Working with the wiggle. That's what KONOS advertises. And this is a wonderful curriculum for those wiggly children that need to have something to occupy their hands and bodies in order for learning to stick in their minds. Lessons are built around hands-on and discovery-type activities, which leads to better retention of the material. But KONOS isn't just for the wigglers. KONOS Character Curriculum is a quality curriculum that combines excellent academics, character training and critical thinking exercises into lessons that are memorable, fun and for all types of learners.
KONOS is a unit-study curriculum. In fact it is one of the oldest unit study curriculums on the market. Some have even called it the granddaddy of unit studies. But KONOS is not just a unit-study curriculum. Its primary focus is developing character. Building on the belief that character is vitally important, makes more sense in context and is best learned by doing, KONOS arranges each unit around a character trait first, then a secondary academic topic. The learning of airplanes or ships, for example, would be intertwined with learning about and practicing trust. Or, as you did activities relating to orderliness, you would also observe how orderly God made the universe as you learned animal classification or read about the solar system.
KONOS is unabashedly mainstream Christian in focus. Throughout the curriculum are activities that explore Bible truths and how to implement them in everyday life. The parent, however, is in complete control as to how, or even if, those activities are accomplished. These lessons could be done in families of any denomination, or even those professing no faith.
KONOS is designed for use with children K-8th grade. (There is also a high school curriculum, History of the World, available.) Many, if not most, of the activities listed can be done by children of all ages, each getting something from the lesson at their own level of maturity. The younger children would be exposed to new material while older children would be expected to develop a greater level of mastery of the material. For example, after reading a short description of the parts and working of an ear, all the children cooperate and build a crawl-through model of the ear from household items (or the older child/ren build it for the younger). When finished, and after demonstrating their handiwork, the kindergartener is finished the lesson. Or perhaps is sent to listen to music with his ears, telling the parent later about what he hears. The 2nd grader is given the assignment of labeling a diagram of the ear correctly and writing a Bible verse the parent reads to him. The 6th grader takes the next couple of days to work on a report detailing how the ear works and briefly describing three ways deafness can occur.
What makes KONOS so effective is the 5 Ds: Doing, Discovery, Dialogue, Dramatizing and Drill. Every unit is full of a variety of activities utilizing one or more of the 5Ds. Discovery activities develop critical thinking skills. Dramatizing and Doing activities make the lessons come to life, thus being remembered for much longer than the silent reading of a textbook lesson. Dialoguing builds reasoning skills, teaches a child how to organize and present his thoughts as well as giving many opportunities for families to grow closer as they explore topics and truths. Drill activities like building a lighthouse, performing a play or playing a states and capitals concentration game solidify the learning as well as giving the parent a more effective mechanism for evaluation.
Arranged in a format that gives the parent ultimate control, Original KONOS is adaptable to any lifestyle and homeschool setting. Each unit (character trait) has several sub-units (academic topics) and each unit and sub-unit has several lists: objectives of the unit/sub-unit, suggested resources for the unit/sub-unit, a multitude of activities to do in learning the unit/sub-unit and suggestions for evaluating how well the unit/sub-unit was learned. There are also pages with a suggested schedule for accomplishing the unit/sub-unit. A homeschooler desiring a lot of structure might use the suggested lesson plans as is. A more relaxed homeschooler might choose several activities to do during the week, but make no firm schedule as to when they are accomplished. Even an unschooling family could use the activity or suggested resource lists as inspiration for family fun or a response to "I'm bored".
In addition to the Original KONOS, there is Classic KONOS (Orderliness and Obedience) and the Cultures series (Africa and Russia). Still filled with the plethora of 5D activities and the character trait focus, these options are much more structured. Each day's lessons are planned for the parent, with suggestions and tips and answers to dialogue questions included in the lesson pages. As with Original KONOS, there is still plenty of room for adaptation, but the day by day format gives guided structure, which can be particularly useful for those new to unit studies or to KONOS.
So whether your child is a wiggler,
a sit-and-read-all-day child
or something in between,
Links to more information:
Copyright © 2005 Stephanie G. Shackelford. All rights reserved.