Take A look into how my family makes there journey into Eclectic Classical Home Education. Here I will share my sources and how I organized things to fit my family.
So the Most High has spoken. I recently attended a Used Homeschool Curriculum Sale put on by a local Church Homeschool Ministry. Its amazing that last year I was able to go on the last day and clean up but this year I got there like 30 mins after it started on the first day and it was packed like a Tuna can and it was hard to find all my stuff. So I still have to purchase a few things for math. But I looked down on one of the tables and there it was. I saw the Prairie Primer which retails for about $50.00 brand new for $20.00 and it looked to be in really good condition. So now I know why you are suppose to pray on what curriculum to use. Cause it really helps to lead you in your decision making. Especially at a big sale like that or even at those huge Convention halls. So I am so excited to begin our Journey using the Primer. For those who are interested you can go back and take a look at my post called Curriculum Confusion where I give the money breakdown and some links for the Primer.
I had a subscriber that wanted to know how was then going to fit CC(Classical Conversations) at Home into my schedule if we are going to start the Primer. Well I decided to leave the CC Foundations for Summer Session only. Each Cycle is 24 weeks. We are scheduled to hit Week 24 somewhere around October. We typically start new curriculum in September since we are year round homeschoolers but this year we will start The Prairie Primer in October after we finish our CC Cycle 1. And we will pick up on Cycle 2 in the summer coming. So it works out. Right now I am mapping out our resources needed for the Primer and planning my weekly schedules. I will defintely update you on that as I get it all together. I plan on including a Supplimental African American reading list to go along with the Primer which covers such history topics as The Gold Rush, Civil War, Lousian Purchase, Western Pioneers, Native American history, Woman's Suffrage, etc...
There are some awesome places and people to cover. I will share those in a separate post to come. I am still developing the list now.
One thing I can say about the Primer is that it is full of projects and lots of lessons. I am going to have to try not to do everything but pick just the things that will give us a basic overview due to my childrens ages. We can possibly revisit the Primer again in Jr. High or High School years for even further study. That is why I love Unit Study based curricula cause they are so easy to adapt for many age groups. In house with 4 children and counting(lol! Hey you never know) its good to invest in resuable programs or programs that span large age groups.
Here is a video clip of what I was able to get at the booksale. I forgot like 2 or 3 items in this one but you get the jist.
What are the Classifications of living things?
(To the tune of Yankee Doodle)
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
The Song for this one is found on the same video I posted on Cycle 1 Week 1's Science Section.
History
Ten Commandments 6-10(KJV)
Thou Shalt...
not kill
not commit adultery
not steal
not bear false witness against thy neighbor
not covet
We used the same tune from last week but we didn't have a video for it. We just made it fit.
Grammar
After reviewing the definition of a preposition I gave them the first set of prepositions to memorize.
Aboard
About
Above
Across
Math
3's
3,6,9,12,15,18,
21,24,27,30,33,36
4's
4,8,12,16,20,24,
28,32,36,40,44,48
Here is the video we used to help memorize the 3's and 4's skip counting.
Latin
This week we did Lesson 2 in Prima Latina by Leigh Lowe published by Memoria Press. For the sake of not committing copyright infringement I am just going to give a brief description of what we covered in there.
This weeks lesson focused on Pronunciation of Latin Consonants. It also went over Latin Diphthongs. For those of you who don't know a dipthong is sometimes two letters that have only one sound. But it was really interesting that by learning this concept in Latin my children who usually struggled identifying a diphthong before now understood the concept really well. I truly am starting to believe those folks who say the best way to learn English Grammar is to take a foreign language. I believe I heard Andrew Pudewa from IEW say that on an audio download before.
We also went over some new vocabulary words and the English Derivatives as well as starting The Sanctus Prayer.
A good resource for vocabulary drilling is this new resource I found in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine article. FYI I read The Old Schoolhouse Magazine(Homeschool Publication) for free using an App download on my Droid technology smartphone. I think they have it available for iphones as well. But the resource is called Flash Card Machine. I searched Prima Latina and someone already did a series of flash cards for the lessons we needed. So I just used those. They can quiz and test themselves right there on the website. They have an App version for this also but it cost whereas the website is free. You can make virtual flashcards for anything you need. You can even add pictures and clip art.
Geography Assyrian Empire
Red Sea
Persian Gulf
Black Sea
Babylon
Here is the video for the song for this weeks.
We also did a project this week that went along with the Geography. We made a Mesopotamian Ziggurat. We got the instructions for the craft from a library book we checked out called "Passport to the Past Mesopotamia" by Lorna Oakes. We used recycled cardboard from some flat rate shipping boxes the post office sent to us for free a few months back and we never mailed anything out with it.
Here is a video of the finished product.
Science Project
This week we did Janice VanCleave's 201 Awesome, Magical, Bizarre, and Incredible Experiments #54 and 56.Experiment #54 was called Telegraph Lines. The purpose was to determine how a spider evaluates the size of an intruder. We also got to observe a web that was outside on our patio. So that was pretty creepy. lol! Here is a clip of doing #56 Belly Up which purpose was to determine why dead fish float, belly side up, on the surface of the water.
Project
The Project was to do a Still life of some objects. The mirror warm up helped them to focus on looking at the symmetry of objects to make sure they draw both sides evenly. We also keep reinforcing the previous exercise on the 5 basic shapes to help them to draw there still life as well.
We got to visit an Art Gallery as well this week so that was another hands on that we were able to add. We tried to point out the 5 basic shapes in the work we saw. They really learned a lot.
In our first week of doing Classical Conversations Foundations at home we had a lot of fun. The children really enjoyed getting up in the morning, doing morning chores, breakfast, math, and then sitting down together with out memory board to go over the weekly memory work. Keep in mind that I placed this info on our Memory board and we only spent about 30 minutes 4 times a week going over this information. It doesn't take up a lot of time at all. Now on the 1st day it can take a little longer cause we introducing new memory work so it might need a little more time and the children might have some questions about it. I also used this as a way to help the children in there non fiction book selections at our weekly library trip as well. Here is what we went over for Week 1:
Science
What are the five kingdoms of living things?
Animalia
Plantae
Fungi
Protista
Monera
We learned this to the beat of to the nursery rhyme "Brother John(Are you sleeping)"
Here is a great youtube clip of two little girls that are doing some great songs and jingles to Cycle 1's Science sentences. I have been using this a tool.
History
Ten Commandments 1- 5(KJV Version)
Thou Shalt...
have no other god before me
not make unto thee any graven image
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
honor thy mother and thy father that thy days may be long upon the land that God giveth thee
Here is the youtube clip we used to memorize the commandments to.
Grammar/English
What is a Preposition?
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship to a noun or pronoun to another word in a sentence.
(I did not use the definition from the Foundations guide. Instead we are memorizing the definition from First Language Lessons by Susan Wise Bauer cause that is what we are using as our grammar program for 1st and 2nd. I didn't want to confuse them by changing the wording of the definition after they already learned it the way I listed it.)
Math
1's and 2's Skip Counting
1,2,3,4,5,6,
7,8,9,10,11,12
2,4,6,8,10,12,
14,16,18,20,22,24
We didn't do any special chant or song for these skip counts because they are pretty basic. I do have some cleaver little things for the 3's and beyond though. I will share that in the future weeks.
Latin
For Latin instead of memorizing the declensions that are in the guide we are doing our lessons in Prima Latina instead. So for this week we did Lesson 1 in Prima Latina.
Its separated into Practical Latin Phrase, Vocabulary, and The Prayer.
So for this week it was:
Practical Latin
Salve- hello(to one person)
Salvete-hello(to more than one person)
Vocabulary
The format is the learn the Latin, English translation, and then the English derivative(this part really helps the children to make the connections between there own spoken language and its Latin roots. I totally love this part of the curriculum.)
ambulo- I walk - ambulance
via- road- viaduct
Deus- God- deity
toga- toga
luna- moon- lunar
Prayer
Oremus- Let Us Pray
The lesson began focusing in on explaining the differences between the Latin alphabet and the English one. They also explained how to pronounce the vowels in Latin as well.
Geography
Fertile Crescent Area
Mediterranean Sea
Fertile Crescent
Sumer
Euphrates Rive
Tigris River
Here is the video for the jingle to memorize this. As we sang we locate and place a treat(raisins, chocolate chips, Cheerios, etc..) on the locations. If you have older students you can have them draw and trace these places as well. Or make a labeled outline.
Art Project
This weeks art lesson focused in on the Five Basic Shapes.
The Five Basic Shapes are:
Dots
Circles
Straight lines
Curved lines
Angle lines
We start with a warm up exercise and then follow up with a project.
Warm Up
Explore the five basic shapes by practice drawing different variations of the five basic shapes by sizes and length and whatnot. We used a blank piece of unlined paper to practice on. After that we practice making a figure that incorporated all or as many of the Five Basic Shapes as they could.
My oldest made a drawing of a little girl. My oldest son made a snowman.
Project
We used Kids Can Draw African Animals drawing book and followed the diagram to create a Leopard out of Circles, Curved lines, straight lines, and dots. Here is a video of them using the techniques that they learned.
We soaked some pinto beans overnight. The next day we were able to slip the seed coat off and break open the two halves to figure out what was inside. So it was basically a seed dissection with the purpose of dissecting a bean to identify the parts and learn the function of each part. They did a Scientific Log Sheet that was in the Appendix of the Foundations Guide but you can find some similar to at these links here:
As you know from my previous post about Curriculum Confusion I was able to obtain a Classical Conversations Foundations Guide 3rd Edition on clearance a few months back. This was before the role out of the new 4th Edition that is why I got for so cheap. It was only $15 at the time and the orginal price was $50.
Well for those of you who don't know Classical Conversations or CC for short is a program started by founder Leigh Bortins(author of Echo In Celebration and The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education) to help support and enhance homeschoolers in their desire to classically educate at home. There are CC communities all over the U.S. where once a week the students get together and are lead by a CC Tutor in the weekly memory work from the foundations guide in the form of tunes, jingles, and chants. They also conduct a science experiment and have a fine arts portion which changes between drawing, tin whistle lessons, classical artist, and classical composers throughout the year. I have been to visit two different CC Campuses in my local area and I was greatly impressed with the program and set up. Although I totally love the program I was not sold on it for our particular family due to the cost of enrolling all my kids and also me not feeling like I could make the commitment to participate in a once week class every week for 24weeks with a two littles still(my 3yr old and my 10month old). So we were sad about not being able to give this a shot. But when I got a hold of the Foundations Guide I decided to give this a try at home instead.
What better time than this summer to start on Cycle 1 of the 3 cycle Guide. We started last week and if we continue through the summer we will hit Week 24 at the end of October. Which works out perfectly for our family cause our lease is up and we will be moving at the end of October. So we can just keep out the materials we use with the CC Memory Board that I made(pictured below) and our Math books so that I can start getting everything packed up. And then we can take a 2 week fall break and get started in our new curriculum for 2012-2013 school year. So it seems like this is going to work out great. I guess if this goes all well we will started Cycle 2 this coming Summer and Cycle 3 the following. Its turning out to be a great Summer Homeschool Curriculum.
Of course I want to share with you guys what we are doing each week and how we are tweeking it to fit our family and whatnot. So I decided to go ahead and do a weekly post called CC at Home Cycle 1 Week(whatever week it is). So be on a look out for that. I am so excited. The children really seem to enjoy it.
Other than the Foundations Guide we are using:
Drawing With Children by Mona Brookes- Fine Arts Prima Latina- Latin( I didnt like the way the Latin was set up in the Guide and we were already working our way through Prima so I am just sticking with that.) Kingfisher History Encyclopedia- History Sentence(Used to look up more information of the history sentence and the timeline sentences) Janice VanCleave's Awesome, Magical, Bizarre, and Incredible Experiments- Science Experiments( The Guide uses a few experiments from this book so I borrowed a copy from the library and made copies of the pages I would need for Cycle 1.
We are also adding our Hebrew Studies Bible Memory Work in as well( I will do a separate blog to share those resources.)
Okay for those of you have been following me for a while you all know that I have been loosely following a Classical Homeschool model for the last two school years. I have been very satisfied and happy with my choice up until very recently. I have feel in love with something new. It's the The Prairie Primer(A Year Long Unit Study Based off The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder). Yet in still I was considering delving further into the Classical Method and truly and exclusively doing Classical.
So you see my dilema is I have basically two directions I could take us in next year and not sure which one is the right one. So let me just break down how I was planning to impliment each path and hopefully it will help me sort through it all to see it written down in front of me. Maybe this could help someone going through a similar issue. I just wanted to take a moment and be transparent and show that I don't always have it all planned out nor have it all together. I think it brings comfort to some of us to here that sometimes.
Lets start with what I was considering doing if we stayed the Classical path first. Here is what we are currently covering this year:
History/ Geography- Finishing African History Study from last year. Almost on to Asia(Note that this is the one area that I tweek that makes our Classical considered Eclectic. But we still studying within the continent study chronologically. But I am considering going the more traditional Classical Path with this as well and doing the 4yr History Cycles.)
He shares Science and History/ Geography with his sister.
If we stick with this method I wanted to add in Art Study, Music Appreciation and Beginning Recorder, Map Drawing, Formal Writing, and Martial Arts. I know I dont have to do everything every day but with this current schedule trying figure out how to fit new things into it seems overwhelming. I did purchase a Classical Conversations Foundations Guide that helps to schedule out the extras like Music, Art, and Drawing on a weekly schedule that can take away some of the stress of planning. Recently Leigh Bortins of Classical Conversations updated her Foundations Guide from the 3rd to the 4th edition. So they cleranced out the old ones for $15 each and I took advantage of that. For next year I really find myself wanting to use a really cool curriculum called Mapping the World by Heart for geography. Here is the video on it:
Now this curriculum retails for about 69.99. I just recently missed a 25% discount on Homeschool Buyers COOP a few weeks ago but I was not ready to purchase. Hopefully if we decide to go with it they will have another deal. I was going to use Rod and Staff for Music Appreciation and Usborne 1st Book of Recorder. I already own the Rod and Staff muic books and the Usborne Recorder book and some basic recorders shouldn't cost me much at all. We already have the Home Instructors Guide for all of next years Singapore Math. So all we need to do is buy the workbooks and textbooks. No matter what method we choose I am going to stick with Singapore cause I am very happy with it. It took a while to find our groove in Math. For our next cycle in Science we should be moving on to Chemistry. I am deciding between Christian Kids Explore Chemistry and Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry level 1. For latin we will just move from Prima Latina to Latina Christiana I. We have truly enjoyed Prima so far. I have learned just as much as my daughter. We would stay with Rod and Staff for English 4. They are not hard to find used around my area. The only big purchase that I have to still consider carefully but can be used for years to come is Institute for Excellence in Writing Teaching Writing: Structure and Style curriculum by Andrew Pudewa. I have listened to so many free audio and youtube clips of Andrew Pudewa I feel really sold on this writing program. Instead of making writing a separate subject it shows you how to intergrate the writing into the subjects you are already teaching. It comes with a manual but it is DVD based which is good cause sometimes its easier for me to listen and watch than to read up on something. I already have the Art books that we didn't get around to using this year. The books I still haven't cracked open are Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes and Discovering Great Artist by MaryAnn F. Khol and the Classical Conversations Foundations Guide uses Drawing with Children within the lessons too. I am not all the way satified with our spelling program so I have to keep looking around for that one. So many people I know have been suggesting that we try All About Spelling or AAS but from what a friend has let me see of hers it is way to teacher intensive for what I had in mind for Spelling. I guess I can still look into Spelling Power or Spelling Workout which was a suggestions in one of the later editions of The Well Trained Mind. I was also going to start Handwriting Without Tears with my Preschooler and some Phonics as well. But mostly just keeping with the Montessori activities and adding in a few worbooks for Preschool/ Kindergarten by Rod and Staff.
If I decided to continue on with the Classical route that we have been doing it would be easy as far as finding used materials and I have already been doing it. But the downside is as the children get older I am running into issues trying to figure out a Classical Education Schedule that wont overload us. The Cost for next year if I go with this plan would be about $500.00 brand new plus the expense of Martial Arts Classes. But I still have an opportunity for savings at my local Homeschool Conference Used Book Sale and a few local Book Sales.
Now on to my next Choice which is The Prairie Primer. Since it is Unit Study based it will cover things like Bible, some Language Arts, Science, History, Geography, and Art. I would just have to continue on with my Math and Grammar curriculum but everything else should be covered. The plus to this would be the fact that I am teaching multiple children. I feel on love with the Prairie Primer after the children and I listened to Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie on audio format in the car a few months back. I was like wouldn't it be great if their was a curriculum that went along with these books. And sure enough as I did an Internet search I found the Prairie Primer. I also found this wonderful blog called We Love the Prairie Primer with a woman who did the entire Primer with her daughters and documented the whole thing and had lots of pictures and supplemental ideas. I also found out they had a an active Yahoo Group as well. The activities in the Primer are truly geared toward the spirit of self sufficiency and old fashioned ways that our family has been moving towards in the past year. So it would definitely enrich our lives to give the children an educational experience rooted in Preparedness and Old Fashioned living. Their are some financial benefits to using this curriculum as well. For all the books, primer, and basic materials it would cost brand new somewhere around $250.00 for the year. So I could stand to save half of my original budget. But knowing me I would probably spend that on extra materials for more hands on projects or an out of state field trip to one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder historic sites. So it really might just even out.
I have got some pondering to do. But I hope make a decision within the next few weeks. I will keep you guys updated on the choice.
Happy Black History Month! This year we have decided to try and focus on lesser known African American contribute rs to the American Story. Well one my relatives sent me an email last month of a video clip with Bill Cosby from a long, long time ago. lol! Well here is the clip:
In this clip one person in particular caught my ear. That person was York from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Growing up in public school I was never taught much about the significance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to begin with let alone that William Clark brought along a man servant/slave named York who was instrumental in helping build relationships with the Native tribes as well as being a Master hunter and list of other things. You can find out more about York Here.
If you look at this famous photo here you will notice how he has been there the whole time hiding in the shadows of history. Wow! This is why I love homeschooling. You never stop learning. I love it when my children and I can discover new things together as a family. Its wonderful.
This statue of York's likeness was is erected in Louisville, Kentucky at the Belvedere Plaza overlooking the Ohio River. I find the placement of this statue very significant in the fact that is lies on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River which was the side where there was slavery. He is looking over to freedom on the other side of the River.
I was able to find a few book titles at my Public library on York:
I have had a complete epiphany! Living books are truly awesome. In the homeschool community we have lots of popular buzz words from Unit Studies, Learning Style, Lapbooks, and Living Books. For the longest time I thought I had a clear understanding of what these terms meant in relation to homeschool methodology. Well boy was I wrong. It wasn't until I recently decided to include more read alouds into out homeschooling as I saw that we were lacking since the children started reading independently that started searching for ideas on how to fit all of this reading time into my already packed schedule. That is when I rediscovered the teachings of Charlotte Mason. Charlotte Mason an innovative educator from the 1800's believed that children should be exposed to Living Books and that lessons should remain short and to the point. She believed in exposure to high quality literature no "Twaddle" as she called it.
I was so overwhelmed by idea of adding in all these extra read alouds. At first glance it just seemed like I would be spending the whole day telling the kids to be quiet and still while we try and plug through all these books. How was I going to do it. I decided to take a step back and just start slow instead of diving in head first and just do audio books. Hey us homeschoolers spend enough time in the car right? LOL! I thought this would be a great way to get something in while on the road and I wouldn't have try and get them to listen cause children stuck in the car are always a captive audience. What else is there other than picking a fight with there sibling cause they touched something on there side of the car.
So what exactly is a Living Book you might be asking. Well until the big Ah Ha moment I use to think it was simply a Classical work of literature. I even thought it was biographies at one point like The Autobiography of Fredrick Douglass or George Washington. Well it is and it is much much more. We started our car audio read aloud session with good old "Little House on the Prairie". Got to love that Laura Inglles Wilder and her adventurous tales of the untamed journey West for the American Pioneer. They Ingles family faced many challenges on there travels and settlement in the new Western Frontier. They encountered everything from raging rivers, malaria, wild panthers, neighboring Native Americans, and scarce food resources. As we listened to the story being told it was almost like we got transported there. I could see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the smells, and even feel the weather. That is when I realized what a Living Book was. It is a telling that takes you exactly to that space and time of which the author has written about and lets you experience life through the eyes of the characters. How I wish I was taught this way in school instead of the dry snippets in my textbooks. Can you imagine how much passion could have been ignited in me at an earlier age had I been taught through living books. I would have been able to make so many connections as to the WHY of certain events in history had I had the back stories and side stories of the folks who lived it and not just the dates and places that left my head as quickly as they entered just long enough to pass the test. Now I am not speaking ill of memorization cause I am a fan of creating memory pegs. But I teach that way with the intention of filling in those pegs with the appropriate explanations and information later on.
So after our whistle was wet with Little House on the Prarrie we moved forward with Little House in the Big Woods. It also became a big hit with the children. So I wanted to seek out more information on those who passionately believe in the use of Living Books. That is when I came across the achieves on The Homeschool Channel of Shirley Solis. She is a Homeschool Convention Speaker and owns a Business Lifetime Books and Gifts which has lots of good information and literature. Another resource I found about is a book called "Honey for a Child's Heart" by Gladys Hunt. There a are dozens of Living Book resources. They even have a website that has living book resource suggestions for Math called Living Math. Jim and Sheila Carrol founded an entire curriculum program based of living books called Living Books Curriculum(LBC). They have a free newsletter that I signed up for in which I have received great articles on how to do narration and even some audio story links. They had an audio out around Christmas that told the origins of St. Nick. It was really interesting as I have never heard the story before. I also was looking into some more free resources of living books on the Internet since most of them are public domain and came across a few good sites that have some well organized.
Here is the list:
Of course there are many more but these are just the ones I have found. I also want to make clear that although I am changing things up a bit that lean towards more a Charlotte Mason style does not mean that I have totally abandoned Classical Education. I have stayed true to philosophy since the beginning. We have always been Eclectically Classical. I firmly believe in molding things to fit you and not molding yourself to fit a education style. There is lots to learn as far as how to learn best. There are many ways to accomplish your goals. You just got to pick one that speaks to your heart, your children, your lifestyle.
For those of you who don't know about The Homeschool Channel it is an interactive social network that not only displays visual media about and for homeschoolers but it also has blogs, forums, and groups for support of homeschool families. I have been a member since it 1st got started. Just recently they made some major changes to the format of the programing. They went from a playlist of shows played continously throughout the day to including interactive webcast every Tuesday and Wednesday at 4:30pm(eastern) where you can chat live with the presenter. I liken it to attending a mini Homeschool Convention in the privacy of your own home. If you are constantly trying to stave off burnout or need a little information or direction than I would definitely check them out.
When we first started formal grammar lessons with my oldest we began by using First Language Lessons by Susan Wise Bauer at Peace Hill Press. Back when we purchased it they had the combined level 1&2 book. I learned later they started using 2 separate books for those levels. I am glad I was able to purchase it together when I had a chance cause I saved some money that way. I loved FLL(First Language Lessons) for those 1st two levels. It was a gentle yet thorough start in grammar basics.
The problem came in the program for me when looking into the 3rd level. While I was looking into the scope and sequence and even some sample pages I began to get the impression that it was going to be more of repeat of the last two levels with just a little jump in difficulty. The only big difference was the introduction of diagramming. I just think at this stage in my child's development it was just moving way to slow. So I began my search for another program that would include more rigor and also introduce diagramming and not break my already tight budget. That is when I found Rod and Staff English.
Rod and Staff is published by the Anabaptist Church which are Mennonites. They have conservative Christian views and believe in a solid no nonsense no fluff and glitter approach in there curriculum. I was able to get the 2nd and 3rd grade textbook(non consumable) and teachers guides at our local homeschool conference used book sale for very cheap. I also can find them used at local homeschool bookstore as well. They come with test booklets and worksheets sold separate but I didn't bother with those.
I thought over the summer I would do a few units in the 2nd grade level to get her used to the R&S method before starting the 3rd grade book. It proved to be a good thing cause unlike First Language Lessons R&S requires more sentence writing in the lessons which is something I loved for this particular child. Keep in mind that if your child is not strong in handwriting and gets frustrated very easily I would either choose a different program or if you do decided on R&S English that you might consider letting the child work the problems on a dry erase board rather than keeping a notebook.
Now with FLL there were elements that we had become accustomed to being included every few lessons that R&S does not appear to include in the same way thus far and that is Poem Memorization and Parts of Speech Memory Work. So I added those in myself just to bridge the gap between programs. R&S will eventually have a unit on poetry but its not a part of the lessons throughout like FLL. I also wanted to continue to create those grammar memory pegs so we have our grammar memory on flash cards now and we review them every week and add in more as we are introduced to a new concept. She is also getting some of the extra grammar practice in our latin curriculum that we started this year as well. We are using Prima Latina through Memoria Press. I will do a review on that at a later time. For the poetry I have the children pick a poem book from the library each week and the select one that they want to learn. We have them copy it down in a notebook for copywork and then make an illustration. I also have my oldest learning a famous speech. We try to memorize at least 2 each year. Last year she memorized and recited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have been to the Mountain Top" and Emperor Halie Selassie"s(Ethiopian King) Speech to the UN. I selected an excerpt from both cause they were obviously way to long to do in its entirety. We learned a few lines each week. We just keep adding on till it was all learned. And then we would have her recite it in public. She recited in front of a Sunday School group and once at a Homeschool Group Park Day. You can find up to 100 different famous American Speeches at American Rhetoric. This year we haven't decided on one yet but I was thinking of having my son and my daughter do the last part of the Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech together. And that still leave one more. I was thinking maybe learning the Preamble to the Constitution.
My son started FLL level 1 this year as well. I am hoping to follow the same pattern with my son so he can use all his sisters books. That is just one more way I can save money in our homeschool. If there is one thing I have learned through our homeschool journey and that is to stay flexible. I can change whatever needs to be changed to help my child grow best. I don't have be stuck with any particular curriculum.
Two months ago we had the privilege of joining in on a web based Free Astronomy Class hosted by Aurora Lipper at Supercharged Science. It was awesome to say the least. Ms. Aurora went through the entire solar system starting with the sun and including nebula's, black holes, major constellations, and even the best times of day to view the sky for certain things without a telescope. What I liked best about her teaching style is that she is very interactive and instead of dumbing things down for a younger audience she just explains thoroughly to bring kids up to her level. So I recommend her eclasses for all ages even adults.
Now she does offer a Trial 1 Month Membership to the site after the free class. Its just $1.00 for the 30 days. It cost more after that though. We went ahead and signed up for the trial. For signing up we received a free DVD with lots of great information on how to use the site and easy to do at home experiments to help get your feet wet into the Supercharged Science way.
The Site set up hits many different learning styles. In each unit she includes an article of text, a instructional video with step by step experiment, and a pdf file of downloable printable textbook and lesson plan materials.
Although my 7yr old and I thoroughly enjoyed our Supercharged Science experience I have to say that I think that a middle school or high school level child would gain the most benefit from the program.
Even if you are not able to sign up for a membership at this time don't forget to sign up for the free weekly newsletters chalked full of great information and sometimes a heads up on a free presentation of webcourse offer.
As far as worldview from what I can gather from the one live class that we took and the experiment videos and articles I cannot see an overtly creationist nor darwinistic worldview. She seems to be just shooting straight science. But do not quote me on that please call and ask yourself if you have a particular worldview that you want to make sure the curriculum would be a good fit for.
I know it has been months since I have updated my blog here. But really I have been adjusting to life as a new mother of 4. Now that baby boy is almost 6 months now I feel like I am back in the swing of things. He is a very good baby its just that I have had a harder time getting my routine back then I have with previous births. His temperment has help the adjustment though. I can say he is more of an arm baby than the others were. But you know what I notice is that he seems to be more secure than the others as well. I really wonder if wearing him and holding him and not letting him cry it out has anything to do with it. lol!
Well anywho I wanted to just give a couple updates on how homeschooling has been going this year. We have has some curriculum changes and I am still trying to get my schedule to run smoothly. I have wrote our a schedule based off tips I got our of Managers of Their Homes by the Maxwell's. I am going to try to give a review of that when I get a sec. It was a good tool. I also recently bought Large Family Logistics last week for my birthday so once I get that one read I will give my take on that one as well.
I can say that even though this year has been full changes and adjustments the children still seem to be thriving academically. It goes to show that no matter how we may feel we are not doing enough or doing it right the children will still learn. Learning is happening all the time. Education is not exclusively held in textbooks and workbooks. Having all that being said. I am going to post some pics for schooling moments this school year thus far.
I got this link today in one of the many homeschool newsletters that come in my inbox and thought I would share this with everyone. There are two speakers on the roster that I always enjoy and that is Doug Philips from Vision Forum and Andrew Pudewa from IEW(Institute for Excellence in Writing). Here is a brief discription of what this webinar series will cover.
5 Christian Leaders. 5 Exclusive Webinars. One Mission: Leadership Homeschool families know a little something about high expectations. One of the biggest expectations is that your homeschooled children become leaders and culture influencers. Talk about pressure.
But what does true leadership look like? And is there a difference between being in leadership and being an influencer who can lead? A person cannot lead if nobody is willing to follow.
For the first time ever, Doug Phillips, along with trusted Christian leaders like Chuck Bentley (Crown Financial Ministries), Dr. Jeff Myers (Passing the Baton & Summit Ministries), and others, will converge to present a powerful and focused series on children and leadership, from a homeschool perspective.
This webinar series will give these leaders, who understand homeschooling, a platform to cast a vision for what it means to be one who leads. And to give you deep insights, and practical, real-world action steps you can use to lead your children to become people who lead in thought, character and action.
The first webinar, in this series of five, is with Doug Phillips. Doug’s webinar is on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. When you register now, you will get free access to all five webinars in the series.
Space is extremely limited and will fill up fast.
Your time is valuable, and you want the very best for your children. So, if seeing your children emerge from high school or college with the skills and competencies to lead and dynamically impact the culture is your desire, don't miss this unique opportunity.
I have decided to particpate in Classic Housewife's Monday Blog Carnival for Back to Homeschool.
The particpants will be sharing curriculum advice, organizing ideas, record keeping tips, etc...
As you guys know I have already done some of those things in the past few weeks so I will just continue to add tips and info to help get folks ready for this coming year. If you get a chance take a hop over to the link and add your own blog if you have something to share as well.
After homeschooling for a few years now I notice that I am no longer being hit with the socialization questions anymore. The focus is now on how much of a "Supermom" I am for taking on all that responsibility. So many moms like to say how they could never do what I do cause they are not "Supermom" like me. They tell me how they struggle with what they think are the smallest of task like potty training or cooking meals and they somehow think I have never been where they have been and I have it all together. My response to this is are you kidding me. I am a real life mom I don't play one on T.V. Every mom has her struggles. What I really think folks neglect to realize is that every mom has there strengths as well. We really need to to as women and mothers stop comparing ourselves to others cause the area that I am blessed in might not be the area you are blessed in. But you know what we are all blessed and we can all be a blessing to our husbands and children.
I am a big believer in playing to ones strengths. I am a very analytical thinker and I am good at planning and creating structure. So I have been able to bless our homeschool with this gift to help us reach our goals. But at the same time I struggle with clutter and completing household task in a timely fashion. I may be able to create a homeschool curriculum from scratch for free or make homemade bread but my laundry sits for days before I get around to putting it away. I also struggle with staying consistent with my prayer time as well. But you know that may not be my strong suite but that doesn't mean I can't learn or acquire new skills to help improve on what is already naturally there. I have some sister friends who are good in these areas where I am not and we are able to pick each others brains and lift each other up in encouragement.
I think we all have something to offer and at the same time we need to realize its never too late to learn either. "Supermom" is a myth. Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny we have to let go.
So I was able to get another used curriculum sale this past week at a local church. I love when I get around to a sale ran by a church that supports its homeschool ministry cause you can find so much great and popular curriculum and low prices. So I just wanted to share with you what I found. I was getting things on my curriculum list that I talked about in other post this year.I was staying withing the boundaries of what I actually needed which felt good. I did find some things that were not exactly what I planned on using but turned out to be a blessing in the end. So a tip is if budget is your decision maker with curriculum shopping always be prepared to substitute an item for something else to save on price. I also go for things that are non consumable verses consumable so I won't have to buy new pieces to it when I get ready to use it for the next child. I paid a total of $58 for items that would have been over $200 if I would have bought new and I would have had to pay the shipping.
In all for next years curriculum I have spent $154. It is my goal to keep things under $300 for all three children. This includes school supplies(which I wait for back to school sales) printer ink, and whatever else misc I have to get. I am also considering frugal clothing options for this coming year as well. I was thinking of going to the thrift stores and other outlets to get different color polo shirts for everyone and khaki pants and skirts. Its seems a little uniformish but I think in the long run if will save money and I can have the kids coordinated pretty well on field trips. You can always finds polo shirts and khakis at the thrift stores all the time and I think they go from casual to dressy pretty well.
After many a request and conversation with new and even seasoned homeschooler friends and subscribers I decided to put together some easy to follow comprehensive steps to making your own homeschool curriculum. I also took the liberty of including some instructional videos to go along with the worksheet.
Here are the:
Directions: preheat oven to 350 degrees. I mix all dry ingredients together then mix all wet ingredients and add them into the dry mix and stir thouroughly. I spread the wet granola mix onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 18- 20 minutes till mixture is dry and golden brown. Stir it a few times during baking to make sure edges dont burn.
For this recipe I double to feed my family of 5.
Variations: After mix comes out the oven I add cinnamon and raisins. You add your favorite spices and dried fruits after it comes out the oven.
With me growing up lactose intollerant and my kids being raised on dairyfree milks I was happy to start finding ways to make them myself. I mean 1 quart of the least expensive Rice or Almond Milk cost me about 1.79 each so when I found this recipe on youtube I knew I hit the jack pot. It came out right too.So I think we areo going to keep this recipe in the family book.
Latin-Song School Latin(we didn't start Latin this last school year like we thought so we are going to start with this program that got such great reviews)
So we are going to do history 3 days a week. 1st day is reading from the history encyclopedia and doing mapwork, 2nd day will be extension readings we get from the library or education videos or trips, then the 3rd day will be notebooking and lapbooking.
He will be sharing Latin, History Geography, Science, Art and Music with his older sibling so that is the same as above.
Preschooler(2yr)- girl
Her curriculum is going to be more Montessori based and focused mainly on life skills and basic letter and number recognition. I joined some great Montessori make your own Yahoo Groups as well finding some step by step instruction sights that are going to be helpful with this endeavour.
Here they are: Montessori Makers Montessori by Hand Wikisori Montessori Primary Guide
Practical Life-
Button, zip and buckle
lacing and beading
setting the table
fixing snack
cleaning up
Language Arts-
letter sounds
short vowel words
letter recognition
classical children's read aloud's w/ lapbook activities
Handwriting
Writing in rice, sand or beans
forming letters with play dough
cookie letters
cutting and pasting paper
drawing lines, circles, swiggles and zig zags
tracing letters on paper
Math
number recognition( sand paper letters)
patterns(blocks, cubes, and toys)
sequence
counting with manipulatives
abacus math
shapes
colors
Science
creation
seasons
days of the week
months of the year
animal life cycles(butterfly and frog)
sprouting seeds
animal habitats
Geography
Our World
Continents
Oceans
Countries
States
Cities
Communities
Maps
So this is the "PLAN" hopefully we follow something close to this. I have most of this stuff bought already with the exception of a few that I am waiting on Grandma to pitch in and get the rest for us. Those used curriculum sales really helped a lot.And I have a friend that helped me discovery Ebay and Half as well that might have to be the works. If I cant get the final items though there is always supplementing with my all time favorites Lesson Pathways and the Public Library.
I made this delicious soup last night on the fly. I kind of just threw some things together that I had that needed to be used in the fridge and threw the barley in to bulk it up and make it more hearty. This was my first time cooking with barley as well. I have had barley bread when I made it into a flour but I haven't gotten around to using it as a grain. It turned out pretty good. Here is what I used:
Barley Soup(vegetarian)
2 cups pearl barley(hulled)
4 medium potatoes(yukon gold)
4 carrots(diced)
1/2 onion(chopped)
2 stalks of celery(chopped)
2 cloves of garlic(minced)
vegetable broth or water enough to fill pot
2 tsp thyme(dried)
2 TSP parsley(dried)
1 TSP garlic salt
2 TSP olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes(8oz)
1 can kidney beans(8oz)
1 can chickpeas/ garbanzo beans(8oz)
salt and pepper to taste
First I take all the veggies and the fresh garlic and saute them at the bottom of the pot with the olive oil till the onions soften and they sweat a little. Then I add in the spices except for salt and pepper(save that for last). Then I add in the tomatoes, and beans and add the stock or water. Let it come to a boil and add the barley. I then covered the pot and simmered on medium low till the barley expand and all the veggies soften. Then I sprinkled in some salt and pepper to taste. I used a large pot so its enough soup for my family of 5 for 2 days.
I also served it with cornbread.
Cornbread
1 1/2 cup cornmeal( fresh mill popcorn makes cornmeal in the wondermill)
1 cup flour( used hard red but any all purpose will work)
1 TSP baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 TSP sweetener
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
I mix all dry ingredients first then mix in all the wet. I take the butter and put in the cornbread pan to melt in the oven. I then take and pour the melted butter in the rest of the batter and then put the mix into my pan. I bake on 400 degrees for about 15- 20 minutes.
