Oak Meadow - 1st grade

[Murphy101]

I'm looking for experienced opinion from previous or current users on this material. It's really expensive, so I want to be sure ....

[Janet in MA]

I have not used Oak Meadow yet. I plan to use this coming year for 2nd and 5th grades. I found the following yahoo group helpful:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OM_HS/

[Faithr]

I did portions of OM 1st grade with my dd last year. I already passed it on to someone else. It is lovely but very, very teacher intensive. My 1st grader is my baby so I wanted to spoil her BUT I really didn't have the time to do as much as I would have liked with her. We loved the Fairy Tale book and the arts and crafts, the other stuff was kind of spotty. I probably did not get my money's worth!

 

If I were in your situation looking at your sig with a baby due and 8 other kids, I'd say it would be hard to do.

[Murphy101]

Would it take more than an hour a day MOST days?

 

I'm thinking of pulling this child aside in the evening for some mommy time...

[Peso]

it's a full curriculum. You could pull out parts, but then you're not really getting the full benefit. OM is wonderful and fun - I loved the grade 1.

 

HTH -

 

Penny

[Athena]

I love the younger grades of Oak Meadow. They are gentle and fun with beautiful stories. But they are super parent intensive! I have a hard time doing a Waldorf-flavored (for lack of a better term!) hs with 3 kids. Honestly, I would not recommend it for the amount of money you are going to spend there.

You might want to look at alittlegardenflower.com. The 1st grade is similar but the download is only @ $25 and it includes the stories. And you might want to add the OM art book for K & 1st grade. Still a LOT cheaper & usable with more then 1 kiddo.

 

HTH,

Christy

[Murphy101]

what I'm really liking about the OM though is that it's all right there and laid out for me.

[Targhee]

what I'm really liking about the OM though is that it's all right there and laid out for me.

Calvert is like this, but more traditional/closer to classical. OM does not look very rigorous, and that is why I passed on it. FWIW, I haven't used Calvert either, because I wanted to use different levels of math and english. I have looked at it repeatedly because of the very fact that it is all laid out for you and includes the materials, but it isn't flexible enough for us.

[Faithr]

Well, it is all laid out there for you but you have to learn it and then teach it one on one. It really isn't just a pick it up and do it kind of thing. The syllabus assumes that you are going to have large pockets of time where you can work intently with that child.

 

But I see from you blog that you are Catholic, do you know about Elizabeth Foss Waldorf inspired site? Can't remember the name off the top of my head . . .hmmm. I'll have to do some research but she has developed some really fun Waldorf lesson plans. You might be able to use her lesson plans right off the internet and not spend so much money.

 

Just a thought!

[Faithr]

Here is the Foss site. It's called Serendipity. http://ebeth.typepad.com/serendipity/

 

Also Donna Simmons has a first grade syllabus that is less expensive than OM. Her website is Christopher Press (you can google it). Only thing is she is really pure Waldorf and anthroposophical in her beliefs so you might have to weed through a bit of that (though it borrows a lot from Catholicism so at the early ages it isn't so apparent.)

 

Also there is guy from Australia who has really inexpensive lesson plans. I can't remember his name (bad memory here!) and while his lesson plans are not laid out weekly they are really practical, down to earth (you can tell this guy has taught a lot of different kids in his day), and straight forward in approach. You'd still have to figure out how to do the day to day stuff though.

[Momof2kids]

I tried OM 1st, 2nd (I sold it very fast! Too much for me to deal with.) and 4th. Turns out that Grade 5 is where it becomes pretty independent and a lot more meaty. The lower grades are very gentle and slow moving. But yes, they require alot from mom. And there is also much for you to read aloud in these younger grades. If I had to do it all over again though I probably would follow OM from the beginning. I think I really just didn't know HOW to implement that type of curriculum. But I get it now.

 

We have used grade 5 OM. My dd could work independently with just some guidance from me. I am currently planning out my schedule for Grade 6 and I plan on using OM through 8th grade and possibly a few of their high school courses.

 

I really like OM. I especially love their math starting in Grade 5. Easy to follow and not alot of worksheets and busy work, but just enough periodic review.

 

I plan on keeping all my OM stuff for years to come. Maybe dd will use it with her kids. It provides a VERY nice spine and you can add library books for extra fun. I have wasted SOOOO much money on curriculum over the years trying to find what works for us. And poor dd remembers that and she also now loves OM. Hopefully her kids won't go through what she and I did with curriculum!! But hey - I'm a first generation homeschooler.

[Momof2kids]

I just wanted to add that there is a newer curriculum that you might like. It's called Moving Beyond the Page at movingbeyondthepage.com. If I had to do it all over again, I'd also probably do this with OM. It looks great but we've passed the age group where this curriculum would be used. They will develop more as time goes on, but for now it's not for us. Maybe you would like it.

[Murphy101]

Okay, I'm stumped...

I read the sample lesson plans for first grade and I didn't really think it was all that much for an entire week? I've been doing FIAR with him and it looks like a similiar amount of work with LESS prep from me?:confused:

 

I like the Serendipity blog, but it's just too much work and not enough prep outline for me. Also, it's very slow going there vs getting all the plans up front, kwim?

 

What I'm liking about OM:

It's all together.

It's very hands-on.

I can get all the materials at once. (No dratted hunting stuff down!)

I think even if it didn't work out for my 6th dc, I have zero doubt that my 7th dc will love it. In fact, I think I might just be able to work him in at the same time.

I am not at all a crafty or make up stories on my own kind of teacher/mom/ It takes me considerable time and research and effort to do that. Which I'm normally willing to undertake, but I just don't have the energy or time this year. OM seems to have it done for me. Which makes it far more likely that I'll actually get it done without the prep stress.

 

Either way, I already have math for both boys.

 

Can I ask what seems to be taking so long with the lessons? Honest question! I'm looking at the sample and thinking it really doesn't seem like much and wondering if the sample is not typical?

[Momof2kids]

I just looked at the sample too. Well from what I can remember, it was probably just me not being able to implement this type of curriculum. I didn't "get" it. I was in the textbook/workbook phase back then and I was floundering around with OM and I found it to be difficult.I didn't get the whole gentle approach thing back then.

 

Like I said in my previous post if I had to do it all over again I'd plan better and really work on implementing the curriculum properly. I have scheduled OM 6 out for my dd like Sonlight's schedule. Much easier to read at a glance and check off. When I looked at the sample again just now I was a little sad that I didn't try to "get" it and then keep it on my book shelf. Oh well, it just wasn't where my head was at back then.

[Faithr]

While each activity looks short remember it all involves your dd creating things as you go along, for ex. trying to draw a G that looks like a goose can take a good while for a 6 year old. Going out and gathering seeds is an hour or two outside perhaps. Telling stories, discussing them, doing arts and crafts with pretty much every new idea, singing songs, etc all add up. Plus not everything is as fleshed out as you think, you do have to sit and go through the material and figure out what day you can do what and figure out how they want you to present things.

 

However, I thought your main concern was that the money might not be worth it. If you want to just pick and choose for your dd with the idea that you could use it for child no. 7 too (plus you have other children on the horizon!), I say go for it! I actually incorporated a lot of stuff with my older son too who turned nine but he had fun doing the arts and crafts, listening to stories about math gnomes and fairy tales too. The tongue twisters were a hit around her too for even my older kids.

[Murphy101]

I just looked at the sample too. Well from what I can remember, it was probably just me not being able to implement this type of curriculum. I didn't "get" it. I was in the textbook/workbook phase back then and I was floundering around with OM and I found it to be difficult.I didn't get the whole gentle approach thing back then.

 

Like I said in my previous post if I had to do it all over again I'd plan better and really work on implementing the curriculum properly. I have scheduled OM 6 out for my dd like Sonlight's schedule. Much easier to read at a glance and check off. When I looked at the sample again just now I was a little sad that I didn't try to "get" it and then keep it on my book shelf. Oh well, it just wasn't where my head was at back then.

 

Ahhh. Okay that explains it. We're such odd ducks in my house. I'm very eclectic. Some subjects we are very workbook based, some things I've never made them do more than read about, some things I insist on discussion and memorization. And I TRY to incorporate at least some creative juices in there somewhere. Esp in the below 6th grade levels. FIAR has been wonderful, but this boy want more activities and stories than FIAR provides and I have the time to research and get together.

 

While each activity looks short remember it all involves your dd creating things as you go along, for ex. trying to draw a G that looks like a goose can take a good while for a 6 year old. Going out and gathering seeds is an hour or two outside perhaps. Telling stories, discussing them, doing arts and crafts with pretty much every new idea, singing songs, etc all add up. Plus not everything is as fleshed out as you think, you do have to sit and go through the material and figure out what day you can do what and figure out how they want you to present things.

 

However, I thought your main concern was that the money might not be worth it. If you want to just pick and choose for your dd with the idea that you could use it for child no. 7 too (plus you have other children on the horizon!), I say go for it! I actually incorporated a lot of stuff with my older son too who turned nine but he had fun doing the arts and crafts, listening to stories about math gnomes and fairy tales too. The tongue twisters were a hit around her too for even my older kids.

 

Hmm, so the parent is supposed to stand over the kid and help them make the G goose? :001_huh: I figured you get them started on the project and once they have the basic concept down THEY create on their own? Am I wrong there? hmm, he'd have a fit if I messed with his masterpiece. Serious artistic temperment in that one. I figured I'd tell a story and we'd discuss it while eating lunch. He'd go play or whatever. I'd tell a story and he'd draw about it while I told it. He'd do some math or whatever. We'd talk about multiples of 2 as we pair of socks from the laundry. I guess I just thought OM was meant to be incorporated into the day, not spent sitting at the table until everything in checked off?:bigear:

 

Yes, I am VERY concerned about money. I can honestly say I've never spent that kind of money for ONE child's materials for the year. However if the product is worth it - then it's worth it, kwim? And yes, I think at least 1, if not 3 other children, will be very jealous of this boy and will want to "sit in".

[chiguirre]

OM is pretty teacher intensive. You are supposed to draw the G-goose in advance and the student should copy your model. They recommend learning the stories and telling them, not just reading them together. If you use their math, you have to make up stories to teach the 4 functions (and IMHO, there's not much guidance on HOW to do that). For reading, you have 12 weeks of letter sounds, 12 weeks of writing stories with your child for them to practice with and then they hopefully will be reading Mouse Tales. If not, you're on your own. Add in handcrafts, recorder (you model, child copies you), beeswax, wet on wet watercolor, etc. and OM (and Waldorf curricula) take a lot of the teacher's time and creativity to implement. I love this model, but I'm too lame to draw, craft, and play the recorder, sigh.

 

If you want to try out Waldorf, I'd recommend Little Garden as a first step. They offer very complete lesson plans at a bargain price. If you really love Waldorf, you could pick up Christopherus or OM used later.