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Post by luvmybabies on Apr 12, 2005 7:11:02 GMT -5
Okay so first my son is 3, will be 4 in July. He just has this fondness for letters, he loves them, so a while back I went ahead and bought the book Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. He did wonderfully and is reading well. Now, continuing on, I bought a cheap Kindergarten curriculum book for him just to take a look, all of it is very much things he can do. But he is easily bored with the letters of the week and such since he is able to read now. In that book there are things I wouldn't have thought to teach a kindergartener (although he isn't quite even at that age yet). So here is the deal, I was looking at Calvert's website and they have an assessment page, I looked through the kindergarten one and my son is well past that, then on to the first grade and I know he can do all of that. Calvert says what they have in the assessment is the last bit of kindergarten, which will be reviewed in the first grade curriculum, but it is best if they have a grasp of all they list. It also says that they should have sufficient fine motor control to use a pencil properly since the end of first grade they will begin cursive writing. Well my son can indeed write, fairly well, certainly no where near perfect, I can't say that I'd see him writing in cursive soon (again he is three), but perhaps with work in a 6 months, I am not sure, he really amazes me every day. So here is my dilema, I will be going to a homeschooling curriculum fair on Saturday, should I buy another kindergarten one and see what it has to offer or buy a first grade one and see what he can do? I am not pushing him at all, I really do this at his own pace but he is just thriving far more than I ever would have expected. I apologize for my long winded post, I just do not want to be a pushy homeschooler, but I do not want to bore him. As long as we are having fun, as most of his learning thus far has been for him, he really enjoys it. Thanks in advance for any help. Beth
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Post by Charity on Apr 12, 2005 9:05:56 GMT -5
Those curriculum fairs are wonderful. We plan to go next month to a big one in our state. Let me suggest this link (it's in PDF) www.abeka.com/Resources/PDFs/ScopeAndSequence.pdfMany HSers have this problem so don't feel alone. The solution is easy. Review the scope and sequence of the curriculum you are planning to use (the link I gave is ABEKA). You are not limited to having to stay stuck at one grade level in all subjects. Perhaps your child is advanced in some areas and maybe at grade level in others. Make a review and perhaps go to some of the other curriculum providers and see their S & S and compare. This will help avoid "gaps". let your child learn at their own pace. My son had this problem too but at a later age. He completed the curriculum for both grades 7 and 8 in one year. Those two grades have a habit of repeating itself BTW in many areas. When you go to the fair take a look at all the vendors and their goods. Ask for a FREE BOOKLET of their scope and sequence. Many of the suppliers have programs that form fit the student. It is not unusual for a 3 or 4 year old to begin 1st grade and if your student is at that level, I would go for it. The abeka curriculum starts them out in cursive in second grade. It has a strong phonics program too. We used abeka for many years and still do in some subjects.
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Post by luvmybabies on Apr 12, 2005 18:58:37 GMT -5
I actually really want an Abeka curriculum, and in fact that will be what I am going to seek out! But I went to Calverts site just because I happened to see the link on this site and wanted to check it out. And second grade for cursive sounds good. I really appreciate your help, Charity. I know many homeschooled students are above their same aged counterparts, but this just surprised me! And thanks so much for the heads up on 7th and 8th grade!! Beth
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Post by Charity on Apr 13, 2005 10:04:47 GMT -5
Good luck Beth with finding the right curriculum.
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Post by JDsMom on May 16, 2005 20:27:12 GMT -5
Is there a website that actually furnishes a good Spelling list for 2nd grade? I will be using Dolch for our first 22 weeks, but need words that are appropriate to finish the remaining weeks. I already have activities/lessons planned that can be adapted to most word lists and this would provide consistency throughout the year. I hate to buy a text JUST to get suggested words. I am afraid that my random selection of words might prove inappropriate for age/skills. I have seen references to Leonard Ayres Frequency Word List that supposedly provides over a thousand words that appear frequently in spoken/written language and that they are sequenced so that they progressively become more difficult; however, I cannot find the list on the web. I am open to this or any similar list. Can anybody help?
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Post by Charity on May 17, 2005 10:08:49 GMT -5
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