Feeling a little overwhelmed with where to start HSing

[homesteadmama]

Dd is 5, would start Kinder in the fall if we were doing school.

I've tried doing FIAR for preschool for the last year. Maybe because I had a baby a year ago, and we traveled the country and were in total transition, IDK, but I couldn't be consistent with it. I'm feeling like a failure. I wouldn't care if dd didn't ASK for school. She loves it! She craves it, I think. She wants more structure, and to be like the other kids she sees at school. I tried taking her to a Head Start preschool and we lasted ONE day, so that's not even an option. Back to hsing.

I've thought we might do more of an unschooling thing, but then I think that with my lack of consistency with the schedule, etc., *I* need to use curriculum. I need something to kind of push me a little, and guide me. I'll maybe do unschooling down the road, once I feel a little more confident in my ability to manage it all.

SO....here I am with barely any knowledge of curriculum. I've heard lots of great things about Math-U-See, and I'm on their site now, looking through the Primer curriculum. I think I might go with that, unless someone else tells me there is something they like more?

And for reading, I play phonics games with her, read to her, and she plays on starfall.com daily. She's really learning, and can read quite a few words. I'm just wanting something to help me guide her through the next steps. Suggestions?

Also, are there any other things I should focus on? I kinda think just doing math and reading would be a great start. We do lots of outdoor/gardening/farming/canning/cooking stuff that she is involved in, so I feel like she gets plenty of hands on with science type stuff. She's been asking a lot about sea animals lately. And she loves learning about birth (human or animal). I just never know what to do with her curiosities, other than look something up on YouTube for her. Ideas?

Is there any comprehensive Kinder curriculum that would encompass all these things, but in one place?

I've been told by other HS mama friends IRL that I'd probably like Charlotte Mason curriculum. Any thoughts on where to learn about that, or where to start?

And is there a place where I can get all of this curriculum for free?? lol

Thanks for your thoughts, mamas!

[cindergretta]

Have you looked at Oak Meadow? We use it and it is very sensory pleasing, IMO.

www.oakmeadow.com

(I hope that works. )

(It isn't free but you can often find it used.)

[mountainash]

Handwriting without tears is simple and fun. Honestly, with that and the programs you mentioned, you're going to have more than enough.

[staceylayne]

Also overwhelmed with the options and not sure where to start...so listening in if you don't mind.

[Love_Is_Patient]

If you want to start adding in structure without buying curriculum (although I've heard good things about Math-U-See, if they have a K level then I think that could be fun), you could try something simple. When we started doing K, I had a morning routine that looked like this: breakfast, get dressed, devotions (Bible reading from Children's Bible), talk about the day of the week/month (I made a sheet of cardboard that said 'Today is _____ . The month is ____ . The date is ___ . The weather is ___ . I had colored cards handwritten with the words/numbers we needed and ds helped me find the right ones for that day). Then we'd do a read-aloud time. Once he was readings short-vowel words, we started going through the Bob books, about 2-3 times per week. By the time we finished that, ds was ready for a break. If I had something else to do (like I wanted to do a math game or science activity) we'd have a mid-morning snack and then do the activity after snack. Afternoons we tried to go outside and play as much as possible.

Something like that would be cheap and might give you the structure you need.

[Quiteria]

We have the Primer level.

How is her motor control? Can she color in the lines? Write or trace numbers? How big or small is her writing if she writes?

I LOVE Math U See starting with the Alpha level for an older child. Primer did not go so well for my kindergartener, though, because of the motor skills. I think it *could* actually be good for developing motor skills, but it depends on where the child is starting from. If the child has a ways to go yet, I would recommend other programs...if she does reasonably well for her age, then Primer might be great.

[Ellen]

I would order a math curriculum, something for reading/phonics/handwriting, and then just read good books together.

You can order an inexpensive workbook from Starfall.com to reinforce the phonics she is learning there, while adding some handwriting practice.

I also highly recommend Explode the Code. We have just started using an ETC workbook and it's been perfect for getting A. to really look closely at words and decode them, using a bunch of strategies. I wish I'd started with their workbooks a year ago (although who knows, maybe A. wasn't ready then).

For math, there are a ton of options and it all depends on what approach you want.

[Kiara.I]

I like Rightstart Math better than Math U See. Though I confess to never having *used* Math U See, I looked at both the demos at a convention, and went with Rightstart.

[Codi]

Originally Posted by homesteadmama

I've been told by other HS mama friends IRL that I'd probably like Charlotte Mason curriculum. Any thoughts on where to learn about that, or where to start?

And is there a place where I can get all of this curriculum for free?? lol

Thanks for your thoughts, mamas!

Charlotte Mason + free = Ambleside Online and Simply Charlotte Mason

(We also love HWT and am still debating on math.)

[Ellen]

Originally Posted by Kiara.I

I like Rightstart Math better than Math U See. Though I confess to never having *used* Math U See, I looked at both the demos at a convention, and went with Rightstart.

I love Right Start too, but it really does come down to what you are looking for in a math program. There are people who are well-versed in all the math curriculums who can lay out the differences better than I can. You can look for older threads, or poke forty-two or Katigre .

[Blue Aurora]

My kindergarten program is right start math and all about spelling with Getty dubay workbooks for hand writing. Those are our basics and then indo some additional science, history, art and music when i can. This is my second year doing kindergarten (2nd ds) and I really love what we are doing n ow.

[mamacat]

We have always used various eclectic materials ,but ,if you are looking for a curric in a box I know my dds sil has really been loving Sonlight with her preschoolers .My youngest dd liked Explode the Code when she was ready to start school .Sometimes they like the idea of school they formulate from other kids and seeing movies etc. In addition to some of the materials suggested ,is there a coop group that meets to do something like crafts that can be her "school"? We found a once a wk small group that met at library and did a craft when dd was young .This was before she ws ready to start learning to read which came later for her but it fulfilled that desire for "school" she had.Also have heard good things about MFW

[AugustMama]

I am loving doing Sonlight this year with my 6 yo dd and my 4 yo ds. I love that I can combine both of them within the core (I am doing P 4/5) but do math and language arts seperately to meet them where they are. It is pricey though. I am doing MUS Primer with dd this year and it has been good. I also like HWT K - it has improved her handwriting immensely.

A good resource for an all-in-one curric. for K is My Father's World. It covers math, reading, history, science, etc all in one curric. and it is not too expensive. I did it last year with dd and I liked a lot about it, especiallly the activities that were included in each lesson. I wasn't a big fan of their approach to reading, however and parts of it were a bit too repetitive for my taste.

I believe there is a sticky in this forum that addresses reading programs that you may find helpful.

[homesteadmama]

Originally Posted by Quiteria

We have the Primer level.

How is her motor control? Can she color in the lines? Write or trace numbers? How big or small is her writing if she writes?

I LOVE Math U See starting with the Alpha level for an older child. Primer did not go so well for my kindergartener, though, because of the motor skills. I think it *could* actually be good for developing motor skills, but it depends on where the child is starting from. If the child has a ways to go yet, I would recommend other programs...if she does reasonably well for her age, then Primer might be great.

Her motor skills need help, I think. She can somewhat color in the lines when she tries, but most often when she "draws", it's just a bunch of scribbles all over the page. And whenever I try to get her to practice her letters, she doesn't want to do it. She can write her name, and has written other things (like a year ago, then lost steam), so I think she needs help in this area.

---------- Post added at 08:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 AM ----------

Originally Posted by mamacat

We have always used various eclectic materials ,but ,if you are looking for a curric in a box I know my dds sil has really been loving Sonlight with her preschoolers .My youngest dd liked Explode the Code when she was ready to start school .Sometimes they like the idea of school they formulate from other kids and seeing movies etc. In addition to some of the materials suggested ,is there a coop group that meets to do something like crafts that can be her "school"? We found a once a wk small group that met at library and did a craft when dd was young .This was before she ws ready to start learning to read which came later for her but it fulfilled that desire for "school" she had.Also have heard good things about MFW

Thanks for the suggestion. There are a few different co-ops in the town about 45 minutes away from me. I could do it, but tbh, they are filled with Pearl-followers, and I can only be around that for so long before getting utterly sad.

I'm in a natural mom's group on FB that is local, and many of them homeschool. Maybe I'll ask them if any of them want to get together for a co-op.

[Quiteria]

http://store.mathusee.com/catalog/general-math/primer/

Download the sample lesson on this page...in the sample, scroll past the teacher diections to page 9A, the student page. It asks the child to color in 3 tens bars (out of 9), and one block (out of 9). (It's a lesson on place value, apparently.) If she can do that as no big deal, even messy, then it might be good for her. If she melts down because she can't color a block that small without coloring the ones around it, then you need a program less reliant on motor skills.

(It's NOT terribly small...the blocks are maybe half an inch, with lots of white space around them and great margins on the page in general...but we had the refusal and meltdown here, and finally the explanation that ds didn't feel like he could color in a specific number, even though he is capable of counting that number just fine. He would get color onto the ones he didn't mean to, and then get frustrated.)

Oh--see also whether she can write her name in blocks that size...like turn the page sideways and see if she'll write her name on one of the ten bars, one letter per square. That's about the size of the numbers to trace. See also if she can color a certain number of squares within a ten bar, like out of these ten, can you color four?

If she can do those without throwing a fit, the MUS will give her lots of practice to make it better. If she can't, I would look at another curriculum, and save motor skills for a specific effort during handwriting instead of blending it into math. We're using Singapore 1A and 1B, and those seem very colorful and light on writing...we're mostly working aloud and pointing. I've also had my eye on RightStart and on Kitchen Table Math, but haven't been able to purchase them or see in person.