bohemian.mama Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Hi! We are new to homeschooling after withdrawing our 5 year old daughter from public school last week. I have been working with her afterschool since November and will be all done with her kindergarten stuff in March. I am planning on just jumping right into 1st grade I see no point in waiting untill the fall (that's a long time her her to be doing nothing) Hold my hand as I am getting ready to spend $200 on her 1st grade books. Its scary. This is my plan: History- SOTW vol1 Math- Singapore Math 1a Science- Various topics books from library Spelling- A Reason for spelling Grammer- 1st Lanuage lessons Writing- Writing With Ease Reading- OPGTR We're having a baby in the end of April so we will get probably a month break at that time. Tell me what you think I'm so scared but really excited!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I think it looks great! Does she already have good handwriting? That's the only thing I see missing from a typical 5 year old curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Welcome! :grouphug: Don't worry, you'll do great! Your list has a lot of stuff that I am getting ready to buy for next year, too! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 :thumbup1: We're getting ready to have a baby too so a big school break is upcoming. Have fun with all of your new stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Looks great! You might want to include some handwriting practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Are you doing the Activity Guide w/SOTW 1? I would get it too. Other than that, handwriting, art, and music of some sort. These could be done informally, I am sure. I just know they are important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I think your plan looks good, though if I were you I would just do language arts and math (plus plenty of books from the library) until the baby comes. Then start back slowly, one or two things at a time. I had a baby a little over a year ago and we started back with one subject when he was a week old and continued to add from there. We were all wanting something to do and would have been bored and cranky without the structure of school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bohemian.mama Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 She does have very good handwriting already. She is now finishing up A Reason for Handwriting A, but I don't think is ready for cursive yet. I'm confused I was planning on using Writing with Ease. Isn't that a writing program with copywork and dictation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I haven't used WWE, so I don't what is involved. But I think copywork can be good for handwriting. I had one that I didn't start w/a handwriting program separately until 2nd for cursive either. With my 2nd dd, whose handwriting is not wonderful, we did need a separate practice sheet to help with the formal aspects of how to form each letter on top of copywork. Sounds like you may not need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Kirsten~ Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 She does have very good handwriting already. She is now finishing up A Reason for Handwriting A, but I don't think is ready for cursive yet. I'm confused I was planning on using Writing with Ease. Isn't that a writing program with copywork and dictation? Yep, that's exactly what WWE is. We've dropped separate handwriting for my daughter this year, and she just does WWE. However, we double up the lessons, doing two each day so that she has copy work every day (she's very into language arts, or we wouldn't do this). If you go at the suggested pace, I'd consider adding something for handwriting, even just one sentence of copy work from something else you're using, so that she has daily handwriting practice. Congrats on your decision! Here's to a wonderful time together! Your schedule looks great to me, too, though I agree with the previous poster about getting the AG for SotW. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 She does have very good handwriting already. She is now finishing up A Reason for Handwriting A, but I don't think is ready for cursive yet. I'm confused I was planning on using Writing with Ease. Isn't that a writing program with copywork and dictation? If she has proper letter formation I think WWE is enough. I do add more copywork so we are doing it daily (WWE is 2x's/wk) but that is a personal preference. Your plan looks good. Play it by ear with a new baby. If you want to wait until fall for science and SOTW, fine. If you're up for it, fine. We just had a baby and I would say flexibility is key.:D Have fun and welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bohemian.mama Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 I am going to get the AG for SOTW. I am planning on taking it easy after baby is born, but I would bet that we end up doing some work still. DD tends to get bored and really enjoys doing school work. We don't watch alot of TV so relaxing time is usually reading :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3littlemonkeys Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Hey there, we just pulled DS (5) from public school on Monday! AND we're having a baby in July! Here's our plan (very similar to yours!!) Starting next week until July1 HWOT for handwriting as his is no good. OPGTR reading TONS of read alouds Dinosaur Unit study to go with his current obsession :) slowly adding in Math (haven't decided on a curriculum yet and I will probably pick up a few workbooks to work with until fall) WWE In the Fall we will add FLL 1 Math Curriculum SOTW 1 w/AG AAS Elemental Science:Biology (or possibly just various Library books still deciding) Art, Music & PE and fun field trips will also be mixed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyto4 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Looks great! I would add a handwriting programme just to continue working on letter formation and neatness. It is also something kids can do on their own (important with a new baby around!). Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 She does have very good handwriting already. She is now finishing up A Reason for Handwriting A, but I don't think is ready for cursive yet. I'm confused I was planning on using Writing with Ease. Isn't that a writing program with copywork and dictation? Writing is different from handwriting. However, since my ds is proficient in letter formation, we use WWE and spelling as his handwriting practice. It works very well if your dc is beyond the learning stage in handwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Your plan looks great. If her letter formation is already good, I would just give a little extra copywork on top of WWE (like one sentence on the days that WWE doesn't have copywork). That's what we're doing now. Actually, I even give copywork on the days that he does have WWE copywork, but I'm mean like that. :lol: Actually, we DID have letter formation issues, so that's why I've hit handwriting hard. But now that the letters are being formed properly 95% of the time, I am just doing copywork as his "handwriting", and I'm watching him like a hawk to avoid any bad habits creeping back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susesmiles Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Tell me more about WWE and how it compares to A reason for handwriting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Hi! We are new to homeschooling after withdrawing our 5 year old daughter from public school last week. I have been working with her afterschool since November and will be all done with her kindergarten stuff in March. I am planning on just jumping right into 1st grade I see no point in waiting untill the fall (that's a long time her her to be doing nothing) Hold my hand as I am getting ready to spend $200 on her 1st grade books. Its scary. This is my plan: History- SOTW vol1 Math- Singapore Math 1a Science- Various topics books from library Spelling- A Reason for spelling Grammer- 1st Lanuage lessons Writing- Writing With Ease Reading- OPGTR We're having a baby in the end of April so we will get probably a month break at that time. Tell me what you think I'm so scared but really excited!:001_smile: That looks great!! Very similar to what my 1st grader is doing. We also do a handwriting page and I read a couple chapters out loud to her from a fun book that is too hard for her to read alone. We're reading Milly Molly Mandy right now. When her reading took off I also started her reading out loud to me from McGuffey's Eclectic Reader Book 1. She's still working through her phonics book - Alpha Phonics - but she really enjoys reading something "real." It's very motivating. Have fun and congratulations on your new addition.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Yep, that's exactly what WWE is. We've dropped separate handwriting for my daughter this year, and she just does WWE. However, we double up the lessons, doing two each day so that she has copy work every day (she's very into language arts, or we wouldn't do this). If you go at the suggested pace, I'd consider adding something for handwriting, even just one sentence of copy work from something else you're using, so that she has daily handwriting practice. Congrats on your decision! Here's to a wonderful time together! Your schedule looks great to me, too, though I agree with the previous poster about getting the AG for SotW. :001_smile: We also do WWE along with a handwriting book so that my dd can do some writing every day. However, the chapters from SOTW lend themselves perfectly to the directions WWE gives "tell me one thing you remember about the selection." So if you wanted writing every day, you could have her narrate a sentence from SOTW and copy it from your writing following the same pattern found in WWE. Once you get into it it's not hard to duplicate with other readings. And then skip the handwriting book altogether until she's ready for cursive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Tell me more about WWE and how it compares to A reason for handwriting They are two different things. WWE is a composition program - teaching children to do expository writing (ultimately). It involves copywork, narration, and dictation to develop the skills necessary for writing. A Reason for Handwriting, AFAIK, is a handwriting program - designed to help a child work on the formation of letters and neat handwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 We also use A Reason for Handwriting and you don't have to go straight to cursive after Book A there is Book B that continues practice with print for another year if you wanted to keep using a handwriting program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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