hischool Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I am a long time lurker and this is my first post. I finally summed up my courage to post because I have spent the last week trying to find a secular reading curriculum and to no avail. English is not my first language. I grew up in Asia and moved here 11 years ago. My husband was born in Asia too and moved here when he was 14. Our 4 year old daughter was born here and she has been in school since she's 2 because we both work. I afterschool her in phonics/reading and Math. She can read quite well and is the only one reading in her preschool class. (Please excuse my bragging :D) I am starting to research a good reading curriculum for her to use when she's in K/1st grade. She's reading above level right now and I expect her to do so in K/1st grade too. I feel that I do need a structured curriculum because English is my second language. I won't be able to browse through literature and pick out different genre for her. I know some will say that I don't need a curriculum and just let her read. I do agree to a certain extent, however, I don't know how I can teach her things like antonym and synonym without a curriculum. Math we can do, language we really are at a lost. Does a secular and fun reading curium exist? :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 K12 would be my first choice. Absolutely excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmamainva Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 You might want to consider Oak Meadow. It's secular and a combination of hands-on learning and literature...if I had to describe it in a nutshell! A link is below in my signature line...you can view samples online, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cillakat Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Moving Beyond the Page is a literature unit study based curriculum that is completely secular movingbeyondthepage.com Winter promise is Christian but right now we're using American Crossing 1 (4-7grades) and I've had no trouble rewording any occasional wording that's 'religious'. There is very little. I can't speak to their other curriculum. We loooooove this one though. Love love love it. K12 is totally secular. You can use them as a 'school' (ie have a teacher), you can order the curriculum *independently and use it on your own*. And some states have public school charter options using K12. The upside is that it's 'free', the downside is that you're technically considered a public schooler, not a homeschooler and have to meet all state requirements for standardized testing, report to a teacher etc etc. Calvert is an option, though I'm fairly certain it's traditional rather than 'fun':) I have multiple 'secular' friends that use Sonlight core materials (literature based) and have no problem running into religious content (there maybe a tiny bit that needs to be avoided. Someone posted a link yesterday of lots of links to secular curriculum.....but it was more of a 'peice it together' rather than a comprehensive 'open a box and go' kind of thing. Math is easy....singapore, rightstart (RS), math u see (MUS) Another good secular option....Using _Story of the World_ (SOTW) as a history spine, combined wtih classicalhomeeducation.com's History Odyssey (activity guide = AG) is fantastic. I like History Odyssey for activities instead of SOTW's AG. You wouldn't run into any religious content in any of that (except as it's used to describe other's beliefs) or in the additional reading suggestions for either of the AG's. Then you could add in math of your choice (i think Rightstart is a great option for first grade....starting with A or B depending on where she is right now......moving along as quickly as need be, then maybe going to 'C' or switching to Singapore). In "D" right start was still repeating the same things from C. There was no way we could continue it. My daughter doesn't like math so much, does need some spiraling/repetition, but she does 'get' math....and the amount of 'same material' was insane. So I'm using about 15 lessons from Rightstart (b/c they're great!) for division and some geometry type stuff, but for problems to work, she uses singapore mostly....and some Math Mammoth. Combining math programs is something I thought I'd *never* do. Too much tracking and too-ing and fro-ing for me......but here I am, 3 years into homeschooling, and doing fine with it:tongue_smilie: SWB's book series, _First language lessons for the well trained mind_:) (FLLFTWTM) , are wonderful. So is her Writing With Ease (WWE) and student workbook to accompany. Hope this is helpful. Wishing you all the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJH Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam "SFSOM" in TN Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I am a long time lurker and this is my first post. I finally summed up my courage to post because I have spent the last week trying to find a secular reading curriculum and to no avail. English is not my first language. I grew up in Asia and moved here 11 years ago. My husband was born in Asia too and moved here when he was 14. Our 4 year old daughter was born here and she has been in school since she's 2 because we both work. I afterschool her in phonics/reading and Math. She can read quite well and is the only one reading in her preschool class. (Please excuse my bragging :D) I am starting to research a good reading curriculum for her to use when she's in K/1st grade. She's reading above level right now and I expect her to do so in K/1st grade too. I feel that I do need a structured curriculum because English is my second language. I won't be able to browse through literature and pick out different genre for her. I know some will say that I don't need a curriculum and just let her read. I do agree to a certain extent, however, I don't know how I can teach her things like antonym and synonym without a curriculum. Math we can do, language we really are at a lost. Does a secular and fun reading curium exist? :bigear: For enrichment, I like Calvert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hischool Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Thanks ladies! I will look into all of the suggestions. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 (edited) I would second Oak Meadow as a great complete curriculum, but it might be a little too much if you are afterschooling. One series that we really liked was the Learning Library books, available from Rainbow Resource: http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1224509543-491338&subject=4&category=719 They are colorful, with easy to follow directions. Another similar series is by Scholastic. Success with ___ http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1224510373-614198&subject=2&category=402 The link is for the books by grade, with several subjects, but you can also get Success with Grammar, Success with Reading, etc. On RR site, search Scholastic Success. (Do not search Scholastic Success with -- you won't get all the titles.) A great book is Books to Build On -- many libraries have this -- it is a list, by grade of good fiction and non-fiction. Another classic guide is Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud Handbook -- it has fantastic book recommendations with descriptions of each book. I just re-read your post -- all the things I mentioned are secular. They are fun in the sense of being colorful. Another quick (and easy) way of injecting some fun into the curriculum is to check the Dover books website -- they often have coloring books based on children's literature and easy to make scenes, sticker books, coloring books. RR stocks a lot of these at a discount. Also, have you thought of audio books -- many, many children's classics are available as audio books. The well-known early reader Frog and Toad books are one example. That way you dd can do some extra listening and build oral comprehension. Plus, they are just plain fun! Jim Weiss is a well-known narrator -- highly recommended: http://www.rainbowresource.com/search.php?sid=1224510373-614198 Edited October 20, 2008 by Alessandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 If you're going to be keeping her enrolled in a traditional school, I would NOT recommend using a formal Language Arts curriculum for your afterschooling. She's probably going to be rather bored as it is since she's quite a bit ahead of her classmates already. What I would focus on in the afterschooling is covering the things the school will not do much in the way of during the primary grades- history, geography, art and music appreciation, etc. Possibly math too if the school uses a questionable program like "Every Day Math" or "TERC Investigations". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cillakat Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 "I am starting to research a good reading curriculum for her to use when she's in K/1st grade." oops! I misread the first post. You're looking for a reading curriculum.... I'd get abecedarian (abcdrp is the website I think) and use that, along with this database to find appropriately 'leveled' books at the library: I am starting to research a good reading curriculum for her to use when she's in K/1st grade. I haven't run into any religious content at all.... Guided Reading Level: http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view'>http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view'>http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view'>http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/FMPro?-db=lbdb_&-lay=Data_Entry&-format=s_grlevel.htm&-view the entire site (search by author, title, etc.....helpful, but not as convenient as the above which allows you to just get whole 'levels' of titles) http://registration.beavton.k12.or.us/lbdb/ I just search the Reading Level database in one window.....and have the library's website open in another level. i request books online and pick them up every so often. All the best to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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