Hanson's Ridge
I love books. It's pretty evident if you come into our house and see books on every flat surface, as well as on our bookshelves. So it's probably not a surprise that they are a foundational element in our homeschool.
When AW was 5, I was pretty sure I did not want a homeschool curriculum. I wanted us to play and read books. Then I heard about a brand-new literature based homeschool curricula called Torchlight. It was secular, even humanist, and based entirely on reading lots of good books and talking about them. Sign me up! I quickly learned that a similar secular curriculum, Build Your Library, existed and could even be combined with Torchlight. Since then, we've used a combination of the two. But I see a lot of confusion about how these two curricula work. I thought I'd give a basic overview and some tips. The two programs have a slightly different structure, but the overall concept is the same. This post is not a comparison, but a guide to using literature based curriculum in general based on my experience with these two specific programs. What do they cover? Torchlight and Build Your Library both cover literature, science, social studies, art, and poetry. Torchlight also includes music appreciation.* 1. What level should I choose? If you are new to homeschooling, it seems obvious that you would pick the numerical level that corresponds to your child's grade level. There is actually a lot more flexibility when it comes to homeschool levels. Read the descriptions and see if there is a suggested age range. Look for a yearly theme that appeals to your and your family. Or start at the beginning. The flexibility of the levels means that you can combine multiple ages for these subject areas. Sometimes there are suggestions of how to scale up or down, or you can ask for suggestions in the curricula specific Facebook groups. 2. What comes in the curricula? Your PDF download is the result of many hours of labor researching and planning. That's what you are paying for. Both of these curricula include a full school year's worth of lesson plans, with book lists, suggested activities, suggested supplements, and discussion questions. I can't stress how much work goes into these materials and how valuable they are for the price. 3. What do I still need to acquire? You have your lesson plans and a list of materials, but getting the materials is up to you. That means all the books, games, etc. This is where it *can* get pricey. 4. How do I afford all these books?? You have several options.
5. Do I have to follow the schedule exactly? No! We use these lesson plans as a jumping off point. I rarely follow the week's plans exactly. Sometimes we do all the activities, in our own order, sometimes we take a break and do other things, and sometimes we move weeks around (this gets harder when you are doing chronological history). 6. What do I do for reading and math? Why aren't they included? While content areas are easy to scale up and down, kids often work at multiple grade levels in reading and math. By keeping those subjects separate, it allows the educator to provide individualized learning. You can pick whatever programs work for your family. If you have an older proficient reader, then the literature study in these programs might be enough. If necessary, add in spelling and grammar. If you have a kid still learning to read, you will need a reading program (preferably comprehensive phonics instruction).** 7. I don't want a curriculum, but I love the book list! Do I still have to buy the curriculum? Technically, you can view the book lists on the websites for these programs. And you could just read those books. But I don't think this is an ethical use of the curricula writers' labor. I think the book lists alone are worth the price of the PDF download. 8. How do I combine these programs? The levels roughly correspond to each other. I use Torchlight as my "dominant" program for planning, but supplement with ideas from Build Your Library. You can also do it the other way around. It's a bit of work, but I'm obsessed with having #allthebooks. So there you go. Don't try to do both programs completely or you will be utterly overwhelmed. A final note: I am not affiliated with either of these programs and receive nothing for writing this blog or recommending these curricula. They are just programs that I have used and enjoyed! *Some people like to add in additional science at some levels. **There are some unschoolers who do not find explicit phonics instruction necessary for their families. However, most kids will benefit from some sort of phonics instruction even if they teach themselves to read. As always, follow your kid's needs!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHi! I'm Stephanie Hanson. I live with my husband, Himself, on Hanson's Ridge in Virginia. Archives
September 2017
Categories |