lisamarie Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I just responded to the thread about plans for next year, which has me wondering. How do you plan ahead when you have no idea where your kids will be at the end of the school year? Before Christmas my DD was struggling with sounding out a-t. This week she is reading the BOB books and flying through her reading words no problem. My DS has gone from a very beginner reader at the beginning of October to a high 1st/low 2nd grade level reader right now. By September, who knows where he'll be. I would like to purchase a complete curriculum (MFW or HOD) but have no clue what level to get them because I don't know what they'll be ready for. Do you just wait until the summer or make your best guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I make my best guess. I have to buy with tax money and when it comes I buy curriculum. If I don't buy it then, the money will have somewhere else to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Plan ahead? I don't understand...Could you rephrase that? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I do plan ahead, but I try to buy used as much as I can and resell it when it ends up something I don't use. My dd has always been above grade level on reading, but I've tried to just do her age/grade level in most things, except real book reading. There's no need to rush them ahead IMHO. My ds has moved along at grade level except math has always been a strong subject so he's a grade level ahead. I've just switched him to CLE math, LA, and reading because I read such good things about it and wanted to try it now rather than later. If you plan on them both doing the same curriculum, I would probably wait until closer to the end of your school year before deciding. You would have a better idea then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 My reading instruction and math the kinds of currics that go from K-3 or longer....in those we just plug along no matter what "grade" we claim. The things like science and history and read-alouds are not so much based on skill level. I do have in my long term plans things like Latin and MCT LA that we won't start until they reach certain milestones...I still have them planned, but I just don't know the exact date we will begin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisamarie Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 If I want to buy my curriculum in the spring when the HS convention is or when the companies run sales, how do I know what to buy when I don't know what level of reading my kids will be at come fall? My DS could still need some more phonics help or he could be a completely independent reader by then. I'm trying to decide between MFW, HOD and CLE. Either way, I don't know what grade or level to buy because I don't know what he'll be ready for. We pulled him out of PS kindergarten in October but I bought him LHFHG with the 1st grade package for math and science and am schooling him like he's a 1st grader (age wise he is, we delayed his start due to maturity issues and he did a year in Young 5s rather than start K at 4). He's flying through "20 Easy Lessons" and ETC online. He can read level 2 books with only a few missed words. So I don't know if I can go ahead and buy him the 2nd grade work or if that will be too difficult for him and he will need more 1st grade work for reading. Same with my DD. She's doing MFW-K but she is only 4. She won't be 5 until June. So I'm not sure if she'll need an extra year of K or if I can go ahead and buy her 1st grade work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisamarie Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 I've just switched him to CLE math, LA, and reading because I read such good things about it and wanted to try it now rather than later. I think this is what I need to do. Just ditch boxed curriculum and go on my own so I can use a program that gets progressively more challenging in reading. Then it's a no-brainer what to do next. I can always throw in some AO lit choices or scope out some other reading lists to choose what full books to have the kids read so it's not just readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Well, this is just my second year of planning:) But, still, I piece together my curriculum from various sources. I choose what I'm confident will be "the next thing", such as science and history. And if I am not totally sure about something, I wait. Last year, I had most of this year's Kindergarten material purchased second-hand by the end of March. I didn't buy her phonics book until mid-June. Right now, I am leaning strongly toward a few possibilities in language arts and science, so I'm researching those. I'm positive about history, so I'll just get that when the $$ come in (taxes for me, too!). I have a much broader range of possibilities for math, so I'm just watching for interesting threads, storing thoughts in my brain, and waiting to see how the rest of the school year plays out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherry80 Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I guess I am a curriculum junkie right now as I am changing things up in January! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I don't plan for next year, just for next. When we finish our current book, I'll move onto the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I don't plan for next year, just for next. When we finish our current book, I'll move onto the next. What I do makes more sense written that way. :) For History, Science and most anything we can do as a family... I have a very general long term plan and start researching "next" as soon as I start a resource. For Language Arts and Math, once you find something that works you pretty much know what comes next. If you set realistic goals throughout the year and you tend to meet those goals, then by about Feb/Mar you get a pretty good idea of where everyone is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 For some subjects, it is pretty easy to plan ahead because it depends more on me covering things and progressing than my DC (e.g., history, science, literature). Those I plan far ahead. For other subjects (reading is an excellent example, but math can be another), I simply wait until nearer the end of the current school year to plan for just the reason you highlight. Especially in the early years, it seems they learn in fits and starts, with light-speed progress one week and a roadblock the next. The planning seems to get easier as they get older as their progress becomes more evenly paced. Especially with reading, I would wait - last year DS6 went from learning letter sounds to reading Boxcar Children in 4 months. No way could I have anticipated that in planning this year's work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crl Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Well, if you are working on HOD LHFHG, the next logical step would be Beyond LHFHG. In that manual you choose the phonics/reading material you plan to use. So you would still end up with the same basic package, just math and phonics/reading might be the subjects you purchase closer to the beginning of next school year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysparkler Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 What I do makes more sense written that way. :) For History, Science and most anything we can do as a family... I have a very general long term plan and start researching "next" as soon as I start a resource. For Language Arts and Math, once you find something that works you pretty much know what comes next. If you set realistic goals throughout the year and you tend to meet those goals, then by about Feb/Mar you get a pretty good idea of where everyone is. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 ReneeTN hit the nail on the head. This is how we do things around here, but we don't use a "boxed" curriculum, and I have found that it is very freeing. Their biggest drawback is just that--the inability to customize enough and just go to the next thing. (I am not picking on boxed curr. btw. They have lots of good points. This is just their Achille's Heel) If you want to stay with your current programs, I'd wait as long as I could before ordering anything in the children's "skill" subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I plan the next step. When she finishes this, then we'll move on to "this". So then I search "this". Otherwise we continue on with what we're using. But I always try to stay a step ahead and just in case, an alterior plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 (edited) I bought the next step, knowing that they might or might not be ready for it when I expected them to be ready for it. I've always shopped about a year ahead in order to watch for deals. When they get older, it's pretty predictable, although more expensive in some ways. The upper-level textbooks and keys are pricier even used than the little easy chapter books that I used to pay a quarter for at used book sales... Edited January 8, 2010 by GVA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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