Sequence of Knowledge
Science, Health, Safety & PE, Music and Art
There is no particular sequence to follow in science. The best sequence to follow is to go with the flow. Decide that you are going to learn about whatever interests your child. This type of learning is exciting. It uses a lot of hands on work.
Some things to do: Ask your child(ren) what they are interested in find out about. Insects, Earth, disasters, space, forces and so on. The list is unlimited. You can never run out of things to learn about in science. You can buy or order some great science kits that will keep you occupied for hours. Most include a helpful book or guide to use for your lessons. Find scripture to go along with what you are learning and read a scripture before you begin the lesson. You can also find some great units. Order a science catalog and take a look. Let your children look too. Go to the library and find books and videos. Watch out for evolutionary ideas. I choose to teach my children from a Christian view. I want them to be informed. Our schools teach evolution as a fact, not theory. We need to make sure that children know that evolution is only a theory, and that creationism has been proven. Creation Science (can be ordered from one of the catalogs) is well written from a scientist who came to understand that evolution is not proven and will explain it all in great detail.
The options are endless here again.
Health: You want to emphasize personal hygiene, exercise, good habits in taking care of our bodies. Teach that our body is God's temple and we have to keep it clean and not damage it. As parents we need to set the example by not smoking or drinking, as well as eating healthy and keeping clean. Schools fail to teach health and safety properly because the home is where it begins. As parents, we know what is important for our children to learn. We control what our children learn in sex education. The schools don't teach abstinence then wonder why the pregnancy rate is so high. When a 14 year old boy got his 12 year old girl friend pregnant, he had taken sex education in school. They were shown videos, knew she could get pregnant, but it did not stop them, but rather was encouragement to engage in this type of activities, as these young people saw it. It is important to address this issue with your children. There are some great books to help you get started if the subject makes you nervous. As they approach the age of no longer being a child, it is a very good idea to talk with your child. A great book I read with my son when he was ten is by Dr. Dobson called Preparing for Adolescence. My eight year old listened in on some of this. It is great for the ages of ten up into the teen years. But I recommend you start around the age of ten. This gets them before they really start to go through puberty (for most anyway). We read through this book and I answered any questions that were raised by my son. It made me feel more comfortable, and more confident that my son has the information he needs to make the right choice. For younger children you might want to look into the Learning about sex for 3-5 yr. olds (#1), 6-8 yr (#2) olds, 8-11(#3) yr olds, 11-14(#4) yr. old, and 14 on up(#5).
Safety: Teach about preventing accidents. Outside , in and around the home, in the car (wearing seatbelts, keeping doors locked, etc) and what to do in case of an accident (call 911, perform CPR, etc).
Take a CPR class at your post Red Cross or local Red Cross. You can order a kit from Timberdoodle for teaching CPR for your family. Keep a first aid kit in the house, car and in back packs. If you are an outdoors type family like ours, have each child keep a first aid kit in their packs as well as A survival guide like The Outdoor Survival handbook, Outdoor Survival Skills and Wilderness Survival if they are old enough, or at least one for the entire family to have on hand. Or if you can find a used book on out door skills, boys sports and hobbies handbook, these are also very helpful. I found a great book for a quarter at the thrift store called American Boy's Treasury of Sports, Hobbies & Games by Stanley Pashco, published by Grosset & Dunlap (New York). The book is packed full of games, skills and ideas.
Physical Education: If your children enjoy sports, P.E. will not be a problems for you. Inquire at the the local Y. Many of them offer programs just for homeschoolers in gym, swimming and others. At a military post, some offer a day for homeschoolers, or check into swimming lessons at the local indoor swimming pool. Winter time is less crowded and your child will get more one on one attention. One book that you might want to invest in is called We Win. It is for the entire family, teaches sport skills and body development.
A highly overlooked part of education!
Music and Art are very important in our culture. Unfortunately, those who seem to rule the arts are not truely that talented. Music and Art no longer are highly regarded. Anyone who can splatter paint or yell out some so called music can be called an artist. Christians need to emphasize art. The greatest artist above all is God. He created this beautiful Earth. Our lessons should come from his creations. Our society desperately seeks out guidance in the arts. We need new young talent to stand up for what is right and lead us in new directions.
Art: We should allow our children to only see the greatest works of arts by humans like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Seeing these works of art and learning about them allows us to appreciate their art. We become more interested and want to learn more. Learn to see lines in these great works and where the artist wants us to look. E.D. Hirsch is helpful in his books (as mentioned in my recommendations) in pointing out lines as well as other interesting things in paintings and structure. We can learn from the best and then try to create our own from what we have learned. Allow your child to explore the different ways to create. Use paints (water color, oil, acrylic, etc), charcoal, colored pencils, chalk and crayons. Paints can be expensive, but keep a watchful eye, and just maybe you'll find a great deal. Recently, while shopping I found the clearance section and there were oil, water color and acrylic paints. I bought up the main colors. The paper your child uses is also important. It may cost a little more for some good painting paper, but will save a lot of frustration for you and your child. There are terrific books available for children on great works, art, drawing, color. The internet and the library are also great resources.
Music: Listen to the greats. Explore classical, jazz, spiritual, patriotic and others. Sing, learn to play an instrument (keep it simple at first and if a greater interest develops, invest in something better). Learn about dances. If you have a child who is interested, let them try dancing. My youngest son is terribly interested in tap dancing. He watched Singing in the Rain and gained interest. If they become interested, help them develop it. Enroll them in a class. There are also many homeschool bands and choirs. Some schools will even allow your child to be enrolled for a class. Learn about reading music, scales, instruments and allow them to make their own music.
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