Konos curriculum

[desertflower]

Anyone using Konos? Any thoughts, advice, or opinions? I have a 5, 3 1/2, and 1 1/2 year old. It looks like a lot of work. Very interested in it, but I don't have a lot time. (Who does, right?) I already have a math, phonics, and LA program.

 

Just don't want to see a curriculum sitting on the shelf.

 

Thanks.

[Guest]

Konos is awesome and well worth the shelf space! You don't need to do everything in the book in one year, and you shouldn't even start this year, so don't panic. It's recommended for third grade and up and your kids have a good age span for working together, which is going to be less work for you than three separate curricula for everything it covers. Here's a previous thread:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/499092-konos-complete-curriculum/?hl=%2Bkonos+%2Bellie&do=findComment&comment=5388566

 

and there's more info about it on the boards.

 

I'd offer to buy it from you if I hadn't gotten my copy for a Christmas present. :D

[Ellie]

Anyone using Konos? Any thoughts, advice, or opinions? I have a 5, 3 1/2, and 1 1/2 year old. It looks like a lot of work. Very interested in it, but I don't have a lot time. (Who does, right?) I already have a math, phonics, and LA program.

 

Just don't want to see a curriculum sitting on the shelf.

 

Thanks.

 

I big pink puffy heart KONOS. :-)

 

The initial planning takes some time, but the actual doing doesn't take any more time than anything else.

 

With dc as young as yours, I'd start with Volume 1 (in the fall; the authors assume that you do outside activities, vacations, etc., during the summer months). Each volume is good for at least two years. You can do all the character traits in one year--not all of the activities, but all of the character traits. The next year you do the same character traits but different activities.

[barnwife]

I came across a copy at a used book sale. I bought it so I could look over it more thoroughly. 

I can't wait to sell it. It is not organized in a way that makes it easy to use (to me, anyway). I'd gladly give someone a good deal on it (I have the timeline and the book explaining the whole thing too) if someone wanted it.

The activities do look pretty easy to do though. I just need an index or whatever telling me that animal study is on page XXX or whatever. Mostly that's because I'd be using the activities in conjunction with another curriculum.

[Ellie]

I came across a copy at a used book sale. I bought it so I could look over it more thoroughly. 

 

I can't wait to sell it. It is not organized in a way that makes it easy to use (to me, anyway). I'd gladly give someone a good deal on it (I have the timeline and the book explaining the whole thing too) if someone wanted it.

 

The activities do look pretty easy to do though. I just need an index or whatever telling me that animal study is on page XXX or whatever. Mostly that's because I'd be using the activities in conjunction with another curriculum.

 

KONOS works best when it's your primary curriculum because it is so comprehensive. :-) Also, I'm a big fan of sitting down and reading something cover to cover, because usually when you do that, you have that lightbulb moment. :-)

[barnwife]

KONOS works best when it's your primary curriculum because it is so comprehensive. :-) Also, I'm a big fan of sitting down and reading something cover to cover, because usually when you do that, you have that lightbulb moment. :-)

Oh, I know that's how it was designed. And I did read the KONOS Compass (I think that's what it's called. I'd check, but there is a sleeping baby in that room right now.) book that came with it.

 

And then I switched to the one that has the actual lesson plans in it. It was very confusing to me. The layout was completely unappealing (and unattractive, but that could just be me). When the plans called to do XXX, it wasn't easy to find where more details on that were.

 

Add to that the fact that I could look something up easily (when will magnetism or Abraham Lincoln or anything else be studied?) and I was really disappointed by it.

 

The time I've spent looking at it has convinced me that it is not a good choice or fit for our family. 

[Ellie]

Oh, I know that's how it was designed. And I did read the KONOS Compass (I think that's what it's called. I'd check, but there is a sleeping baby in that room right now.) book that came with it.

 

And then I switched to the one that has the actual lesson plans in it. It was very confusing to me. The layout was completely unappealing (and unattractive, but that could just be me). When the plans called to do XXX, it wasn't easy to find where more details on that were.

 

Add to that the fact that I could look something up easily (when will magnetism or Abraham Lincoln or anything else be studied?) and I was really disappointed by it.

 

The time I've spent looking at it has convinced me that it is not a good choice or fit for our family. 

 

I abhor the lesson plans. My advice to people who want to use KONOS is to take the volume to Kinko's/FedEx, have the binding cut off, have the book drilled for three holes, remove the lesson plans and store them in case they want to resell it, and put the rest in a big three-ring notebook. I'm not a fan of the Compass, either. :-) I prefer using the actual book itself to decide what I want to do (which is where all the details are anyway, lol).

 

KONOS isn't for everyone. :-)

[desertflower]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, advice, thread and insights. It is reassuring to know that there are people who love it.

 

I'm very excited about it.

[MrsBasil]

What ages have you all used KONOS for?  I looked through it and felt like(for our family)....it could wait a few years.  I like the idea of it, just seemed a bit much for one 5 year old.  I am on the lazy side of relaxed for K compared to a lot of you here though.  ;) 

[Ellie]

What ages have you all used KONOS for?  I looked through it and felt like(for our family)....it could wait a few years.  I like the idea of it, just seemed a bit much for one 5 year old.  I am on the lazy side of relaxed for K compared to a lot of you here though.  ;)

 

You could do Volume 1 with a 5yo. Volumes 2 and 3 would be less appropriate, although if you were doing either of those with older dc, your 5yo could hang out and learn. :-)

[desertflower]

I am planning ahead. If I were to use konos then I'd like to get it now and prepare some lessons so it'll be ready by the time he's 7. Haha.

 

On a side note I came across someone who posted her konos lessons. I'm looking through it now and it looks like a lot of fun. I'll post the exact web address later. All I remember is www._______squidoo

[JaneEyre]

I am planning ahead. If I were to use konos then I'd like to get it now and prepare some lessons so it'll be ready by the time he's 7. Haha.

 

On a side note I came across someone who posted her konos lessons. I'm looking through it now and it looks like a lot of fun. I'll post the exact web address later. All I remember is www._______squidoo

 

I would love to see this.

We've been doing some unit studies lately and I have an older Konos vol. 1 in the bookshelf that I'd really love to use more

[Ellie]

Here's the long story of how I plan KONOS:

 

I know that for us, it works best to do two KONOS days a week, rather than a few KONOS activities daily (we did Tuesday and Wednesday).

 

I have taken my KONOS volume to Kinko's/FedEx and had the spine cut off, and the book drilled with three holes; then I keep it in a three-ring notebook. I can take out the character trait I'm working on and put it in a smaller notebook.

 

Somewhere around, oh, May (and we would start in September), I pick up my KONOS volume and begin reading it. Really. Every page, every activity. I do this in the evenings after the dc are in bed, and it takes several evenings (and cups of tea). I check off, with a pencil, every activity that looks good to me.

 

Somewhere around July, I go through the activities again and put a second checkmark next to the activities that I know for sure I can actually imagine myself doing.

 

In August, I get out my calendar, on which I have already penciled in a few things (vacations, doctors' appointments, support group meetings, etc.). Knowing that I am only going to do two KONOS days a week, I go back through the character trait I'll be starting with (we did Volume 2 for two years, which is the only one that you need to do in order; with the other two, you can do the character traits in any order you want); in the original Volume 2, it was suggested that you do the first character trait, Inquisitiveness, for two months, so I go through Inquisitive and pencil in my planning book the activities that I think I can do on those two days a week, such that I will finish Inquisitiveness in two months. If I know that one week will be very busy, I don't schedule activities for the following week that would require me to go to the library beforehand (the vast majority of activities do NOT require outside resources or library books).

 

On Sunday night, I just read over what I have planned for the week.

 

On our KONOS day, I do the activities I've penciled in. If we're on a roll, I might add some that are easy to do; if we don't get to something, I erase it and write it on the next KONOS day, and if we still don't get to it, I just erase it.

[Guest]

Here's the long story of how I plan KONOS:

 

 

Well, since you put it THAT way......

 

;)

 

I have no idea whether I'm going to wait until third grade or go for it in the fall and I don't have to right now, do I?

 

I have never used Konos and have no idea whether it's even going to be possible to secularize it, but what do I have to lose other than a $20 charge on my credit card for the novel I didn't buy while I was reading the '89 edition of Volume 1 I gave myself for Christmas last year as a collectable/homeschooling souvenir  and making check marks with my pencil?

 

I'm looking forward to reading about other folks' experiences no matter how it goes with little ds.

 

Thank you so much for sharing, Ellie.

[desertflower]

Thanks Ellie for your schedule.  it does help me plan ahead as well.  The website i was referring to is  http://iijuan12.squidoo.com/my-konos-unit-study-journey.  So far it's very detailed. 

 

What is the konos compass?

[Guest]

TY, JMcElrath, this is very helpful for me.

 

Does anyone know when the first edition of Konos was published? I searched for and found the 1989 edition I wanted for my "curriculum junkie's private museum", but my memory is a bit foggy and I thought I had first encountered it on a friend's shelf and started drooling before I even had any kids.

 

I've gotten as far as the Obedience unit in Volume I so far, and yes, it looks like it can be secularized (at least by me) and seems to have a lot of inspiration for rabbit trails and customizing for the individual family's values.

[PeterPan]

Coming into the fun here late to say that looks like a really sensible way to approach Konos, Ellie!  I got all three volumes a couple years ago at a sale, thinking they might be good for ds (who is clearly a kinesthetic learner) but haven't known exactly how to go about it.  Thanks for sharing.  And you know, seems to me that could, with some sanity, slide right into any other plan (the history spine we read, etc. etc.).  How much *time* did you spend on your Konos activities on those two days?  Did they become virtually all day?  That's kind of a wild I idea I hadn't thought of.  

[Ellie]

Coming into the fun here late to say that looks like a really sensible way to approach Konos, Ellie!  I got all three volumes a couple years ago at a sale, thinking they might be good for ds (who is clearly a kinesthetic learner) but haven't known exactly how to go about it.  Thanks for sharing.  And you know, seems to me that could, with some sanity, slide right into any other plan (the history spine we read, etc. etc.).  How much *time* did you spend on your Konos activities on those two days?  Did they become virtually all day?  That's kind of a wild I idea I hadn't thought of.  

 

We were always finished by noon.

 

You could probably mush KONOS activities into other things. :-) However, KONOS was written as a unit study based on godly character traits; I'm too OCD to take the activities out of that context and put them in something else, lol. Perhaps you are more creative than I. :-)

[Guest]

Of course I'm coming from a completely different perspective and reading a 25 year old used book that only has $5 worth of guilt attached to it, but my creative juices are flowing and I see tons of opportunities for customizing Konos.

 

Why, oh why, can't I feel the same way about teaching the child instead of the curriculum when my 1994 Saxon Primary Math has an addition and subtraction lesson that involves pretending that teddy bear counters are at swimming pools at the country club or movie theaters and ds would have a much easier time if we just had them go to Blockbuster, the public library, or even Facebook, Netflix, and Twitter instead?

 

/ I'm such a dork

[Ellie]

TY, JMcElrath, this is very helpful for me.

 

Does anyone know when the first edition of Konos was published? I searched for and found the 1989 edition I wanted for my "curriculum junkie's private museum", but my memory is a bit foggy and I thought I had first encountered it on a friend's shelf and started drooling before I even had any kids.

 

I've gotten as far as the Obedience unit in Volume I so far, and yes, it looks like it can be secularized (at least by me) and seems to have a lot of inspiration for rabbit trails and customizing for the individual family's values.

 

I have a copy upstairs. :-)

 

I think it was around 1984. Volume 2 was written around 1988 (I have that); volume 1 was revised (I have that, too), and then volume 3 was written (yes, I do have that). I'm too lazy to go up there and look right this minute, but I will...eventually...

 

My main regret with KONOS is that all three volumes were not ready to go when my dc were little, such that I could have done all three. The original Volume 1 looked more supplemental than primary, KWIM? In 1988, when I was looking for something more structured to do, I borrowed a friend's Weaver and lived with it for a few days, reading every.single.page. I decided on KONOS because it seemed far more flexible than the Weaver, and I loved the fact that it did not focus on grade levels (I don't believe that homeschooled children are "in" "grade levels," except for the purpose of...well, y'all know how I feel about that, lol). I also loved doing the activities based on godly character traits. We did Volume 2 twice, then we moved on (I only had one dc doing it by then, as the other was taking classes at the community college).

 

I once hosted Jessica Hulcey for a KONOS workshop. Seems to me she stayed at my house, but it's been too long for me to remember for sure, lol.