I am currently brainstorming ideas for independent schools that would cater to children (K-12) that may be a little complicated to develop. I would like ideas on how to develop and advanced study curriculum that is above the college prep level, but that can be catered towards students who may begin below their current grade level. In other words, a gradual curriculum that can be individualized.
I would appreciate any help, sources that you may have, as this is a project for my college class that I hope to obtain adequate, factual information about.
Good luck to you on your endeavor.
I dont have sources for you. the problem I think you’ll find is that for the most part teachers do not believe in preset curriculum. If you do have a prepared curriculum, your time and energy is devoted to training the tutor on how to deliver effectively and differentiate it based on students needs.
This is what we teachers do daily. i think your endeavor would be best served by investing in teachers who know their stuff.
Example 1: I get a group of seventh graders in math class: I open the curriculum and start from the beginning. I’m just following a recipe that may not be in the best interest of those learners.
Example 2: I get a group of seventh graders in math class (this is my actual experience) I assess their individual needs and since I have been teaching prealgebra and algebra for years – I know the scope and sequence necessary for them to succeed. I dont see anyone bottling what I know in a preset curriculum.
I am looking for a new vocabulary for my now 5th grader and 1st grader as well as for next year 6th and 2nd. Please tell me what you like about your curriculum and what you don’t like and if you would recommend it. I know it depends on their learning styles, I am just looking for recommendations so I can research them for myself. Thanks!
I use WordlyWise 3000. It gives 20 lessons, each with 5 different types of exercises for a list of words.
The word list are definitely stretching and allow for a bit more detailed use and meaning of the words than perhaps just reviewing words in context, which I have done in the past as well. The different exercises add a bit more spice than just defining a word and using in a sentence.Don’t ge me wrong, that happens in these books as well to a certain extent, but the whole deal is just more interesting and more challenging,
My 11 year old daughter has often had occasion to marvel that "I know that word" when she comes across it in her other reading, because she had just studied a week before. Neat!
My students are required to use this curriculum because they will use it in first grade but I find it very difficult to use and very general. Has anyone used this curriculum before? Any advice? Thank you.
My son had this when he was in elementary school. I thought it was rather imbecilic, but he survived. He still has an unfortunate tendency to want to multiply using the lattice method, however. I much prefer the old "drill and kill," myself.
Lapbooking is a fun way to teach and teach and reinforce every subject. It’s also something that all members of the family can do regardless of age. Basically a lapbook is a collection of minibooks and/or facts about a subject. These minibooks are placed inside of ordinary file folders that refolded to create a master book that fits in your lap.
A Journey Through Learning makes lapbooking super easy for a beginner like me to get started. I have been familiar with lapbooks for awhile, but this is my first time actually assembling one. Doing the lapbook project on “Autumn” has been a real eye-opener for me in more ways than one:
Lapbooking is not complicated. I think this was one of the biggest points for me. I shied away from the activity because I couldn’t imagine how to choose what to include in a lapbook or how to put it together.
Children learn and remember facts easily. Since there is a three year gap between my ladies so I wasn’t sure if Alaya would get as much out of it as Jade does. The minibooks break each subject down so well that there are few questions from either child.
The organizational benefits. Jade had to deal with an immature auditory system and went to speech for a number of years. I mistakenly thought that once speech was over that was the end of her difficulties. But doing lapbooking has shown me that another quirk of her speech issue has manifested in her organizational skills. While her little sister had no problem organizing her book, Jade was all over the place. So I’m now incorporating lapbooking in every subject possible because she needs to strengthen those skills.
A Journey Through Learning really makes it easy for parents to teach and reinforce lessons in one step. Most of their lapbooks come with unit study guides. This means that there is a lesson before each crafting activity. So, you read the facts and/or story about the subject and then do the crafts. I’ve found that this has helped the children to remember the facts a lot better than through the traditional “read and regurgitate” method.
In addition to the minibooks being created, the A Journey Through Learninghas a variety of fun activities as well. For example, one of the activities in the Autumn lapbook was to pretend that we were birds and using a scavenger list we had to find the materials for making a bird’s nest. This led to many discussions, lots of memorable fun.
Their catalog contains lapbooks on all kinds of topics including science, history, biblical, literature and also preschool topics. If you’re lucky enough to live in Louisiana you can even take a lapbooking class with the owners. Their lapbook prices are very reasonable, especially when you consider that you can reprint whatever you need for all of the children in your family. The ebooks are $13, the CD version is $14 and the printed version is $21 per book.
Each book is chock full of stories, templates, charts, minibooks and activities. Many of the books are over 50 pages of information. And the activities are appropriate for a range of ages starting at the preschool level to the seventh grade. I’m finding this to be one of the greatest appeal of their products because I can work with everyone at the same time. Since I also do work at home, the more subjects that I can combine without compromising either child’s level is really important.
But don’t take my word for it. You need to head on over to A Journey Through Learning and get your free lapbook to try out. Once you signup for their free newsletter you’ll receive “An Overview of the 17th Century.” I think that once you experience the ease and fun of working with their products you’ll be hooked too!
Do public schools offer a college preparatory curriculum or just private schools? Looking at schools for my 1st grader and would like to know the difference. Thanks.
Both public and private schools offer college-prep curricula. In some public schools, students have to have high enough grades and test scores to be allowed to take the college-prep curriculum. A college-prep curriculum is usually offered in high schools and includes the courses that colleges require for admission.
As to a first grader, if you can afford a good private school, that would be better than most public schools, especially if the school offered a foreign language to first graders. The younger a person is when learning a language, the easier it is.
If it’s going to be a public elementary school and high school, try to find an elementary school where most students go on to high schools with good college-prep curricula.
Technology is a powerful tool that can help and enhance learning. Everyday we see technology used as a tool outside of formal schooling for communication, collaboration, understanding, and accessing knowledge. It is our goal in developing an integrated curriculum to ensure that the way students learn with technology agrees with the way they live with technology. Technology is in a constant state of evolution and change. Access speeds, hardware, software, and computer capabilities all evolve and improve on a monthly basis. This change occurs at a rate at which it is impossible for schools to keep up and adapt. Is it not time that we create a curriculum model that understands and this fact and works with it rather than tries to control it?
I am no neophyte to math software. Long before I became a mother I have been using math software to help my myriads of nieces and nephews. One of my favorite math software providers was Davidson and their really cool “Math Blaster” program back in the 1990s.
But that was then and this is now.
Quarter Mile’s Appeal to My Children
My children have enjoyed my older Davidson games because it had lots of cute songs and animations. So, although my son is a big fan of horses, I wasn’t sure how the girls would feel about The Quarter Mile Math racing game where their only choices are race cars and horses. And at first glance the interface is a lot less flashy than what I’ve become accustomed to with some of the internet-based math games that they kids have played over the years. So, after installing it on my own computer, I started sharing it with the gang.
Now Jade is my up-and-coming diva, so I her reaction was very interesting. When she first saw the splash screen she squealed “Oooh, can I have a red sports car?” Okay, obviously this program does appeal to the young ladies out there. My youngest daughter was immediately happy because she loves animals. So, of course, her “vehicle” of was one of the beautiful horses. Even my 2 year old son loves when the girls play the game — watching the horses running really makes him excited!
Quarter Mile Math offers not only math drills, but it also doubles as a typing tutor as well. My six year old is very good in math, but her typing skills are pretty nonexistent. Since she’s started working with”her” horses, her typing has improved 100%. She’s now is very comfortable with the home key row and her speed is increasing at a steady rate. And she’s now working on her number pad keyboarding as well.
My nine year old has improved her typing and she’s finally enjoying the math drills that she needs to master the skills that are still a work in progress. She really gets a kick out of trying to beat my typing and scores (I type 90 wpm, so I’ve been slacking a bit to give her hope). I actually haven’t seen her this happy about doing her math homework since we used to draw number lines on the kitchen floor to do addition and subtraction.
What Is It?
Quarter Mile Math isn’t your “standard” math program. Most software manufacturers make math programs based upon grades and ages. So, as your child graduates from one level to the other you have to go and purchase more software.
The owner of Barnum Software (the creators of Quarter Mile Math) offers a monthly subscription of — get this! — $2.95 a month or $19.95 per family per year. And if you love the program like I do, then $34.95 might be your best bet since it is a two year subscription. Their pricing really blew me away. I mean even if you get your math programs from those $5 software sites, (like I have done more times than I’d care to admit), you just can’t beat their pricing.
Okay, so what do you get for your money? If you choose to go with the old-school, standard CDs you’ll be paying a one-time purchase fee ranging from $39.95 to $89.95, depending on the grade level. There are six different software packages available, some of which are bundled. Their software covers Kindergarten to 9th grade.
Another cool feature in the software is that you’re able to race against each other in real time or asynchronously by racing against the Top 5 scores that are stored on the computer. How cool is that?
So, What’s the Real Difference Between the Two Software Offerings?
Well, besides the pricing, if you decide to work with the subscription offer, you’ll be able have tournaments from any location since all scores are saved on the Barnum Software computers. So, this allows you to have real life tournaments as well as races at any time that is convenient for the other contestants.
Also, when you purchase the CD version of the software you are eligible for upgrades at the low cost of $5. The Deluxe version allows you to have free upgrades for the life of your subscription. And although the internet connection is necessary for the Deluxe version (to download the scores) your child does not directly access the internet using either program, which can be a big plus if you have small children using the program.
So, I guess the real answer to this question depends on your family’s size and needs. If you have more than 12 children, buying the triple bundle would make more sense since the Deluxe version only allows 12 users. Conversely, if you are only teaching one child, it might be more cost effective to just purchase the software and be done with it.
If you have children of multiple ages (like I do) the Deluxe version makes more sense because all of the children can work on their level without me purchasing different software packages. Also, since my two-year old is in the frisbee throwing mode, I don’t have to worry about scratched (and otherwise) damaged CDs cluttering up my home (which has enough clutter thank you very much).
My Last Three Cents
Cent #1: I think that this is a great addition to my homeschooling math program. It holds the attention of all of my children from the two and a half year old to my nine year old.
Cent #2: This is proving to be a great part of my family’s gaming activity. We have multiple computers so we can race against us each other. It’s actually starting to beat out Mario Kart!
Cent #3: The owners of Barnum Software are very open to suggestions. They are also excellent providers of customer service. Due to the homeschooling community’s increased usage of their software they’ve dedicated an entire page to our needs. So, if you have any questions or ways to make this excellent software even better, don’t hesitate to contact them.
P.S. I was curious about how teenagers would react to Quarter Mile Software, so I asked my neighbor to give it a try. Being sulky and seventeen she did so half-heartedly and — gasp! — started having fun.
She started grinning and actually queued up a couple of extra races without being asked. Of course, once she realized that she was enjoying herself she proclaimed it to be lame and stopped playing. I guess image is everything, right? :-)
However, it does prove my point. Even teenagers can enjoy this great learning tool.
P.P.S. Don’t forget to take advantage of the free demo download that is offered so that you can see for yourself just how much your kids will like it.
So sorry about the late notice, but I was busy working and hadn’t checked out my Freebie of the Day* until just now. Anyway, Terri Johnson of Homeschooling ABCS is having giving away the first 5 lessons of the Homeschooling ABCs class. The first lesson will be given away on Monday, August 3rd, so if you’re still running ideas through your head about your families’ up and coming school year, this would be an excellent opportunity to see what she has to offer.
As Terri states on her sign up page for this offer: “Our mission is to encourage and equip you to have the best school year yet!”
And that’s the reason for this hasty post — I really believe that we all need to bless each other with whatever resources we can, especially the free ones during this challenging economy.
I seem to be moving into the reviewing mode, so if you miss the deadline, never fear! I will be sure to share my take on Terri’s teaching methods, ideas and even which type of student I think this would best fit. So catch me next Thursday for that information.
*Homeschool Freebie of the Day is an excellent resource for getting curriculum that is hard to find, dates back to the early 1900s (you’d be surprised at how relevant much of the information still is today!) as well as other great freebies like this one. So be sure to sign up for their email list so that you can be the first in line to download. Their website is: http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com.
As some of you know, I am returning to my traditional homeschooling roots this year. I did my experimentation into cyberschooling and found it lacking. But I also live in PA, one of the high documentation homeschooling states (also known as “Big PAin in the neck states”) so I’ve been wondering how I was going to pull a curriculum together to present to the Lords of Education so they’ll go away. So, once we made our decision to get away from cyberschools I began looking at different curriculum. I have been looking at complete year curriculum as well as a more eclectic collection of resources. But now I don’t have to look any further because I just discovered The Old Schoolhouse 2009-2010 Planner!
First off, let me confess that I have not been the most organized homeschooler. I’ve purchased programs to keep records on the girls work, I’ve set up schedules (that I then proceeded to ignore after about a week), and changed my mind a couple of times during the course of the year on some of the books that we had chosen to use for learning. But after reading through this 375 page masterpiece of planning I am finally content. Each month is based upon a theme and all the activities and subjects that are taught in that month follow that theme. This would be just about perfect for new homeschooling families. When you start out homeschooling you always worry that you won’t get everything done. The planner is designed to help you not only get yourself organized, but to have fun while you teach and learn.
For example, July’s theme is American History. So, there is an introductory article with notes to introduce the theme to the kids. After the introductory article there is usually a fact sheet that can be printed and displayed for perhaps memorization work or whatever clever idea you may have. After that you get a list of resources that can be used to teach the theme effectively. These resources touch on American History but from different standpoints. The resource guide contains links to the historical materials that you can use to expand your subject, literature that you can use to make the time period come to life, lap book activities, craft activities, math activities and science activities. So, all disciplines are covered while you stay within that theme. And how could I forget about the great recipes that are included each month to break up the monotony of cooking? I’ve seen several recipes that I can’t wait to try! Maybe since the recipes are tied in with the monthly themes I can get my “picky, picky” people to give the new dishes a try in the name of “education”. (Click here to see the TOC and plans for each month.)
Why does this work for my crew? We’re not (okay I’m not) good with follow-through when I have very little maneuverability. You know, it becomes like those dreaded worksheets that our teachers in public school would pass out to keep you quiet while they did administrative work. Overly structured schedules start to feel like busy work to me and then I get rebellious and end up doing something totally different (which isn’t really a good habit to develop and really hard to break!) But this – this monthly theme outline allows us to figure out what we want to concentrate on each day. Maybe we’ll do crafts and talk about what it must have been like to live in those days. Or perhaps we’ll read the excellent book, “Ben Franklin: Inventing America” and try some of the experiments that Benjamin Franklin indulged in at various points of his life. Who knows? But that’s the great thing – it doesn’t matter because at the end of the month we’ll have a comprehensive understanding with a lot less stress getting it all done. And after two years of cyberschooling and dealing with artificial learning deadlines that is really important to me this year.
Okay, so I know that there are organization masters in our vast homeschooling community who are probably thinking:
“What a waste of money! That’s a no brainer. Just sit down, decide what you want to do, schedule it and get it done. What does this planner have that would interest me?”
Well how about 186 pages of forms, glorious, reproducible forms? There are forms for curriculum records, forms for report cards, forms for high school transcripts, forms for evaluations. Then there are forms for creating schedules for 1, 2, and 3+ children in your homeschool. There are forms for chores, grocery shopping, supply shopping, volunteer activities, bible readings, and discipleship records. There are forms for people who like to plan their school year monthly. There are forms for organizing your coop, planning field trips, as well as science lab and journal forms. There are forms for people who like to plan annually. Weekly schedules, daily schedules – and last but not least – a checklist/shopping list for your garden and even a graph to plot out how your garden grows! I mean, for people who love organization, you’ll be in form heaven.
Although I am no longer a cyberschooler (yea!), I can’t forget about my friends over there. This planner would be a great addition to whatever school curriculum you are using from the state. Why? For one thing, since all of the subjects are covered you will have a plethora of ideas to add a little spice to your homeschooling days. We all know how dry conventional textbooks are, so this would be a good way to re-energize yourself and your kids while maintaining your mandated work schedule. The forms are also useful because with all the activities our “unsocialized” children are engaged in, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the extra help in keeping everything straight. The planner also contains 12 “Must Know” reference sheets that cover everything from word roots (something not normally taught in schools these days), emergency preparedness, as a whole lot more.
In addition to the monthly activities outlined in the planner, The Old School house also has additional modules for each monthly theme. These can be purchased separately if you want to expand your lessons for the month. These modules contain extra activities, recipes, and pertinent information for each month’s theme. From what I can see, everything has provided in the Planner to having a productive and fun educational experience. The one downside of this is that I can no longer be excused for my lack of organization because the The Old Schoolhouse 2009-2010 Planner does everything but teach the kids the courses. At this rate, I may actually be able to organize my cluttered brain — isn’t that a scary thought.
I just got an email about a brand new book series called “When I Grow Up I Want To Be …” that I thought might be of interest. I have to wait until my husband gets paid (“Thanks Dad!”), but I’m definitely going to get this one. The thing I like about it is that it discusses a variety of jobs (i.e., Firefighter, Veterinarian, Chef, Military, Doctor, Police Officer, Missionary, Artist, Pilot, and Farmer to name a few) from a practical standpoint. They discuss how much money you can make at these professions, the skills you need, the actual day-to-day tasks, etc.
My daughter, Jade, wants to be a Firefighter (well at least for the last year or so) and I think this will be an excellent introduction for her. After we read it I’m going to take her to a firehouse so that she can do a little fact finding of her own!
Anyway, the special pricing only lasts until the end of the month, so you should check it out soon.
I'm a homeschooling mom with seven children: 3 human, 2 feline and 2 canine. I'm also the wife of one very patient husband who seems to like the role of ringmaster to our circus. I am a virtual assistant who enjoys writing, crafts, music and laughter. I hope you'll visit often. Please be aware that this blog is supported by affiliate links, although every link isn't necessarily an affiliate program.
Technology is a powerful tool that can help and enhance learning. Everyday we see technology used as a tool outside of formal schooling for communication, collaboration, understanding, and accessing knowledge. It is our goal in developing an integrated curriculum to ensure that the way students learn with technology agrees with the way they live with technology. Technology is in a constant state of evolution and change. Access speeds, hardware, software, and computer capabilities all evolve and improve on a monthly basis. This change occurs at a rate at which it is impossible for schools to keep up and adapt. Is it not time that we create a curriculum model that understands and this fact and works with it rather than tries to control it?
