A few Oak Meadow questions

[Bramble Patch Academy]

We will be using Oak Meadow K and 1 this Fall. I had thought I would need to supplement Math and LA so I bought Singapore and Explode the Code. But looking at the program(s) now that I have them in hand, I am wondering if 1) supplementing is necessary and 2) if I did supplement, would it only confuse them?

 

Is Oak Meadow "enough" on its own in math and LA? Does the Word Families approach work. DS, who would be doing OM 1 IS already reading a bit. Is it too much for a young first to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division?

[Deb in NZ]

Miquon Maths covers all 4 arithmetic operations in Orange book (the first book). If arithmetic is introduced hands-on, age 5 it not too early IMHO. My ds#2 went through Miquon Orange & Red + Spectrum Math K & 1st at age 5.

 

I don't think Explode the Code would be too much as I believe that Waldorf curriculums aren't heavy on writing early on. I would just work through each curriculum as written & not try to line up the topics in each. It's ok to introduce a topic & one curriculum & review it in another or vice versa. You'll know if the pencil / paper activities are too much & can slow down the lessons in Explode the Code / Singapore Maths as needed.

 

I've never used Oak Meadow or Singapore Maths.

 

 

JMHO,

[Pen]

We will be using Oak Meadow K and 1 this Fall. I had thought I would need to supplement Math and LA so I bought Singapore and Explode the Code. But looking at the program(s) now that I have them in hand, I am wondering if 1) supplementing is necessary and 2) if I did supplement, would it only confuse them?

I'm experienced with 3 Waldorf curriculum approaches--not Oak Meadow, however. It works better or worse depending on the fit to the particular child. Whether you choose to supplement or not depends at least in part on why you want a Waldorf type method. Whether or not they'd be confused depends on you and your children and what you and they can manage. I think most children would not be confused, but could be overwhelmed by trying to do too much....

 

Is Oak Meadow "enough" on its own in math and LA?

 

It can be enough, particularly if you want to follow the idea of less academics in the early years being better in the long run. And if you give the time and energy to what it does have (or what I assume it does have based on my knowledge of similar programs). You would be having hands on and usually outdoor learning daily, circle time, music, art, movement... You would also probably be learning a story (or 2, one for each child) by heart to tell them and to work with at least weekly. It can be quite a lot for you as well as for them. It may actually be that a bit of Singapore or ETC could be a respite.

 

Does the Word Families approach work.

 

It apparently works for some children. It did not work for my son.

 

 

DS, who would be doing OM 1 IS already reading a bit.

If he is already reading, you might just go with that--whatever it was worked for him-- rather than either Word Families or ETC.

 

Is it too much for a young first to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division?

 

For most it would be too much probably (unless very mathy child) for them to learn them well to a high level. But what Waldorf methods do is just to introduce them together, and it is certainly not too early for that.

 

I don't know how exactly OM does the introduction to the 4 processes. Despite liking the theory of doing this with stories such as about math gnomes or math squirrels (which is typical of Waldorf based programs, but may or may not be the way OM does it), which sounds very sweet and charming--and may be great for some children--my personal experience was that introducing them with a group of real objects and showing that adding is putting together, subtracting is taking away, etc., was more meaningful.

 

My child was in a bricks and mortar school for 1st and enjoyed the stories, but it did not seem to help him to understand math. My impression is that Singapore would be more meaningful math at that stage in terms of learning "number bonds" and so on. We ended up with MUS which for us was a good fit. But again, this is very much a matter of finding good fits for particular students (and parent /teacher) and what works for one may not work for another and vice versa.

 

There are learners who tend to be more auditory or more visual, etc. There are also learners who tend to be more story inclined, and Waldorf based methods may be best for the latter. For example, teaching of knitting by a story about how a rabbit goes around a tree (knitting needle), through a hole (loop) etc. will fit some learners really well. My son was confused by the rabbit story approach to knitting, and likewise by the gnome story approach to math. He could not learn reading from Word Family approach at all. But, you may have children for whom OM exactly as written is the perfect fit.

[Bramble Patch Academy]

We did try "traditional" math with my older this past year. He did fabulous...as long as he didn't take more than a week off. The retention, with him at least, was nill.

[Pen]

We did try "traditional" math with my older this past year. He did fabulous...as long as he didn't take more than a week off. The retention, with him at least, was nill.

 

I think at 5 yrs that is probably typical. But it could indicate that another approach would fit better.

[NanceXToo]

Why don't you just start with OM and use it for a few months, and then in maybe December evaluate. Do you feel like it's going well on its own? Do you feel like you want to add something else in? If you add something else in, don't go nuts with it, just add a little bit- the kids are real young!

 

This past year, I used OMK with my son and the only stuff we supplemented with was that he did some extra online reading stuff, like Funnix or Reading Eggs. But we were pretty sporadic with it and I tried to do it only as he was willing to, because I wanted the early years to be gentle, and I wanted him to enjoy it, and I figured that if he didn't become "fluent" in reading until 1st or 2nd grade, who cares? I didn't even START learning to read until 1st grade, my K was play-based mostly, and I've been an avid reader as long as I can remember.

 

My daughter has been using OM since 4th grade, we'll be going into our fourth year of using it with her. I supplement a bit more for her but mostly with stuff we find enjoyable, not because I felt like I HAVE to supplement the curriculum. I'd just start off with OM as is, get used to it, fall into a routine, see how it's going, and then see if you want to gradually add a little bit on.

[ELITEANDLOVINGIT]

Why don't you just start with OM and use it for a few months, and then in maybe December evaluate. Do you feel like it's going well on its own? Do you feel like you want to add something else in? If you add something else in, don't go nuts with it, just add a little bit- the kids are real young!

 

This past year, I used OMK with my son and the only stuff we supplemented with was that he did some extra online reading stuff, like Funnix or Reading Eggs. But we were pretty sporadic with it and I tried to do it only as he was willing to, because I wanted the early years to be gentle, and I wanted him to enjoy it, and I figured that if he didn't become "fluent" in reading until 1st or 2nd grade, who cares? I didn't even START learning to read until 1st grade, my K was play-based mostly, and I've been an avid reader as long as I can remember.

 

My daughter has been using OM since 4th grade, we'll be going into our fourth year of using it with her. I supplement a bit more for her but mostly with stuff we find enjoyable, not because I felt like I HAVE to supplement the curriculum. I'd just start off with OM as is, get used to it, fall into a routine, see how it's going, and then see if you want to gradually add a little bit on.

 

I like this idea...I am NOW considering keeping DD2 home (though had planned on sending back to PS) this fall because of Oak Meadow. Though completely foreign to me, it just rings true. - though the four story concepts of math are the hardest for me to metabolize...