As much as I liked the ABCs of the A Beka curriculum we had been using since kindergarten years, I was increasingly frustrated with the textbooks for history and science by the time my daughter was in the second grade.
There were so many fascinating topics presented in more interesting ways in real books rather than the regimen of the pithy textbooks.
Phonics with Multisyllabic Words
Also, my daughter was struggling with phonetically sounding out multisyllabic words.
So, we made some changes to our school year.
In the mornings we continued with A Beka with the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic.
For phonics we used colored markers on the white board to write out multisyllabic words. With a different colored marker we divided the words into syllables. Talking this out together helped a lot.
Lots, and lots, and lots of practice doing that really helped my daughter. We simply slowed down the speed of instruction to hone this one skill that would carry her far in future books.
Math Facts Drill with Balls
For math we’d play ball as we practiced math facts. I tossed a ball to them to catch and toss back or kick back to me as we practiced all the math facts they found boring.
Although rote learning may be boring, there is no reason it can’t be livened up with colorful balls of various sizes and textures.
Employing as much Sensory Integration as I could, I collected a large collection of balls of various textures at the store. Our favorite was the plastic fuzzy type that we played catch with.
Tossing the ball sometimes became a bit more aggressive in the house, taking over even the memorization of math facts. Eventually the math facts won out as future years would prove.
History Time Travels with the American Girls
After lunch we gathered on the couch to read together a book from the American Girls series. We time traveled with girls my daughter’s age through 200 years of American history.
We collected all the story books, including the museum-like history version for each era that show cased artifacts of life in that time frame.
Science Travels with Mrs. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus
For science we’d read together one of the books from the Mrs. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus series and do some related experiments and activities.
The kids had become quite familiar with the stories from the PBS cartoons they had watched when they were toddlers.
Literature with Wishbone
For literature studies we read the Wishbone books that we were collecting, based on the Classics.
White Board Syllabication
Story times and activities happily filled their afternoons and gave them lots of chances to practice multisyllabic words, some of which we’d write on the white board to divide into syllables, before practicing the word repeatedly in our history, science, and literature journeys.
Epilogue 2024
Looking back, I implemented classical concepts (whole books and observation) before I knew what classical school entailed.
