Tylianna Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 I am currently using Sonlight to homeschool my 3 girls. I may or may not stick with them using the Cores. I know the LA leaves something to be desired, since it does not work out for me. Anyways, my question: Is there an online curriculum plan or guide that can help with what to pick out? I don't have enough knowledge of the different STUFF out there and not enough money to go by trial and error. Like a guide that says something like 5th grade math teaches this and this, or what maths are good for that grade. Again with LA. Handwriting and reading... easy enough, but to know what type of grammar, phonics, writing etc to use... my goodness it is confusing! I am using Sonlight LA and Lifepacs for my oldest and Sonlight and ETC with my youngest 2... it doesn't seem to be enough IMO. Maybe a syllabus or a general guide to what skills should be learned and I could just try to get a collection going...? THANKS for any help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkhs Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 I found this thread very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in WA Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 Have you read The Well Trained Mind yet? This could help you go in a solid direction and then you can pick from there. The book has the great combination of the theory of classical education and the how to of classical education. Another great resource is Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by. The author Laura Berquist is Catholic (I am not) and the book has many Catholic suggestions. When I read it, I just inserted my own Protestant resources. I really like this author's ideas and her books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chels~ Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 I like internet 4 classrooms http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm for grade level ideas. I also have an updated list of freebie links in my signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted October 17, 2010 Author Share Posted October 17, 2010 Have you read The Well Trained Mind yet? This could help you go in a solid direction and then you can pick from there. The book has the great combination of the theory of classical education and the how to of classical education. Another great resource is Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by. The author Laura Berquist is Catholic (I am not) and the book has many Catholic suggestions. When I read it, I just inserted my own Protestant resources. I really like this author's ideas and her books. How badly would you think of me if I had not read WTM? I'm going to check it out from the library, but they only have the 1st edition available. The 3rd is checked out. How much of a difference is there between the two? I think I will just get the 1st ed. and wait until the 3rd is out, and see how that is. I'm just looking for a "curriculum plan for idiot's" or something lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted October 17, 2010 Author Share Posted October 17, 2010 I like internet 4 classrooms http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm for grade level ideas. I also have an updated list of freebie links in my signature. That looks nice! With that, I could creat my own plan! Thank you! I don't know what I'm getting into, now.... lol! At least SL was already laid out for me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted October 17, 2010 Author Share Posted October 17, 2010 I found this thread very helpful. I guess I was looking for the wrong thing. Thank you for pointing that out! I will keep some of those links in my favorites. Some have been there already!! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 The first edition of the WTM is my personal favorite! You might also look at the Core Knowledge series online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 The first edition of the WTM is my personal favorite! :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 The first edition of the WTM is my personal favorite! You might also look at the Core Knowledge series online. I've dropped my long-term teaching plans this month and we're going through the Core Knowledge scope and sequence. It's a free download on their website. You can get a breakdown of each subject and grade level. I'm actually combining all of my kids together on this. It's starting to become too much juggling to divide them up. We're using library books and a ton of hands-on stuff. Library books are free (relatively-lol). Their curriculum download is free. I'm coming up with my own unit studies based on the CK sequence - which is free. This is a ton of teacher prep for the week, but my kids were F L Y I N G through everything and this is getting ridiculous. I'm glad they like to learn, but I haven't won the lottery yet. I also have 2 kids who need constant hands-on activities. I can tailor CK to this. Enough of my problems...:glare: Do you have a good library? You could follow the WTM sequence and keep the cost at a minimum, too. I've only read the 3rd edition, but it has a good breakdown by grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkhs Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 I guess I was looking for the wrong thing. Thank you for pointing that out! I will keep some of those links in my favorites. Some have been there already!! Thanks! Oops, sorry. Ambleside Online has one, so does Simply Charlotte Mason. Those aren't classical, though. Audrey, I only have the newest version of TWTM. Why do you like the old one better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 (edited) OP, are you talking about typical courses of study for each area or classical or ? I wanted to say that your state will have standards for the public school available online. I like the core knowledge curriculum. It is far more than is typically taught at each grade level at least for elementary school. The vast majority of states are adopting these common core standards for math and english areas. I don't know what texts would cover those well and I think I'd try to find it if I were planning to possibly send my children to school. In our case, though, I want to give them the best background I can in all areas. So I selected the curriculum I feel will do this best regardless of the way it does or does not correspond to what the typical child is learning at each age--homeschooled or public schooled. I use thehomeschoolreviews website and this board to research curriculum. An example: I learned about Liping Ma and conceptual math via this site, did reading and research, and then looked only at curriculum that were conceptual in nature. I read about my narrowed "choices" here and on the homeschool reviews site and made my math selection based on that research and what might fit our family. I don't care if other children are learning something different at a particular age because I feel our path is best for my kids. I've dropped my long-term teaching plans this month and we're going through the Core Knowledge scope and sequence. It's a free download on their website. You can get a breakdown of each subject and grade level. I'm actually combining all of my kids together on this. It's starting to become too much juggling to divide them up. We're using library books and a ton of hands-on stuff. Library books are free (relatively-lol). Their curriculum download is free. I'm coming up with my own unit studies based on the CK sequence - which is free. This is a ton of teacher prep for the week, but my kids were F L Y I N G through everything and this is getting ridiculous. I'm glad they like to learn, but I haven't won the lottery yet. I also have 2 kids who need constant hands-on activities. I can tailor CK to this. Enough of my problems...:glare: Do you have a good library? You could follow the WTM sequence and keep the cost at a minimum, too. I've only read the 3rd edition, but it has a good breakdown by grade. I'm basing unit studies on the core knowledge plan too. It's been a lot of work because mine also need lots of hands on but we are having a wonderful time. I'm not a ton of help as we're just doing 1st grade but I'm posting my lesson plans on my blog in case they can save another person the work. This may be useful even for older kids as the links I use may work for subjects in history for older children as the topics will cycle back around in multiple grades. In many cases I will be linking things I find that would be useful for kids older than mine. I'm posting as I go and my last history post was the Wampanoag (I'm doing Plymouth colony this week) but I've planned through westward expansion in history and all the 1st grade core knowledge science, geography, literature, art, and music so if you need an idea for something I'm happy to share. Edited October 18, 2010 by sbgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 OP, are you talking about typical courses of study for each area or classical or ? I wanted to say that your state will have standards for the public school available online. I like the core knowledge curriculum. It is far more than is typically taught at each grade level at least for elementary school. The vast majority of states are adopting these common core standards for math and english areas. I don't know what texts would cover those well and I think I'd try to find it if I were planning to possibly send my children to school. In our case, though, I want to give them the best background I can in all areas. So I selected the curriculum I feel will do this best regardless of the way it does or does not correspond to what the typical child is learning at each age--homeschooled or public schooled. I use thehomeschoolreviews website and this board to research curriculum. An example: I learned about Liping Ma and conceptual math via this site, did reading and research, and then looked only at curriculum that were conceptual in nature. I read about my narrowed "choices" here and on the homeschool reviews site and made my math selection based on that research and what might fit our family. I don't care if other children are learning something different at a particular age because I feel our path is best for my kids. Yes, and no... :) I was hoping to find a "plan" all ready for me to use that uses what the kids should know. The library that has TWTM was closed today, so I went to a different one and picked up some books that are "What your xx grader should know" and those are mainly workbooks... I was hoping for a more detailed listing of what they should know. But, if someone has already come out with a plan for it, then great. I should add, that I thought TWTM was just a book teaching how a classical education is good, and what literature to use. I didn't know it also had the other stuff like grammar, science etc. That is good to know. I also checked out "100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum" and that is a good resource! It has a score sheet to decide what type of homeschooling is good for you. For ME, it is Unit Study, Classical Education, and Charlotte Mason. It also helps determine you child's learning style and what is good for that specific style. I guess I was also trying to make sure I don't overdo it. If there is something that teaches grammar, phonics and vocab, I wouldn't ALSO buy another resource that teaches phonics and spelling... etc. Thanks everyone for the help!! The links have been very helpful!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 I'm not a ton of help as we're just doing 1st grade but I'm posting my lesson plans on my blog in case they can save another person the work. This may be useful even for older kids as the links I use may work for subjects in history for older children as the topics will cycle back around in multiple grades. In many cases I will be linking things I find that would be useful for kids older than mine. Thank-you so much for posting that. The Peter and the Wolf class looks awesome. I'm definitely going to be reading your blog! :D I realized a few weeks ago - as I was replying to someone else's thread -LOL- that when we do unit studies, my kids are REALLY happy and they're excited about whatever-it-is. It's definitely a lot more work on my part, though. I'm also throwing in the towel on separating them. :tongue_smilie: It's too much juggling with 4 kids. This seems to flow better. Sorry to take over the thread - sorry, OP! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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