littlebug42 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Hi. My name is Jenni and I have 5 and 7 year old daughters that we have always homeschooled (except for the first half of this year that we spent with K12 Virtual Academy but we just withdrew this week). I have been hammering out my curriculum suggestions and I thought some fresh eyes might help me address any gaps. Sorry, this post got a little longer than I planned. My oldest daughter, "Sweet-Pea", is my big conundrum. She is a very advanced reader that only likes to read non-fiction but her writing skills are right about on target for her age. She struggles with the fine motor aspects of pencil development but when asked to compose sentences etc, she can do so in complete sentences and everything but the physical act of writing, which she finds very frustrating because her mind works faster than her hand. The two subjects that she cannot do without are history and science. My younger daughter, "Boo-Boo" is a young 5 that also reads well for her age and is also about on target age-wise for writing. Her favorite subject is math. She is currently about 3/4 of the way through Horizons K 1st workbook. She does have a short attention span. She participates with her sister and really absorbs a lot but lots of book work is not her thing. She also loves grammar, when we do it all together on the white board. Both girls are hands on and the oldest particularly really is a "just the facts" kind of person. When we get on a topic she enjoys, she can read about it FOREVER until she feels like she is done but she can't seem to soak up enough knowledge. This is what I have planned: Together we will do: SOTW with activity books (finish level 1 and move on at daughter's pace) along with timelines for each ( I think they will really like that part), REAL science for kids Earth and Space, Horizons Math (level 1/2 and Level K/1) and read alouds (using many different lists (SL, AO, etc). With Sweet pea, I will do: Growing with Grammar, the later books of Explode the Code to help with some spelling issues), Writing with Ease level 1, reading poetry and various genres to expose to more than non-fiction in addition to religion/catechism/Bible study. With Boo-Boo, I will do: Growing with Grammar, Expode the Code (although she reads, it is from memory, not phonetically, so she needs to be able to make some connections, Peak with Books, copywork for HW practice, reading practice and religion etc. Am I missing anything? The part that I have been struggling with the most is history since it is among Sweet-Pea's favorites. I have looked at pretty much every program out there. We want to teach history chronologically but it is complicated by the fact that we are Catholic and I would really prefer not to constantly have to change things and/or edit a strong Protestant and even worse an anti-Catholic bent. Any suggestions, recommendations, comments would be welcomed. Thanks, Jenni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 You might want to teach your 7 year old to type! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I would add in memory work. Drew Cambell's Living Memory is excellent as is IEW's Poetry program. TWTM has many suggestions. What about Latin? Prima Latina is a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 You might want to teach your 7 year old to type! She does know how to type and can use the computer. She has been allowed to do some journal entries on the computer and her sentences are always perfect with the exception of some spelling issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Hi littlebug42, If you're Catholic and want chronological history, take a look at rchistory.com. They are planning a four year history cycle through the rhetoric stage, but only one or two levels are completed now, I think. There should be samples on their website. RCHistory would enable you to have your daughters do history together, too. If I weren't committed to a coop now, I would love to try it. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 I do love the look of RC history but we are already almost to where that program ends and with no projected date available for when the next levels are going to be finished, I do not want to invest the $$$$ in a program that will not be there in 6 months when I need more. Thanks for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I like the Catholic Encyclopedia online, and I'm Protestant! While it's way above their grade levels, it's a good reference for you, and good when they're older. For example, for the French Revolution, it includes information about the decadari persecutions, where they instituted a mandated day of rest every 10 days and punished those who worshipped the Sabbath. I originally found that in Geraldine Rodgers' "History of Reading Instruction" (she's Catholic), and the Catholic Encyclopedia online is the only other source that I've seen that mentions it. I've been to France, Christianity has been almost completely wiped out there, and this was a factor in why that happened. I knew about some of the persecutions in France, but the Sabbath persecutions are not covered in normal history texts or Encyclopedias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hi. The part that I have been struggling with the most is history since it is among Sweet-Pea's favorites. I have looked at pretty much every program out there. We want to teach history chronologically but it is complicated by the fact that we are Catholic and I would really prefer not to constantly have to change things and/or edit a strong Protestant and even worse an anti-Catholic bent. Any suggestions, recommendations, comments would be welcomed. Jenni I was reading through my new Rainbow Resource Catalogue (I knew about them, I don't know why I didn't get one before now!) and found this: Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum. "Based on the philosophy of the Trivium, Laura Berquist works out a modern curriculum for Catholic home educators, covering grades K-12." http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Designing+Your+Own+Classical+Curriculum/003497/1231558613-1555806 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum. "Based on the philosophy of the Trivium, Laura Berquist works out a modern curriculum for Catholic home educators, covering grades K-12." I'm not sure Berquist would be of much help here. Her lower grade suggestions are very light on science and history. She hits math, language arts, and religion deeply but everything else seems a bit shallow, IMO. She has a one-size-fits-all approach to a lot of things. You know your kids better than to use her one-sized-fits-all curriculum. We use SOTW right now, but we are only in Year 1, so I'm not sure how much editing I'll have to do when we get to the Reformation. I plan on using some of Berquist's suggestions for down the road such as: "Christ the King - Lord of History" https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/396/keywords/history/ or "Christ and the America's" https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/632/keywords/history/ But my kids aren't old enough for that level yet. Something to keep in mind for the future, though. You can see in my sig what I do with my 5 1/2 (not reading yet) & 7 yr old. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 (disclaimer: I am a Reformed Christian) I did not notice an anti-Catholic bent in SOTW. Now I wasn't looking for it either so that may be why, but I think SWB strove to keep her histories as non-sectarian as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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