Newbie seeking curriculum advise.

[emelsha]

Hello everyone. I am new to homeschooling. This is my first year of homeschooling our 6 year old daughter. So far so good. We are really interested in Classical education. I have been reading and doing a little research on the Internet. However, I am still thinking about what to do next year. We are wanting to move to more of the classical way of homeschooling. Would anyone be willing to look at what we have chosen so far for next year and tell me if this fits into a classical model. Also, please tell me if this seems like a well rounded curricula. I am still a little confused. Thank you so much, and I look forward to getting to know this site and its members better.

Math: Math u See (daily)
Phonics: Alphabet Island 2b (daily)
History: Story of the World 2 (three times a week)
Grammar: Shurly Grammar (daily)
Latin: Latin for Children (first introductory book)
Science: noeoscience - Biology: twice or three times a week. (We'll also be doing nature walks and starting a nature journal)
Bible: Calvary Chapel curriculum (daily)
Geography: A Child's Geography (Twice a week)
Art: My Mom is going to teach her art once a week, but we don't know what curriculum yet.
Reading: We are currently reading Trumpet of the Swan and Little House. Next we are moving onto Heidi. We plan on reading 1-2 hours a day.

Thank you for helping us.

emelsha

[Julie in GA]

If not, you should start with Volume 1, unless you want to skip Ancient history the first time around. Both Volume 1 and Volume 2 are written for Grades 1-4, so you don't have to worry about "being behind" if your child will be in the second grade next year.

Your schedule looks good, but you may want to wait a year or two before starting Latin.

[emelsha]

Yes, right now we are doing Ancient history. It has been going slow, but we plan on doing it through the summer. Thank you for your input. I will consider holding off on the Latin.

[Linda]

The only thing I don't see listed that I would consider a must-do is handwriting of some sort: copywork or even dictation if she's ready.

[WABeth]

It is meant to begin no earlier than 3rd grade (it appears your dd is younger than that). I actually waited until 4th grade and am glad. The grammar is pretty intense as well as the amount of memorization. If you want to start Latin now you may want to look at younger programs. Classical Academic Press (the LfC people) are coming out with Song School Latin geared for younger grades.

Song School Latin (http://www.classicalacademicpress.com/comingsoon.html)

[Cadam]

LfC is very heavy on the Grammar. Your dd might be able to handle it at 7 but not all 7 yos could. I love the program but I am planning on dd going through "Song School Latin" starting in April (It won't be available until the end of March) and then when we start LfC-A in the Fall I might just do vocabulary for a while.

Prima Latin is geared for this age and I have it on the shelf so I might use that too, but my older kid found it terribly boring. It might be just right for second grade though. It all depends on the kid.

[OhElizabeth]

I like Shurley Grammar, but I'd suggest you do FLL first. There is SO little covered in SG1 and SG2, it's just not worth the hassle of the thick tm and cumbersome structure. We're now doing SG4 and it's really fun at this point. FLL is so pleasant, gentle, and will do a great job helping her memorize the defs, which is all she NEEDS at this age. Do it! :)

Like the others, I think LfC is too much at this age, especially since your dd is still learning to read. Once she's done with phonics, then start latin. I like Prima Latina, but the new SongSchool latin is probably good too.

Make sure that you're giving her plenty of time to read for herself too! Veritas Press has delightful lists of books for each level of reading, so you could find some that will be just on her level. Even though you're doing ancients and the middle ages, she might enjoy reading the Step Readers on american history. She might like Magic Treehouse or the Little House series. Once she moves past that, she'd enjoy the Childhood of Famous Americans series (advanced 2nd, early 3rd reading level?). Her reading doesn't have to tie to the historical time period. There's very little written at that level for the ancients, so you have to branch out.

Have fun! :)

[Karen in CO]

For the SOTW - do you have the AG? My kids love to do projects. They really help the kids to remember the stories. For SOTW 2, you could also look at something like Days of Knights and Damsels for activities - my library has this.

Since you chose LfC for Latin, have you looked at their new product Song School Latin. It is geared toward younger kids.

I second the recommendations you have gotten on FLL for grammar and some sort of handwriting.

Also, keep an eye on how much time you are spending in schooling so that there is plenty of time for play. Outside of read aloud time, I only spent about an hour a day directly working on subjects when my dd was 6. Right now she gets about 30-45 minutes of seat work and 30 minutes of required reading.

[emelsha]

I'm going to look into Song School Latin and FLL. I do appreciate your comments. It really helps. Do you recommend starting with FLL for two years and then moving on to SG3 for third or fourth grade? I read on the LFC site that they recommend SG because it coincides with the grammar marks they use. They said it won't be confusing for the child. So I am wondering with 2 different grammar curricula if it is easy for the kids to adjust to the different systems.

Thanks again for helping me. I am blessed to have found this site.

[MelissaMinNC]

is that if you plan on using the SOTW Activity Guide, you may not need a separate geography program. SOTW includes mapwork and geography in the activity guides.

Just out of nosiness, will your dd be in 1st grade or 2nd grade? My 6yo will be in 2nd grade next year (will turn 7 in Oct), so we are in about the same boat. I plan to use Prima Latina, but I do not plan to cover English grammar in a formal way (she says right now - check back in a few minutes, I keep going back and forth). I think LfC is geared more for 3rd or 4th graders, and from what all the smart people here tell me PL can be implemented easily by someone with no Latin background (that's me), and can be done orally (might be good for my reluctant writer).

GL!
Melissa

[emelsha]

My dd will be in the 2nd grade. Right now we are doing Alphabet Island Phonics 2a, SOTW 1 and utilizing the activity guide, we are also doing BJU math 1, Bible, BJU Writing with phonics, and BJU Phonics and English as a supplement. We are also reading and narrating. We have only recently added the narration, but she seems to be getting the hang of it. I am excited for next year.