Have a lot of questions…not sure which direction to take

I agree about not switching Math/Learning to Read if it’s working. I’ll just share my experience w/Aplogia and MOH. I like the programs, but wish I wouldn’t have started them so young. I was not very confident starting off so I felt safer w/a ‘program for a year’ like Apologia and MOH. I wish I would have just focused on fun living books for the early years. We completed the books, but I don’t feel like my dd retained much. I loved MOH, but I think it would have been better to just read short, fun living books on different eras and saved a spine for later.

Same w/Apologia….wish I would have done more fun living books and nature study. But I felt ‘safe’ w/Apologia. Don’t get me wrong, I think Apologia is great and my 5th and 8th graders are using it. But I wish we would have just had more fun w/science in the younger years.

As far as grammar, I would keep it very light. I loved Primary Language Lessons in 2nd/3rd grade…very gentle and CM.  Then we moved on to Writing Tales in 4th/5th…a classical program written to student, but I think CMish in regards to short lessons, quality stories, narration, copywork, grammar all worked in. We add in Analytical Grammar in 6th-8th which is very thorough. Grammar is a finite body of info. You don’t need to bombard kids every year.

Just my .02. Hope something was helpful! Blessings, Gina

Oh yeah, we are also reading some other science books off my tablet: The Burgess Animal book (with just DS6) and Seed Babies with all of my kids. They are really enjoying it! We don’t really do hands-on much. It’s a lot of work! LOL! I let them draw about what we read if they want. Otherwise, I keep them interested by reading good books. There are a lot of good books out there so it’s hard to choose.

AFthful, you’ve got lots of info and advice here so I won’t comment on everything.  But you asked in your latest post about science in particular and I think I have a good story to share on this.  We’ve done exceptionally well here in science, but NOT because my kids have a “sciencey” mama and NOT because of any great curriculum choice.  We owe it all to the RIGHT living books.  Unfortunately (for my kids) I did a bit of “hit and miss” in our early years in science, almost entirely because I didn’t trust the idea of “only” living books enough.

When my eldest children were in the age 6-9 stage I couldn’t decide on a “real” science curriculum and I had children who detested anything that involved holding a pencil.  After learning about CM and seeing the many excellent living books available in the science realm, I opted to have us focus on earth science and zoology for the early years.  We spent a great deal of time basking in the Thornton Burgess “Adventures of” series.  I read a chaper or two every day and they narrated EVERY time.  It was EXCELLENT material (and just the right length) for my children to build narration skills.  When they were ready (age 9+) we added the more rigorous Burgess Animal Book for Children, and then The Burgess Bird Book for Children.  Again, every chapter was read slowly and carefully either by me or via Librivox audio, and every chapter was narrated.  Within a few months my children’s narrations were approaching 10 minutes per chapter.  Shortly thereafter they were leading detailed, lengthy conversations with grandparents around the dinner table about their learnings.  A little while later, sketchbooks became filled with animal drawings and scenes from our readings — with NO prompting or laying out of expectations from me.  Talk about success!

Today, (age almost 10 and 11) my boys are passionate nature and animal lovers, and walking encyclopedias when it comes to anything earth science, nature or zoology related.  I promise you I did NOTHING more than read to them (ok, I did one more thing….I chose our books very carefully and I made sure nothing was skimmed).  Alhough in the beginning it was hard for me to be without a formal curriculum (I tend to like things more organized and clearly laid out), I don’t regret what we did for one minute…because I SAW the results. 

Incidentally, I did attempt switches to “formal” curriculum a time or two (after visits to homeschool conferences that had overwhelmed me!).  Apologia, Science in the Beginning, Behold and See, God’s Design, the list goes on.  The attempts at formal curriculum were ALWAYS met with bored stares, fidgety body language and almost zero retention.  Science in the Beginning saw my kids slightly more “engaged” than with the others, but again, on the readings even in that program, many blank stares.  To your question above, I looked at (though did not purchase) Queen’s among the many others; I found nothing different or engaging about it.  After the first year of hit and miss, I finally decided to stick with living books.  My kids were proof that living books = child REALLY learns.  My plan is stay solely with living books for science – carefully selected and with solid thought to ensure we cover appropriate areas of study/focus –  until 7th grade.

Blessings as you go through your choices and planning; homeschooling is a treasure, but it can certainly hit hard times if/when you fall upon the wrong curriculum choice or a way of teaching that doesn’t fit with you/your child.   You are doing all the right things asking questions here 🙂

AFthful, you are most welcome.  Many wonderful women on this forum helped me when I first started learning about CM and I am so honoured to have learned from them and now share my experiences.  Keep in mind it is different for everyone, so, for all the advice you get here, you need to keep asking yourself, “is this my child? Does this advice apply to me?”  Some advice will, some will not.  That’s okay – we are all a bit different.  Best thing is to know yourself, your children, their learning styles and YOUR own comfort style for teaching.

I saw a post from Christie on the other thread.  Her response to your L.A. question is bang-on.  Get the SCM resource she mentioned:  Hearing, Reading, Telling and Writing.  If you are whole-heartedly believing in a CM education, know that children at age 7-9 do not need to be doing a formal program in grammar or spelling.   Reading instruction (with a graded reader if you prefer), copywork (purchased or make-your-own via web templates), and narration by your daughter on readings that YOU read to her (literature, science and history) —  is ALL she needs.  I know, I know, it sounds like “too easy” or “this can’t be enough”… or “that’s just too much fun and not enough “work” for us.  I get it!  I never thought school could feel this lovely either.  Until I saw that it really works.  Look at this way:  for all the time you save NOT doing “formal” grammar or spelling, you can and should spend cuddled on the couch (or under a tree, depending on where you live) with all your favourite picture/story books.  Begin by reading TO her… when the time is right, move to “buddy reading”… she does a page (or even a line) and you do a line.  No “lesson”…you just do this for fun.   ALL.  The.  Time.  No pressure.  Just fun, cuddle time.  Make sure you use your finger to follow along with each line/word you read.  And just keep it up.  Suddenly, a month or two go by and you realize as you give her more sentences to read by herself, “ah, SHE’S reading more of it now…!”   ALL books by Virginia Burton are EXCELLENT for this stage of you reading to her and for the buddy reading stage.  If she loves Beatrix Potter, use those, too.  Frog and Toad, also.  Robert McCloskey is great for this as well, though some of his are longer, so you’d do it is several sessions or sit-downs.  And graded readers are fine, too.  We are Catholic, so we use the Faith and Freedom series, though many here on the forum use the readers by Pathway Publishers.  By all means, if AAR is building her confidence and you are BOTH doing it with a positive attitude, then stick with it.  But do the “buddy reading” with Burton, McCloskey, and the Frog and Toad series, as a fun add-on.  And if AAR starts to drain you, just stick with your buddy reading.  When I do “buddy reading” for a period of time as our “only” reading program, I simply keep a little notebook of words that were “new” and unknown that day, jot the words in a notebook and the next day, before we begin cuddle-read time, we read the words together, sometimes straight from the notebook, other times on our white board.

On your L.A. …you can get the copywork here from SCM (the Copybook Reader, for example), copywork from Queen’s (copywork only, not to be confused with their Language series which I feel is overkill and completely unnecessary in grade 1-2), or YOU can write your own copywork sheet each day (takes about 2 minutes and there are many, many options on the internet for doing your own copywork sheets, zanerbloser.com for example, you click on their free template, type in your sentence(s) on a primary lined paper template, skip lines so she types directly underneath, press “print” and presto, you have your own custom copywork).  When my boys were at this stage (age 6-8), in fact, I took a lot of the copywork from our beloved Thornton Burgess books using the Zanerbloser template.  They would get the copywork sheet in the morning and say, “hey, Mama, I remember this sentence from yesterday’s reading!”  They found it quite thrilling… 🙂

Whatever method you choose, present her with a sheet of copywork daily.  If she can’t read every word of the particular passge on her own, no big deal.  Read it together, and for the words unknown to her, use your AAR magnets to break down the new words, find a few that rhyme and build a few “new” words from within your copywork just by showing her “ed” and “ing” endings.  Or plurals.  Simple.  You’ve just done an extra little reading lesson based on your copywork.  Then, she copies in her best handwriting, and you WATCH her to make sure she’s forming her letters correctly.  If you see any letter formation errors you can correct them immediately.  Such a small thing, and yet, when you correct errors immediately, you’ve just prevented a bad habit.   

Finally, if it makes you feel like you are “doing” grammar, make sure for your copywork that you are taking the time to READ the passage with her – properly and with beautiful tone in your voice  – with pauses for commas, periods or semi-colons.  Point out to her (while putting your finger on the comma or the period) WHY you are pausing.   This is ALL I did for my kids at ages 6-8 for L.A. (though again, I tried “formal” grammar because I thought there must be MORE that I should be doing….what a mistake!).  But doing it JUST with copywork, at grades 1-3, was absolutely perfect and by the time my eldest hit 4th/5th grade he was at the stage (with no formal instruction) where he could write a 2 page written narration and know how to use periods, commas and make a complete thought. His spelling needed a bit of extra work, but we simply began that focus AT grade 4.  If we had started it earlier, it would have taken away from our “cuddle” reading time together.  The cuddle-reading time/buddy reading is what MADE my kids into reading lovers, so again, although at the time it felt like a “risk” (what?!  I’m not going to do grammar in 2nd grade when EVERY other kid on the street is doing grammar?!!)…it all worked out, and I have no regrets!

Blessings, Angie