Amy certainly has the right ideas. I homeschool all four of my children long before it was popular. I now have my grandchildren. We use Christopherous. All young children need lots of movement to learn and this curriculum will have that. You may want to check out waldorf educators e group which is through theparentingpassageway.com There are lots of files to download for free and lots of friendly advice if you join. Konos is okay, it's better than some, but it's very mainstream and for the most part offers more of the kind of public school education, dry and brittle. Oak Meadow is pretty good it's kind of between a waldorf and a mainstream. With a waldorf education there is a lot more work involved but it's worth it. It relies on the premis of the natural way a child learns which involves a balance of movement, singing, verse recitation, handwork and sitting to write, etc. If you're unfamiliar with it, it may take some getting use to, but it's worth it. One could say the basic philosophy is: "From play, through beauty, to work -- this is the golden path for education."
Play is considered very valuable as it is the child's work so to speak. There is no tv or media allowed, but a lot of story and plaly for the young ones especially. They learn a lot about concentration through this. A basic rythum is part of the daily life of baking, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of things as a regular thing along with school time as a major part of life. For example Mondays-baking, form drawing, main lessons, Tues. flute, main lessons, etc. The curriculum works in Blocks, so Math would be say a month and movements and saying aloud the times table and verses would also be a part of that month, along with working with the season. Then Language Arts would be a month and the verses and such would change, etc. This way they really delve and become embedded in it, they live it. Everything seems to become whatever is being studied at that time. But there is still musical instrument, handwork and other things too. The seasons and festivals are a big part of the year. Learning to add, subtract, divide, etc. is learned through mental figuring as well as writing it. The beauty of language is a big part of it with quality children's literature through books as well as story telling. The child has to recall to you the stories as well. There is so much to say about it that can't be put in this. I know I wish I would've known about it long ago.
Whatever you choose be sure to plan out your lessons and yet leave room for changes as they come up. Keep lessons lively and imaginative, children thrive on this. If they start to seem lost or they become pale, stop and redirect your approach. Method and approach can mean everything.
The very best to you and yours
I hope you can find something in this that is helpful. (very tired and didn't explain all to well)
