New with questions!

[dkt320]

Hi Everyone,
This is our first year homeschooling, I have a DS 8 (2nd) and DS 6 (K) and DD 21 months. We are using Abeka, but I have been researching and reading about Well Trained Mind and Classical Homeschooling. My question is, has anyone gone from Abeka to classical, and how did you do that, especially mid-year? Should I keep doing things as I have been and wait until next school year to make a change?

Thanks!
Donna in Texas

[Deece in MN]

I would suggest to start now, but do it slowly. Integrate some WTM/classical ideas into what you are already doing. That way when you make the switch it is not such a big change for your dc.

You could start by adding in copywork and narrations, if you are not already doing these. Abeka is mainly textbooks, correct? If so, you could maybe slowly begin adding real books and back off from the textbooks. Use the textbooks for a quick intro to a topic and then read books from the library to flesh it out (thinking mainly history and science here). Start a simple timeline if you are not already doing so.

Anyway, I would try and add a few things now to make the transition smoother later.

JMHO

[stephanie]

Hi Everyone,
This is our first year homeschooling, I have a DS 8 (2nd) and DS 6 (K) and DD 21 months. We are using Abeka, but I have been researching and reading about Well Trained Mind and Classical Homeschooling. My question is, has anyone gone from Abeka to classical, and how did you do that, especially mid-year? Should I keep doing things as I have been and wait until next school year to make a change?

Thanks!
Donna in Texas

Hi, Donna. I started out with Abeka, but only did it for K. Then I became very bold and switched everything- that's when I discovered TWTM. In the beginning I was strictly TWTM, never straying from what was suggested. As the years have gone by I've got more comfy in using an array of curriculum. I did wait till I started a new school year just so I could spend the summer getting ready for the change. Now I use a little bit of everything- a little classical, Charlotte Mason, or whatever works for us. You will find that these boards are a life-line for homeschooling. This is the best resource I've found for any questions regarding homeschooling and even the ones having nothing to do with schooling! I hope this helps you a bit.

[dkt320]

How do you do a timeline, where do you start?

[Deece in MN]

How do you do a timeline, where do you start?

With the age of your dc, I would keep it simple. You can purchase timeline books or fold-out style, but I would make one.

You can either tape sheets of paper together or purchase paper on a roll. Draw a line down the center of the paper and then determine the spacing you want for the dates and add them in. Again, keeping it simple, I wouldn't get too detailed at this point; something like every 1000 years for BC (maybe going down to 500 years from about 1500 to year 1) and then every 250 years or so until about 1500 AD and every 100 years until now, this is off the top of my head and I don't visualize well so this may need to be adjusted. :o

You can find clip-art free on-line to print and glue on to your timeline or you can have your dc color a small picture to represent a person or event and glue that on your timeline. Add people and events as you come across them in your studies.

At this point try not to get caught up in the details. You can have your dc do a more detailed timeline when they are older. Now, it is just for the exposure and to help give them pegs to hang information on.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Tara]

I submitted a similar question here just a few wks ago myself! We were doing the Abeka DVD program this year for dd8 and ds6. My kids absolutely hated it; they were just miserable. I asked the ladies here for some advice, and they all advised me not to wait to make the switch if I was that concerned about squelching the love for learning in my kiddos. SO, within the last two weeks, we have been transitioning from Abeka to WTM style of classical learning. All I can say is, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! We are so loving this approach to schooling; the whole family is happier.

What we have done is this: structured our school day to reflect what is laid out in WTM, and I went ahead and invested in some of the curriculum choices now, like First Language Lessons, Prima Latina, etc. I'm gonna finish this year out using the worksheets from Abeka Math and Grammar for my 3rd grader, since I already paid for the stuff. We sent the DVD's back. By next school year, I plan to follow the classical pattern exclusively.

It's late, and I'm probably not making much sense! LOL! Just wanted to encourage you that it IS possible to change horses midstream, and if your family is like ours, you'll be the happier for it.

Blessings!

Tara
Married to highschool sweetheart for nearly 12 yrs
DD8-3rd grade
DS6-1st grade
DD5-Kinder
DS1-toddling around and into it all! :)

[Friederike in Persia]

If you would get Story of the world already now, there'll be little cut-out sentences in the workbook (do get that too, it's worth it!). We stick those on our time-line and add in a few other things, but it's mainly those. That keeps it simple and easy.

By the way, we changed mid-year too, but slowly, as suggested above. It's worked well for us.

[Testimony]

Hi, Donna. I started out with Abeka, but only did it for K. Then I became very bold and switched everything- that's when I discovered TWTM. In the beginning I was strictly TWTM, never straying from what was suggested. As the years have gone by I've got more comfy in using an array of curriculum. I did wait till I started a new school year just so I could spend the summer getting ready for the change. Now I use a little bit of everything- a little classical, Charlotte Mason, or whatever works for us. You will find that these boards are a life-line for homeschooling. This is the best resource I've found for any questions regarding homeschooling and even the ones having nothing to do with schooling! I hope this helps you a bit.

I did the same thing as Stephanie only I started with Christian Liberty Academy.

[dkt320]

Wow everyone! Thanks for the encouragement. My 8 yr old DS really is not happy with all the workbooks, so I am trying to figure out how to still use them as a base, but give him other activities to show that he gets the concept. I have also realized that while being so focused on the workbooks, I have not done much reading aloud to them. I am trying to incorporate more books and projects so they will stay excited.

Donna in Texas
DS 8
DS 6
DD 21 months

[~Puddins~]

Donna,
Wow, our stories are quite similar! I also live in TX :)
I've been using Abeka for a year now, we did the K5 program over the summer then started 1st grade in September. I was very sad to see my son hating schoolwork, but he really did. A friend loaned me TWTM book and I realized that was how my mom had taught my brother and I (we were also homeschooled). We are finishing up the Abeka math because we are so close to the end. I plan on using Saxon math over the summer at an easier level just to keep math facts fresh in his mind. With reading, I have taken away the endless charts and workbooks and we do much more reading (together, aloud, alone, etc) and my son already enjoys it more. We immediately stopped using the Abeka Language book and started FLL and I'm so glad we did. It's much slower than Abeka, but I am grateful for that. We started SOTW 1 and are enjoying that, although I do add my own faith based ideas/projects to it. Our whole family is enjoying that together. As much as Mike was learning in the Abeka books (because they are good books, don't get me wrong) I want him to have the desire to learn, I want him to be able to discover things on his own, and the traditional approach with workbooks was not giving him that foundation.

[dkt320]

We are not even halfway through the math book, it is such a struggle to get him to do it. I am thinking of just going at it in terms of concepts and make sure he gets all of them. The language book isn't too bad for him, we have just stopped the phonics book and he reads aloud from the readers. Both boys and I spent some time on Texas lapbooks today, and we read about log cabins and they did some narration and illustrating for that. They really enjoyed that. For those not familiar with the Houston area, it is Rodeo time here.

Donna
DS 8
DS 6
DD 21 months