KEEP IT SIMPLE AND AFFORDABLE
Instead of choosing a complete or partial curriculum, we used a couple of books to meet our number one goal which was to develop the skill-based subjects: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Social studies and science were not approached formally as school subjects in the elementary years. Read our rationalization and approach for this: Rethinking Science and Social Studies in the Elementary Years.
SHORT DAYS
We spent about 40 – 60 minutes a day covering English and math matters. In addition, my son read an hour a day. In total, he engaged approximately 2 hours a day in academic matters. Read Short School Days Work!
ENGLISH
READING
The ability to read gives a student freedom, and with that, responsibility. The reading part of English was now my son’s responsibility. Thankfully, he loved reading. Armed with a stack of library books, he read about an hour a day thereby putting a check mark in the reading box.
WRITING AND GRAMMAR
To develop writing skills, dictation was the perfect option for my son. Emma Serl’s Primary Language Lessons was our book of choice for writing and intro to grammar. Read my post Dictation: The Answer for a Reluctant Writer to find out the virtues of this long-lost method, the reason we used it, and how we actually used it.
SPELLING
We gave Spelling Power a good try for a year, but the method caused my son so much misery that I surrendered. It literally made him cry. After the cat left a deposit in the Spelling Power sand tray, I knew it was time to pack up this curriculum. His sisters had enjoyed years of Spelling Power and were done with it as well. As for spelling, I trusted that he would learn it organically through dictation, reading, emailing, writing assignments, and Scrabble. Spoiler alert: After this spelling attempt, my son never had a formal spelling program again. Despite that he did become a good speller.
VOCABULARY
Vocabulary building was a family activity. Read my post Vocabulary Building for a free, fun, and effective way we learned vocabulary over many years.
Read English in the Elementary Years to help you break English into its subcategories and build your own English curriculum.
MATH
A NEW MATH OPTION NEEDED
My son spent his first-grade year learning nothing with Math U See. We needed another option going forward. Thankfully I stumbled upon Ron Paul’s education website the summer before second grade. His thinking on educational matters sparked a new direction for education. He endorsed getting back to basics in math. He also endorsed cutting filler courses, gaining early college credit, and finding employment. I was 100% sold. That philosophy shaped the remaining years of homeschool for my family and we are forever grateful.
OLD SCHOOL MATH
Ron Paul’s math method for first and second grade called for committing the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts 1-10 completely to memory. Nothing else. This was actually the way that my husband and I, tail-end Baby Boomers, learned math in the ’70’s. Unfortunately, we rediscovered this old-school method after the first grade, but my son was able to commit all the math facts to memory in the second grade and got on track. We used homemade flashcards and homemade worksheets. This created a strong base for the next step of Ron Paul’s plan – Saxon 5/4 in the third grade.
Read Math Grades 1-5 for more details about this math method.
ENRICHMENT COURSES
CO-OP EXPERIENCE
My son enjoyed enrichment courses at a co-op once a week. These courses required little to no homework. It was a wonderful place for elementary science, social studies, art, and physical education enrichment courses. On co-op days, we did no other schoolwork.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
EDUCATION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE
We could have gotten away with one book for the second grade – Primary Language Lessons. Spelling and vocabulary lists and methods can be found on the internet, so books are not essential. The math we chose required handmade resources only.
SHORT SCHOOL DAYS ARE EFFECTIVE
My son was engaged in formal learning approximately 2 hours a day, four days a week. That left plenty of time for him to develop skills of his choice. Those skills are shaping his identity to this day.
Are you wondering why school has to be eight hours a day? Read Is an Eight Hour School Day Necessary at Home?
LONG-HAULERS V. SHORT-HAULERS
Paring back on courses in the elementary years can work for families who plan to homeschool for many years. If you plan to return to the school system after a few years, you should shadow the courses that your school is using.
Musing: a period of reflection or thought. As such this post reflects my thoughts, opinions, and experiences on the topic. The choice to home school and the methods you choose are yours to determine.