Help me find the right curriculum for my daughter

[littlebug42]

I am turning to the hive for some suggestions on what to do with my daughter, Boo-Boo. She is 8 years old and a young 3rd grader. If she were in ps here, she would be in 2nd grade but I have no doubt her current grade placement is appropriate. She is just so different than her older sister and right now I feel like I am just dragging her along on her older sister's path and she is not getting all that she could be getting out of homeschooling.

 

She is very bright, reads well but doesn't have much of an attention span for most chapter books, if dragged out over several days. She loses interest. Our most successful books during school for her have been things like the Grandma's attic series, Milly-Molly-Mandy, Raggedy Ann and the like that are a collection of stories. She also loves the Judy Blume Fudge books and has read those multiple times.

 

I do believe if she were in school we would have had ADD suggested before the first month was out. School can sometimes be challenging with her. She really loves SOTW if we listen to the audio books and FLL seems to be working well with her right now. Math I have covered and science we outsource. That really just leaves the rest of LA.

 

My priority for this child for next year is to get her reading more. Nothing to rigidly structured works her her. She is creative and likes hands on things. My last requirement is that I cannot use anything with a heavily Protestant leaning as we are Catholic and I prefer not to have to constantly be on my guard for something anti-Catholic. Does anything exist for this child? or am I expecting too much from her. Her older sister is a very high achiever academically so not necessarily a good one to compare to her sister.

 

I have been looking into Beyond Five in a Row for her if anyone has any input on that specific program.

 

If anyone read all of this, I thank you.

[frugalmama]

Have you looked at CHC for her? The LA books sound like they might be a good fit.

[Aurelia]

She might like the literature units from Moving Beyond the Page. They use a lot of hands-on activities, and cover pretty much all of LA, though you might need to supplement spelling. The 7-9 age range might be the best fit, since they have shorter chapter books.

[Avila]

Are you looking for a literature program or just reading lists?

 

Mater Amabilis and MODG both have really great reading lists, but they are somewhat tied to history and are not a true literature program. The books are really wonderful though. We have especially enjoyed the Bethlehem books and some of the reprinted Landmarks.

 

Kolbe has a literature program for grades 4-6, but i have not personally used it. I am thinking about it for next year. It might be overkill, though, for what you are wanting.

 

I have also heard good things about History Links, which you might be able to use along with SOTW for hands-on projects and a Catholic perspective. I love the looks of it, but my kids are not so hands-on, so i have never used it. It might be worth it for you to take a look though.

 

Hillside Education and Memoria Press both offer pretty decent literature guides, although Hillside is probably a little more advanced than you are wanting. Hillside also offer a really nice picture book study called Catholic Mosaic (http://hillsideeducation.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_10&products_id=75) that is richer than it looks. It might be worth a look. The books are deeper than your average picture book, but short enough that they hold interest pretty well.

 

And if none of that helps, you may want to check out the 4RealForums. It is a Catholic homeschool board with a focus of living books. Those ladies know everything. :)

Edited February 10, 2012 by Asenik

[ssavings]

What about the Catholic National Readers book 3? I know Adoremus books sells them. Our Lady of Victory uses the Catholic National Readers in their gradeschool. The books are a collection of stories, essays, poetry, etc.

[zookeeperof3]

I second checking out Catholic Mosaic. It also has copywork and discussion questions in it. We like it.

[kristinannie]

You have gotten lots of great suggestions (esp Koble, CHC and Mater Amabilis). I have also been looking at the Seton readers. I am going to look at these more closely at the IHM conference. This is one of the 3rd grade readers.

[...................]

Well what about PLL, and a separate Spelling and handwriting? That's enough for 3rd grade.

 

To increase reading fluency and enjoyment, I have found that a required one-hour reading quiet time is very beneficial.

[littlebug42]

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions. After typing it out and reading the replies, I think I have a better handle on things. I think I will intersperse some of these readers with short novels and fairy tales/myth type of stories to keep her reading. She loves history and geography so I think I will tie it in there. I think I will also intersperse the schedule next year with a few breaks to do unit studies as I think both girls will enjoy that. I am going to hold off on writing for now as she does a lot of that for pleasure and focus on the reading aspects.