christall Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 My daughter was being schooled in a private christian school until three weeks ago. We withdrew her for several reasons - one being that she was spending 3/4 of the day sitting and doing nothing because she was ahead of what the class was learning - the other reason was her teacher YELLED at them many, MANY times during the day... So, here we are 3 weeks into homeschooling and I am feeling so overwhelmed. I have read First Language Lessons & the well-trained mind book and the philosophy is one that matches my personal philosophy very closely but my question is where/how to start. At my daughters previous school they used Singapore Math as the curriculum and both she and I enjoyed it. I have purchased the books that more closely align with her ability and things are moving along quite nicely. As for the rest of the curriculum, I have no idea what to do or where to start. She's reading at about a 4th grade level, so we've just been reading book after book (she finished black beauty in 3 days!) but I truly have no idea where to begin for everything else. Any suggestions? Ideas? I really appreciate your thoughts, Christall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 How old is she? I started by reading The Well Trained Mind. I took the "schedules" and ideas from the book and made it fit our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 History, start at the beginning, just as it is stated in WTM Science, either start with life science or if there's an area that interests her, start there. Or since spring is approaching have some real science fun for the rest of this school year by doing nature studies. FLL is a great language program for 1st and 2nd graders. One word of caution; Do NOT try to do all the subjects listed in TWTM. Pick a couple things; maybe history or science and do it TWTM way. But don't also add in Latin, and grammar, and spelling, and narrations, and copywork, and ...... all these other things that will really just overwhelm you. And do keep reading TWTM over and over, the section that applies to the stage your child is in. At least for me it made more sense the second, third,...... time around. BTW, I just consulted with it earlier this afternoon to provide some guidance for me. It is my guide but not my bible. And do not try to follow the schedules in there---they didn't want the schedules in there in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 You have math figured out. That's a good start. Move on to grammar. Start her at her grade level..you'll soon figure out if it's a good "fit" or not. You didn't say how old she was so I don't know what to really recommend. Reading...keep doing what you are doing and discuss the books w/ her. Begin a spelling program. SWO works for us here and I put my dc in the level SWO suggested for grades (A=1st, B=2nd, C=3rd, etc.). They are doing well; some are moving more quickly ahead than others. Start copywork/dictation ala WTM. Check out Susan's new writing curriculum if she's in gr. 1 -4. Looks REALLY good. You could start that next year. I agree w/ the previous posters about not adding too much too fast. Do History and start at the beginning unless she just did the Ancients. Find our her Science interests and find a curriculum that covers it. OR, do it the WTM way. There are lots of books out there w/ experiments. Look for the VanCleave books at your library...great resources for experiments and hands-on stuff. That would be it. Next year, add a foreign language if she wants. HTH...I'm new at the independent hsing thing myself but have gained a lot of knowledge from the wonderful women (and men!) on this board! Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisawa Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Hi.... I think I would take the rest of the year and work on basics. Teach what interests her most right now. Sometimes it takes a little bit to adjust.....You have FLL and math. Get some good reads from the library or your home library and enjoy this new adventure…. I would take this time to decide what it is you want for your daughter and educate yourself. Take time to read a few books.... the well trained mind being one of them *Ü* and get a feel and idea for your school and goals etc. . I do not recommend just jumping in... but take a little time to breath and adjust. This will also give you time to decide on curriculum choices etc and expanding on what you already have… I only recomend this because you stated you are feeling a bit whelmed.... and your daughter will not fall behind.... :) Welcome to home schooling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 My daughter was being schooled in a private christian school until three weeks ago. We withdrew her for several reasons - one being that she was spending 3/4 of the day sitting and doing nothing because she was ahead of what the class was learning - the other reason was her teacher YELLED at them many, MANY times during the day... So, here we are 3 weeks into homeschooling and I am feeling so overwhelmed. I have read First Language Lessons & the well-trained mind book and the philosophy is one that matches my personal philosophy very closely but my question is where/how to start. At my daughters previous school they used Singapore Math as the curriculum and both she and I enjoyed it. I have purchased the books that more closely align with her ability and things are moving along quite nicely. As for the rest of the curriculum, I have no idea what to do or where to start. She's reading at about a 4th grade level, so we've just been reading book after book (she finished black beauty in 3 days!) but I truly have no idea where to begin for everything else. Any suggestions? Ideas? I really appreciate your thoughts, Christall The WTM is a wonderful guide to get you started. Begin with teaching basic skills: - math - spelling - grammar - reading - writing You can add in history and science in the four year cycles suggested in WTM if you want to or when you feel ready. You can arrange literature reading to coincide with the history cycle. You can use writing skills, as they are learned, in all three content areas: literature, history, and science. WTM has great suggestions for spelling and grammar books - just pick the books that work for your dd (you already have FLL for grammar, right?). There are reading lists in WTM that coincide with history - use this to buy or get books from the library. As for writing, there are various suggestions in WTM for programs, and explanations in the history/science/reading sections about how to teach and use writing. But, IMO, Susan Wise Bauer's new book for teaching writing in grades 1-4 offers much better explanations of how to teach writing. If you go to http://www.peacehillpress.com, you can see a couple of chapters from it, that explain WONDERFULLY the whole overview of teaching writing in grades 1-12. There are samples, too. I think the book is meant to lead the teacher step by step in teaching what is laid out in the (grammar stage) writing sections of WTM. Hope this helps clear up any confusion. One more thing - I have also heard that when a child gets taken out of school to be homeschooled, sometimes there is a need for "decompression time." So try not to worry too much right now - if you are doing math with her and she is enjoying it plus the reading, that's a good thing. You can spend a little more time over the next few weeks, just getting a plan and more books and stuff into place. You can always add in other things like art, music, foreign languages LATER - as in, when/if you want to. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 It sounds like you have math and reading going well. I would add narrations a few times each week by just having her tell you what she has been reading about. If she has trouble with this, then pick something shorter like Aesop's fables, read it together, and then have her tell it back to you in her own words. I would add in writing next. I'm guessing since you looked at FLL that this is for 1st or 2nd grade. Go buy some blank lined paper. If she knows how to write her letters already, then start having her copy sentences from the books she is reading. I would start at 1 sentence and then work up to a level that you feel works for her. Next I would round out language arts by picking a spelling program. Look around the boards and you'll find several posts to give you an idea of what's available. You could start grammar now with FLL, or it wouldn't hurt to just wait until next year for that. That covers all of the basics for the rest of the year. I would stick with just the basics until you are both comfortable with them. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Reading is good and gives her some time to decompress from school. It sounds like you have a good grammar and math program going for you, already. FLL includes some writing. If you want to add something else light in to finish up the school year, you might want to look at McGraw Hill's Spectrum Writing for her grade level. They also have out a spelling program that you might use to finish out the school year. If you have any sort of school supply store in your community they probably carry this series as it's very common, so you might be able to look at the books in person and decide what level you like best for her. These are pretty inexpensive and would also give you time to ask questions on these boards and look at various other, more involved curricular materials for next year. If you like FLL and WTM, I'm betting that you'd really like SOTW, too. I'd start with any level but modern, LOL, as it's full of war and politics and probably not the most fun for getting started on a study of history. If you decide to buy the Activity Guide that goes along with it, there are reading lists included to give you suggestions for related history books, read-alones for the child to cover on their own, and read-alouds for literature time. Otherwise, you could just ask for suggestions on these boards for the time period you're studying and folks will be happy to help out with that. Geography studies? Rainbow Resource Center is a great homeschool resource (catalog better than website) and sells a variety of map skills books that she could work through, such as the Weekly Reader series, McGraw Hill's Complete Book of Maps and Geography (which you can use more than one year), etc. Science? Lots of folks here can provide glowing reviews of their favorite curriculum for you, or you can just check out lots of great library books and videos on animal related topics, for biology, or earth science/astronomy related topics for that sort of study. There are folks here who can provide you with book list suggestions for such studies, as well. If you're looking for a mixture of science topics, some here like Singapore for that, as well. I like the McGraw Hill Complete Book of Science 3/4, etc., but believe that it does require supplementation with reading rather than just doing the activities in the book in order for there to be complete understanding. All the books I've mentioned are fairly inexpensive and some can be used over the course of 2or more years.... Good luck to you on your journey, Regena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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