This post is mostly for those homeschoolers out there, or those who are thinking of becoming homeschoolers. We are a little past midpoint in our year, and I've done some curriculum shuffling and wanted to share some thoughts about the various books and programs we've been using.
Sonlight Core (History, Geography, World Cultures, Bible)
We use Sonlight for History, Geography, and World Cultures - we also follow their Bible reading schedule, but without any of the supplemental "Bible Facts" reading. Sophie is doing the 1-year World History 1 and 2 track (you can choose to do this over two years instead). What I like about Sonlight is that everything is scheduled for you. All the readings in several different books are broken down into a four or five-day schedule. There is no guesswork for the parent, and the notes are so detailed that no prep time is required. Their history / geo / world cultures reading and activities (map and timeline) are very strong; I especially like the Usborne Book of World History, which is full of information and illustrations, but not overwhelming either visually or content-wise.
Oddly enough, while Sonlight is considered a literature-based curriculum, I don't find that their literature selections are very well integrated. The "read aloud" novels ARE based in different historical time periods, but they don't correlate with the period that you're reading about in the history textbooks, which would seem to make more sense (although I suppose that would be difficult to pull off). Every day, Sophie also reads either an Aesop's Fable, or a selection from "A Child's Garden of Verses." There are minimal parents' notes for the fables, which is all that's necessary, but very little direction in how to help your child understand poetry if that is one of your interests.
Overall, I highly recommend Sonlight's Core. It is, however, an extremely parent-intensive curriculum as you will be reading and / or discussing all the material with your child. (There are no workbooks or written assignments.)
Sonlight Language Arts
The Language Arts program contains a lot of components that we didn't use (phonics, vocabulary, spelling) because we were using other curricula. We did use the reading list of novels and study guide, and the creative expression assignments and notes (copywork, longer writing assignments, both formal and informal, and some grammar).
I disliked this program. The reading list is fine -- although I would say it's inconsistent in terms of grade level -- but (and this holds true for the read-aloud study guides, as well) the study guide questions focus primarily on basic content-level understanding. There is almost no literary analysis. I also discovered that I'm not a big fan of copywork - I know it features heavily in a few different educational theories, but it just seemed pointless to me. Finally, I found their writing assignments and grammar instruction more than a bit random. Although there is some logic as to what specific skills are taught week to week, there doesn't seem to be much correspondence to the writing assignments (for instance, in week 20 the child learns about similes; yet the writing assignment does not require them to use that knowledge.) I also felt that there was little methodology for teaching good writing. I will say that if you are a phonics freak, the obsessively detailed phonics / spelling study guide will send you into raptures.
Singapore Math
We used Singapore Math for both Sophie and Daniel. Sophie tested into Level 2A at the beginning of the year, which is consistent with what the website says about their curriculum being about 1/2 year ahead of what's taught in most public schools. Daniel started with their Kindergarten B book.
This is a great math curriculum. Lots of manipulatives usage; multiple ways of thinking through the same problem; stresses conceptual understanding rather than rote memory of steps. If you didn't learn math this way yourself, the home instructor's guide (Sonlight sells one - it includes answer keys and some extra assignments) is a great resource. There isn't a lot of repetition in the books, so if your child needs reinforcement or memory work, flashcards or the additional word problem books from the publisher would be a good supplement.
Italic Writing (Getty & Dubay)
Italic writing is beautiful - looks a bit like calligraphy - and supposedly very developmentally friendly, with an easier transition from printing to cursive than standard methods. Sophie's printing was one of her weak points, and now she gets compliments on her cursive. Level B, which Daniel is using, focuses on using sight words in simple sentences, so it's easy to use for spelling lessons, too.
Easy Grammar Systems (Grade 3)
So far, so good. We've just started this workbook, and so far I like it. The book starts with prepositions and prepositional phrases and from there adds other parts of speech. Each day's assignment is short and manageable and well-organized.
I've discovered that I like separate grammar instruction, rather than having it integrated into a literature study. I'm not at all a grammar maven - I don't know if we'll ever get to diagramming sentences - but I do think it's important to be able to identify parts of speech. Grammar gives you a language and structure to talk about writing, and I actually wish we'd gotten to it earlier.
English from the Roots Up (Volume I)
My sister-in-law recommended this book. This approach uses Greek and Latin root words to build vocabulary and spelling. We could spend several years on this book, as each root has six or eight derivations and I only have Sophie learn 4. We like this book, but it might be more valuable for older children (the suggested range is grade 4-12) who are more likely to encounter some of these words in their reading. Supposedly this is a great book for boosting SAT scores, but we have a long way to go before we worry about those! I would recommend this series for those who want their kids to have knowledge of Greek and Latin roots, but don't want to bother with learning the complete languages, declinations and all.
Real Science - 4 - Kids (Pre-Level 1 Chemistry)
I found this curriculum online and ran it by Tara for approval (for those who don't know my sister, she has a Master's degree in education and works at the New York Hall of Science). It's written by a homeschooling mom with a science Ph.D. Every level has biology, chemistry and physics, plus accompanying activities. In the upper grades, the curriculum is interdisciplinary, integrating history, philosophy, and language. We just started using these books as well, and so far are enjoying them. The books are visually appealing (we bought the ebooks, which are substantially less expensive than the written texts) and easy to follow. And, our experiment this week features BOTH marshmallows and m&ms. Yum.
Artistic Pursuits (Grades K-3 Book 1)
This book has a variety of activities and uses several different mediums (so far the watercolor pastels are the kids' favorite). It uses full color reproductions of famous art works from different periods in history, as well as student examples, to show different forms and aspects of art (murals, still life; line, mixing colors). We've had fun with this book, and have Sophie and Daniel's art hanging all over our house now. The only thing that's missing is more instruction on technique, but perhaps that's covered in later books.
Institute for Excellence in Writing (Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales: Writing Lessons in Structure and Style, recommended for grades 3-5)
We have used this theme-based workbook for about three weeks, and I have mixed feelings about it. It contains short stories that the student is supposed to outline, then recreate in her own words, using what IEW calls "dress-ups" - "quality adjectives," "strong verbs," and adverbs. My opinion, based on some of the model paragraphs and stories that are in the book, is that these types of words are overused, creating stilted, flowery writing. My preference is for cleaner writing, and for a "show not tell" approach. Many adjectives the book suggests -- evaluative, non-sensory adjectives like "beautiful" or "fascinating" -- "tell" rather than "show." In other words, by themselves, they don't convey an image or other concrete information, just a vague, subjective impression. As for adverbs, I keep thinking of Stephen King's observation that J.K. Rowling never met an adverb she didn't like. He wasn't giving her a compliment. And why aren't students allowed to use "said" or "says" for dialogue attribution? Sometimes (often), a person isn't whispering, shouting, murmuring, exclaiming, ranting, snickering, gloating, hissing, grunting, venturing, querying, stating, or asserting. Sometimes a person just plain has something to say. And we should let him say it.
Sorry, that was a bit of a rant.
I do like that IEW provides concrete, easy to understand steps towards well-organized writing; it seems stronger in "structure" than in "style." Fortunately, we can take what we like and modify the rest.
Our Own Stuff
For additional vocabulary and literature, we are doing are own thing. I asked a few librarian friends to put together a booklist or two, and from them, I'm picking books and writing my own study guides. I'm also having Sophie read through each chapter and pick out words she doesn't know. She tries to discern their meaning from context, and then checks definitions in the dictionary. Then she uses the words in sentences. We spend two days on each chapter: one for vocabulary, and one for literary analysis. This is a slow method, so I may try to pick up the pace as we go along.
So, that's my two cents worth! Happy Homeschooling!
