Reading progression explained

I'm on my second run through from the ground up teaching reading.

My general method goes something like this:

I spend lots of time teaching the letters, their sounds, various ways they look, and getting the child really comfortable with them. This stretches from toddlerhood to about 3-4.

We spend lots of time reading out loud. Picture books, chapter books, anything and everything. We attend story time at the library for more oral reading exposure. Infancy- childhood.

I also spend time on oral blending games and rhyming. For example, "C AAAAA T says what?" When they can hear the separate sounds and blend them together, we're ready to move on. I also think that rhyming is very important. Lots of silly songs and nursery rhymes help develop the ear for this. We work on this from the time they talk well until it clicks- about toddlerhood- 3/4.

After they can do the above easily, without stress, we start working on reading words on paper. I start with short vowel words, specifically short A words. I also introduce a very few "helper" or sight words, but I also explain the phonetic sense behind them. I believe that too many sight words leads to troubles later on. This has happened between 3/4 for both of my girls.

When they can confidently read CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words, we move on to digraphs and more complicated words. This is the most variable part- Sweet Pea blew through phonics as a whole in less then a year and was able to read on a meaningful and good level in that time. Little Bird hasn't moved to this phase yet, so I don't know how quickly she'll progress.

After this I address reading a little differently- I enforce reading time throughout the day. This falls in three categories- books I read to them (even after they are fluent readers), books they read silently to themselves, and books they read out loud to me.

Having a child read out loud allows you to keep up with combinations that they are having issues with. It also lets you catch sloppy habits, mistakes, and can clue you in on vision issues. I think it also helps self confidence.

Reading out loud to a child who reads well allows you to read books together that they might not pick up on their own. It also allows you the chance to stop frequently and discuss vocabulary and themes, look things up on maps and check comprehension without tossing out worksheets.

Silent reading is important here, too. It lets you assign school reading, helps reinforce the idea that reading is pleasurable and a worthwhile use of time, and builds the volume of ideas that they carry around. A widely read child has images and vocabulary bouncing around that will benefit them indefinitely.

When is a child reading? This is pretty hotly debated. Some people say their child is reading as soon as they sound out or recognize that first word, others wait until a child can pick up a book, decode the letters and tell you what they just read. I fall kind of in the middle. I don't call a child who can pick a few words out or blend a few words a reader. That misses the nuances of being able to use language. I also don't wait until they are able to pluck a book from the shelves and use it meaningfully, either. I would say that my four year old can read- she can pick up an easy reader, sound through all the words, and then retell the story.

But this is the beginning, not the end.

Tea/snack time

I've read about this a lot of other homeschool blogs and certain forums. I'd like to share my concept of snack/tea time.

I like to make something that has a little bit of lag time from preparation to eating. Today the menu featured homemade blueberry, banana, chocolate chip muffins.

Preparing them is a good reinforcer of math- especially since we live at high altitude and every single recipes needs altering. Every one.

Waiting as the smell fills the house is a lesson in patience. It also gives us time to work together on picking up or a cleaning project- something that can be hard to work in for some families. For us, knowing that a delicious snack is coming is a powerful motivator!

Eating together at this time is a good chance for the kids to chat, both between themselves and with me. So often we're working one on one or I am busy, but table time is a wonderful time to focus JUST on them. It's also a good chance to do fun things like practice French or use Latin.

Those are my meager thoughts.

Bragging

Am I a braggy person? I don't think so. I try to state things in a factual or neutral way, but I'm open to the notion that things sound differently in my mind then they do in type.

We've all had that happen, right?

It's especially tough when I'm trying to discuss homeschool plans outside the norm.

You'd think homeschoolers would be really open to the notion that things happen in fits and spurts, but I haven't always experienced that.

Sometimes we're an outlier, even in the homeschooling community.

Differences

Ah, oh, how they are wide!

Reading about Charlotte Mason and reading Charlotte Mason's actual work- wow. It's really amazing and quite different.

I like Ambleside and Tanglewood and Simply Charlotte Mason, but they just don't have the same verve or rigor.

I'm intimidated by what she had her students do!

Wow.

In related news- next year is still heavily being planned and obsessed over. Decisions, decisions!

When are you going to stop doing that?

First- we are semi-settled in our new home. By semi-settled, I mean that the beds are set up, the kitchen is usable, and we have a place to sit to eat. Boxes abound, still. I FOUND the boxes of homeschooling stuff, but have not yet cracked them. It's a work in progress that is going to take some time. And patience. A lot of patience.

Over the last few years I've been asked by family, friends, acquaintances- anyone who really hears we're homeschooling- about how long we're going to do that. Do we have an end in sight?

At first people thought we'd just homescool preschool. Weird, but not everyone goes to preschool, so Sweet Pea would probably turn out OK and not too bizarre or socially maladjusted. Then we did Kindergarten. This seemed much less alright with people- Kindy is a real grade and skipping it meant that Sweet Pea would... what? Not know how to line up? To raise her hand to go to the bathroom?

I'm not sure exactly what she was missing out on since she learned to read fluently at 4 and do basic arithmetic. But she was missing out. And lots of people kindly took the opportunity to inform us and her of this.

Now we're coming to the close of 1st grade and Sweet Pea is now 7. 7! She's quite the woman of the world at 7, right?

We're going to come to our senses and send her to school any minute so she can do all the stuff she's not doing, right?

Wrong.

I have no clear or immediate plans of sending Sweet Pea or Little Bird to school. They are happy and thriving and learning and engaged and loved and safe at home- if it ain't broke, I'm not fixing it.

Opportunities do change and every moment I evaluate and reevaluate where we are and what we are doing and why. And if it's working.

And it is!

Sweet Pea is starting piano (and organ) lessons soon. Little Bird is going to take a dance class. They have little friends they see and places they go- and the world keeps turning.

Fin.

Homeschooling and the law

Especially as it pertains to reporting.

I had finally fully wrapped my head around Minnesota's homeschooling statute and what was required. I was comfortable. I knew what to do and when, and where, and why. This is good!

I'm a list-maker, and I like having a firm grip on as many of the details of a situation as possible.

This moving thing is throwing a giant monkey wrench in my well ordered homeschool world. We haven't done a full school week since this has started.

Subjects hanging in the wind! Chaos!

I know we'll get back on track and fortunately we had already finished a good deal of the work for the year. We'll be OK on this front.

I am now trying to look into all the things I need to do to legally homeschool once we are settled in our new home. I'm a little befuddled. I'd had years to look at the previous material and now only months!

Initial Saxon review

We've been using Saxon math here for the last month or so. Both girls have been using it (at different levels, obviously ).

Some things I've noticed already vs. Singapore:

• parental involvement
• time
• review
• manipulatives
• level

Parental involvement is much higher in Saxon. There's a lot of time spent teaching and working together, so if you are looking for a self teaching book this is not it. You will not really be able to just assign a lesson and do something else while they work.

Time seems to be less right now. Teaching and Meeting book don't really take long, and the workbook pages are so well covered before they are assigned that it's not difficult for the child to finish. We're doing both pages in one sitting, all the problems.

Review. This is one of the biggest reasons we switched and something I am really happy with. Something is introduced and then constantly revisited and refreshed. Sweet Pea was really frustrated with Singapore that topics would come up, she'd learn them, and then we'd leave them. I was spending a lot of time (and ink) finding or making review sheets for her. I didn't like that- I want a curriculum that has it all together for me.

Manipulatives- I really like all the hands on parts of Saxon. It's not all manipulative work like Miquon (which we tried and failed with) but it's not all book work, either. Singapore did have suggestions for hands on stuff, but as the parent you had to locate materials and plan it out and that can be really hard to do.

Level. I did not take Ewe's advice and go a level up. I should have. Sweet Pea finished Singapore 2a and 2B and I put her in Saxon 2. It's all really easy for her but it is building her confidence up so we'll just go through at a quicker place and move into Saxon 3 by fall. Singapore does seem more advanced then Saxon, but Saxon seems far more thorough. It kind of felt like Singapore was advancing at the cost of mastery.

Seat work

I think it's a pretty common question when people are thinking about homeschooling- how much time spent teaching? How much time doing book work?

It's not quite up there with the questions about socialization but it is a big concern, and one that people ask for a few reasons.

First, there are the people who think that homeschoolers are never doing enough- that by the very nature of homeschooling it's never sufficient. It's usually pretty easy to suss out if this is the reason that people are asking and that no matter what you say they are going to fault you. If your kids are doing poorly it's because you aren't doing enough and if they are doing well they'd be doing better if you did more. This would also be the, "There's no right answer" people.

There are people who are just being polite. Homeschooling is obviously a big part of a homeschooler's life, so asking about it is natural. They probably don't want a lot of nitty gritty details, though, but it can be a good opportunity to plant some seeds about homeschooling.

There are people who know someone homeschooling, have seen it on the news, or have other casual exposure to the ideas. They are probably genuinely curious and wondering how it pulls together, and if everyone does it the same way (we don't!).

There are the people who are homeschooling themselves, or considering it. These are my favorite people to talk homeschooling to, because less time is spent in apologetics and more in shop talk.

No matter the reason for asking, it's a tough question to answer. How much time?

It depends what you count.

Does Sweet Pea's reading time count? She spends about 2-3 hours a day reading books, some by her own choice, some that I've suggested because they match with science or history.

Does art and project time count? Time spent with an instrument?

I think what most people want to know is how much time is direct instruction in a typical subject and how much time it takes to chug through all the subjects for the day. It's still a variable answer, but it's a little easier to pin down for me.

We spend about 2-3 hours a day on Sweet Pea's school. This does not include reading, homework, helping around the house, art, or anything like that. I'm not personally in the camp of counting every little thing we do as school, although lots of valuable learning happens outside the books we use.

Right now the biggest chunks of our day go to math and language arts. How it divides up really changes by the day and Sweet Pea's cooperation, but my general goal is to be done with the important stuff by lunch so she can spend the afternoon reading, doing legos, playing, ect.

This might not seem like a long school day (or maybe it seems really long!) but we accomplish a lot. Sweet Pea is on level or ahead in all current subject areas with this amount of work, so it's a good balance for right now!


Little Bird spends significantly less time on school and as soon as she feels done we are done. In this time I try to do a little phonics and a little math. Otherwise I read to her. The rest of her day is play time.


I hope this helped a little with the scope of how long school takes.

Stress and "Me" time

I think one of the things people really wonder about it what homeschooling moms do to recharge and how they get time away.

Where I live my local options for getting out are kind of slim, and I don't regularly go places without my children. My husband and I rarely (as in a handful in the last 5 years) use babysitters.

So how do I do it?

There are some things that I try to do daily and I really notice a spike in my stress levels if I get away from it.

I've found it's important for me to get up, get dressed, do my hair, ect, even if I'm not going anywhere or expecting company. It seems that if I get into a rut of slowly getting out of my pajamas that it impacts my mood. And how I perceive what I've accomplished for the day. I also strive to have some daily time to do my own devotionals, exercise, and quietly sip coffee.

My house isn't perfect- I have three small children and a dog. But I do like my bathroom and kitchen to stay clean and reasonably orderly. I feel stressed if I notice them get out of hand.

My husband and I do a lot of dates at home. We put the kids to bed and spend time playing games, watching movies, or just talking. We talk about our days, books we are reading, politics, religion, or whatever else is on our minds. I really treasure the time that we spend together and if he's gone I really miss him.

I think everyone has a different balance and need for outside social interaction. I'm very blessed by the people around me who come to visit or that we visit.

Mommy Wars

I'm pretty sure I've posted something about this before, but it's been a while.

It seems like once you are on a site for a while you begin to see how mean and nasty people can be. I don't know what it is about the internet that lets people be so cruel, but I'd like to know why people tear others down to make themselves feel better as opposed to just seeing if there's something that they'd like to change.

Not that I've always avoided cattiness or meanness. I'd be dishonest to say I have. I do try my best to think before I post on forums about how the other person would feel reading my response and I've actually completely removed myself from a once loved forum because it was encouraging me to be unkind.

It seems like a lot of homeschooling mommy wars center around housework and doing enough school.

That people with clean homes aren't spending enough time with their kids and people with messy homes are slobs.

That having little school actually happen is realistic because life happens or doing too much is hotboxing.

Wouldn't it be better to just assume that everyone is doing the best they can in their circumstances and each of us are on our own road of success? Some further then others, some rounding back to the beginning to start fresh.

I like blogging because it lets me share. I don't only share our roses, I try to share our messes and mishaps, too. I hope everything that I say is received in a spirit of kindness and everything that I write is intended in charity.

Can vs. Should

This is one of the toughest questions I have/am facing while homeschooling. It's one I think I'd face no matter how we schooled to a certain extent, but it's especially acute for me at the moment.

Just because Sweet Pea is capable of doing something- should I have her do it? Expect it? Let her read it?

There's no easy answers, and it's a somewhat disparate question.

The should I have her do it right now is math. Sweet Pea has done all of the concepts for our year's worth of math work- and there is a LOT of school left for the year. So what do we do? Move forward? Move horizontally? A little of both?

I don't know.

Expect is right now is writing. Sweet Pea can write really well when she wants to. When she doesn't it's the single biggest area of contention in our day. She can drag an assignment out almost indefinitely just for the satisfaction of asserting herself, or she can do it in five minutes. So do I push it and daily expect a high output, or only when she's willing? Especially since most kids her age are writing a few short sentences and working on spelling?

I don't know.

Let her read it is that hardest part right now. Sweet Pea is a voracious reader. She's read the first two Harry Potter books and has 2 more books to read to finish the Chronicles of Narnia. She'd love to read the rest of the Harry Potter books, but some of the content concerns me based on her age. Emotionally I don't think she's ready to face all the themes, but she's ready from a reading level perspective.

So what to do?

I don't know.

Try my best. Be grateful to have such an eager student. Try more. :)

How much is enough?

I struggle as a homeschooling mom with how much is enough. It's across the board for me. How much math practice? How much time on spelling? How much time on school, on free play, with other kids, with other teachers?

It's easy to feel like it's never right, and never enough. I've been thinking about this a lot specifically with math and writing.

Math is something that I think should be done frequently, without big breaks for primary students. We do math five times a week, and sometimes it's more then that. We are using two math programs together as well as extra practice sheets I print off online. I fall under the, "Deep, not wide" wisdom here- we are cementing math facts until I am nearly dreaming them. I'm fairly certain Sweet Pea is, as well. This is good, though. I know when we move on (gulp, multiplication) that we won't lose the ground we've already covered.

I think it's a fairly widely talked about fact that most homeschooled kids write less then their public schooled peers. It's not all a bad thing. Sometimes kids are pushed into churning out volume before mastering quality, and that's not how it should be. It's also easy to go to the opposite extreme and I'm always a little surprised when I hear so many kids Sweet Pea's age described as writing reluctant. How can you really know if you like writing or not when the process is still so new?

I expect 10-20 sentences a day. It's usually a combination of writing across history and science and doing a writing assignment I've made or or from Maxwell's Primary Lessons.

I know it's more then a lot of homeschooled kids in 1st do- but is it enough?

I guess we'll see.

Question, answered

"Will you teach your son differently (different methodology, different subject matter?) from the girls?"

This is a really good question and probably something that anyone who reads my blog and doesn't know me wonders. Perhaps even some people who know our family still wonder this.

I know that in some conservative Christian circles there is a big divide between boys and girls educationally. Girls are taught to be keepers of the home and how to manage a household and children and boys are taught things that they will need to get into college or a trade. Is that how we're going to do it?

First, there is a certain amount of difference in the instruction of any child from another. Different children have different learning styles and that's one of the quoted benefits of homeschooling. I know that Sweet Pea and Little Bird are different- I often say that they are night and day and it's pretty accurate. I suspect that Little Bird will do things on a different time table then her older sister and I support that. When little Moose is of an age to be doing book work (and may it not come too soon) I am sure that he will learn differently, as well.

However, the small differences (comparatively) in learning styles does not mean that the material covered will be different. I expect my children to have a certain facility with the written word, good sense with numbers, enough logic to understand information as opposed to merely knowing it, and practical skills around the home.

Academically, I want all of my kids to go as far as their unique potential will take them. This will play out differently for each child and isn't something that I can pin down now, with their ages. I feel it would be presumptuous to talk that far in the future.

Around the home I know that all of my children, regardless of gender, need to know how to cook, clean, and maintain. It's important in case they don't get married right away, or in case they are the one in the marriage with those skills. Boys need to be able to make food other then microwave dinners, and girls need to be able to unplug drains.

This doesn't mean I'm expecting or advocating totally shucking gender roles. I like being a mother, and I will be happy if my girls are fulfilled as mothers. I'd like it if my son was a respectful gentleman and I want a passel of grandchildren. It just won't be at the expense of my girls doing calculus or my boy washing dishes.

Supervision

I thought I'd weigh in since it's going around the internet. Sweet Pea needs pretty close supervision for most of her school. It's not that she isn't capable of the work, it's that without being attended she gets distracted or dawdles, or doodles, or repeatedly falls out of her chair.

Some things she does well by herself- reading being high on that list. She now reads most of her history lessons to herself and does the corresponding activities for the lessons by herself. I check in with her later and she narrates the story back. She does most of her math solo as well, now that I think about it.

I do think teaching time management and independent work ethics are really important. We're just not there yet.

Grade level

This is something I see going around right now, so I'm trying to organize my thoughts.

Right now I have Sweet Pea in her age grade- she is 6 years old and in the first grade.

I spent a lot of time last summer panicking about what level of work to give her because she was ahead of most Kindergarten programs I had access to. I never considered bumping up her grade, though.

This year she is doing a mix of work. Some of the things we are doing are not tied to a specific grade- history, science, and French are definitely in this category. The programs we are using are meant for general early elementary and are being successfully used by 1st graders and 3rd graders and even some older kids. I think that Bible and Catechism are hard to level, as well- it's mostly learning material (or gaining familiarity) and I don't see grade levels listed for the books we are using. For math we are wrapping up the "standard" 1st grade work and will soon be moving on to "advanced 1st grade/ 2nd grade" work. Our Language Arts program is all 2nd grade materials.

Even with how across the board Sweet Pea is, I consider her 1st grade. I think when most (non-related) people ask small children what grade they are in they are mostly interested in age. It really isn't meaningful to tell people that she is doing certain levels or work and turns people off more then it interests them.

Of course, there are kids who seem to really thrive from not only working at an accelerated pace but also being grade accelerated- I can't speak about those situations because I have no experience there.

For now... we're doing first grade.

Religion and mythology

This probably fits best under the, "Ask a religious homeschooler" heading. I've talked to people both online and face to face about this, so it seems to be a pretty common concern.

I'm referring to the concerns about teaching ancient history, with all the varied gods and goddesses. I have to say that it never occurred to me to be concerned with talking about ancient beliefs and mythology- I felt quite chagrined when I first heard the concerns voiced. Once I got over my mommy guilt, however, I felt pretty good about extensively covering ancients with my small children.

First, we read a lot here. I think reading to small children is very important, and I think that's something I can say pretty safely and without any controversy. One of the things my children have been read from early on is fairy tales and fables. Is there really that big of a difference between reading about a lion and a mouse working together to remove a thorn then talking about Gilgamesh and Enkidu? Why would one be more faith damaging then the other?

I also looked at a basic premise of classical education- that this certain type of pedagogy has produced some of the most flexible and brilliant minds in western history. Church fathers were well versed in the classics and the mythology behind them- and if the faith of Martin Luther and Augustine remained strong it seemed likely that it would be possible to expose my children to the same enduring works and ideas with similar results.

I think that children have a great capacity to understand the differences in their world. We pretend to fly or be animals around here and I've never seen an indication that my children believe they are actually flying cats. Perhaps they wish they were, but they know that they are children. I think talking about other people's beliefs is a wonderful way to frame our own. I'm confident enough in the apologetics of my faith that I think open discussion can only strengthen our family beliefs.

So I embrace talking about other religions and cultures in our homeschooling. I think there are real benefits in producing culturally literate, articulate citizens.

Daily Report, cute book, and grass is greener syndrome

First things first, our daily reporting.

We're talking about the first sin this week. Both Sweet Pea and Little Bird seem to have a good grasp of the basic events of the story. I'm interested to see the pictures they come up with tomorrow!We finished through the 6th Commandment so far. Sweet Pea is doing a great job.French is also going really well- we are incorporating more and more French throughout the day.
We finished Unit One in Rod and Staff English today! Sweet Pea made a super cute book yesterday and we discussed the end of chapter poetry selection. I am including the book in it's entirety because I think it's really, really cute.


This page says, "I write in school."

This is her science page. It says, "I do science". There is an "e" on the end, I just cut it off taking the pics. Sorry, Sweet Pea!


This page reads, "I make books."


I cut the "h" off the end of math, as well as the period. They are there, though.


This last page reads, "The end. Au revoir."


After English was math- something that I am completely thrilled with both what we are using and how well Sweet Pea is doing. She is almost finished with Math Mammoth Addition 1, making great progress through MM Subtraction 1, and making huge leaps through Primary Mathematics. She's really getting more at ease with her math facts. Yay, Sweet Pea!


After that we read SOTW Ch. 8- the Assyrians. It was interesting to compare the Assyrian king with last week's king (Hammurabi) and then talk about infighting and conquering.


And now, for my case of Grass is Greeneritis. It's serious, folks. I don't know why, but LA continues to be an area of discontent and angst for me. I feel so good about most of what we are doing in school- I feel like it's a great fit, that the kids are happy, learning well, and doing fun things. And yet I keep coming back to Language Arts and poking at it, switching around, and disliking my program choices.

We started with Writing with Ease and Spelling Workout, and those we dropped last year. I knew that they weren't our long term fits. Now we are doing Rod and Staff English 2 and Spelling 2. I feel like these are very solid programs. Sweet Pea is learning a lot. She doesn't mind either of them and does the work well.

Why can't I leave well enough alone? Lately I've been looking a lot at a program called Writing Tales and I think that I want to try it. Now the question is when? Do we finish R&S? Quit it now? Do them together?

I don't know!

May I humbly suggest something?

If you are following a specific homeschool pedagogy- please take the time to reread the philosophy periodically. Refresh yourself, re-evaluate your progress and game plan, and make sure that everything still fits for the reasons and time you are in.
I'm currently rereading the Well Trained Mind and even though I'm very familiar with the suggestions and material I always notice something new and good.
"Until a student reads without difficulty, he can't absorb the grammar of history, literature, or science; until a student writes with ease, he can't express his growing mastery of this material." This is one of my favorite quotes from the Well Trained Mind (I have the 2009 version, and this is from the opening of the Grammar Stage Language Arts section). It perfectly explains what I am looking for, and the book tells me how to get there.

It's nice to remember that, and see that we're on the right track.

Honesty, accountability, and my two cents

This isn't from just one place, but something I've seen in numerous places recently.
First issue I have is with standardized tests. I know that their mere existence is a rather hot button issue, and I'm not here to argue for or against them. Or even if they measure well or address anything important. That's another post for another day and probably one for someone more well versed in that topic then I.
My issue is with people who live in an area that requires standardized testing as part of homeschooling and who administer it in knowingly wrong ways. This includes ignoring time limits. Part of what the test measures is how children can do on that amount of questions in a given topic in that time period! Even if your child gets them all right when you give them more time, it's not fair. Extra time is allowed in certain circumstances- learning disabilites, ect. And I'm not talking about that- I'm talking about the parents who decide on their own that someone doesn't do well with being timed and to ignore the instructions.
My concern (besides the inflated scores) is that if too many people ignore and disregard the rules that people who follow the rules will be punished, too. There are enough people out there who dislike homeschooling and homeschoolers that I think we should strive to be above the board. And if lying on tests becomes a known big issue- we may lose the ability to administer them at home. We may end up with MORE regulation- and is that what anyone wants?
It's not just about you, your family, and that moment in time. It's about everyone that actions can impact.
I also have a big beef with people who lie on transcripts. If you choose to devote time on something that isn't required or doesn't count in your area- don't then lie about the subject to make it count. Counting on a transcript isn't the only reason a subject is valuable!
Why lie? And why do something that seems a whole lot like dishonesty and try to talk around it?

Why I am not a fan of Reform Mathematics

I could have titled this a lot of different things, but that's succinct and polite. Two personal goals, met!
By Reform Math I refer specifically to the idea of math instruction that came from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1989. These standards were revised in 2000. The emphasis in this new mathematical conceptual thinking and problem solving instead of the arithmetic most of us were taught in schools with algorithms for problem solving and an emphasis on memorization and solid knowledge of math facts.
Now, this doesn't sound bad yet. Conceptual thinking? Problem solving? Who doesn't want their child to think beyond just 1+1 and into the concept? Problem solving is important in all subjects! America has lagged behind other nations for a while mathematically- so maybe this is what we need! The idea of moving students past the need to always solve problems in one, regimented way sounds like a decent plan of attack on moving scores and comprehension forward.
So what's my problem? Other then being a subversive homeschooler? First- watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI It's a little long, but it works through actual examples from teacher's manuals from two of the most popular reform math programs being used by schools- Everyday Mathematics and Investigations in Numbers, Data, and Space or TERC Investigations.
Personally, I am strongly opposed to the early and frequent use of calculators in the early years of arithmetic. I am in favor of drilling until math facts are solid. I also find the new ways of solving multiplication and division featured to be cumbersome, confusing, and something that I don't care to teach my children.
I know that there are some strong proponents of the new math, and that these programs have fans who have achieved a personal level of education in the fields of education and mathematics far exceeding any claims of my own. I'm not here to besmirch the people involved in the creation of these ideas or programs- just to say that for me and my family, and a lot of other people that I've talked to about this, it's not a good fit.
I'm also interested in the long term track record of these ideas- how will kids stack up once they reach university level? How will they be in the job market, the workplace, at home with their finances?
Anyone else with any opinions about reformed math?