Guest Sportygal_22 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I'm am just coming into homeschool. I've got an almost 8yo, a 6yo, a 5yo, and almost 3 yo boys. I've been reading a lot and trying to come up with curriculum for my boys. I feel like I like the ideas in the WTM, but in all honesty I don't know what else is out there. My problem is everything seems so dry, I'm trying to foster continual excitement about learning, but how can I do that with material that seems boring? Am I looking in the right areas? I like the WTM b/c it gives me an idea of how to do things and I need that. So far with the suggestions in the WTM I have come up with this 8 yo (grade 2) - spelling power, rod and staff English, zaner-blowser handwriting, wwe, Saxon math, story of the world Any suggestions for more exciting material? Not sure what to do. I think science and art could help with some excitement, I just haven't figured out what yet. I know not every subject is always going to be exciting, but I dont want to have to fight the kids ALL the time. Sorry for the novel, just hoping for some help. Thanks for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journey00 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 One of the best pieces of advice when I started & sounded just like you was to try Time4learning.com. I'm very glad I did. I use it as a spine and I add handwriting & spelling & Cathechism. It is a very good place to start when you are unsure & overwhelmed & not very confident in the first year. It is engaging & fun & I don't have to stand over them every second. My 8 & 7 year old love it and are doing great with it. My 12 yr old, not so much..she prefers a different format. Check them out, I think they have a trial period... you have nothing to lose by taking a look. Good luck to you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebacabunch Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I actually love Story of the World. It is nothing without the Activity book, imo. We do a lot of the activities! I also like Life of Fred math. So fun! You should check out horriblebooks.com. Great site with tons of crazy educational books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 You might want to look at Evan-Moor products. They make History Pockets, for example, which add a crafts element to the history that many like. I strongly suggest getting the SOTW audiobook, and the children will almost certainly grow to like listening to history (sometimes) while you drive around on errands. Even my son Button, who doesn't like history or SOTW esp., willingly listens to the audio in the car. For your first year, if you want to add interest, I suggest adding something that you like too :). Art, science, whatever: do something that you enjoy if it is hands-on; or get good videos if you don't want to have to mess with it. If you can post your preferences for creationist or old-earth materials that may help some folks make better suggestions ... welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 (edited) ... just a thought: WTM is a valuable, excellent starting point. The thing you are most likely to want to include, esp. for fun, is literature that isn't tied to the history cycle. So many people on the boards augment with literature and independent readers from the Sonlight curriculum; I don't want to complicate things, but wanted to mention it. I almost missed this, which would have been a shame, Sonlight literature has really brought my child to enjoy stories. If you are not Christian, know that Sonlight is easy to "secularize" and is respectful of other faiths/cultures. The other place WTM is often augmented (where it seems to fall short) is science. There has been a recent suggestion to combine the programs at Elemental Science with Real Science Odyssey for a very thorough and fun WTM-based science. Another option: the Apologia company produces a science curriculum that many children enjoy (and complete materials kits can be found at, for ex., Rainbow Resources) in their books by Jeannie Fulbright, and you can get notebooking pages too. This curriculum is thoroughly Christian and young-earth; we are not, and using it has required heavy adaptation; but Button loves it. The kits make it so easy to get the experiments done, and most are really fun for the child. -- the above comments aren't meant to add to your burden! but if your children aren't loving books, the Sonlight lists are a good place to go to light that fire; and if science isn't working or isn't interesting, the above may help. Edited August 18, 2012 by serendipitous journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BugsMama Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Story of the World (the activity guide and audio) with Evan Moor History pockets are FUN in our house. The kids ask for it all the time! Five in a Row is fun for the little kids (although your 8 year old may like it too!) Life of Fred is "fun math"- we use it as a supplement with Saxon. What about science? Science is fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sportygal_22 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Thank you, thank you for your support. I will definitely look into these suggestions. So glad this thread is available. We are big readers here and all enjoy it so yes that can definitely be a good resource for excitement. Thank you again, I may have questions about some suggestions, but thank you for taking time to respond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 If you do Story of the World with the Activity guide hands on projects and fun picture books you will have lots of excitement. There is so much art included in SOTW 1 that we didn't use a formal art program. I did have What Your 1st grader needs to know, and I followed it's art and music sections a little bit of time, using books and videos and C.Ds. from the library when I needed to. I found the science suggestions in WTM to be fun and perfect. We did them for the 1st four years. It is basically just a guideline of what to study with some suggestions for the spines and written work. But most of the learning is hands on fun and exploring in real life. We went to museums, read books and did the activities and projects in them, made coloring sheets and notebooks, watched videos from the library around the subjects being studied each year. I know that R&S is a little dry, but it is all we have ever done, and it works well. Over the years I have learned that since they do so much writing in the other subjects with WTM that we can cut a lot of the daily written work out by doing just a few of the examples together. Of course they have to write to do diagramming and the composition lessons. But daily grammar can be pretty quick with minimal writing if they are doing copywork and dictation and narrations across the curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'm one who hates Saxon. Some kids need very repetitive, detailed math instruction, and for those kids, it works well. but kids who learn math quickly or like things to switch up more, saxon can teach them to hate math. Do consider other math programs. singapore is rigorous and quick, Math Mammoth is cheap and well loved by many homeschoolers. And definitely bring in some living math - various math readers. You can also check out the website livingmath.net. I read TWTM and liked the way it laid out a plan, but i didnt use any of the curriculum she suggested. I still try to find something for each subject area, but not the materials she used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 (edited) Based on what you mentioned I have a few recommendations. Since you said you are big readers take a look at using Literature Based approach. Charlotte Mason was a big proponent of this method using 'living books': http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/what-is-the-charlotte-mason-method/ For science our kids have really enjoyed Apologia in 1st-6th grade. In 7th and 8th grade we will probably use Rainbow Science which has a real hands on approach with fun experiments. Saxon math seems to be a hate it or love it kind of thing. It is very repetitive which can seem monotonous for many kids. If it is too dry and boring then you have many other options which some families greatly prefer. We really like CLE math and have also Math-U-See which worked better for our son than our two younger daughters. They started with MUS but weren't retaining as much and didn't respond as well to the 'mastery' approach it takes. Once we moved to CLE which is more spiral, though not as repetitive as Saxon, they began enjoying math again. Edited August 18, 2012 by dereksurfs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.