We made a few changes to our curriculum.
1. Handwriting. After going back and forth between considering print vs. cursive (I wrote a post on it here), we decided to teach cursive first. #1 son doesn’t particularly enjoy printing; at least he doesn’t enjoy having to write such straight lines. I think cursive will be more fun for him to learn, since it’s almost like drawing in some ways.
2. Reading/Phonics. We’re still doing Explode the Code, but have decided to do the lessons at a slower pace to account for #1 son’s impatience with writing. ETC is very writing intensive, so we’ll see if spreading it out helps. He loves reading, however, so we’ve added Hooked on Phonics to reenforce that. We did the first lesson today and he liked it.
Now I’m Reading is still a hit. The HOP books are similar, but I think the stories in NIR are written much better. Doing both is fine. I don’t think there can be too many ways to help with reading, as long as the child isn’t struggling or dislikes something.
3. Social Studies. These aren’t lessons, per se, but just reading books together. We bought a book series by Stuart J. Murphy called I See I Learn. The stories are based on four areas children are developing in: emotional, social, health/safety and cognitive. So far, we’ve read Percy Gets Upset and Freda Stops a Bully. He likes the stories, so for homeschooling, we’re going to both read and talk about what happens in the book.
4. Math. Still on Singapore Math and he has done well. Still, this is the hardest subject for me mostly because I constantly worry I’m not teaching it well. I think a confidence in math is super important, especially if a person ever wants a career in the hard sciences or technology. Basically, I don’t want the I’m-not-good-at-math virus to damage any future interest in the fields above.
Also. I am not sure how useful memorizing math facts is. I read this article on the matter. It seems to me mastering the concepts (with a good deal of practice, of course) is a better foundation for doing well in the higher mathematics (algebra, etc.). So, eventually mastering the concept of 10’s helps you do math better in your head, vs. memorizing addition facts.
I don’t know. Will be chewing on this for a bit.
Lastly, #1 son is taking a drama class at Oregon Children’s Theater. I think it’s about 6 or 7 weeks. I think he’ll enjoy it!