gandpsmommy
01-25-2008, 07:41 AM
I am feeling some angst about trying to plan next year for dd, who will be 7 and doing 2nd grade, although she is working ahead of grade level in several subjects.
I read TWTM when my daughter was four. I loved it from the first reading, and felt that I had finally found what I was looking for in terms of a long-term plan for hsing. I was excited, to put it mildly. We have tweaked the recommendations to fit dd's accelerated abilities and our lifestyle, but we have pretty much followed the heart of TWTM for K5 and first grade.
One of the things I was most excited about was the history cycle. My history education was quite erratic, piecemeal, and shallow. I wanted to give dd a firm foundation from the start, so that she would grow up with a clear understanding of the major events in history, from ancient to modern times. So, we began SOTW, vol. 1 this year.
I also have loved FLL, which we started in K5 and will finish this year. I do have a strong background in grammar. In fact, I really enjoy grammar. It isn't dd's favorite sujbect, by far, but she does understand it readily and memorizes it easily.
And I love the idea of using a notebook of narrations/pictures for science.
Earlier this year, however, I felt as if we were being stretched too thin in too many different directions and that it was impossible to keep up with a schedule that would allow us to finish SOTW, vol. 1 in just one year. I also felt that asking dd to narrate her history lesson everyday was asking too much of her, especially when she hated to do it. The process which we used to get through a chapter of SOTW and get the narration done for each section just seemed so taxing and reminded me of work required of much older students, not a 6yo.
We were doing well on the basics (handwriting, spelling, FLL, math, reading), but I was having a hard time fitting in everything else(science, history, art, music, geography, Spanish).
Then, I finally decided to buy a copy of The Latin-Centered Curriculum. I am really drawn now to a more classical (as opposed to neo-classical) model. I want to start Latin with dd next year, and I love the idea of Classical Studies, Christian Studies, English Studies, and Modern Studies. I like the focus on depth instead of breadth, of doing a few important things really well. Dh and I discussed it at length. We both agreed that we would like to streamline our curriculum for next year to follow this sort of approach.
The problem is that I still love TWTM approach, too. I still want to do SOTW and the four year history cycle. So, I thought maybe we could just make SOTW a read-aloud. But then I remember all of the great mapwork, coloring pages, and activity ideas in the AG, and I don't necessarily want to give that up. And then I think about what an important skill narration is, and I wonder if it will be much more challenging for dd if I wait until later to try to teach this. And to complicate matters even further, dd is the rare type who *loves* worksheet/test-type things. I have been using the SOTW tests as review sheets for us at the end of a chapter, and it is probably her favorite part! We just don't seem to have time to keep up a good pace with it. So, I'm thinking maybe we could work through SOTW and just take it a little bit more slowly than others? And do modern studies, as well?
Also, I have read that if we are studying Latin, we won't need a separate grammar program. But I really like FLL, and I wanted to continue with FLL3. And then I read that SWB's writing program will be published this spring/summer. I *know* that I am going to want to buy it.
And ds4 is a scientist. I mean science is his main interest. So, I know that we will continue to buy science curriculum. I would like the idea of making it more informal and a family pursuit, but we still have to have some sort of narration/notebooking to put in dd's portfolio for evaluation.
We already do art and music in a pretty informal way, squeezed in here and there. We have been using Artistic Pursuits and Themes To Remember. We also do things as a family, such as attending a Mozart Festival symphony orchestra performance, going to an art museum, etc.
Wow, this post is *really* long. If you have gotten this far, do you have any suggestion for how I can mesh the two approaches? Thanks.
I read TWTM when my daughter was four. I loved it from the first reading, and felt that I had finally found what I was looking for in terms of a long-term plan for hsing. I was excited, to put it mildly. We have tweaked the recommendations to fit dd's accelerated abilities and our lifestyle, but we have pretty much followed the heart of TWTM for K5 and first grade.
One of the things I was most excited about was the history cycle. My history education was quite erratic, piecemeal, and shallow. I wanted to give dd a firm foundation from the start, so that she would grow up with a clear understanding of the major events in history, from ancient to modern times. So, we began SOTW, vol. 1 this year.
I also have loved FLL, which we started in K5 and will finish this year. I do have a strong background in grammar. In fact, I really enjoy grammar. It isn't dd's favorite sujbect, by far, but she does understand it readily and memorizes it easily.
And I love the idea of using a notebook of narrations/pictures for science.
Earlier this year, however, I felt as if we were being stretched too thin in too many different directions and that it was impossible to keep up with a schedule that would allow us to finish SOTW, vol. 1 in just one year. I also felt that asking dd to narrate her history lesson everyday was asking too much of her, especially when she hated to do it. The process which we used to get through a chapter of SOTW and get the narration done for each section just seemed so taxing and reminded me of work required of much older students, not a 6yo.
We were doing well on the basics (handwriting, spelling, FLL, math, reading), but I was having a hard time fitting in everything else(science, history, art, music, geography, Spanish).
Then, I finally decided to buy a copy of The Latin-Centered Curriculum. I am really drawn now to a more classical (as opposed to neo-classical) model. I want to start Latin with dd next year, and I love the idea of Classical Studies, Christian Studies, English Studies, and Modern Studies. I like the focus on depth instead of breadth, of doing a few important things really well. Dh and I discussed it at length. We both agreed that we would like to streamline our curriculum for next year to follow this sort of approach.
The problem is that I still love TWTM approach, too. I still want to do SOTW and the four year history cycle. So, I thought maybe we could just make SOTW a read-aloud. But then I remember all of the great mapwork, coloring pages, and activity ideas in the AG, and I don't necessarily want to give that up. And then I think about what an important skill narration is, and I wonder if it will be much more challenging for dd if I wait until later to try to teach this. And to complicate matters even further, dd is the rare type who *loves* worksheet/test-type things. I have been using the SOTW tests as review sheets for us at the end of a chapter, and it is probably her favorite part! We just don't seem to have time to keep up a good pace with it. So, I'm thinking maybe we could work through SOTW and just take it a little bit more slowly than others? And do modern studies, as well?
Also, I have read that if we are studying Latin, we won't need a separate grammar program. But I really like FLL, and I wanted to continue with FLL3. And then I read that SWB's writing program will be published this spring/summer. I *know* that I am going to want to buy it.
And ds4 is a scientist. I mean science is his main interest. So, I know that we will continue to buy science curriculum. I would like the idea of making it more informal and a family pursuit, but we still have to have some sort of narration/notebooking to put in dd's portfolio for evaluation.
We already do art and music in a pretty informal way, squeezed in here and there. We have been using Artistic Pursuits and Themes To Remember. We also do things as a family, such as attending a Mozart Festival symphony orchestra performance, going to an art museum, etc.
Wow, this post is *really* long. If you have gotten this far, do you have any suggestion for how I can mesh the two approaches? Thanks.