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preface
When I first began teaching in a public school in 2000, I was asked to be on a curriculum committee, of which, I declined. But curriculum would find me. It wasn’t long until I left teaching for motherhood, and it wasn’t long until I began to teach again, but this time in homeschool with my own children. Public school was giving my children not enough of the right things and too much of the wrong things: like swearing. Private school was just too expensive. And so, our homeschooling journey began, and like many of you, it started with curriculum. My first thought was simply, we need curriculum. So, I bought two grade-level kits that our private school had used. It was not possible to teach two grade-level kits at the same time, plus the busy-work was boring. My second thought was, we need curriculum that teaches multiple grades at the same time. The following year, I started teaching history together using a storybook. The children loved it. The curriculum guide I referenced, taught me to organize our studies around history, however its booklists suggested much more than I could afford. My third thought was, we need curriculum that is affordable. It was after this, that I stumbled upon, an oldfashionededucation.com. I began referring to their booklists for some of our choices in curriculum.
These old-fashioned books are rich in language, aren’t dumbed down, and aren’t filled with political propaganda. Best of all, the old textbooks, used in the United States in the 19th century, aren’t just affordable, they are free. I started organizing a family together program of study around two cycles of history, but we needed more lesson details for our program of study - one that used living methods, not just a reading schedule. I began to use methods that brought life to our studies such as a wide variety of subjects,[1] living books, narration, and recitation for a peaceful morning schedule with free afternoons. We now had our formula. I began to write my own lesson plans. When oldfashionededucation.com was discontinued[2], I wanted to preserve this wonderful resource and, also, thought others might need this too - a family together program of study that takes 3 lessons per day and uses free books and living methods. So, I began to share our curriculum at oldfashionededucation.org. The response from other moms was evident that there is a need. It doesn’t matter what your income is, a liberal arts education is available to all - schools, afterschool, and, especially, homeschool. [1] Liberal arts refers to many subjects combined with living methods. [2] Miss Maggie is the originator; This discontinued domain and OFE grade-level reading schedules have since been maintained by a Miss Mary. Introduction
My prayer is that every child in America receives an education with a solid foundation, the Bible, which leads to eternal life. Educational reform has been happening in our country, with two movements, Charlotte Mason and Classical, both of which were birthed, not in colleges, but in the homes of America, by mothers, with much success! After leaving teaching for motherhood, I began our homeschool in 2011. I learned about the classical method from Susan Wise Bauer [1], the Charlotte Mason method from Karen Andreola [2], how to make a family together schedule from Sonya Shafer [3], and how to make it affordable from Miss Maggie [4], all to whom I thank. Without the Bible, methods are empty because they do not provide the foundation of truth, so together, with prayer, and sound methods [5], I present our family together program of study here at Old Fashioned Education .org [6], a free online K-12 curriculum for Christians. Overview Old Fashioned Education utilizes old textbooks, those written in the late 1800 to early 1900's. They have the advantage of (1) not being dumbed down, (2) not being filled with political propaganda, and (3) being in the FREE domain. Our family together program of study includes three lessons per day. Prep Level Preschool is a 30-minute course covering the subjects of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, plus Storytime, Playtime, Habits, and Enrichments. It uses many living books available for free online or at your local library. 1 lesson per day (3 times per week). Kindergarten is a 60-minute course covering the subjects of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, plus Morning Time, Bible, Science, Social Studies, and Enrichments. It uses many living books available for free online or at your local library. 1 lesson per day (4 times per week). Program 1 Christian Study is a 30-minute family together course for grades 1-12 covering the subjects of Bible, History, Geography, Biography around the Timeline. It uses many living books and old-fashioned textbooks available for free online. 1 lesson daily. Program 2 Enrichment Study is a 60-minute family together course for grades 1-12 covering the subjects of Art, Music, Literature around the Timeline, plus Habits, Handicrafts, Foreign Languages, Poetry, Nature Study, and more! It uses many living books available free online. 1 lesson daily. Program 3 Individual Study is a 60+minute grade-level skill course for grades 1-12 covering Math, Science, Language Arts, plus for older students, Latin, Logic, and Rhetoric. It uses many living books and textbooks available free online. 1 lesson daily. Our Curriculum Do 1 lesson per program per day for a full curriculum (except Prep Level, which uses only one lesson plan book). Each program offers three resources:
Teacher Guide The Teacher Guide is a spiral-bound handbook that includes lesson plans, worksheets, tests, and answer key and is made affordable via commercial printing. You can read this Parent's Review to hear about our Teacher Guides. If you prefer to make your own lesson plans, you can use the free Student Weekly Assignment Printable. Our Booklists & Key Easily access books using our FREE booklists. At the beginning of each booklist, you will see this key: Key: *Free online ❶ Our Pick! ❷ Christianbook."
Our Method Most lessons follow a read-talk-write-recite pattern.
When we start by opening a good book, we can enjoy learning together and are sure to instill a love of learning in our children. "To introduce children to literature is to install them in a very rich and glorious kingdom, to bring a continual holiday to their doors, to lay before them a feast exquisitely served. But they must learn to know literature by being familiar with it from the very first. A child’s intercourse must always be with good books, the best that we can find." - Charlotte Mason, vol. 6 pg. 51 Assessment Because our focus is learning through living books, not testing, we test only once per term in our Teaching Guides, but you are welcome to create your own testing schedule. We follow a 3-term schedule.
Public Domain We use many free old-fashioned books that are in public domain found at Project Gutenberg, Online Books Page, Internet Archive, Baldwin Project and Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The resources found at these sites are all copyright free, so you can read online or print as desired. License Agreement Before you begin Old Fashioned Education's FREE online K-12 curriculum, please read our license agreement. Next: Read the license. |