Would I be bat-snot crazy to do this? (Kindy)

[Mommie_Jen]

A quick background - I'm gearing up to start homeschooling. DS in is pre-k, ending this spring. He also will turn 5 this spring. I want to start school shortly after preschool ends. He's my oldest, so I am a total novice. However, I've spent HOURS researching and reading. I *think* I know what I like and what will work for him. (But it's all in theory, not in practice right now.)

 

I seriously kicked around the idea of MFW K for a long time. Months. And as much as I like it, I don't think the K year is for us. Maybe later, I don't know. I've been flip flopping around changing my mind and debating about what to do. I've come up with something that I like, but it might be overkill.

 

I want DS to have daily handwriting (HWOT), phonics (AAR1), and math (McRuffy most likely) instruction. I also want to have dedicated reading time together that will expose him to the world around him. (We don't now, it's pretty haphazard. BAD mommy. We do read, I just need a set time schedule to DO it.) So, I've come up with the following:

 

HWOT, AAR1, Math, and Sonlight Pre-K core. I am thinking that the Sonlight wouldn't get done every day and we could just take that at our own pace. DS2 will be 3 this year, so he will like some of that also.

 

So...am I setting us up for failure? I did consider just going off the book list of Sonlight and MFW, but our library is only so-so. They would only have about 1/2 of the books.

[tracikay3]

Hi,

I am working thorugh my son's k year and have just gone through this as well. I felt like I was obsessed with the idea of taking on my son's ENTIRE EDUCATION.....

I almost purchased Sonlight, as in had everything loaded in my cart and was about to push the button. I just didn't think that it would work for us in the end so I put together my own mish-mash and it has been working great for months.

I use:

HWOT- I absolutely love this program. My oldest has a way to go with fine motor control of a pencil, I am ok with that and have been working slowly to build muscles in his little cute hands with coloring (why do boys NOT like to color), LOTS of playdough (we have been doing playdoh of the month club...by the end of the month it looks like it has been on the floor of the mens room). I made a little tote with art supplies to grab and go, it works.

Saxon Math- I used Horizon for a while but it is too workbooky for us, I like Saxon K alot, manipulatives and projects, totally my game.

SOTW- I am spending a few months on the first chapter, getting him used to the idea of the continuity of history, projects with this and extra books and stuff.

FOr literature selections I alternate between using the Sonlight Catalog as a resource for books, FIve in a ROw and Larsen's list of books.

Science is a biggy, I couldn't find anything I liked, most was too silly and simplistic, some were too churchy so I reviewed Apologia and fell in nerd love. We are doing Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day and my little nerdlet is OBSESSED with the abyss, and a creepy little fish called a gulper eel.

Let me know if you have questions, I'd be more than happy to support, been there!

Tracy k

[Another Lynn]

It sounds very reasonable unless you want to save some money and use the library for children's books instead of SL. But I have to say I can't wait until I have the next opporunity to use the phrase "bat-snot crazy." :D

[Lang Syne Boardie]

A quick background - I'm gearing up to start homeschooling. DS in is pre-k, ending this spring. He also will turn 5 this spring. I want to start school shortly after preschool ends. He's my oldest, so I am a total novice. However, I've spent HOURS researching and reading. I *think* I know what I like and what will work for him. (But it's all in theory, not in practice right now.)

 

I seriously kicked around the idea of MFW K for a long time. Months. And as much as I like it, I don't think the K year is for us. Maybe later, I don't know. I've been flip flopping around changing my mind and debating about what to do. I've come up with something that I like, but it might be overkill.

 

I want DS to have daily handwriting (HWOT), phonics (AAR1), and math (McRuffy most likely) instruction. I also want to have dedicated reading time together that will expose him to the world around him. (We don't now, it's pretty haphazard. BAD mommy. We do read, I just need a set time schedule to DO it.) So, I've come up with the following:

 

HWOT, AAR1, Math, and Sonlight Pre-K core. I am thinking that the Sonlight wouldn't get done every day and we could just take that at our own pace. DS2 will be 3 this year, so he will like some of that also.

 

So...am I setting us up for failure? I did consider just going off the book list of Sonlight and MFW, but our library is only so-so. They would only have about 1/2 of the books.

 

HWOT

AAR

Math

Sonlight

 

for a five-year-old. Sounds perfect to me! Lots of Sonlighters use the pre-K core for kindergarten. I've done it, myself, and it was a great year.

 

This sounds like a really great way for you to begin your homeschooling journey. Sonlight is great for little ones who are doing the "work" part of school on the 3R's and just need some really good stories with Mommy every day. The pre-K core also includes Science, so that's even more gentle learning about the world him.

 

Don't discount that schedule. Use it to keep track of what to do next, even if you go much slower. I've taken a calendar year to do a SL core instead of a school year, and it worked out great. You won't have to plan a thing, just check it off as you go.

[Mommie_Jen]

HWOT

AAR

Math

Sonlight

 

for a five-year-old. Sounds perfect to me! Lots of Sonlighters use the pre-K core for kindergarten. I've done it, myself, and it was a great year.

 

This sounds like a really great way for you to begin your homeschooling journey. Sonlight is great for little ones who are doing the "work" part of school on the 3R's and just need some really good stories with Mommy every day. The pre-K core also includes Science, so that's even more gentle learning about the world him.

 

Don't discount that schedule. Use it to keep track of what to do next, even if you go much slower. I've taken a calendar year to do a SL core instead of a school year, and it worked out great. You won't have to plan a thing, just check it off as you go.

 

Thank you!!! That is quite encouraging to me. I have stressed so much trying to find something that would work for his needs and mine. This is what sounds the best in my head, and it's the only K Program that I can come up with where I am not wanting to change something.

[Mommie_Jen]

It sounds very reasonable unless you want to save some money and use the library for children's books instead of SL. But I have to say I can't wait until I have the next opporunity to use the phrase "bat-snot crazy." :D

 

I would love to save money and just pick up an IG and use the library, but it's a small town library with only about half of the listed books. I think going to the city and hitting up the bigger libraries all the time would stress me out. (and I have just to discover just why bat snot is crazy!)

[Esperella]

That's what my son does!

 

I have a 3 (4 in April) year old son (and an almost 2 yr old but he doesnt really get much out of lessons haha!) and then my 5 yr old is in Kindy. He does the Sonlight 4/5 prek, HWOT K, Horizon's math K. I wanted to try SL's LA even though I'd heard a lot of people dont like it, and it didnt work for us so AAR1 is actually on the way to me right now.

 

The SL stuff is pretty easy to do every day (we do 4 days a week with read alouds every day). If we did everything in their IG it would take a half hour, most days. Of course with handwriting and math and AAR it will take longer but mostly the IG is just read alouds with different ways to talk about what you read.

 

My sons get very frustrated by reading 1 page in the Berenstein Bears science book, so I combine it into 2 lessons a week. I had no clue how into science they'd be so going back I may have ordered a different science because that's all they want to do, but the IG is so light it gives us tons of time to add in stuff based on whatever their way into.

 

Oh! And I'd get Handle On the Arts. We do science and bible. It gives extra ideas for more hands on stuff,and is pretty cheap.

[WeeBeaks]

I would love to save money and just pick up an IG and use the library, but it's a small town library with only about half of the listed books. I think going to the city and hitting up the bigger libraries all the time would stress me out. (and I have just to discover just why bat snot is crazy!)

 

A lot of the P3/4 and P4/5 books from SL have become treasured favorites in our home, so it is not bad at all to have your own copies.

[Nart]

You might want to consider starting one subject now (AAR 1 perhaps?) and not waiting until May. My son recently turned five and it has worked out that we started 5 to 10 min. reading lessons when he turned 4, added math at 4 1/2, and now that he is 5 I added HWOT along with some Kumon writing/ mazes books. He slowly got used to sitting and focusing during reading lessons for six months before I added anymore formal academics. He would have been overwhelmed to have started all three areas at the same time. And I know it would have been overwhelming for me too (he is my oldest child).

Edited January 20, 2012 by Nart

[Mommie_Jen]

You might want to consider starting one subject now (AAR 1 perhaps?) and not waiting until May. My son recently turned five and it has worked out that we started 5 to 10 min. reading lessons when he turned 4, added math at 4 1/2, and now that he is 5 I added HWOT along with some Kumon writing/ mazes books. He slowly got used to sitting and focusing during reading lessons for six months before I added anymore formal academics. He would have been overwhelmed to have started all three areas at the same time. And I know it would have been overwhelming for me too (he is my oldest child).

 

 

I love that idea! I don't actually have anything right now, I will probably wait until we get our tax refund. I really like the idea f starting gradually and building up to the whole thing!

[Tress]

I think it sounds like a great plan!

 

(And I'm always on the look out for nice English idiom. Writes down 'bat-snot crazy'. Yeah, next time I have the opportunity to speak English, I'm going to make quiet an impression :D.)

[chicagoshannon]

I think it sounds great. Maybe consider using Sonlight P3/4. You could keep your two kids together that way. This will also get you used to reading everyday. The P3/4 books are not scheduled per day just per trimester so you could go at your own pace very easily.

[SorrelZG]

I love your idea.

[angela in ohio]

I would love to save money and just pick up an IG and use the library, but it's a small town library with only about half of the listed books. I think going to the city and hitting up the bigger libraries all the time would stress me out. (and I have just to discover just why bat snot is crazy!)

 

Your plans sound great; focusing on math, handwriting, and phonics is perfect. :001_smile:

 

I would save the money from the SL guide and books. Instead, I would use the library: make a list of what they DO have and use those, plus buy a few nice big compendiums, like Winnie-the-Pooh and Beatrix Potter. You can cruise the lists for SL, FIAR, and so on and put together a list of what you can get, then just make a list and start reading. I would use the saved money to buy myself some books about education, logic, history, etc. The most important thing when they are K and down is that mom is educating herself for later in the journey.

 

When my dc were little, I did math, handwriting, phonics, and memorization. Then we spent the rest of the time in (1.) reading books, and (2.) having experiences. I credit that for their thirst for learning now. Work through the non-fiction stacks at the library, pulling a stack of books about each topic off. We still remember the months we worked through the "dark books" (the astronomy section looked dark because so many of the covers are black.) And find every resource in your community and anything you can drive to in a day and do it: nature walks at every park you can find, zoos, museums, etc.

Edited January 20, 2012 by angela in ohio

[MeganW]

My kids are slightly delayed almost 7 year olds (more like your typical older 5/young 6 year olds), and we are working through Sonlight's P4/5 core right now. Most things are perfect, some are a little easy.

 

We use the schedule, but not as intended. I use it mostly to make sure we hit everything, but we definitely do not do Day 1, then Day 2. Especially with the Berenstain Bears book, and the Things People Do book, my kids are not ready to quit after the prescribed number of pages. We often read further, and I just mark them off the future schedules.

 

Roughly, I go across the schedule rather than down.

 

I bought the LA, but wouldn't recommend that.

 

I also bought the Handle on the Arts supplements, and LOVE those!

http://www.handleonthearts.com/cart/handson-activities-prek-4-and-5-c-24_28.html

If you only want to do one, the Storybook ones are the best.

[Chris in VA]

I think it sounds great! Not crazy at all.

I agree with the PP who said to bypass Sonlight's IG and just read the books. There are lots of lists, and you really can't go wrong. If something doesn't fit, stop reading and try something else.

 

One thing that helped me was to develop a routine to our day, but not a schedule. IOW, I didn't worry about doing Math "From 9am-9:30am," we just did the math and got done when we got done. If eyes started to glaze over, we just ended at a good spot and picked up again either later or the next day. Flexibility within a structure is a good rule of thumb, imo. I might have an order to the day, but I wasn't afraid to change it up a bit, either.

[ChandlerMom]

...I would save the money from the SL guide and books...

 

:iagree:

Since you're still operating on THEORY versus practice, I would suggest you start with just handwriting, phonics, and math (you're core focus) and diverse read alouds/books. There are lots and lots of lists of great early kid's literature!

 

After a few months, when you've got your feet wet and are BOTH comfortable with how things are going, you can evaluate whether you still want to add SL. If so, go for it. But maybe something even better will have caught your eye by then or you have discovered your dc's learning style is different than you originally thought.

 

I'm a big fan of easing into hs-ing and new curriculum and not a big fan of buying things too far ahead. Things change, and one of the great advantages of homeschooling is the ability to adapt!

 

I think you're going to have a great year either way! :D

[Nart]

I love that idea! I don't actually have anything right now, I will probably wait until we get our tax refund. I really like the idea f starting gradually and building up to the whole thing!

 

You might want to look at the online sample of AAR1 if you plan on using that. The first few lessons are available online so you could sample it.

 

http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/categories/All-About-Reading/All-About-Reading-Level-1/

 

You could make the letters by printing out letters and coloring the consonants blue with a colored pencil and the vowels red. Then cutting them up into squares. That way you could slowly start the lessons now and see if you really like it before spending 100 dollars. Or you could buy HWT workbook now. We just finished doing the Kumon tracing/ mazes/ upper case workbook/ lower case workbook/ alphabet games workbooks now (they cost around 7 to 8 dollars each and amazon has a special buy three get the fourth one free) to ease into HWT kinder. I first tried the Kinder HWT and thought it would be good to backtrack and do some tracing and writing with the blackboard first before doing the kinder lessons since my son's fine motor is weak.

I went, to use your phrase "bat-snot crazy", and bought way too many things at first. For example, I bought four math curriculums because I couldn't decide -SM, RS A, Miquon, and MEP, several reading programs 100 Easy Lessons, Phonics Pathways, Pathway Readers, AAS1, then BJSU science, BFIAR, FIAR and Kumon workbooks among other things. I ended up really only using two or three things off this list consistently. I wish I would have slowed down on the buying and only bought one new thing at a time and tried it out to see if it worked. Luckily I have a younger child so some things won't go to waste, we might use somethings in the future, or I will try to sell them. Good luck!

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I would love to save money and just pick up an IG and use the library, but it's a small town library with only about half of the listed books. I think going to the city and hitting up the bigger libraries all the time would stress me out. (and I have just to discover just why bat snot is crazy!)

 

How about interlibrary loan? I use it all of the time, especially for requesting our history and science books.

[kristinannie]

I second the idea of using SL P3/4. My kids LOVE those books. I actually like those books more thant P4/5. I have most of the books from both cores. I actually bought them secondhand on this forum so I could save money. I bought some of them from Amazon and borrowed a couple from our super terrible library that they got on interlibrary loan. You really don't need the IG's. They are pretty worthless at that age. I have the P3/4 and the P4/5 IG's if you want them.

[Bloggermom]

For my upcoming 5 year old we plan to use CLE Learn to Read and Primary Phonics readers. We are ONLY going to be focused on phonics and reading until 1st grade. I would LOVE to get him reading fluently by then. If I accomplish this then I will have done something amazing! :)

[cagirlintexas]

Sounds good! I love, love, love HWOT. I am currently doing the Prek program with my son. He turns 5 next week. He is doing great with it. Which HWOT program where you going to start with? PreK or K?

[Mommie_Jen]

Sounds good! I love, love, love HWOT. I am currently doing the Prek program with my son. He turns 5 next week. He is doing great with it. Which HWOT program where you going to start with? PreK or K?

 

 

Wow, lots of info and advise, thank you! As to which HWOT, not sure yet, but most likely K. DS has had 2 yrs of church based preschool and we do a lot of tracing and cutting. I have used some sample HWOT tears stuff with him and it worked well for him. He picked up quickly on the 2 letters I showed him.

 

We have a state park pass and spent most nice weather Saturdays exploring a park and nature center. DS is really into nature and big cat animals. We re looking forward to gradually starting soon! Now to go back And re-read this thread, wonderful advice!

[acurtis75]

You might want to consider starting one subject now (AAR 1 perhaps?) and not waiting until May. My son recently turned five and it has worked out that we started 5 to 10 min. reading lessons when he turned 4, added math at 4 1/2, and now that he is 5 I added HWOT along with some Kumon writing/ mazes books. He slowly got used to sitting and focusing during reading lessons for six months before I added anymore formal academics. He would have been overwhelmed to have started all three areas at the same time. And I know it would have been overwhelming for me too (he is my oldest child).

 

I was going to suggest something similar. Start with one subject and then add another after a few weeks. After you have started all the subjects you might consider staggering the schedule.We actually did quite a bit by the time my dd was 5 but in short spurts. We did Bible for 5 or 10 minutes and then HWOT for 5 or 10 minutes before taking a play break. Just before lunch we did Explode the Code and Math....etc. We probably did 45 minutes to an hour and a half but it was split in to several short sessions throughout the day.

 

Now that dd is a month away from turning 7 and her attention span and tolerance for sitting still longer has grown we do an hour or two before taking a reading break during lunch.