Don't Worry, I've Done This Before................

This was how I felt as I was quickly approaching Kindergarten with Sarah. I've homeschooled two children through high school. I figured Kindergarten was going to be easy to decide.

I quickly learned that each child is different and that there are TONS of new curriculums out there. I found it overwhelming. I figured that if I found it overwhelming, I can't imagine what it must be like for parent's who are doing this for the first time.

1st i'd like to say that "less is more". While I appreciate all the different curriculums, sometimes having less to chose from makes it MUCH easier. Kinda like my wardrobe. I don't have much to chose from because i'm always gaining or losing weight, so what fits this week , may not next week. I just pick what isn't stained and fits. yes, I'm aware that i'm a fashion nightmare. Too bad we can't apply this logic with curriculums. Or can we?

What fits with one child, may not fit with others. You may have a few children and they can be polar opposites in how they learn. This isn't really a problem but money does play a big role in our decision.

This year I was set on using My Father's World. This is an easy going, gentle approach to kindergarten and I really like it. Too bad my daughter didn't. It wasn't for her. Then I tried Sonlight, this was like MFW but not as gentle. I didn't like this one.

I decided to try Bob Jones university. I never thought I would use their curriculum , let alone the dvd's but it seems to be a great fit.

I love that it's visual, the workbook pages are brightly colored, the characters are adorable. The Godly characters and themes make learning fun. This is a curriculum that I can use no matter what type of learning style my child has. This is a versatile curriculum. I was a little concerned about the cost. My husband put it into perspective for me. He said, "If this is what we think is best for our children, then we will come up with the money."
He's right. It's expensive but if it's something that we will ALL enjoy , then it's worth every last penny.

One thing I've realized is that every child and home is different. I think one of the lessons I've learned is that what works for me, may not work for every family. It's ok to CHANGE CURRICULUMS.

If you start with a curriculum in Kindergarten, you don't need to use that same curriculum every year. You will not ruin you child. Children are very forgiving....as is their education.

I look at it this way. What If your child was in public school and you moved? There's a good chance that when they moved, their education wouldn't line up perfectly with that district. Does that mean that their education was inferior??? NO, just different. Sometimes information or topics are covered in different grades but they're ALL COVERED. What difference does it make if they learn Botany is 5th and Biology in 6th?? They're going to learn and get what they need.

As parents we can fret over making the smallest decisions. Ask me how I know?

I loved that I had some time between schooling my older two children and my younger two children. I can't imagine the different curriculums that will start to show up in the next 5 years. Part of me is looking forward to it...and another part of me is scared.

God Bless,
Laura,
Mother to 4 blessings, ages 22, 21, 5 and 2-1/2

Kindergarten - Week 1

 

 

Week 1 of BJU Kindergarten is complete! I think we found the curriculum for us. At least for this year. I'm learning to take it year by year and to NEVER say, "Never" to any curriculums.

The first week was mainly review of some basic prek concepts. Sarah loved the dvd's . The teachers are really sweet, and they make everything very interesting. Sarah enjoyed the characters , like Hopscotch for Language arts and really loves Melody-Joy for Bible. What I liked is that they go over each topic in detail, they interact with the student. Sarah answers questions and sings. One of the benefits is that my 2-1/2 year old, David is also enjoying it. I didn't think that he'd enjoy it so much. Not only is he enjoying it but he participates and is learning. This is a great benefit because I don't have to worry about keeping him busy and we can all enjoy this year together.

 

Another benefit of this curriculum is that the worksheets are not the same over and over again. This keeps Sarah's attention. We love the craft idea on Fridays and the snack recipe that goes along with the week. This is really an easy curriculum to use and everything you need comes with it. Everything unless you suddenly need something for a participating 2 year old.

 

Another benefit is that their phonics is a bit faster than most of the others. They don't do a "letter a week", they start reading in the first month. This was something we needed because Sarah learned her phonic sounds very young.

 

This curriculum is thorough enough and exceeds the CCS but also you can add to it if there is something your child is interested in. Sarah loves natures and right now is into finding worms to make a compost bin. I can actually add some note booking pages about this to her curriculum. Our coop days will not be an issue and will actually fit in nicely for Art, Music and Gym. Also a weekly trip to the library is a great idea.

 

During the week I hang up all Sarah's worksheets on the fridge. At the end of the week, I take a picture for her year book ,staple all the pages together, mark it, "Week 1" and put them away. I'm only keeping them so that at the end of the year, she see how much work she did and how much she learned. We will then probably burn all the papers in our backyard fire pit and roast marshmallows to celebrate the end of Kindergarten.

 

I know many think that homeschooling is hard....time consuming and I never "Get a break"....it really isn't that bad. I LOVE it. I couldn't imagine not being with them. I couldn't imagine missing the first time something makes sense or the first time they sound out a word. When I watch David say, "Stand up" when he knows they're going to sing with Melody-Joy for Bible, it makes my heart want to burst. Yes, I don't get as much time as i'd like to get my nails done, or go to the gym as often as I'd like...but I wouldn't trade this time with them for anything!!!

God Bless





Kindergarten............Again???

It's been a while but hopefully someone will be helped by this post....or my humiliation. Either way, enjoy.

Earlier in the year I decided to use MFW k for Sarah. We had done a lot of pre-k work and were ready to take the plunge. I purchased MFW K and started it. It was not for us. It was very slow moving and at this point, Sarah already knew her ABC's...and the sounds. This curriculum is cute but is more pre-K in my opinion.
I sold it and ......

What did I do?? I decided to go with Sonlight. Same type of curriculum , I used it with my older two children. What I liked was that the books were more mature...
we got our two HUGE boxes from sonlight and organized for the year.

I started using it and quickly became disappointed. I did NOT like their science and history...they use the Usborne books and i'm not a fan of those books. As time when on, I was using less and less of their books. The phonics moved too slowly and I wasn't crazy about some of their books.

what's a mom to do??

I was going to continue using it. It was only kindergarten....right?

I went to a local showing of BJU curriculum and was blown away. Sarah is a visual learner. She loves when I read to her but this curriculum was great. The phonics moves a bit faster, the DVD's are very cute and enjoyable. I was really shocked that I would even consider this curriculum...SHOCKED. My style is more like MFW and SL but I knew in my heart that Sarah would love BJU.

Now I didn't want to use SL for Kindergarten...but BJU. What would my husband think?? As it was he thought I was a bit crazy. You would think with 4 children, 2 I've already homeschooled through high school that picking the curriculum would be the easy part??

I tried to sell it, but couldn't sell it for what I would need. Then I remembered that SL has a return policy...a great one!! They would take back all my stuff and issue me a full refund...yay!! Except that I had already put the pink stickers on all the readers. So I sent back everything except the readers and sold the complete set of readers to another homeschooling mama. I did lose money but not as much as I thought I would.

I decided to go with BJU and use their dvd's.
I just completed organizing and getting everything ready for Monday. Our first official day of Kindergarten will be Aug. 5th, 2013. Sarah is very excited.

As I was prepping BJU , I could tell that Sarah was going to enjoy it. Sarah saw the manipulatives and got excited. The phonics moves faster and has them reading early with in the first month. This is what we needed. Sarah may struggle with some of it, but it's kindergarten and that's ok.
She keeps asking me to start, I keep holding her off.

The moral of my embarrassing story is ......

"Never say , " never""... This is one thing the Lord keeps showing me over and over again.

I Never in a million years thought that i'd be using BJU. This was the type of curriculum I stayed away from, after all, "It's school at home" and i'm "Homeschooling"...life is about learning.....who needs a curriculum like that??

Me!! that's who.

Pride cometh before a fall.