Have you used Oak Meadow? (Looking at 2nd grade curriculum)

[MamaSheep]

I'm wondering if someone who's used it might be able to talk to me about scheduling. I recently got my OM 2nd grade box in the mail. I'm excited to use it with my daughter, as I think it'll really be right up her alley. I had thought it would schedule out my days more than it does, though. It just says things like use language arts for the main lesson 3 days this week, use math for the main lesson 2 days this week. Then there are social studies and science lessons that also go in the main lesson book. Are these not "main lessons"? How many days a week should we be doing music? I'm not sure I "get" how their scheduling goes.

 

Anyone?

[Melissa B]

Oak Meadow has the child only keeping one main lesson book at a time. Language arts, science and social studies go in the front and math starts in the back. So everything will say add to the main lesson book - even if it is not done during a main lesson time period. (We keep separate main lessons books for each subject. So, I have four going at once - language arts, social studies, science and math.)

 

The main lesson is the longer, more focused morning lesson. For second grade the main lesson is usually language arts three to five days per week, with math the other days. To make it more confusing the book will sometimes say "language arts should be your main lesson three days and math the other two days" and then go on to say "use science as your main lesson one day." When it says that they mean use your science materials for a language arts lesson. So instead of writing sentences about the literature book you are reading the student would be doing sentences and a picture of the science he is studying.

 

Oak Meadow is a very flexible curriculum so you can set up a schedule that works for you. Some people do a morning circle and do music each morning at that time. Others schedule it in the afternoon and alternate it with art or crafts.

 

Personally, I do not schedule recorder at all. My older girls are teaching the younger ones and they do it on their own time. I do singing/verses at the beginning of each language arts lesson. And I do art/crafts/science (very hands on) in the afternoon.

 

HTH!

[Audrey]

I'm wondering if someone who's used it might be able to talk to me about scheduling. I recently got my OM 2nd grade box in the mail. I'm excited to use it with my daughter, as I think it'll really be right up her alley. I had thought it would schedule out my days more than it does, though. It just says things like use language arts for the main lesson 3 days this week, use math for the main lesson 2 days this week. Then there are social studies and science lessons that also go in the main lesson book. Are these not "main lessons"? How many days a week should we be doing music? I'm not sure I "get" how their scheduling goes.

 

Anyone?

 

 

I did not use OM for that grade, but there is a good OM yahoo group with lots of people who have and are quite friendly about helping. You might try asking there.

[MamaSheep]

Oak Meadow has the child only keeping one main lesson book at a time. Language arts, science and social studies go in the front and math starts in the back. So everything will say add to the main lesson book - even if it is not done during a main lesson time period. (We keep separate main lessons books for each subject. So, I have four going at once - language arts, social studies, science and math.)

 

I was thinking about doing that. I think it might make more sense to my daughter to have the subjects in separate books.

 

The main lesson is the longer, more focused morning lesson. For second grade the main lesson is usually language arts three to five days per week, with math the other days. To make it more confusing the book will sometimes say "language arts should be your main lesson three days and math the other two days" and then go on to say "use science as your main lesson one day." When it says that they mean use your science materials for a language arts lesson. So instead of writing sentences about the literature book you are reading the student would be doing sentences and a picture of the science he is studying.

 

THANK YOU for explaining that. I had noticed that and was wondering.

 

Oak Meadow is a very flexible curriculum so you can set up a schedule that works for you. Some people do a morning circle and do music each morning at that time. Others schedule it in the afternoon and alternate it with art or crafts.

 

Personally, I do not schedule recorder at all. My older girls are teaching the younger ones and they do it on their own time. I do singing/verses at the beginning of each language arts lesson. And I do art/crafts/science (very hands on) in the afternoon.

 

HTH!

 

I like flexible. Just sometimes I like to know what the creator of a curriculum kind of had in mind when the lesson plans were being put together so I can modify from there, rather than starting totally from scratch. That explanation about using science (and/or social studies, I presume) as the language arts main lesson does clear it up rather a lot. Schedule-wise I'm going to have to be working dd's second grade around ds's seventh grade with a variety of other resources. This will be our first year with both of them home. Previously it's just been ds, who has some special needs and has required a LOT of "babysitting" when it comes to school. He's grown a good bit more independent in this past year and I have high hopes for next year, but the scheduling is going to be a little tricksome. I'm just trying to wrap my brain around it all...sigh...

[MamaSheep]

I did not use OM for that grade, but there is a good OM yahoo group with lots of people who have and are quite friendly about helping. You might try asking there.

 

Thanks!

[Catwoman]

Did you purchase The Heart of Learning and The K-3 Home Teacher's Process Manual? If not, I would recommend them, as they will give you a better handle on the Oak Meadow philosophy. (Try to get them used, if you can, as they are quite pricey if you buy them new from OM. Both titles have been around for years, so it's often possible to get used copies at decent prices.)

 

Cat

[MamaSheep]

Did you purchase The Heart of Learning and The K-3 Home Teacher's Process Manual? If not, I would recommend them, as they will give you a better handle on the Oak Meadow philosophy. (Try to get them used, if you can, as they are quite pricey if you buy them new from OM. Both titles have been around for years, so it's often possible to get used copies at decent prices.)

 

Cat

 

Yes, I have both of them and have read parts of each. The philosophy is interesting, but what I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around is what this looks like on a day-to-day basis. For example, how much time should I plan on for each subject? Maybe I just haven't gotten to that part yet. :)

Edited June 17, 2009 by MamaSheep

[Catwoman]

I know exactly what you mean. I had the same problem with OM in K-2. It seemed too "loosey goosey," so I went with a different curriculum.

 

I now regret it.

 

Now that I look back on it (and have used OM in conjunction with BJU this year and have purchased OM for next year,) I wish I'd stuck with it in the earlier years, because I think it would have been very helpful in developing a love of learning, and would have been a lot more fun than the Calvert School and BJU DVDs we used.

 

Looking at OM at the time, I thought it was too light, and that my ds wouldn't learn enough from it, but I am now convinced that I was mistaken. It's certainly not a "memorize these dates and places and write all of your addition facts 200 times each" type of curriculum in the early years, but it helps kids "learn to learn" and "learn to enjoy learning" more than many other options, and is wonderful for helping develop creativity.

 

The weekly scheduling is tough at first, and I really thought I needed the daily step-by-step instructions (for my sake, so I wouldn't feel like I was forgetting anything important,) but I soon realized when we used Calvert, that the strict daily schedules weren't as wonderful as I'd imagined. My ds would be advanced in one subject, so we'd work ahead in the schedule, but we'd have an errand to run and fall a bit behind on a few other subjects, and pretty soon, I'd be a lunatic -- I'd be on lesson 100 in math, lesson 85 in science, lesson 110 in reading... so I was flipping around from one day's lesson in the teacher's manual, to another day, to another, and another, all in the same day, and making little checkmarks and using different colored bookmarks to keep track of the different subjects... and it just became a confusing mess after a while. (And the scripted teacher's notes, which I thought I absolutely needed, didn't work for me at all!)

 

The Oak Meadow weekly schedule takes a bit of thought at first, but I think that, ultimately, its flexibility is what actually makes it easier to work with than many of the more regimented schedules. I read through the lesson plans and get an idea of what we need to accomplish for the week, and then just do a bit of everything each day. I don't do three days of one thing, and two days of something else, etc, because I find it difficult to keep track of that stuff! I start by doing everything each day, and if I "run out" of material in a given subject by Wednesday, I stop doing that subject for the rest of the week, and start again on Monday. I used to think, "Oh, great! I can move ahead to next week on this subject and we'll be ahead of the game!" -- but I finally realized that homeschooling isn't a race, and got past my own ambitions for my ds and relaxed a little bit. Believe me, just realizing that one thing has made my life so much less stressful!

 

The only thing I might add to OM is more reading and math, if your child needs extra practice, and you're concerned that the pace is too gentle. (OM Math seems really easy at first, but it "catches up" nicely as the years go by, and it's not light as you think it is, when you sit down at the end of the year and evaluate how much the kids have learned. The "fun factor" makes it seem gentler and easier than it really is.)

 

Ok, I've rambled enough! I hope I haven't completely confused you, but if I have, please feel free to ask any more questions you have.

 

Cat

 

EDITED TO ADD: In second grade, you can probably finish everything within a few hours a day. It's hard to plan on exact timing until you've tried the curriculum, but if you plan out what you're doing for the week and set small goals for each day, you'll soon have a good handle on how much needs to be done in a single day. One child may be quick at math, but slower in another subject, so it's hard to tell you how long each subject will take.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Catwoman

[Audrey]

I know exactly what you mean. I had the same problem with OM in K-2. It seemed too "loosey goosey," so I went with a different curriculum.

 

I now regret it.

 

Now that I look back on it (and have used OM in conjunction with BJU this year and have purchased OM for next year,) I wish I'd stuck with it in the earlier years, because I think it would have been very helpful in developing a love of learning, and would have been a lot more fun than the Calvert School and BJU DVDs we used.

 

Looking at OM at the time, I thought it was too light, and that my ds wouldn't learn enough from it, but I am now convinced that I was mistaken. It's certainly not a "memorize these dates and places and write all of your addition facts 200 times each" type of curriculum in the early years, but it helps kids "learn to learn" and "learn to enjoy learning" more than many other options, and is wonderful for helping develop creativity.

 

The weekly scheduling is tough at first, and I really thought I needed the daily step-by-step instructions (for my sake, so I wouldn't feel like I was forgetting anything important,) but I soon realized when we used Calvert, that the strict daily schedules weren't as wonderful as I'd imagined. My ds would be advanced in one subject, so we'd work ahead in the schedule, but we'd have an errand to run and fall a bit behind on a few other subjects, and pretty soon, I'd be a lunatic -- I'd be on lesson 100 in math, lesson 85 in science, lesson 110 in reading... so I was flipping around from one day's lesson in the teacher's manual, to another day, to another, and another, all in the same day, and making little checkmarks and using different colored bookmarks to keep track of the different subjects... and it just became a confusing mess after a while. (And the scripted teacher's notes, which I thought I absolutely needed, didn't work for me at all!)

 

The Oak Meadow weekly schedule takes a bit of thought at first, but I think that, ultimately, its flexibility is what actually makes it easier to work with than many of the more regimented schedules. I read through the lesson plans and get an idea of what we need to accomplish for the week, and then just do a bit of everything each day. I don't do three days of one thing, and two days of something else, etc, because I find it difficult to keep track of that stuff! I start by doing everything each day, and if I "run out" of material in a given subject by Wednesday, I stop doing that subject for the rest of the week, and start again on Monday. I used to think, "Oh, great! I can move ahead to next week on this subject and we'll be ahead of the game!" -- but I finally realized that homeschooling isn't a race, and got past my own ambitions for my ds and relaxed a little bit. Believe me, just realizing that one thing has made my life so much less stressful!

 

The only thing I might add to OM is more reading and math, if your child needs extra practice, and you're concerned that the pace is too gentle. (OM Math seems really easy at first, but it "catches up" nicely as the years go by, and it's not light as you think it is, when you sit down at the end of the year and evaluate how much the kids have learned. The "fun factor" makes it seem gentler and easier than it really is.)

 

Ok, I've rambled enough! I hope I haven't completely confused you, but if I have, please feel free to ask any more questions you have.

 

Cat

 

EDITED TO ADD: In second grade, you can probably finish everything within a few hours a day. It's hard to plan on exact timing until you've tried the curriculum, but if you plan out what you're doing for the week and set small goals for each day, you'll soon have a good handle on how much needs to be done in a single day. One child may be quick at math, but slower in another subject, so it's hard to tell you how long each subject will take.

 

 

Oh Catwoman! I could have written your post! I used OM for pre-K and then wandered away from it thinking I needed something more "rigourous" --- whatever that means. I regret not having stayed with OM for K-3. I am so glad we went back to it for grade 4. Ds has said this has been the best year of school ever. We are using OM grade 6 next year, but spreading over 2 years (for grade 5 & 6).

[MamaSheep]

I know exactly what you mean. I had the same problem with OM in K-2. It seemed too "loosey goosey," so I went with a different curriculum.

 

I now regret it.

 

Now that I look back on it (and have used OM in conjunction with BJU this year and have purchased OM for next year,) I wish I'd stuck with it in the earlier years, because I think it would have been very helpful in developing a love of learning, and would have been a lot more fun than the Calvert School and BJU DVDs we used.

 

Looking at OM at the time, I thought it was too light, and that my ds wouldn't learn enough from it, but I am now convinced that I was mistaken. It's certainly not a "memorize these dates and places and write all of your addition facts 200 times each" type of curriculum in the early years, but it helps kids "learn to learn" and "learn to enjoy learning" more than many other options, and is wonderful for helping develop creativity.

 

The weekly scheduling is tough at first, and I really thought I needed the daily step-by-step instructions (for my sake, so I wouldn't feel like I was forgetting anything important,) but I soon realized when we used Calvert, that the strict daily schedules weren't as wonderful as I'd imagined. My ds would be advanced in one subject, so we'd work ahead in the schedule, but we'd have an errand to run and fall a bit behind on a few other subjects, and pretty soon, I'd be a lunatic -- I'd be on lesson 100 in math, lesson 85 in science, lesson 110 in reading... so I was flipping around from one day's lesson in the teacher's manual, to another day, to another, and another, all in the same day, and making little checkmarks and using different colored bookmarks to keep track of the different subjects... and it just became a confusing mess after a while. (And the scripted teacher's notes, which I thought I absolutely needed, didn't work for me at all!)

 

The Oak Meadow weekly schedule takes a bit of thought at first, but I think that, ultimately, its flexibility is what actually makes it easier to work with than many of the more regimented schedules. I read through the lesson plans and get an idea of what we need to accomplish for the week, and then just do a bit of everything each day. I don't do three days of one thing, and two days of something else, etc, because I find it difficult to keep track of that stuff! I start by doing everything each day, and if I "run out" of material in a given subject by Wednesday, I stop doing that subject for the rest of the week, and start again on Monday. I used to think, "Oh, great! I can move ahead to next week on this subject and we'll be ahead of the game!" -- but I finally realized that homeschooling isn't a race, and got past my own ambitions for my ds and relaxed a little bit. Believe me, just realizing that one thing has made my life so much less stressful!

 

The only thing I might add to OM is more reading and math, if your child needs extra practice, and you're concerned that the pace is too gentle. (OM Math seems really easy at first, but it "catches up" nicely as the years go by, and it's not light as you think it is, when you sit down at the end of the year and evaluate how much the kids have learned. The "fun factor" makes it seem gentler and easier than it really is.)

 

Ok, I've rambled enough! I hope I haven't completely confused you, but if I have, please feel free to ask any more questions you have.

 

Cat

 

EDITED TO ADD: In second grade, you can probably finish everything within a few hours a day. It's hard to plan on exact timing until you've tried the curriculum, but if you plan out what you're doing for the week and set small goals for each day, you'll soon have a good handle on how much needs to be done in a single day. One child may be quick at math, but slower in another subject, so it's hard to tell you how long each subject will take.

 

Thanks, this is helpful. I actually picked OM because my daughter is a very creative, but somewhat flighty little thing and I thought OM sounded like it would fit well with her personality. Part of the problem is that it's a big departure from what I've been doing with ds these past 3 years, because his personality is completely different from dd. This will be my first year teaching dd at home and I'm not completely sure what to expect from her. OM also seemed like something that we could kind of ease into hsing with without feeling too much pressure and panic. Probably it'll come together just fine once we get started, I'm just nervous about whether I can manage both of them at the same time. Ds has been such a handful all by himself, and has always worked better while dd was away at school for the day. She would work best with music on and chattering while she goes, whereas he finds any noise very distracting. She's very crafty, he loathes crafts. I feel like teaching both of them is going to give me a split personality disorder....sigh. So I'm trying to wrap my brain around how to schedule it out so that he has his time with me and she has hers and they can both get their work done without driving each other nutso. He'll be taking one class at the local jr. high next year (unless it bombs and we pull him back out, which might actually be easier in some ways) so there will be a smallish chunk of time where it's just me and dd, but I'll also be having to run transport for that. Dh works at home, so in theory I could leave dd home with some work to do while I drop off and pick up, but dh will be working, not able to closely supervise, and I don't know that I can count on dd to stick with the work without me sitting there. Or possibly I could pack both kids in the car and have ds read dd's daily story to her while we drive, then she and I could go home and do the picture and the writing. If I could get ds to cooperate with that plan, which will depend on his mood, which will likely depend on how the class goes, which I won't know until we start...sigh. (He's an Aspie with a comorbid anxiety disorder, which doesn't help matters. He's making good progress, but he's not reliable under pressure, and putting him in a class will be pressure. I think he's ready for it, and if he is it will be good for him, but there's really only one way to find out.)

 

Gah! I was so hoping I could just open up the OM manual every day and do what it said, and then be done with it. But it looks like it will require a little more forethought and preparation than I had hoped. Maybe once I get used to it, though, it'll flow....sigh. Dh also took pity on me and let me get their craft supplies kit, which I had hoped would just have all the stuff I needed so I wouldn't have to be tracking down supplies all the time, but looking at some of the lesson plans it's clear that my dream is not to be.

 

Oh well...faith and a stiff upper lip, and we'll get through one way or another...right?

 

Right?

[Catwoman]

Take a breath and relax. The scheduling will work!

 

You have chosen what is quite possibly the best choice for your dd. It sounds like it will mesh perfectly with her personality, which is great, but what is even better is that it will work for you, too. OM2 is very gentle and low-pressure, both on the child and on the mom. If you read the manuals, you already know that you're not expected to cross every T and dot every I -- you are encouraged to pick and choose what works for you. You are free to skip things if you don't have time for them, and OM includes lots of "skippable" activities. Sure, they're fun little projects and things, but if you get stressed and find that your ds needs more of your time, you can fudge a bit on the OM "extras," and everything will still be just fine. She will learn everything she needs to know; you'll both have fun, and in a few months, you'll wonder what you were so worried about in terms of fitting everything into the day.

 

It sounds like you need to focus on helping your son transition into the course he's taking, and on giving him the attention he needs as his schoolwork gets more challenging, and I can tell you're going to do fine with that, so really, while I know you're going to be stressed over the logistics of the scheduling, you'll soon get into a rhythm and it will all work out.

 

But don't give up on OM -- I really think you'll love it!

 

Cat (rambling again!)

Edited June 18, 2009 by Catwoman

[MamaSheep]

Take a breath and relax. The scheduling will work!

 

You have chosen what is quite possibly the best choice for your dd. It sounds like it will mesh perfectly with her personality, which is great, but what is even better is that it will work for you, too. OM2 is very gentle and low-pressure, both on the child and on the mom. If you read the manuals, you already know that you're not expected to cross every T and dot every I -- you are encouraged to pick and choose what works for you. You are free to skip things if you don't have time for them, and OM includes lots of "skippable" activities. Sure, they're fun little projects and things, but if you get stressed and find that your ds needs more of your time, you can fudge a bit on the OM "extras," and everything will still be just fine. She will learn everything she needs to know; you'll both have fun, and in a few months, you'll wonder what you were so worried about in terms of fitting everything into the day.

 

It sounds like you need to focus on helping your son transition into the course he's taking, and on giving him the attention he needs as his schoolwork gets more challenging, and I can tell you're going to do fine with that, so really, while I know you're going to be stressed over the logistics of the scheduling, you'll soon get into a rhythm and it will all work out.

 

But don't give up on OM -- I really think you'll love it!

 

Cat (rambling again!)

 

Definitely not giving up on OM, I still think it was a good choice for dd, and it used up my budget for dd for a good long while...lol. I shall go and practice breathing in and out...lol. Thanks. :grouphug:

[Catwoman]

I shall go and practice breathing in and out...lol. :grouphug:

 

LOL!

 

Here I am, giving you advice, when I should be doing the same thing! I've been sitting here stressing over the things we still haven't finished this year, and wondering how I could have let our schedule get so messed up! :tongue_smilie:

 

Cat