Thursday, April 16, 2009

Year 2 Curriculum Plans

Apr 16 update:
Although my Apr 12 post below sounds like I kind of know what I want for the coming year's curriculum, I'm still wracked by doubt. Experienced homeschoolers whose advice I value very much have suggested that less is more, a fact I very much agree with but am always lax in adhering to. We just have so many interests that it's so hard to stick to any one curriculum for long.

As my Year 1 plan revealed however, in having so much on our plate, we actually covered a lot less than I wanted us to. We ended up ditching curriculum and choosing more living books than anything else. So it's not that we didn't learn a lot. We did. Tonnes. But we just didn't do it much the planned way.

So now, I'm sorely tempted not to plan anything at all and just let interest decide what to learn and how to do it. Not entirely in an unschooled way. Just in our own fun way.

Aaargh, this so goes against my careful, have-everything-planned-to-a-T nature and yet feels so much more "right" than listing it all out. LOL. So please don't hold your breath for our curriculum. I'll probably put together a "what we used" list instead at the end of the year. Meanwhile, the weekly/bi-weekly reports will continue as they did for Year 1, at least for my sanity's sake.

Apr 12 post
I've decided to simplify our Year 2 (2009/2010) Curriculum so now, there's a core curriculum list, followed by delight-directed picks for the moments we crave variety. It just seems a lot more doable this way.

Curriculum List

Math: Singapore Math 2B-3B and MEP 2B-3B
Science: Noeo Science Chemistry II
Nature/ Life: R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey: Life Level One
History: History Odyssey by Pandia Press - Ancients Level One (from the Indus Valley to hopefully, the Byzantine Empire).
Latin: Latin for Children Primer A continued
Literature: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Pizza, Pigs and Poetry by Jack Prelutsky and books selected from the CM/WTM booklists.



Key delight-directed picks

Living Math booklists
Life of Fred: Fractions
Krampf.com experiments
American History for Little Folks by Alfred Blaisdell and Francis Ball
The Child's Own English Book (for language arts games) by Alice Ball
English from the Roots Up Vol 1 (word roots flashcards)
Sister Wendy's Story of Painting and Masterpieces-A Fact-Filled Coloring Book (Start Exploring series).
Piano and Music Monday posts at Rockhound Place

Classes:

Kumon
Wushu
Piano
and if we are in luck, a science-themed co-op or class.

5 comments:

  1. Just noticed -- "The First Book of American History" is actually by Henry Steele Commager, and illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher :).

    I think when they're young there's definitely more to be gained from *less* curriculum, but that's just me...

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  2. Thanks Michelle!! :)

    Ooh, Becky...good catch. Thanks! I've made the change.

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  3. Suji, I'm honored that you consider my Music Monday posts part of your curriculum! I'll keep that in mind as I post--it wouldn't be a bad idea to collect kid-friendly materials about a composer or related to a particular piece of music in one place, so I'll see what I can do about that.

    Hope you are having a happy spring!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Christina :) I just love the way your posts are organized. It's convenient for me and wonderful for my very "visual" boy. You have a wonderful spring too.

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