front he has his reading list in an insert, and a dry erase checklist for daily tasks although we haven't needed to use this yet as I'm always sitting with him at this stage.
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This is interesting as we have recently started Miquon as supplementary math with my DS and he is not getting it at all. Someone mentioned deer in the headlights and that's exactly how I'd describe my DS while we're doing Miquon. I'm not sure if it's the way I'm teaching it as I don't really understand it either. I'll persevere with it for this book though and hopefully he'll get it eventually. We are also using Singapore Math and he totally gets it, but maybe it's because I get it and am able to explain it to him clearly.
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I haven't read other replies, but will give you my experience. I started homeschooling with a boxed curriculum, not Oak Meadow, but another Waldorf type (more traditional Waldorf). It was very parent intensive, but even more important was that I found it did not really meet my son's needs.
I have found it far better to get individual components of curriculum that fit what he needs in each area. Sometimes he is not even at the same grade level in his different subjects and it is much easier to meet his needs and differences by using what seems to fit him best for each area. It also allows having a change when needed. My son IS "arty", but even there, finding what worked for him individually seemed better than the boxed approach.
The basics for each child and homeschool teaching needs are likely to be different, and what works well for us may not be right for you.
We started later into the individual approach, but what I think would have worked if I knew then what I know now would include the following:
Math: Math U See as main curriculum, and perhaps also Miquon and Rightstart math games if supplements desired at that point.
(My son had reading difficulties, so what applied to him would likely not apply to your situation. Same for writing. Had I to do it over though I wonder if PAL part of IEW at that time might have helped. I'll never know.)
History: Story of the World
Science: learning from doing and observing in nature, no formal program, I think for that age, nature if more important than any program as such would be.
Art and or Music: I think some is important even if it is not a focus for your child. Have clay, modeling wax, high quality crayons, and at least some way to make a little music available. Start looking at art, and listening to music, you can use a Waldorf approach if you model for your child what to do and work organically--emphasize roundness, shaping in the hands, in the clay work rather than breaking apart or gouging as it is soothing to do the former. Work with single colors and a single thick brush at first if you do watercolor, and experience how the different sides of a block crayon make different thicknesses of lines if you are doing crayon work, for example. You can do knitting or wood sanding together too, if you want. My son and I both took some guitar lessons.
ETA: I found Story of the World and only from there discovered WTM (backwards to what some do)--My son loved SOTW, esp. the audio CD's by Weiss and has listened over and over. We didn't start in first grade though, and it was perfectly easy to catch up on that later on. And I am not sure he would really have learned much of it in first grade. OTOH, I think having some time for nature/science, and some hands on art/music at that point cannot so easily be made up for later. Reading is also really important and hard to deal with later on.
Don't try to do too much. First is young. A big part of it is just learning to do homeschool and a short while of daily seat work at all--for both of you.
Have fun!
Thank you! I have ordered SOTW, the book and the activity book-I didn't see an audio CD-is it included with the main book? I do I need to purchase it separately?
I think we are going to try to focus on the basics and add a little extra science only because he is really into it at the moment, and a small amount of art. He takes Piano and Guitar lessons already but I'm thinking we may cut that down to just one or the other for now until we get into the swing of things.
I'm sure it will be a lot of trail and error at the start!
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Since you said you were going to try and do TWTM approach, I just wanted to pop in and give you a website that does TWTM recommendations all laid out for you with lots of extras to pick and choose from. It is http://elementalscience.com/index.html. The designer, Paige, is a member of this forum. I have used Chemistry, Intro., and am using Exploring in the fall. It is very economical and I appreciate the schedule, extra sheets, projects, and books.
Best wishes!
Thank you, I've just ordered it, and I've also ordered REAL Science Odyssey-just going to see which one we like better-DS is very keen on science at the moment.
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Thank you all so much, you have no idea how helpful all this information has been! Not sure what I would have done if I hadn't found this forum to be honest!
MamaSheep- Thank you so much for your detailed response-The folders sounds like an excellent idea and something that should work well for us, would you recommend doing this with all subjects-as in having a weekly folder all laid out and ready to go with any worksheets etc...Or would I need to use daily ones for the core subjects like Math and Language? Just trying to get my head around organization and how to go about it as I imagine an organized week/month/year will make things 100 times easier.
Thanks again for your all responses
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Thank you everyone, all your info has been really helpful and I really appreciate it!
I'm going to try putting one together myself semi based on WTM I think as none of the boxed curriculum's seem to be a fit for us. I still do love the look of Oak Meadow, but I don't think DS will enjoy it as much as I'd like him to! It's great seeing the examples of what others are doing so I can get an idea of how we need to plan our year.
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Thank you KAM, I didn't realize I could just use parts of SL. I have to say having everything scheduled out for me is tempting. I'm going to go and have a look at the language arts and science packages and see how I go.
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Thank you! I did look at Memoria press but had discounted it, I can't even remember why-I'll go have another look at it.
If I do put together my own curriculum, is it worth purchasing readers from a boxed curriculum like Sonlight, or am I better off just making my own list and if so, how do I know which books are recommended for a grade 1 level?
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This is my first post here, I'm so glad I have found this forum. I've been reading and reading and reading this forum for a few weeks now but seem to be going around in circles.
This will be our first year homeschooling our DS. He will be starting first grade in September.
Originally I thought we would go with Oak Meadow as I am new to this and a boxed curriculum seemed like it would be easier, however from what I have read, Oak Meadow is quite labor intensive and required a lot of planning-is this correct? I expect to do some planning of course regardless of curriculum, but I'd like something partially planned out that I can follow as a guideline for this first year at least.
I've also heard it's not great if you don't have a crafty child-my son isn't really into arts and craft. He doesn't mind a small amount but doesn't enjoy it. So maybe it's not the right fit for us?
We are looking for something secular and have looked at Calvert and K12 but they are out of our price range. I have heard Sonlight can be used as a secular curriculum by eliminating parts but I'm so confused about what we would need to buy, and it's also out of our price range for the full package. What about the core packages? they appear to be history for grade one, so does that mean I'd still have to purchase a math, science, language etc...curriculum separately?
I am starting to think I should just put my own together but am scared as I have no idea what I am doing and there are so many options I'm overwhelmed! I read The well trained mind and think I could put together a curriculum based on it, but was hoping for something a bit more simple to ease us into this first year. Any thought's on this would be very much appreciated!
Spelling help please
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Thanks, he does well spelling outside of the workbook, I'd say he is a good speller in general. He really likes workbooks too, they seem to work for him, I just worry that we may be missing out on the full understanding of all the spelling rules with it though he seems to understand fairly well.
I'll check out Logic of English-thank you!