Help! Need to finalize curriculum order!

[momto3boys]

My older boys are 3 and 5 and we had been planning on pulling them from their preschool/preK in late April when we move and HSing on a trial basis for a while. I had been happily researching curricula and buying what I could used and generally preparing myself.

 

However DH tonight announced he wants to pull them out in two weeks! Lately the quality of the schooling has been in a steady decline and it would save us a lot of $$ to pull them early. So.....I need to order the rest of my curricula now. (DH wants them "schooled," no taking a break, etc, part of the compromise for us to HS on a trial basis.)

 

I have purchased the entire Miquon set and the SM 1A & 1B texts for my DS5 who is advanced in math. I know I need the SM HIG and workbooks. I'm trying to decide on which manipulatives to order:obviously cuisenaire rods and tracks but what about: Geometric solids, bucket scales, Multilink cubes, Bear counters, Hundreds chart....I plan on getting my DS3 SM Essential Math A more for him to have his own work than really trying to get him through a curriculum...is that a good plan or is there a better very basic math program? I want him to have his own "books" to work on at his pace like his brother.

 

I also have OPGTR but haven't done much with it yet. My kids also do Reading Eggs and Starfall on the computers. My older son is a beginning reader, he loves reading eggs which we just started last week. We have BOB books and do read alouds also. DS3 knows 90% of his letters and phonics but is not ready to go further right now-would it be worth it to get him the first ETC books (Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code)?

 

Sorry so long winded, just trying to figure everything out so I can order what we need without being wasteful.

[blondeviolin]

FIAR woukd be great for these ages!

[KristenR]

FIAR is fun and easy to accommodate children of varying ages. I did a few blog posts on it if you want to get an idea of some of things it entails.

 

Also, at 3 and 5 it sounds like you have a great start with the stuff you have. If I was to suggest anything else it might be All About Reading or All About Spelling depending on your childrens level.

 

I used OPGTR, AAS, and ETC with my oldest when she was 4 and I can not believe how well she is doing with reading, spelling, and writing.

 

They didn't offer All About Reading when she was starting out but I recently got it for my middle daughter and we started it this week. We LOVE it. But then again I was already a fan of their teaching and learning style of AAS and it is very similar.

[KristenR]

 

I have purchased the entire Miquon set and the SM 1A & 1B texts for my DS5 who is advanced in math. I know I need the SM HIG and workbooks. I'm trying to decide on which manipulatives to order:obviously cuisenaire rods and tracks but what about: Geometric solids, bucket scales, Multilink cubes, Bear counters, Hundreds chart....I plan on getting my DS3 SM Essential Math A more for him to have his own work than really trying to get him through a curriculum...is that a good plan or is there a better very basic math program? I want him to have his own "books" to work on at his pace like his brother.

 

Oh- and I would recommend you save your money and just let your 3 year old play around with the rods. If he insists on a workbook like his older brother than you can look for free things like this pre-miquon booklet. I have a few Miquon posts where you can see it in action with my 5,3, and 18 month old.

 

You can also utilize free resources from 1+1+1=1.

 

And one more thing- I mentioned that I started my 3 1/2 year old on All About Reading. She knows most of her letters and sounds but I did the Pre-Level reading kit to introduce concepts like rhyming and syllables, etc. We do that on Mondays, Wed, and Fridays. On Tues and Thursday she does her Get Ready for The Code book.

[SorrelZG]

 

I have purchased the entire Miquon set and the SM 1A & 1B texts for my DS5 who is advanced in math. I know I need the SM HIG and workbooks. I'm trying to decide on which manipulatives to order:obviously cuisenaire rods and tracks but what about: Geometric solids, bucket scales, Multilink cubes, Bear counters, Hundreds chart....I plan on getting my DS3 SM Essential Math A more for him to have his own work than really trying to get him through a curriculum...is that a good plan or is there a better very basic math program? I want him to have his own "books" to work on at his pace like his brother.

 

 

I haven't personally used most of the manipulatives I bought in my first homeschool purchase. Out of those you mentioned I haven't really used geometric solids, bucket scale, bear counters - though the baby likes running around with the cups that came with mine. The hundreds chart gets some use. The multi-link cubes are a favored toy for making "robots" (perhaps they'd be used for more if we used SM). We could have lived without the pattern blocks and geoboards too but they entertain the children now and then. Math-wise, besides the hundreds board, I get frequent use out the C. rods and base-10 blocks. YMMV though, for sure, because every teacher and child is different. :)

 

For your little guy, have you looked at the Rod & Staff pre-school workbooks? Those might be useful to him.

[Mommee & Baba]

Oh- and I would recommend you save your money and just let your 3 year old play around with the rods. If he insists on a workbook like his older brother than you can look for free things like this pre-miquon booklet. I have a few Miquon posts where you can see it in action with my 5,3, and 18 month old.

 

You can also utilize free resources from 1+1+1=1.

 

And one more thing- I mentioned that I started my 3 1/2 year old on All About Reading. She knows most of her letters and sounds but I did the Pre-Level reading kit to introduce concepts like rhyming and syllables, etc. We do that on Mondays, Wed, and Fridays. On Tues and Thursday she does her Get Ready for The Code book.

 

:iagree:My ds will be starting prek this upcoming fall and I purchased the first 3 books of ETC. I was debating on starting him on AAR prek level for him too. I also got ds the prek HWOT book. I'm going to snag the Language Lessons for Little Ones but having to juggle the cost of it first before I finalize on what I want to get. I already own BoB books and HOP and was thinking of using that with DS but I LOVE the style of AAS and how they teach and think that using AAR would be just as great.

 

I know a couple mentioned FIAR. For me personally I flipped through the books and wasn't attracted to it at all for our house. So you'd def. want to see samples of WHATEVER you want to purchase...if you can.

[kbpaulie]

Age 3 is not worth ordering curric for. Look at your dollar store for workbooks. Go to Walmart or Sams or another larger store and buy one of the oversize 400pg preschool books that teach colors, letters (beginning writing), numbers, etc. You may feel like he doesn't need something this basic, but let the rest of this year focus on teaching your older one and "feeling the ropes".

 

I don't think the HIG are needed for SM. We didn't get them until 3rd grade and still don't use them very often.

 

Manipulatives - I'd get 1 or 2 of these, maybe, not all. You can use lots of things around the house as manipulatives - popsicle sticks, buttons, beans, etc. We use a scale 1x/year. The geometric solids we find around the house (can, kleenex box, rubics cube....), multilink cubes are cool for various uses, cuisenarie rods are good and w/ these I don't think the multilinks are necessary, hundreds chart can be found on-line for free and printed onto card stock - laminated if you want.

 

Find out if your library offers educator cards.

 

Use your library for TONS of books.

 

We love ETC and use book 1 starting at age 5.

 

Hope some of theis helps...

[TechWife]

DS3 knows 90% of his letters and phonics but is not ready to go further right now-would it be worth it to get him the first ETC books (Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code)?

 

I recommend that you don't expect a 3 year old boy to do any handwriting. You might want to look at the new online version of ETC.

[momto3boys]

Thanks everyone, you've helped me whittle down the shopping cart a bit! I sat down with my DH and explained to him that I don't think DS3 needs formal curricula right now. I think he'd have enough playing with the cuisenaiire rods and slowly going through OPGTR with me.

 

We do use 1+1+1=1 and 2TeachingMommies a lot and I think I can improvise anything else DS3 may need.

 

I think I'm going to do the c rods, SM workbooks and HIG ( I have the texts and feel like I need the HIG to understand how to properly explain the methodology) and maybe a couple of cheap manipulatives for them to play with. I can see how that goes and adjust down the line.

[momto3boys]

I recommend that you don't expect a 3 year old boy to do any handwriting. You might want to look at the new online version of ETC.

 

Does ETC require a lot of writing? I'll check it out online....

[TechWife]

Yes, I think they do require some tracing of letters, but it's been a long time since I've seen them. However, I can say that a 3 year old boy should be doing no more than some simple tracing of lines (not letters or numbers) or of large shapes. I think anything more than that is expecting too much and would be unnecessarily frustrating. It is more important that he be given time to grow and develop fine and gross motor co-ordination and strength than to learn handwriting.

 

I highly recommend these two books - not only are they a great resource for activities to help with motor development, they also contain a lot of useful information on why the activities are important:

 

Activities for Fine Motor Skills Development

 

Activities for Gross Motor Skills Development

 

I think that these two books are worth their weight in gold. These books plus Before Five in a Row, would make an excellent preschool curriculum. You can probably find most of the B4FIAR books at your library, or if you prefer to build your home library, you can buy a set of the books as well. Barnes & Noble also has most of them available individually if you don't want to buy them all. You can visit the FIAR web site to learn more about their resources.

 

We had a lot of fun times w/FIAR - the books are great and there are a lot of fun ideas to accompany them.

 

The most important thing you can do with your 3 year old is to nurture him and encourage a love for excellent reading materials. Just be sure not to be intense with him. At his age, learning should be a natural part of the day, not really a special time set apart to do "school."

 

If you can get another book that will help you as a mom, I highly recommend Educating The Wholehearted Child by Sally & Clay Clarkson. It is a wonderful resource. You can learn more about the authors at their web site.

 

You have some fun years ahead of you!