Curriculum Update

I posted a while back that we are leaning toward a Charlotte Mason approach to our homeschooling. Since then, I've found two very helpful websites: one is Ambleside Online, a free online curriculum guide; the other is Simply Charlotte Mason, a site with lots of great tools to help direct and organize your CM curriculum.

I have to admit that early on in my CM research, I thought this method sounded a bit too artsy-fartsy for my boys, and that Brewmaster would never go for this kind of learning style. I couldn't have been more wrong! He is very excited about this philosophy, and we both are anxious to get started. One thing that appeals to us so much about CM is that we will be forced to finally read "the classics"--something we've always talked about doing, often wondering why it wasn't pushed on us when we were in school. While a CM education might not focus as much on learning facts-facts-facts and pounding them into your brain in hopes that they stick, it will foster good habits and a desire for learning things on your own. More importantly, with the use of narration and journals, you will learn methods to aid in your learning with better retention. Therefore, less time wasted on information that will surely be lost soon after "the test", but better skills to employ as you get older and really want and need to learn all you can.

I've also been focusing on finalizing a math curriculum this past week. With a CM approach, I plan to use whatever books are available from the library, which means I won't be spending much money on curriculum--just notebooks, paper, etc. That leaves more money to spend on math and science. I had narrorwed my math choices down to Saxon and Singapore. The Lutheran school here in town (our "back-up" in case we can't homeschool) uses Saxon Math, staying a grade ahead of the public schools. Initially I was leaning toward Saxon so I could make sure the boys were keeping up with them--just in case. Although, we then realized that we don't need to keep up with them; if the boys attended that school, they would place them wherever they fit in, whether ahead or behind the rest. I've had a couple friends recommend Singapore Math to us, and it sounds like a good curriculum. Best of all, it's very reasonably priced! But as I was reading through the Simply Charlotte Mason website, I read about their recommendation for the early years: RightStart Mathematics. (I should note they recommend Math U See for the later years.) This one really has all the bells and whistles! My first thought was that it was almost too much (as in dollar amount and being over-the-top), but after reading more about it, looking over their sample (pdf) and taking inventory of my own teaching strengths and weaknesses, I think this is the one. The starter kit is very pricey, so I'm going to let this all sink in for a while, do some more reading, and see what things I can leave out in hopes of not spending so much money. But, I will always remind myself of the money I'm saving by not buying other curriculum. Math will be one of my weaker subjects to teach (but only until Brewmaster takes over in the upper grades), so I don't think it will be a waste spending more on something like this.