Project-Based Homeschooling - Book 41

I kept hearing about this great new homeschooling book.  I guess it has been out for a while so really it is just new to me.  Anyway, I downloaded it on my kindle and read it this week.  It is a very inspiring approach to homeschooling or actually any kind of learning - you could do this after school too.  I am vaguely familiar with the Reggio-Emilia schools in Italy having read a few articles about them years ago, but I really didn't have a very concrete understanding of the method.

Project-based learning is a nice middle ground between the natural kind of work that, say Montessori, noticed children gravitating to with the idea that children learn best by following their own interests and also that play is the child's work.  The author, Lori Pickert talks about how it is best to establish the project-based method early in the child's life when they naturally work like this.  For instance, a child becomes fascinated with dinosaurs - they want to read about them, watch movies about them, draw pictures of them, visit museums, make little clay figures of them, create dioramas, etc.  This is project-based learning. The adult is there to provide the resources, guide the child to make things a little more cohesive, the learning a little deeper, to help the child when he gets frustrated, when he needs help with writing or other aspects of project creating.  The child decides what project to work on and goes along until the steam naturally runs out.

I loved, loved, loved the ideas behind this book.  I especially love the way the author is so very thorough and real about how to approach children so as not to interfere or condescend but to be truly helpful and respectful with the child in charge.  She really articulates how to proceed through (to me!) this minefield of relationship building. She is very practical, even telling you how to phrase questions and what concrete things you can do to assist but not take over.

So I found this book very inspiring and I feel almost wistful about the fact that my youngest kids are 13 and 15.  I would have appreciated this book at the beginning of my homeschooling career.  That said, I don't know if this approach would have completely worked.  I found in the early years of homeschooling my kids resented me making whatever their current interests too 'educational.'  Also, they often didn't want to draw or write things out about whatever interested them.  The research part was great and the talking about it constantly certainly happened, and they would create some product in terms of art, though not always.  Maybe if I knew how to approach things better, using the language and attitude, that Ms. Pickert counsels, things would have taken off, but I don't know about that.  My kids are prickly and I felt it was respecting their territory to let them pursue their own interests in their own ways.

Project-based learning can be introduced to older children and even adults can pursue it.  This website/blog is the place to go to find out more.  There is even a forum where you can ask questions and discuss different issues that may come up.  I just joined and have asked a couple questions myself, though again, I just don't know if this approach is going to take off with us or not.

I found this book a very valuable read and anyone interested in education, not just homeschooling, would benefit by reading it.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Relaxed Writing - Written Expression

I feel the least confident in talking about this subject.  I don't know exactly how my kids learned to write.  I can say that 4 out of 5 are soundly competent to very good writers.  One of them, my middle son, just didn't get the writing gene, not that he can't put an intelligent sentence together if he needs to.  He just really hates having to do it.

I suspect for the others though, the main influences were:

• Listening to and reading lots and lots of good and great literature
• Doing lots of copy work over the years - including quotes from the likes of Dickens, Shakespeare, the Bible, etc.
• Occasional writing that would just come up, for instance, to earn merit badges in Scouts or patches in Little Flowers or American Heritage Girls, for projects in 4-H, for science fairs, in things expected of them in co-ops and clubs, in wanting to write a letter now and then, or writing an occasional poem or skit or short story.
• In high school course work at some point, they'd be required to write essays, exam answers or papers.  They took a lot of outside classes given in the homeschool community.  I do want each child to write at least one paper before they go off to college (if that is what they are going to do).

Many, many writing programs tanked at our house.  The three that actually worked for us (and remember your mileage may vary, meaning you need to find what works for YOU!) are:

• Four Square Writing - I learned about this by browsing at a local teacher store (which has since closed - sob!) and became intrigued.  Here's the book that hooked me.  I think with the younger four kids, I did one or two short units with them around 4th or 5th grade.  I'd just spend about 4 or 6 weeks on it, usually in the winter when there wasn't as much going on or everybody sick all the time anyway so we couldn't get out!  
• Writing with Ease - I used this with my younger two kids for one year.  We really enjoyed it.  I was only half-hearted with my youngest daughter, but my son really took to it.  I loved the way it was set up, the way it didn't dumb anything down but was clear and accessible to the child.  I loved that it provided us with copy work!  I didn't care about the levels, I looked at the samples and got the books that I thought suited my late blooming kids.  Unfortunately, what broke up our love affair was that I decided to join a co-op that used a different writing program.  We would up staying with that co-op for three years so we just never got back to Writing with Ease or the later program - Writing with Skill.  
• WriteGuide - this is an online tutoring program that I've used so far with every child at some point in high school.  I really have trouble critiquing my own children's work.  I am either overly impressed and think they are brilliant or I notice every single little thing wrong with it and am overly critical.  I can't seem to get a happy medium.  Enter Writeguide.  They do it for you, but you can adapt the program to suit whatever it is your student wants.  Plus, they are Catholic!  

I have also used IEW - that was the program the co-op used the first three years (when my daughter was in 4th - 6th grades).  I sometimes was the substitute teacher for writing at the co-op so I came to appreciate its merits.  However, I never would have done that program by myself at home.  It just is too teacher intensive and there is too steep of a learning curve for the teacher.  You have to adapt a whole paradigm and vocabulary for it and sometimes I really disagreed with their approach.  It assumes kids have absolutely no writing ability to begin with.  Some kids are blank slates and need coaching from point zero to get anywhere.  But most don't.  So the program could feel confining and frustrating.  And I absolutely detested their model paragraphs which are dumbed down terribly.

Last year I taught the Lost Tools of Writing.  I came to appreciate it too, very much, but I also don't see it as a complete writing program but as more of a critical thinking and rhetorical program.   It has its flaws too, in my opinion, much like IEW.   I deeply, deeply love the Circe Institute though, so I feel bad saying anything negative at all about their writing program.  So I just want to reiterate that it has some very valuable merits to it as well and it might just be the program for you.

Other people seem to really like Brave Writer - this is a program that relaxed/unschoolers really seem to appreciate.  I bought the original book many years ago and it was just too loosey-goosey for me. But Julie Bogart is a wealth of wisdom for the relaxed homeschooling lifestyle - so I think it is my problem and not her program's.  She has highly popular on line writing classes. 

One problem I have with writing curriculum is that I think it often pushes kids to write before they are ready.  Writing is a complex skill - more complex than reading and I think it is most important to give kids a rich environment of language through books and copy work and then wait until they are older - junior high or high school age - to really get down to the nitty gritty of how to write effectively.  

We, in my family, are not especially attracted to creative writing.  I don't think any of us dream of being authors when we grow up.  We have tried NaNoWriMo several times but for us it is just a fun exercise - none of us has ever even finished it, though we still felt the merit in trying it.  My kids have gone through phases of poetry writing, short story writing, creating cartoons and writing captions, etc.  It isn't that they don't sometimes enjoy creative writing, but it isn't an abiding passion, just more of an exploratory impulse, as they go through various phases of their learning life.

Anyway, as you can see, we've been fairly piecemeal in our approach to writing.  And frankly, I don't see the need to be more than that.  

Relaxed Writing - Penmanship/handwriting

Writing has been a struggle for us - the handwriting aspect of it.  We have one son who was officially diagnosed as dysgraphic and the others all have a touch of it too.  Penmanship is hard work for them.  Your children might be naturals with it, so take everything I post here with a grain of salt.  My own experience is with kids who resist picking up a pencil and really find it quite difficult.  I am always amazed when I see other children who have no problem.  In my own little anecdotal universe of my particular kids, this always has been a really tough skill to learn.

In the beginning of our homeschool journey I took the advice of some unschoolers who said kids will learn to write eventually and anyway it is not important because everyone will be typing in the future.  It will be obsolete soon, so don't bother.  I never quite bought this, because of course I knew my own kids better than they did,  but against my own instincts I decided to not focus on it.  Well,  I eventually had a 12 year old son who had the printing capabilities of a 1st grader.  Do you know how frustrating and demoralizing that is?  He went to a youth event at church and one of the activities was to write notes to the other kids.  He hid outside.  That's bad!  After a year of occupational therapy and practicing with Handwriting Without Tears he was a new person.  I mean it.  He had confidence and was happier than ever.  He made a huge leap forward in every way.  He actually starting taking outside classes at the high school level and excelled at them!

Handwriting is good for your brain.  There are many articles that talk about this.  So do your child a favor and encourage handwriting!

Some of this overlaps with learning how to read, of course, because what we are talking about is literacy.

Here are some ideas for a relaxed way to learn to write:

1)  Surround them with letters and words via books, magnetic letters or alphabet puzzles, foam letters for the bath tub, words on posters, notes, etc

2)  Get them those chubby crayons and big thick pencils to learn to write with.  Have a regular art time where they draw and color and make art.  Finger painting, writing letters in shaving cream on a table, tracing letters in sand or even in the air, all help.  Things like playing with play dough, little Montessori activities that improve the pincer finger movements also help.

3)  My reluctant writer kids preferred things like writing on whiteboards, drawing and writing with sidewalk chalk outside in the big driveway, painting pictures on an easel, writing on a chalkboard.  In general, in the early years they preferred to be standing to write.  Something about sitting at a table and having to write made it harder.

4)  After the experience with my oldest son, I got the starter kit from Handwriting Without Tears.  My youngest two loved to play with the wooden pieces and to recreate the letters on the laminated sheets.  This was floor play for them in their toddler and preschool years.

5)  Get early learning workbooks from your local Target, Walmart, or Barnes and Noble.  Doing things like dot to dots, mazes, coloring and tracing all helps with learning the coordination necessary to learn to write.

6)  Get your child outside climbing things like trees and jungle gyms.  Larger motor skills and crossing the midline in the brain help a lot with refining those finer motor skills.

7)  Write notes to your child, have your child make birthday, get well and Christmas cards for their grandparents and siblings, etc.  If they draw a little picture, you can write the words as they dictate, if they are reluctant to write at first.  Later, you can write the words lightly and have them trace them.  Eventually, they will write it out themselves.

8)  We found that triangular pencils and pencil grips helped a lot with learning to hold the pencil correctly.

9)  When they are ready (ages, 5, 6, or 7) get them a nice penmanship book and teach them to print by officially following those little arrows that teach you to form letters correctly.  This part can be a struggle because often they want to form letters their way and see no problem with starting a letter from the bottom.  But it truly is easier to write legibly if you follow the directions of the folks who have studied handwriting.  This is one place where it pays to be docile rather than creative!  And docile doesn't mean being a meek doormat, its technical meaning is being open to being taught.  It comes from the latin word for teaching.

There are many penmanship programs out there.  If your child doesn't take to handwriting then Handwriting without Tears is a very good way to go.

However, frankly, I think the handwriting in HWT is ugly.  It offended our sensibilities, so after the child has got an good idea about how to form letters we switch to copy work but kept a template (really a photocopy of a model page of how to form the letters) available to refer to as the child does his copy work.

COPY WORK!

I love copy work!  Copy work is a brilliant idea I first learned from Charlotte Mason.  The idea is the child copies over a quote to practice his writing skills.  But this not only helps with penmanship, it also:  a) introduces the child to the author of the quote b) introduces the child to the idea behind the quote c) gives the child a model for how to express thoughts d) teaches the child spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation e) if the copy work is in another language, it also teaches that language.

So copy work is a little microcosm of all things literary - literature, written expression and language mechanics, plus it can be inspirational!

Over the years we have tried the following:  Memoria Press, A Reason for Writing, Seton's Handwriting for Young Catholics and Catholic Heritage Curricula's Handwriting series.  Different children preferred different styles.  My oldest son, after learning HWT for that year of therapy, decided he really didn't like it, so he chose to go with Italic handwriting.

While I think Italic is very nice, I prefer traditional cursive because I think it makes one that much more literate when it comes to reading and communicating with other people, including people from the past.

So once the kids, more or less, have the skill of forming letters well, we just copy things over.  One thing that makes it easier for a child who is resistant to all this is to have them start with copying over jokes.  Get a kids' joke book and make that the subject of their copy work.  Here's how we'd ease into it.

Get a composition book that has the dividing line for beginning writers, like this one.

Get a joke book!

Copy over the shortest jokes first, or alternatively, only copy bits of the joke over each day so that it might take three days to copy the whole thing.

Initially, have that photocopy of how to form the letters nearby to refer to.

You, the parent, either write out very lightly in your own handwriting or dot it out and have your child trace over the words.

After the child has grown confident with that approach, switch to writing out the copy work on the top part of the page and have the child copy your writing on the bottom part of the page.

Finally, have the child copy directly from the book.

So for us ages 5, 6, 7 would be me dotting out what I wanted them to trace (if they weren't still working in a penmanship book)

Ages 8, 9 and 10 - copying below what I had written above.

10 and up - copying directly from another book.

If I had an eager preschooler who wanted to join in the fun, I'd get one of those composition books that has space for drawings too.  The younger one would draw a picture while their older siblings copied words, and then I would write a caption at the bottom of the picture, dictated to me by my preschooler.

Another big question here is how to get the child to do all this writing without a huge fuss.  Here's how we settled that problem (eventually!):

1)  Make it a short session - 5 to 10 minutes.  Put on a timer and just do as much as you can.  Even if the child is resisting, just stop when the timer goes off.  After a few days it will dawn on your child that it really isn't a long time and they can handle it.  Stay calm.  You can stay calm for 5 to 10 minutes, can't you?  For older kids, make it 15 minutes.

2)  Do it regularly within a routine, so the child knows exactly what to expect.

3)  As much as is possible let the child choose the penmanship book or the copy work material.  Jokes, favorite songs, favorite books all make good copy work for the reluctant.  After a while my kids didn't care about choosing their own copy work, but were happy with me providing it for them.  I liked to have a theme for each day.  For instance it might be:  Monday - Latin, Tuesday - scripture, Wednesday - quote from famous author, Thursday - quote from a famous saint.  Right now I take our quotes in Latin from this fabulous website, BestLatin.  I am taking a lot of quotes from Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric - we are learning rhetorical devices as we copy.  Keep in mind my current students are 15 and 13 years old.  I also take a lot of quotes from saints and scripture - usually ones that show up in my facebook page!

4)  Sit with them and practice your own handwriting and create your own copy work notebook, right alongside them.  Model for them what you want them to do.

5)  I had a couple of kids who always grumbled about copy work.  I blithely ignored them and kept on cheerily insisting.  They each resisted for the better part of a year.  At the end of that year, I found one child thumbing through his completed copy book (we used Memoria Press for him that year) saying things like:  Look how bad my writing was at the beginning of the book and now look how good it is!  He derived great satisfaction from seeing his own progress.  I still have that book even though he is 15 and that was a good 8 years ago.  My other grumbler went off to college and came home to thank me for insisting she learn cursive.  Some of the professors would not allow laptops in their classes and she found she was quite capable of taking fast, legible notes.

As the kids get older, they may become interested in the idea of a commonplace book.  This is an old fashion idea of collecting one's favorite quotes.

Because my kids regress so very quickly in handwriting if they don't do it consistently, we practice writing well into the high school years.

Finally, people often wrestle with the burning issue of whether they should start cursive early or not.  I can see advantages to this, but for my kids it would not have worked.  They were late readers and they needed extra time to get familiar with the printed word.  Once they were accomplished in writing in that, we moved on to cursive.  My oldest daughter still writes in cursive.  The two oldest boys have both reverted back to printing, but they can read cursive and they can sign their names, though the oldest does it in Italic instead of standard cursive.

Relaxed Math - Curricula that suits

People who are relaxed or unschoolish in their approach to learning math often still like to employ curricula at times simply because math is methodical and builds upon itself, so the very nature of it lends itself to systematic learning.  But some math curricula are easier to embrace and use in a relaxed way.  Some curricula that relaxed people have liked:

Miquon Math - these are simple workbooks that use cuisinaire rods to think and solve problems.  Child-friendly but it can take a bit to wrap your mind around it as the parent, if you are not math inclined.

Key To curricula - these slight, non-intimidating workbooks are self-teaching and were initially intended for remediating students, but they are a fine introduction as well.  Might be best for those who need a lot of repetition.

Math U See - this one is a favorite for unschooler types.  You watch Mr. Demme the math teacher who is casual and funny, explain something on the video lesson, then you play with the manipulatives that come with the package while solving a few problems in the very simple workbooks.  Very gradual and incremental in the way he teaches.  Very, very gentle.  My kids couldn't stand how slow everything went though.  They got the concepts right away but needed more help being careful with computation.

Life of Fred - people just love this series of light-hearted, clever books that teach math concepts.  My youngest daughter read all of the elementary level ones but I didn't make her work the problems.  If you do have your kids do the problems, well, they'll be that much better at accuracy.

Shiller Math - this is a teacher friendly, Montessori approach to math.  It require very little prep (unlike Right Start the other Montessori-like math program out there)  I did this off and on with my youngest daughter.  It is a good program, I just can't do consistent math when the kids are younger.  I don't see the need to push it, so I just don't!

Khan Academy - this is a wonderful resource - it's free and provides lots of practice.  Sal Kahn has blessed the world with this project of his!

If you are like me and don't see the need for formal math before 7th grade or so, here is a fairly new program that you might like:

Learn Math Fast - a succinct, clear and cleverly done math program that gets an older student up to speed and doing Algebra in just a few months.  Really well done!

Saxon Math - I am going to put in a plug for Saxon.  We really like it here.  It has so much review at the beginning of each level that you can start your 7th grader in the 8/7 book and teach them Algebra in 8th grade.  That is, if your kid has been exposed to math through books, fun problems and games and encountering math in real life.

Math It - I used this clever method to teach multiplication along with Schoolhouse Rocks Multiplication Rock and having the kids do a multiplication chart

I liked to have a couple of MCP math Teacher's Manuals around and sometimes I had the workbooks too.  I used the TM's to do oral math problems and puzzles with the kids over breakfast or lunch (it was fun!) and I also used the TMs to show me how to teach things like carrying/borrowing or as they call it now but I can never get in the habit of saying - regrouping.  I like the way they present long division in the 4th grade text.  I would do this in little direct lessons I would give the kids for a week or two.  Later when I read the Thomas Jefferson Education materials they called this kind of thing 'mom school.''  That's when mom notices a kids might need to learn something, so they give them a little lesson on whatever it is.  it might be how to do laundry, how to address a letter, or how to do double digit multiplication.  I never did the MCP workbooks in a systematic way.  Sometimes we'd just do the pages for fun or to keep someone occupied; often I used them as preparation for end of year testing.  We jump around a lot and maybe never did more than 1/4 to 1/3 of each of the books.  I did like the end of chapter tests to create problems to put up on the whiteboard or to teach the kids how to fill in those stupid bubbles for their standardized multiple choices questions.

Finally, I can't let a post on math end without referring you to the wonderful website, Living Math.

Relaxed Math - Part 1 - Picture books and toys

Here are some picture books or beginning reader books that we used to learn about math:

Ten Apples Up On Top by Theo LeSieg

Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang

Ten Minutes to Bedtime by Peggy Rathman

One was Johnny by Maurice Sendak

Best Counting Book Ever (or some such variation - the important thing is:  a counting book by Richard Scarry!)

One, Two, Three by Sandra Boynton

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Zin, Zin, Zin a Violin by Lloyd Moss

Let's Count by Tana Hoban

1 is One by Tasha Tudor

Hanukkah; a Counting Book by Emily Sper (or some counting book that featured counting candles)

And numerous other ones that we got from the library.

Some other pictures books that addressed more complex counting or basic arithmetic problems:

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew by Dr. Seuss

Sea Squares by Joy Hulme

Anno's Counting Book

Roman Numerals I to MM: Numerabilia Romana Uno ad Dua Milia by Arthur Geisert

Even Steven and Odd Todd (Hello Math Reader)

Benjamin Franklin and the Magic Squares (Step Into Reading)

12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam

Arithme-tickle by J. Patrick Lewis

Grapes of Math by Greg Tang

One Hundred Hungry Ants by Pinczes Elinor J./MacKain, Bonnie

How Much is a Million?  by David M. Schwartz

G is for Google' a Math Alphabet book by David M. Schwartz

The History of Counting

Mathematicians are People, Too (Vol. 1 and 2) (some of these stories are a little anti-Catholic and loose with historical facts)

I Hate Mathematics by Marilyn Burns (anything is good by her!)

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

In addition to these, there are many others that we got out of the library, but never purchased.

My kids also enjoyed the Kumon early learning books as well as other dot to dot, coloring and maze books.

Other ways to introduce numbers:

Foam numbers and letters in the bath tub

Bath crayons for writing on the sides of the tub

Magnetic numbers and letters for the fridge door

Wooden number puzzles

Wooden clock/shapes puzzle (this one is great!)

A toy balance scale that really works

A bathroom scale

A food scale (like weight watchers)

A spring scale

A measuring tape that is safe for the kids to play with

A ruler that shows inches and centimeters

Measuring spoons and cups the kids can play with

Pattern blocks

Wooden puzzle of geometric shapes

Craft sticks (can be bundled into groups of ten, 100 to show place value - also useful for teaching multiplication)

And, of course, pennies!

Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. - Book 40

I was inspired to read this book after reading a biography of C.S. Lewis.  The author of that book alluded to this book as a way to explain the shabby home style that Lewis had - apparently Irish gentry lived in old houses and castles that were falling apart and they kind of put the lace tableclothes and nice tea things out anyway, and disregarded the way the house was falling down around them.

I remembered that there used to be a PBS TV show a long time ago called The Irish R.M.  I had never watched though.  So anyway I downloaded this on my beloved Kindle and had a thoroughly enjoyable read!

The authors, Somerville and Ross, are two women who were second cousins.  They wrote many popular stories.  Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. was published in 1899.

This book is basically a collection of funny episodes of the life of Major Sinclair Yeates.  He's decided he's never going to advance further in the army, so he takes a job as a resident magistrate (lower court judge basically) in Ireland so that he can save up money and marry his beloved Phillipa.  He is a rather diffident, careful man, not at all confident in himself.  The colorful and conniving Irish native characters whom he meets keep things very lively, starting with his cook Mrs. Cadogen and her simple nephew Peter and his slightly crazy, horse-obsessed landlord Flurry Knox who is always working a sly deal of some sort.

The shenanigans are all in good fun (mostly - there is a murder too!) and Major Yeates is often the butt of the joke.  There is a lot of horseback riding, fox hunting and racing; a lot of drinking and fighting too.  And rain.  It rains a lot in Ireland.

Anyway, the whole book is just delightful.  If you want a light, clean, well written, old-fashioned read, this is it!

By the way, I watched the first four episodes of The Irish R.M. on youtube.  The shows are well done but they have mixed up and changed somewhat the various scrapes Major Yeates gets into. Also the show felt a bit slower than the book, but still it is pleasingly entertaining.  I now want to get the whole series to watch.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Meal planning for fall.

Every academic year I get into ( or try to) a new groove for when I plan to  shop, meal plan and clean out the fridge (that last one is a bit idealistic!) according to our new schedule of classes and other outside obligations.  This year it is Thursdays and so far I am really liking it.

On Wednesdays I am supposed to clean out fridge.   I also pick up our CSA haul.  Wed. night is pizza night.

On Thursdays I pick up S from his Lit. Class, we go to daily mass, then eat lunch somewhere and finally wind up at TJ's to do weekly shopping.

While at lunch I plan meals.

This week:

Thurs. - fish tacos and corn on the cob

Fri. - Mac and cheese and fruit salad

Sat. - lasagna, salad and garlic bread

Sun. -  Rick grills or we get carry out.

Mon.  Either peanut butter noodles or just veggie fried rice, plus veggie crudites
Tues - may depend on weather;  potato cheese soup if cool/ rainy or maybe some Alfredo with salad.

Wed - pizza!

Don't laugh but I am trying out being a pescetarian.  I am trying to be a vegetarian that eats fish too.  I don't feel that I can completely drag the rest of the family along with me so some meals, I will offer meat but won't eat it myself.  For ex. Tonight, those that choose can have chicken tacos.   The lasagna for Sat. is a frozen one from TJ.  But I got small mushroom one for me.

Anyway, this is the third week of doing things this way and I am pretty satisfied so far.

Jack; A Life of C.S. Lewis - Book 39

To continue my little C.S. Lewis jag, I read this excellent biography by his friend and colleague, George Sayer.  I saw that this book was on sale one day for $1.99 on the Kindle so I got it.  A very worthwhile read that really clarified a lot of things for me about Lewis.  Sayer was the head of the English department of one of the Oxford colleges and his writing style is warm and interesting.  He really knew Jack and addresses a lot of stories or rumors that sprang up about Lewis.  He knew Lewis' wife too and gives a wonderful account of their marriage.  I cried when Lewis died.  Sayer lost a good, good friend.

If you are interested in C.S. Lewis, this is a great book to read about him.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Week in Review 9/15/14

We are finishing our second week of being full swing into the academic year.  These first few weeks are always a bit of a strain, trying to get accustomed to new patterns and new work loads.

Organizationally, I am trying something new.  I got Sean and Becky each a clip board.  I made up a simple sheet that has six blocks on it with the name of each subject they are studying at the top of each block and one labeled 'other'.  At the top of the sheet is a place for the date.  At the beginning of the week we figure out what needs to be done each day and write it in the corresponding blocks.  That means each morning they can look at their sheet of paper for that day and know what needs to be done.  Things were just so scattered before.  The math tutor would write her assignments on sticky notes and stick them in the math books.  The physics homework comes in email.  The history and literature for Sean comes in a syllabus that gets modified via email as we go along, then there is me trying to get Latin and grammar in as well as read alouds.  Now I only started this system this past Tuesday but it worked well this week.  The weak link is if we just never get around to actually filling out the sheets so I hope to avoid slacking off.  I think this will help Sean especially as he hates to have things hanging over his head, so now he can easily see what needs to be done.  Today his plan is to finish everything by 1 pm so he can spend the rest of the day watching something live streaming about the new Super Smash Brothers which he is currently mightily fixated on.

We've continued to have morning prayer in the living room.  The kids lie on the couches and I read the Morning Offering, the gospel of the day, a Psalm from morning lauds, we then listen to an short audio about the saint of the day and end with a Memorare.

Then I get a small breakfast ready and something to drink (coffee, apple cider, oj, water or chocolate milk - changes every day).  They munch for a few minutes and then do their copy work.  Copy work has been going well.

So that has been really nice.  We've doing this more or less for almost 4 weeks and I think the rhythm is starting to form a groove.

Sean has had a rough start to Physics but we are working hard with him.  I think both Rick and I are really going to know our Physics by the end of all this.

The homework for literature and history has been overwhelming, so we need to pace that a little better.  Sean has been enjoying listening to The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin on audio.

Latin has been hit or miss with Sean.  Still trying to get traction there.

We've dabbled a couple of times in grammar using an old edition of Voyages in English 8.  I need to find a regular time to work from that though.

Our LPH courses started up this week.  I tried to get Sean to do a little bit of gentle Greek grammar (which is really meant for elementary school students).  He balked but did it anyway.  But he thinks I am crazy for adding that on as he already feels overwhelmed.

For Becky things are starting to smooth out somewhat as well, but we are no where near establishing solid habits.

We've given up on the Kolbe on line class.  I just didn't think it would work for us.  The math tutor says she'll teach Becky.   Since Becky has never done formal science before I really wanted her to do this particular course this year to prepare her in the event she goes to that all girls high school next year.  She started the class and read the first two chapters and she did some of the homework.

On Tuesdays when Sean is at his Physics class, Becky and I will work on Confirmation prep/religious award stuff and I am also reading to her from This Country of Ours for history.

On Thursdays when Sean is at history and lit, Becky and I are watching historical videos (right now it is Exploring America's Musical Heritage) reading from Famous Men of Modern Times, and working on her geography course from LPH.  While I am driving Sean to class, she is responsible for researching and writing a short blurb about the 'date of the week.'  We started with 1492 for this week.

I've been more consistent with Latin for Becky, mostly because we are just started with the beginning and 'doing' the next thing.  Plus Becky kind of enjoys it, I can tell.  Sean, although he has enjoyed Latin in the past, is too overwhelmed with other stuff and I am too disorganized about it which bothers him.

I haven't read The Scarlet Letter at all to Sean this week.  Ugh  Just never got to it.  And I've only read to Becky once or twice from Shadows on the Rock.

But anyway, I do think things have gone pretty well this week.

Did I Mention This

I am blogging my way through A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin by John F. Collins.

Here's the link:  Primerecclesiasticallatin

The Boys in the Boat - Book 38

I have really been reading so many books set in the first half of the 20th Century.  This week's book was The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown.   He tells the true story of the University of Washington's Crew team and their triumph at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.  Just a few books ago I read about another 1936 Olympian, Louis Zamperini. in the book Unbroken.  And in fact he is mentioned once in this book when the American Olympic hopefuls are crossing the sea in an ocean liner on their way to Germany.

The story is told mostly through the character of Joe Rantz.  Rantz was living with his daughter in his old age and the author happened to be a neighbor.  He began chatting with Rantz and became fascinated with his story.  Joe was born poor and had a very rough childhood, but he had smarts, determination and natural athleticism.  He made it onto the University of Washington crew team at a time when crew was a hugely popular sport.  The book details the whole story of how the team and its coaches and boat builder, a fascinating cast of characters, made it to the Olympics.

This book was just wonderful.  The writing is smooth and immerses you in the world of crew, which I personally had absolutely no clue about, before this.  The pacing, the character development, the interweaving of what was going on with the boys at UW and what was going on in Germany with Hitler, is done in a seamless way.  There is no part of the story that ever drags or gets dry.  The author is just pitch perfect throughout, in the way he presents the people, the circumstances, the feel of the times, the rivalries, everything.  It is a riveting account.  I was excited to find out that they are making a movie out of it.  Kenneth Branagh is directing!  And the same folks that produced The King's Speech bought the rights.  I hope they do a good job with it.

I highly recommend this book!  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

The Preventative System of St. John Bosco

St. John Bosco developed the Preventative System of discipline for his schools.  Here is a link to a compilation of his own words of advice to his Salesian educators who ran his schools.

I am sticking this here for future reference.