Posted on 07/23/2020 7:40:46 AM PDT by GreaterSwiss
Have a friend with a 2nd grader who's thinking about home schooling. Any suggestions for programs
I would avoid Abeka History like the plague.
It was written by someone whose all consuming interest was history and demands detail that virtually nobody can remember but a history buff.
Nor do I care that D.L. Moody’s song leader was Ira Sanky.
Abeka deals with a lot of facts, but my daughter liked Alpha-Omega, I think it was better. She said it explained more WHY things happened than just spewing facts.
For second grade, I’d just introduce them to the basic form of our government and use each holiday as their curriculum guide. Each month has a holiday in it that we celebrate and you can just make the focus of history for that month studying those holidays and what they represent and the people commemorated.
Time is a very abstract concept for kids who are concrete thinkers and them learning to go back that far in time is a real stretch for them, I found.
Also, include geography in that history. Then you’ll have more than enough to cover that subject.
We did Scrabble for spelling and Yahtzee for math.
There are many games that teach critical thinking skills.
Excellent advice.
Second that on the Saxon Math.
My kids all did great with it and I FINALLY learned all that math they tried to shove down my throat in public schools for all those years.
Saxon covers topics in bite sized pieces that are clearly explained and reviewed regularly.
All three of my kids qualified to take Calc as incoming freshman at their respective 4 year universities. All three went in in their honors programs.
You are correct there used to be K and first grade activity books that I used that were from Toys are us.
But I loved Abeka k and 1 and 2
And reading to them, all the time. We used to read right after breakfast. Bible, history literautre.
Do not bother with the primary saxon math.
Get them adding subtracting and then get Saxon5/4 and the work sheets and go slow.
In the very early grades, I used Rod and Staff for Math, Penmanship and Phonics as well as Reading. For History and Science we used ABeka.
Seems like so long ago as I homeschooled in the ‘90’s.
I forgot to add. don’t be discouraged if curriculum does not work with your child. There is so much out there in which to choose from.
I had to make adjustments through the years with three kids. As they got older, I used ABeka for most subjects and BJUP or Saxon for math in the upper grades.
In the lower grades, my kids used grade-level workbooks that I bought at bookstores. Those workbooks were cheap and good enough. However, I would be very careful about the content in today’s workbooks. (I used to review each book and sometimes tear out pages, if I found the content to be inappropriate for my kids to read.)
Another idea is for your friend to join a local homeschool support group and talk with the other parents. Many moms swap books, sometimes for free, other times for a reduced price. That is, the moms will hand down books, such as textbooks their children have finished using. That way, your friend can collect a sampling of books and try them all.
We called it BIC (Butt In Chair) time. It was 8:30. School was Mon. - Thurs. Friday was field trip day.
Thanks. I should have included that.
First things first. Assess the legal landscape. I can't tell if you are in the US or not...your neighbor MUST know what's legal and not. In the US, joining the HSLDA is paramount IMHO.
Once your neighbor is solid on the legal boundaries, I'd encourage him/her to...well...spend a week with the child without any plan or program. I'm not suggesting unschooling, but rather a "get to know your learning style" acclimatization period. Your neighbor will likely experience a bit of a gut-punch at how little he/she knows about their child's learning pattern. That's ok - because this is where darkness turns to light..
I've heard more kudos heaped upon Abeka than any other program. We found it to be awful. And while some elitists may sniff at using a "lesser" program, the fact is that not all kids learn at the same rate or the same way. This is where the parent must seek our resources and materials that work with the child. Some kids take to an academic treatment of a subject. Some kids gravitate to a simpler approach...some love multimedia...some need to be hand-held. But the light I just mentioned, is the ability to customize the materials with your child's learning style. When that child's eyes light up, at how learning suddenly comes easily, and how the parent may weep with joy when the realization that they leaped over "the experts" in knowing AND educating their child, is a moment that will stay with them long after the pandemic is over.
I am a former teacher assistant with Mother of Divine Grace homeschooling company. Fantastic curriculum, very flexible, offers tons of support to parents and students. It is classical education at its finest. Excellent science and math courses.
Exactly.
Grades 1-3 in Saxon are not worth the expense.
Likewise, DoodleBob touched on another factor indirectly.
Learn your child’s learning style.
There are three basic ones: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
I have two kids who were highly visual learners. They could read something and about memorize it. I’m that way, too.
My youngest I thought was auditory but I’m now convinced she’s more kinesthetic. When she was taking Russian in college, she would grab a big white board and a bunch of colored dry erase markers and sit there and conjugate her verbs, and nouns, and for calc, she would write out her derivatives, all in various colored markers.
She aced tests when she studied that way.
I remember once when she was little I showed her the word *comb* and she kept saying,*I don’t know. I don’t know.* So on a whim I spelled it for her, and she says *Oh, comb.*
Auditory I don’t get at all, but I adjusted her class work to fit with her learning style and she excelled.
A great resource for parents struggling with deciding on when to start the academics is this......
Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child’s Education
https://www.amazon.com/Better-Late-Than-Early-Education/dp/0883490498
Seems to be not in print any more judging by the prices they are asking, but you can get it for Kindle.
There is so much out there now, it’s almost overwhelming. Your friend should get in touch with a local homeschool group and start talking to other moms. She might be able to pick up some used items, too. Also, some places have homeschool book fairs where she could look at materials before buying. If there is a
Mardel store where she lives, they have all kinds of homeschool and education supplies.
One thing I would like to warn her about is that she should not try to replicate a traditional school. Much of what happens in school is about busywork and filling time. She does not need to spend hours every day doing homeschool. She will accomplish all she needs to do in just a few hours (or even less) every day.
Read, read, read. Read to the kid, read with the kid, let the kid read. Go outside and find bugs. Google them, look at their wings, find their hearts in diagrams. Kids just love nature - bugs, rocks, yeast in water, etc. Get a 10x microscope. Do m/s stuff together and have the student write it up. Make sure they learn math like you learned it when it was taught correctly. Lots and lots of field trips, time outdoors. Feed his mind - they are so excited about the world at this age. Learn how to use maps. (teacher/ homeschool mom/ tutor 1:1 here).
Yes, we traveled so much - off season is not crowded and it’s cheaper. The beaches are empty, Eiffel Tower is empty, hotels easy to book. Plus homeschooling is really fun.
Thank you for sharing this. My neighbor has a child who was in the NICU and wants to homeschool. I will pass this along.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.