Causey Curriculum Choices and Sample Schedule
Anya - 2015-16, age 5
Kindergarten
Anya - 2014-15, age 4
Preschool
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Math - Saxon K - hands on and easy, got her used to doing work with numbers
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Phonics - Saxon Phonics K - easy for her, looks like she will have a good eye for reading. Would NOT have worked this early with Abby. For a slower 4, I would have just taken 2 years through the book and be caught up by first grade.
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CC memory work, some map tracing (dry erase)
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No additional handwriting or other work
About 2-2.5 hours per day total
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Math - Saxon 1 - this grade begins at a very simple level, appropriate for a 5 year old. However, I know that she will hit her 'wall' before we even get halfway through. My plan is to only do 1/2 of a lesson per day (the worksheets are front/back - we'll do side A on Monday, and side B on Tuesday) and take 2 years to go through the book.
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If we were starting Math for the first time this year, I would use Saxon K and let the first year with numbers be easy and fun!
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Phonics - Saxon Phonics 1 - It looks like she will read well, and she understands most reading concepts already, so we will work straight through until she needs to slow down. Then, we'll either work 1/2 sheets (as the math above) or drop to only 2 lessons per week with reading practice only on the other days.
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Again, if we were starting to read at the age of 5, I would use Phonics K and just take it easy.
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CC memory work, daily map tracing (dry erase)
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I may add the K level of "Reason for Handwriting" or pick up a drug-store letters tracing book just for the practice. She will do this work while I'm busy with Abby.
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For reading practice, we use the McGuffeys, and only about 2 days a week. She can pick out whatever she wants from the library for fun.
Should be about 3ish hours per day
Abby - 2014-15, age 6
First Grade
Abby - 2015-16, age 7
Second Grade
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Math - Saxon 1 - like Anya, we started her in this book during Kindergarten, took several breaks (like a month or 2 at a time) and did it over the course of 2 years. We got to within 20 lessons of the end and didn't worry about the rest - the next grade always repeats a bit, and it would have been useless tears and frustration to learn those last few concepts. Abby needs to have time for math to sink in, so I'm not worried about pushing.
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Phonics - Saxon Phonics 1 - we worked through about 3/4 of this book and Abby really excelled with the daily flashcards and repetition. By the time we stopped, she was already able to read words using the rules in the rest of the book, so we ended the phonics lessons and began using McGuffey's exclusively. Since we dropped Phonics, we try to read McGuffey's daily.
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CC memory work, daily map tracing (dry erase)
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Reason for Handwriting Level A - only about 3 - 4 words per day made this a perfect thing for her to concentrate on while not being overwhelming. She did really well and LOVED the coloring page on the last day. We didn't finish the book, so we will just keep on with it next year, adding Book B whenever we get to it.
About 3ish hours per day total
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Math - Saxon 2 - Teacher's guide is still scripted, YAY! Since Abby is reading better, I expect to spend a bit less time overseeing her worksheets directly. The lesson plans seem to start fairly easily, so I'm not worried about her not completely finishing the First Grade book.
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Reading - Still using McGuffey's as our main 'teaching-text". We will pick out library books at and below her level. At level for practice & vocab, below level for speed and accuracy!
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Spelling - Switching to All About Spelling this year! I think the activity and manipulative approach will work well for Abby, who has a hard time concentrating on text alone. It also incorporates phonics, so she will keep getting a bit of that.
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Reason for Handwriting - Continuing with Level A, moving up when we get to the end. As with spelling, handwriting will improve slightly with her age and dexterity, but does need daily practice.
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CC memory work, daily map tracing (dry erase) and maybe add 1 or 2 days using tracing paper and crayons - Abby loves art and will probably spend easily 30 minutes or more with tracing paper. Let her art projects be about her maps!
Should stay around 3ish hours per day, since reading, spelling & writing will take about the same time as the full first-grade phonics lesson w/worksheet
Sample Schedule
You will go through a lot of schedules. Just know that now, and accept it :-) We all know that things do not always work out as well in real life as they look like they will on paper, and that's ok! One of the beauties of doing school at home is that we have the flexibility to do what works for our family, even if those needs change every few weeks, or every couple of days! That's not to say that we shouldn't try to stick with a schedule - children thrive on a solid routine! But there is latitude in execution and we need to give ourselves the grace to either start again tomorrow, or reformat our day and try new tactics! Below is a very rough schedule that uses the best parts of last year's schedule with the things we are doing next year. My first schedule had lots of extracurricular things that we ended up dropping. Make God and CC memory work a priority, and the other things will keep up somehow!!
AUGUST UPDATE!! I've finished my actual schedule for us for this year. We'll start out with this one, and see how the year goes! We've done, "pink day/purple day" to alternate our afternoon plan. On the pink day we do audiobooks and art, on the purple day we go out for PE, which is running for me and biking for the girls (following me!) This helps my brain - not everyone needs the colors! Also, if it's raining or too cold, I can say to the girls, "weather is too bad for a purple day, it's a pink day today!"
Click on the picture to download my schedule and adapt it for your needs!
NOTE: friday is our CC day, so I just didn't include it!!
General Schedule
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7ish - wake up, breakfast, chores
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8:30ish - Morning time (see inset)
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9:00 - CC memory work, maps (together)
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9:45 - Abby Math & Anya Break or writing page
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10:30ish - break & snack
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10:45 - Anya Math & Abby Handwriting (then break)
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11:15 - Abby Spelling then Reading & Anya break
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Noon (or earlier) - lunch, Mommy break, move laundry along, etc
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1:30 - Anya Phonics
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2ish - finished with regular school work!
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2ish (2-3 days per week) - kids sit down with art supplies (their favorite thing to do) and I either read-aloud OR we put on an audio book and everyone takes a brain-break. We choose higher level books to expand their vocabulary and interests. Little House, Story of the World, Anne of Green Gables, etc are perfect for this age. Audiobooks are a great choice because Mommy needs a break too, and I often close my eyes for this hour. Set a timer or you'll never get up!
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We borrow most of our audiobooks from the library, except Story Of The World (Volume 1 works well with most of Cycle 1). That one is so amazing that we bought the whole set (1 year at a time). Little House can be found on YouTube, and librivox.org is a great free source for older books! Do a little digging and make a list over the summer, and you'll have plenty of great audiobooks lined up when school starts! Check out my YouTube audio book list here!
Morning Time
Apparently, homeschool moms have been using "morning time" "circle time" "basket time" etc for ages - but this spring was the first I'd heard of it! The idea is that you have a block of time to do important things every day. This block of time can have it's own schedule that changes as often as you like, but generally follows a similar format and is something the kids learn to recognize as the start of their day. Since I'm new (and prone to overbooking myself) my short schedule looks like this in Spring 2015:
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Song from church
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Lord's Prayer/Apostle's Creed
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Prayer/repentance
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1 Chapter from Bible
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Devotional
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Doxology
It takes us about 20 minutes. My plan is to rotate out Lord's Prayer or Apostle's Creed and replace it with other Bible memory when needed, switch church songs as they are learned, etc.
Other HSers have much more packed into this time, but I'm reserving it for mainly Bible memorization and character building - a perfect way to start the day!
As you can see in my schedule, I've given a reasonably late and long breakfast time (I've never been able to do a 5:30am wake up) large spaces of time for lessons, a morning break, a long break for lunch and we are done just after lunch! Also, the kids alternate school with breaks (mostly) so they won't get too tired of sitting at a table and concentrating. The one difficult thing about this age is that Mommy has to focus fully on teaching each lesson to each kid, since they can't read yet - and even if they could, they do not yet have the self-discipline to concentrate. There is no getting around this, and we just have to be patient and do the hard work now. As they age and mature they will be able to do more of their own work and let Mom back off a little! Eventually, I'll be able to teach a Math lesson to my oldest, then work on something else with my youngest at the same time, while Abby works on her own. The day will get even a little shorter when we can overlap!
This wide-open schedule also lends itself well to a 1/2 day, or an unplanned interruption. You can easily squeeze everything down and quickly finish your core subjects and be done before lunch. The early-finish also leaves time for your other activities such as piano practice, making it to ball games, evening church events, etc.
Even with all the reccomendations on the previous page, it can be hard to visualize what choices need to be made for each student in their grade level. Here, I'll list what we have done and my plan for the fall. I'll try to talk about any applicable reasons, so you can easily see which choices are optional, and where you could make a different choice to match your student's needs!