As our school year has gotten off to a rocky start with a summer virus interrupting our rhythm quite early in the game, I am reminded that I am not in control. I had such wonderful plans in place to be sure that this year would be smooth and organized. I made my file box organizer with copies of all worksheets, tests and quizzes for the year. I got each child their own school crates and attached binder rings with laminated task lists for each subject on each child's crate or workbox cart. We were so ready to jump into the year and move. We went to our first day at co-op, and one of my guys caught a lovely beast of a cold. All of us, save my oldest son, ended up sick. Ugh!
Well, God is in control and He has His ways of reminding me of this. All of my planning and organizing was not in vain, but it is not what will get us through the year. Getting sick three weeks into our school year was not in my school planner! Only by his grace, can I teach my crew of half a dozen.
We are entering week 4 of the school year and we are doing much better this year than last in regards to getting things done efficiently. My push for some older middle children to become more independent is bearing fruit! My little laminated index cards seem to be a bigger help than I anticipated. I wish I'd done something simple like this sooner!
I hope the Lord blesses your homeschooling endeavor this year as we are nearing the end of August. He is your strength. It is only by his grace we can give our children all they need!
Monday, August 29, 2016
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Curriculum Considerations
When a new homeschooling family is looking to purchase curriculum for their first child, there are a few key things they should really think about and consider. I list these considerations because they will impact what style of education and or teaching will most likely fit your situation and serve you the best.
1) What size of a family do you have or plan to have?
If your family will be small (3 children or less), you will have the time to be more involved with face to face teaching with your children. This means that teacher intensive methods and curriculums will be able to work for you, if you prefer them. For example, you will be able to do a project based curriculum that may assign your child to make and paint a paper machie globe much more easily than the mom with six or ten kids. Read aloud literature programs will be more easily doable for you than for the mom with a large family.
If your family will be large, you will need your children to learn to be independent as soon as they are able and to take ownership of their work once they are independent readers. You will guide and manage their work, but they will need to do lessons on their own when possible so you can help your non-readers gain a firm footing in reading. Your curriculum choices need to foster the learning environment that you need and/or desire for your family in the long term.
2) How much money do you have to spend on curriculum?
This may seem basic, but it is very important. If money is tight, I would strongly suggest choosing materials that are reusable rather than consumable as much as possible, especially if your answer to question number one is "large". Reusable resources can be used for all children in the home and can be sold as used on websites such as Ebay or Amazon. Speaking of Ebay and Amazon, you can also purchase reusable gently used resources on these sites. If they are taken care of, you can still resell them when you are done with them.
Games/ Flashcards and such are expensive and can be made at home. Weigh the cost of the product against the time it would cost to make it. Maybe the kids can make their own flash cards on index cards? This saves you time and impresses the concepts into their minds as they write and as they review. Ask yourself honestly, will you really make time to do the games or projects? Curriculum that sits on the shelf without being used is a waste.
Some curriculum providers will allow teachers to copy consumable resources for use in their classroom or home only. Check into this before purchasing. Cursive First by Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Rod and Staff English worksheets are two examples of this.
Free quality resources can be found at places such as Librivox (a site with public domain audio books) and Project Gutenberg (a site with public domain electronic books) to save money. Books from either site can be downloaded to an SD card and put on an electronic reader such as a Kindle or a Nook if you have one. (Your reader must be able to play audio books if you will put Librivox resources on it).
3) What style of teaching suits your personality and family environment?
Only you can answer this, really. I would suggest being honest about what is possible in reality versus what you would like to do in an ideal world. For examle, I like to be involved in teaching my children. I am attracted to teacher intensive programs that would involve me with my kids, but I do have six, two of which are non-readers and another is a struggling reader. So, reality dictates that reusable textbooks and independent learning must be dominant in my curriculum choices until more kids are reading fluently. My personality wants to do projects and hands-on learning with my kids. However, my life situation proves that hands-on curriculm purchases will sit on the shelf and end up undone. If I pursue the hands on route, I will set myself up for failure and feel like a terrible homeschooling mom before we get far into a school year. If you really want a little hands-on learning to happen when life is crazy, then consider choosing only one teacher intensive thing to do (outside teaching reading to non-readers) that can involve everyone and recruit older kids to help you organize and set up.
4) What are your goals for your child's education?
If you have a big picture in your mind for where you want your child to be when they graduate, you can work backwards and develop a rough plan about how to get him there.
If a complete education in your household means that a child is able to function as a productive member of society on his or her own before they graduate, you will want to make sure your child has some money management skills, and basic character traits like being punctual and responsible.
With this goal in mind, you can purposefully make allowances in the child's schedule to learn these things. When they are young, you might teach them to do basic chores and keep your standards high. When they are older, you may choose to have your child work part-time jobs during the summers or after school hours during the school year. You may make them responsible to pay for their own entertainment as well as their own car and insurance and any other expense outside what is necessary.
If the above plan is something you want to pursue, you do not want to have them work on curriculum eight hours a day, then go to work for six hours or so. Plan a curriculum that will give the child everything they need educationally and allow the child to pursue part-time employment or consider schooling some in the summers to make up for what the child can't do during the traditional school year.
These are very basic, but important. These are the things I have learned to think through over my mere 6 years of homeschooling. I hope they help you as you sift through the vast array of curriculum choices on the market. I will post reviews in the future comparing different curriculums to each other to point out what I consider their pros and cons to be and how they may best fit different categories mentioned above.
1) What size of a family do you have or plan to have?
If your family will be small (3 children or less), you will have the time to be more involved with face to face teaching with your children. This means that teacher intensive methods and curriculums will be able to work for you, if you prefer them. For example, you will be able to do a project based curriculum that may assign your child to make and paint a paper machie globe much more easily than the mom with six or ten kids. Read aloud literature programs will be more easily doable for you than for the mom with a large family.
If your family will be large, you will need your children to learn to be independent as soon as they are able and to take ownership of their work once they are independent readers. You will guide and manage their work, but they will need to do lessons on their own when possible so you can help your non-readers gain a firm footing in reading. Your curriculum choices need to foster the learning environment that you need and/or desire for your family in the long term.
2) How much money do you have to spend on curriculum?
This may seem basic, but it is very important. If money is tight, I would strongly suggest choosing materials that are reusable rather than consumable as much as possible, especially if your answer to question number one is "large". Reusable resources can be used for all children in the home and can be sold as used on websites such as Ebay or Amazon. Speaking of Ebay and Amazon, you can also purchase reusable gently used resources on these sites. If they are taken care of, you can still resell them when you are done with them.
Games/ Flashcards and such are expensive and can be made at home. Weigh the cost of the product against the time it would cost to make it. Maybe the kids can make their own flash cards on index cards? This saves you time and impresses the concepts into their minds as they write and as they review. Ask yourself honestly, will you really make time to do the games or projects? Curriculum that sits on the shelf without being used is a waste.
Some curriculum providers will allow teachers to copy consumable resources for use in their classroom or home only. Check into this before purchasing. Cursive First by Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Rod and Staff English worksheets are two examples of this.
Free quality resources can be found at places such as Librivox (a site with public domain audio books) and Project Gutenberg (a site with public domain electronic books) to save money. Books from either site can be downloaded to an SD card and put on an electronic reader such as a Kindle or a Nook if you have one. (Your reader must be able to play audio books if you will put Librivox resources on it).
3) What style of teaching suits your personality and family environment?
Only you can answer this, really. I would suggest being honest about what is possible in reality versus what you would like to do in an ideal world. For examle, I like to be involved in teaching my children. I am attracted to teacher intensive programs that would involve me with my kids, but I do have six, two of which are non-readers and another is a struggling reader. So, reality dictates that reusable textbooks and independent learning must be dominant in my curriculum choices until more kids are reading fluently. My personality wants to do projects and hands-on learning with my kids. However, my life situation proves that hands-on curriculm purchases will sit on the shelf and end up undone. If I pursue the hands on route, I will set myself up for failure and feel like a terrible homeschooling mom before we get far into a school year. If you really want a little hands-on learning to happen when life is crazy, then consider choosing only one teacher intensive thing to do (outside teaching reading to non-readers) that can involve everyone and recruit older kids to help you organize and set up.
4) What are your goals for your child's education?
If you have a big picture in your mind for where you want your child to be when they graduate, you can work backwards and develop a rough plan about how to get him there.
If a complete education in your household means that a child is able to function as a productive member of society on his or her own before they graduate, you will want to make sure your child has some money management skills, and basic character traits like being punctual and responsible.
With this goal in mind, you can purposefully make allowances in the child's schedule to learn these things. When they are young, you might teach them to do basic chores and keep your standards high. When they are older, you may choose to have your child work part-time jobs during the summers or after school hours during the school year. You may make them responsible to pay for their own entertainment as well as their own car and insurance and any other expense outside what is necessary.
If the above plan is something you want to pursue, you do not want to have them work on curriculum eight hours a day, then go to work for six hours or so. Plan a curriculum that will give the child everything they need educationally and allow the child to pursue part-time employment or consider schooling some in the summers to make up for what the child can't do during the traditional school year.
These are very basic, but important. These are the things I have learned to think through over my mere 6 years of homeschooling. I hope they help you as you sift through the vast array of curriculum choices on the market. I will post reviews in the future comparing different curriculums to each other to point out what I consider their pros and cons to be and how they may best fit different categories mentioned above.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Rod and Staff Math and 3rd Grade Standardized Testing
When shopping for a math curriculum, every homeschool mom has a list of things she wants the potential choice to meet. Is it s spiral or mastery based curriculum? How much teacher preparation does it require? Is it colorful or not? How do kids using this curriculum fare on standardized tests?
There are enough choices available to make one's head spin and add to this the fact that not every advertisement for any given curriculum is accurate. Choosing a math curriculum can be frustrating for any homeschooling parent.
I have successfully used Saxon math with some of my children and Rod and Staff math with others. The reason behind our family having two curriculums are in another post titled My Experience With Saxon and Rod and Staff Math. Today, I would like to address the last question mom's and dad's might ask if they are considering the excellent mastery based math curriculum published by Rod and Staff. How do kids using this curriculum fare on standardized tests? While I do not have a definitive research based answer for you as I am not aware of any studies done on this specific question. I can tell you what my experience has been in this area after using Rod and Staff Math in my home for grades 1, 3, and 4 over the past 2 years and counting.
How did my kids do on their standardized test for third grade after using this curriculum? They did okay but they would have done better had some things been included in the curriculum that are absent. Like what? Well geometry concepts like symmetry and congruence, perimeter and area. Things like rounding numbers to the nearest 10, reading graphs and calendar word problems.
So, does that mean that Rod and Staff should not be used for third grade math? I don't think so. I will not be posting this curriculum on EBay and searching for another. What I realized after looking through the curriculum to use again with my next child is that some of the concepts missing in the pupil text that are on the standardized test like rounding numbers and even some basic adding of fractions with like denominators are in the worksheets I failed to use the first time around. I know better now, and I will use them with my son who is now a second grader when he does Exploring Arithmetic 3 next year. A word of caution: Do not confuse worksheets with blacklines. They are not the same. Blacklines are more review of facts and concepts taught in the textbook for kids having a hard time getting the material presented. Worksheets are a separate book covering extra concepts that are not included in the textbook. They are very different. I will also supplement Exploring Arithmetic with either Spectrum Math 3, which has a section on calendars and geometry and measurement which is expected to be covered on standardized tests, or the Kumon Geometry and Measurement workbook for 3rd grade. I think that doing one page a week in the Kumon book or a couple of concepts once a week in the Spectrum book would keep their exposure consistent enough to be sure they aren't lacking in this area on their ITBS or CAT. Spectrum covers graphs, but we already use and like Modern Press Curriculum's Maps Charts Graphs workbooks for geography and map reading skills. All graphs covered in any standardized test are included in these books.
Am I worried about the test scores? Not at all. My boys did well even though some things were missing in geometry. I know my boys will have all of the skills they need by sixth grade to do well in the geometry portions of their next standardized test. Rod and Staff covers area, perimeter, rounding and graphs in their Progressing in Arithmetic 4 book. However, testing was frustrating for my boys when they saw questions about things they were never exposed to. This is understandable. Who wants to have problems about things they've never seen on an important test? That won't happen next time. Spectrum or Kumon workbook supplements will fill in the gaps for testing. Meanwhile, Rod and Staff will continue to provide my children with a solid, systematic foundation in arithmetic so they can succeed in higher math.
There are enough choices available to make one's head spin and add to this the fact that not every advertisement for any given curriculum is accurate. Choosing a math curriculum can be frustrating for any homeschooling parent.
I have successfully used Saxon math with some of my children and Rod and Staff math with others. The reason behind our family having two curriculums are in another post titled My Experience With Saxon and Rod and Staff Math. Today, I would like to address the last question mom's and dad's might ask if they are considering the excellent mastery based math curriculum published by Rod and Staff. How do kids using this curriculum fare on standardized tests? While I do not have a definitive research based answer for you as I am not aware of any studies done on this specific question. I can tell you what my experience has been in this area after using Rod and Staff Math in my home for grades 1, 3, and 4 over the past 2 years and counting.
How did my kids do on their standardized test for third grade after using this curriculum? They did okay but they would have done better had some things been included in the curriculum that are absent. Like what? Well geometry concepts like symmetry and congruence, perimeter and area. Things like rounding numbers to the nearest 10, reading graphs and calendar word problems.
So, does that mean that Rod and Staff should not be used for third grade math? I don't think so. I will not be posting this curriculum on EBay and searching for another. What I realized after looking through the curriculum to use again with my next child is that some of the concepts missing in the pupil text that are on the standardized test like rounding numbers and even some basic adding of fractions with like denominators are in the worksheets I failed to use the first time around. I know better now, and I will use them with my son who is now a second grader when he does Exploring Arithmetic 3 next year. A word of caution: Do not confuse worksheets with blacklines. They are not the same. Blacklines are more review of facts and concepts taught in the textbook for kids having a hard time getting the material presented. Worksheets are a separate book covering extra concepts that are not included in the textbook. They are very different. I will also supplement Exploring Arithmetic with either Spectrum Math 3, which has a section on calendars and geometry and measurement which is expected to be covered on standardized tests, or the Kumon Geometry and Measurement workbook for 3rd grade. I think that doing one page a week in the Kumon book or a couple of concepts once a week in the Spectrum book would keep their exposure consistent enough to be sure they aren't lacking in this area on their ITBS or CAT. Spectrum covers graphs, but we already use and like Modern Press Curriculum's Maps Charts Graphs workbooks for geography and map reading skills. All graphs covered in any standardized test are included in these books.
Am I worried about the test scores? Not at all. My boys did well even though some things were missing in geometry. I know my boys will have all of the skills they need by sixth grade to do well in the geometry portions of their next standardized test. Rod and Staff covers area, perimeter, rounding and graphs in their Progressing in Arithmetic 4 book. However, testing was frustrating for my boys when they saw questions about things they were never exposed to. This is understandable. Who wants to have problems about things they've never seen on an important test? That won't happen next time. Spectrum or Kumon workbook supplements will fill in the gaps for testing. Meanwhile, Rod and Staff will continue to provide my children with a solid, systematic foundation in arithmetic so they can succeed in higher math.
My Experience with Saxon and Rod and Staff Math
Like many of you, I have spent hours over the years trying to determine which math curriculum to use in my homeschool. Which one is "the best"? Which one is less expensive? How much teacher time does it require? These are some of the questions I ask myself when looking for any curriculum.
I didn't always ask these questions about math. In the very beginning of my homeschooling years, a family I knew nearing the end of their homeschooling years told me that they'd used Saxon math successfully with all five of their children and to great success. Their oldest son was an engineering student at the time and has now completed a master's degree in Nuclear Physics! Saxon was his only math curriculum. is mom taught him all of his math facts before 4th grade and then he jumped into 54 and progressed through calculus. So, I bought a copy of Saxon 54 with tests and answers on EBay for a steal (1st edition) and gave it a go. My two oldest children followed the process described above to great success and I was thrilled. The choosing of math curriculum was easy for this homeschool mom...
Then came child number three. My family had previously lived in Texas where standardized testing was not a requirement for homeschoolers. We moved to Georgia. Georgia law requires homeschooling families to test every three years starting in third grade. So, I made sure to use a formal curriculum before Saxon 54. I started my third son on a formal curriculum in 2nd grade. I chose Horizons 2 since it utilizes a similar spiraling pedagogy that is used in Saxon. My plan was to progress from Horizons 2 to Horizons 3 and then move him into Saxon 54. This seemed very logical and would have been for my two older boys. With this child, it was a major disaster.
Why? Is it the fault of the Horizons 2 curriculum? No. The curriculum was good. I looked through it before giving it to my son. I was very happy with it. So what was the problem? Why did every math lesson turn into 45 minutes of crying and misery for both my son and myself? Well, I was not crying (usually), but I was on the brink of pulling my hair out. Math, a subject that was once peaceful in my home, became something I dreaded on a daily basis. Why? I asked my son this question one day after he cried out in frustration that he hated his math book. He didn't say he hated math. He hated the book. His response left me surprised. It was quite perceptive for a seven year old boy.
"They (meaning the book) teach me something new, and then the next day they teach me something new again. I don't understand what I did yesterday but they want me to learn this too. There is stuff in here they want me to do today that they stopped teaching me a long time ago, and I forgot how to do it. They are not teaching me anything about how to do the stuff I forgot. I still don't understand the new stuff from yesterday but I'm supposed to do this too!"
He was sad. He felt like he was dumber than his younger brother who was doing just fine in the same book. (They are only a year apart and do school together). He wanted to be able to learn something and really understand it before having a new and unrelated concept thrown at him to learn and do. He was introduced to something weeks before that was dropped from the lessons soon afterwards and then put back in with no instructions for how to do it. He was expected to remember how to do it on his own (He thought he was. His little brother did). At that very moment I knew in my heart that Saxon, the curriculum I'd planned for all of my children to use from 54 through Calculus, was NOT going to work for him.
I got online and began to search for a different curriculum that would better fit my son's needs. I looked on discussion boards to find out why Saxon doesn't work for some people. The words spiral versus mastery kept coming up and it hit me that my third son needs a mastery based curriculum. The spiral was driving him bananas. But what curriculum should I buy? There are so many.
I chose Rod and Staff Math. Rod and Staff math has been a blessing for this child and his mom. It allows him the time he needs to let a concept sink in. Much attention is given to mastering the basic arithmetic facts and other fundamentals necessary for success in upper level mathematics. Peace with math has been restored in my home.
I didn't always ask these questions about math. In the very beginning of my homeschooling years, a family I knew nearing the end of their homeschooling years told me that they'd used Saxon math successfully with all five of their children and to great success. Their oldest son was an engineering student at the time and has now completed a master's degree in Nuclear Physics! Saxon was his only math curriculum. is mom taught him all of his math facts before 4th grade and then he jumped into 54 and progressed through calculus. So, I bought a copy of Saxon 54 with tests and answers on EBay for a steal (1st edition) and gave it a go. My two oldest children followed the process described above to great success and I was thrilled. The choosing of math curriculum was easy for this homeschool mom...
Then came child number three. My family had previously lived in Texas where standardized testing was not a requirement for homeschoolers. We moved to Georgia. Georgia law requires homeschooling families to test every three years starting in third grade. So, I made sure to use a formal curriculum before Saxon 54. I started my third son on a formal curriculum in 2nd grade. I chose Horizons 2 since it utilizes a similar spiraling pedagogy that is used in Saxon. My plan was to progress from Horizons 2 to Horizons 3 and then move him into Saxon 54. This seemed very logical and would have been for my two older boys. With this child, it was a major disaster.
Why? Is it the fault of the Horizons 2 curriculum? No. The curriculum was good. I looked through it before giving it to my son. I was very happy with it. So what was the problem? Why did every math lesson turn into 45 minutes of crying and misery for both my son and myself? Well, I was not crying (usually), but I was on the brink of pulling my hair out. Math, a subject that was once peaceful in my home, became something I dreaded on a daily basis. Why? I asked my son this question one day after he cried out in frustration that he hated his math book. He didn't say he hated math. He hated the book. His response left me surprised. It was quite perceptive for a seven year old boy.
"They (meaning the book) teach me something new, and then the next day they teach me something new again. I don't understand what I did yesterday but they want me to learn this too. There is stuff in here they want me to do today that they stopped teaching me a long time ago, and I forgot how to do it. They are not teaching me anything about how to do the stuff I forgot. I still don't understand the new stuff from yesterday but I'm supposed to do this too!"
He was sad. He felt like he was dumber than his younger brother who was doing just fine in the same book. (They are only a year apart and do school together). He wanted to be able to learn something and really understand it before having a new and unrelated concept thrown at him to learn and do. He was introduced to something weeks before that was dropped from the lessons soon afterwards and then put back in with no instructions for how to do it. He was expected to remember how to do it on his own (He thought he was. His little brother did). At that very moment I knew in my heart that Saxon, the curriculum I'd planned for all of my children to use from 54 through Calculus, was NOT going to work for him.
I got online and began to search for a different curriculum that would better fit my son's needs. I looked on discussion boards to find out why Saxon doesn't work for some people. The words spiral versus mastery kept coming up and it hit me that my third son needs a mastery based curriculum. The spiral was driving him bananas. But what curriculum should I buy? There are so many.
I chose Rod and Staff Math. Rod and Staff math has been a blessing for this child and his mom. It allows him the time he needs to let a concept sink in. Much attention is given to mastering the basic arithmetic facts and other fundamentals necessary for success in upper level mathematics. Peace with math has been restored in my home.
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