Well, I totaled up curriculum costs for this year and for Auds and T it would cost over $200. I just couldn't justify spending that on preschool and kindergarten this year. Granted, it's cheaper than private school tuition, but when our A\C needs replaced and our roof needs fixed, and we need a new mower, and etc. and so on and so forth because life happens, it just wasn't worth it to me. Plus, we can always pick it up next year.
Enter Pinterest. I searched for kindergarten curriculum and found a site that had their yearly sale on digital curriculum. Basically, they give you the e-copy and you print it and do it. No shipping, no taxes. They were having a 90%ish off sale and a buy 2 get one free. Which means I could get curriculum for all three kids for the next few years for less than half of what Abeka would have cost. And if we go back to Abeka, we would have supplementary materials. Not too shabby.
I'm purchasing a Charlotte Mason, a Tots and PreK, and a K-3 early learner curriculum bundle to combine and use together. It's a mix of CM and traditional materials all Biblically based, which I think will give us some well-rounded stuff.
The Charlotte Mason bundle comes with:
The Charlotte Mason Way Explained
Discipleship: A Character Curriculum Using KJV Scriptures
Fine Art Collection 1 (which features Saurat, my favorite artist!)
Hymnological Journey to the Cross
Reading Lessons through Literature
Writing Lessons through Literature
50 States and Where to Find Them
Grapevine Studies: Old Testament
Write From Ancient History (still deciding if I want to do script or print)
Sheldon's New Primary Language Lessons
Nature Study Notebooking pages - all of them
Jim Hodges audiobooks
Because I Said So - Biblical Lesson in Obedience
And a bonus How to Build a Strong Christian Home: One Step at a Time for me
That's a lot, but because of the sale and me wanting to get stuff for T, too, I'm getting the preschool kit. And if I'm getting the preschool kit, I might as well get the k-3 and get free stuff, right?!
This is what's in the preschool bundle:
Raising Rockstars Preschool Curriculum
Proverbs for Preschoolers (which is perfect because our Bible Quizzing material this year is Proverbs, so this will be awesome to do in conjunction coz T really wants to quiz even though he's too young)
We Choose Virtues Bundle
Character Badges
Grapevine Studies Old Testament prek
Creation Coloring Book
Be Thankful: Cultivating Year-Round Thankfulness
Little Lads and Ladies of Virtue
101 Independent Activities
1777 New England Primer Manuscript
Basic Shapes for Beginners
New Testament Bible Reading Journal
Hands-On Character Building
Character Traits Flashcards
And bonus for me: HomeschoolingLarge Families and Character Concepts for Preschoolers for Moms
The k-3 bundle comes with:
Creation Science
Early American Settlers Unit Study
Reading Lessons Through Literature
ABCs for Godly Children
Write Through the Bible Philippians (which I'll probably do later on since we're in Proverbs for BQ)
Math Mammoth -Place Value and +/-
Botany in 8 Lessons
Asia: Its People and History
Raising Rockstars Kindergarten
Character Badges
Grapevine Studies Old Testament Beginner
That's a lot!
I'm still trying to figure out schedule, but here's what I'm thinking:
Bible history and Proverbs everyday after family prayer
Monday:
Handwriting and History
Tuesday:
Science and Literature (Auds ballet lessons are Tuesdays, so we'll likely do reading in the morning and then a nature walk/ botany experiment in the afternoon)
Wednesday:
Art and Math
Thursday:
Character development
Friday:
Geography
Should I combine lessons and do more repeating during the week? Like math/history/literature more than once a week? I realize it's only pre-k and kindergarten, but we are in the formative years and I want to give them a good foundation. Plus, it will be such a change from the stringent schedule of Abeka.
I'm excited and nervous about all of it. Not having a box puts more pressure on me for developing a schedule, but also opens it up for flexibility when I've got big projects. I'm looking forward to the character development. I've been working on it as situations arise, but it'll be nice to have stuff to work on before talking to the kids after correcting them.
Wish me luck!
Sounds wonderful! I'll be really interested in your feedback about some of the materials - like the Science stuff and a lot of the character/virtue stuff.
ReplyDeleteI think Auds' schedule sounds great for Kindergarten. I would just follow her cues. If she's moving along as quickly as you would like with only doing the math once a week, stay at that pace. If she seems bored or if you find she isn't progressing fast enough, up it to 2 days or 3 days or whatever you need.
David and Audrey are the same age, so if it helps at all to compare - he gets math and language arts three times a week. That sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. One day we may spend a lot of time on a new lesson/concept. The other days may just be quick worksheets or play with manipulatives to reinforce the new concept and keep it fresh.
We try to do literature daily or as close to as possible, but at this age it just consists of family read-alouds. We do 1-2 chapters of our book each night, depending on how they behave. It's been a nice way to establish a better bedtime routine and it calms them all down. Bonus is that the younger ones benefit from the reading, too.
I get you on the pressure of not having a box. I worry sometimes that I'm not providing enough structure, but the freedom really suits my personality and teaching style much better. It's also easier for me to cater to the needs of the kids. If they want to do five straight days of history instead of science one week, we can do that without me feeling like I'm falling behind on the script the box provided for me. And really, it's all about the kids and what they need. That's what I'd do with Auds. Take the first month and see what is and isn't working, and then adjust the schedule accordingly. I find that doing monthly goals works much better for us than doing yearly goals, because it forces me to re-evaluate at the end of each month and make adjustments.
Yay for you! I can't wait to hear all about your progress. Please make sure to post lots of updates and reviews about your new curriculum!!