new to homeschooling and to the boards. advice on curriculum?

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

Hi, there!

I'm Karen, mama to three little boys. I am just beginning this homeschooling journey with my oldest DS, J. From what I have read (and I have read a LOT over the past few years!), ideas and elements of classical education and Charlotte Mason make a lot most sense to me.

I have looked extensively at the curriculum guides and booklists at Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online and while I think a lot of their ideas are great, I fear that without a set curriculum, I will spend too much time planning and not enough time teaching.

 

At this point, I have narrowed it down to three choices:

Sonlight K with Readers 1 (J is already reading 3- and 4-letter words)

Living Books Curriculum Foundation Year

HOD Little Hearts for His Glory

 

I would use Singapore math (I'm PRETTY sure about that one, but not 100%...) with any of those choices and am looking into Spell to Write and Read along with Cursive First. I want to teach cursive in kindergarten.

 

Can anyone offer their experiences with the above choices? Thanks!

[mommaduck]

Not personally familiar with any of the above, but just to toss another into the list: My Father's World (they also recommend Singapore Math) ;)

[BlsdMama]

How old are your boys? Will you only be schooling one or combining?

 

Thanks!

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

I meant to include that info; sorry!

J is 4.5 and definitely ready for something. Because he was born at the beginning of the year, he would technically only be doing pre-K this year, but I know that that would be too basic for him and would like to do a kindergarten program.

A is 2.5 and N is 7 months. I would like to be able to combine eventually. I know that people do that with Heart of Dakota, but I'm wondering how? I want to do HOD Little Hands to Heaven with A (and a little boy I babysit sometimes) this year, but he won't be ready for LHFHG for a few years, by which time J would be a couple of books ahead of him...

 

ETA:

 

one option I've considered for this year is to do HOD LHTH with A and J along with LBC Foundation Year for J, since I like the daily Bible lessons in all of the HOD material...

 

Also, after showing DH the samples of both HOD LHFHG and LBC Foundation Year, he suggested LBC because it is weekly. He felt that I might get frustrated if I don't complete one of the days as laid out in LHFHG. I see where he is coming from, but I also wonder if I might get frustrated with trying to schedule out each day myself. Thoughts?

Edited June 29, 2009 by JoyfulMama_Karen

[Caroline4kids]

If you want more hand holding I would definitely recommend going with HOD. I am a pretty pure CMer and use many of the things I glean from HOD. Once you get on your feet and get a feel for the flow you can easily move to something a little more easy to customize like SCM (which I also LOVE :))

 

For what its worth, I have found the CM method to be the easiest thing to do day to day. Short lessons, perfect attention, narration, dictation, and family bible/history/geography has made my little homeshool productive and sane.:001_smile:

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

If you want more hand holding I would definitely recommend going with HOD. I am a pretty pure CMer and use many of the things I glean from HOD. Once you get on your feet and get a feel for the flow you can easily move to something a little more easy to customize like SCM (which I also LOVE :))

 

That was along the lines of what I was thinking, actually. Take this year and maybe next to use something CM-based that is laid out for me, and then use SCM for the next several years, once I'm more comfortable HSing, and put together my own curriculum.

[8filltheheart]

B/c he is so young and you have other little ones, you might want to consider Five in a Row. It would be something that all of your might enjoy. http://www.fiveinarow.com/

 

Then simply add in some simple phonics (my personal favorite is Sing, Spell, Read, Write......it includes 17 readers from simple cvc words to words like Philadelphia and chandelier.)

[Caroline4kids]

I had three little boys once and they can be crazy at times, LOL. I tried to do AO when they were young and it kinda flopped because the books were just too heavy for *my* boys. We went to things like Beatrix Potter and Aesop fables for narrating and simple history story picture books. It was far easier.

 

The habit of attention is the most important thing IMHO. It may only be five minutes before you get the glazed over look, but it does gradually get longer, I promise.;)

 

SCM has some easy, large fonted copy work for free. Otherwise I highly recommend Educational Fontware for creating copywork sheets for little ones. Again, I encourage quality over quantity--and it might only be a letter or two, at first.:)

[lilbean05]

I have a 3, turned 4 in a month, year old girl, a 2.5 year old boy, and 1 due on October. I purchased Little Heart for His Glory to use with my oldest and I was going to also purchase Little Hands to Heaven to use with my son, but I found that it would be nearly redundant to do this. Instead, my son sits in with us when we are doing "school" and there are lots of parts that he can do and enjoy (hopping on the green paper for land animals, hopping on the blue paper for water animals, he loves the bible verse songs, and he loves the story time.) I do ask him to sit still with us during the History sections, and even though it is beyond him, I view it as a time for him to sit quietly and practice some self-discipline while listening to the lesson.

 

When we do math, spelling, phonics, writing, or whatever might be planned for the day that a 2 year old REALLY can't do that well (and these are the sectons that aren't in the Little Hands to Heaven anyway) he plays with blocks, puzzles, whatever he wants really. By this point, he feels like he was included in school for the day and is ready to play anyway. I might give that a try! Then next year you can get Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, find that it fits great, or find that it is still a bit advanced for both of your kids and want to repeat Little Hearts for His Glory, but on a more advanced level (there are section that say "for older kids").

 

Hope this helps!

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

I have a 3, turned 4 in a month, year old girl, a 2.5 year old boy, and 1 due on October. I purchased Little Heart for His Glory to use with my oldest and I was going to also purchase Little Hands to Heaven to use with my son, but I found that it would be nearly redundant to do this. Instead, my son sits in with us when we are doing "school" and there are lots of parts that he can do and enjoy (hopping on the green paper for land animals, hopping on the blue paper for water animals, he loves the bible verse songs, and he loves the story time.) I do ask him to sit still with us during the History sections, and even though it is beyond him, I view it as a time for him to sit quietly and practice some self-discipline while listening to the lesson.

 

When we do math, spelling, phonics, writing, or whatever might be planned for the day that a 2 year old REALLY can't do that well (and these are the sectons that aren't in the Little Hands to Heaven anyway) he plays with blocks, puzzles, whatever he wants really. By this point, he feels like he was included in school for the day and is ready to play anyway. I might give that a try! Then next year you can get Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, find that it fits great, or find that it is still a bit advanced for both of your kids and want to repeat Little Hearts for His Glory, but on a more advanced level (there are section that say "for older kids").

 

Hope this helps!

 

I did think about that, too...but what I like about LHTH for my 2-yo is that it teaches letters. J knew his alphabet by 18 months, but A is nowhere near at 2.5 years. Does LHFHG review letters and letter sounds?

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

I also have a question about SL:

 

A friend just started using it (exactly what I would be using - Core K with Readers 1). One of the things she liked when she purchased it was the daily lesson plans...but now she says she doesn't use the IG because she finds it too jumpy. She would rather just read a chapter or two from one book and then move on to the next when they get through the first. If I am looking for direction, I would like to have an IG that I will actually use...

[lilbean05]

I did think about that, too...but what I like about LHTH for my 2-yo is that it teaches letters. J knew his alphabet by 18 months, but A is nowhere near at 2.5 years. Does LHFHG review letters and letter sounds?

 

Hmm--I don't think that it specifically does teach letters, though I don't know if LHTH will make up ENOUGH of the difference between the two books to run through two different curricula. Perhaps when you have your oldest sitting down to do his handwriting page, you can use that time to pull out some magnetic letters and just play with your 2 year old, or you know what! I jut remembered--we have this DVD called Brainy Baby ABCs and it is the absolute best thing ever--it really enforced letters and their sounds with both of my kids. We don't do tons of TV, but this DVD was fantastic. Perhaps your library has it? You can have this DVD on while you are sitting down doing math and phonics with your oldest.

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

That's a great suggestion! Thanks for your input! I will look into that DVD and/or some sort of simple letter/phonics program to do with A during that time.

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

Any other thoughts on these choices?

[mom4him]

Hi, there!

I'm Karen, mama to three little boys. I am just beginning this homeschooling journey with my oldest DS, J. From what I have read (and I have read a LOT over the past few years!), ideas and elements of classical education and Charlotte Mason make a lot most sense to me.

I have looked extensively at the curriculum guides and booklists at Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online and while I think a lot of their ideas are great, I fear that without a set curriculum, I will spend too much time planning and not enough time teaching.

 

At this point, I have narrowed it down to three choices:

Sonlight K with Readers 1 (J is already reading 3- and 4-letter words)

Living Books Curriculum Foundation Year

HOD Little Hearts for His Glory

 

I would use Singapore math (I'm PRETTY sure about that one, but not 100%...) with any of those choices and am looking into Spell to Write and Read along with Cursive First. I want to teach cursive in kindergarten.

 

Can anyone offer their experiences with the above choices? Thanks!

I will give you my opinion for what it is worth, I did the pre-K Sonlight with my two and I did not care for it. I felt that the subject matter was quite a bit to old for my two. In fact it has just been the last year or so that we have read many of the books I got with it and they are now 8 and 9.

I also did not care for singapore math. Many people really do like it but wasn't a fit for us. I used it for two years and felt that I had just spun my wheels. When I started using Modern Curr. Press math we started to make headways. This year we are going to be using Rod and staff. It is set up a lot like MCP but goes a couple of years longer so I am switching.

I also use My Fathers World for two years. It was ok but seem a bit disjoined to me at times. This last year we did Galloping the Globe.

This year we are going with HOD. I am really looking forward to it as it looks like what I have been looking for. The Word is truely integrated I can either use their math or not and I will not be, I can use their LA or not and I will be using some of it. I liked the looks of the books that they have used for it. It seems pretty simple and yet will get the job done. It also seems less expensive than MFW or SL.

I have learned you can be handed a schedule but you need to make the curr. fit you. I rarely follow the schedule as written. When I try to do that I just end up frustrated and feeling like a failure.

[Aloha2U]

Hi, there!

I'm Karen, mama to three little boys. I am just beginning this homeschooling journey with my oldest DS, J. From what I have read (and I have read a LOT over the past few years!), ideas and elements of classical education and Charlotte Mason make a lot most sense to me.

I have looked extensively at the curriculum guides and booklists at Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online and while I think a lot of their ideas are great, I fear that without a set curriculum, I will spend too much time planning and not enough time teaching.

 

At this point, I have narrowed it down to three choices:

Sonlight K with Readers 1 (J is already reading 3- and 4-letter words)

Living Books Curriculum Foundation Year

HOD Little Hearts for His Glory

 

I would use Singapore math (I'm PRETTY sure about that one, but not 100%...) with any of those choices and am looking into Spell to Write and Read along with Cursive First. I want to teach cursive in kindergarten.

 

Can anyone offer their experiences with the above choices? Thanks!

 

I will share my thoughts with you as well. :D

 

First of all, you mentioned that you're considering using Spell to Write and Read along with Cursive First. Those are excellent choices IMHO, perhaps that is because I'm using both with my one and only ds (turns 5 at the end of July) for our language arts program. We'll be starting our official K5 year come September. This past year was our K4 year and I can't tell you enough great things about SWR and CF thus far! You're welcome to read more about it on our homeschool blog... especially check out our K4 Year-in-Review post. I believe we had a very fun and successful K4 year!

 

BTW... if you end up using SWR w/CF, I honestly don't think you'll need anything else to work on letter sounds and formation with your littles. They can just start by joining in as you teach your oldest the phonograms. It is my understanding that Wanda Sanseri recommends teaching letter sounds first over letter names anyways, as one does not learn to read C A T with letter names, but rather as /c/ /a/ /t/ with the sounds. Then while your oldest works on letter formation using CF, the littles can follow along with a salt box or sidewalk chalk, etc. I truly believe that SWR w/CF are the only programs you'll need.

 

My ds and I like the Singapore Earlybird series that he has done thus far, but we've only been using it as a fun workbook supplement. One thing about Singapore that I've noticed, others have stated and you may want to be aware of, is that Singapore will make leaps in logic. We are using RightStart Mathematics as our math spine and supplementing w/Singapore, not that RS necessarily needs to be supplemented, but I'm letting RS introduce the topics which will give my ds the math fluency to do Singapore on his own (as stated by another RS user who supplements w/Singapore ;)).

 

Another thought is that instead of purchasing SL or FIAR, etc. you could just check out books from their lists at the library.

 

HTH!

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

I will share my thoughts with you as well. :D

 

First of all, you mentioned that you're considering using Spell to Write and Read along with Cursive First. Those are excellent choices IMHO, perhaps that is because I'm using both with my one and only ds (turns 5 at the end of July) for our language arts program. We'll be starting our official K5 year come September. This past year was our K4 year and I can't tell you enough great things about SWR and CF thus far! You're welcome to read more about it on our homeschool blog... especially check out our K4 Year-in-Review post. I believe we had a very fun and successful K4 year!

 

BTW... if you end up using SWR w/CF, I honestly don't think you'll need anything else to work on letter sounds and formation with your littles. They can just start by joining in as you teach your oldest the phonograms. It is my understanding that Wanda Sanseri recommends teaching letter sounds first over letter names anyways, as one does not learn to read C A T with letter names, but rather as /c/ /a/ /t/ with the sounds. Then while your oldest works on letter formation using CF, the littles can follow along with a salt box or sidewalk chalk, etc. I truly believe that SWR w/CF are the only programs you'll need.

 

My ds and I like the Singapore Earlybird series that he has done thus far, but we've only been using it as a fun workbook supplement. One thing about Singapore that I've noticed, others have stated and you may want to be aware of, is that Singapore will make leaps in logic. We are using RightStart Mathematics as our math spine and supplementing w/Singapore, not that RS necessarily needs to be supplemented, but I'm letting RS introduce the topics which will give my ds the math fluency to do Singapore on his own (as stated by another RS user who supplements w/Singapore ;)).

 

Another thought is that instead of purchasing SL or FIAR, etc. you could just check out books from their lists at the library.

 

HTH!

 

Thanks for this info. I actually was thinking about Right Start, too. I will consider that option.

Wow, you are organized! Looking at all of your laid-out plans, I feel so behind! How long did it take you to put it together like that?

If I don't buy the books, I fear that, with two littles and two children I babysit occasionally, I may not always make it out to the library on time.

FIAR is looking attractive right now, too.

:ack2: how will I ever decide?!

[Aloha2U]

Thanks for this info. I actually was thinking about Right Start, too. I will consider that option.

Wow, you are organized! Looking at all of your laid-out plans, I feel so behind! How long did it take you to put it together like that?

If I don't buy the books, I fear that, with two littles and two children I babysit occasionally, I may not always make it out to the library on time.

FIAR is looking attractive right now, too.

:ack2: how will I ever decide?!

 

Oh, no... I truly only meant to be helpful, not make you feel behind.

 

I began researching and planning in Winter/Spring of last year. It started when I asked my sister (my nieces attended a Classical Christian Private School at the time) what my ds needed to know prior to beginning K4 or K5 at that same private school. I was told counting to 100, letters sounds, and a few other things I'm sure, but after I began researching in preparation for the private school... well, the Lord helped me to realize that I'd be hsing and showed me a better way doing things (w/the help of great advice from members here), and we just haven't looked back. I thought that I would need more hand holding, but I found that I prefer to do things my own way which works best for us. This forum, as well as some Yahoo Groups, have been a wealth of knowledge as I'm always researching and planning. I am a planner as you have already discovered, however, I try to make sure that I control the schedules I make... not letting them control us. ;)

 

BTW, my nieces that I referred to above... well, my sister has decided to homeschool them. :) Yay! Although we are only just beginning our hs journey, this is part of the reason, I believe, that the Lord has led me to be so organized... to help those family members and friends that doubted homeschooling to see that it can be done and that there are many wonderful resources available to HSers if they so choose to do the same.

 

I completely understand about the library. Although, it is cheaper than purchasing books that you're unsure about and then finding out that you or your dc don't really care for some of them. I will say that it can get annoying sometimes having to wait for books that I've called over from another branch, but it does help that our county has an online system and when books do arrive and it's time to pick them up, we're only two miles or so from our local library.

 

I do hope you find what will work for you and your dc. I encourage you to never underestimate yourself, seek God's council and it will all come together. ;)

[Aurelia]

We did K this year, when Ariel was 4, and I think it's been very successful. I had considered Sonlight's core K too, but nearly every review I read said it was too jumpy, although I have heard you can go through the schedule "vertically" (like do a week of "Monday" on the schedule) instead of "horizontally" to make it less so. Since it was my first year homeschooling eclectically (we did Calvert Pre-K the year before) I wanted something that required very little tweaking. We did Right Start and Five in a Row, and really enjoyed our year. The art and geography lessons in FIAR are totally worth the purchase, IMO, and the stories are lovely. We did a number of other things also, but I only have one child and she always wants "more, Mama, more."

 

You might also have your son play on a website like http://www.starfall.com if you want more letter/sound/reading practice. Ariel learned all her consonant and short vowel sounds with Leapfrog's Talking Letter Factory. She also watched the Talking Words Factory a fair bit, which I think gave her a nudge forward with blending.

[Aloha2U]

...but I only have one child and she always wants "more, Mama, more."

 

:iagree: It's the same story here, although with a he instead of a she. :lol:

[Handmaiden]

Hi Karen!

 

Congratulations on your decision to homeschool! Feeling overwhelmed is very natural when you're first starting out. In fact, I've been homeschooling for years and still get the "curriculum crazies" from time to time! :001_smile:

 

I trust that God will lead you to the right curriculum for your family. He is so faithful.

 

This may be helpful:

 

Establishing a Christian Homeschool

 

Keep us posted on your decision!

[JoyfulMama_Karen]

okay, I'm quite sure (:blush:) I've narrowed it down to HOD LHFHG or Living Books Curriculum Foundation Year. Can I walk you through what I like about each to sort this through in my head? I went over to my sister's today and went through both with her. She loved them! (But I was 99% sure I was going to go with LBC before our visit, and now I'm leaning more toward HOD again!!!)

 

Living Books Curriculum

PROS

- the amount of books that are included.

- the science program looks like it would be great.

- the supplementary reading for the math and science

- that it includes nature study and picture study.

CONS

- the price (but they do have a payment plan)

- the Bible stuff looks great, but it doesn't tie in a Bible verse/song that way that HOD does.

- History?

- would still need to add SWR and Cursive First (same as with HOD).

 

Little Hearts for His Glory

PROS

- the daily lesson plan (I think I like this better. Not 100% sure, though).

- the way it includes a "Key Idea" for each box to make sure you're on track.

- The "Hide 'Em in your Heart" CD with coordinating memory verses.

- more affordable.

CONS

- doesn't include nature study or picture study in the same way that LBC does.

- I would be using a different penmanship and phonics program than the outline shows. (Not that that's a problem, but it's not scheduled out for me, which is something I like about the curriculum in general).

- (there were a few other, but I'm having trouble thinking of them right now).

 

Thoughts?

[willowlynn2]

HI. I'm using SL K with Readers 1 with my 5.5 and 3.5 yr old. Core and science, for math we use RightStart. At this point my 3.5 isn't really doing the core but he soaks things up just being in the room. We love SL here, but if you've read the reviews then you should know that "K" as a core title does NOT mean kindergarten. At the very earliest you should start it at around 5.5, but it's content is useful and challenging up through about 8yrs old, or (the end of) 2nd grade. If you're wanting to combine your children, and to be les stressful since you're babysitting, you might want to look into starting with the P3/4 program. I know it's hard to look at the program numbers and not think ' my kid is too advanced for this' but honestly all the cores are numbered very badly. It confuses a lot of people. As the children get older it would be easy to keep them in the same core without getting too far ahead for one and without being too easy for your other.

The only reason I personally am using the K program is due to finances, I've rescheduled it so that it will last us about 2yrs, we'll have time to save up for the next one by then.

Also, if you start at P3/4, you'll have plenty of room to add things in for your oldest if you feel he needs it and you'll easily be able to keep the kids together for as long as you choose to homeschool, customizing the math and L.A. Starting slow with good content will give you plenty of relaxed time to discover your kids' learning styles and your teaching style.