Anybody using Oak Meadow's program???

[grahamsmom98]

I was looking through the latest issue of Mothering, and saw the ad for this hs course.

It looks interesting, and doesn't appear to be religious-based (nothing wrong with religious-based programs! We just prefer non-faith-based education).

My only concern is their age-vs-curriculum.

Our son is 5+ years old, and is doing easy level reading already. The curriculum they have for 1st grade has the child learning the lower-case letters and really basic stuff (some of the things our son has know since pre-3 years of age!).

Anyway, anybody have any experience with this program?

Leslie

[amanecer]

We used Oak meadow First grade on our then five year old daughter. She wasnt reading when we began the school year, but knew all the letters, and could identify certain three letter words and such.
Since I believed in more of a cretivity built kindergarden it worked for us perfectly in the language aspect of it. One of the main problems we had was the lack of obvious seasons in South Florida where we live, and OM is completely based on the rythms of the seasons, so with that science went out the window. And Math was not in my opinion too organised, and very weak.

By the second half of the year she was reading on her own, not because of OM, and the whole curriculum bored her. We had to supplement almost all of it.
I think OM is perfect for children that need to go at a slower pace, but if you have a child that needs more challenges OM is not gonna do it.

[grahamsmom98]

Thanks, so much!!!

It really helps to hear from somebody that has btdt (especially with a child of the same age!). Our son DOES like learning challenges (one of the joys of having a bright child, it makes the learning experience for ALL of us fun!).

We do live in an area with four true seasons (NE Washington state). Right now, we have 2' of snow in our yard and at the beginning of the week, it was -22 degrees!! OM would be good for THAT reason, but it sounds, as you say, weak for others. I don't need a program that places that much reliance on weather! As for Nature, dh works as a fish biologist for the federal government, and we live on 20 acres in the country. Nature and the lives of the Seasons are around us 24/7.

I think we'll stick with our original plan of William Bennett's "K12" program. It costs more ($ is not a worry), and this is one case where it will be worth every penny. This program allows you tailor-suit your child's learning to their ability. Say your child is doing first grade reading but has third grade math skills. You can order the curriculum that way. I think it will be terrific.

Again, THANK YOU!!!

Leslie

[applejuice]

I used OM in 1985-87 for my DD for 2nd and third grade.

I found the curriculum weak and the office personnel hostile and rude.

I was told that I needed to use their curriculum and pay for all of the books that were for THAT grade level. If I did not like it, I was told to find another group or school.

I also found their local umbrella very inadequate for my needs.

I ended up hiring a tutor for my DD since she needed special help. She was in third grade and still not reading.

So I went elsewhere....

So you should know. ...

I found their prices higher than other umbrella schools or curricula.

[MamaMonica]

My sister used OM without the umbrella school and liked it because it was so flexible and relaxed- she supplemented with her own stuff, but went through the whole second grade quickly and has moved on to a more academic curriculum.

[mama-aya]

We're using OM right now, Kindergarten curiculum, which is great for my son 3-4 this school year, and his friend 4. The seasons stuff works well with our locale (central WA). Next year I think we'll try Live Education or some other Waldorf-based program, mostly just to see how other philosophically similar curriculums are. That said, I love OM, the sweetness and simplicity of the curriculum is lovely, and makes it easy to supplement. But then, supplementing doesn't bother me at all. And I think the slowness of the program is an important aspect- DS is very bright, knows all his letters and numbers and such, without me ever trying to teach them, but going back and slowly incorporating each letter and numeral into his mind and heart has been rewarding and inspirational for both of us. Still, he's not quite 4 right now- so who knows?