I want to do EVERYTHING but need to step back and prioritize

[~Victoria~]

I keep seeing posts pop up concerning subjects that I hadn't even considered.  Then I think, "Hmmm, I want us to do that too!"  Until I realize that I have something like 15 study areas... and I know that just won't work.  So I am trying to prioritize.  Could you tell me what your priorities are for the early years?

 

I'd probably put the core as follows:

Reading

Math

History

Science

 

But what about Bible and other areas of English, like copywork, grammar, literature, spelling, and writing (I guess I need to figure out how to combine some of these with the core subjects)?  Where does a second language fit in?  Then learning Spanish is very important to us, but I also want to introduce him to the Greek alphabet.  Then there is art study and music study and learning piano... And logic - I just saw a post about teaching logic!

 

I read some good advice to start with a few basic areas of study and add when we have those managed. 

 

 

[My3girls]

We do the 5 basics everyday (or try to): literature, language arts, math, science, and history. Then we have what I call electives which rotate. This year they were art, logic, and typing. Next year I am planning on geography, music, and Spanish. I try and include music, art, and geography in with our history curriculum, but when they are an elective, we study them more intensely. There is just no way to fit it all in so I prioritize... First what has to get done, second what they are interested in pursuing, third what I think might benefit them. It's really nice when priority 2 aligns with 1 or 3 because then they will do things on their own time, and it's not "school".

[FO4UR]

I am an advocate of starting with the simple basics and then adding as you can.

 

My priorities have been getting the child reading well, writing well, and completing math assignments with some independence.  When mine were younger, I tried doing too much and had to scale back to preserve time for the basics.  My oldest has some learning struggles, so maybe my experience is not the norm.

 

 

List out what YOU prioritize, and in the order of importance.  Then do those things in that order every day.  Save time to do at least one thing everyday that is "extra" or fun.

[nerdybird]

My priorities are pretty straightforward, although not everyone's cup of tea.

 

1. MATH. We spend at least 45min-1hr per day on math. We are heavy on drills and we have high expectations. That being said, my kids work on level with where they should be. They aren't geniuses and we actually move through their spines (Saxon for DS1, Singapore for DD) fairly slow compared to some.
2. SCIENCE. Despite being Christians, we teach secular science. I emphasize curiosity and method over rote memory. We are very hands on and science happens at least 3-4 days per week here, sometimes 5.
3. READING. Neither of my older kids are keen on reading. They prefer audiobooks or read aloud time. I do require them to do some reading aloud, recitations, narrations, etc. DS1 is required to do at least 20 minutes of silent reading per day. (Split into 2 10 minute blocks.) One block is usually a selection from SotW, the other is from our current AO selection.
4. SPANISH. We do Spanish almost everyday. It is important to us that our kids know another language. We hope that they are all fluent in Spanish and our long term plans are for each of them take on a non-romantic language of their choosing during their logic years.

If anything gets dropped from our daily rotation, it is history. I confess that I just don't care to keep up with history that much since my kids are young and I have a 2yo...yeah, history is just not a priority right now. I don't do Bible studies during the day either. We pray and do a family Bible time with DH in the mornings and that is the extent of our Bible study. DS1 and DD do Bible verses as copywork a few times a week. We usually have a verse of the week reserved for this purpose.

 

I haven't started with writing or grammar yet. We do spelling 3 days a week, with a test about every 3 weeks or so depending on how well my kids are processing the information. DD does phonics exercises as needed, usually about 1-2 times a week. We do art alongside history or while listening to audiobooks or music. A good day is when we can fit it all in. An average day is the 4 major areas + art or time to work on a project. My older kids do penmanship exercises on their own (PTL!! At last!!!) in the afternoons while I do phonics with the 5yo.

 

Everyone will have different priorities and your priorities may shift over time. Early on, I spent a TON of time on phonics and spelling with my older kids...now, I barely cover either except for with my 5yo. And he is catching on quickly and I probably won't be doing them with him next year! He'll be ready to tackle spelling on his own, I believe. This year, we haven't done as much with science as I'd have liked. Biology just isn't our "thing". Next year, we're moving onto physics and that will be much more appealing...maybe even two years worth of appealing! :thumbup1:

 

So yeah, your priorities will change and that's a good thing, especially as your kids get older. You'll have time explore new things. And maybe you'll find a great curriculum that works for everyone or perhaps you'll discover that each child needs a different approach.

 

Remember to breathe. Enjoy the process as much as possible. :)

[Coco_Clark]

 

I fit in all the "little" 10 minute stuff into our morning time; bible, poetry, read alouds, geography, Aesops fables, saints, nature study, music appreciation, art appreciation. The first three are daily, the others rotate.

 

Then in the afternoon we hit skills everyday. Reading, writing, math. Then I add 1 other "big" thing; history 2 days, science 2 days, and one day off to allow a longer morning time project.

 

I'm very charlotte mason in the mornings and classical in the afternoon I guess, but it works for us.

[momma2three]

I am in the same boat.

 

It's even worse in that I don't think we even get done what I think is a reasonable amount.  For that I blame how hard it is to do anything when my younger two kids are around.  We do language arts, math, and piano every day.  Latin most days.  History and science, alas... I'm ashamed to admit how infrequently we get to those.

[Mystie]

I think history and science for the early years can be covered informally through a lot of reading and audio books. We haven't really done history during school time, but my boys are eager readers and I "strew" for history and science. 

 

Our core is math, reading/writing, Circle Time (memory work covering Bible, poetry, hymns, history or science facts), and Latin, but Latin does tend to get the short shrift because it takes a lot of attention from me for it to be done. Still, almost all our grammar has been through Latin, and I'm very pleased with how that is going (I'm a grammar person).

 

So many of the subjects out there don't need a separate workbook or time slot, in my opinion. It will be covered as part of other core studies most likely. For us Latin "counts" as language, grammar, handwriting, and logic. 

 

It's easy to get one's head turned by curriculum, books, and other people's lists, but keep your eyes more on your own family and what they need. More than one homeschool veteran has told me "The best curriculum is the one that you do." :) 

[bnwhitaker]

I got in way over my head when I began my journey :)  So I too needed to prioritize, we were all overwhelmed with the amount of work needed

to be done. 

 

For us 4th grade it would be:

 

Grammar - 10-15min together

Spelling- 15min together

Writing- 20min together

Handwriting (Cursive)- 4min independently

 

Math- 30min independently

 

Science- 30min together

 

History- 30min independently & 20min together (This is also our special "reading together" time)

 

Geography & Maps- 20min together

 

Bible Study-10min together

Verses- 4min together, 3 min independently

 

Next year we plan on adding Vocab & Hebrew (about 40 min more).  School takes us 2.5 hrs right now together-Bible Study & Weekly Verse, Grammar, Spelling, Writing, Geography, History Pockets & Books & Science. They spend another 1.5 independently which includes reading time, piano practice, EM- science & maps workbooks, Math facts, Math pages, handwriting, history online, bible reading, verse memorization and prayer time.

 

I did a spread sheet up to high school (cause I know HS will be a guess as of now  :)  But I fit in what we wanted done in between now 4th grade and 8th grade.  Latin will have to be a 2 year intense course when they are older unlike what I wanted to do daily since they were young.  Spanish will have to wait... But they will get done just not all at once or maybe for as long as I thought.   I had to let some stuff go and also simplify the way we were teaching or learning with some curriculums.  It was just to hard to do it all.  At least for me. 

[FO4UR]

You don't have to give up something entirely just b/c you don't do it this year.  

 

 

You do not need to formally teach logic to a little one, especially if you are doing math/spanish/piano.  In a few years, when math/spanish/piano need less intensive mommy-time you can add in logic and other wonderful things.  

 

 

Make a point to ENJOY a composer, an artist, a nature walk, a game, a puzzle....one of those things every day.

[~Victoria~]

I think I was able to prioritize things alright last night. I feel like this is manageable and now I just need to NOT feel the need to add a billion books and more curriculum. I am also planning to only school 4 days a week. I really enjoy reading how y'all prioritize!

Daily
Morning work - calendar, Bible copywork, memorization work, and a poem or fable
Reading - walking through readers
Spelling - AAS
Literature w/ WWE
Math - MUS

Twice a week each (for around 30 min)
History - MrQ
Science - SOTW 1 w/coloring pages and mapwork

Once a week (15 minutes-ish)
Logic
Art Study
Greek Alphabet
Orchestra Study

 

He loves puzzles, legos, coloring, painting, play-doh, etc - so he will have those available to him also. 

[nerdybird]

One thing I would suggest for both your boys is that you make busy bins, bags, quiet books, etc. These will come in handy when you need to get things done, trust me. They also come in handy to keep those little hands busy during story time and history. There are tons of suggestions out there on the web. The trick is to keep the bins off limits except during special times during school. Easy to say, hard to do when little monkeys want to build their "mega-awesome train place!" and need those extra pieces, lol.

 

Here are a few that my littles (all boys) enjoy:

 

• Dinosaur bin -- tubes of mini dinos from Dollar Tree, a few big dinos from my secret garage sale stash, 2 dino puzzles, some dinosaur books, a Dinosaur Train matching game, and some dino coloring pages.
• Sensory bin -- three gel bag things (can't remember what they are actually called), an iSpy jar, some duplo blocks, one of those wire rack bead things for the youngest, a shape sorter, kaliedoscopes, a latchboard (MAGIC!!!) and several lift-the-flap books.
• Train bin (This is actually a storage tub. 5yo and 3yo are both into trains.) -- some wooden Thomas tracks with a some spare trains, some Geotrax with a spare train, 2 train puzzles, and a collection of Thomas the Train books. Also a few little train toys for the 2yo who isn't quite big enough to enjoy the big boy trains.

Legos are always a lifesaver. All 5 of mine LOVE Legos, even my girl. Lego makes some great kits for littles too under their Lego City line. I like them because they are complex enough for my 5yo boy and 7yo girl to work on together for a period of time, usually a week or two...and they can be taken apart and rebuilt if one of of them wants to do so. Lego kits make great projects to work on together or maybe even on his own. Can also be used to teach logic, reasoning, spatial awareness, math, science, art...is there anything Lego can't be used for, lol? Lego also makes a line of readers for little guys under their Lego City line. I checked some of the library for my 5yo...he was ok with them, but would rather pretend-read his older brother's Ninjago books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jackie]

We add one thing at a a time to the basics until I feel like we've hit our max. To me, core is just reading and math. We then added fine motor skill work and did that every day until it was just part of the natural routine. After that, we added science and did that until it was just part of our routine and no longer felt like an "add on". Same with spelling after that.

 

We added Logic but my choice turned out to be a flop, so I reexamined. I decided that at the kindy-level we're currently at, I didn't want a logic workbook because it just felt like busy work. I still want her to learn to think more logically, though, so bought Logic-based games including No Stress Chess, Qwirkle, Gobblet Gobblers, and so on. These cover my goal while not being part of "school". I'll look at this subject again when we're past all the elementary level stuff, which I didn't find a fit for us in.

 

DD recently requested to learn the violin, so we've now added an instrument. She also requested to start Spanish. I bought some Spanish materials, but we won't really start on them in a big way until the instrument lessons and practice are a more natural part of the routine. After Spanish is part of the routine, if we still have space left in our lives, I'd like to start both history and an actual art program, adding one at a time.

 

As long as I continue to introduce things one at a time in roughly the order of importance they are for our family, I'll just keep adding slowly until we are full or no longer happy.

[Gil]

I've been thinking about this a lot. I have decided to make our core subjects for first and second grade:

Reading

--My boys are solid readers already so we just read, read, read. I'd like to be more organized so that we hit History, Geography and Science in our reading, but if they read all the kids fiction books the library has to offer, I'm just as cool with that for 1st and 2nd grade reading.

Writing

--maintaining book log, copying out a Quote of the Day 3x and writing any word they don't know from their reading. I'd like to try and do one composition a week.
Math

--Math Mammoth and Keys to Math Series. We supplement with Algebra Readiness Made Easy and Sunshine Math
Spanish

--We are just starting this. I am looking for a conversational Spanish course we can do as a family. I think I'm going with Learning Spanish Like Crazy.

 

We will shift our core as we go up in grades but this way we can continue to make solid, measurable progress each year.

[Aurelia]

My priorities for the early years are as follows:

 

K/1:

Math

Learning to Read + Reading Aloud (both parent and child)

Handwriting

Science

Art

 

2/3:

Math

Reading (fluency, duration) + Reading Aloud (both)

Beginning Composition (copywork, narration/dictation)

Handwriting

Spelling

PE

 

4/5:

Math

Composition

Spelling

Literature

PE

Music

 

I put a lot of importance on physical education because I don't want DD to end up overweight and too weak or unable to take care of herself. I emphasize spelling because she has difficulty with that subject. For another child, I'd probably recommend something that either piques their interest (like science or art), or shores up a weakness (like handwriting or phonics). I think music is really important too, but is of less importance than learning to read in the early years.

[MinivanMom]

Our priorities look like this:

 

PK/K: Our priority is learning to read and write fluently. Everything else is fluff. We focus on:

-Phonics/Reading

-Handwriting/Writing simple sentences.

-Math

 

1st-3rd: Our priority is still the basics, but I add a lot in the content areas so that our schooling is interesting and joyful. We focus on:

-Reading/Literature

-Writing

-Math

-History

-Science

-French

-Art

-Instrumental instruction

 

4th-5th: Our focus is on developing independence, adding academic rigor, and increasing the workload. We focus on:

-Literature

-Grammar

-Writing

-Math

-History

-Science

-French

-Art

-Continued instrumental instruction

 

I think it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the potential topics you could study and all the different curriculums out there. *For us* the key to simplicity and focus has been to choose one rigorous curriculum for each main subject and then consistently work day after day and week after week.