The Primary Stage
These first years are ordered to the acquisition of the skills necessary for any further learning. At this stage the student should concentrate on learning to read well, and learning to write, both in terms of letter formation and power of expression. He should also spend time acquiring facility in addition and subtraction. If these skills are learned well, all the rest of his school time will be much more profitable and his education will be more complete.
As a parent and teacher the time spent with your child is valuable. If he does not learn to read in kindergarten or first grade, it won't finally make much difference in his life. But you should spend time reading to him during these formative years. The saint stories, the tales of noble actions performed by noble people, and the fairy tales, with their clear divisions between good and bad, will make a lifelong difference.
My husband and I are both well-educated. We both felt comfortable that we were able to teach our children at home. Nevertheless, the logistics of how to actually accomplish it were daunting. There is a plethora of excellent curricula out there, but trying to put together a cohesive homeschooling program for three different children at three different stages of development was intimidating. The program at MODG was suggested to us by a homeschooling friend, and it proved to be a great blessing. It turned out we did not have to reinvent the wheel! Your program was “good to go ", even for three children (not to mention their mother!) who were used to the highly structured traditional school environment. Thank you for your efforts in putting together a program which has been of such value to us in meeting our educational goals for our children.