Does curriculum really build upon itself?

[mom2agang]

Where you should pick one and stick with it. I can understand math if you swith a lot you could have gaps. But the other subjects ?Do you see a benefit from just sticking with one? Or do you see a better benefit from using what works for the year? I understand if the child isn't learning then no one in benefitting but does curriculum jumping have benefits? Or does it cause more gaps?

Edited July 11, 2011 by mom2agang
Posted to fast

[boscopup]

I think it will depend on the subject and the curriculum. Yes, math builds on itself, and many curricula out there have different scope and sequence, so you might actually miss a major topic by switching and not placing your child correctly (or if you do place your child correctly, you might be backtracking each time you switch, getting them overall "behind"). I can see switching grammar working ok because most grammar programs review all of grammar from the beginning each year, but just go at a faster pace. A writing program like WWE builds on itself, so I wouldn't want to jump around with that particular one (I think writing programs in general tend to be so varied from curriculum to curriculum that you'd probably want to stick with one at least in the grade 1-4 years). Science and history are easy to jump around with, of course.

[mschickie]

I think it depends on the curriculum and the grade level. There are some science programs that at middle school levels really do build on the previous year. You can move from one curriculum to another even if they build upon each other, all you have to do is figure out where your child is. I do not think curriculum jumping is necessarily beneficial. If you find something that works well it is ok to stick with it just as if it is not working well you have the freedom to change.

[Momling]

Textbook publishers might disagree because a "program" sells more books than a single book... and often parents and teachers and textbook adoption committees like the idea of using a program. But really, for the most part, they don't build on each other -- though they may be sequenced in a way to avoid gaps and be age appropriate if followed consistently through elementary school.

 

For many of these programs, the authors want to make it accessible to students who are new. It's like starting in the middle of a fiction series. The first few pages orient the new reader and throughout the book, they'll throw hints to remind old readers and introduce new readers to the characters.

 

The one exception I can think of is foreign language. "Book two" is pretty much going to require that you've memorized the vocabulary and been introduced to the grammar of "book one".

 

Oh... and phonics... it would be hard to teach multisyllabic words to someone who hadn't figured out single syllable words, for instance.

Edited July 11, 2011 by Momling

[SnMomof7]

Much curriculum does - at least in our home. Math, spelling, grammar, etc. are all cumulative and incremental around here. We're done phonics now, but that too...

 

Content subjects - not so much, you can DEFINITELY jump around in history and science, but for skills you might want to find something and settle in :).