New, need guidence and suggestions :)

[whiteisle]

Hello,

 

I'm looking for some curricula suggestions. My dc are ds8, dd6, and ds3. I did a very relaxed approach for my oldest when he was between 5 and 6 but then went more formal with HOD. That's what we've done up until recently. Now, despite that I do like the program, my kids do NOT like it. At. all. It literally brings tears to my 8 year old's eyes when I bring the books out. So, we've adopted an interim plan for right now. This involves:

 

Family - Bible reading, bible scripture memorization, reading a story from The Millers, reading a selection from current read-aloud (Farmer Boy)

 

for ds8 - CLE Math 200, R&S 2, the level 2 reading list from HOD (but not DITHOR) for his reading aloud, dictation from the Bigger guide, Cheerful Cursive

 

for dd6 - CLE Math 100, sometimes the spelling list 1 from HOD Beyond, the emerging readers books from HOD, copywork from FIAR title

 

Then we will row a FIAR title and do an accompanying lesson with it (Social studies, LA, Art, and Science)

 

That's it.

 

Is this enough? I've been reading a little about classical education and I'm intrigued. What specific curriulua tends to fit this philosophy? I wonder about bringing in a history program (sotw, moh?) and a science (apologia?). And grammer for the 6 yo? What should I be doing there?

 

I feel totally lost since laying down HOD. It's not worth the tears so I'm not going back to it but I don't really know where to go from here. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

[stm4him]

Classical education has been a delight to my soul and the curriculum (or program) that has really made a difference in our homeschool and life is Classical Conversations. I think some people don't give it the best reviews because they didn't use it to its fullest potential and missed out on many of the blessings and much of the integration of subjects that happens when you use it completely. It did a lot for us last year when we weren't focusing everything around it, but it has done even more for us this year. I have an 8 year old and a 6 year old and a 3 year old (as well as 3 others) and it has been great for all of them (even the three year old who isn't even in the program yet).

 

I will address the specific subjects you mentioned: history, science, and grammar, but I would be happy to add in more if you'd be interested.

 

History: We memorize our history sentence of the week and once a week I read the history highlights page that goes with it and we discuss it. My kids copy the sentence and draw a picture. Then once a week they do free reading on the topic from living books on the CC book list (found on CC Connected by subscription). We memorize a history timeline song and I read the backs of the cards (1-2 per day). They copy the title and dates on the back and write a narration (1 sentence per grade level) and draw a picture). We pull out history encyclopedias as needed for extra info or pictures. Each week we review that week from the previous cycle in history (only once) and we review all the history songs up to that week (once a week).

 

Science: We memorize our science fact of the week using songs from CC Connected. I read the Science card(s) for that week (back is the same as the Science Snippets page). They copy the front of the card, the question and answer, and illustrate it. We chant the cards once a week. Once a week we also listen to the science fact from the year before of the same week and sing all the science songs up to the current week. We pull out science encyclopedias for extra info and they do free reading on the topic once per week. Once a week we go over the science experiments or projects we did at CC and they fill out pages that go with them (free from CC Connected). We sing a Scientific Method song once a week.

 

Grammar: We memorize the grammar of the week and I put grammar living books in their free reading pile once a week that goes with what we are learning. We use the CC Connected songs for this too. We do grammar together on whiteboards from the Dictation Resource Book (CC sells). We rotate subjects like this:

 

Day 1- Parts of Speech (using our CC memory work and DRB for extra depth, review previous grammar memory work)

Day 2- Punctuation/Capitalization/Usage or Quotation Marks and Dialogue

Day 3- Homophones/Word Roots/Word Building (prefixes and suffixes)

Day 4- Forms (outlining, letter writing, journaling, bibliographies)

Day 5- Sentence Rewriting (and will add in editing next year when we start Essentials)

 

I say all of this because it has been so simple and yet so rich with all the conversations our memory work has sparked. The 6 year old doesn't do grammar with us but he will next year......

 

The unity CC has brought to our family has been so neat as we are all studying the same things. Cutting down on hands on stuff and focusing more on writing, drawing, reading, and discussing has made far less preparation work and stress for me while feeling we are getting a lot accomplished in terms of retention and inspiration to learn more. We regularly pull the Bible into what we are doing and the connections between the Bible and almost all subjects has been apparent all year for us. I haven't even gone into fine arts or geography or Bible memory work. I don't know if you've looked into it before, but if not I highly encourage you to explore CC.....

[whiteisle]

Thank you for the recommendation and all the information about it. I've actually never seen that curriuculm before. I'll look it up and see what it's all about. :)