This was very helpful in solidifying my decision to buy this curriculum! Thank you for being so thorough and explaining how it all works! We are starting our homeschooling journey this year and I was very nervous about how it would go. Your video helped me feel a lot more confident!
Thank you for this. There aren't alot of reviews for oak meadow kindergarten. We are planning on using oak meadow kindergarten next year. I'm a fairly new sub to your channel and have been enjoying your videos.
I’m not. I did Earthschooling for pre-k and really enjoyed that curriculum, especially since I was just educating one child at that time and wasn’t working so I had more time to devote to it. I’ve heard about Time4Learning but I’m not familiar with it or Mother Goose Time. Good luck with your decision!
I am going to be using this curriculum for my son. He does have autism, higher functioning than he was a year ago. Do you think this will be a good fit? He loves learning, nature, exploring and we implement child led activities such as Montessori practice each day, to give him a sense of independence. I got sample online and it went great, but overall, would a child who has speech delay be able to grasp the materials?
I don’t have any experience with autism or speech delays, but so much of the Waldorf philosophy in general emphasizes a slow childhood with lots of hands on work and time in nature. The beauty of this curriculum is that it provides a lot of instruction for parents in an easy-to-read format. So yes, I think it would be a good fit for just about everyone except maybe children who just love doing worksheets (but even in that case you can always buy those little workbooks for them to do for their busy work)
The way that we homeschool, kindergarten doesn’t take much longer than an hour...some days only 30 minutes. A lot of Waldorf philosophy is centered on delayed academics, so this curriculum will still be going over the alphabet in the beginning part of first grade as well. I enjoy the relaxed pace of delayed academics with more focus on play and crafts, so it’s a great fit for us. However, if your student thrives on on worksheets and more rigorous academic work this might not be a good fit.
HI, I was wondering since you exposed yourself to different curriculums like Earthschooling and oak meadows. What are their strengths and weaknesses? I am beginning homeschooling for 6 yr old and 4 yr old this year. I reviewed your other videos about Earthschooling. It sounds like the Earthschooling has many resources available to you that offers more in depth about the Waldorf. The Oak meadow is more organized and structured in few books. Thank you. Cecilia
Hi Cecilia...yes that’s the main difference. If you’re familiar with Waldorf or if you have the time and want to learn, Earthschooling is more in line with that teaching methodology. Unfortunately I don’t have the time now which is the main reason I switched to Oak Meadow. I still might go back to Earthschooling at some point...you can also pick out blocks from Earthschooling as well instea of buying the whole thing
I have been debating on using Oak Meadows since I first started homeschooling in 2018. I now have 2 boys (2nd and prek). How easy is it to use with different grades?
I think it’s pretty easy to use for 2 Grade’s. Some of the lessons correspond with each other, at least for 1st and 3rd...not sure about pre-K and 2nd. I can imagine it might get more difficult in the future, but right now it’s pretty easy once you have a good rhythm established.
@@reliableroots if I have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader.. should I buy a 2nd grade curriculum so I can teach both at the same time? Is that recommended? Or is it better to buy both curriculums?
@@christinebean1372 I think it just depends on where both of your students are at in development. I taught this curriculum to a first and third grader using the first and third grade curriculums because my kids had already been using Oak Meadow. If your students have been in a traditional school setting though, that might not be a bad idea. Waldorf curriculums are for the whole child, so they're typically academically delayed, meaning that your first grader might be fine with the 2nd grade curriculum, but your third grader might think its really easy, but its a different way of learning and they can focus on other things they might not have learned in a traditional setting such as finger knitting or more artistic endeavors.
Do you know if the oak Meadow Kindergarten curriculum goes along with national standards for Kindergarten? I am looking at this curriculum for my little one for homeschooling kindergarten but she will be going to public school for first grade. Just wondering your thoughts on if using this program would get her ready enough for public school/ 1st grade for 2021-2022 year.
The Waldorf philosophy is very different from mainstream education, so I wouldn’t recommend this curriculum if you want to stay with public education. I’ve heard that this is a nice mix between the two, but there aren’t any sight words or even lowercase letters at the kindergarten level. Waldorf focuses on child development cycles, so much of the academic learning isn’t taught until the child is closer to 7, traditionally. At the kindergarten age, it’s a lot of stories, play, nature, and crafts.
