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A list of core subjects to learn about

post #1 of 7
Thread Starter 
I'd like to come up with a basic list of core subjects to learn about. I have a 7yo and almost 5yo. Can you help me flesh this out? Thanks!

Reading
Writing
Math
Science
History
Geography
Foreign Language
Art
Music
Drama
Physical Education
post #2 of 7
There are a lot of ways to look at that. What kind of education focus are you looking for? Are you asking to narrow down or add to that list? Have you read any of the Core Knowledge series? They are a great start for your basics overview.

There is so much overlap that it's hard for me, sometimes, to consider subjects as separate.
post #3 of 7
Thread Starter 
Thanks for responding! Yeah, the overlap makes it hard to separate out the subjects as well. What I'm trying to do is to make sure we cover reading, writing, and math for sure. And then try and touch on other various subjects by incorporating them into those areas. I also want to see what my girls are interested in learning about. But I want to let them know about all of the various subjects out there (in a simple way at first) so they can see what their options are for things to learn about.

I know I could get far more detailed in this list - I mean, there is so much to learn about! I could go into biology, astronomy, geology, religion, computers, etc. You name it. But we don't need to delve into EVERYTHING deeply - we can "touch" on various things. I would just like to have a list of things to present to the kids as "things they can learn about", if they are interested.

Does that make sense?
post #4 of 7
I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for but here are my thoughts:

For us, I think we're going to stick to "reading, writing, arithmetic," for the elementary years, too. I plan on working in history through reading Bible stories, the Little House on the Prairie series--essentially first-hand accounts of what it was like to be in that time period. For science, we will grow a garden, go on nature walks, get field guides, and have a couple of fun science experiment books to do every now and then. We also live near some cool science museums. As for everything else, it will come up as it comes up, like geology might be discussed as we look for fossils among rocks. We might find a good book about constellations at the library and take it home to read for astronomy. Dh and I are trained vocalists, so music is just part of our lives. We sing a lot and for dd this is just commonplace. As dd gets older we will start some instrumental training when she can read and feels she's ready. Art is something we do informally right now but I like the Waldorf approach to teaching Form Drawing and Wax Sculpting in the early years so we'll be doing that, as well as visiting art museums. Geography comes from our own travels. We act out stories and go see plays, so drama also fits in. We plan on getting dd involved in gymnastics or ballet and a choir as extra-curricular activities, so that takes care of phys. ed., music, and foreign languages (you'd be surprised how many languages you can learn about in a good children's chorus). I guess my point is that probably a list isn't going to be all that helpful--just do lots of fun things. From your list, you obviously know what the basic categories are for being well-rounded. You'll cover the 3 R's formally, so try and find fun family things to do that explore all of the other.

I personally think the best way is just to look for ways of having fun together as a family and to aim for experiences that are as 3-dimensional as possible. So, in my opinion, a trip to a Renaissance Faire is far preferable to reading a book about ancient Greece. I think at this age just "living" in a world full of fun and adventure is education enough. And a parent's enthusiasm about a particular topic is quite contagious and accounts for a lot.
post #5 of 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamasaurus View Post
I'd like to come up with a basic list of core subjects to learn about. I have a 7yo and almost 5yo. Can you help me flesh this out? Thanks!

Reading
Writing
Math
Science
History
Geography
Foreign Language
Art
Music
Drama
Physical Education
Based on this list, I would add "Health" and "Home Ec" or as we call it, "Life Skills", and "Technology". You may incorporate health into PE, and in elementary, life skills can also be part of other subjects too. We are specifically learning cooking, woodworking, and sewing because of dds interests and we call it "life skills" because I also include organizational skills and money skills under that umbrella. For "technology", we include learning to type, to use the web, to use any software applications, general computer use, and using the scanner. Again, this is relevant in our home so we include it.

Amy
post #6 of 7
Looks like a thorough list! More than I would've thought listed for "core" at those ages, but that's cool.

One of my daughter's favorite subjects is missing though - Spelling. We started when she was 4.5 and it turned out being her favorite. I didn't even know there were spelling programs for kids that young at the time, lol.

We also do logic with Lollipop Logic.
post #7 of 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamasaurus View Post
I'd like to come up with a basic list of core subjects to learn about. I have a 7yo and almost 5yo. Can you help me flesh this out? Thanks!

Reading
Writing
Math
Science
History
Geography
Foreign Language
Art
Music
Drama
Physical Education
I'd add logic, health (nutrition, taking care of yourself), home ec (sewing, cooking), computers (a child-friendly programing language, typing), research skills (using a library, analyzing sources). Also the subjects that usually fall under language arts along with reading: grammar, spelling, handwriting. When I make lists, I also usually break up art and music into theory/history, and practice.
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