A friend asked if I would explain how we use The Well Trained Mind classical homeschooling method. Our personal usage, is just that, our personal usage. There are many ways of using this “curriculum”, because it is more a method than a curriculum. The information in the book looks daunting until you realize that they cover 1st through 12th grades. It is a wonderful resource. I don’t stick to it like glue, but use it as a guide. Now that all the disclaimers are out of the way here’s what we do:
At the end of each year…yes the end, I look at what I need for next year. I pick which subjects we want to learn. I then brake down the “recommended time” for each subject into “realistic time” for our family. Three and a half hours of school a day is more than plenty for us. It is a lot like planning a college semester. Our current schedule looks like this
Monday -Thursday
Reading 15 minutes- (factual reading only- two days she picks/two days I assign ). Katherine is an avid reader. She devours fictional books. My goal this year was to introduce her to reading things that aren’t “book-candy”. We will continue this next year. Some of her factual reading included Muse science magazine, A Child’s History of the World (non-middle ages), a Costume Time-Line of History, and Little Falcons (Orthodox) magazine. Some of her favorite fiction books that she read this year are: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Little Women, all seven books of the Narnia series, From I-ville to You-ville, the Box-Car children books, Betsy-Tacy, Grandmother’s Spiritual Stories, and the Ordinary Princess.
Writing 15 minutes -(she writes about anything she has learned that day. I just want to get her used to putting ideas down on paper, therefore I don’t require her to follow grammar and spelling rules….yet.)
Math 60 minutes- Math is the only subject we do five days per week. We found we needed the extra practice. We have tried Saxon, Horizons, and Singapore math. We prefer Singapore.
Orthodoxy 30-45 minutes- We are Orthodox Christians, so that’s what I teach. We started out with 30 minutes per day. Katherine began reading Lives of the Saints, and asked if we could do it for an hour! I compromised by shifting 15 minutes twice a week from history to Orthodoxy. After all, church history is history.
Grammar 30 minutes- We usually don’t need to spend the entire 30 minutes on grammar, but I can. We used Susan Wise Bauer’s (co-author of The Well Trained Mind) First Language Lessons for first and second grade. We are using Shurley English for 3rd grade.
Electives -this doesn’t have a set time. It depends on what activity we are pursuing. This year we did gymnastics, park-days, play-dates, hand sewing, baking, and afternoon discussion teas. I didn’t have time for much else.
Twice a week subjects Monday/Wednesday(MW) or Tuesday/Thursday (TTH):
History (MW) 45-60 minutes- We studied the middle ages this year. We have our Kingfisher History Encyclopedia as a basic text. Then I allowed Katherine to read various books as long as she stuck to the middle ages. Some of the books she has read are: a children’s version of Shakespeare, A Child’s History of England by Charles Dickens, A Child’s History of the World, Story of the World Middle Ages by Susan Wise Bauer, Whipping Boy, Saint Macrina Grandmother to Saints, a children’s Bible, an adult Bible (still reading and discussing Matthew). We started with 60 minutes, but switched to 45 minutes so she could read Orthodoxy more.
Science (TTH) 45 minutes- Our science program was our “weakest link” this year. We read topics, but I didn’t get around to doing very many projects. This year we studied astronomy for the first several weeks. We then switched over to general science. We did get to work with a telescope, “play” with a rocket launcher (with dad), and explore our general curiosity.
Languages (TTH) 15 minutes- We did not study a foreign language this year. Instead I substituted speech therapy. This included a Critical Thinking workbook, matching patterns, and sequencing skills. Next year we are planning on starting Prima Latina. We have also begun to learn Russian. Although languages are important, basic skills are our primary focus.
While Katherine is doing her reading, twice a week Sarah and I have been doing “preschool”. Her school work focuses on core subjects: reading, writing, and math. Sarah has finished two sets of Bob Books (highly recommended), one set of Hooked on Phonics books, and is now reading level one readers. She is also using Phonics Pathways (highly recommended).
Elizabeth sits in the room and plays. I only keep educational toys in the school room.
I keep track of everything with one of those green teacher notebooks. I have Katherine put a book marker where she stops, so it is easy for me to find where she is and write it down. I am referring to Katherine’s old pre-k book while teaching Sarah, but I found I couldn’t just follow Katherine’s old book. Sarah sat in the office and “played” during Katherine’s school. She learned more than I thought and is moving at a faster pace.
Hi, could you please tell me what your routine is with your 5 year old and what you teach her, including any books that you use (apart from the ones you have mentioned already. At what age did you start to teach your daughter using a ‘proper’ curriculum?
Thank you, your site is great!
By: Sana on September 12, 2008
at 4:03 pm
The Well Trained Mind doesn’t provide a real curriculum (she suggested the book Slow and Steady Get Me Ready) for pre-k to K. Many first time home-schoolers want to start with Kindergarten and not first grade. I was no different. I started our first daughter at 4.5 with pre-k. At 3 years old I had taught her to recognize one letter a week. By 4 she knew the sounds of the letters. At 4.5 I was ready to teach her to read……..she wasn’t ready! It was a struggle. There were tears and frustration. I followed the advise of more experienced home-schoolers and put it away for a while. I tried again at 5, and she flew right threw it (and hasn’t put down a book since). So when daughter #2 turned 3 and started asking for pre-school. I said NO…she kept asking until I agreed to start when she was 4. When she turned 4, she asked again, but I was busy and would do a little then put her off. I was determined to start at 5. One day Sarah (still a new 4) brought me a Bob book (highly recommended) and told me that she had read it. I hadn’t really worked much with Sarah on her letters, and I thought she was just prattling. She sat down and read the book to me. I was stunned. She taught herself to read a simple book, because I was waiting to long. She had been in the room while I taught Katherine, and she picked up more than I thought. I tell this long story in order to illustrate the importance of watching your child’s signals. It will be different from child to child even in the same family.
Now to really answer YOUR question. I really began formal schooling with both Katherine and Sarah with Kindergarten (4 days a week no more than 2 hours total). They were both ready at 5 (I think girls are ready a little faster than boys…but I only have girls so I may be wrong). For Kindergarten I focused on reading, writing, and math for Katherine. In addition, I had her work through one of the giant comprehensive Kindergarten workbooks that you can buy at Sams or Costco. For Sarah I am doing the same (reading, writing, math, workbook), but adding Orthodoxy (our religion) and “Electives”. I added Orthodoxy, because kids love stories. Bible stories and lives of the saints work for religious instruction for this age. I added electives because developing gross and fine motor skills are important at this age. I chose the word “electives”, because I didn’t want to commit to teaching some artsy crafty project each day. I’m not really artsy. Instead I can teach cooking, gardening, science, history, music, art, safety, gymnastics, etc.
Here are some other useful things I’ve learned (on poor Katherine!) about teaching Kindergarten. It should be fun and not stressful for the child…or parent. Don’t expect them to focus more than 15 minutes at a time on a subject. Leave them wanting more! Do not set a goal of finishing this lesson or page….it probably will end in tears. If the child starts getting frustrated, just tell them the answer. You need to end in success. This is the time when we are filling their brains. We may have to put the answer into their brains several times, before it comes back out. Tomorrow they may forget everything and, we might have to do it again. Put something physical between “subjects”. If we sit and read for 15 minutes, we might do 10 jumping jacks, then play piano. It might be school, but I want it to look like fun. Not everything has to be fun, but overall learning shouldn’t be torment.
Finally, each kid is different. Each kid is different. Each kid is different. Sarah just completed her kindergarten workbook, she can write, she can read, she can do kindergarten math. She has had the advantage of being the younger sister and listening to school. I am cautiously moving her forward with her reading, writing, and math. However, she is in kindergarten regardless of the fact that she is doing some first grade work. She will not do the history or science that begins in first grade. First grade is when we really do begin the Well Trained Mind Curriculum. Until then, we just focus on the basics.
By: Dominica on September 12, 2008
at 9:22 pm
How old is your daughter Katherine? What grade level is she in? My son is in 1st grade but I don’t necessarily follow the school year…He did not do well in public school kindergarten so I’ve had to reteach him a lot of the basics. I’m just wondering how far behind or if he is caught up at all with other 1st graders.
Thanks!
By: Chrissy on December 15, 2008
at 12:22 pm
Chrissy,
Katherine is now in 3rd grade. Sarah is in kindergarten, but does some work at the first grade level (the advantages of being in the room listening to her older sister being schooled). I would encourage you to move at his pace without worrying to much about what the public school kids are doing. On the surface, public school kids know more about American history than Katherine. However, it’s not a fair comparison. I started teaching history with the ancients and moved in chronological order. Public school kids study American history immediately. If you can’t help but worry and you want to know if he has caught up, I might suggest buying one of the “what your child should know” by 1st grade books. Or you could have him work through one of the big comprehensive 1st grade workbooks. It may also help to know that kindergarten and 1st grade repeat much of the same information.
Finally, every child is different. Boys are very different from girls. If you can play up his strengths, and work on his weaknesses, he’ll do fine. Katherine is a much better reader than math student. I’ve let her move at her own pace in reading (she’s reading around the 6th grade level) while helping her to improve in math (she has to work hard to stay at the 3rd grade level). I want to help my kids develop into loving, well rounded, people. School is only one portion of the goal. I am posting a previous comment. Perhaps it will also help.
By: Dominica on December 16, 2008
at 11:53 pm
Thank you! I guess sometimes we need a reminder that our kids are different than public school kids and in the long run it’ll be better. Hunter is a great math student but struggles so much with writing, I work on that the most with him everyday.
By: Chrissy on December 17, 2008
at 12:51 pm
Every student is different. One of the problems with the public school system, is that teachers have to pretty much treat students the same. I think the “professional” term for this is called leveling. I would offer this one last bit of information that you might find useful. Hand I motor skills do not develop at the same time as a child’s mental ability. It is not unusual for a very bright child below the age of seven to have difficulty with writing. Plug away at it, but don’t frustrate him. It will come.
By: Dominica on December 17, 2008
at 1:50 pm