Homeschooling

Non-religion based elementary curriculums? (Oak Meadow anyone?)

Hello everyone! I am totally new to this board, so I thought I would introduce myself and ask my question is the same post. My name is Rebecca, and my husband Dan and I have a four year old daughter named Basil. We live in Oregon on what we like to call an "Urban Farm" (which is really just a city lot where we grow a huge garden and keep chickens and ducks.)

I am a student (third year)working towards my teaching degree, and plan to teach elementary school, most likely K-1. Basil has been in a Reggio Inspired preschool for the past year, and we liked it, though I really love the philosophy more than the actual implementation of it at that specific school. We are looking into public schools in our city, and are looking at having to move to a different neighborhood (which we can't *really* afford) just to get her into a good school district, since the neighborhood school assigned to our house is just awful. But I've been looking into the better schools in the city, and even in those, it seems like Basil wouldn't be getting the kind of schooling I always wanted her to have. Seems public schools are a LOT more focus on test scores and the like and a lot less focused on the whole child, arts, music, etc. This SCARES me! I went to a crappy public school that was very test score based, with very little in the way of arts education and similar experiences, and I feel that even in my college work, I have not used half of the things I "learned" in school as a child/teen.

I never even thought about homeschooling, as I grew up in an area where it wasn't common, and when you turned five, you went to kindergarten. That is just how it was. But now I am wondering if it might be better for our family to homeschool Basil so she can grow up in a more natural way. While going to school, I also student teach in a pre-kindergarten classroom at the Reggio School she has been going to, and I feel as though I am capable of teaching her myself, but would probably like to have a curriculum to loosely follow, or to fall back on when I am stumped for a lesson myself.We are interested in Montessori, Reggio.natural and play based learning as well as curriculum that encompasses more traditional schooling aspects.

We are raising Basil agnostic, so we are not interested in anything religion based, or really any curriculum that utilizes religious teachings at all. Does anyone have any recommendations for curriculum you have used? I am going to do a Google search, but we all know how THAT can go, so I thought I would ask here first for a point in the right direction. Hahaha!

Edited to say:

Did a Google search and came up with a few. Most interesting one so far is Oak Meadow. Anyone have experience with it?

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Re: Non-religion based elementary curriculums? (Oak Meadow anyone?)

  • I'm leaning toward Oak Meadow too, although I haven't actually gotten my hands on a hard copy to check it out. It is Waldorf "inspired" which I like. The content itself looks to be bellow the academic standards (for my state) for Kindergarden, and since DD already knows a lot of it I'll probably start with 1st grade and just take it slow.

    Something I've found really helpful if you're still on the fence about homeschool is to get together with families who have homeschooled for a while and talk to them about it.  I was a classroom teacher too, and understand not wanting to be a slave to the test scores. It's not fun for anyone and the kids get really stressed out. 

    Also check out https://www.homeschoolreviews.com very helpful! 

    Married 07.07.07. Mom to 3: Ruby 11/08 and Oliver & Austin 12/11
  • imagehayleydeee:

    I'm leaning toward Oak Meadow too, although I haven't actually gotten my hands on a hard copy to check it out. It is Waldorf "inspired" which I like. The content itself looks to be bellow the academic standards (for my state) for Kindergarden, and since DD already knows a lot of it I'll probably start with 1st grade and just take it slow.

    Something I've found really helpful if you're still on the fence about homeschool is to get together with families who have homeschooled for a while and talk to them about it.  I was a classroom teacher too, and understand not wanting to be a slave to the test scores. It's not fun for anyone and the kids get really stressed out. 

    Also check out https://www.homeschoolreviews.com very helpful! 

    Thanks for the reviews link! I've been reading reviews for a bit now, and am liking Oak Meadow more and more! It seems like it just what I am looking for: a good base to work from while leading into more unit studies and projects. I have read in a lot of the reviews though that it is a bit behind in grade levels like you said, so I am thinking of purchasing the Kindergarten syllabus and starting with Basil this year (she would be Pre-K at a public school.) She is already working on knowing letters by what they look like, can spell and write her name and my name (Mama, not Rebecca, haha!)  and knows her numbers from the elevator buttons in the parking garage (life learning!) The first review on this page was really helpful: https://www.homeschoolreviews.com/reviews/curriculum/reviews.aspx?id=168

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  • I homeschooled my two boys for three years.  When it was time for high school my oldest decided he wanted to go back to public school.  He was very advanced compared to the kids in his classes when he went back.  We used the curriculum suggested in The Well Trained Mind (which I loved), but did have to replace some of the suggested material to exclude any religious content.  The beauty of homeschool is having complete control over what you teach which means some of the curriculum can be excluded if needed.

    I would highly recommend trying the homeschooling.  It is one of the most rewarding things I have done with my kids and has taught me quite a bit as well since I went to a public school which focused on test scores and taught according to state standards which I never felt were up to par.  If it doesn't work out (or if they get older and decide they want to try public school) you can always reassess. 

     

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