Which curriculum to use?

[Servant4Christ]

CLE Kinder 1 and 2 or R&S ABC and GHI series? I'm assuming these are comparable.

I used CLE grade 1 for Oldest (kinder wasn't available yet) so I am most familiar with that program. However, we switched to R&S english and math when Oldest was in third grade and it's been a much better fit for him. So now I'm curious about which kinder program will be best for the littles when they are ready. I've looked at the R&S samples on milestonebooks but that sure does look like a LOT of writing for the age. Maybe I'm missing something?

Edited March 29, 2021 by Servant4Christ

[Slache]

I would buy what I like and then scribe as needed.

[Servant4Christ]

1 hour ago, Slache said:

I would buy what I like and then scribe as needed.

I like them both, but I'm not buying both. And I'm not getting caught in the "scribing vortex" again. Oldest was my lesson learned the hard way.

I guess I just really need to look into how many pages per lesson from how many books per day. That should help.

[Servant4Christ]

@Slache Oh my! I think I might've just found my answer. Tell me if it's crazy.

I will ALWAYS have to modify the handwriting in either of these programs to D'Nealian (or similar). I've looked in the past but couldn't find a complete curriculum that utilizes this style. While researching, I ran across things that peaked my interest for Oldest (McCall-Crabbs for reading comprehension, Cursive First to help him with the transition to all cursive, and maybe spell to read and write would be a better fit for spelling? 🤷 ) and it looks like these exact 3 programs are grouped together for the youngers! Who knew!? Do you think these programs combined would take the place of everything LA and Reading related for K-1? I plan on using R&S English beginning in grade 2.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Servant4Christ

[Slache]

38 minutes ago, Servant4Christ said:

@Slache Oh my! I think I might've just found my answer. Tell me if it's crazy.

I will ALWAYS have to modify the handwriting in either of these programs to D'Nealian (or similar). I've looked in the past but couldn't find a complete curriculum that utilizes this style. While researching, I ran across things that peaked my interest for Oldest (McCall-Crabbs for reading comprehension, Cursive First to help him with the transition to all cursive, and maybe spell to read and write would be a better fit for spelling? 🤷 ) and it looks like these exact 3 programs are grouped together for the youngers! Who knew!? Do you think these programs combined would take the place of everything LA and Reading related for K-1? I plan on using R&S English beginning in grade 2.

Yes, but only if it's similar in style to what you actually do. Every time I buy something different it just sits on the shelf.

[Servant4Christ]

7 minutes ago, Slache said:

Yes, but only if it's similar in style to what you actually do. Every time I buy something different it just sits on the shelf.

Hmm. You're probably right. I like the structure of lesson plans and a schedule to follow. I don't have time to create my own. Back to the original 2. I may just do CLE for kinder and switch to R&S for 1st. I'm just trying to decide because I buy backwards and forwards in the non-consumable parts of our curriculum each year.

[Slache]

2 minutes ago, Servant4Christ said:

Hmm. You're probably right. I like the structure of lesson plans and a schedule to follow. I don't have time to create my own. Back to the original 2. I may just do CLE for kinder and switch to R&S for 1st. I'm just trying to decide because I buy backwards and forwards in the non-consumable parts of our curriculum each year.

Glad I could ruin your idea.

[Servant4Christ]

3 minutes ago, Slache said:

Glad I could ruin your idea.

Sometimes I need that. Especially if I'm overthinking things, which I sometimes do.

[Slache]

10 minutes ago, Servant4Christ said:

Sometimes I need that. Especially if I'm overthinking things, which I sometimes do.

Another thing we have in common!

[2_girls_mommy]

So I haven't used any CLE (except for one weather/calendar workbook that they sell for like 3rd grade and their planner book which I really really liked, just using it with my own curriculum.) 

But addressing the too much writing in the R&S preschool/K books- I never thought so here.  We usually started the ABC series around age 4, working through one book at a time, plus the Bible coloring book simultaneously.  We read 1-2 of the Bible stories a week while the kids colored in the books.  Then we did a couple of pages in the current workbook 1-2 days a week.  One day a week my kids always had co-op.  We also did library storytime days pretty regularly, which was our school that day.  And sometimes I did other things at home instead of the workbooks.  (I really liked Kate Snow's Preschool Math at Home,) with my last dd.  I also always did some kind of letter of the week with each of my preschoolers.  Sometimes that was with other littles at a co-op.  Some years, some kids I did it at home.  So one new letter a week with a story, activity, maybe some wriring and just talking about the letter and sound throughout that week.  Calendar practice at home.  R&S Bible stories.  R&S ABC series a couple of times a week.  That was about it.  We continued the same over K.  And then I usually start the R&S First grade reading and phonics after the F book, a lesson or so a week of each.  We never moved into the next round of ABC books. We stopped after that first package.  Then we do the 1st grade slowly over the rest of K and 1st grade.  I do start them in the R&S 1st grade math at the beginning of K too, if they are able to do it. 

It is not smooth and perfectly lining up at the beginning of R&S for us doing it this way.  One of my kids continued perfectly one grade level ahead in math.  Started R&S English in 2nd grade and went up from there. 

The next didn't do well with the R&S 1st grade math in K, so I put it away and pulled it back out in 1st, so she stayed at grade level in the math instead of the year ahead like her sis. 

My current 1st grader did fine with R&S 1st grade math over K, but we didn't finish it over K.  She worked it until halfway through 1st grade then started the 2nd grade halfway through 1st.  But we just keep moving forward wherever they are. 

So I am no help if you are trying to line things up perfectly by year.  But by taking things slowly, not trying to finish anything by x date, we never found those books to have an excessive amount of writing.  On the pages that had lines of letters to write, I may have done it over more than one day if necessary.  I still do that.  I pull out the same page for handwriting practice for my dd for multiple days.  

[Zoo Keeper]

I really like the R&S workbooks for K;  we start the ABC books in PreK (4 or 5 years old, depending on the child) and work *at the child's pace*.

I then keep going with the series for K (5 or 6 years old, depending on the child).  My current K student began K doing the C book,Counting with Numbers, and will finish K with the L book, Learning More and More.  Usually it works out to about two R&S workbook pages each day. 

We enjoy the animals/habitats themes in the books; I use this as a springboard for very basic geography (using a globe, finding continents, Earth goes around the sun, hotter at the Equator/colder at the Arctic/Antarctic, etc. ) and very basic zoology/ecology.  We look up the animals in an encyclopedia (like this one), draw and color pictures as the child wants to, and watch loads of documentaries (PBS Nature and we have all of BBC Life).  I intro the idea that animals are sorted into families (mammals, fish, etc.) and we sort the animals into families as we talk about them.  Very basic and easy to do on the fly.

I also add in Phonics Pathways (I've used this for all 6 of mine) for reading/phonics.  I let the R&S books be reinforcement of phonics. Just a page or two of PP each day at the child's pace.  

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by Zoo Keeper

[2_girls_mommy]

1 hour ago, Zoo Keeper said:

I

  I let the R&S books be reinforcement of phonics. Just a page or two of PP each day at the child's pace.  

 

 

I think I am the same.  The phonics are introduced through our Letter of the Week activities at that age.  The phonemic awareness pages in R&S just reinforce that.  

Having basic teaching tools like a nice set of flashcards and/or letter posters with all of the letters around make this a full program.  We did use Bob Books somewhere in there as the kids were ready too, before starting R&S 1st grade reading/phonics.  One of mine was already reading pretty fluently when we got to the 1st grade reading and phonics, and so I started her in unit 2 of the 1st grade R&S reading/phonics starting with long vowel rules because the first unit would have bored her to tears.  I did want her to have the Bible stories and the knowledge of the phonics rules she had internalized, so we went through with the rest of the year after that. 

[Servant4Christ]

@Zoo Keeper @2_girls_mommy

Thankyou so much! Sounds like just going in abc order of books doing 2 pages a day. Definitely doable. I found a flow chart on milestones before you both confirmed this. Zoo Keeper, I think that book N is available now and it's an animal encyclopedia to go along with the G-H-I series! 😁

 

Pre-K:

 

 

Kindergarten:

Edited April 1, 2021 by Servant4Christ

[Brittany1116]

I realize I am quite late and you may already have plans but we have loved the ABC(-L) series this year. We do 4 or so pages a day. Some books in the second half are heavier on math or logic etc than others but he and I have both had so much fun using these for K4. He finishes J this month and just made the soaring eagle. I feel this series offers so much more than the CLE K does.

[Servant4Christ]

I completely forgot about this thread and here I am having this exact same debate with myself again! Only now I'm debating between R&S and SWR and need to make a choice ASAP because Middle will be Pre-K this fall. 🤣

[Green Bean]

R&S hands down.