Oak Meadow questions

[hsmom]

So, I am looking at their site right now. I am a bit confused. To start off it will cost me a lot of money. What am I actually getting? I am looking into the 2nd grade program for next year.

 

Do I have to purchase a separate math book? I don't see any workbooks, textbooks, etc? How is math taught with this program? Well any subject actually? Is there a lot of library books needed to complete this program? Or are the little bit of books included all that is used? I am pretty confused on this one.

 

So, what does the TE just give me ideas on what I need to teach and expect me to expand off of that? Or am I given ideas of what to do? Is there detailed instructions on teaching new concepts? I am still iffy on being totally on my own, I feel as if I drop the ball a lot.

 

Now I need some hand holding at times, ideas on what to do next, and structure. Would OM be right for me? Or should I keep on looking?

[SkateLeft]

Have you looked at the curriculum samples?

http://oakmeadow.com/curriculum/curriculum-samples.php

 

Each "lesson" is a week's worth of work. So in the 2nd grade sample, which shows Lesson 3, you'll see each subject listed with the activities and lesson material for that week. You make the determination regarding how much of that work gets done each day.

 

The majority of the course content in OM is in the syllabus, and there are very few additional textbooks, particularly in the lower grades. OM is very experiential and more activity based than many other programs, but I think you can get a good sense of that by checking out the curriculum sample.

 

I find that OM requires more parental involvement in the lower grades than other programs. Some activities are very specific, and others are more open-ended. We use it as a springboard. In OM 4, the lesson manual is written to the student rather than the parent, so the student can start working more independently, but my son still needs me to facilitate.

 

I'm honestly not crazy about OM math. In 4th grade and up, there's a separate OM syllabus for math, but it seems very light. It's taught via activities, manipulatives and games in the lower grades. My son enjoys using it as review, and we use Singapore Math as his main math program.

 

Hope this helps a bit!

[hsmom]

I looked at the sample and just got the feeling that I was missing something. The feeling of where is the rest. Make sense? So, instead of actually using a separate book or whatever for math it is basically all done with activities and manipulatives?

 

Now what about handwriting, reading, grammar, history? What is used for the history parts? Do you get books from the library?

[....]

So, I am looking at their site right now. I am a bit confused. To start off it will cost me a lot of money.

 

This is actually one of the reasons I haven't used OM (because we use every currriculum ever created :tongue_smilie:). It seems very pricey to me, but all the All-in-One curricula are - if you've ever looked at Calvert, K12, Sonlight, etc. Other complete programs are very, very expensive. OM seems pretty reasonable when you compare it to those.

 

The plus side is that it's non-consumable. Also, you could probably sell it for a good price when you're finished. There's also an online version that is a little cheaper and it has the entire syllabus online.

 

Good luck with choosing.

[hsmom]

See with Sonlight I see why the price is so high and other all in ones. They all come with tons of books, consumables, detailed schedules etc. Now I am not seeing that with OM, or am I missing something?

[Just Robyn]

I am using OM K this year and this is my first year using their curriculum, so I am not really the one to talk to about this, but I'll give my opinion on their price/value anyway. Take it or leave it because it is just my point of view based on my own experience.

 

For me, when I was deciding what to do with my youngest ds, I knew that I could not use the same materials with him as I had used with my older two. I knew he needed something very gentle and creative. I decided to try OM, and for him, I will continue to shell out the money. The reason is, in my opinion, they have a monopoly on what it is they put in their books. I have not found a cheaper (or even an equally expensive) option that is as perfect as OM is for my ds.

[welovetoread]

I think before one looks at OM, you might find it easier if you have a pretty good understanding of Waldorf Schooling and what the beliefs etc are. OM is waldorf based, but not a pure waldorf curriculum.

YOur child will create a main lesson book for subjects including math

[SkateLeft]

I looked at the sample and just got the feeling that I was missing something. The feeling of where is the rest. Make sense? So, instead of actually using a separate book or whatever for math it is basically all done with activities and manipulatives?

 

Now what about handwriting, reading, grammar, history? What is used for the history parts? Do you get books from the library?

 

Please bear with me, since I have a nasty head cold and my brain isn't functioning very well today. :) I think the best way to look at OM's syllabus is as a spine as far as history and science goes, especially in the early years. While the syllabus provides some background information, and links and recommendations for resources to complete activities and projects, it's generally up to the parent to get them. On the spectrum of curricula ranging from very structured to very loose, OM is somewhere in the middle, if that makes sense.

 

Yes, we add a lot from the library and online and our own bookshelves. These resources aren't necessary all the time, but they add a lot to our studies. OM does not use worksheets, but does include written instruction in the assignments. "Write two sentences on such and such..."

 

Since I have the OM 4 syllabus sitting next to me, I'll give you an example from there. Under "social studies" for Lesson 16, the topic is "Natural Wonders of Your State." There are activities assigned, but the text points out that "You will need to visit your library for resource materials." One of the assignments says to "Find out about National Parks, National Monuments and National Forests of your state. Identify each one and tell briefly what is to be found there. You should aim to write two or three sentences about each one..."

 

So the actual history and science assignments are fairly specific, but it's often up to the parent to find the resources. That works for me... I can find resources, but I prefer not to make up the assignments. :)

 

From K-3, math instruction is located in the syllabus and is taught using activities and manipulatives. There are suggestions for practice, including writing out numbers, etc. Starting in OM 4, math is a separate syllabus that includes practice pages and worksheets. (As I said previously, I don't find OM math to be enough.)

 

Grammar instruction is explicit and is located in the syllabus, so there are no additional resources needed there. Most of the language arts instruction is in the syllabus. The literature books can be purchased from OM or gotten from the library. The open-ended nature of OM lies primarily in science and history.

 

There are no textbooks because the students written work becomes their own textbook, if that makes sense.

 

If you're looking for something comparable to Sonlight, where they provide the books and reading schedule, then OM isn't it, at least in the lower grades. In middle school and high school, OM does use more textbooks and is more structured. It's important to know that OM is "Waldorf-inspired" which means the pace of instruction in the lower grades is different than in other programs.

 

As far as the cost goes, since the meat of the curriculum is in the syllabus, I generally just buy that, which makes it far cheaper than most other pre-packaged options. The syllabi resell fairly well also.

 

This is my first year using OM this fully, and it's working well, but I primarily use it as a springboard for loads of other stuff.

[Closeacademy]

We did Oak Meadow 2 in 2010. It was a wonderful year and we had a lot of fun. You can see my 2nd grade posts here on my resource page is a link as well as information on how we used it.

 

With OM 2 you get:

 

curriculum guide--weekly lessons for language arts, reading, social studies, science, math and art.

 

readers

read alouds

arts & crafts books

 

I made a schedule for OM2 that you can download for free, there is a button for it on my 2nd grade resource page. That will give you an idea of what we did each week.

 

You can find OM2 guides used fairly inexpensively. We didn't care for the readers or read alouds and used library books instead. So for example, one week is about bees, so we got an easy reader on bees, a story book about bees and we did the activities about bees including making a hive out of beeswax. My dd loved these projects.

 

I think I picked up my OM3 guide used for $30.

 

I did add Rod and Staff math to OM because there is not enough practice. There are weekly topics and guides in there on math lesson but you have to make up the problems yourself (my guide was 2000). The Rod and Staff workbooks are fairly inexpensive and have more than enough work in them. If you read my 2nd grade posts on my blog, you can see what we did with them each week. I have lots of pictures & examples.

 

I hope this helps. OM is a really great curriculum but like anything you buy, you have to find a way to make it work for you.:001_smile:

[NanceXToo]

I haven't used OM2 (yet)- I used OM4 last year with my daughter, and we're almost halfway done with OM5 this year.

 

I started OMK with my son but then subsequently decided (8 weeks into it) that it would go better for us if I held off until next fall.

 

I own OMK-OM8 in their entirety- I lucked out and found them being sold used in one lot. I have older versions, from like 1998, but I'm very happy with them. So you could try to look for your version used, and even if you find an older version- it'll still be great!

 

OM isn't really about textbooks or workbooks. I don't feel like we need tons of busywork and so I've always been happy with the amount of math, grammar, vocab, spelling and so on activities listed for us.

 

I like their literature and writing assignments (often giving several interesting choices for what a kid can write about). For things like science and social studies, the syllabus will write a short lesson to the kid and then will give you activities to do, titles for supplemental reading which you can get at your library, and so on.

 

It's very engaging and hands on and has led to interesting reading, activities, discussion, writing assignments and so on for us.

 

I really do love Oak Meadow.

 

For more info on it, you can click on my blog (see sig) and then explore the sidebar on the left for an OM review, detailed sample schedules (how I broke the weekly schedules down into daily ones), reading logs, interesting activities, and so on.

[hsmom]

CloseAcademy you are inspiring me! The more I read on your blog and follow your links the more I am really liking OM.

[hsmom]

Nance after reading your post and really thinking of what I want. I do want something without all the busy work.

I am really considering using OM, now if I can just build up my confidence that I can do this without all those textbooks and busy work. Deep breath!