This giveaway has ended. The winner will be announced on the weekend!
Welcome to Back to School week here at Simple Homeschool! This week I’m bringing you reviews and awesome chances to win–perfect for back to school planning time.
I’m glad you’re visiting again today because I’m sharing one of my favorite homeschooling resources. I’m giving away a curriculum package from Oak Meadow.
I first discovered Oak Meadow about a year ago, and I’ve had the chance to write about their kindergarten and 1st grade programs before. They offer complete curriculum packages from PreK through 12th Grade, which you can purchase and use at home with your children.
They also offer an enrollment option in their accredited distance learning school. This allows students to receive full academic credit and transcripts for their work at home–as well as the support of an experienced teacher.
Find out more about Oak Meadow and how you can win.
For this review, Oak Meadow sent me their 2nd grade program (pictured above). The package includes the 36 week syllabus, Clay Fun, First Book of Nature Crafts, Intermediate Recorder, Animal Stories, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, Just So Stories, and a book of fables. It also includes two early readers for children: Ben and Meg and Animal Friends.
The bulk of the material is contained in the 36 week syllabus. Each week’s plan provides instructions for all subjects: circle time, language arts, math, social studies, science, art, music, and crafts. I appreciate that all subjects are in this one book – no need to shuffle back and forth between multiple curricula throughout the day!
My favorite aspect of the Oak Meadow curriculum is the use of stories throughout most subjects. My kids have been riveted by the nature stories and fairy tales we’ve read in previous grades. I love that even basic math concepts are presented through stories, which really appeal to the imagination of children this age.
The danger of any curriculum, I find, is that it can make a homeschooling parent feel overwhelmed. If not every assignment is completed, we can get insecure and start to worry, even though we know our children are learning all the time.
But I think what has made Oak Meadow work for my family is that the spirit of the curriculum really falls in line with the way in which a child develops. Because of this, I’ve had success in using and adapting it to best suit our family’s needs.
Consider this quote, regarding learning the times tables, from the introduction to the 2nd grade materials:
“Of course, if your child is not able to grasp the tables yet, don’t push them. If you become like a drill sergeant in your teaching, you are not helping your child and you are missing many of the advantages of home teaching.
The times when you and your child are learning new things together should be full of joy, not drudgery. If learning becomes drudgery, stop and look at what you are doing and ask yourself why you are doing it. Forget about teaching for a few days or weeks and just enjoy being with your child.”
See what I mean? I agree wholeheartedly–successful homeschooling always goes back to the quality of our relationships.
Oak Meadow also offers a helpful consulting service to homeschooling families using their curriculum. You can speak directly to one of their teachers, who are all familiar with the specifics of the curriculum as well as the unique dynamics of homeschooling.
Oak Meadow includes high academic standards in their programs, but they deliver assignments with imagination and creativity. This helps to develop the whole child–head, heart, and hands.
One Simple Homeschool reader will receive a curriculum package in the grade of your choice (grades K-8) from Oak Meadow!
How to Win
Everyone has two chances to win. Here’s how:
1. Comment on this post, answering this question: Do you prefer a thorough curriculum that lays everything out for you or one that gives you a lot of room to improvise? (If you are reading this in an email, you must click over to enter your comment!)
2. ‘Like’ Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on Facebook. Then — this is important — you need to come back and leave an additional comment here, telling me you have done so.
This giveaway has ended. The winner will be announced on the weekend!
I am doing some preschool homeschooling with my girls and I like curriculum with room to improvise because they are so young and I like to go with what they are interested in at that moment/day.
Yay!! I love OM!!! This would be wonderful to win! I have two boys and I’m just starting kinder with my 5 year old this year!!! Thanks!
I like Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on FB. Thanks for this opportunity!
I think I got it all…I left a comment answering the quetion under the post(not sure if thats what you meant)…already liked your pages weeks ago and liked Oak Meadows page……..and now leaving this comment letting you know I completed the steps…..
Do you prefer a thorough curriculum that lays everything out for you or one that gives you a lot of room to improvise?
I like improvising with just about anything I use. If I see a ‘script’ to read from, I almost always change it!
My kids are well-rounded and I will continue using this method. It’s me!
Thank you!
Kelly
P.S. I already “liked” you on FB, that is how I found this post. And have now “liked” Oak Meadow on there, too.
I like curriculum that lays it all out for you… so that I can improvise when I want to and follow along when I want to.
🙂
I think the idea of having a thorough curriculum is excellent. It makes life much easier for me. I would love to win this giveaway!
I ‘Like’ Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on Facebook.
:)))
I Like Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on Facebook.
I am a fan of both pages on Facebook.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Well, this is going to be our first year homeschooling so I can’t say what I prefer yet but I am doing a bit of both. We are using a planned out curriculum for most of our subjects with a little improvising. We’ll see how it goes!
I need room to breath. Guess it says a lot about my personality that I don’t like to be tried to tight. 🙂
I like Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on FB!
I like the idea of having a curriculum that lets you be a little more flexible. It’s nice to have a path to follow but great when you can adapt it to make it your own.
I prefer a curriculum as a guideline, but where I can improvise/substitute/supplement on my own. Oak Meadow is on my wish list for 1st grade curriculum for the coming school year!
I like both simple homeschool and oak meadow on FB!
This looks like a wonderful curriculum. I like that it gives the parent-teacher room to improvise, which is my favorite kind of instructional technique.
I prefer something that’s laid out for me in some subjects (math, grammar, spelling) but in other areas I like room to improvise. (arts, reading, history). Fantastic giveaway!!
I like the complete package, otherwise I will spend TOO much time trying to search, plan and worry. You can still improvise with the full thing!! 🙂
i do prefer choosing a curriculum that has everything set up for me already. it takes a lot of pressure of planning. thanks for the chance!
I am now a FB friend of both Simply Homeschool and Oak Meadow. Thanks!
I like a little both. For subjects like math and science, I prefer a strict, already laid out curriculum. However, with literature, art and history I prefer wiggle room. I think its because I’m very comfortable with the three latter subjects while I was never strong in math and science.
Like Oak Meadow and Simple Homeschool on FB
Thanks 🙂
I ‘like’ Simple Homeschool and Oak Meadow on facebook.
To answer your question: room to improvise is a must. I looked at the samples on the site and was impressed at the way the lessons were laid out. This is a great giveaway.