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3ringcircus
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| Posted: March 29 2012 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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Time to do more research, I guess. G is starting to really get into reading in his K class. For some reason, that has me questioning my original plan to do unit studies, and I'm more curious about CM & Classical. I suppose the re-thinking is normal?
Not only is it philosophy, but also structure. Part of me wants to buy something w/ some direction and use it, but part of me sees that as too "controlling". IDK if I'm ready to piecemeal it and go w/ the flow, or not. G is doing so well in his areas of interest, so I'd like to capitalize on that. He's a bear to work w/ on subjects that don't naturally interest him, though, so I'd like some freedom to tease it out of him, and use technology as a carrot.
Yeah, definitely confused.
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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AmandaV
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| Posted: March 29 2012 at 3:04pm | IP Logged
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3ring,
If you feel you need some curriculum hand holding, have you thought of using CHC for 1st as a guide? They have such nice notes and ideas and the memory gems for each week are lovely. I have but did not use the first grade plans, but whenever I looked through them i gleaned great ideas. You could also use MODG loosely or use Designing your own classical curriculum to create your own schedule. If nothing else, she has lots of nice suggestions of materials for the younger grades. Hopefully that doesn't get your head swimming too much more 
We mostly follow Mater Amabilis and the supporting yahoo list is full of lovely ladies, many of the same from this forum. And Jen's posts on the early years are great and full of inspiration for navigating a CM education for your little guy. Hope that helps a little!
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Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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Pilgrim
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| Posted: March 29 2012 at 5:24pm | IP Logged
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No ideas, just wanted to say, yes, re-thinking is normal, I think. I feel like I do so a LOT! 
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: March 30 2012 at 6:25am | IP Logged
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When my oldest was six he was well ahead of the game academically, but like you said, a "bear" to work with on some of the things I thought should be important. In the end I had to completely rethink what home education was because it my current perceptions of "school at home" were so cumbersome to us that it was causing us a lot of unwarranted stress.
That is actually when I started posting here.
Anyway, my advice as someone who has BTDT really recently is that you are in luck! He is only six and at this point you pretty much still have plenty of time to figure out what to do. You almost can't screw him up at this point. Also, always do less than you think you should, not more.
If it were me I would avoid boxed curricula. I tried two and both were entirely too tedious and relied on too many workbooks to actually bring my family any joy in out learning. It became a daily litany of, "Now do the next page in your spelling workbook. Now do the next page in your math workbook.". Of course learning is going to be a drudgery then! I know some people really like those boxed curricula and they work well for their family, though.
I would read up on Charlotte Mason. Spend lots of time for your own benefit on a homeschooling "retreat" right in your own house. Read some of the blogs of the ladies on this board. They are seriously fonts of wisdom. Learn about a literary based education. Decide if that appeals to you.
I am just gearing up to move into first grade with my second six year old, so I am hardly an expert, but I can tell you what I have learned:
You are going to cover less than you think you should, especially in math and handwriting/copy work, but you are going to expect him to do it perfectly. (we use a timer- 5 minutes of perfect handwriting and 15 minutes of attentive math work if we are doing math in a worksheet type form).
It's going to be okay to back off and do nothing when a certain subject becomes a point of contention or tedious drudgery. You don't want tedius drudgery at this point. Your main goal is to be teaching him that learning is an amazing, joyous, fun thing that he is going to want to spend as much time as possible doing and that he is capable of doing that learning on his own as he gets older.
We build our day for the six year old around three main things- the morning basket, individual/table work, and outside time.
The Morning Basket (hat tip to Mackfam/Jen for this brilliant idea and for her so so helpful blog!) is a series of very short readings we do as a family every morning. For us it covers the Liturgical Year, hymns,, poetry memorization, natural history/nature study, history, and Latin daily and habits and virtues, geography, poetry reading, artist study, and composer study weekly. The whole thing takes us about an hour or so. It's all literary based.
Individual or table work covers phonics, catechism, copy work/handwriting, and math for us. It takes about half an hour or so.
Outside time covers nature walks/ nature study and playtime. It is the bulk of the day for my six year old.
The big thing I want to work on with my sixes is building the habit of narration, building more habits and virtues, installing a love of learning, and introducing them to the idea of more formal study slowly.
My biggest helper is to remember that less really is more in terms of academics at this age. Shorter lessons, less material, and leave them wanting more.
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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AmandaV
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| Posted: March 30 2012 at 7:31pm | IP Logged
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I don't think I read your original question well enough. I think that Krista said it better. Keep things simple. If you do feel you need to have a plan laid out for you, my suggestions stand.
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Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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3ringcircus
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| Posted: March 30 2012 at 10:24pm | IP Logged
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AmandaV wrote:
| I don't think I read your original question well enough. I think that Krista said it better. Keep things simple. If you do feel you need to have a plan laid out for you, my suggestions stand. |
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I'm moving further away from the idea of purchasing a plan, but I appreciate any and all suggestions. It's incredible how much is out there, and new sources and links take you in fascinating directions!
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: March 31 2012 at 12:13pm | IP Logged
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kristacecilia wrote:
Anyway, my advice as someone who has BTDT really recently is that you are in luck! He is only six and at this point you pretty much still have plenty of time to figure out what to do. |
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Yes! Having also been there recently (we'll be heading into 3rd grade and 1st grade this year), I can offer similar advice. Try whatever speaks to you after prayerful consideration. If it doesn't work, that's okay! You are allowed to change your mind! I wish someone had told me that at the beginning of my journey.
If worksheets and books are too tedious, chuck'em. If your child loves to do workbooks, then let him do workbooks. Just give it a try, you just never know what style will appeal to both you and your child.
I'm still experimenting. I was struggling before this year started, so I enrolled with a boxed curriculum. Now that I've had that experience, I know what it is and what does/does not work about that approach. My plans for 3rd/1st this year are different than I've done this year. I love that I can direct our learning in whatever fashion we want.
Enjoy! There's so much out there, but I enjoy the hunt.
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Lara
DD 11, DS 8, DS 6, DS 4
St. Francis de Sales Homeschool
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: My head is officially swimming
