I joined a local home school group, that a friend told me about, and went to my first meeting tonight, joined the group "officially" and all that! It was a curriculum show and tell, so probably one of the best first meetings to go to! Everyone brought their curriculum, laid it out on tables so we could walk around and look at things, people would stand up and share what they've used, what they like, don't like, what was good for their kids, what type of learning style it works best for, etc. I have a few curriculum choices already made, but nothing purchased, but it was good to see the ones I want, and get confirmation that I chose a good one! I'm slowly but surely making my way down the list of things we need. The bad thing was, I thought I had it narrowed down to one or two, and after the meeting I realized there are a few more options to look at.
But, for math, I've decided on one called Math U See. I've heard nothing but good things about it, and I think it will work for both kids, since it seems to be a very hands on type program. I know Riley has a kinesthetic learning style, so it should be great for him, Regan I think is auditory, but I'm not sure, and I am not sure how well her math skills are at this point, so I think at least it will be a good starting point for us.
The history, the "main" part of our curriculum is still up for debate. I am vacillating between My Father's World and Story of the World, which is from the Well Trained Mind. I've gotten good reports on both, I know I want to do the 4 year cycle of history, but I am still on the fence.
And that's about all I have narrowed down so far. There is still Language Arts, Latin, and Science, and those will probably have to be more specific for their grades, so I don't really have an idea. But, I'm counting on going to some sort of curriculum fair or home school conference to see more of them hands on, and hopefully that will help, or more likely, overwhelm me further!
But it's exciting. I can't wait to get books in my hand and start the process. I never in a million years considered home school and now that I have made the decision, I can't wait to start. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Glad you have some curriculum direction and some support!
ReplyDeleteNot sure if this will help you at all or not but for what it is worth...I too was very excited about the format for My Father's World. I like Unit Studies but also like the Classical Education style. This was advertised as such so I was looking forward to using this some day. My Father's World seems to have it all laid out for you- easy prep! I love it!!! But my recent concern about it is if it is really classical. (I am only mentioning it because of the Well Trained Mind curriculum you mentioned being classical). In My Father's World you are only going through the cycle once, whereas in most classical style learning curriculums, you go through it two or three times. My Father's World has a 2nd or 3rd grade curriculum which covers the U.S. Then there is year 1 which is an geography overview and a study of various countries (sounds fun!). Then years 2, 3, 4, and 5 go through the cycle. If they started in 2nd grade, this puts the child completing the cycle in 7th grade. The curriculm only goes through 8th grade, thereby you wouldn't be able to go through all of the material again. They are working on a HS curriculum but it doesn't seem to be on the same cycle system. You can check out their website for more details. I think I want to talk to a MFW rep to get more clarification but right now it seems I will keep looking :( But it is a toss up on whether I pick something more "my style" according to my teaching ability or try to do a more rigorous approach! As you've said before, it's a big responsibility! Thanks for the idea about the Story of the World- I will be checking into that also!
Dana Irwin
Send me an e-mail (pete at pluteopleno dot com) if you're fighting with choosing a Latin curriculum. I'd be happy to help you with that one.
ReplyDelete