Being a Robinson Curriculum (RC) home school is such a good fit for my family. We have a 10 (almost 11 now) year old, a six year old, and a three (almost 4) year old at the time of this post. There is enough of a classical backbone there to keep things simple for the planner (me) and enough space to pick other materials that you think fit your student's needs. The book list is the meat of the curriculum and I'm really on board but RC doesn't hold your hand step by step, including how to start.
It was easy to plug my oldest into the list. I picked a few early books I wanted him to have in his knowledge base (Life of George Washington, Our Hero:General Grant, Christopher Columbus, 50 Famous Stories and Four Naval Heroes), skipped a few and then started on the first Rover Boys book and moved forward in order. I've taken a slightly different tact with my first grader that I'll share today.
I started with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons towards the end of kindergarten and we finished it up the beginning of this fall. So, I tried to see if he could read The Life of George Washington (TLGW) and it was a no go. So, I moved on to the McGuffey Primer. He breezed through it. I tried to give him TLGW again, another non-starter. So we began the McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader and we're working one lesson a day with copy work currently but I want him to get in the habit of independent reading so I'm assigning him a book to read independently each day for 10 minutes. We do the same book all week and then change. But what books to use?
I just happened to have picked up a set of vintage children's books from TJ Maxx (I'll link them on Amazon at the end) over the summer. These sweet stories are just the right length and they have beautiful illustrations and the language used isn't overly simple and modern like many of today's children's books so I think it's a better prep for the RC list.
The first day of the week I have him read his 10 minutes aloud so I can help with any sticky words. If he doesn't finish the book he just book marks it for the next day. I have him read the book in it's entirety the last day of the week to see if he's mastered it. Some of the books are easier than others but he only has to use them for 10 minutes so nothing too frustrating. He's cruising nicely through the McGuffey Reader lessons so when we are through this set of books I'll try TLGW again but what to do if he still either can't read it or doesn't like it? I think I'll just leapfrog to the next book, Tale of Jolly Robin, and continue the 10 minutes a day. If he's into it I'll let him read as long as he wants, of course.
I love how little pressure RC puts on young kids and allows me to fill in with what I think is best for my student. At this stage I feel a bit like a bridge builder to the RC book list and I'm enjoying it. I find my children using phrases like "I feel weary" and "it's quite good" and I smile knowing their reading list is coming through in their speech.
Bridge Books We Use:
Early Spelling & Writing:
Free Resources for Early Reading & Writing:
Comments