Curriculum — Page 3 — Home School Support Network

Sherry Osborne April 18, 2012

Lessons I Learned from a Conference

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Conference Teach Them Diligently

Reasons to attend a homeschool conference:

It “refuels” mom and gives much needed encouragement!
Refreshing time away.
Personal growth in the Lord.
Hands on opportunity in the vendor hall to really “see” the curriculum.

Rhino Technologies – Get audio files (MP3) of the sessions from the Teach Them Diligently conference.

Yee Haw! Books for Boys- Jan Bloom

Boys do what they see their dads do so dads need to model reading from a real book, not just electronic books!
Allow boys to move around while you read a longer book- they ARE listening! It takes all their concentration to “sit still” and it frees up their mind to be able to move AND listen. (See blog post on Fidgets)
Allow kids to posses the books they love- write their name in them and keep them accessible.
Be aware of when the books were published! Prior to the 1960s the school librarians were the “gate keepers” but it is not so now.
Boys like books with odd information, obscure facts, and challenges. Don’t be afraid of books with battles and conquering.
Keep a “Book Journal” or index box with cards of title, author, # of pages in the book, plot & a few sentences. Gives you a record of what you’ve read and you can go back through your favorites without forgetting them. (See Lamplighter Publishing)
If reading continues to be difficult past 10-12 years, consider www.visiontherapy.com
Books for “early reading”

Nancy Drew, Beatrix Potter, Thorton Burgess, Frog and Toad, Bobbsey Twins, Marion Renich (sports), I Can Read Series,
Boxcar Children- the first 19 books were written by Warner but not the later ones (the character & values are better in #1-19).
Be careful of language and attitude in biography category. Check out Garrard Biographies, Childhood of Famous Americans

“intermediate” reading

Madeleine L’Engle, Jenny L. Cote, Hardy Boys, Sugar Creek Gang, American Adventure, American Heritage, Scripture Slueth, The Building on the Rock Series (5th grade +)
Be careful of language and attitude in biography category. Check out YWAM Biographies & Trailblazer Biographies

The Seven E’s for Choosing Curriculum- Jeannie Fullbright

See the last blog post for more of her points.
Be more intentional about devotion time both personally and with the kids. Devotion tends to go whenever we think we are behind in our “curriculum”!

I try to choose curriculum where Christ is in the center and woven throughout EVERYTHING rather than a curriculum with God as a ‘side entree’.

When you abandon a curriculum because it no longer works/fits your needs, then try to figure out WHY. This is so you don’t end up buying the same thing with a different name on it!

The Brain, Memory, & Learning- Carlita Boyle

Takes 5-6 hours to move learning from temporary to permanent storage. Teaching a new skill befores this causes problems with the first learning. Application: It doesn’t always help to give more work- need short teaching times.

the time of day influences learning- Learn your child’s pattern
Most probable effective learning times are after waking, just before bedtime, few hours before/after midpoint of the day. Ask your child “Is there a time that you like to learn?”
Stress has a major impact on memory. Children link the EMOTION they had when learning something back to the INFORMATION they learned!
Not getting enough sleep interferes with memory. REM sleep happens in the later hours of the night and that is when short term memory is transferred to long term. Power Sleep by James Maas
Exercise helps memory! Learn first then exercise- It releases epinephrin and they learn better. DON’T SKIP RECESS!!
3 ways to get information into long term memory

1. intense sensory experience to link memory to
2. intense repetition or drill (most commonly used in textbooks)
3. drill used over TIME- is effective when learning a little bit at a time, over time.

Sensory Based Activities- Special Needs Consultant in SCAIHS

“All children can benefit at some time instructionally with sensory activities to allow them to be better able to focus on the lessons being taught.” Osbornes call them “fidgets”. They keep the fingers busy so the brain can focus.
Indicators of Sensory Integration disorder: speech & laguage delay/deficits, hypo &/or hyper activity level (like with Vestibular issues), stimuli reactions (tactile issues), difficulty with coordination skills (motor planning like with Proprioceptive issues)
“FEED THE NEED!” Identify the need & provide opportunities for the child to do it in a safe and appropriate mannor. Examples
We DO need to introduce textures they don’t like- little bits at a time.
Plan some sensory activities in your day that are individualized to your child…even in busy or “bad” days.
check out www.sizzlebop.com and carol’s Web Corner http://www.westfieldacademy.org/adhd/ for ideas on teaching distractable children and helping them to memorize or retain information.
check out www.blueletterbible.com for awesome features that are helpful for ALL CHILDREN. I was also told (but haven’t figured it out for myself yet) that you can enlarge a passage and change the background/text color to make it easier for dyslexic readers.

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Sherry Osborne March 27, 2012

Homeschooling Methods

We’ve talked about the broad types (or categories) of homeschool curriculum. As a previous public school teacher, I have a comfort level in this area. However, applying that knowledge to the myriad of products available- each of which will tell you theirs is the best- is a different story! Hopefully the podcast has given you a skeleton of understanding.

I attended Jeannie Fullbright’s session called “The Seven E’s for Choosing Curriculum” at the Teach Them Diligently homeschool conference. One of the areas that this session helped me was by outlining the different METHODS of homeschooling. Obviously I didn’t do my research homework before I began homeschooling! My goal is not to write a paper on this topic but to rather give you a skeleton of understanding behind some of the most popular methods. There is some overlap between the methods and the types of curriculum (note that one could substitute the words “philosophy” or “approach” in place of the word “methods”). For example, textbook and unit studies are BOTH methods and a type of curriculum that can be bought (see last post & chart for explanation of these two). I want to discuss the Classical, Charlotte Mason, and Child Directed methods today.

The Classical approach is systematic and rigorous and finds its’ roots back in the way the Greeks/Romans educated. It is focused on the written and spoken language rather than images or videos. There is an emphasis on the great works of literature from Plato, Aristotle, Swift, and Dickens, to name a few. “It follows a specific three-part pattern: the mind must be first supplied with facts and images, then given the logical tools for organization of facts, and finally equipped to express conclusions.” It is believed that all learning is interrelated and uses history as the connection between all these areas. There are three stages of learning. The Grammar Stage, grades 1-4, are spent sponging up facts and memorizing. The Dialectic Stage (or logic stage), middle school, focuses on the the cause and effect between subject areas and are able to understand the framework they fit into. The last stage of learning is the Rhetoric Stage where the child learns to write and speak with elegance. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/

Charlotte Mason trained governesses who schooled children in the 1800’s. She believed that ⅓ of a child’s education came from home environment, another ⅓ from the discipline of good habits/character, and the last third from academics. In general this approach is gentle rather than rigorous. The lessons are short with focused attention- lengthening as they get older. Charlotte believed that children should be given good quality “living” books rather than dry dull textbooks for the subjects of history, geography, science and literature. Science was spent observing nature and recording observations in a “nature notebook”. Math is stresses the importance of understanding the why of a concept and using manipulatives as a tool to learn this before pencil and paper work begins. A key component of the Charlotte Mason method is the use of “narration” to learn and retain information. I will do a whole topic on this method in the future but for now let me say narration is when a child tells back in his own words what he saw, read, or heard and it can be done orally or written. Narration is the opposite of textbook assessments. http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/started/charlotte-mason-method/

The last method has several names that are varying degrees of the same method; Child Directed, Delight Directed, or Unschooling. The underlying philosophy is that all kids naturally want to learn and they will excel when left to their own devices to explore what interests them. This method of schooling sounds very much like the trend of “child-centered parenting”. It leaves an unanswered question of “What about subjects’ children aren’t particularly interested in, but need to know?” Some “Unschoolers” provide some structure and make sure their child is doing a math curriculum.
Read more at Suite101: Homeschooling Trends: The Trend for Child-Led UnSchooling in Homeschooling Homes | Suite101.com

As I type this I am wondering just how many more philosophical methods there are (or will be) to home educating. Is it any wonder so many of us are bogged down and overwhelmed as we begin the process of teaching our children?

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 NIV

Sherry Osborne March 22, 2012

Curriculum Types

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Our goal in this episode is to equip you with some basic knowledge of the types of curriculum with some pros and cons of each. This is so that you can identify what your educational styles are and what some curricula choices are that matches your style. This BY NO MEANS is intended to be an an all inclusive list! There’s no way to know all that is available on the market- it changes too fast!

If you learn the basic categories that most curriculum falls into then you can identify it yourself. This is especially helpful when you go to curriculum fairs, homeschool conventions, or think you might like to try your friend’s favorite curriculum.

I personally believe that the most rounded education comes from using a variety of types. EVERY product available is going to have holes or at the very least, disadvantages. My best friend watched me run in circles trying to find the “perfect” curriculum when I began home schooling. I did finally realize there was no such thing because I didn’t write it (coming up with my own thing was time consuming, exhausting and at times- expensive).

I have also learned there is a “season” for every type of curriculum to be used- by most people. For example, a workbook curriculum might be necessary in one subject or in a season of context (new baby or moving) even if it is not your preferred method. Or you might need to use a unit approach to get your reluctant learner excited about learning.

The 4 types of curriculum that we are going to compare are:
Workbook*
Textbook*
Unit Study
Literature Books

*Because of the similarities between these two, it can be difficult to define the difference because most textbooks also have a workbook component and vice versa.

Below is a chart that we mentioned in this episode of the HSSN Podcast. This chart shows the Pros, Cons, Planning, Temperament, and example notes for each homeschool curriculum type.

Also mentioned in this episode is an episode of the DaddyLife.net Podcast discussing Love Languages and HSSN Podcast Episode 10 on Temperaments.

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