Category: Oak Meadow Curriculum
These blog posts feature lessons, guidance, and activities that come directly from Oak Meadow’s homeschooling curriculum.
The Benefit of Traditional Tales – Part One
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein Fairy tales and other traditional stories are an essential part of childhood development, which is why they have lived on for centuries as a rich oral tradition and have remained
Continue readingGuidelines for Home Teachers
Oak Meadow founders, Bonnie and Lawrence Williams, believed that the following the guidelines below could help home teachers manifest a child’s education successfully. Here are detailed homeschooling guidelines for helping in the teaching process. Clear a physical as well as psychological space: Your student should do their schoolwork in a particular spot that is well-stocked
Continue reading10 Reasons Why Oak Meadow May Be the Perfect Fit for You
What are you looking for in a home learning program? Would Oak Meadow be a good match for your family? See if any of the following points resonate with you: 1. Being actively involved in your child’s learning feels right to you. You appreciate your child as an individual and enjoy spending time with them.
Continue readingThoughts on Perfectionism
By Leslie Ann Daniels, Oak Meadow teacher My Oak Meadow colleagues and I often receive inquiries from home teachers regarding their child’s desire for perfectionism and the many frustrations that accompany this need. Working with children who display perfectionist tendencies can be quite challenging, so it is a valuable issue to address. What Is a
Continue readingHow old should my child be when starting Oak Meadow kindergarten?
In general, our kindergarten curriculum correlates developmentally with age 5 and grade 1 with age 6. Therefore, we encourage families to wait until age 5 before beginning kindergarten. However, every child’s development is unique, and so there really is no one-size-fits-all recommendation. Families following a Waldorf pedagogy often don’t start first grade until their children
Continue readingTips for Playing the Recorder
Music plays a very positive role in your child’s development, whether it is through listening to music, singing songs, or playing an instrument. In the first grade, Oak Meadow offers an introduction to the soprano recorder as a musical instrument to play, along with additional, more advanced tutelage offered up through the fourth grade. The
Continue readingThe Freedom to be Flexible
One of the most valuable benefits of homeschooling is flexibility. Flexibility to dive deeply into one topic. Flexibility to develop a passion. Flexibility to travel, to take advantage of unexpected opportunities, and just slow down and enjoy family time. Many families tell us that this flexibility is the reason they able to “live their learning”
Continue reading12 Reasons Why Handwriting Is Important
1. The brain engages differently when we write something by hand as opposed to typing it on a keyboard or by touching a screen. Studies show that writing improves memory; students retain learning better when working with new ideas through handwriting instead of typing. 2. Engaging the body in writing by hand helps make writing
Continue readingEnrolled or Independent?
Enrolled or independent? Many families who are interested in using Oak Meadow curriculum wonder whether their family’s needs would best be met through using our materials independently or enrolling in our distance learning program. This is one of the most common questions parents ask us as they seek to find the right homeschooling fit. We are happy
Continue readingFinding the Right Fit: Part II
In our first blog post on finding the right fit, we looked at homeschooling styles to fit every type of family and learner. Now we’ll look at the many ways Oak Meadow can be part of your homeschooling journey, no matter where it takes you. How does Oak Meadow curriculum fit into my family’s style
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