Our Homeschool Curriculum, Part 2
(Catch up on part 1 here if you missed it.)
Before I go on, I feel I should mention that we aren't following any particular homeschool "method"... you know, classical, Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, etc. etc. Or if we are, I'm not aware of it, because I haven't done enough research on the different methods to know what it is we're doing. That's probably bad, and I do intend to do some research on this eventually. We will see how things go in the next few weeks, and I can make some choices about how the learning is happening and whether we need a more effective (or more enjoyable) method. So far, I'm just teaching stuff and using these books as guides, and it seems to be working out okay.
Before I go on, I feel I should mention that we aren't following any particular homeschool "method"... you know, classical, Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, etc. etc. Or if we are, I'm not aware of it, because I haven't done enough research on the different methods to know what it is we're doing. That's probably bad, and I do intend to do some research on this eventually. We will see how things go in the next few weeks, and I can make some choices about how the learning is happening and whether we need a more effective (or more enjoyable) method. So far, I'm just teaching stuff and using these books as guides, and it seems to be working out okay.
Moving on to the mechanics of writing/language arts... I guess I'm not being too organized about presenting this...
HANDWRITING
We are doing Handwriting Without Tears, using the My Printing Book for first grade. N actually covered most of this material in kindergarten, using a curriculum called Fundations. I almost bought it, so that she could continue what she was accustomed to, but it was so expensive! Handwriting Without Tears is really popular among homeschoolers, and not too expensive, so I thought we would try it.
So far, N is finding HWT to be way more meticulous and detailed than Fundations, so much so that she said to me the other day, "Mama, I didn't learn any of this at kindergarten." I don't think that Fundations wasn't meticulous, but I think it was just taught very quickly without much repetition or practice, and N did miss a lot of school for illness last year, so she probably didn't quite get everything. So far she is enjoying HWT and, although it is a bit of a review, extra handwriting practice is never a bad thing in my book (although some may argue that it's not a relevant subject in today's age of typing and texting).
The most important reason I bought this book was that N has trouble with reversals on a few pesky letters (b and d, p and q for example) and a couple of numbers (3s and 4s are usually flipped). HWT is really great for teaching the letters and numbers in a systematic way, and relating the different handwriting strokes as you go, so that those reversals don't happen. So I plan to spend a bit more time with repetition on the letters/numbers she has trouble with, and kind of speed through the rest.
PHONICS/SPELLING
We are beginning phonics this year with a curriculum called Explode the Code. Again, these books get great reviews among the homeschooling community, and they're SUPER inexpensive (the workbooks are around $5 at rainbow resource). I started N with book 3. The beginning of the book has been a bit of a review for her, so I think we will get through it quickly and start book 4 soon. (Book 4 is recommended for second grade! I'm quickly finding out how accelerated her kindergarten program really was, in the areas of math and reading anyway.) So far N really loves the funny hand-drawn illustrations and "head scratchers" word combinations that are so silly.
I just purchased Sequential Spelling book 1, because I wanted to provide an opportunity for "spelling tests" and drilling, in addition to the indirect spelling instruction she's getting in Explode the Code. Right now N spells everything phonetically, which is exactly where she should be. The cool thing about Sequential Spelling is that it teaches spelling by word families, instead of just lists of random words to memorize. Hopefully this will give her better retention after the spelling test, but we shall see. I may not start this with her right away... they recommend the child be at a second grade reading level before you start book 1, and although I think N is pretty much there, she's got a lot on her plate as we're first starting out. This one can wait a few months.
This is the subject I labored over the most, and I think the only reason for that was that they spent SO much time on math in kindergarten. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to maintain the sort-of consistency I was trying to get in other subjects, or to just switch N to a drastically smaller amount of math than she was used to. The answer, sort of on purpose and sort of by accident, has been yes-- let's switch N to a drastically smaller amount of math than she's used to.
Backing up to the beginning of the story, I first looked at continuing the curriculum they were using in her kindergarten class-- EnVision Math. It was absolutely ridiculous how expensive this would have been to purchase. I don't have any problem with the curriculum itself, but I did with the price tag. So that was pretty much a no.
I looked at tons of other math programs, and I ended up settling on a Singapore Math practice workbook (Singapore Math is a pretty popular homeschool choice). The common core workbook I had already purchased for Language Arts also had a math section, so we're working out of that too. The Singapore is more basic math (addition, subtraction, etc.), and the common core workbook has the word problems and practice with critical thinking skills.
MATH
This is the subject I labored over the most, and I think the only reason for that was that they spent SO much time on math in kindergarten. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to maintain the sort-of consistency I was trying to get in other subjects, or to just switch N to a drastically smaller amount of math than she was used to. The answer, sort of on purpose and sort of by accident, has been yes-- let's switch N to a drastically smaller amount of math than she's used to.
Backing up to the beginning of the story, I first looked at continuing the curriculum they were using in her kindergarten class-- EnVision Math. It was absolutely ridiculous how expensive this would have been to purchase. I don't have any problem with the curriculum itself, but I did with the price tag. So that was pretty much a no.
I looked at tons of other math programs, and I ended up settling on a Singapore Math practice workbook (Singapore Math is a pretty popular homeschool choice). The common core workbook I had already purchased for Language Arts also had a math section, so we're working out of that too. The Singapore is more basic math (addition, subtraction, etc.), and the common core workbook has the word problems and practice with critical thinking skills.
I think that the reason there are so many math programs out there is that math is boring for a lot of kids (it was for me!) and so there are always new and innovative teaching methods coming out. Not to mention the huge pressure on public schools to churn out kids that will perform well on standardized math tests. The Singapore Math practice we purchased is recommended for grade 2, and the first 3/4 of the book are a really easy review for N, so... I'm thinking she can do with a bit less emphasis on math for a while. I'm not trying to be flippant about it, but she really is a whiz and flies through the math workbooks, and there are so many other things that interest her, so I'm not worried about spending too much time on it right now. I need to do more research and probably actually purchase Singapore textbooks if that's the method we decide to stick with, but for now we are not really panicking about math.
And that's it for today, folks! Next post will be on the remaining subjects-- science, history/geography, and music. I might also do a post on what little preschool homeschool we are doing (a.k.a. keeping my other kids busy while I work with N!) and a tour of our homeschool "classroom". Stay tuned!
(Link to part 3 here.)
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