The Ideal Curriculum aka Wish List for Your Kiddos' Education - What's Yours?

[queriquita]

Wow, amazing, this miracle grows within us and now they're here and pure and perfect and ready to learn about the human experience!  And we finally figured out that we can start teaching ASAP ... great ... so we're doing it ... and they're soaking it in ... colors, check; animals, check; shapes, check; numbers/letters/reading/math, yes/yes/yes/yes .... oh boy - there's still another 15+ years to go!!  what's the big picture? what's the plan? when will we have 'arrived'? what does 'success' look like?  we've advanced them beyond their peers (not because their peers couldn't, but just because they were products of a system that believed they couldn't) and so we are now forced into homeschooling (even if it's before/after/weekend-schooling) to aid this path of progression that we've set them on.  so, what's your plan??  i've been brainstorming this on and off quite a bit, so i'm putting 'pen to paper' here, and will more than likely update as time progresses (if not here, then at least in my blog, since i'll probably copy, paste and edit this as a post there later).

here goes my rough outline and in no particular order

BY SKILLS:
* stage presence (gift of gab, performance and persuasion!)
* (quantum) speed reading
* mental math
* photo recall / wonderful memory
* musical ability - sight read and play by ear (i've already started them with piano and voice and am planning on later introducing violin, guitar, drums. as they get older they will choose their preference for musical expression)
* artistic ability (it's a free for all right now, but in several years, maybe they'll narrow it down from painting, drawing, sculpting - can you think of another medium?)
* flight lessons and manual driving @ 13, assuming they show the proper desire and discipline
* gross motor coordination - dance, sports, yoga
* construction/mechanics - ability to assemble and disassemble buildings/houses, cars/planes/trains/boats/motorcycles, computers/electronics (hardware and programming), meals (including understanding, appreciating, and respecting the process of how each of its components made it's way to their body and how this benefits them), and the body (human and animal - pig, frog, squid, etc) if that's their thing (as in for good, not in a psycho killer kinda way - too much csi/criminal minds, etc )
* multi-lingualism - english, asl, spanish, french, japanese, chinese, german, russian (italian and portuguese will probably come naturally as a result of the spanish and french) fyi: our son already does eng, asl, fren & span fluently, and is picking up japanese and chinese now.  my aunt is german, so i'm hoping for them to spend some quality time together, and russian, well, that's just one more)  latin basics to decode words more easily, but not to actually speak it (if they do, it's on them, and yes, i'll encourage it if that's what they show interest in doing)
* logic & strategy
* humor, joy, peace, motivation, confidence, leadership (there's an interesting balance to take into account between contentment vs complacency and drive vs dissatisfaction)  .... do you consider these skills?  since they are things that you have to work on to develop, i say, yes. again, this isn't the whole list of traits/skills, but just some i'm thinking up now.
* self-reflection/introspection - yoga, prayer/meditation, journaling, solo time, etc (again, another one that takes practice, so i'm calling it a skill)

BY FOCUS (all of these can be simplified and introduced in some scope to infants/toddlers/preschoolers):
Periodic Table (eventually this goes pretty deep into chemistry and calculus, biology, etc, as they all become related)
Biology: Bones/Organs/Muscles of the Body
Classical Conversations' History Timeline (I may alter this as I dedicate more time to learning it and what I want them to learn)
US Constitution (Preamble & Amendments, especially)
Certain great quotes from various sources, including the Bible
Music/Art Pieces in LarrySanger's YouTube video (as well as popular plays, ballets, musicals)
Nations/Countries of the World  (Culture/History, Famous Architecture/Sites)
Universe/Constellations (as well as the ancient stories and philosophers)

i'm sure there's plenty more, but this is it for now.

it's a long road, but i'm excited for when they reach their 'ah ha!' moments ... when things start coming together and they realize that they've really been learning pieces of an elaborate and beautiful puzzle that is our life within this universe.  i'm excited for when they start to understand and fulfill their path and purpose and start to internalize and understand how they impact others around them. :-)

hope you share some of your 'grand curriculum' 'master plan' too :-) thanks!

[mom2bee]

Well I definitely want to jumpstart my kids education and provide them with a stimulating environment that will develop their natural genius in a holistic and engaging fashion.

From Birth
Multilingual environment
Elimination Communication (Potty Training)

I want to home-school my children in 2 languages; English (native) and Spanish (my 2nd language), and we will learn Arabic through games, activities etc as we go. I want my kids to speak 5 languages fluently. English, Arabic, Spanish, ASL, and possibly Japanese.

Before 4 Years of Age:

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MATH
Doman Math
Shichida Math
Living Math
JG Math Matrix
Verbal Math Lesson 1 and 2

READING:
Reading in English, Arabic Spanish at a 3rd grade level (or above)
Have heard more than 1000 books read to them
Have personally read more than 250 books on a graduated leveling scheme that I'm still working on.
Work on Penmanship

SCIENCE:
Have a strong knowledge base in science. Meaning I wan't my kids to know many things;
the bones and major body systems
basic animal classifications
planets of the solar system
the elements of the periodic table
a bunch of other "facts"

GEOGRAPHY:
Countries and capitals of the world
Langauges spoken in the countries of the world
Continents, Seas and oceans of the world, where these things are located
how to read a compass
how to read a map

HISTORY:
Have a strong knowledge base in Ancient/Islamic, African and American History
(Still working on all the details.)

RELIGION:
Know that there are different religions of the world.
Know the 5 pillars of Islam
Know the 7 articles of Faith
Know at least 1 juz of Quran (Juz Amma)
Know the stories of the Islamic prophets.
Know what the Bible, Injeel and Torah are and why they are important.
Know the Prophets of the Quran and Bible

Physical:
Take Swimming and Gymnastics from as early as possible.

5 Years Old

When they are 5ish. we'll begin pushing for handwriting and penmanship. I like to think that we'll use a Spalding type language arts program. They'll learn to write and spell and hopefully their reading will improve also as we work our way through the phonograms. We'll work on their reading in Arabic also. When they are 5 years old, I will mandate a certain amount of time for (traditional) school-type activities each day. The 5th year is also a time that I will use to focus more on Quran, Math, Volunteerism/Citizenship and Literature in our weakest languages. Improve swimming and continue gymnastics, begin Karate.


For Math:
Jones Geniuses Math 3
Math Mammoth 1 and 2
Tokyo Shoseki Math 1 and 2
Living Math


Reading
Read independently at least 150 books in Spanish, Arabic and English, each.

We will read a lot of non-fiction and take field trips during this time.

Science
Try to work our way through all of the material on the Science-AZ website.
Read Science books from the library

History:
Flesh out our study of history as needed
Geography
Study atlases and globes
Music:
Begin Suzuki Piano and/Violin

6 to 10 years of age

I know that I want my kids ready for and comfortable with highschool level work by the time they are 11. So the ages of 6 - 10 will be a lot of fun and work.

I don't have everything mapped out as explicitly for this stage, but I do know that I wan't my kids to complete the Math Mammoth, Tokyo Shoseki, Jones Geniuses, and Plato Algebra series for math. by the time that they are 11. We will use various things as supplements/enrichment for math. Its imperative to me that my kids be strong in Math, Reading have a strong knowledge base. NO EXCEPTIONS. I will have my kids learn a lot of things used for reference (multiplication table, periodic table, geography layout, etc). I also hope that they will learn at least 20 more Juz's at this time and that we'll have the opportunity for them to make extended visits to at least one new country each year. (Preferably some place that speaks one of our target languages.) I also want to take my kids to Umrah/Hajj during their elementary years.

We'll begin typing lessons once their handwriting is good (around 7ish, maybe?) and once they are good with computer basics, (making and managing files, printing, saving, copying and pasting, etc.) I will teach them simple web coding and programming. (xHTML, CSS, JavaScript)
They will continue music lessons/practice until at high school. Then they get to decide. They will also continue swimming, gymnastics and karate.
Continue to develop and maintain their languages. Possibly study a new one.


11-14.
AoPS Series for Math
Singapore Discovering Mathematics
Trilingual Literature study
Finish Hafizing the Quran
Learn about starting, running and managing a business by actually starting, running and managing their own small business.
Continue swimming, gymnastics and karate
Begin indepth study of Sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
I want to make sure that by this time my kids will have plent of time to follow their own interests so their mandatory academics, while more rigorous will probably be less.
So long as they are doing something I deem appropriate in Math, Language, Religion, Science, Music, Physical Maintainance and Business I will be happy to try and support more of their interests.

15 Hopefully they'll begin college around this time and have their Bachelors degree by the time they are 18.

Thats just a rough draft of some of my goals/ideals concerning the education of my children. I do intend to have them be highly capable in math and reading though, that's something I will not compromise...I want them to understand the difference between mathematics and computation and when they are working with math.

[Tanikit]

At the moment I am concentrating on Reading with my 1 year old and Reading, Writing and Arithmetic with my 4 year old. But I think if I am going to prepare my child for the rest of life and the world I need to add more to my curriculum than Science, History and Geography...

So besides all that, I want to discuss character traits, ways to behave, having manners, facing dangers and what to do to keep safe and even more importantly how to get the information you need when you do not know something - reading is obviously a key skill here, but my daughters must also know when and how to approach other people for help and how to distinguish who is trustworthy and who is not and how to test this, critical thinking, how to use a library, how to use the internet wisely and what types of searches are likely to get the most accurate information versus what seraches will just result in advertisements and things you do not want, what type of person (job wise) can do what for you and how to determine when it is better to get a professional and when it is cheaper and just as safe to do it yourself, money sense - not just how to budhet but all the options you can have when it comes to money - where you could get it from, how you can "store" it, how you can save or use it and how and when to give it away (and why)

Further I would like to teach my children about emotions - and how they can handle their own emotions in an age appropriate manner, what is the best way to behave and yet still be able to release and discuss negative emotions, how to be around and communicate with people they perhaps don't really like, moral values and the advantages of following a particular set of morals, how to behave around people both younger and older than them and understanding that other people have other views and when it is important to follow their own beliefs rather than those of the people they are around while still respecting those people and when it is ok to question their own beliefs and perhaps adopt someone else's ideas.

Basically I want them to have loads of facts at their fingertips but be able to function in the world and to be able to question the facts without just believeing everything that is thrown at them.

[MamaOfWill]

I loved Tanikit's answer!

mom2bee, you set yourself and your children very high goals, that is so great and I wish you all the best.  My personal advice (use it or lose it) start slow and add things as you and your kids can manage, to me the very very basics of raising kids are allready a lot of hard work.

My Wishlist for the one kid I already have before age 4:
1. Speak 3 languages
2. Read
3. Whrite
4. Type
5. Read Music
6. Guitar
7. Tai Chi
8. Chess
9. Arithmetic
10. Teach facts about things he shows interest in.

After 4 I'll follow his lead, he'll be in school and the next baby will keep me busy. I'm a mathematition so if he wants to I can teach him math.

Sometimes I think of my goals as too much, you guys must look at it and think, is that it?

[Paddy Jim Baggot MD]

the hand that rocks the cradle could indeed rule the world.
three cheers for the power of motherhood

[mom2bee]

I loved Tanikit's answer!

mom2bee, you set yourself and your children very high goals, that is so great and I wish you all the best.  My personal advice (use it or lose it) start slow and add things as you and your kids can manage, to me the very very basics of raising kids are allready a lot of hard work.

Great advice! Thats something I try and keep close to my heart also. Planning for my future and my future kids is something of a hobby, but I always remind myself that I will have to love my kids for who they are and what they can and can't do.

I don't want my children to resent me or their education. I try to gleam as much as possible from DomanMom, Marta and Angeles. I wish to recreate the best of their results, Hunters math, Eatons Science & Geography, Ellas Reading and Linguistic skills...

I want my kids to adore learning. Not workbooks or grades necessarily, but actually just learning. I'm practicing my own study habits now because I wan't learning/reading/math to be something that is just done. I wan't math to be something that is done in our family. I don't want to perpetuate Math phobia, apathy and/or incompetence in my kids. I wan't my kids to feel confident and comfortable around math. (Unlike me!) I don't want them to change their dreams based on math. (I know several people who have done this!)

I want to raise competent and kind adults who will be tolerant and godly to all fellow human beings. Thats my ultimate goal. How I plan to get there is something that changes on a weekly basis.

[Mandabplus3]

I read with interest the above comments. Some thoughts.....typing and writing are not really as closely linked as you may think. I would start the typing training at age 5 or 6 because kids use it in school at age 7! It won't take too long to teach. If your child is learning piano they could learn typing even earlier, the hold back is finger strength and dexterity.
Gymnastics would rate highly on my physically supurb list....if you could see the things my 8 year old can do! My son 4 does cart wheels, perfect rolls, balance on the beam.. Anyway consider that. My children also got a lot of coordination and strength from taekwondo from age 4. They have excellent body control and left right coordination, plus had to learn patterns for grading, very challenging.
I have a friend who's daughter is doing a normal Aussie school attendance and then has a Japanese home school corriculum sent to her for her girls to complete as home study. They do the same work in two languages. It seems to work well.
i love all your goals!

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