Imagine that a teacher brings to her class a bag of flour, a packet of yeast, a bowl of tomato sauce, and various piles of cheese, sausage, and dried herbs.
She unceremoniously dumps the food on an empty desk in the front of the room. All the ingredients are wholesome, but her students know that they are expected to eat that mess, and they aren’t looking forward to it. Can you blame them?
Now picture a different scenario.
Imagine that in the next classroom over, a teacher brings in a yummy, perfectly baked pizza. The cheese is nicely melted, the crust is crisp, the sausage is savory, and the aroma is captivating. She sets it on a cloth-covered table in the classroom, and the students grin at each other in anticipation.
If you were a child, which scenario would you prefer?
Which meal would go down more easily—the raw ingredients dumped on the table or the nicely assembled, perfectly baked pizza? Which one would be eaten up more quickly? Which one will leave you wanting more?
I bring this up because as I was working on the All About Reading Level 2 teacher’s manual today, I had a funny thought: I strive to serve up lessons to your children like a master chef serves up a perfectly baked pizza! :) (Maybe I had been working too many hours straight? Or maybe I was hungry for pizza? Or both?)
I love taking all of the vital components, arranging them in a proven, logical, research-based sequence, blending them all together with patience and care, and presenting them to your child in a palatable manner. Served in bite-sized, meaningful pieces, basic ingredients become a sensible meal, easy for your children to recognize, digest, and enjoy.
Have you ever tried using a curriculum that approaches teaching like the first scene—the one with the raw ingredients?
I know I have. Several times, I tried using history programs that contained information that my children should know, and it was like the curriculum developers dumped it all out in a huge pile. I was left to sift through and figure out how to process and teach the information. The authors probably felt as though they’d done their job simply by providing all of the raw ingredients. After all, learning is supposed to be hard, isn’t it? It’s not their fault if children don’t like to learn. Or maybe the authors assumed that I knew more about the subject than I actually did. The end result—my kids were left not wanting more.
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
“I’m full.”
“I don’t like history anyway.”
So, share! What have been your favorite programs to use—programs that serve up learning like a delicious treat?
About Marie Rippel
We like history that reads like a story …Story of the World, and A Child’s History of the World.
This is what I was going to say. We love the way history is taught through these programs.
We use Story of the World as well. We love it! It really brings history alive to where children understand it really happened.
We have used a couple of different things for history over the last couple of years, but this year we started Mystery of History Vol. II and love it; there are so many activities that we have almost filled a large 3-ring binder with projects and with pictures of what we couldn’t put in (dinner dressed as a knight in “shining” armor (tin foil). After learning about Russia, one of my kids began playing the music from The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker that evening on the guitar!
We are also using Apologia Science, Zoology 2 and have really enjoyed it! There are projects to do with each lesson that my kids just love. In addition to these new curr’s, we also started Drawn into the Heart of Reading and have been enjoying the recommended books and projects.
Opps, I’m just learning how to navigate this kind of stuff and didn’t scroll down far enough to see how to add a new comment – so sorry this one was out of place.
We like Story of the World and Apologia science too.
Not only do children love when history reads like a story, we love “historical fiction” to complete the feel of the time period in the minds of the children. We might use a text book for the appetizer, but it is the historical fiction that truly helps them to understand what it was like to live in that time period.
Guess I need to look through these history suggestions for next year.
We also use Story of the World and I love the way it reads like a story but I LOVE the hands on activities from the activity book, especially the cooking ones!
In Australia a popular program that would fall into this category is Mathletics.
Hi Natasha – are you Australian?
Have you tried Life of Fred mathematics? I am falling in love with this new (but really age old) way of teaching math concepts. And as a bonus it is just hilarious!!
That’s a neat analogy.
To be sure, some kids would love to put the pizza together for themselves… ;)
My daughter definitely fits into the “make it herself” category, but All About Spelling works well for my son, who needs a bit of guidance. (It also makes it so easy for me as his teacher!)
…and not everyone will like the same pizza.
A good chef can take the ingredients and tailor it to the individual needs of each child.
I love AAS, but do tailor it to fit. A good part of being able to do this was a thorough grounding in our own Australian phonics program – LEM Phonics. Because I know already how to teach Australian phonics, its an easy smooth transition with AAS.
But more than that, my presentation style changes for each child.
whoops! curriculum :)
Prepared and helpful:
AAS
LEM – the first book
MUS
FLL4tWTM (First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind)
Calculadder
This neatly covers the 3 R’s for us.
Nearly everything else I create from raw ingredients using the E.P.I.C. principles. Although this years science will be a pilot program from Jay Wile.
I have 4 children doing this, and two part-time.
I, as a mom, need things all organized. My brain can’t handle trying organize everything for 5 kids!
I love that All About Spelling is thorough, well organized, and easy to use! It truly is like a “nicely assembled, perfectly baked pizza!” My kids and I appreciate this! Yum!
I agree! A wonderful wholesome pizza ready to serve. My favorite part is that is uses the best ingredients and all I have to do is get it out of the freezer and present it to my kids. Now, if I could find a pizza that I was as happy to serve my family as the All About Spelling lessons that I didn’t make myself.
That’s a good analogy! And some scrumptious-looking pizza. Now I want pizza for breakfast. ;-)
Enjoying the blog!
Looks yummy.
Yum! Who doesn’t like pizza? Some days I’d take the premade but mostly the raw ingredients. I am strange like that ! I love Tapestry of Grace. We use it as our curriculum. It gives lots pieces and ideas. Love it!
We have really enjoyed All About Spelling Level 1. We also love Math-U-See and Sonlight. We have really struggled finding a science program that fits our family.
Well to start off with I LOVE All About Spelling. Math-U-See works great for us as well. We have also been using WriteShop Primary and have found it very helpful!
Thank you for making such great products!
Keep up the great work!
We also like Story of the World and Apologia Science. I like working with Saxon Math too as it is all together and very comprehensive.
Thanks For a great Blog
Hi! Thanks so much for posting this. I’m really considering your curriculum for my littles. May the Lord bless and keep you and yours.
Jen
We love AAR and AAS! It is so complete and easy for a busy homeschooling mom to use.
Amen to that! I have used AAS for my dyslexic son (he’s just about finishing up Level 2). We have just come back into schooling after a 2 month break due to home-renovations and he just picked up where we left off without any problems. He remembered things I’d forgotten! Now, that to me is the proof of a good programme! We are looking forward to Level 3 soon.
Great analogy! There is a definite difference, and I know it makes things easier for me and more enjoyable for the kids when things are already well prepared in our curriculum!
So I am guessing that All About Spelling is the lovely looking, beautiful smelling pizza which is why I would love to try it. We have been through many spelling programs and still have not found one to make things stick long term. We have found a math program that my struggling speller can do fairly well. That is Key to Algebra. I don’t know were we would be without it. Thanks so much for your blog, emails, and especially your giveaways! ; – )
All About Spelling and Singapore Math are 2 of my favorite curriculum pizzas!
We are loving Math Mammoth!!
My kids have really enjoyed a program called reading eggs, but I’m always looking for new programs. I agree the better you are able to package and present it too them, the better received it will be.
My son loves history – and especially when it reads like a story. He hates having to memorize dates, but when it comes as part of a story – he remembers the dates and more. We have enjoyed Child’s History of the World for that reason\.
Just the other day I was answering questions about All About Reading (AAR) on the Sonlight forums. I wrote this:
“Since AAR didn’t exist when [my son] Jude was struggling, I had to do a lot of research and such myself to find what he needed. Basically I pulled together my own phonemic awareness activities from a myriad of sources, such as a single chapter of this book, a 10 page pdf download for that teacher’s site, and so on. AAR pre-level 1 does what I did with Jude on my own, only AAR does it more easily, in a more organized fashion, and in a way that is more fun for the child. It is worth it alone for that fact.”
Your pile of food versus a well made pizza analogy is spot on. All About Reading IS a beautifully well made, delicious and nutritious pizza.
When I first started homeschooling 11 years ago, I would take various materials and make my own plan. Now, with 3 children, I just want it all laid out for me. That’s why I really like Heart of Dakota. She has everything laid out and I just check off boxes. In the sections where I do not use the same programs she uses, like Math and Language Arts, I just substitute programs I like.
this is a great word picture for what it’s like to use a curriculum with plans that aren’t well written :( Great post! :)
We have loved Instite for Excellence in for Writing as it breaks it down so nice for the kids so that they can write with confidence from the start and get more and more creative as it goes rather than expect them to just come up with stuff on their own from the get go. We also Tapestry of Grace for history as it can be used at all levels and integrates literature in well.
I am really enjoying IEW as well. It definitely serves things up in bite-sized pieces.
I agree there is several programs out that that seem to dump all this information but in a hard to use, hard to teach, hard to learn way. My daughter is an audio learner. So if I can find programs on audio then it is a plus. Using literature for history works great for her. Also, we love Shurly English method. It is so well planned and put together. Another great program is Phonetic Zoo and Everything Fun and Fascinating from IEW. For Art we love Artistic Pursuits. As a parent I love programs that are so well put together it is like following a well written recipe and in the end coming up with a delicious meal. Fool Proof is what I call it. I love to cook and try recipes. This post was great for me. Thank you.
A great analogy and now I want some pizza.
that is a great analogy…for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why my daughter couldn’t remember things. (why I didn’t remember much of what I learned in school). We use the Principle Approach and it gives the big picture first and then you can focus on details and put them all together. What a difference! That is why I appreciate all that you do. Thank you!
I felt that way with a curriculum I spent a whole lot of $$$ on! Lots of “raw” ingredients, but nothing to stick them together when they should have. Now I would like some pizza for breakfast!
I have struggled with reading and spelling with my oldest daughter (now age 9) we have tried a variety of curriculum over the last four years and it was not until we discovered AAS that things made since to her. As for the Pizza; I love it premade. The other “Pizzas” were premade as well but the “ingredients” did not taste good, they did not go well together and my daughter hated the “pizza”. AAS is her favorite kind of “pizza”. My younger daughter (4) is doing AAR pre leve 1 this year and the “pizza” is perfect. I am so glad that I got it right the first time this time!
We use lots of living books and biographies for history. We have also enjoyed using Mystery of History.
I like the fact that AAS shows the parent what to say. I have seen other great programs that were too much work to put together and I knew that I would never use them. What good is a great program that just sits on the shelf? Or what good is a program that takes so long for me to figure out what to do that day, that I have no time to actually teach it?
I enjoy history programs that use whole living books. I hate textbooks that give little snippets of information and are boring. My children love history and have learned a lot just from reading biographies (Or listening to me read aloud).
I’ve been hs’ing for 16 years and I’ve used a lot of good curriculum over the years, but what I’m currently using has been the most engaging for me as well as my children–Math U See, Mystery of History, Apologia Elementary Science Series and of course, All About Spelling. :)
We haven’t used much as of yet but we’ve really loved All About Reading Pre1. I love that it doesn’t take me too much time to plan a lesson and that everything we need is right at our fingertips. Hooray for fully assembled pizza! Thanks!
I agree that AAR and AAS very much fit this. I can’t even imagine trying to teach spelling without something this systematic. I was a “natural speller” and had no trouble with spelling in school, but I do remember our entire spelling education being word lists to study and then a test at the end. Reading through your AAS books, I’m fascinated to see that there are actually rules that define such things! I also like how *well* you make certain things clear. For instance, we just recently learned about one-syllable words, and whether they were open or not, and how if they were open, the vowel was usually long, but if they were closed, it was usually short. We also happen to have a phonics workbook that we’ve been going through (waiting for AAR 2!), and it presents the same idea as “a vowel at the end of a short word is long, a vowel alone in the middle of a short word is short.” Uh… wow. Your way makes it so much clearer what the rule is. I can just see a kid going, “How long is “short?” Is a four-letter word a short word? What about a five-letter word?”
We use Sonlight as our main curriculum (for history, Bible, literature, etc.), and I like that it is like a premade pizza. I think a good analogy for Sonlight is that it comes ready to cook, with a package of toppings so that you can choose which ones you want.
Hi Sarah,
“I think a good analogy for Sonlight is that it comes ready to cook, with a package of toppings so that you can choose which ones you want.” ~Sarah
That’s a good analogy for Sonlight!
I know what you mean by kids wondering what is meant by a “short word” or a “long word.” Short or long compared to what?! It’s so important to make instruction in spelling concepts crystal clear to kids, to prevent confusion or frustration.
Looks yummy!! great ideas.
Dianne P/Ohio
I agree! AAR is so easy to use, it is just like a freshly baked pizza as opposed to a bunch of raw ingredients! I was just remarking to my fellow homeschooling mothers about this the other day: I was talking about how I am struggling to get science finished everyday with my children because the curriculum takes SO much work to use. The curriculum I am using is solid. (The raw ingredients are all there and they are all wholesome.) HOWEVER, it takes SO much work to get those raw ingredients in a form that my child will like and understand that I struggle to finish that everyday. I told them that I wish I could find a science curriculum that was as easy to use as AAR was! (Seriously, that was my quote!) I told them if only Marie Rippel could just write all of my home-school materials, homeschooling would be SO much easier. I know that you probably don’t have plans to put out a science or math curriculum anytime soon—BUT I still wish everything was as easy to use as AAR. :)
No, no math or science program is in the works. Language arts is my thing. :) Funny story, though — someone recently asked me about doing a phys. ed. program — now that would be an interesting match for me! I chucked for five minutes about that one!
Hopefully someone will post a recommendation for a fully-assembled science curriculum that would be a good match for you!
This year we started using Razzle Dazzle Learning Company products for language arts and writing (creative and expository). I especially like the writing program, I didn’t learn to write until my senior year of high school when my teacher used a similar method of writing and after that I did great. She lays out very clearly what to do in each step starting with brain storming for ideas, and laying out what is expected in each paragraph, the students peer edit each others work and I also help with that. This works well with my older students, but I have a student that can’t spell for anything so I don’t have him do much writing yet. That’s how I found you! I’m looking forward to receiving my All About Spelling materials and seeing if they help the glue to stick!
We have really enjoyed the put together unit studies out there. It’s a nice break from the history spine to focus on a favorite activity or maybe use a science topic as our foundation. Sometimes we still have to put the “pizza” together but at least there are some new ingredients!
I love AAS because I was using a different spelling program that was exactly what you described. All of the great ingredients needed but not a finished product. This has saved me so much time!!! Thank you! And thank you to Sonlight for recommending AAS to their users!
I love using living books for history because it involves so many components all ready “served up” and leaves my 1st grader begging to learn more!
Love the pizza-making analogy! I’m always looking for new ways to “serve up” learning to my kids!
Sometimes children need to figure out how to build the pizza themselves. I can’t wait to see higher reading levels!
We found and LOVE TruthQuest History for history. My children love history and look forward to it everyday. We also really like and are learning so much from Math-U-See. All About Spelling and All About Reading have been huge hits at our house as well. Oh, and not that they love grammar or anything, but a program we recently found that has been great for that and really breaks it down into understandable pieces is Analytical Grammar. Loved this analogy! Really making me think.
We have enjoyed the complete package that Math U See has to offer!
I like programs that serve things up in many different ways, but in nice, bite sized chunks. Or in very organized, well thought-out, short lessons. Either way works perfectly and leaves me a happy camper. KISS Grammar is an example of the second way that I really like. And, best of all, it’s free. :) I love free resources.
AAS is great. We like Drive through History.
At this age I guess my daughter will prefer the perfectly baked pizza…i mean who won’t.. :)
But I would like her to learn…how to bake the pizza, and what ingredients go into it …eventulally.
Love your pizza analogy! I feel AAS and AAR are definitely a ready-made, Supreme pizza! When I discovered AAR I was in the process of “assembling” raw ingredients of my own for my son to learn to read. There were so many phonemic awareness resources in so many places, but I was left to piece them together on my own and was getting overwhelmed, confused and frustrated. Thank you for all your hard work in doing this for us and telling us what to say and doing it in manageable, daily bites! Your program is awesome – thank you!
If I won the gift certificate I would buy All About Spelling Level 2 for next fall. Thank you for all you do. My son is reading after trying several other approaches. He has known his sounds for a long time and could not blend until I started using All About Spelling. He is very hands on, and the tokens and letter tiles had him sounding out words immediately. Thank you!
The letter tiles are great for helping kids learn how to blend! Glad you found an approach that works for your son!
We also like the Story of the World books and use the activity book to accompany.
All About Spelling = a perfectly baked pizza. So easy to use, no tears from either of us : )
Christian Light has been my favorite. Everything is put together for you and you are there to help facilitate the learning when the child needs it.
What a great analogy! As a former teacher, and current homeschool mom, I get a great smile from this, and I appreciate this reminder! Thanks
Great food for thought! We find that Sonlight serves up history and literature like a treat.
We love (other than AAS) HOD and MUS.
We’ve found some truly great curriculums I’m thankful for. Story of the World is a great one. So is Rod & Staff’s English. It’s thorough, clear, and easy for the teacher to use. Fluenz is an easy to use, excellent Spanish program which I chose over Rosetta Stone.
So much good stuff out there!
: )
I would like to read more on your homeschool adventures! I’m interested in how you teach the other subjects. this was well written!
I love that AAS lets me know exactly (word for word), how to get through the spelling lesson…..I really don’t need a 200 page teaching manual to tell me how a program works, I need the skeleton of presenting it to the student. That’s one reason I love AAS so much. Another reason is the amount of learning I have gained in teaching my children. I appreciate knowing why a word is spelled the way it is, even in our complicated English. For so many words, I have discovered the logic behind the spelling, not just because “the teacher said so.” Thank you.
im trying to enter to win the $100 gift cert.
Hi Summer! Go here to enter this week’s giveaway: http://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/giveaway-100-gift-certificate-for-our-store/. And if you have any problems, email us at support@allaboutlearningpress.com!
AAS has helped my dyslexic ds immensely! We also love SOTW and Apologia Elementary Science.
I love Drawing With Children, and so do my children. It breaks drawing up into simple, do-able parts. The kids also love Story of the World and A Child’s History of the World.
So far my favorite’s are AAS and Math U See. Both are arranged in small logical bite sized pieces and my kids really love it. I’m also using Story of the World for History so that they can read it and enjoy instead of it being a boring experience.
I have just ordered AAR-1 and Pre-AAR. I think it’s going to be a great fit for my two younger boys. We are currently in Classical Conversations and love that program. We also really enjoy IEW’s writing program. The analogy of the pizza was a perfect word picture! Thanks for sharing!
We love Science since we started Mike Snavely’s Creation or Evolution Home Study course. It is well laid out and baked perfectly just like All About Spelling. We love rules that help us put words together. And we appreciate the way you illustrated this point.
This is why we are learning math with games and manipulatives. Learning should be fun!
My daughter and I have enjoyed All About Spelling Levels 1 & 2. It’s been very easy for me to teach, and she really knows the material. We’ve also enjoyed Horizons Math. Their lessons are laid out nicely, and my daughter will often start her work without being asked.
Makes sense to me…as i am a very visual learner… and have found that the programs that offer the multiple ways of learning to teach a subject are the best for us. My son is not visual..he is auditory…but in order for me to teach it i need something that I can also relate to.
AAS and MATH U SEE are the ones that work for us. We also use Sonlight for history and Apologia for science. Its good to mix it up and use some workbooks (GWG and WWW)…but again to make it “right” for him I read directions and teach it even IF it is suppose to be self learning.
I soooo agree that the cooked pizza is better!! we use rightstart and love it. anything that i’ve tried to use that wasn’t laid out well has been very difficult for us.
Favorite curriculums – IEW, AAS, Singapore Math, Saxon Math, Winter Promise, Apologia Science & Analytical Grammar
We like Sonlight and Math U See. Both are set up so the teaching is very easy.
AAR is the best program for reading we have tried so far, My son is finally grasping the concept.
looking forward to “serving up” spelling and reading this fall as a new homeschooling mom!
This is great thanks for everything.
Great word picture! We love Math-U-See for the same reason we love AAS – the student isn’t expected to “eat the whole pizza” in one bite!
Our favorite premade “pizzas” are Life of Fred for math and Apologia for science.
I love the way AAS breaks all the rules down in a logical way that carries over to each new level. I also love how each different age uses the same rules- easier for mom to remember!
We also like IEW- best writing curriculum I have seen! It is the most thorough program I have used- I taught writing for years in elementary classroom-and this is the winner! Math-u-see, My Father’s World for history, Answers in Genesis science are also great.
Thanks for the interesting post.
We love your products. We are also a fan of Susan Wise Bauer’s products, Michael Clay Thompson, and Stanley (life of fred)
Great analogy! We, of course, would liken AAS to this analogy. To add to this, I would also add Miquon Math. We’ve used this math program in our home school and it has been a great program for all of my kids, even though they all learn in different ways.
First of all, we just started using AAS and we love it and if actually makes spelling lessons fun!
We also love “Story of the World” for history.
Totally love this analogy. So true and one of the things I love about AAS. I switched to AAS from another program where everything was thrown together haphazardly and it was driving me crazy. My son loves spelling but his favorite curriculum is MUS.
I love your analogy, and AAS has been great since it is methodical and logical in how it progresses. We also love Math U See, Apologia Science and Sonlight as well as Story of the World.
Great analogy. It makes me hungry for pizza. Maybe we’ll have some for dinner tonight. LOL! I don’t have the program yet but am looking forward to making the purchase. It sounds awesome!
Awesome analogy! TBH, we haven’t found a complete curriculum that just rocks our world. My youngest has struggled with reading from the beginning. My dad majored in El Ed with a specialization in reading and he gave us Homerun Reading (it is now out of circulation) and my son has finally started reading! He loves baseball so that really got his attention.
I really liked this analogy! Also, the pizza pictures. Yummo! Makes me hungry for a reallly good pizza!
That looks so yummy!
http://lifehappenswithkids.com/2012/01/20/apple-bread/
We love using living books to learn rather than have lessons spoon fed to us. My kids retain so much more if they are engaged and following a story line. I love when they have to infer something from the story-that’s when the lightbulb goes off for them!
We are going to try Story of the World next year. Right now we are using Lifepacs and don’t like it.
I really like English from Bob Jones. It is easy to follow and my daughter enjoys it! It pairs nicely with the AAS. She is a fabulous speller, so sometimes AAS seems to be a bit juvenile for her, but the review is fabulous and, honestly, it really boosts her confidence. She asks daily if we get to have spelling today!! Thanks for a great product!
Some kids can easily take the ingredients and start baking…. Our kids are not made that way. We have struggled to figure out how to present things to them in a way that makes sense. Great analogy!
This fall will be our first year homeschooling! I am so excited to use your materials! I also love reading your blog posts. My oldest loves to cook has been for a long time. We started young with him and made it math and science for him!
We, or maybe I, love Story of the World for History. For spelling, we are really loving AAS. I really like the way I do Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and Funnix Math has actually been an easy, incremental program to teach 1st grade math.
That was well said :) I agree that curricula needs to be not only thorough, but easy to apply to the student using it. As a homeschooling mom, I need all the help I can get LOL
Great blog! Thanks for sharing!
I have really enjoyed the Sonlight curriculum because the kids get the history while reading fun stories. Kids love stories! What more can I ask for?
So far All About Spelling and Math Mammoth fit this description for us!
Love the analogy! Getting a beautiful plate of food, whether it be for the body or mind, is always more appetizing than the food just thrown together.
Still in the research phase to find the right curriculums so I appreciate everyone posting their “perfect pizzas”. This blog topic is perfect for those who are still looking. Thanks!
We love AAS, Math Mammoth and Funnix here!
Thanks for this blog
I love the AAS curriculum. All the ingredients for success are there & put together in just the right way make learning spelling fun!
I know what you mean about being “left to sift through and figure out how to process and teach the information.” That’s one thing I’ve enjoyed about using AAS – knowing what I’m supposed to say and do!
I have tried too many programs that leave a lot of sifting to be done! Having everything ready to go makes it so much easier to impart the knowledge to my kids.
I’ve learned so much from All About Spelling, and I’m the teacher!
Wonderful Illustration! Great Job All about Spelling!
What a great visual…never really thought of it this way. No wonder the kids sometimes seem overwhelmed when I have a curriculum that doesn’t quite flow. Looking at it from that view gives me a new perspective. Thanks for sharing!
Great point!
Great analogy for a family who makes pizza together on a regular basis! We are just starting to homeschool, and this gives me another perspective to consider when choosing curriculum.
Great analogy! I like programs that have all the ‘ingredients’ available so I don’t have to search and create!
We loved the “Drive Thru History” with Dave Stotts. Also love the new blog site. Can’t wait to explore it more.
Can’t wait for AAR level 2. My oldest never liked the tiles or the cards, but as a natural speller still excels with AAS and my younger loves moving tiles around and grudgingly read the flash cards. Using AAS1 and AAR1 together with him this year.
Very well written.
I too wish AAR 2 was ready! My oldest is flying through the lessons and loves to “read” the short stories so she is encouraged to do more. Thank you AAR!!
My children love to bake with me in the kitchen and would prefer the raw ingredients and the work of making a pizza to having the pizza already made for them. they then understand how it is made and different ways to make it special.
I love reading your blog you have wonderful information which helps me be a better teacher to my children.
thank you
I will be starting to homeschooling my oldest who is 3 right now. The All About Spelling and Reading programs appear to be the simplest way of introducing these two concepts. I am a former elementary school teacher {will be staying at home to homeschool my 3 kiddos} and this program seems superior than the typical programs that our offered in our school area.
I love the analogy and the blog!
The pizza pictures look delicious! We have used lots of stories to serve up knowledge and information in a delicious way! You can find great books on Just about any subject and that makes learning appetizing!
You know, when you post something like this, aren’t you almost required to include your favorite pizza recipe too?!! I’m hungry!
AAS has definitely been the pizza for us! A new program I’m using this year, Essentials in Writing, seems to be that way too. I love it when things are well laid out and easy to teach. Best of all I love it when my kids LEARN and RETAIN!
We purchased level 1 AAS and went back to the basics for our second grader. We were using Sequential Spelling book 1 because I ‘thought’ that because she was an excellent and advanced reader for her age, that would result in being a natural speller. After 30 spelling lists later there were tears and anger on her part. We found that SS was like having the pizza, but with no recipe or ingredients somehow. We really needed those pesky spelling rules after all – and easily understandable and easy to remember at that. Level 1 has been a breeze for her so far and probably below her level BUT … we had an a-ha moment when we hit the sound of c or k lesson. Brilliant !!! The simple concept of when to use either one, so easy to remember and it works!!!! YAY !! If we win, I’ll buy ASS level 2 and AAR pre-reader for my 3 yr old for later this year. Thank you so much for your quality products !
Why, AAS and AAR of course.
Thanks for your encouraging emails and blog posts. They are really helpful!
I definitely prefer the put-together pizza!! I end up falling flat if I don’t have some of it put together for me. I love lesson planning, but if I don’t have time to do it, then we fall behind and I end up feeling like a failure. Put together= success for this mama! We love AAS and AAR, and also love Math U See, SOTW, Apologia/ Jannie Fulbright science, and MyFather’s World. We are going to try out Heart of Dakota soon!
Next year will be our first year homeschooling, my twin girls will be in Kindergarten. We are going to use AAR and AAS as well as Grapevine Bible studies and Math Investigations. I’m pretty sure these combos will be our favorite parts of the pizza next year:)
Thanks to you!!!!
Blessings,
Now I am hungry! I love the easy to use organized layout of your products. It makes it very easy for me to use and the kids know what to expect.
okay I am hungry now….LOL.
Story of the World-has made my dd13 a huge lover of history.
I would definitely prefer the baked pizza! My kids like assembling pizzas but only if the “chef” can teach them in a fun and creative way…which is where I need help:) I can’t wait to start using this!
My daughter always wants to know when we are going to do “fun” school. In other words, she doesn’t want to do math and reading, etc. She wants to do the KONOS multi-sensory activities, which are much like the multi-sensory approach that AAS & AAR use. KONOS covers science, social studies, history, geography and many other areas, and because of the activities these are the things she retains. I would love to get the AAS program, as she struggles with spelling the most.
We love Shurley English.
Like many have mentioned, we too use Story of the World for history and intend to move to Mystery of History. We like our science to be hands-on and text-off. We like using real literature to suppor twhat we are learning in our explorations. So far, we have found two progrmas to fit our needs: Noeo Science and Nancy Larsen Science. They are both pricey but we found we can save costs by checking the literature out at the library.
I do find, though, that our very best programs are never those from any of our books or lessons. They are always the ones that stem from those “I was wondering . . .” questions or thoughts. There’s nothing better than three little monkeys and a mom all crowded around the laptop looking for an answer to a question. Oh the joys of homeschooling!
The pizza looks awesome! My kids would want to put it together themselves too!
We love Story of the World for History. I love learning the History along with the kiddos – in story form – in chronological oder. For the first time ever, I am interested in – and understand – history.
I’m new at this as have only started teaching my preschooler (although i do have college-aged daughters but I worked when they were younger so I did not formaly teach them “school”) so do not have a lot of background…. I have been using Pre-K Handwriting Without Tears and have found that it is laid out with the basic straight line letters first and then moves to more advanced curves and circles. That makes sense to me.
I love AAS of course!! I like that it teaches the rules and reasons for spelling and give LOTS of reinforcement of that rule!! My kids know why they are being “tested” on these words instead of just having a random spelling list.
I like things that are easy to use and that are straight forward in their apporach. Learning needn’t be complicated. As a matter of fact, I have adapted level 1 so that my PRE-SCHOOLER is learning spelling. He knows the rules because when we spell the spelling words with tiles, he will tell me why he has chosen “k” instead of “ck”.
I can’t say enough good things about AAS!! Can’t wait to look into All About Reading at convention!!
We are just starting on our homeschooling journey, so I am learning a ton from these comments!
We have used the Apologia science for 2 years now, with the notebooks, and LOVE it! It has made science much more meaningful for the kids.
Love this analogy. AAS has been well put together for me to use!
Our favorite new addition has been the Trail Guide to Learning. The readers are excellent and the blend of history, geography, science and literature keeps my dd engaged. So far, this is our best year yet!
I think Five in a Row and A World of Adventure by John Holt fit this idea also. My kiddos have enjoyed both these unit studies :)
Of course, I love AAS. I also would put Right Start Math into this same “perfect pizza” category. The lessons are all laid out, ready to open and go with lots of hands on activities and a multi-sensory approach to learning.
The analogy is useful for so many areas of teaching… thanks for the mental picture (and the visual too).
I will tell you about my daughter’s favorite curriculums … note … she’s a bit into workbooks for some reason. I am not a huge worksheet or workbook advocator. My teaching style greatly differs. It seems to be what she enjoys so I follow her lead. Her favorites right now are All About Spelling, Math U See Primer, Horizons K, Right Start Math Level A, and any curriculum that teaches her about God (her words). She’s also very INTO copywork for some reason too. When it comes to online programs the newest addition to our family is an amazing program that we are both impressed with called Dream Box Learning. It is a differentiated math curriculum. She would play online for hours if I would let her … I did let her play for a long time a couple times. LOL! She can work at different grade levels for different topics. She’s learned so much in 3 weeks … I am truly shocked. This is the best math online program out there in my opinion! Of course I have only tried one other. She REALLy enjoys Explode the Code online and Reading Eggs. She completed Reading Eggs and we are now looking into the next level which is included with our subscription in Beta version. I personally like Mystery of the History and Story of the World but have yet to start her through that curriculum. I want to get a bit more organized first. Thank you for the opportunity to win the giveaway. I truly appreciate it.
God bless,
Tracey M.
tlmswt2000(at)msn(dot)
The pictures on this blog are great! I keep looking at them and wondering what kind of camera/lens was used! They are beautiful! Thanks for all your hard work in this blog!
One we like right now is A Reason for Handwriting, I like the daily bite size pieces, it’s less overwhelming.
Very good analogy! My son and I love All About Spelling Level 1. We plan to continue with Level 2! Thank you for an awesome product!
I love this post! I had this problem last year with a particular curriculum I was using and was excited this year when we switched to a more scripted curriculum. It was a breath of fresh air!
I just want to say thank you! At the beginning of the year, despite a whole year spent in preschool and diligent repetition at home, my 5 yr old was still unable to sing his ABCs must less recogonize any letters, or sounds, other than those in his name. Now, only 5 months later, he has read most of the first book from the AAR program. And because of this, I see his confidence soaring- I am so excited for him! I was really concerned, and scared, at the beginning of the year- but now I am confident that he will be just fine- so thank you so much for your dedication to write this curriculum- we are a blessed family to have found your program!
Great post. We appreciate and learn best with All About Spelling, Math-U-See, Sonlight, Easy Grammar and Essentials in Writing. We just love curriculum that works best with how our daughter learns…especially since she loves to learn!
We are learning so much this year by pairing Simply Charlotte Mason bible study with Veritas online history.
Going through All about Spelling is exactly the recipe this mom needed! Looking forward to All about reading Level 2!
This sounds like a really concept to teach history. I know with a pizza you can incorperate healthy eating, math, spelling, reading, literature (story/history bout pizza), science, and many other activities).
We love AAS! I am about to wrap up Level 1 with my first grader, and really appreciate how it all flows and is easy to learn. Also we are big fans of Sonlight.
I tried 3 math curricula, and my son just hated doing math. Then I tried Critical Thinking Math (because that’s who he is) and now he asks for math time. I love when curriculum works out :)
That’s a tricky question, because while I’ve “loved” many curriculums not one have I used “straight up” – neither with homeschooling nor in the brick and mortar classroom. I have a tendency to make everything my own. Adjusting all the time…making it fit me and my students…
First of all, yummy analogy ~ I may be hungry for pizza as well! :) I am currently using AAS level 1 and 2 and we use along with Ambleside Online, which is full of rich wonderful books! :)
First of all, I would have to say I love All About Spelling and Reading. They are both great programs that I can implement with minimal prep. Above all, my kids enjoy it. For English, we have really enjoyed using Rod and Staff this year. It also has minimal prep and explains everything in a language very easy to follow. For Math, we are switching to Life of Fred. Hoping it serves up some great bite sized pieces of learning as well.
I am currently using Christian Light Education for Math and Language Arts. At first I didn’t like it so much, but now I am loving it and see wonderful results from these programs. We finished AAS 1 and 2 this year and absolutely love this program. I have children whom are both auditory, visual, and hands-on learners and this program has worked wonders for us! I am looking forward to doing AAS 3 and AAR and am hoping AAR 2 will come out in time:) My favorite curriculum for Bible, History, and Science is My Father’s World. Our family has grown so much learning about God’s Word. I love learning with my dear children!
I love this analogy, thank you! We are finishing the Sonlight P 3/4 program, but I’m definitely wanting more, as it’s purpose was to develop a love of reading. Which is alive and well in this family! I would love to look into the All About Reading Pre 1 as I think it would suit our needs. Thank you!
Lately, the Bible has been the ‘program’ the kids have drawn inspiration from. They are wrapping up their own movie version of Joseph and the Mulit-Colored Coat and want to film Moses and the Ten Commandments.
Love pizza and love AAL!
That explains why All About Spelling is so yummy! Thank you for this wonderful program!
First time reader and really enjoyed your blog! Keep up the good work!
Yummy! My son is loving AAR and we are planning to start AAS next year!
I like using Story of the World and Sonlight for the literature. We love History at our house!
I find – as a home educating mum – that *I* need the curriculum served up to me like the second example. I’m not the expert when it comes to teaching, I am the expert when it comes to my kids so I like having the choice of getting them to make the pizza themselves – but still feeling in control myself!
I am new to this blog and site, I found this through Confessions of a Homeschooler… Anyway, I plan to homeschool my daughter. I’ve been to public school, private school, homeschool, and finally ended up with a GED. I’m smart, but school always seemed to lack something for me. I couldn’t make myself pay attention, and I ended up not caring.
I love the analogy with the pizza, that’s what I want to give my daughter. I feel that as her mom it is my responsibility to be involved in her education – more than just signing her progress report.
I’m doing as much research as I can about homeschooling, and I’ll be checking out more of your blog. :) Thanks.
Thank you for the helpful blog.
That makes a lot of sense :0) I have to custom cater pizzas for 10 different tastes here in pizza night, of course it applies to homeschooling also, no two kids learn or think alike.
My son is a do it yourself-er for sure! He’d love to see that pile of ingrediants on the table and tackle them putting his pizza together. However, that’s pizza, not learning. I have found that if I have a curriculum that is put together well and has munipulatives or ways to make it “active” he learns much better. As far as history, we really like Story of the World. It is put together so perfectly, it is just like laying out a steaming pizza for me to serve to my son, and I love it! I usually give him thinking putty to manipulate while I read the chapter and then ask him questions after to make sure he understands. Its worked out great for us and I can’t wait to move to the next level.
I love Math u See and Miquon Math. We love Truthquest History, though I am not sure you would consider it a completely done pizza. It seems to be more of a pizza crust and sauce and we throw on the toppings we want :) However for Math and Phonics/Reading I prefer a good made pizza.
My oldest son likes a well-organized lesson plan to follow and my second son likes small peices at a time to put together. So I have to say they are all helpful to me.
What a great way to put it!
AAS has really helped my children excel at spelling.
We love the Beautiful feet Books and guides. It is like enjoying a full course meal in a relaxing gourmet restaurant all while learning. The portions are served just right so as to not get too full and still look forward to returning.
Very true ! I love all the comments and suggestions also !
I’m looking forward to trying some of your products! My daughter is sometimes frustrated by our current program and I’m hoping a more hands-on program will be a better fit.
My DD has had a hard time learning to read, and forget spelling! We are really enjoying All About Spelling, and just started All About Reading. So far, so good!
As a mother of many, I can attest to the fact that not all kids learn the same way. Programs that use multistory techniques are helpful, but even so each program should be tailored to the individual child’s needs. Thanks for putting together a spelling program (we’ve tried many over the years) that is easy to follow and to adapt.
We love History and Mystery of History is like a wonderful meal: Just the right combination of facts and activities, with a timeline to hang it all on. We love it and are looking forward to using Mystery of History I with our Cycle 1 Classical Conversations in the fall.
We love Apologia’s Elementary science series!
My kids love Math-U-See. They look forward to watching “Mr. Steve” teach them the next lesson. I always wish I had been taught math that way when I was in school—maybe I wouldn’t have “Math phobia” now!
One of the other things my kids really enjoy are lapbooks and there are many wonderful companies that offer them.
I am still trying to figure out the what and how for all the raw ingredients for my “pizza” to go together for each of my boys. I am liking your All About Spelling and have started it with my 4th grader but am finding that he actually needs to brush up with all the previous levels first and I was a bit overwhelmed with how much time it took to break apart all the cards – I am using them for my kindergarten and 1st grader too, so it’s worth it, but I was a bit daunted at first. I love that you use sentences to build up the student’s listening and context skills for spelling words. Thanks so much for your books!~
Oh, that’s so cute! I never thought to divide the pizza dough like that and make tiny pizzas. Thanks for holding the giveaway!
I like the pizza analogy.
We use Sonlight for our Core, and I agree its like a ready-to-bake sort of curriculum.
I have a 7th grader that is unconcerned with his spelling! He is a college level reader but only a 3rd grade speller! I don’t know how to motivate him properly.
Can’t wait to learn more from your blog!
I love Headsprout Reading Comprehension online program.
Great analogy! I’m just starting home school with my 5 year year old and I am so glad I found AAS. He actually learned to read with the AAS level 1 before there was an AAR. We are also using Five in a Row and Handwriting without Tears.
Totally understand the pizza analogy! I would have to say besides your products, we are in love with “Math U See.” It is such a great hands-on approach to math, enabling my kiddos to learn the concepts of math as well as the “facts.”
We have been using Heart of Dakota this year and LOVE it!!! Everything is planned out using a Charlotte mason style of teaching with real books. LOVE IT!
This is such a great way of putting it. We are just starting this Homeschool project and looking for curriculum like you are describing. Maybe I will get some good ideas from the comments on this post.
We have used Math U See from the beginning and love it, too! It’s wonderful. And we started Drawn into the Heart of Reading this year and are really enjoying it as well.
We also love Mystery of History, Vol. II. There are so many activities that we have almost filled a large 3-ring binder with projects and with pictures of what we couldn’t put in (dinner dressed as a knight in “shining” armor (tin foil). After learning about Russia, one of my kids began playing the music from The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker that evening on the guitar!
Apologia Science is our other love – the activities are fun and we are learning so much!
Just about everything we do is very hands-on and that’s why AAS is such a good fit for us!
i love veritas press’ Bible and History programs. :)
I am loving My Father’s World’s geography and Apologia Science.
Good point – the presentation is critical, especially for a child who may not find reading or spelling to be their favorite for whatever reason. I wish I thought that my sons would get really excited over any type of reading or spelling curriculum.
We love using Real Science 4 Kids!
Great analogy off food to education.
“of”
Sorry. Typing too fast.
We love Five in a Row and Amanda Bennett’s Download n Go unit studies. These are the things she remembers and looks back on with joy.
Marie, I GREATLY appreciate how methodical and meticulous your teacher manuals are! I was just thinking that last week when we moved onto two new lessons (in different levels) with my kids! I LOVE the fact that I am never taken by surprise. Everything is taken into account. The review is extremely thorough and introducing new concepts (phonemes etc…) is mastered BEFORE being put into use.
This is by far the best program I have ever used.
looking forward to applying your material with my boys this next year. thanks for all the time you’ve put into it!
This reminded me that I too need to be ready and prepared as I teach my kids. So many days I feel disheveled, like I just ran in the room and dumped a bunch of books on the floor and expected them to make sense of it all. I’m sure that doesn’t make them feel confident! Thanks for such great tips.
Wow! Good illustration. It is so disturbing, even for me as a teacher, to have it just thrown out there. I LOVE to have things that are neatly arranged for me with a solid curriculum. That is why we are wanting the AAS and AAR!! You guys work hard for us to have what we need and for that I am truely grateful!! We are planning to buy this for next year and I cannt wait!! :)
As others have mentioned, Story of the World is a great choice for this type of learning. Great analogy.
I like to build my own pizzas for most subjects, but spelling is not one of them. My 5th child was not a reader or speller until I started using AAS and is now making great progress. I am now going to do AAS with my 4th child who is an avid reader, but not a great speller. I tried a different spelling program with the oldest 3 and they did fine, but AAS is so much better organized.
AAS is actually my favorite program!
We try ‘text books’ but they never really work. I end up reading Story of the World. We do little ‘plays’, crafts, etc. History needs to come alive for us :)
For little ones for math, I like Inchimals combined with Critical Thinking Press math books — very very easy to digest. =)
looks yummy. I love this blog!
We’ve been using Five-in-a-Row this school year and I love it. I am learning right along with the kids!
I’m really happy that I found AAS…my 8 year old can read really well, but she can’t spell worth a flip (don’t know how that combo happened!)…it is helping her so much…and my other 3 are really enjoying learning all the letter sounds as well…I think it’s really helping my boy with verbal apraxia…oh, and we also use Apologia and TOG…so I guess we are on the premade pizza plan :)
Great analogy and a perfect way to describe AAS and AAR. I love the thoroughness of AAS and AAR and Heart of Dakota has been like that for us. I feel like Carrie Austin does the same thing with her manuals. She takes all that wonderful info and makes it into a great pizza all pretty and yummy. I can’t think of anything else like Heart of Dakota and AAS/AAR though. We are starting MUS for math and Analytical Grammar next year too. I suspect I’ll feel the same way about both of those when it’s all said and done. I tend to be drawn to the best :o) AAS/AAR and HOD are what I consider the Jaguar of homeschooling curriculum and I suspect I’m drawn to MUS and AG for the same reasons. Oh and we’ll also be starting Meaningful Composition. I suspect I’ll have the same response to it also.
This analogy make me sad….it is exactly what is currently happening to my 1st grader in school. Because of the confusing mess they are pushing on the kiddos, I am having to find resources like All about Spelling, and other curriculums to try and make sense of it all to him.
Another vote for MUS and Sonlight – love the living books! And the interactive presentation of MUS, as well as the neat way Steve explains concepts really helps too.
I would like to try All About Spelling. We have used A Reason for Spelling, but it just seems like my kiddos are not catching onto the program. Thanks!
Pizza analogies…how perfect is that?!! Thanks for sharing. Blog looks great.
Great analogy! I love cooking/baking with my sons. I never thought of it as Science or Math related until one day we were doing fractions with pizza slices!
love this analogy….very cool for me to keep in mind during my 1st year of homeschooling!!
Since I’m new to homeschooling I don’t have any good curriculums yet but what you said is worth thinking about when I’m evaluating curriculum for my soon to be kindergartner.
sounds like great stuff!
This analogy is spot on! Thanks for the reminder. I am doing a major revamp on our homeschooling next year and I will definitely keep this in mind as researching other curriculum. Of course I will be keeping AAR.
We are starting to enjoy Life of Fred, and I’m really glad I tried it as an alternative to traditional math!!
I am really considering All About Spelling and reading for our girl this next season. We currently use MFW and she really has picked up the reading, but I think she needs more. Thank you for such great resources to read through to help our decision.
My sister-in-law is bringing me Story of the World… Until I can speak for that one, a program we’ve found that works well for my 5-year-old daughter is Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons… It seems to be the “pizza” to her… She gets that she’s learning to read, but she’s not overwhelmed with the “ingredients.” =)
I would love to use AAS with my girls. I hope to win it. Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication to helping little ones learn.
We’ve loved many curriculums but the ones that we have benefited from the most are the ones that have everything all laid out for us. They get implemented more, and it leaves so much of the guessing work out for me.
Homeschooling should be enjoyable, not a guessing game.
We loved the Prairie Primer (http://welovetheprairieprimer.blogspot.com) and Portraits of American Girlhood based on the American Girl books (http://portraitsofamericangirlhood.blogspot.com)!
We have enjoyed Sonlight history and Apologia science. But our all-time favorite is just reading aloud great books we get from the library!
Yes, the Story of The World is great. However, I’ve been recently informed about “Mystery of History”. It’s a Christian based curriculum that compares history timeline to biblical times. L
I am looking forward to using this curriculum with my daughters.
We love using the Heart of Dakota curriculum. This is our third year using it, and it is so easy to follow and understand. I know that if I’ve checked off all the boxes in the lesson plans for the day, then my children have recieved a solid, and comprehensive, education. Takes ALL the guess work out of teaching. Love it!
I don’t have a program that I can discuss. I’m just beginning to research home schooling.
Love being creative when teaching. Thanks for a great post.
I have always just schooled. Whatever fit what I wanted to teach at the time was what we did. Seldom if ever did I use “books”. I am looking more towards those though with my younger two. I still want to be creative but I am finding I want more of a spine to teach from. I have just recently heard about the “all about” books. I love what I have read and would like to use them in the future.
I love the analogy! It is so amazing when you find a curriculum that is so thorough, yet simple to teach. I love AAS because it is so effective, yet so clearly laid out for us! I have found Peace Hill Press to carry curriculum laid out in a similar way. Thank you for providing such a great curriculum!
This post explains why so many of our books that we use are actual living books… We love stories and what better way to get the idea than real living books!!
I just received my AAS 1 and can’t wait to start it in July. I love how the lesson plans are so well thought out and step by step….every mother’s dream! Thank you!
This is one of the reasons we’re choosing to use AAS next year . . . thank you for the time and thought you put in to it! We’re also switching over to The Weaver Curriculum (AOP), and of of the many reasons is that it also seems well put together.
love the analogy and the ideas from everyone about history. Putting together my first year for next year and History is a definite hole right now!
We love the layout of Singapore math. It’s laid out well and seems to be a perfect fit for our family.
We love to learn this way… organically. Sometimes through a program like AAS, Mystery of History, or something else. Sometimes, we piece things together based on interest — like our current *and very long/involved* study of pirates. :)
love this idea!! thanks so much for the inspiring posts!
What a great analogy! And yes, I’ve seen my fair share of the first choice. Thank you for working so hard to make Reading/Spelling something for kids to “gobble up”!
I love this analogy of the pizzas! I can honestly say that I have been “guilty” of both types of teaching. I don’t currently use your curriculum, but I have been looking at it as a possibility for next year.
I love to play games or use real life experiences as teaching moments!
Thanks to all for the great suggestions! I am a new homeschooler and am always looking for recommendations and reviews.
It’s not a curriculum, per se, but when my oldest boys were preschoolers they LOVED when we would make bread dough and shape it into letters. If the “letters” ended up thick enough, we would bake them for dinner :). Yummy!
This is my first year homecshooling so I haven’t used too many different programs. We love AAR and AAS. THey also love to do stuff on the computer like reading eggs.
We love MUS…we are just getting started in hsing, so we haven’t used much, but are looking forward to using AAS and AAR hopefully next year.
We love Sonlight for history. They have great spines and lots of novels to hold our interest.
Many years ago we used the American Girl curriculum for our daughter and she just ate it up. She loved it and discovered Addie who depicts the period of slavery, the escaping of slaves, the underground railroad; and she could not get enough of that time period and kept wanting to learn more and more so we extended that unit an awful lot. To this day she still talks about this year of learning and her love for Addie.
We are beginning SOTW and she is liking it as well, but thinking of changing to MOH.
Thank you for this illustration, one that I am sure will stick with all of us as we are planning our lessons.
I’m definitely the 2nd scenario. I like my curriculum all planned out for me. Makes my life & my kiddos life much easier!! :-)
I need a mix of both ready and not ready depending on my strengths in each area, creativity, and my child’s desire and skill in each area. I think that’s why I can’t buy all of one curriculum for across the board.
We really love Sonlight.
I think a mix of approaches works. Show them the whole “pizza” first and then show them that they can make it all by themselves and if they take baby steps. The get the big picture up front and then can learn the smaller details later.
I have really enjoyed teaching IEW this year. They have amazing yahoo groups that are a huge support while using their curriculum. Good stuff! I also loved seeing SOTW on here, more good stuff!
Great analogy! We are enjoying Sonlight, and I’m pretty excited about trying AAR pre-level 1 as soon as we can get it. We also love Handwriting Without Tears. My child (pre-K) is a bit delayed in her fine motor/ left-right/ copying skills. HWT has done all the hard work for me and put together easy to follow, multi- sensory, gentle guide to instruct a subject that would otherwise be producing tears… or at least protests. :)