Naturally minded curriculum
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:01 am
by lollaleeloo
I have been looking at Oak Meadow and Christopherus because they seem naturally minded and holistic in their style and I seem to be drawn to Waldorf. I am not a purist by any means and I do not subscribe to every tenet of Anthroposophy nor do I believe in much of it either. Anyway, I have read through a few lessons in the Oak Meadow K and 1st grade syllabus, but I think I need something a bit more proscriptive (more ideas on what to do during the week, etc). I think I can handle art and crafts on my own, but I need more direction with academics. Are there any more curriculums out there that are similar but have a bit more to them? Any experience with Live Education? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I've used Oak Meadow
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:34 am
by bchsmom
and I've had a good look at Live and Christopherus (I think that's the name? sorry, it's been a while).
Oak Meadow can be great if you draw yourself into it. In the earlier grades they focus more on reading and math, formally, than they do science. Science is there of course but it's not in the forefront of the day. The art and handwork is fantastic for chidren though.
Have you looked at an entire syllabus? It's quite involved in terms of working through each day. You could add copywork and memorization to the language arts component. Then, simply do some unit studies for science. The math is fine....the little gnomes and stories are lovely and my kids still have their math gnomes on our nature table.
I think if you took some time to read through a syllabus an embrace what OM has to offer, while knowing you can supplement a bit along the way, you could be happy with it.
A side note...I found the older, used copies just as good as the newer ones. The older ones are black and white and may contain some typos that leave you feeling a bit uneasy. The newer ones are colour and I presume they've dealt with typos.
Another curriculum to look into would be Sonlight. You must be willing to read aloud though and there is a fair bit of reading involved. You won't find the richness of crafts, handwork etc. though so that is kind of sad. But, you could supplement that.
My vote, having used both would be to use Oak Meadow as a base and add in what you feel is needed.