Homeschool World Forum

[Princess_Fyara]

Basically, a new family in this area has 6 children, and because of some issues in the school system have pulled them all out, and they don't know where to start. The Father is absolutely not sending them back, and the Mother is worried that they won't do it right. I am going to go over there, hopefully tomorrow, to see if I can help them get set up. Does anyone have any recommendations? The ages are 8, 9 and 12, and they also have 2, 3, and 5 year olds. I want to present several different ways of doing it, and a few different types of curriculum.

Any suggestions at all will be appreciated, and I will refer them to this site.
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[Theodore]

Read to the 2 year old. Work on letters and numbers with the 3 year old, perhaps do kindergarten (Calvert) and phonics (Sing, Spell, Read and Write). Depending on what the 5 year old knows already, he could share with the 3 year old or do more advanced reading, writing, and math.

The older ones are more difficult. Learning style (visual, auditory, or hands-on) changes what curriculum and/or method will work best, and depending on how deficient the schools have been, they may need some remedial phonics / math / writing to catch them up on the basics. History, science, art, etc. are of secondary importance, since those will be much easier to learn once the basics are in place. I recommend Saxon for math up to whatever level becomes difficult to understand (in my case, Advanced Math), and reading is easily taken care of by giving them interesting classics, such as Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings (or if they really hate reading, comic books and popular fiction until their reading skill increases), then having them communicate the basic plot line through a verbal or written report. They could also take turns reading out loud with someone nearby to correct pronunciation.

It's hard to say anything more without a good deal more information. But here's a link to the Idaho legal requirements for homeschooling (I assume the family is in your state?)

http://www.chois.org/law.html
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[nep]

there are programs such as Konos http://www.konos.com/quickoverview/multilevel.htm and Five in A Row http://www.fiveinarow.com/ that work on a multi-level structure so kids of differing ages can work from the same core. Something along these lines might be helpful. Mary Pride's books have really been the most helpful for overviews and reviews and giving me confidence (why I came to this site). One thing though, is that I think the basics- such as phonics and math are seperate in many of these programs. I am hoping to use a program from Riggs Institute titled, "The Writing and Spelling Road to Reading and Thinking". The reason I mention it is it was created for both remedial instruction (even adults) as well as for beginners (kindergarten) so it is a program that can be used on all levels, as well as it hits several thinking skills- auditory, visual, etc. but uses phonics in the strictest sense. It is non-consumable except for pencils and paper so they would only need one program. Also, it addresses reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary and grammar all together. Mind, I have not used it yet and it might be too involved for a family just getting going- but if they want to look at the site: http://www.riggsinst.org/index.htm

[Tabz]

Honestly the parents need to asses how their children learn best. As it's been mentioned there are different learning styles.

Here's a great assement test that you can easily turn to "my child..." rather than "I"....

http://agelesslearner.com/assess/learningstyle.html

My parents discovered early on there is very rarely one cirriculum that really fits. We used Saxon math, Bob Jones' readers, etc. etc. etc.

I would suggest they go to some kind of convention where cirriculum will be on display. That way they can look and compare things side by side.
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[Princess_Fyara]

Thank you, Theodore! Yes, they are in Idaho. I will let you know more if I can evaluate them individually. They just moved to this area recently, so I don't know them very well.

Thank you nep! I will look into the things you suggested as well. I am not sure what the Mother will be wanting to do, and I don't really know how well the kids get along with each other. I did babysit the crew one night, and we had some tension between siblings, but that may not affect whether they would do well in the same set up.

I'll keep you posted.
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