Afterschool Friendly Curricula/Prgrams

[PenKase]

I'm piggybacking off a great idea from Shay to:

...see some sort of list/discussion that fleshes out good afterschooling programs that we can all benefit from. Programs that can be successfully pared down or easily used in the summer months, KWIM?

So, what curriculum(a) would you recommend is a good afterschooling for supplementing dc's education. Which programs do you use as a vehicle to help master skills or introduce a topic/subject matter altogether?

What has worked here to far is:

RS A&B: Used A with dd6 last year and B with dd10 when she was in second grade and I discovered she didn't know her addition/subtraction facts. Using these two levels have worked miracles. My dd6 is a numbers girl, has excellent developed number sense and implements the strategies taught in every day life. I credit RSA to opening the door for number exploration. My dd10 is a words girl. Although she'd much, much rather sit and read all day (and everything else relating to language) she only tolerates math (in math workbook format-I refuse to say she doens't like it....not really an option-I've got LoF waiting to do with her this summer. I've already told her what' it's about and it's already peeked her interest. I'm hoping that if I take a literature approach to math, she may better understand its usefulness). RSB really solidified the concepts in her mind. She is a wiz at mental computation....way better than me. Even though it took us about a year and a half to complete it (slow and steady) it was worth every second. I just loved, loved, loved it! I haven't done much of B with dd6 because she was begging for math worksheets (she grew tired of having to wait for me to explain the concepts) but I did purchase the supplemental program Activities for the AL Abacus to use with her alongisde Math Mammoth. I'm still on the fence about going back to B.

Math Mammoth: We've been using MM for a few months now and both dd's are doing well with it. It is very, very thorough and incremental in it's concept building. I love the mastery approach. MM has a ton of practice problems, some of which I do skip, depending on the skill being learned and dd's level of mastery. They typically do 2 p/x day 3-5 d/x week, depending on how much homework they have during the day and factoring in afterschool activities. It's easy, no fuss, no muss. That Maria Miller teaches to the child is one of the many strengths of this program.

Explode the Code: I just love ETC. It has been very helpful for dd6 work through it to cement phonics/spelling/handwriting skills. We began with 1 last school year and she is now in 3 1/2. It's been a slow and steady pace as I also give her the 1/2 books to work through. Typically, she'll do 2 pgs (sometimes 3, depending on how much handwriting is involved) 4-5 x p/week. She is an above grade speller and I'm pretty sure ETC has helped with that.

Headsprout: Love it! Used it with both dd's to help them learn to read. It was so much fun watching them crack the "phonics code" and seeing their skills increase each "episode." Invaluable resource in my book. Both dd's are accelerated readers and I credit HS as the springboard that got it all started.

Progressive Phonics: Soooo cute! I used their resources when there was a fee. Now it's all free for the taking. I downloaded the books and put them in a small three ring binder. Dd's would take their little books wherever they went!

Phonics Pathways: I used this book with dd6 after she was done with HeadSprout. Because she had trouble isolating the vowel sounds, she wasn't as solid in her reading ability as I would have liked (but still read very well) so I began incorporating PP. After about of 6 months of using it and carrying around the "vowel stick" everywhere we went, she was doing fine and we dropped it. It's a really solid program.

Core Knowledge Series-What Your X Grader Needs to Know: I personally believe these books are fantastic. I have the K-4 books. I've used some of the lesson plans for this series and they are well thought out and thorough. At the very least, if I did nothing else with my girls, this series and the library would be my go to resource. I actually just typed up the List of Contents for K-4, arranged them by subject and am planning to use these books as supplemental reading. Since science is not my strong suit, I also plan to use their science suggestions for our science reading this summer.


Program(s) that have potential here are:

Life of Fred: Although I've yet to use it, LoF seems easy enough to supplement with afterschool and/or during the summer months. Because it is considered a math "living book" it will surely inject real world application to the math skills learned in a traditional math program. I can't wait to use it with book lovin, book devourer dd10.

Michael Clay Thompson: Dd10 and I are now working through the Island Level. After reading all the posts here about it, I decided to go with the Island Level and move through it as quickly as needed (I figured I'll be using it with dd6 anyway so the investment was worth it). I'm so glad we're starting at the beginning. Again, since dd is a voracious reader I thought the MCT LA approach would strongly appeal to her and it really has! So far we've been working through Grammar Island. There have already been some "aha" moments for the both of us!!

[mich311e]

I have a 5 year old who just completed kindergarten and is entering 1st grade in August. :001_smile:

For us:

Hooked on Phonics I love it. My son loves it. It's very motivating for the child to put the star on the chart after you complete a level. It's easy to use. We've completed K and 1st grade reading and will start 2nd grade reading this summer. It is easy to incorporate this in after schooling, we usually do phonics work at night before reading aloud. It takes maybe 10-20 minutes a few nights a week.

I love that Hooked on Phonics is not intimidating. It is marketed to parents to just help their children learn how to read.

Phonics Pathways I supplement HoP with Phonics Pathways. Again, very easy to use.

Singapore Essential Math We did the kindergarten books. My son likes math so I just bring these out when we have a free moment. My son's school uses Saxon math so we're lucky he's getting a good foundation of math at school. We will do more Singapore Math (1a & 1b, US Edition) this summer. My goal is not for my son to be light years ahead of the class at school but I definitely want him to have concrete skills in math thinking and math facts.

Core Knowledge: What Your Kindergartner (Preschooler, 1st grader, etc.) Needs to Know We also love this series to help supplement what he learns at school.


Programs with potential for us:

Math
Kumon workbooks

Language Arts
Hooked on Spelling 1st grade level

Natural Speller

First Language Lessons I've tried to start this but it was really repetitive in the beginning. We may try again now that my son is entering first grade. I think this is important because I've read here and on other education blogs that writing and language skills just aren't being taught in school.

History
Story of the World Not sure if we are just going to read aloud or if I'll get more for it.

Science
Singapore Early Bird Science My son just loves science and I picked up a new set of these books on the 'for sale' forum here. These look like they will be a fun supplement.

[Caroline]

Here is what we have used. Just for reference, my kids range in age from 3 to 15 years old, so we use a variety of things.

Singpore Math I just throw whatever text level is appropriate (usually the kid's grade level +1) in the backpack for my kids to do when there is down time at school, usually after they finish their math

Teaching Company Lectures We just listen to these for fun. This year we did western civilization as my oldest was taking non-western civilization at school

Story of the World Read alouds or independent reading, depending on child's reading level

The Reading Lesson My preschoolers use this

ETC Again with the preschoolers

I can't remember the name of it, but Plaid Dad's memory book. We do a lot of copywork out of it.

We are also members of the zoo and Fernbank. We do a lot of cooking together. This summer we are working through two Jamie Oliver cookbooks, including one that is in English units, so we have to do some conversions.

My oldest has some great summer reading assigned for his AP World History class and his Honors Brit Lit class. He and I will both be reading his books and discussing them.

Mostly, it is just a lifestyle we lead--soccer jersey algebra, lots of reading, lots of discussion, lots of experiments, lots of nature walks, etc.

[Purpledaizy]

Teaching Company Lectures We just listen to these for fun. This year we did western civilization as my oldest was taking non-western civilization at school

I love these! Our library carries them

[ack25]

Whats worked for us:
Explode The Code - Great for preschool unless reading ability far outpaces fine motor skills (great for dd, not so for ds)
Handwriting without tears
Kumon Center-math - eventually we outsourced math at dd's request. This has really helped dd gain confidence in math and master the basics. The pure repetition could have been done through Saxon and homemade worksheets, but dd was resisting. She needed to be assigned the work by someone other than MOM and be accountable for her work to someone other than MOM
LOF Fractions - mathy ds does this in his free time, dd will hopefully tolerate it this summer
RightStart - Best thing ever to happen to DS! LOL DS and I both loved this program. It really promotes mathy thinking and the books are fully scripted for pick-up and go ease!
Building Thinking Skills - It's all good. DD is in need of the skill practice and considers the workbook fun in small doses. DS loves the workbook. He was also happily surprised to see similar problems on the OLSAT administered a month ago for G&T screening. (still awaiting results...)
Games for Reading, Games for Math, and Games for Writing were all used at one point or another. These books have some fun games to play for the preschool/early primary grades.

We also keep the house filled with reading books, reference books, and board games!

Possible additions:
WWE
MCT


For reference, DD10 will start 6th grade in the fall and DS8 will start 3rd grade in the fall. DS is my mathy, analytical guy and DD is my creative, language artsy gal.

[MBM]

We've found the following easy to use and helpful:

Singapore Math/NEM Didn't take much time to do until ds began NEM. Usually worked on it about five days per week.

AoPS My son has one to two free periods per day to work on the workbooks. He's taken online classes with them, too, but those tend to be fast-paced which can make an already hectic schedule during the school year even worse.

Rod and Staff Grammar Most lessons done orally a few times per week.

Word Smart I (Princeton Review) Vocabulary 5 to 15 minutes per day. I keep printouts of the words and definitions in the car, and ds reviews when I chauffeur him around.

Shakespeare We read a few pages several days per week and then watch the plays at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Core Knowledge material Ds has read almost all of the three Realms of Gold anthologies. I also try to get what's recommended in the CK Sequence book.

McGuffey Readers Used these years ago and liked them a lot.

Utopia We did a bit of this during the school year but will probably do more over summer. Put out by William and Mary's Center for Gifted Education.

Story of the World Good back when we used it.

Famous Men series (Memoria Press)

Henty novels My son likes listening to these while following along in the book.

Philosophy for Kids (David White) Lessons were easy to do.

We also use Classical Writing and Wheelock's Latin but although we find them worthwhile, neither are easy for us to use.

I've been looking over the MCT material and Critical Thinking, Book One. Both look interesting, but I'm not sure how I'd fit either in at this point.

[MBM]

Core Knowledge Series-What Your X Grader Needs to Know: I personally believe these books are fantastic. I have the K-4 books. I've used some of the lesson plans for this series and they are well thought out and thorough. At the very least, if I did nothing else with my girls, this series and the library would be my go to resource. I actually just typed up the List of Contents for K-4, arranged them by subject and am planning to use these books as supplemental reading. Since science is not my strong suit, I also plan to use their science suggestions for our science reading this summer.

You might also like Books to Build On (http://www.amazon.com/Books-Build-Grade-Grade-Knowledge/dp/0385316402) by E.D. Hirsch. I bought it and used it all throughout my youngest's elementary years. Excellent recommendations, IMO.

[Shay]

Although I threw the idea out there for a list and PenKase started the thread, I'm having a hard time composing a list. The kids change so much from grade to grade and the ps curriculum seems to change at times, too.

Most of my as'ing curriculum hits will be in the younger years, because my kiddos don't AS once they are older (oldest is in 8th). Although I am mostly a "gravy" only afterschooler, my youngest had some troubles with reading/spelling, so I've had to be more intentional with him.

HITS

Reading Instruction: I See Sam readers are my absolute favorites. These sets (8 in all) take you from beginning reading to 3rd grade level. You can get these from iseesam.com or 3RsPlus. The ones from iseesam have the word lists in the front of the passages and each set has assessments embedded. The ones from 3RsPlus are cheaper per set. My son who struggled to blend and was prone to guessing, finally learned how to read with these books. I had tried all the usual and popular primers, but each one got us to a point where we could not go on because he was still having difficulty sounding out. My older kids , although easy to teach to read using OPG, would have loved these as well.

Read-alouds: I sometimes tie these into the history, but not always. A big plus for us is that my kids can do an AR test and earn points for the books I've read-aloud to them.

Math instruction: Singapore Earlybird for K and then the other SM books for the other years. To slim it down, I at times only used the textbook and not the workbook. This was to do some spot checks on topics. Once the school began Everyday Math, I began to switch focus to math facts and nailing down algorithims.

Math fact practice: Flashmaster; Math Windows (cheap!)

Spelling: Apples & Pears works very well and is "open and go." This program is not cheap, but the TM's are easily sold when you are done. (I have only had to do this with one dc, as the rest are natural spellers)

History: Hillyer's A Child's History of the World was a hit. I simply found books to go along with most chapters and penciled their names in at the top of the page beginning the chapter. For example, I'd pencil in Mystery of the Roman Ransom for one of the ancient Rome chapters, or, Stanley's Cleopatra at the appropriate point. I included the D'Aulaire biographies as well. I would read a chapter of this right when they got home (while they ate a snack) and then we'd do a read-aloud before bedtime. I honestly think my kids would like to go through CHOW again! My oldest ds read this book to himself multiple times.

Science: My kids have really enjoyed several of the Apologia Elementary series. You could easily go through one book during the summer break. Honestly, my kids have had enough of the science texts at school that seem too vocabulary oriented that their love for science has been sucked out of them. The style of these is appealing to them. My dd loves astronomy and sometimes reads the apologia astronomy book on her own.

Geography: This summer we are doing Beautiful Feet's Geography Through Literature, which utilizes 4 of Hollings' books. I scheduled one for May, June, July, and August. We've finished the first and are now beginning the second. They will be able to do AR tests on 3 of these books when school starts. We are doing the accompanying maps and my kids are enjoying it. It is just enough to do, yet not overwhelming. We may venture out and do BF's American History through the next school year, but that is uncertain.

Greek/Latin Roots: In the past, I've used the flashcards only for English from the Roots Up. At breakfast, I'd pull out one card and we'd learn it. It has been some time since we've done that and we may need to revisit it again.

Art/Music: When my kids first started school, the art/music at school was woeful. Since then, things have gotten better and I don't supplement much at all in this area. We have used and the kids *loved* the Come Look With Me art appreciation books. We have also enjoyed some of the VOX music master CDs.

One thing that I try very hard to do is to keep up to date with what is "twaddle" and what is good quality literature. I use and like Honey for a Child's Heart to help me pick out books for my dc.

To conclude, I've tried lots of things through the years, and the above listed ones are the hits and what I would consider afterschool friendly. This is in no way to say that these programs, if used by a homeschooler, are "too light," but just that I was able to tweak them to my liking and for my situation and they were still effective and also enjoyable.