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Philothea
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| Posted: March 03 2009 at 1:04pm | IP Logged
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My son will be 5 this June. He was supposed to be starting at our parish school next year but we've got too many concerns to justify the high price tag for grade school, not to mention I dread what it will do to our family time (constant fundraisers, PTO meetings, spirit nights, etc). And my son is not a people pleaser by any stretch, in fact he's pretty contrary and while smart, he's easily distracted. Not a good combination for a classroom setting and we've already had problems in Pre-K.
My husband and I have talked and talked and I really think we're going to withdraw our application for grade school and keep him home next year.
I've been doing the "Real Learning" thing as a supplement to preschool for three years now, you'd think I'd have more confidence. But the Kindergarten thing is scary to me! I feel like I do need a guideline since I am just starting out with full-time homeschool.
So, could you wiser, more experienced ladies look at what I'm planning for next year and tell me what you think? I plan to be VERY flexible with this, but I want to have it all on hand so we can use it when he shows interest (IF he shows interest ... scared about that!).
SPINE/CURRICULUM
FIAR (includes literature, social studies, and art with a little math and grammar)
READING/WRITING
Handwriting Without Tears Kindergarten
Explode the Code Phonics
BOB Books
MATH
RightStart Math level A or B? (Placement test says B) -- I know many of you oppose this kind of formality with a young one, but he is math obsessed already without my having done anything -- he seems to innately "get it" and it makes him feel good to do it, so I figure it's good to let him work on something he's strong in and enjoys to balance the stuff he may struggle more with, like handwriting and art (he's a lefty).
RELIGION
Catholic Mosaic/Liturgical Year stuff and St. Joseph Catechism
SCIENCE/CREATION (no set curriculum -- this is just the outline I wrote for the year of what it would be nice to cover)
The Creation Story
The Five Senses
The Body and How to Care for It
Life Cycles of Plants and Animals
Sun, Moon, Earth, seasons, phases, tides
Weather
.... I plan to teach Science using living books and hands on experiments.
P.E.
Continue with gymnastics classes and lots of outside play.
Does this look okay? I know it looks like a lot but I feel like I need to have it all on hand to make sure I use my time wisely. I have a tendency to not know where to start and so I never get started ... if I have the materials, though, I'll use them. Maybe as I get better at this I'll get more flexible and creative ... thoughts?
Thanks from a nervous first-timer ...
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MarilynW
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| Posted: March 03 2009 at 3:25pm | IP Logged
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Hi
Nice to see you here again (the last time I saw you was just before you had the baby!! - did you ever move which you were planning to do?)
I wrote
this when I was planning for my 4 year old last year. We have had a great K year - my plan is not too different from yours:
Math- we have been doing Horizons K - but also lots of card games, tangrams, pattern blocks etc. Very relaxed fashion
Reading/Phonics - mixture of BOB, Explode the Code, HOP and handwriting practice. I switched away from HWT - because Matt has very good fine motor compared to the twins at his age.
We have read lots and lots of picture books and he joins in everyone else's reading.
For history - he has joined in older brothers' American History read alouds.
For science I have had easier read alouds on the subject - but to be honest we don't do much
Religion - Catholic Mosaic and just living the Liturgical Year. I have a stack of Rosary coloring books and cds/dvds to make things more "tangible" for him. He just joins in with everyone else. I am planning a mass unit for him.
Music and Art - no specific plan - just joins in with our family plan. He has started playing piano with our teacher and his older brothers are teaching him violin (dreadful sound right now!!)
Sports - county baseball and soccer. Lots of active time outside and in with siblings.
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Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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Philothea
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| Posted: March 03 2009 at 4:31pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Marilyn! I've been lurking but very busy getting settled, since we did move. We're down in Culpeper County now (actually near the Rappahannock County line, minutes from Skyline and all that, it's beautiful!). That "baby" you mentioned is 16 months old now and I'm about to start Montessori-style learning with him! How are you doing? I see from your signature you've been busy! Congratulations on the pending arrival!
Your Kindy plan does seem similar to mine, that gives me hope I'm not off track! I forgot to mention music ... I'm looking into getting a used piano for us all to play, we've got flute and guitar and lots of kid instruments as well, plus we have a lot of very musical friends, so music is very organic around here, part of the air we breathe. I'll probably get a classical for kids type thing to study composers in the winter time to lift everyone's mood and give me something to record as "music lesons."
I should also mention another mom from my son's Pre-K class is keeping her son out next year and we're discussing doing a co-op two or three times a week to keep them connected to other kids from good families and allow learning with less distraction (since my son has a toddler brother and so does her son, two of them, actually, someone will occupy the toddler crew while the older kids get a lesson). I don't know if we'll find anyone else to do it with us. But I hope to do field trips and the like with the co-op, too, if it happens.
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CandaceC
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| Posted: March 03 2009 at 8:02pm | IP Logged
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Hi there!
We have been a FIAR family from the start!  We actually started using Before FIAR when my oldest was 3yrs, and now we're using volumes 1-4 and LOVING it!
Anyway, there is a LOT of science that you can dig into using FIAR without worrying about that as an "extra" subject.
I share a lot on my blog about FIAR. Here are 2 posts from this past week on the unit we've been doing with the FIAR title, Albert. It shows how much you can pull science in with the topics for FIAR.
Albert #1
Albert #2
Your plan sounds great, though! For kindergarten (and even past that) we use:
*FIAR (and a mix of free HSS units)
*Math (we use Bob Jones)
*phonics/reading (Explode the Code, Bob books, Rod and Staff readers sometimes)
*Bible - we read through our children's bible, do daily scripture memory and incorporate Bible into our FIAR unit studies too using the Bible Supplement from FIAR
*my kids also are learning piano and ballet
HTH!
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
His Mercy Is New
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Birdie
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| Posted: March 05 2009 at 10:11pm | IP Logged
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I think you'll be happier in the long run if you see results from K, meaning your son likes what you do and you feel like he's learning to read and write. I would do the
HWT
Math
ETC/BOB
Nature walks
Read good books together
And then I would stop there.I think it's important to spend your planning time making the basics fun with homemade games and activities. Look at the math book and the ETC and see what kind of games you can make to go with the lessons. Spend time with those basics making them fun and less time with a plan for history/science/geography . . . that's how I'd do it.
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Philothea
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 6:50am | IP Logged
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So, Birdie, what you are saying is you would drop FIAR and just read whatever living books we want without trying to make them into a science or social studies lesson? Effectively dropping social studies and science for Kindy altogether?
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Philothea
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 6:51am | IP Logged
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Candace, your blog is a great resource, thanks for the link.
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CandaceC
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 7:43am | IP Logged
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Well, I just wanted to chime in that for us, FIAR has been the FUN in our day and it is what gives all the "basics" the fun you want/need in K. (and we're doing 2nd grade still with it, one of my biggest priorities in schooling my kids has been to make it fun!!)  For me, FIAR helps me to fit that bill.
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
His Mercy Is New
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Philothea
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 8:25am | IP Logged
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Thanks, Candace. That was my mindset as well, though I am open to different opinions. FIAR just seems like fun snuggle and playtime to me and any academic learning is the icing on the relationship-building cake. :)
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CandaceC
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 8:56am | IP Logged
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Philothea wrote:
| Thanks, Candace. That was my mindset as well, though I am open to different opinions. FIAR just seems like fun snuggle and playtime to me and any academic learning is the icing on the relationship-building cake. :) |
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Exactly!!
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
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Betsy
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 10:47am | IP Logged
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Philothea wrote:
MATH
RightStart Math level A or B? (Placement test says B) -- I know many of you oppose this kind of formality with a young one, but he is math obsessed already without my having done anything -- he seems to innately "get it" and it makes him feel good to do it, so I figure it's good to let him work on something he's strong in and enjoys to balance the stuff he may struggle more with, like handwriting and art (he's a lefty).
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I have a son who is gifted in math. I started him in level B when he was 5 1/2. I would be cautious (need to carefully consider his temperament, etc.) starting a new 5yo at this age. RS is a comprehensive program and it will challenge him enough even if he is grade level. But, it does get more rigorous after level B, IMO. We have struggled some in level C this year with him keeping up with the writing that is required. He can do the math just fine, but he can't read equal to that level or write to that level. Not a huge issue, but something to consider. I also skipped level A with my math loving son as well as my other son. It's all repeated, just faster in level B.
Betsy
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Birdie
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 12:02pm | IP Logged
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I wouldn't drop sci/soc.stud./geo. I found that themes worked better for my littles, something like what you see in For Real Learning vs. a book like Ping where you study China, draw water, talk about obedience and read that same book for five days. My littles seemed to enjoy say reading books about apples and tasting apples and making apple crisp and studying the sounds of "a" or writing "a" words and reading them. They loved to make their own books with their own drawing and writing.
They liked to go on nature walks to the same place for each season, something like lets draw the tree at the park on the first day of fall, winter, spring and summer.
They seemed to like it if say they loved trains and we went to the library and found a bunch of train books and then made a book together of trains.
Holidays were fun too, they loved to read about holidays and decorate our pantry door and sliding glass door with holiday themes.
I wouldn't use a curriculum of any kind for K or 1st for science/social studies/geo. I would just do what you said snuggle and read good books. I'd save the curriculum for second grade after my child was reading and writing.
I think its easy to get caught up in the idea that you need a curriculum and sometimes that can rule you because you feel like your choices are dictated by it. I wouldn't let it happen that way. I know weird, but thats what I think. 
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CandaceC
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 12:14pm | IP Logged
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Birdie, I'm not trying to sound snotty or anything, but are you familiar with FIAR?
It does EXACTLY like you mentioned - you sit on the couch, read a book (say Ping) find China on the map, learn to draw water/waves (that is an art lesson in the book) talk about obedience...every single one of those lessons is in the manual! Ping is actually the first book we did with FIAR and many of the lessons are those exact things you mentioned.
FIAR IS a gentle, snuggle on the couch curriculum. That is what the authors of FIAR intended...yes, I've spoken with them.  Mrs. Jane, who wrote FIAR, is a lovely lady who homeschooled her girls using these great books and then ended up putting her wonderful ideas in a manual called "Five in a Row."
Basically, you read one book for a week and do activities with it very similar to what you suggested!
Alot of the ladies on this board have sort of intermingled Five in a Row, Real Learning, Catholic Mosaic, Charlotte Mason...the gentle and loving way of teaching our kids by using great literature.
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
His Mercy Is New
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Birdie
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 12:46pm | IP Logged
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Yes, I used Five in a Row with my oldest who is now 11, with my other two I did not. Not because I didn't enjoy it, on the contrary we have very fond memories of using it. It just seemed that when my others got to school age, they had already heard those books so many times it seemed good to explore the many other books available to read to littles. I would recommend Five in a Row again to Moms who have children who are reading and writing at least a little, perhaps seven years old. There were many times I read mothers say they wished they had waited and used Five in a Row when their kids could actually write a list, write out the definition of a vocab. word, draw a duck. . .
I think it stresses new homeschooling moms to try and mix and match and combine a ton of different resources. I'd rather offer up opinions that I feel encourage new homeschoolers to trust themselves and their children's interests. There is so much time for curriculum later, in my mind anyway.
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Philothea
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 1:00pm | IP Logged
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Birdie, I appreciate you sharing your perspective, and I think I get what you are saying. However, everything you've said is actually making me feel that FIAR really is the right choice for us at this time. My son IS reading and writing a little bit, and the basic structure of FIAR for me as a first time homeschooler is anything but stressful ... to me, it feels like training wheels.
I can see where after you'd been doing this a while, something like FIAR might begin to feel restrictive. Or if you looked at it like a list of requirements, it might stress you out if it was above your kid's head or something. But for me, just starting out, I think having the security blanket there is mentally helpful. If we have a bad week or two and get off track, I'll at least know where to start to get us going again. Figuring that out on my own would be extremely overwhelming, I think.
I don't look at it as "here is everything we MUST cover this year" -- I look at it as "this is a helpful guide so I have quality lessons ready to go whenever my son is ready to learn, even if the baby was up all night and I'm shoulder-deep in housework."
If my son isn't ready for some of the lessons contained in FIAR, then that frees up time for other things. But I think there's probably a lot of lessons he IS ready for.
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CandaceC
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I actually think you DON'T need to combine/mix resources with FIAR. Pick up a book from the library, pick up your manaul and you're ready to go. Sweet and simple.
Obviously, if you look at my blog, I do add in lots of hands on things, but that is because I LOVE doing it. I love hunting for crafts online to go with my books, I love tying in my nature study with my FIAR book. But none of that is anything you HAVE to do with FIAR.
Some people don't think of all those things to go with Ping, that is why the manual comes in handy! I am a resource junky and do find alot of ideas online, but I would never have thought of ALL the ideas from the manual, ya know?
Anyway, it seems like we might just have differing views on FIAR...which is completely fine!  Thanks for sharing your perspective.
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
His Mercy Is New
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Birdie
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Well thats a good thing then, all my writing helped make you confident it is good for you. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, it is a great curriculum.
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Birdie
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
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Candace said " Alot of the ladies on this board have sort of intermingled Five in a Row, Real Learning, Catholic Mosaic, Charlotte Mason...the gentle and loving way of teaching our kids by using great literature."
Oh I thought you were saying as in the above that is what people did, sorry I'm new, I just misunderstood, writing is hard to understand sometimes vs. talking.
We do have a different opinions on it, as I understood it the authors did not think you needed to add anything to it and were quite upset when people did by writing long lists on their boards of go along things. At that time fold and learns were not available. I don't like lapbooking either, I'm so weird.
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CandaceC
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| Posted: March 06 2009 at 1:32pm | IP Logged
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Birdie, the authors of course say you need to add Math and Phonics.
However, on their site, if you are a member of the forum there are book "archives" where lists of go-alongs, websites, projects, recipes and field trips are listed underneath each book. So, I think they know and can appreciate that we do add things to go with our week.
With that said, for some it can be a major stressor, and they will again emphasize that none of those go-alongs are NECESSARY to enjoy the FIAR journey...
Hope I'm making sense. :)
For the original poster, Philothea, if you aren't a member of the FIAR message board, there are some wonderful ladies there as well as resources available for the books.
Also, homeschool share has FREE lapbooks and printables for almost all the FIAR books. It is a WONDERFUL resource if you are interested in that avenue at all. :)
www.homeschoolshare.com --if you click on "Five in a Row" resources and then click on the volume number yo'ud like to look at, you can click on any book title and see what they have available for each book. (and these are EXTRAS, not necessary!)
As you can tell, I love FIAR and am pretty passionate about it. I've met the authors and attended a FIAR retreat. I've gotten to know them (and many wonderful other families) through the FIAR message board. And I also help moderate the Homeschool Share message board...so I'm kind of involved there too. You might say I'm a literature based unit study fanatic.
I do love unit studies in general too. I taught kindergarten before having my own kids and that is how i taught my classroom. We did a week on the letter A, tasted apples, went to the apple orchard, read books about apples, counted apple seeds, etc. FUN times!
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Does this look okay for Kindergarten?
