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Our Homeschooling
I have
been asked many times, why I homeschool. Most people assume it is because I
do not think the public school system is good enough or it is too dangerous
or I do not like the secular teaching. Actually, I homeschool because I
love to teach and I love to watch kids learn. It is fun. Homeschooling is
not always easy. Some days are very frustrating. However, most days are
highly rewarding. To me, it is addicting. When Duncan understood phonics for
the first time, I was hooked.
Under Homeschool Background Information, is some general getting started information. Here I am going to discuss what I use. When I started looking for curriculums I wanted something that would be flexible, not labor intensive (preparation wise), reasonably priced, and highly interactive. For kindergarten I use ABeka for readiness skills, social studies, writing, and phonics. My math program is Math-U-See. I tried ABeka’s science with Duncan and found it pretty boring and over all unnecessary at this age. I absolutely love ABeka’s phonics program. The writing and phonics curriculum work together and reinforce each other. It is a gradual, natural progression from letter sounds, to blends, to words, to sentences. Duncan was reading before he even realized he was reading. I highly recommend their kindergarten. However, keep in mind you might not need everything they sell with the program. For example, there is no need to buy their writing paper for practice. You can get cheaper tablets else where. I am currently working through the ABeka program with Bekah. Since she is only four, we are taking things very slowly. My intent is to spread this over two years. She is enjoying school very well and catching on to the basics of reading. After I finished kindergarten with Duncan, I realized I needed to make some changes for him. While ABeka has a great program, there was too much repetitive material. Sundae told me about The Well Trained Mind. While I believe they have some over-kill in their curriculum, I very much agree with their classical approach to teaching. So, using their book, I set up a program that fits my children’s needs. Since Duncan’s in the 3rd grade I will list what I am currently using.
Spelling
(Monday-Friday)—Spelling
Workout By Modern Curriculum Press. I have been very impressed with
this series. Duncan loves rules, so this book does a good job of
explaining the sometimes difficult to understand English spelling rules.
Math
(Monday-Friday)—Math-U-See
has been my only math curriculum. It is wonderful. Math makes sense to
me. When I was in school, we followed the steps we were told without
really know why we were following them. This program teaches why we
follow those steps. It uses manipulative to help students visualize what
is being taught. The books are intelligently laid out. For example, when
teaching multiplying by 2, the number of cups in a pint is introduced.
Instead of perimeter, area, and volume being introduced together,
perimeter is taught during addition and area during multiplication. Even
though I made it through Calculus III in college, I look forward to
finally understanding Algebra in a few years. Excellent curriculum.
English
(Monday-Friday)—ABeka
Language C has worked well for us. I was initially hesitant to use
ABeka because of the repetition in the kindergarten curriculum. However,
I have not had the same issues with this book. Llike the spelling
program, it appeals to Duncan’s love of rules, so it makes a lot of
sense to him.
Hand Writing
(Monday-Friday)—I use
ABeka’s Writing With Phonics, but really any program which practices
cursive writing will work. I used this one because of familiarity with
ABeka. Next year I will start picking sections of text from books and
have him practice writing that way. Since he does have Asperberg’s
Syndrome, he struggles with writing. Two years ago his doctor
recommended he start learning to type, so we bought
Typing Instructor for Kids by Individual Software. He did very well
and when possible, he types most of his work.
Latin
(Monday-Friday)—Why Latin? The authors of The Well Trained Mind
dedicated a chapter to this ‘dead’ language. Since they give a great
in-depth explanation, I will simply summarize why I decided to start
with Latin. First, it is the basis of the Romantic Languages—Spanish
being one of those languages. Living in Texas, Spanish can be very handy
at times. I always wanted Duncan to learn Spanish, but by learning Latin
first, he will have a solid foundation for not only Spanish, but four
other languages if he chooses to learn them. Secondly, many English
words are derivatives of Latin. Lastly, many scientific names and terms
are Latin. I think Latin will help advance his love of science. We are
currently in the first book of the
Latin Primer series by Martha Wilson. The pronunciation CD is a must
and the flash cards are very helpful. The curriculum is good, but I have
found the teacher’s book very un-user friendly. We are currently on week
eleven and I am just now figuring out how to use the teacher's book
well. When we started, we were going through one lesson a week, but four
weeks in I decided to slow down and spend two weeks per lesson. Duncan
is a little displeased with our progress, but he is learning it better
at this pace. I did not find a publisher’s website, so the link is for
where I buy the book. An internet google for Latin Primer will turn up
reviews and additional places to purchase.
Update (June 2007)--I decided to change
Latin programs. While this is a good program for learning words,
it really leaves the student (and inexperienced teacher) hanging when it
comes to grammar. I looked at several programs and decided on
Latin for Children by
Classical Academic Press. The main feature it has is a fun
activity book. Duncan loved the extra activities in the Latin
Primer book. Unfortunately, it only had 2 crossword puzzles and a
couple of art activities. Otherwise it was straight memory and
worksheets. I think this new program will be one Duncan really
enjoys and works on in his free time.
Bible Study (Monday-Friday)—Until third grade, I used Duncan’s Awana handbooks for Bible study. However, I felt like he needed more. When I started looking for a Bible curriculum, I wanted one with a focus on facts, not analogies. If I tell Duncan, “Jesus lives in your heart”, that makes no sense to him. So, I needed something that stuck with the facts and let me add the theology when and where he could best appreciate it. I found Stick Figuring Through the Bible by Grapevine Studies. I love this program and more importantly, so does Duncan. Basically, we are going through the Bible drawing events with stick figures. It is flexible, fun to draw, and Biblically accurate. It is also a great conversation starter. We have found ourselves all over the Bible answering questions that were started by this study. It has been wonderful for not only teaching facts, but allowing us to discuss theology on Duncan’s terms. I highly recommend it. Creative Writing (Monday & Wednesday)—Duncan does not like anything that makes him think through his thoughts and express them. So, he does not like creative writing. I love it. We are using Writing Strands. It is easy to use and allows the student to go as far as their imagination will allow them. The projects are fun and easy to teach. Even though Duncan does not enjoy writing, this program has really helped him learn to express himself better. I am very happy with the results. History (Monday, Wednesday, & Friday)—I do not like my current history program. The basis of it is to go through The Usborne Book of World History a subject at a time and let your child research the areas they find interesting. It is good in theory and probably works well for other people. However, Duncan is not interested in history, so most of the time I find myself searching to find things that I think he might enjoy. Furthermore, I think too much time is spent on obscure parts of history, and not enough on major events. I have tried this for three years, and will find something else for next year. I am leaning towards Diana Waring's History Alive at this point, but have not made a final decision.
Update
(June 2007): I finally decided on a new history program for the
4th grade. After researching curriculums for many days, I'm going
to try Beautiful
Feet's geography. I'll update as we find out how it goes.
I'm also going to switch from a three day a week schedule to a two day a
week schedule. Duncan loves science and has a real desire to
pursue this area of study. Since this is his desire, I'm going to
place the higher priority on science and allow him to study it three
days a week.
Update (October 2007): I'm declaring Beautiful Feet a success. We've went through the first book, Paddle to the Sea and the lessons that go with it. Duncan has loved it. After one week, he asked if we could do Geography 3 days and Science 2 days one week and Science 3 days and Geography 2 days the next week. This is the first time I have every gotten this type of positive response from him about history related items. Granted he loves maps to the extent we have to take the map from him when we go to Six Flags or other amusement parks so he'll do something other than study them. Still, he not only loved the map work, he loved reading the story. Science (Tuesday & Thursday)—I started using Answer's in Genesis' God’s Design Science Curriculum this year. The previous two years I had used the approach (which is the same as history) outlined in The Well Trained Mind. However, Duncan loves science and I did not feel like I was doing an adequate job of teaching him enough. I wanted a curriculum that taught from a Christian perspective. I have been a supporter of Answers in Genesis for several years and knew I could trust their curriculum to be scientifically accurate as well as Biblically compatible. So, for this year, I am using the Chemistry portion of the God’s Design series. Thus far I have been very pleased. Almost every lesson has an experiment which Duncan loves. Since most lessons do not have a worksheet, I have him type a report, following the scientific method, to demonstrate he actually understood the experiment. On a side note, I was having difficulty understanding the answers to one of the lessons, so I contacted the author. Within a few hours, she had sent me a response and completely answered my question. Find this useful? Sign our Guest Map and let us know! Will's Music Will's Writing Will's Dad Theology Will's Photography Meli's Mother APC AIMBooks Authors Music Christian Resources Fish Fish Resources Homeschool Homeschool Background Homeschool Resoources Trips Projects Sleep Apnea Inside Corner Guest Map Asperger's Asperger's Resources Step Diet Duncan Rebekah Dave will willis donna duncan Kid Games |
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