I wasn't sure if we would be homeschooling this year or not. Caden really liked the preschool he went to last year and they are even starting a kindergarten program this year. Originally I thought, how great, he can go there two more years and then we'd give homeschooling a try if we thought it would be best. However, it became clear to me at the end of the year that I would need to find a different school for him. I toured 4 new preschools in my area and came close to enrolling him in one. After much prayer and consideration, we decided we would start our homeschool journey this year. If it doesn't go well, we can start looking at kindergarten programs for next year mid-year.
We got most of our homeschool curriculum in the
mail last week. Once we decided that we felt we should go ahead and start homeschooling this coming year, I immediately wanted to begin. However, knowing me, if we started too soon we'd be done by Christmas! Over the weekend I was able to organize everything and review the materials we'll be covering this year. I am super picky when it comes to education and also a
little indecisive. I have taught all ages from preschool classes to teaching
college kids as a History Student Instructor while in college. Mostly the
curriculum was provided for me, except Sunday school classes occasionally and
when I tutored 3rd graders in math and English. However, when it comes to
deciding what the focus is for my child, I tend to go overboard. I was torn
between two curriculums, My Father's World Kindergarten and Sonlight P4/5.
After much prayer and research I decided we'll do both! We're also going to be
learning phonograms with Wordy Worm and possibly adding Math U See Primer
mid-year if My Father's World math is not challenging enough. Since we're
starting a kindergarten program, I'm okay with us taking things a little slower
and if we don't finish in a year, that is fine. I just want us to have a good
schedule going before the baby arrives. Also, I need structure in my life and
having a plan is very helpful to me. I also didn't feel like putting together
my own program. I know you can teach pre-K and kindergarten for a lot less.
However, we are saving quite a bit by not sending him to a preschool and I
really wanted everything laid out for me this year. The most important thing is
I want Blue Rock to have fun this year. I want him to always be eager to learn
and grow as he learns about the world around him and how much God loves
him.
Collin thinks I went a little overboard since I purchased two complete curriculums. However, it's hard to buy a boxed curriculum that fits your child perfectly. For example, most of the "factual learning" in My Father's World, Caden has known for years, for example the alphabet, numbers, etc. However, I LOVE how it incorporates God's love throughout and he's going to have a lot of fun doing the hands-on activities. Therefore, I purchased Wordy Worm Reading to increase his reading skills. I want him to learn phonograms and really beef up his reading skills this year. I purchased Sonlight because I love how it covers so many different cultures and they have an awesome book selection. Also, it's mainly reading, which is what we do anyway. However, it only takes 20-40 minutes a day to complete. If you know my son, he's a very, busy, busy little boy. We have lots of unstructured play time but he loves learning knew things and having a few things throughout the day planned for him.
2013-2014 Curriculum Choices
Why We Are Using Sonlight P4/5:
Sonlight P4/5: When Caden was 2, I bought Sonlight P3/4.
It basically consisted of a bunch of really good books. Also included was an
instructor's guide with activities to do with each book. Seeing how the past
books were such a hit, I decided that I didn't want to stop using Sonlight. One
thing I love about Sonlight is how you teach children through living books,
rather than text books. It makes concepts come alive. It's also Christian
based, although not every book is Christian. In fact, many are not. Through books, your child will
learn about many concepts and beliefs and by reading these to your child, it gives the parent or teacher the
opportunity to talk about different world views. Some negative comments I've
read is that some books introduce certain concepts and ideas earlier than many
parents would want. As a parent, I'm going to read the books ahead of time and
if he's not ready for a certain idea or concept, we'll wait. But I also think
it's important that he's aware of other beliefs as we lay the foundation for his
faith. Also, for preschool, you only spend about 30-40 minutes per day, about
the amount of time we spend reading anyway. Included in this year's
instructor's guide are questions and activities to go along with different
stories. In the Bible section you learn about character development and I
really appreciate that. Also the book choices are pretty advanced. Before the
year is over, we'll be reading chapter books without pictures. Sonlight is
almost a complete curriculum. The one thing lacking is math.
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| My Father's World Kindergarten with Literature Package |
My Father's World Kindergarten: There are so many reasons why
I really love this curriculum. The main reason is it's God-centered. A main
reason we are homeschooling is that we want Caden to fall in love with
Jesus. My Father's World Kindergarten teaches all about how God created the
world while teaching kindergarten skills and doing lots of fun hands-on
activities. My Father's World also support missions, which Collin and I
have a heart for. And, like Sonlight, Caden will learn about different cultures
around the world.
My Father's World is also a complete
curriculum. If I don't have time to add anything else, we'll be okay. Of course
we'll be reading through Sonlight and I bought the literature package to go
along with My Father's World so we'll get plenty of reading in.
Both Sonlight P4/5 and My Father's World
Kindergarten use the Charlotte Mason method with classical education. My
Father's World combines unit studies as well and they both incorporate a
Biblical Worldview. I know he's only 4, but since he's already reading and
writing some, he's ready for the kindergarten level. He also already knows most of the kindergarten skills. If nothing else, we'll be honing his skills this year as we work on character development.
 |
| Wordy Worm Level 1 and 2 |
Finding a solid reading program was difficult.
Then I came across Wordy Worm and decided we'd give it a try. Wordy Worm
teaching reading through using phonograms which make up the smallest sounds.
It's a more thorough form of phonetics. For example, "a" makes 3 sounds, not
just one, the letters "oa" say "o," etc. Caden can already read simple
words by sounding them out. However, I hope by teaching him phonograms which
make up 98% of the English language, it will make learning other languages
easier in the future. While I'm unable to give a complete review of this
program. I will say, you don't get a whole lot for the price. I honestly was a
little disappointed when I received everything in the mail. I'm hoping once I
print stuff off disks and we really start it, it will be worth the price.
 |
| Spanish and German |
Anyone who knows Collin knows that he loves languages. He is in charge of teaching foreign languages. This year they will be working on Spanish
and German. We'll be working mostly on vocabulary for German and start teaching
him phrases and continue growing his Spanish vocabulary. Due to time constraints, I purchased the Spanish Curriculum and we already had the German book.
List of books we'll be going
through:
- 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible
- Children's Book of Virtues
- Developing the Early Learner, Volume 1 (we
might add 2-4)
- Eric Carle's Animals Animals
- How Do You Lift a Lion?
- How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the
World
- Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There
Is?
- Milly-Molly-Mandy Story Book
- My First Dictionary
- New Toes for Tia
- Stories from Africa
- Stories from Around the World
- The Berenstain Bear's Big Book of Science and
Nature
- The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit (not
pictured)
- The Gods Must be Angry
- Then and Now
- Uncle Wiggily's Story Book
- What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew?
- What's Under the Sea?
- Why Do Tigers Have Stripes?
- A Treasury of Mother Goose Rhymes (not
pictured)
- Things People Do (not pictured)
- The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book (not
pictured)
- People (not pictured)
- Dinosaur Activity Book
- Big Thoughts for Little People
- Little Bear
- Swimmy
- The Bee Tree
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- Make Way for Duckling
- Moonbear's Shadow
- Katy No-Pocket
- The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit
- Love You Forever
- Frog and Toad Are Friends
- The Story of Ferdinand
- If the Dinosaurs Came Back
- Mouse and Mole, Fine Feathered Friends
- Amazing Animal Alphabet
- Seven Blind Mice
- Tacky the Penguin
- Little Jewel Bird
- Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
- The Color Kittens
- The Year at Maple Hill Farm
- How to Make an Apple Pie and See the
World
- I Am a Leaf
- Annie and Snowball and the Cozy Nest
- Stone Soup
- How to Hide a Butterfly
- What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?
- Cuisenaire® Rods Alphabet Book
We're also going to create a Butterfly Garden
and Ant Farm. Looking forward to a great year!!
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