I am attaching this button to this post and my blog to announce my curriculum decision.......
----drumroll, please....-----
I have decided to make the switch!
I know I am as slow as molasses on a cold winter's day!!!!
I have always been a deep thinker...
exhausting my every thought on anything of importance to make a decision about.
I am cautious.
I am not one to make any decision lightly.
Anything that I decide on in a rush flops.
Life experience has taught me to carefully consider all things.
Because of my absolute slowness and turtle-like speed in this decision process I really feel that I have made the best choice for our little homeschool.
So, now we wait.... .
how quick will the mail arrive with our new stuff?...
... and I need to do a small supply run for some binders and few others item I do not have on hand. I am in no rush really, though.
We are not on a school year calendar.
We will truck on in our current curriculum.
When the other arrives some of it will be a bit of a re-run, but that will be good review.
I am excited!... and hoping my kids will get excited, too!
I think the My Father's World curriculum will make me more accountable.
Even though it is known for being laid back I am sure it is not as laid back as I get. ;(
The clearly laid out plans will keep me from feeling overwhelmed and leaving out things I would normally skip in the struggle to juggle. (accidental rhyme, but I like it)
Okay, so I said that I would keep you all posted on the all the curriculum changes and decisions that I have been thinking on. Many things we have been studying are very similar with our A Beka stuff, but the organization is just not there... or rather is just not simplistic enough for me to follow easily. Being a "newbie" homeschooler with my highly distractable oldest daughter really would be easier with a better plan. And factor two little ones in the mix I believe it will work better to work with a curriculum that was made for families like ours. Anyway, so originally I have used A Beka with LOTS of modifications for our family and LOTS of stuff we just don't do at all. We are going to keep using A Beka's Math (3), but we slow it down. We are just going to go at our pace and we may skip days at a time a practice memorization of addition, subtraction, or multiplication facts, etc. or play card games. We are also going to continue using A Beka's Language (3). We are going to also, include the dictation and copywork in MFW and add some of our own, if we feel like it. I am completely ditching A Beka's Spelling (3) and have ordered Spelling By Sound And Structure (3) from Rod N Staff. I like the simplicity of it and the focus on phonetics. They have thirteen words a week and some of those are a review portion from prior weeks. Because the lists are only thirteen words, then I feel like I can easily include another seven or less that are of particular need to my daughter without overwhelming us both. I will keep Spelling Power in mind for future years, but for now I am choosing the simplicity of this one. So, we are going to use MFW Adventures and we are going to do as much as possible with al the kids. I also decided to order the MFW Kindergarten for Sierra and we will also combine some of that for all the kids. I want them to do as much together as possible. I think this is important with so many in the house and me being only one person. I need to teach them as much as possible as a group. They need to learn to teach each other. And I think they need to learn to work together as it is going to be this way for the next ten plus years. We ALL need to learn to work together. ;)
Whew!! Finally.... a decision!!
Well let me first say, I am the queen of switching! I have been doing this for 5 years now. The first year was some curriculum called Education Plus. then second year was Bob Jones. Third year, was a free online curriculum called Ambleside Online. So then last year, I switched to MFW. I don't regret that decision one bit. However, I think we will always be critiquing how our kids learn so I have supplemented certain things with it. I use MFW for most of the curriculum, but I added phonics for my younger child who was doing ECC with my older child, but she was only in 1st grade. She wrote and read, so we placed her with her sister in ECC. We also added dictionary skills. I dislike Singapore Math too so now we are using Math U See with much better results. This year we are doing C2G's and I'm adding a few things to the language arts because my daughters are behind in that area. I guess after all the switching, I just realize you have to stick with something and not think there is ever a "perfect" curriculum. There isn't. There are dedicated parents who want their children to learn wisely and we look for ways to do that. No curriculum is one size fits all, but I do happen to love MFW. I think it teaches morals and covers areas in the Bible that most curriculum's skim over. Anyway, I hope it works for you too! It has blessed our family.
ReplyDeleteYou're gonna love it! I was glad I used MFW for my first year. I just love the way it is laid out perfectly for us who need a little structure in our lives.(ahem) If your library has annimated hero classics, check them out. They will be your lifesavers during crazy days/weeks. They are also called Nest videos. They are listed in the back of the teacher's guide with the rest of the library books. My kids still ask for them. Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteI have about 10 of the Nest Family Animated shows on my DVR!!!! Yippeee!! We have not veiwed any of them, so it is great to see how God works things out. So, they will really love me when I tell them that watching a movie is part of their school, especially since I have almost eliminated their TV time. ;)
ReplyDeleteYAAAYYY! I am so excited for you! We are doing Adventures in My Fathers World and I am also doing the Kindergarten! We can help each other! You will not regret it. And I really like the more layed back approach! It does wonders for the attitude of the homeschool!
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