gfengel Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 (edited) I have been homeschooling my two older children for about 9 months now. We are almost finished with Sonlight Core 1. I plan to begin homeschooling my 4-year-old very soon. I was planning on moving on to Core 2 with the older two children, but do you think I could combine and use Core 2 for all three kids? Or, should I use Core K with the 4-year-old and Core 2 for the two older ones? I would like to work as efficiently as possible, and I think that keeping the 4-year-old occupied while doing a separate core with the other two might prove to be a daunting task! As always, any advice is greatly appreciated! Edited February 11, 2011 by gfengel grammar error! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Hi Gayle, Is your 4 year old currently listening in to any of your read alouds? I am doing Core K with my 7 year old (almost 8). My 4 year old (almost 5) listens to the read alouds, poetry, but isn't too keen on the history readings. I think Core 2 would be way too much for your little one. Core K might be too depending on maturity/attention span (like I said my second daughter will be 5 in April and she runs away during the history readings but runs back for read alouds.) If you don't want to do 2 cores (and you really don't have to for a little one, everything past reading/writing/math is gravy), you could let your little one listen in as desired, OR just get some topic appropriate picture books that go along with Core 2 and read those separately. History is pretty simple at these young ages, just picture books works :). If you did want to do a separate core, you might want to do 4/5 before tackling K. We'll be starting Core 1+2 as soon as we're done with K, and I'm just letting my second DD listen in as she wants to, it isn't mandatory for her at this age. Do you have legos? Or Lauri stacking pegs? That's mostly what we do to keep the mittles busy. Throw in some paper/scissors/crayons and she's good to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfengel Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 you really don't have to for a little one, everything past reading/writing/math is gravy Hi Jennifer! You know, you are absolutely right! I hadn't thought of it that way. Sometimes I become so married to the idea of following a set lesson plan that I can't bare the idea of not having a schedule to follow! :) I am very lucky in that my mom takes my youngest 2 days a week and he goes to preschool the other 3 so that I can give my two older ones my undivided attention. (That arrangement was about the only solution I could come up with this past year when I made the decision to homeschool. That is, it was the only thing I could come up that would also preserve my sanity!) SO, I don't really know how he would do with the read-alouds, history. My gut feeling was that Core 2 would be too much, so I was really glad to see you felt that way, too. We do have the materials for P3/4, Singapore Earlybird Math and Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. My mom works with him one-on-one when she has him. She said that today he worked for about 2 hours without a break. (He kept wanting to "do another page, Grandma.") So, I would say that his attention span is pretty good at this point. However, based on what you've said, I think I'm going to just stick with the P 3/4, math, and OPGTR and leave it at that for now. Maybe once he's a little older I can throw in the geography/history/etc. I hope by that time I will have figured out how to do two cores at once! :001_unsure: Thank you for you words of wisdom!!!!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) I have been homeschooling my two older children for about 9 months now. We are almost finished with Sonlight Core 1. I plan to begin homeschooling my 4-year-old very soon. I was planning on moving on to Core 2 with the older two children, but do you think I could combine and use Core 2 for all three kids? Or, should I use Core K with the 4-year-old and Core 2 for the two older ones? I would like to work as efficiently as possible, and I think that keeping the 4-year-old occupied while doing a separate core with the other two might prove to be a daunting task! As always, any advice is greatly appreciated! I did Core 2 when mine were 8, 6, and 4. Officially, only my 8yo was using core 2. My 6yo Kindergartner listened to some of the Read-Alouds. My 4yo wandered in and out of the room. He liked some of it, but most of it was over his head. When I'm reading with older kids, I just require him to be quiet. He usually wanders into another room and plays with matchbox cars or legos. I think even core K would be too much for most 4-year-olds. My 7yo could probably have done it when he was 4, but my 5yo could not. Actually, I thought it was a bit over the head of my 5yo when we started using it this year. Most of the read-alouds are chapter books with relatively few pictures. I'm holding onto the books to read with him when he is closer to his 6th birthday. I used core P4/5 last year with my (then) 4yo and he loved it. It was a good core to introduce him to listening to non-picture books. ETA: Have you ever looked at Five in a Row? I dropped SL K for my 5yo and started FIAR. He loves getting to read the FIAR books with me (the older kids like to sneak in and listen too ;)) Edited February 12, 2011 by bonniebeth4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 That sounds like a good plan Gayle! We have some of the 3/4 books and all my children love them, it's a great fit for that age :). I'm a bit like you, I look at my almost five-year-old and think..."Hmm, maybe I should do something more structured." But I know I'm wrong :). This is a good reminder post for me too. They really are little, and pretty much any read alouds will work at this age as long as they are quality books that will help to naturally build their vocabularies :). They are really too young to 'get' chronological history at this point anyway :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 My hs'ed kids are 5, 8, and 10. I am doing SL Core 4 with them this year. The 5 year old is along for the ride because my only goal is teaching her to read, which we have accomplished. I would use Core 2 with all three kids, letting your 4 year old join in to listen when he likes but not worrying if he doesn't. Next year, I will be doing Core 5 with my olders and the 5 year old (her official kindy year) will be along for the ride again. I will probably pull out some of our books from Core 1+2, but I will mostly be focusing on language arts and math with her next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfengel Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Bonnie, Jennifer, Carol, Thank you for your suggestions. I think to just have my youngest 'along for the ride' is probably the way to go. I know he absorbs more than I realize! Bonnie, I think I will take a peek at FIAR. That's one that I haven't looked at at all. Thanks again for all your terrific advice! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I have been amazed at what my five year old is picking up during our read alouds while she flits in and out of the room on fairie dust. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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