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Planning curriculum/schedule for next year... help please!!


Guest islandmommy
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Guest islandmommy

First time poster but long-time lurker...any advice would be very appreciated!

 

Have twin boys (5) who will start K next year, dd going into 3rd. We do the virtual charter school thing so I will have allotment to buy materials for everyone. Allotment won't cover "faith-based" materials but this year it covered Sonlight B&C pkg and I just had to buy the books with obviously Christian titles out of pocket.

 

I read WTM halfway through this year and started implementing it w Sonlight for DD. She is very bright, especially in math, but Horizons (which came w our Sonlight package) felt exceptionally boring and she is starting to say, "I don't really like math anymore." Looking at Right Start for next year for her because it seems to line up naturally with how she thinks. (If she sees 8+7 she says, "Well, I'll make the 8 a 10 which means the 7 is a 5...") She also has practiced with an abacus and it seems to click. The problem is I need something that she can do semi-independently since my boys will be starting "real" school next year and I'm anticipating will take up a lot of my one-on-one time. (Is this true?)

 

She really likes worksheets and structure. (I think RS is pretty worksheet-free though.) She loves keeping her notebooks organized. She doesn't like writing any more than she has to, and narration is kind of like pulling teeth unless I just ask her to draw a picture and write a sentence or two. She did go to public school for 1st and thrived, and she seems to do best when I try and mimic that structure, although I would personally prefer a more laid-back, conversational approach with lots of reading and cuddling on the couch. :) Does anyone have any curriculum suggestions that would blend the classical style with what she is wanting?

 

Right now my plan for her is:

RS Math D

SOTW 2 (we are finishing Ancients now from Child's History of the World that came with our SL core and I want to fold the younger boys in)

WWE 3

Spelling Workout D

Shurley 3 (I ordered FLL 2 this year and she can't stay interested, wants that colorful worksheet format)

Prima Latina

 

...and unsure for science and art, and will probably buy TGS for Bible (out of pocket). Are most of these pretty independent or are there other suggestions? Does SOTW incorporate geography or do I need something separate? Any for anyone who has or had kids at these ages, how much of this stuff can I combine? I'm thinking just history, bible, science and art.

 

Finally, since we do the charter school I have to submit work samples twice per quarter that align with common core standards in math, language arts, science and social studies. Not a huge deal since I can always print some standards-driven worksheets for her, but I have heard they might initially "fall behind" in math when switching to RS because of the very different approach.

 

Sorry if I'm all over the place. Will be our 2nd year homeschooling and my class size is about to triple so trying to minimize the overwhelming-ness. I have tons of questions about K "curriculum" but will post elsewhere. Thank you in advance for any help...really. Hoping some of the experience and wisdom around here will remind me how doable it really is.

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I can't help w/much, but I can say that yes, SOTW, all vols, contain geography. So that is covered. For art, how much are you wanting to do or cover? There are lots of projects in SOTW A.Gs. Sometimes we just pick a few projects and reserve them for our art time. I love art and have lots of other ideas for you. There have been years where I was able to use the SOTW projects alternated with using the What Your X Grader Needs to Know books. The art section is short and sweet, but it teaches about different artists and styles and gives a few projects ideas too. I would pick up books or movies from the library to go along when possible. Later, to add some more actual drawing practice we used Drawing with Children as suggested in WTM, and all of our skills greatly improved. We continued to use SOTW projects alternated w/DWC those years as well. Now my kids just draw and are able to use the skills we picked up in their science notebooks and in their own projects.

 

For science, are you interested at all in the Well Trained Mind way of studying? It worked well for us during grammar stage. Or do you want a curriculum that tells you exactly what to do?

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Look into teaching textbooks---- warning it is NOT cheap.

It allows her to do her work independently. it is structured, and the computer does the grading (she can see her mistakes and get help as needed)

It isn't very advanced.

 

I am using it as a main math for my 5th and 7th graders, and supplementing with more strenuous math (AOPS).

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Guest islandmommy

Wow thank you so much, everyone! So Rachel, yes, you're exactly right. I am definitely over-complicating it and the reason I loved TWTM so much from the beginning was the easiness of the early years. Phonics and math, let the ds's overhear our science/history. Sounds great. If they aren't going to take as much time as I was thinking, dd would be fine with RS, right? OR...does Singapore sound like a better fit? :confused1: I think I assumed it was like Horizons and didn't consider it. But just looked at the sample pages and looks awesome! (Miquon looked fun too, maybe we could use as a supplement if she needed it, but from what I've read Singapore doesn't really need too many add-ons. Teaching Textbooks always looks interesting to me, but I guess I don't want it to be THAT independent...maybe when they're a little older? Sonlight swears by it after 7th grade.)

 

And I didn't realize SOTW had so many art projects! I love the idea of using the What your --- grader needs to know projects because they have caught my eye before. And DWC was already on my maybe list, so thanks so much for that!

 

How does the rest of the schedule look? Any other suggestions? I would love to stick with living books/nature studies for Science but don't trust myself enough to do it without a guideline. Anyone used 106 Days of Creation?

 

Thank you guys again! Ahh, I'm looking forward to next year again... :laugh:

 

Kristen

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