I’m often asked what our Curriculum Choices are for this year. In short, we follow the Cambridge International Primary Curriculum for our core subjects. We then added a few other programs that suit us and the kidlets’ learning styles. We are currently in our 3rd year of using this curriculum and are very happy with it.
In addition to the Core Cambridge Primary curriculum, I also purchased the Keys to Learning Boxes for each child. I use them as reinforcement as the kidlets are all visual learners and this has helped us quite a bit to get the concepts ingrained.
“Keys to Learning focuses on basic literacy, numeracy and mathematics skills, and can be used for the consolidation of skills in the mainstream classroom – as well as for remedial work at earlier levels.”
Click on the image below to find out more about the Keys to Learning program.
Koko is currently doing the Stage 5 curriculum. These are the books he is currently working on. We use a combination of Cambridge for the core subjects and the CAPS (the South African curriculum):
English
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Activity book
Phonics in a Box Workbook. We use this book for dictionary work.
Mathematics
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Games book
Science
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Activity book
Life Skills
CAPS Workbook
Afrikaans
CAPS Workbook
Fifi is currently doing the Stage 3 curriculum. These are the books she is currently working on. We use a combination of Cambridge for the core subjects and the CAPS (the South African curriculum):
English
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Activity book
Phonics in a Box Workbook. We use this book for dictionary work.
Mathematics
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Games book
Science
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Activity book
Life Skills
CAPS Workbook
Afrikaans
CAPS Workbook
Pixie is currently doing the Stage 1 curriculum. These are the books she is currently working on. We use a combination of Cambridge for the core subjects and the CAPS (the South African curriculum):
English
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Activity book
Phonics Workbook B. She completed Workbook A last year.
Phonics in a Box Workbook.
Mathematics
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Games book
Science
Teachers Manual
Learners Book
Activity book
Life Skills
CAPS Workbook
Afrikaans
CAPS Workbook
The girls are currently using the Rainbow Reading Curriculum.
“Rainbow Reading is a graded reading series for primary schools. It provides a wealth of original stories and factual texts, which will help learners to develop the reading skills and vocabulary they need to meet the requirements of the curriculum in all learning areas. All 350 titles in the series are written by South African authors. Rainbow Reading motivates young readers to become fluent readers, because it allows them to choose stories that they want to read and to read at their own level.”
Fifi is currently using Rainbow Reading Level 3.
“The books in Level 3 can be used in any grade in the Foundation Phase, but they are best suited to seven- to nine-year-old learners in Grade 2 or Grade 3. Many of the learners will be learning English as a First Additional Language. Most children at this level have started to read and some may be reading quite well already. They should be able to recognise sight words and decode unfamiliar words.
Level 3 Rainbow Reading books are 16 pages long. The stories are based on familiar objects and actions and the characters include children typical of those in the target age group. The artwork is a very important part of each text at this level, as it supports reading and helps the emerging readers to make sense of the stories. The artwork provides cludes, which help the readers to decode and recognise words. Text is consistently placed to help learners to become confident about reading books.
There are three types of texts at this level:
Read Aloud stories (fiction) 250-400 total words
Read Alone stories (fiction) 250-400 total words
Factual (non-fiction) texts 250-400 total words
Each boxed set in Level 3 contains a comprehensive teacher’s guide, which provides valuable support for teaching reading and book skills, and includes specific support for each title, including phonics, oral skills, high-frequency words and key oral vocabulary, as well as suggested activities.”
Pixie is currently using Rainbow Reading Level 1/.
“The books in Rainbow Reading Level 1 can be used in any grade in the Foundation Phase, but they are best suited to five- and six-year-old learners in Grade R or Grade 1. Many of the learners will be learning English as a First Additional Language. Most children at this level will not be able to read by themselves in any language, and some of the children will be handling books for the first time.
Level 1 Rainbow Reading books are eight pages long. The stories are based on familiar objects and actions and the characters include children typical of those in the target age group. The artwork is very important part of each text at this level, as it supports reading and helps the emerging readers to make sense of the stories. The pictures tell the story. Text is consistently placed to help learners become confident about reading books.
There are three types of texts at this level:
Read Aloud stories (fiction) Maximum 50 words
Read Alone stories (fiction) Maximum 20 words
Factual (non-fiction) texts Maximum 20 words
Each boxed set in Level 1 contains a comprehensive teacher’s guide, which provides valuable support for teaching reading skills, and includes specific support for each title, including phonics, oral skills, high-frequency words and key oral vocabulary, as well as suggested activities.”
History is a group lesson here. We use the Story of the World curriculum and love it. We work through each chapter thoroughly and have sometimes spent a month on a chapter that may only be 2 pages long. I let the children drive this part of our lessons as they generally ask a ton of more indepth questions than I expect.
Each Friday, the kidlets do a research project, these often take up to 3 weeks to complete (depending on the work). They choose the topic and we work together to get all the information for them. They then create a poster of all they have learned. So far we have learned about the food pyramid, the importance of vitamins and kangaroos. Our next project is Fifi’s choice.
One of the first questions we get asked is, “Do your children do exams and assessments?” The easy answer is yes. I download the Annual National Assessments from the Department of Basic Education’s website. The kidlets do them and I mark them. I have these on hand should we ever need them for some reason.
“The Annual National Assessments (ANA) are standardised national assessments for languages and mathematics in the senior phase (grades 7 – 9), intermediate phase (grades 4 – 6) and in literacy and numeracy for the foundation phase (grades 1 – 3). The question papers and marking memoranda (exemplars) are supplied by the national Department of Basic Education and the schools manage the conduct of the tests as well as the marking and internal moderation.”
With regards to exams, we don’t do official exams. The kidlets are assessed as to their knowledge during each lesson, if they don’t understand the concept of the lesson, we don’t move on. That is one HUGE benefit of homeschooling. Once all the work for the year has been completed, we move onto the next grade.
I also often get asked about the legalities of homeschooling in South Africa. I am not a lawyer and don’t pretend to have the answers. My suggestion is that you visit the Pestalozzi Trust website. They have all the information available to the public.
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