Your second grade plans

[Margot]

Hi, Donna,

I'm thinking of you and your friends/family with the flooding. Good luck.

A thousand thank yous for working on 2nd grade (lucky me, just the right timing for me! We're doing 1st grade this year, so we're right in sync for 2nd grade next year!)

Question about your 2nd grade plans:

You say the full curriculum will be available summer 2008. Does that mean there will be a single volume (like the 1st grade curriculum) ? Or will it be multi-volumes?

I'm asking because I wonder if I should be gathering up the parts that are available now (ie, the 2nd grade math, the Saints/Heroes, Animal block) as my budget allows through the course of this school year.... OR should I be saving for the big volume available all together next summer?

In other words, will its form change? is there a benefit to waiting?

You know me, I like to nail down the details. LOL.

Forgive me if you've explained this elsewhere.

Good luck drying out!

And-- Congrats getting the new parts off to the printer. That must be exciting.

Warmly,
Margot in WA

[Donna]

Hi Margot,

We are very lucky - a small leak in the roof is now a big leak - but other than that we are fine. But friends have lost crops, barns, contents of basements, a year's firewood.... And others - though not people we know personally - have lost everything. What isn't in the news much though is that the dams and levees around here have been very badly damaged and stressed by the flooding. Many of the best farms are in the valleys below the dams... many of our friends don't know what to do because they don't know who to believe in terms of the safety and strength of the dams (this sounds rather familiar doesn't it...)

Anyway...

Thank you for your questions Margot - this is really very helpful because your questions will be shared by many other people.

The plan for each year's curriculum is for there to be a single volume in a 3 ring binder which contains the bulk of the year's materials plus several additional smaller publications (like Saints and Heroes and second grade math). The larger volume will have all the rest of the main lesson material in it plus lessons for handwork, crafts, music, art, movement and so on plus a general guide to all the language arts lessons (including those in the separate books) so as to help people with pulling it all together and creating a coherent flow to the year. There will also be section on (for instance) The Second Grader; an in-depth look at the second grade curriculum in its entirety; sections on parenting the second grader; teaching advice and strategies; how to adapt to faster and slower learners.... Plus planners and help with goals, schedules and other important things.

So it will be A LOT bigger than the present first grade syllabus but the format and tone will be very much the same.

You might want to save up - we will be offering some sort of a package deal so it would be better to wait and not start to buy pieces now. Our intention is to have it and the third grade curriculum ready mid spring for an early bird package of some sort. We also plan to produce a short video on our website of me leafing through the curriculums, showing you all bits from it - fun, eh?! (Hopefully this will be straightforward - if it isn't then it might have to be an audio download of me leafing through the books!!:D) It seems a pity that one can't browse like in a bookstore - so I will browse for you all and let you watch! Our hope is that in this way people will get a real feel for what we are offering.

And it will be more expensive - it will really be a year's worth - not just main lessons, but the whole kit and caboodle!

More questions always welcome!

[Margot]

That totally answered my question! Thanks. That really helped me "see" what you are envisioning...

Yup, I'll start a new line item in my budget for it, aiming for mid-Spring. ;)

Marvelous! (I feel so fortunate to know that while we are here in WA living first grade this year, that you are cookin' up 2nd grade for us!) Happy "cookin' "!

And, thank you for helping me envision, too, what people in your part of the country are experiencing. Thinking of you all.

Warmly,
Margot Worthy

[Robyn]

Thanks - I was wondering that as well. I too feel so fortunate since my son is doing first grade this year and I only just started looking into the homeschool programs for next year and it's great to know that the 2nd grade curriculum here will be ready just in time :)

[Kindred Spirit]

Ditto on the excitment Donna. We are also doing first grade and will await second grade in the spring.

You said it would cost more. Do you have an idea of how much so i can start saving up for it now, and start selling other curr. that i don't need.:D

thanks,
chris

[Paul]

Hi all,

Donna is away for the week now so I'm going to jump in and address Chris' question.

Just to be clear, the second grade curriculum won't actually be available until the Summer (2008) but our intention is by Spring to know how much it's going to cost and to be able to offer a reduced-cost pre-sale option.

I think Donna and I are going to have to get quite a bit further with our planning before we will be able to give a price. At this stage I don't want to even give a ballpark figure (I might get in trouble with Donna :) ). When she gets back we can talk about it and see if we can come up with an approximate figure.

-- Paul

[Jennye]

I am thrilled to hear of your plans. I am recently back in the homeschooling saddle, so to speak. As we have decided to pull our 1st grader from school and homeschool him. I have been using your books for a couple of weeks now and I love them. We are working through things from the beginning of the year (although at a slightly accellerated pace as he has covered almost everything in his regular school, but I want to introduce him to the Language Arts and Math Stories. We are taking the rest at the standard pace and will slow down once we leave review areas.)

Anyway, I am thrilled to hear about the upcoming availability of curricula in further grades. I love how this one is laid out.

A few suggestions or questions: How are we to handle a foreign language? Both DH and I are familiar with other languages, DH being profocient in one conversationally, but I don't know how to approach language in a Waldorf way. It would be great to have a resource for that. Will that be one of the more developed things in additional curricula?

Also, I am art impaired and am mildly anxious about the lack of art examples near the end of the curriculum. I am planning to simply have faith that with experience will come confidence, but I feel like I need even more hand-holding then the end of the year gives me. I would love some examples of chalkboard drawing as well since my spare collection of photos of others only gets updated once or twice a year in the Waldorf Room at the somewhat nearby Waldorf School!

[Donna]

Hi Jennye,

I think where foreign language is concerned, one has to make the best of what is available. If you and your husband can speak two other languages, you've got it made! In Waldorf early grades, all you want to do is add a few songs an verses to your morning routine. That really is all. By third grade you can work on vocabulary and phrases - all by imitation.

In the second and third grade curriculum I will have general guidelines and notes about foreign language.

The books will be somewhat like the present first grade syllabus - but a lot more complete. You can click on this link to find out more:
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/news.htm
You'll see that there are links there that take you to outlines of the curriculum plus info about how we work with science etc etc.

As for art, one of the reasons the new materials will be so much bigger is that there will be more art work - and in color. I will provide step by step directions for drawing and lots of guidance and help for the art-impaired!! I won't however, be doing blackboard drawings - I feel that blackboard drawing is an incredibly challenging art. I generally suggest that parents draw the day's picture with crayons or pencils (as appropriate) on a big piece of paper and hang that on the wall.

Most Waldorf schools are regularly visited by a teacher who trains the others in blackboard drawing - it is not something one can pick up easily unless one is pretty artistic in the first place (in which case one doesn't need my help!). But do have a look at the homeschooler's work section on my website - not only are there plenty of examples of children's art work, but of parental blackboard drawings as well!
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/homeschoolers_work.htm

[Unregistered]

Donna,

Are you still planning to have a curriculum block for The King of Irelands Son? If so, will it be able to be purchased individually?

[Donna]

I'm afraid that though we will indeed have a King of Ireland's Son block for second grade, what I've written will not be available to purchase separately - we really do want to have things available for each grade (such as Saints & Heroes, Animal Legends and Math for second grade and Old Testament Stories for 3rd) but it is a little awkward for the integrity of the curriculum as a whole - and the K of I's Son block is woven into the general language arts plan for the year so doesn't really stand on its own.

Our plans for 4th and 5th grade also include some publications which can be bought separately - we plan to have a Man & Animal book and an 4th grade math book available and probably Ancient Myths for 5th grade (to join Botany which is already available).

[elizamars]

Phooey! I was hoping to get my hand on that King of Ireland's Son block for this year. I already have all the other 2nd grade materials. Donna, with this new approach, are you going to make Living Language obsolete? Or will it continue to stand on its own. Just curious.

Lisa

[Donna]

Not sure what you mean, Lisa - Living Language is for those who do not wish to use our full curriculum. Those who use the full curriculum would find it redundant as, over the years, all the material in LL will be covered in the full curriculum. But there are always folks who want to mix and match and do their own thing - they will find LL very useful over the years.

So.... I'm not sure what you mean by obsolete.

[elizamars]

O.k. that clears it up a bit for me. So once the curriculum is complete, a person using the curriculum would not also need to buy Living Language. I guess one could also say that Living Language is for those who will use your curriculum as it becomes available but are muddling through for now until that happens. :) At least that is how I am using it.

Lisa

[holistic_mama]

Donna,

This may have already been answered, but I can't find the thread. For those of us who have all of your available offerings for G2/G3 (Living Language, G2 Saints & Heroes, G2 Math, G2 Animal Fables etc), will we need to just purchase the new curriculum and sell our old materials? Or will there be some sort of 'transitional' package available this first year?

Can you elaborate on which materials will *not* be included in the curriculum? For instance, I would expect that Form Drawing and Joyful Movement will always stand alone?

Kimberly~in TX

[Donna]

Everything that currently stands alone will continue to stand alone. For each year's curriculum there will be a price for the whole package and a price for parts of it in recognition that many people will already have Saints & Heroes for instance and don't need two copies of the book!

So for second grade, the whole package will be this whopping great book in a 3 ring binder - as well as Saints & Heroes, Animal Legends, Second Grade Math, Joyful Movement and Form Drawing.Those titles won't be optional - they'll be a necessary part of the full year's curriculum.

Living Language is different - it is not needed by people using the full curriculum as just about all the material in there will be covered over the years.

[Jennye]

Another question, because I have some recollection that I read it somewhere and cannot find it anywhere, Is there a preorder date coming up in a month or so? I remember reading something about preordering and then getting it when it came in whenever that was.

And, while I'm asking, I saw the new links at the News page and was curious if there was a guesstimate date on the lyre deal with Harps of Lorien. And maybe an idea of price range? We are trying to earmark a part of our tax return for curriculum and supplies and I want to have an idea of what to ask for out of the total.

[Donna]

Hi Jennye,

We're not sure yet if we will have a pre - order date or not.... what I've been saying is that the curriculum materials will be finished in May and back from the printers ready to be shipped to you all in June. It all depends on how things go in the next few weeks whether we have a pre-order deal or not... there are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up before we can make that decision - we are hoping, though, that we'll at least be able to tell people how much it costs in the April newsletter (Paul is just about to send out the March newsletter). I can say though that it will definitely cost more than our present First Grade Syllabus - it'll be somewhere between Oak Meadow and Live Ed's prices. But remember, some of the required books (such as Joyful Movement and Form Drawing) will already be owned by some people - and for others, those books are good for second and third grades!

As for Harps of Lorian, there's no deal per se. We are simply recommending their lyres and promoting their work and in return they contribute some articles to our work and promote our work. You need to go to their website to see prices or contact them. We have nothing to do with selling or carrying their or any of our other partners' things.

To see what we're referring to, visit the page on the Christopherus website about our new partnering with several companies/individuals:
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/partners.htm