Something Old, New, Borrowed, and...Green?

I promised a while ago to give my input on the various curriculum types we've used. Until now, I haven't felt ready to do that, mostly because I wanted to give everything a good, fair trial before offering my thoughts. As I've mentioned before, we use what we're given, so we've been privileged to sample a wide variety of books and styles. We have curriculum old and new, and we've borrowed lots of books from the library and other sources. I was most excited, though, to be given a set of Bob Jones University's reading program - the same one I grew up with, and what I affectionately called my "green" reader (they're green from 1st through 12th grades).

I'll just list out what we have and give some feedback for each.

Preschool:

Winter Promise Unit Studies - This set comes with several non-consumable craft and science books, manipulatives, and a Bible stories book. Over all, I really liked it. It has a teacher's guide complete with lesson plans, which was great for me since I hate prep work. The only thing I didn't like is that it bounced around all of the books instead of moving through each one in an orderly fashion. We'll continue using some of the activities throughout our home school experience.

Usborne Phonics Cards, Alphabet Book, and Prewriting Skills - I love this set. I chose to photocopy the prewriting skills pages so that I could use the book for all of the kids instead of letting one child use it up. The flash cards are great, and we take them along with us when we're running errands and the kids need something to do.

Kindergarten:

Bob Jones University Press (BJUP) K5 Program - This is the curriculum that I largely grew up with, so I was thrilled when I was given a complete, brand-new set. It has three sections, and the first was definitely my favorite. After that, K seemed to lose interest, and he's struggling with the smallish font when trying to read words. I love the pre-cursive writing that is taught.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - At first glance, this method looked really confusing. There are big squares between each word, dots underneath each letter, and directional arrows below each sentence. That said, it's K's preferred phonics text, and he can read quite well. Once we began the lessons, all of the above-mentioned marks now make sense and actually aid his reading instead of distracting from it. This method also worked for my younger brother who really struggled with reading. The large font is perfect for little eyes, too.

Funnix - We found a link to download this for free, so I thought I'd share. The link will expire the 31st of January, so hurry if you're interested! We've not used this yet, but since it's computer-based, I'm assuming the boys will love it.

http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/01/educational-freebie-free-funnix-downloadable-childrens-reading-program-249-value.html

BJUP Math - This has lots of colorful pages, and K really enjoys it. As a teacher, I found some of the concepts a little difficult to comprehend.

Mortenson Math and Cuisinaire Rods - This simple mathematics course has been lots of fun, and the boys and I both like it. I do wish it had more subtraction, though; thus far, we've only encountered counting and addition.

First Grade:

BJUP English/Reading Skills - I was really excited to have this set as well. I grew up with BJUP's "green" readers, so I loved the thought of using them with my own kids. However, I found the numerous texts, charts, teacher's manual, and workbooks to be overwhelming. After a few weeks, we finally found a workable rhythm, but I skip a lot of the exercises since many seem to be merely busywork instead of helpful for instruction. As much as I loved them when growing up, we've decided to alter our course for next year since the boys learn differently than I did. I do love the in-depth-ness (is that a word?) of the BJUP curriculum; there is a lot more to it than several other same-grade publishers. I think it is laying an excellent foundation from which to springboard into something a little different.

I am truly grateful for all we've been given! Whether it's new, used, borrowed, or green, we've been able to use everything given to us. Next year, we'll be trying out The Weaver unit studies at the recommendation of my mom-in-law. It looks really good, so perhaps I'll post an update on that once we've tried it out.

The best thing about curriculum is that there is so much of it available. If something doesn't work for your family or your child, there's always something else to try! We are truly blessed to be home schooling in this day and age. Although there are more stringent laws to deal with, there are also a lot more choices. Happy hunting!

The Trouble With Toddlers

Unless there is only one child in the home or siblings are spaced 20 years apart, chances are that most home school families are going to run into a problem that I'm facing.

What do you do with disruptive toddlers while trying to educate older siblings?

I'm still trying to figure this one out, but here is what I tried first: giving her WeBlittle pumpkins and gourds from our recent pumpkin patch trip. This lasted about five minutes until she tried eating the small, green gourd. Based on her facial expression after the first taste, I'm going to guess it was pretty bitter. :)

Next up was giving her manipulatives - these were a special treat since she's usually not allowed to have them. These entertained her for an afternoon, but the following day she was bored again.

I tried other engaging things like puzzles, play-doh (which she ate), color crayons (which she chewed up - do you sense a theme here?), and felt boards. I realized that she was much happier and much more willing to sit content when she was doing what she saw her big brothers do. For us, our best toddler-taming strategy has been to include her right along with the boys. When we do Bible time, I insist she sit in my lap and listen. When T does his reading exercises and K is permitted to use the DoodlePro, L is happy drawing on the DoodlePro, too. Now, she anticipates that activity, and as soon as T's Green Reader makes an appearance, she toddles off and drags out the DoodlePros. It's really cute!

A new thing we're doing in the evenings is playing educational games before bed. Even though L has no concept of what's truly happening, as long as we give her a piece of the game to play with, she's a happy camper.

This is what's working for us for right now. It's having positive results other than keeping her occupied, too. By teaching her to sit still during our "Together Time" (often called "Circle Time" by other families), she's learning to sit still in church. She's learning, to a degree, the songs that I'm teaching the boys, sounds to certain letters, and how to behave while I need to give my attention to someone other than herself.

Each family structure is different, and this probably would not work with a baby/toddler younger than mine. There are lots and lots of ideas and possibilities for keeping track of toddlers while teaching older children, and we're enjoying researching and trying some of them in our own family.

Toddlers can be troubling and trying, but they can also be a blessing and a joy. In the trials of toddlers, remember: they're simply helping Mommy be more creative with the resources on hand (hence the pumpkin idea)!!

Learning in Leisure

Christmas break was a welcome respite from our school books, which had magically transformed from intriguing and welcome opportunities to boring objects of disdain. What amazed me most about our two-week book sabatical was how much we actually learned away from the printed page. Suddenly, T took a renewed interest in Bible time (the one thing we kept somewhat steady during the break); K wanted more than ever to spend time creating works of art; and both boys begged for colored paper, foam stickers, and craft supplies. Where these interests had disappeared to during the preceding weeks was a mystery to me, but it was great that they were so easily entertained while I attempted to catch up on home projects.

I noticed as the days passed that I started to catch up on dishes and laundry (though somehow I didn't find time to clean the bathrooms). It was a really nice feeling, but I also realized that simply accomplishing those two daily chores took nearly all of my free time...and that was without school! Understanding the uphill battle that I face with school work, house work, child care, and other necessities helped me to try to set more realistic goals for the second half of the school year.

Additionally, it dawned on me that not only do the the boys learn a lot from what I read to them, but they also retain much of what I read. T doesn't like the busyness of workbooks, but both boys love reading, being read to, and doing hands-on activities. It was amazing how clear all of this became simply by taking a break and stepping back to assess our progress thus far.

I really hadn't expected to learn much of anything over the break, but in fact, I learned (or finally realized) quite a lot! It will help us as we plunge ahead into the second half of the school year. I better understand what works and what doesn't, and we can try new things to see if some will work better than what we were doing originally.

Most importantly, I was able to see just how needed a break from textbooks was. The Heavenly Father rested on the 7th day; He designed us to need rest each night; and, at times, we need rest from our normal routines. Even if the boys aren't too thrilled about hitting the books again, my Mommy Batteries were energized, and I'm excited about the new mountains we'll be climbing this year.

Grab your gear, kiddos! It's gonna be fun!