serendipitous journey Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I'm thinking of using (largely) one of these for Button's 2-7 years (or planning to, at least ;)) and I realized I'd been looking for the best general program and not the best fit for him. He's advanced in math but his true love seems to be language and words. He's not so much a super-reading guy right now, but he loves stories, information, and uses beautiful words and really evocative phrases. suggestions? -- the idea is to give me some added accountability/structure, and him something that suits ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsrevmeg Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I haven't used the others, but TOG has some wonderful books for the lower grammar years. Beautifully illustrated and engaging stories that kept Samuel's attention. Does he like hands-on crafty things? There is at least one hands on book for each unit of TOG. You can also get lapbook kits to go along with it. Personally my kids hate lapbooks, so we did that once and only once. :glare: The geography portion of TOG is very nice. Also, does he like to make up stories of his own? We have lots of poems, fables, plays, etc from our TOG studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Over the many years I've been homeschooling (9 years now :lol:), I have tried many different curricula and teaching approaches. The one that always rang true for me and, most importantly, for my girls has been the ideas and methods of Charlotte Mason. From this it would seem AO is the best curriculum for our family, and I still follow it in many ways. The beauty of Charlotte Mason's ideas is that you can understand her approach and methods and create your own personalized booklist. Both of my girls are lovers of language too and this has been a great fit for them. Truthfully, in my opinion, the love of language is the result of this approach. I also think that even those who are more interested in math and science would find this a good fit. The years of attention to detail and hands-on learning in science will bring the excitement of discovery out in most children.:001_smile: Here is a post I wrote last year about how and why we love following the ideas of Charlotte Mason: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230451 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 thank you both for the feedback ... it is true that some of the things that are best about our homeschool right now, and have helped Button really thrive, are from AO (like lots of outside time; his readers; a reminder for short lessons, which really helps when we hit a challenging math topic; and music). I did want an art study that was spread more across all of history, and music too as much as possible; and a more focused science, and something to help me develop his analytical writing skills (later, of course). We are doing well using phonics starting when he was 3, math then too, writing last year and grammar, writing and spelling programs this year which is all rather counter to the AO year 1 spirit: but Button not only enjoys them, they seem to be feeding his mind. Maybe what I will end up with is augmenting the AO/CM that works well for us with something that supports structure in these other areas, too. I'll look at the the TOG materials with that in mind. Button _isn't_ particularly crafty, but that may evolve ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I am definitely planning on using Kolbe starting in 4th grade because I :drool5: over their literature program. I am not a fan of the questions they provide since I am more CM in my focus, but I love the assignments and the summaries of the chapters so I don't have to read every.single.book to discuss it with my DC. I think they have a wonderful program over all, but it is a little workbooky for me, especially in lower elementary. I also love that you can substitute what you want. I definitely would do my own thing in history and that is totally fine. I also am going to do Singapore Math and AAS and that is also fine. It is definitely something to consider. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 I am definitely planning on using Kolbe starting in 4th grade because I :drool5: over their literature program... I think they have a wonderful program over all, but it is a little workbooky for me, especially in lower elementary. :D I'd heard that Kolbe was workbooky, which is one reason I'm leaning toward Veritas Press as my base (the other is their catalog, which has pointed me in some good directions already :001_smile:) Last night, looking at the Kolbe site, I thought that it might be a reasonable plan to do VP through 6th and then move to Kolbe; but I'll take another look at Kolbe's elementary plans ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 (edited) I am definitely planning on using Kolbe starting in 4th grade because I :drool5: over their literature program. I am not a fan of the questions they provide since I am more CM in my focus, but I love the assignments and the summaries of the chapters so I don't have to read every.single.book to discuss it with my DC. I think they have a wonderful program over all, but it is a little workbooky for me, especially in lower elementary. I also love that you can substitute what you want. I definitely would do my own thing in history and that is totally fine. I also am going to do Singapore Math and AAS and that is also fine. It is definitely something to consider. :D I heard Kolbe is planning on Singapore and Catholic textbook league history next year from what I recall but I could be wrong:tongue_smilie: Have you looked at Sonlight for History and Readers? I have not used it but am toying with the idea:) Kolbe's Literature also seems fantastic;) Edited September 29, 2011 by priscilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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