TOS Crew Question of the Week: Selecting What to Teach

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The second question in the new TOS Crew Blog Cruise on homeschooling is another ‘loaded’ one. The full question is : “How do you know what to teach?”

I say this is ‘loaded’ as you could interpret it as what subjects to teach OR as what actual materials you should be using. What follows are my thoughts on the subject at this moment in time.

First ~ What subjects should I be teaching?

With boys at different stages of learning, each child has some subjects that are unique for their point in development. The younger ages have a primary focus on learning to read and do basic math. Social studies is more focused on being part of a community and learning some basics about our world. Science is much more hands-on in learning and includes living books or videos in our house.

As they close in on middle school around 4th grade), subject material required picks up. Instead of phonics, an emphasis on reading comprehension with both vocabulary and discussion questions appears. Social Studies has more emphasis on history and learning geography beyond the continents. Science also starts to play a bigger role with topics being delved into deeper than before. This is when we’ve also decided to introduce Latin as a way to help reinforce a learning of grammar.

Once they approach high school, the subjects taught need to better reflect the path the individual child plans to take for college or a vocation. Looking at what a college requires or your state’s typical course of study for a high school diploma can give you and your student a good framework when selecting what they’ll study.

That’s the generics, here’s how it is playing out in our family:

D, as a 1st grader that by age would only be in kindergarten, still has a heavy focus on reading and math. Even though his birthday is after the cut-off in Maryland (and many other states, Alaska included), we went ahead and did kindergarten work last year. Phonics and math were supplemented by sitting in with big brothers on some science and history. By the start of this school year, he was reading around a 2nd grade level. To me, this illustrates a BIG advantage for homeschooling. Had we been following the timeline set forth by the State of Maryland, he would have been sitting at home longing to learn. Instead, we have let him start using different learning tools (e.g. 5 levels of Hooked on Phonics that he sped through in a year) as he’s been ready to do.

My 4th grader, R, is beginning to have more independent work as we prepare for the bigger papers and projects that he’ll have in later grades. Rather than just listening in on history selections, he is expected to do more mapping and discussion questions than I would have required in the past. I expect more work in the realm of science, so we have added a few quizzes on information along with creating lapbooks or notebooks.

Being in 7th grade, P is expected to spend more time developing critical thinking skills so he is able to tackle problems with less direction from me. The reading comprehension book we have been using actually has just four selections for the year with several weeks focusing on researching topics related to the featured individual’s life. This research is then compiled into a research paper or other presentation.

Second part ~ What materials to use…

When we began homeschooling, we pretty much followed the curriculum suggestions for Catholic Heritage Curricula. Math U See was substituted for Modern Curriculum Press and Saxon products that CHC suggested. With one struggling math student, the idea of teaching for mastery on each math skill was very appealing to me. We also supplemented their social studies assignments with participation in a small co-op using Story of the World Vol. 1.

As we’ve continued to homeschool, substitutions and additions have come along. After that first year, I found it far easier to have the boys all work together on the same science. Otherwise, I would have 2 different science programs to pull together just to have P want to do both. We started lapbooking and notebooking more which helped bring variety to the work. Also, being part of the TOS Crew since it started up in Fall of 2008 had us trying out new products and finding a few things to adjust along the way.

At the moment, our own families homeschool plans are in flux again. With the recent move to Alaska, my husband and I have opted to enroll the boys in a state charter school. We still have freedom to choose materials, but for some of the subjects the materials have to be secular. After years of using primarily Catholic Heritage Curricula, I am now looking at some secular programs to become the primary curriculum in some subject areas. However, some materials (e.g. CHC’s reading) will still be present as we love the books.

I know that I will probably be plagued by wondering what material I failed to cover with the boys. However, I truly believe that if they are educated in how to learn then they will be well prepared for future pursuits. The choices available for homeschoolers are staggering. But, I am thankful to HAVE the choices and make decisions that work best for our family.