(New to HSing) Using this book as a curriculum guideline???

Question

Has anyone read or used the core knowledge series of books written by E. D. Hirsch titled "What Your Kindergartner (1st, 2nd, etc) Needs to Know? I'm thinking of using it for a guide to base my 4 year olds future curriculums on.

Answer 1

No we just buy a curicullum. My sister has a book called "How To Home School Your Child Sucessfully"

Answer 2

A word of caution about trusting someone else's opinion on what your child should learn, especially someone who does not know your child... Rather, to climb what seems like an insurmountable mountain of confusing educational subjects and benchmarks, go by the person who knows your child the best: YOU! :o)

Trust your instincts... Dump any preconceived notions of what makes learning *good* learning and listen to your child and yourself.  Your child will let you know, over time, what he/she wants to learn, and as a very young child, he/she will do most of their learning in play-type activities.  The bookwork will come in time.

There are two really good general books about homeschooling and why we homeschool and they are on my list of "must reads" for any new homeschooling parent or anyone interested in homeschooling and the history of education as we now know it.

One is by John Holt called "Teach Your Own" (ISBN 9780738206943) that discusses why homeschooling works. Actually, anything by John Holt makes for great reading by anyone, even public school teachers.

Another book is written by David Guterson (yes, the same person who wrote "Snow Falling on Cedars", who also happens to have been a high school teacher), called "Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense" (ISBN 9780156300001).

Good luck!

Answer 3

Yes, I have every one of them from K-6th grade.  The curriculum I use, K12, uses Core Knowledge as a "spine" and builds up from there.  You can't just use the books as a "complete" curriculum, but you can use it as a starting point if you're making your own curricula.

You can also look at the World Book sequence someone posted, your state's education standards, and the scope & sequences from different curricula companies.

The Core Knowledge base makes sure a child is culturally literate.  Please read some of E.D. Hirsh's other work, too, to get the "big picture".

Answer 4

I've used them before as resources, but not as the base of our curriculum.

Here is a good guideline to use along with those and any other library resources.

http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?cur...

Answer 5

I have read some of them, and if you use it as a loose guideline only, that's okay, however home schooling is adjusting your child's materials to their learning style, and interests.

Bringing the school home, or following conventional school guidelines really defeats the purpose of home schooling.

Home schooling is about individualized learning.

Base you children's future curriculum on the basics math, reading, and writing, and then use whatever books appeal, and interest them for all the other subjects.

The vast amount of books, and supplemental materials; computer games, board games, Dover coloring books, and and so on are mind boggling.

For now I would head to Sam's, or any other outlet store, and purchase a workbook that is a complete curriculum in one, the cost about $5.00 to $10.00 each, and contains all subjects,

then dust of your library card, and go for it.

Once you have found a local home school support group you can ask the other families what they use, and if you can borrow some of the books to review them before buying.

Attending a home school convention in your state is always a good idea too, they offer workshops relating to home school methods, and other topics, especially for new home school families.

Vendors also come and show/sell home school curriculum's; this is a great way to see what is available.

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

good Luck.

Answer 6

They are a good resourse to use with others. I utlilize our school districts grade level expectations as well. That way, if for any reason my girls have to attend our public school they have been educated in the same order as our local kids. For example, when I was a kid, I moved schools between my 7th and 8th grade years. When I attended 8th grade English they were discussing verb conjugation as if I should know what they were talking about, that school taught it in the 7th grade, the old school did not. The old school didn't teach it until the 8th grade, so I missed out and had to catch up. At the same time, I was bored with alot of that class because they were learning what I was taught the previous year. So in all that, I guess what I am saying, is if you are going to follow a guidline, your local school grade expectations are a good place to start. You can find them on your states Dept of Education website.