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trying to figure out curriculum
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hi everyone,
I am looking for some advice. I have been using My Father’s world, which is good, but I want to plan my own curriculum. I want to teach the basics, and then add in other subjects over the months as I feel comfortable. I have a 8 year old boy (who loves airplanes and science and wants to study flight), a 5 year old girl who is eager to learn to read, a 3 year old who wants to be included in all we do, and a 1 year old boy. I have been kind of scared to plan on my own because I fear I will miss something and/or not make school as interesting. But over the years it has kept coming up and I feel like God is wanting me to trust Him in this rather than trust following what a curriculum tells me to do. Does anyone have any advice on how I can start out on planning on my own? we have been doing U.S. history with My Father’s world so I think we should just continue to read those books for history, but I am also considering SCM modern times and epistles, however I like the looks of SCM history, but I think since my kids are young that many of the books or topics will be over their heads. we did Gen-Deut. a year ago and the family read aloud was a little much for them. I am also considering Apologia zoology because my son loves science and it looks cm friendly. Thanks for taking the time to give me any advice you have or even just testimonies from seeing your own children grow and learn.
Blog series and there is a related book for sale. CM books on her methods are helpful too, as well as the video series sold here.
https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/series/planning/
I would wait on Apologia science and go with his interest on flight instead. As part of airplanes, etc, you could do a term on birds. Apologia is still a textbook even if it does call for narration and has a conversational tone. Burgess Bird Book for Children is nice. You could read some biographies like The Wright Brothers and their Sister. Make various paper airplanes and Lego or knex airplanes. Get some nonfiction science books like Eyewitness, Usborne, etc. and simple science experiments on flight at the elementary level. Have a nature walk regularly and take notice of changes in Creation each time. Research further what he takes interest in. Have fun. Enjoy science. Start Apologia texts later.
https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/series/making-the-transition-to-cm/
I would stay with MFW American History for now. You might check Beautiful Feet elementary level for next year. Or look at catalogs and book lists and decide on your own history next year.
Thank you Wings 2 fly
I am going to continue with American History books from mfw, but just read them and have him narrate. Great ideas about science! He already makes airplanes out of legos and knex all the time! I will check out those books you suggested. Does anyone else have any ideas to add? Thanks so much for your advice!
I second the recommendation for SCM’s planning book. It is excellent and a great help in keeping things organized and clear as you plan out your homeschooling days with CM methods.
I’ve tried various history curricula over the years but I’ve mostly stuck with planning my own history studies. I find it works best for my family.
I always used library books for science studies when my kids were elementary age. We would just go to the library and they would pick a topic that looked interesting and we would spend as little or as much time as they liked on that particular topic. That, along with nature study, was our main science curriculum until middle school. We enjoyed using bits and pieces of Considering God’s Creation as well.
I don’t think I would use SCM history modules if my oldest was only 8. I would hold off another year or so even though I think their studies are wonderful!
Using the books you already have sounds like a better plan.
We preferred our library books to Apologia science books. They are nice but still very much textbooks. That is the area where I would go with SCM studies for your children. I would have loved using them with my children had they been available when mine were young.
Some of my favorite resources for elementary ages were Truthquest American history, Thornton Burgess books for science, and The Millers series for family devotion and character building books. The Holling C. Holling books are also excellent for geography and we read a lot of Landmark history books as well.
I’ll share a few things that I just recently wrote, as trust me – I have been there, and I’ve been doing some fairly deep reflection on our homeschool journey lately. I really thought at first starting out, that I wanted the all in one curriculum because they were all planned out for me. But I soon grew tired of constantly having to tweak things. So then, like you, I decided to plan my own. But I felt overwhelmed with all the different approaches, and materials, and it was hard! I found in my insecurity and doubt I would find something, an idea, philosophy etc that appealed to me, but then I would cling to it, thinking like I had to follow it 100%. Well, that background is what led to this post (make sure you read the link to Sarah MacKenzie’s blog in it, too, it was truly eye opening for me):
So the first thing I would say to you is – don’t feel you have to follow any philosophy 100%. Feel free to drop the parts that do not work for you. Feel free to bring in something that does. You might like this: Is It Essential?
Then this next post, What our Homeschool Looks Like, I’m sharing for the sake of hopefully giving you some ideas, and so you can see what I have finally figured out works for us, and how I blend different approaches.
Melanin 32
Thanks for your advice. The library books is an excellent idea for science. We are enjoying Thornton Burgess books and I actually just found a book on flight yesterday.
http://www.simplyconvivial.com/2016/homeschool-personality
2cor57,
Thanks for your post. The link above talks about personalities and homeschool styles. I believe God is confirming through your post that I should homeschool in a way that honors how God made me and my kids. Your post confirms that. Thanks.
You’re welcome. It’s taken me years to figure that out – that we need to homeschool in a way that honors how God created us, in a way that brings glory to Him, peace to our home and joy to our learning. That will look different for everyone, because we’re all created differently – with different interests and strengths and weaknesses. I love the Charlotte Mason and classical approaches, and they are what work for us. But it has taken me awhile to figure that out, and also to realize that we can tweak as needed 🙂
I am just a half step ahead of you – I could have written your post not too long ago. I have 3 levels of MFW sitting in my basement, the most recent all but untouched. I tried twice for a couple weeks at a time (a year apart) and just couldn’t get going with ECC – on paper it looked great, in use? Drrrryyyyyy. Over the years I have dabbled in a number of things and am really starting to fine tune what we like and dislike which is such a huge relief! I never thought I would get to this point! There are SO many options, and I know now to just put my blinders on and to stop researching the next best thing. What we have and are using is working, and the kids are liking it… I just need more time in the day, but don’t we all? With CM there are so many rich options!
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