Hannah, our newly married daughter, is getting a masters in education. Very luckily, she got a long term substitute position teaching 7th and 8th social studies this semester. This job can also double as her student-teaching experience. In fact, today she begins something called a 'takeover' which sounds vaguely business-ish and hostile! But anyway, she has to take a turn leading her team of teachers in history. She's had to develop lesson plans on World War I which is the next topic they need to cover. It has been fun talking about education with her. Since she was homeschooled from 2nd grade through 12th, she's got a very different viewpoint on the whole public education system. She finds the kids so interesting - it is a real mix of races, immigrants and non-immigrant, subsidized housing kids and middle class kids, plus kids this age are inherently interesting as they are on the cusp of adolescence. Interesting meaning complicated!
In one of her classes she was taught the acronym L.E.A.R.N. This is the structure a unit takes when developing a teaching plan. She really likes presenting things this way.
L. stands for 'link' - you connect the subject matter you are about to teach with something the kids already know; either something they just learned or something else going on that puts the subject matter in context.
E. stands for 'engage' - here you try to engage the students in learning the subject. Hannah said this really is when you present the content of what you want them to learn. You can do this many ways, power point, video, you could just lecture but that is frowned upon. Gotta use technology somehow! Of course Hannah (like me) really thinks there is nothing better than a lively, well presented lecture for learning stuff, but that is not how public schools roll.
A. stands for 'activity' - the kids then do some kind of activity to reinforce and demonstrate that they actually learned the material.
R. - stands for 'review or reflect' - somehow you come up with a way to review the material or to reflect upon its content. She says one fun way to do this is ask questions to the class - when a student answers correctly they can line up to leave the class. This way the teacher can get a good idea of who has been listening and who hasn't.
N. - stands for 'next' - you always let the student know, not only what the next thing on the agenda is but also to remind them of any upcoming things like quizzes, projects, etc.
Another thing she was saying was that she's noticed that open ended assignments are always more engaging to the students. They are better behaved, seem more involved and seem to retain the information better. She said they had just taught about the Spanish American war. But instead of doing multiple choice or something more structured in trying to assess how much the kids took in; they just gave them poster board, markers, paper, material to make a 'prezi' which is making their own power point multimedia presentation. The teachers just told the kids: ok, we just learned about the Spanish American War - we want you to show us how much you remember. You can make a poster, a book, a prezi; you can work by yourself or work in groups of 2 or 3, but at the end of class we just want to see what you've come up with. Hannah said the class worked away, she was amazed at how well they did with no discipline issues at all.
Hannah tells all kinds of stories about the different students. These are fascinating glimpses into humanity! I guess we kind of take a bird's eye view or a rather anthropological view of things. Hannah wants to adopt the Honduran refugee kids. She says they are the worst, like little hardened criminals because of course they've had horrible lives so far. But she says, they just need her to straighten them up! LOL. She's sure she'd know how to give them just the right amount of discipline and love.
I was a little worried about Hannah's happiness in deciding to go into teaching. She originally wanted to go to law school. And she had expressed numerous doubts when she began her master's program, especially as she really has opposing views, very different from the mainstream take on education. But she really is getting into this teaching gig! It is very heartening to see.
Last night we went out to dinner with Hannah and Peter to celebrate Peter's new job. He got a permanent job as a legal researcher at Westlaw. He's been working part time at Starbucks for two years, doing lots of temporary legal work and also going to school at night for a paralegal certificate. Now he's got a permanent paralegal job, so that is really good. He was getting discouraged. He's gone to lots of job interviews. We are so happy things are looking up!
Monday, February 9, 2015
Saturday, February 7, 2015
The House of Seven Gables - Book 6
I finally read The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I found it very enjoyable.
My first introduction to Hawthorne was in 9th grade and reading Young Goodman Brown, a short story in our Norton's Anthology. I remember not understanding it one bit. I thought Hawthorne was needlessly obscure and did not like the strange atmosphere of romantic-mysticism. Ugh, I thought. I'll avoid him! And for some reason I was not required to read The Scarlet Letter ever, as some people were in either high school or college. So I didn't think of him again until I started homeschooling and would see his A Wonder Book or Tanglewood Tales listed as classics to read aloud to children. One day while looking through books at a thrift store I found a copy of Tanglewood Tales and that spring I read it out loud to the kids on our brand new screen porch. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Hawthorne's writing style. What a different impression from my memories of my high school encounter! So, encouraged, I got a used copy of A Wonder Book and enjoyed that too.
Finally, when homeschooling my oldest kids when they were in 12th and 11th grade and studying American literature, I decided we should bite the bullet and read The Scarlet Letter. So I read it for the first time right along with them. And I loved it! It was so subtle in its exploration of human feeling and deep in its contemplation of human sin and goodness, I really appreciated why Hawthorne has such a high reputation. Ever since then I've wanted to read The House of Seven Gables. Additionally, we visited Salem, Mass. a few years ago and saw (but didn't go in) the house that supposedly Hawthorne based House of Seven Gables on and that made me more curious to read. Though it still took years for me to actually get around to it!
Usually in the midwinter, I get a craving to read a long, Victorian-type novel. I don't know, the winter months just lend themselves to settling down with a cup of tea and a thick, old fashioned storybook (well, actually I read this on my kindle so it wasn't literally thick!). The House of Seven Gables was my pick this year.
I really had no idea what the story was about. It was at turns quaint, charming and foreboding, bordering on gothic spookiness. Hawthorne is nothing if not wordy! It takes a long time for him to weave the story together, with lots of observations on how evil and good play out in human existence. But even when there were times when I thought Mr. Hawthorne a little long winded, he is very good at maintaining suspense. I was very happy to make acquaintance with the characters of Hepzibah and Clifford, Phoebe and Holgrove as well as some others. And I really enjoyed the peek into village life in the 1840s, for the novel is very homely and contains details about common every day life in a little New England town.
Two thumbs up! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
My first introduction to Hawthorne was in 9th grade and reading Young Goodman Brown, a short story in our Norton's Anthology. I remember not understanding it one bit. I thought Hawthorne was needlessly obscure and did not like the strange atmosphere of romantic-mysticism. Ugh, I thought. I'll avoid him! And for some reason I was not required to read The Scarlet Letter ever, as some people were in either high school or college. So I didn't think of him again until I started homeschooling and would see his A Wonder Book or Tanglewood Tales listed as classics to read aloud to children. One day while looking through books at a thrift store I found a copy of Tanglewood Tales and that spring I read it out loud to the kids on our brand new screen porch. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Hawthorne's writing style. What a different impression from my memories of my high school encounter! So, encouraged, I got a used copy of A Wonder Book and enjoyed that too.
Finally, when homeschooling my oldest kids when they were in 12th and 11th grade and studying American literature, I decided we should bite the bullet and read The Scarlet Letter. So I read it for the first time right along with them. And I loved it! It was so subtle in its exploration of human feeling and deep in its contemplation of human sin and goodness, I really appreciated why Hawthorne has such a high reputation. Ever since then I've wanted to read The House of Seven Gables. Additionally, we visited Salem, Mass. a few years ago and saw (but didn't go in) the house that supposedly Hawthorne based House of Seven Gables on and that made me more curious to read. Though it still took years for me to actually get around to it!
Usually in the midwinter, I get a craving to read a long, Victorian-type novel. I don't know, the winter months just lend themselves to settling down with a cup of tea and a thick, old fashioned storybook (well, actually I read this on my kindle so it wasn't literally thick!). The House of Seven Gables was my pick this year.
I really had no idea what the story was about. It was at turns quaint, charming and foreboding, bordering on gothic spookiness. Hawthorne is nothing if not wordy! It takes a long time for him to weave the story together, with lots of observations on how evil and good play out in human existence. But even when there were times when I thought Mr. Hawthorne a little long winded, he is very good at maintaining suspense. I was very happy to make acquaintance with the characters of Hepzibah and Clifford, Phoebe and Holgrove as well as some others. And I really enjoyed the peek into village life in the 1840s, for the novel is very homely and contains details about common every day life in a little New England town.
Two thumbs up! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Thoughts on Being Sorta Unschoolish
There's a meme going around the homeschooling world. I might not have the phrasing exactly right and I am too lazy to go look it up, but it goes something like:
I totally get that this is just snark. I get that unschoolers often feel misunderstood (because they are misunderstood!) and embattled (because people often disdain their approach) and this is just using humor as a defense mechanism. So I take it in the spirit it is given.
But I really disagree with it, actually. And this is why I will never be a card-carrying member of the unschooling tribe.
And frankly, I think John Holt himself wouldn't quite measure up to this standard either. I say that because my working definition is always Pat Farenga's definition of unschooling. Pat Farenga worked with John Holt and maintains John Holt's archives via the (now defunct) magazine Growing without Schooling. So Pat Farenga is a solid guy to go to for a definition of unschooling. A famous quote by him goes:
And probably this same parent, who allows freedom to learn in every other subject, is going to be very sensitive to the child's desires and style of learning. I bet that parent will try to make learning math fun and easy. That parent probably isn't going to be very pushy about the learning of math. But still it is a subject that is mommy or daddy initiated instead of child-initiated.
Over the years, I"ve often defined my own style as 'relaxed homeschooling' which is a mix of being unschoolish about some things and not so unschoolish about others. There are a lot of us out there! According to this meme though, people who operate like me are either a) hypocritical (because they claim to be vegans but eat chicken) or b) stupid (because they obviously don't get what 'vegan' means).
Vegan has a much clearer and more standardized definition though than 'unschooling' does and that is where the analogy falls short.
So I will cling to Farenga's definition of unschooling but I won't dare call myself an unschooler. In truth, I don't actually care about fitting anyone else's definition. I just want to be true to my own family and whatever that looks like is what it is. To me that is true freedom in learning.
And that is fine.
Saying you unschool everything but math is like saying you're a vegan except you eat chicken.Cue laughter.
I totally get that this is just snark. I get that unschoolers often feel misunderstood (because they are misunderstood!) and embattled (because people often disdain their approach) and this is just using humor as a defense mechanism. So I take it in the spirit it is given.
But I really disagree with it, actually. And this is why I will never be a card-carrying member of the unschooling tribe.
And frankly, I think John Holt himself wouldn't quite measure up to this standard either. I say that because my working definition is always Pat Farenga's definition of unschooling. Pat Farenga worked with John Holt and maintains John Holt's archives via the (now defunct) magazine Growing without Schooling. So Pat Farenga is a solid guy to go to for a definition of unschooling. A famous quote by him goes:
I define unschooling as allowing children as much freedom to learn in the world, as their parents can comfortably bear.So let's look at this meme. Say a parent gives as much freedom as they can to let their children learn in the world, except that they really think math is best learned systematically and they are too uncomfortable to leave it up to the child. Why isn't this parent still considered an unschooler? They perfectly fit the Farenga definition.
And probably this same parent, who allows freedom to learn in every other subject, is going to be very sensitive to the child's desires and style of learning. I bet that parent will try to make learning math fun and easy. That parent probably isn't going to be very pushy about the learning of math. But still it is a subject that is mommy or daddy initiated instead of child-initiated.
Over the years, I"ve often defined my own style as 'relaxed homeschooling' which is a mix of being unschoolish about some things and not so unschoolish about others. There are a lot of us out there! According to this meme though, people who operate like me are either a) hypocritical (because they claim to be vegans but eat chicken) or b) stupid (because they obviously don't get what 'vegan' means).
Vegan has a much clearer and more standardized definition though than 'unschooling' does and that is where the analogy falls short.
So I will cling to Farenga's definition of unschooling but I won't dare call myself an unschooler. In truth, I don't actually care about fitting anyone else's definition. I just want to be true to my own family and whatever that looks like is what it is. To me that is true freedom in learning.
And that is fine.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Another Day in the Life
We've been homeschooling for nearly 20 years. We have five children, three of whom have graduated. Now I am down to my 16 year old son and my 13 year old daughter. This is a long, cold dull day in January.
6:49 - woke, got out of bed, fed pets, made coffee, checked email. Darn. Physics class is cancelled due to snow. Look outside. Tiny bit of snow barely covering the grass. Wimps! Our outside activities keep getting cancelled at the slightest bit of weather out there. We are starting to get a little cabin feverish as a result.
We are looking at a long day. First of all my very lively and wonderful 22 year old son went back to college Sunday night after a long weekend visit. So he's gone and made the house feel empty. Then my husband went away on a week long business trip and made the house feel emptier. Now it is only me, my 19 year old, my 16 year old, my 13 year old, a dog, three cats and two fish tanks. Sigh.
I drink coffee and say my morning novena. This is for my sister who has breast cancer.
Then I decide to start blogging. I only ever actually publish 1/2 of the blog posts I write. It really serves as a diary for me and often I don't ever finish the posts or I decide they aren't appropriate to publish. I think I started writing at about 7:30 and looked up when it was 9: 25. Oops! Since we didn't have the Physics class at 10:00 deadline, I kind of forgot to start the day.
Got kids up. They lie on the couches in the living room and I pray at them, errr, I mean we say our morning prayers which is a morning offering, prayers from the daily reading (Word Among Us), the daily meditation and then we listen to the saint of the day. St. Angela Merici.
My 16 year old who has some anxiety/depression issues also has mild SAD. So he lies down under a full spectrum light lamp. I leave them both on their respective couches and go make oatmeal. I am very proud of the fact that I remembered to soak the oatmeal. I stir the oatmeal and then put out dishes on the table. I start to get very fancy. I warm some frozen wild blueberries, I heat some milk, I put out little bowls of almonds and walnuts and also some raisins and dried cranberries. Then I put out sugar in the raw, maple syrup and pure clover honey. It is after 10 by this time and I am hungry!
I call the kids in. Becky the 13 year old says, Mom why you are putting all this stuff out? I only ever take warm milk and sugar. She doesn't know that I was pretending I ran a bed and breakfast the whole I time I was making breakfast.
Becky and I like oatmeal and eat with hearty gusto. I put blueberries, almonds, warm milk and honey on mine. Yum. She puts milk and sugar. Sean does not like oatmeal. Too oaty, he says. I beg him to eat because if he doesn't he gets cranky (Yeah! Just like a little kid. Some things don't change!). He puts milk and sugar on too, eats three spoonful and gives up.
Next, dishes go into the sink to soak! Then we get out our copy books. I have announced this is review week. Yesterday we reviewed the first half of our copy work which we started back in September. Today, though, we are reviewing all the Latin paradigms we've written out in preparation for the National Latin Exam coming up in March.
We take turns going over declensions and conjugations. We go over quotes we have translated. When we are done it is after 11:00 a.m. I leave the two of them to quiz themselves on Latin words at quizlet and quia and I go take a shower and get dressed.
When I re-emerge both teens are no longer studying Latin. I don't really know how long they studied or if they really did. They probably did some. They are kind of motivated to do well on the NLE. I decide I really need to do some of my own laundry. I go upstairs again to retrieve the dirty clothes and then hear music emanating from downstairs.
Back down again and moving towards the laundry room, I see (and hear) Sean. He's gotten his melodica out and is playing some neat music. He sees my questioning look and explains.
He's just beaten the Mother 3 game this past weekend and he really liked the music in it. Sean has been thinking he wants to go into sound engineering/editing/music production. Right now, he's decided he is going to do a cover of some of the music, record it and send it to his older brother at college. Older brother happens to be studying music composition at Berklee College of Music. Sean is phenomenal in that he can hear music and very easily play it by ear. Not just plunking it out with one finger, as I would, but he can just sit down and play it, both hands and everything! I don't know where this talent comes from. His older brother has it too. However, older brother has a very strong work ethic and studied and practiced music constantly in order to go the music school. Sean isn't quite like that. He's still flailing around trying to figure out how to channel this talent. He spends the next three hours working away at this impromptu project of his.
Becky comes down and is hungry again. It's about 12:30. She makes herself a cup of hot cocoa. She's in a moody mood. Moody 13 year old girls are forces of nature and it is smart to have a healthy respect for them. She says, I know this is lazy but will you make me a grilled cheese. I do. Then I figure I have to feed the other two boys, Sean and his 19 year old brother who is ensconced in his bedroom (he has Mondays and Tuesdays off from his job as dishwasher at a fancy restaurant. Long story that, but he is working for a year and then deciding what to do next in his life). I search through various food repositories and come up with some frozen fish sticks. I heat them up for the boys and make myself some canned soup instead. Josh, the 19 year old, emerges to eat lunch and chat with me. I am trying to relearn math. I thought I would learn along with my kids but instead I just hired math tutors when the tougher, higher math came along. But now that I am on my last two kids I realize if I don't try to catch up with them now I never will. So, I blush as I write this, but I am working my way through the Key To workbooks. I ask Josh to check my work and we have a nice talk about factors and reciprocals and such.
Becky took her grilled cheese sandwich up to her room but said she'd be back down after she watched Good Mythical Morning. She does come back down and I read Bible Basics for Catholics to her about King David and why he is so significant in Bible history.
By this time, Sean has stopped recording music and disappeared down into the basement where there is a computer and a wii. I have gotten sleepy from reading out loud to Becky. So I excuse myself and go try to take a nap. But all I wind up doing is playing scrabble on my ipad. Then I remember I was doing laundry, so I start another load.
Becky asks if she can use my laptop for her singing practice. There's some kind of website she likes to use that helps. She spends a good hour exercising her voice and singing broadway tunes. For some reason she's doing this today in the living room. She's in good voice today.
Josh comes down and says he's got errands to run, takes the car and goes into town (just a short drive away) to do banking and such.
Sean and I have a little discussion about what kind of literature homework he has. He attends a class on Thursday mornings. We figure out what he's supposed to do and he goes off to read another chapter of A Farewell to Arms.
Becky decides to work out on the elliptical downstairs in the basement. She's very good at keeping herself busy.
It's after 5:00. I need to start dinner. I start cooking the ground turkey for a variation on shepherd's pie. Then I get an email asking about Spirit Team events for our confirmandi. Becky is getting confirmed this year and I volunteered to head the Spirit Team. We are supposed to do religiously related activities with an assigned group. It is a big headache and I doubt very much it really helps prepare any one. But at least Becky gets to attend the things I dream up. Emails go back and forth and it takes a while to get everything sorted out. So I am chatting with Becky, writing emails and cooking at the same time.
Around 7:00 dinner is finally ready. I call everyone and we sit and eat. I like it. No one else does. It's the first time I made it with ground turkey but it turns out no one likes ground turkey but me. Oh well. People fill up on tortilla chips, oranges and more hot cocoa.
8:00ish - the kids realize the math tutor is coming tomorrow at 9 a.m. and they'd better get their homework done. It takes them a while to settle down and work. First they have to have an argument over whether corn or potatoes is the more important food. Yes, this was the debate. Even Josh got in on it. They were all alternatively cracking each other up and irritating the living daylights out of each other.
9:00ish - math is done. I lasso Becky and Sean and read The Story of the Constitution out loud to them. I am trying to finish the book up this week so we can move on to the French Revolution next week.
10:00ish - I gather everyone one last time and we say our night prayers. I miss my husband. I clean the pots and pans. It has been a long day. I did some laundry and some cooking, but no other housework. I was supposed to exercise to my exercise video but I didn't. I did chat with 22 year old son up in Boston to find out about the big snowstorm going on up there. He's fine. I chatted with dh on the phone for a few minutes too. He's in warm California but he's sleepy when I talk to him. The only family member I didn't talk to is my oldest daughter, who is 24, married and working as a school teacher. Oh yeah, she must have had the day off due to snow!
11:00ish Sean comes downstairs just as I am turning out lights and getting ready to go to bed. He's hungry. He makes a salami and provolone sandwich and while waiting for the toast to pop, we chat. I ask him what he was doing the whole time he was in basement. He says, oh I was just on Reddit. He likes to get on the video game sub-Reddits and have detailed discussions that only connoisseurs of video games will understand. He tells me of a long and funny questionnaire he wrote for some discussion group. Then he wants me to listen to some more video game music he really likes. The music is wonderful - makes me think of the 1920s. Josh comes downstairs and complains that we are being loud. Oops. Everyone retires to their rooms. Hopefully, Sean will read another chapter of Farewell to Arms. I never have to worry about Becky and reading. She's always in the middle of some book. I put the dog in her crate in my room and snuggle into bed to read my own book, The House of Seven Gables. I've been wanting to read it for years and have finally gotten around to it. Who'd have thought it? Nathaniel Hawthorne can write!
Good night!
6:49 - woke, got out of bed, fed pets, made coffee, checked email. Darn. Physics class is cancelled due to snow. Look outside. Tiny bit of snow barely covering the grass. Wimps! Our outside activities keep getting cancelled at the slightest bit of weather out there. We are starting to get a little cabin feverish as a result.
We are looking at a long day. First of all my very lively and wonderful 22 year old son went back to college Sunday night after a long weekend visit. So he's gone and made the house feel empty. Then my husband went away on a week long business trip and made the house feel emptier. Now it is only me, my 19 year old, my 16 year old, my 13 year old, a dog, three cats and two fish tanks. Sigh.
I drink coffee and say my morning novena. This is for my sister who has breast cancer.
Then I decide to start blogging. I only ever actually publish 1/2 of the blog posts I write. It really serves as a diary for me and often I don't ever finish the posts or I decide they aren't appropriate to publish. I think I started writing at about 7:30 and looked up when it was 9: 25. Oops! Since we didn't have the Physics class at 10:00 deadline, I kind of forgot to start the day.
Got kids up. They lie on the couches in the living room and I pray at them, errr, I mean we say our morning prayers which is a morning offering, prayers from the daily reading (Word Among Us), the daily meditation and then we listen to the saint of the day. St. Angela Merici.
My 16 year old who has some anxiety/depression issues also has mild SAD. So he lies down under a full spectrum light lamp. I leave them both on their respective couches and go make oatmeal. I am very proud of the fact that I remembered to soak the oatmeal. I stir the oatmeal and then put out dishes on the table. I start to get very fancy. I warm some frozen wild blueberries, I heat some milk, I put out little bowls of almonds and walnuts and also some raisins and dried cranberries. Then I put out sugar in the raw, maple syrup and pure clover honey. It is after 10 by this time and I am hungry!
I call the kids in. Becky the 13 year old says, Mom why you are putting all this stuff out? I only ever take warm milk and sugar. She doesn't know that I was pretending I ran a bed and breakfast the whole I time I was making breakfast.
Becky and I like oatmeal and eat with hearty gusto. I put blueberries, almonds, warm milk and honey on mine. Yum. She puts milk and sugar. Sean does not like oatmeal. Too oaty, he says. I beg him to eat because if he doesn't he gets cranky (Yeah! Just like a little kid. Some things don't change!). He puts milk and sugar on too, eats three spoonful and gives up.
Next, dishes go into the sink to soak! Then we get out our copy books. I have announced this is review week. Yesterday we reviewed the first half of our copy work which we started back in September. Today, though, we are reviewing all the Latin paradigms we've written out in preparation for the National Latin Exam coming up in March.
We take turns going over declensions and conjugations. We go over quotes we have translated. When we are done it is after 11:00 a.m. I leave the two of them to quiz themselves on Latin words at quizlet and quia and I go take a shower and get dressed.
When I re-emerge both teens are no longer studying Latin. I don't really know how long they studied or if they really did. They probably did some. They are kind of motivated to do well on the NLE. I decide I really need to do some of my own laundry. I go upstairs again to retrieve the dirty clothes and then hear music emanating from downstairs.
Back down again and moving towards the laundry room, I see (and hear) Sean. He's gotten his melodica out and is playing some neat music. He sees my questioning look and explains.
He's just beaten the Mother 3 game this past weekend and he really liked the music in it. Sean has been thinking he wants to go into sound engineering/editing/music production. Right now, he's decided he is going to do a cover of some of the music, record it and send it to his older brother at college. Older brother happens to be studying music composition at Berklee College of Music. Sean is phenomenal in that he can hear music and very easily play it by ear. Not just plunking it out with one finger, as I would, but he can just sit down and play it, both hands and everything! I don't know where this talent comes from. His older brother has it too. However, older brother has a very strong work ethic and studied and practiced music constantly in order to go the music school. Sean isn't quite like that. He's still flailing around trying to figure out how to channel this talent. He spends the next three hours working away at this impromptu project of his.
Becky comes down and is hungry again. It's about 12:30. She makes herself a cup of hot cocoa. She's in a moody mood. Moody 13 year old girls are forces of nature and it is smart to have a healthy respect for them. She says, I know this is lazy but will you make me a grilled cheese. I do. Then I figure I have to feed the other two boys, Sean and his 19 year old brother who is ensconced in his bedroom (he has Mondays and Tuesdays off from his job as dishwasher at a fancy restaurant. Long story that, but he is working for a year and then deciding what to do next in his life). I search through various food repositories and come up with some frozen fish sticks. I heat them up for the boys and make myself some canned soup instead. Josh, the 19 year old, emerges to eat lunch and chat with me. I am trying to relearn math. I thought I would learn along with my kids but instead I just hired math tutors when the tougher, higher math came along. But now that I am on my last two kids I realize if I don't try to catch up with them now I never will. So, I blush as I write this, but I am working my way through the Key To workbooks. I ask Josh to check my work and we have a nice talk about factors and reciprocals and such.
Becky took her grilled cheese sandwich up to her room but said she'd be back down after she watched Good Mythical Morning. She does come back down and I read Bible Basics for Catholics to her about King David and why he is so significant in Bible history.
By this time, Sean has stopped recording music and disappeared down into the basement where there is a computer and a wii. I have gotten sleepy from reading out loud to Becky. So I excuse myself and go try to take a nap. But all I wind up doing is playing scrabble on my ipad. Then I remember I was doing laundry, so I start another load.
Becky asks if she can use my laptop for her singing practice. There's some kind of website she likes to use that helps. She spends a good hour exercising her voice and singing broadway tunes. For some reason she's doing this today in the living room. She's in good voice today.
Josh comes down and says he's got errands to run, takes the car and goes into town (just a short drive away) to do banking and such.
Sean and I have a little discussion about what kind of literature homework he has. He attends a class on Thursday mornings. We figure out what he's supposed to do and he goes off to read another chapter of A Farewell to Arms.
Becky decides to work out on the elliptical downstairs in the basement. She's very good at keeping herself busy.
It's after 5:00. I need to start dinner. I start cooking the ground turkey for a variation on shepherd's pie. Then I get an email asking about Spirit Team events for our confirmandi. Becky is getting confirmed this year and I volunteered to head the Spirit Team. We are supposed to do religiously related activities with an assigned group. It is a big headache and I doubt very much it really helps prepare any one. But at least Becky gets to attend the things I dream up. Emails go back and forth and it takes a while to get everything sorted out. So I am chatting with Becky, writing emails and cooking at the same time.
Around 7:00 dinner is finally ready. I call everyone and we sit and eat. I like it. No one else does. It's the first time I made it with ground turkey but it turns out no one likes ground turkey but me. Oh well. People fill up on tortilla chips, oranges and more hot cocoa.
8:00ish - the kids realize the math tutor is coming tomorrow at 9 a.m. and they'd better get their homework done. It takes them a while to settle down and work. First they have to have an argument over whether corn or potatoes is the more important food. Yes, this was the debate. Even Josh got in on it. They were all alternatively cracking each other up and irritating the living daylights out of each other.
9:00ish - math is done. I lasso Becky and Sean and read The Story of the Constitution out loud to them. I am trying to finish the book up this week so we can move on to the French Revolution next week.
10:00ish - I gather everyone one last time and we say our night prayers. I miss my husband. I clean the pots and pans. It has been a long day. I did some laundry and some cooking, but no other housework. I was supposed to exercise to my exercise video but I didn't. I did chat with 22 year old son up in Boston to find out about the big snowstorm going on up there. He's fine. I chatted with dh on the phone for a few minutes too. He's in warm California but he's sleepy when I talk to him. The only family member I didn't talk to is my oldest daughter, who is 24, married and working as a school teacher. Oh yeah, she must have had the day off due to snow!
11:00ish Sean comes downstairs just as I am turning out lights and getting ready to go to bed. He's hungry. He makes a salami and provolone sandwich and while waiting for the toast to pop, we chat. I ask him what he was doing the whole time he was in basement. He says, oh I was just on Reddit. He likes to get on the video game sub-Reddits and have detailed discussions that only connoisseurs of video games will understand. He tells me of a long and funny questionnaire he wrote for some discussion group. Then he wants me to listen to some more video game music he really likes. The music is wonderful - makes me think of the 1920s. Josh comes downstairs and complains that we are being loud. Oops. Everyone retires to their rooms. Hopefully, Sean will read another chapter of Farewell to Arms. I never have to worry about Becky and reading. She's always in the middle of some book. I put the dog in her crate in my room and snuggle into bed to read my own book, The House of Seven Gables. I've been wanting to read it for years and have finally gotten around to it. Who'd have thought it? Nathaniel Hawthorne can write!
Good night!
Sunday, February 1, 2015
The Story of the Constitution - Book 5
The Story of the Constitution by Eva March Tappan was published back in 1923. It is a narrative history and explanation of our federal Constitution. It is really aimed at middle school students but I read it out loud as a supplemental reading in conjunction with our American history studies this year (13 and 16 year olds).
Tappan is a popular author for those who like vintage books. Websites such as The Baldwin Project and Heritage History have her books published on line. I read this on my kindle for $1.00. There were a few typos in the transcription so that a couple of sentences here and there didn't seem to make sense, but other than that it was $1.00 well spent.
I thought the book was strongest in describing the lead up to and the actual constitutional convention. There were a couple of times though when she sort of glossed over things and summarized them in ways that weren't actually accurate. At the same time she seemed to dwell a bit too much on detail when it wasn't that necessary. The most glaring instance of inaccuracy was when she glossed right over the Supreme Court's establishment of the doctrine of judicial review in the famous case Marbury vs. Madison. She never makes mention of the case and she writes as if judicial review was the constitutional framers' intent all along, which is misleading.
Because the book was written in 1923, it doesn't cover the last eight amendments. In fact Prohibition was still of the law the land in 1923. Also, the interpretation of the 14th Amendment that made such profound changes in our jurisprudence, didn't happen until Brown v. The Board of Education (1954) and Roe v. Wade (1973). And no modern study of the Constitution is complete without knowing about the importance of the 14th amendment now.
My kids will do an actual government course with Rick, their dad (attorney and very knowledgeable on constitutional law!) later on. Usually that happens the year they turn 18 and become eligible to vote, so this book was just a taste of things to come.
I thought the book was a suitable read aloud if you want to introduce kids to the history of the Constitution, however, there are some deficiencies in the book, so I am thinking maybe there is a better middle school introduction to this topic out there somewhere in homeschool land. So I don't know if I'd recommend it to others.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Tappan is a popular author for those who like vintage books. Websites such as The Baldwin Project and Heritage History have her books published on line. I read this on my kindle for $1.00. There were a few typos in the transcription so that a couple of sentences here and there didn't seem to make sense, but other than that it was $1.00 well spent.
I thought the book was strongest in describing the lead up to and the actual constitutional convention. There were a couple of times though when she sort of glossed over things and summarized them in ways that weren't actually accurate. At the same time she seemed to dwell a bit too much on detail when it wasn't that necessary. The most glaring instance of inaccuracy was when she glossed right over the Supreme Court's establishment of the doctrine of judicial review in the famous case Marbury vs. Madison. She never makes mention of the case and she writes as if judicial review was the constitutional framers' intent all along, which is misleading.
Because the book was written in 1923, it doesn't cover the last eight amendments. In fact Prohibition was still of the law the land in 1923. Also, the interpretation of the 14th Amendment that made such profound changes in our jurisprudence, didn't happen until Brown v. The Board of Education (1954) and Roe v. Wade (1973). And no modern study of the Constitution is complete without knowing about the importance of the 14th amendment now.
My kids will do an actual government course with Rick, their dad (attorney and very knowledgeable on constitutional law!) later on. Usually that happens the year they turn 18 and become eligible to vote, so this book was just a taste of things to come.
I thought the book was a suitable read aloud if you want to introduce kids to the history of the Constitution, however, there are some deficiencies in the book, so I am thinking maybe there is a better middle school introduction to this topic out there somewhere in homeschool land. So I don't know if I'd recommend it to others.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Catholic Homeschooling for Free (or at very little cost)
WARNING! THIS IS A LONG POST!
As I enter my twilight years of homeschooling, I have been in the process of clearing out a lot of old curriculum. I am very chagrinned to find that most of this stuff was a complete waste of money. Actually I have been clearing out curricula for years. There's a constant sloughing off that goes on. And I am ashamed of it. Because looking back I see what a colossal waste it was. It was my consumerist mentality - a thing I buy will fix my need! It will guide me because I don't know what I am doing! It will make it fun and my kids will love me again! Blah, blah, blah. I called myself a curriculum junkie. I knew I had a problem. Sadly, in the homeschool world it is often all about curriculum. On the Catholic Relaxed Homeschoolers facebook group there is an inexorable drift towards threads that obsess on curriculum. Should I enroll here? Will All About Spelling cure my 10 year old's lack of spelling prowess? My dd hates math - will Teaching Textbooks make her love it? And then you get all the testimonials from folks who swear up and down! They've been using this new curriculum for two weeks now and everything is coming up roses!
I do think curriculum can be useful at times, but for the most part it is unnecessary until you get older and are concerned with getting those credit hours for high school by doing things formally. Then I do think you need something for Algebra and Biology and the like all spelled out for you. Although, there are unschoolers who do things differently and somehow their kids seem to come out well. But really, in truth, curriculum is such a crutch.
Throw away your crutches! Get up and walk!
First of all, you have to believe in your heart that God made your child in His image and likeness. Do you believe that? That means that your child has a natural desire to create. People who create need to acquire a certain amount of knowledge and skill in order to be creators. They will naturally gravitate to absorbing knowledge and skill in order to support their creativity. It often happens unconsciously and very naturally.
Appreciate your child's curiosity. Aristotle said: Man, by his nature, desires to know. The word man there means human being. I am guessing your child is a human and therefore, you can trust that your child wants to become knowledgeable about the world around him. Your child has probably been asking 'why?' for a while now. Children are curious and want to explore, experiment, and talk about stuff.
Imitation - your child wants to imitate you. Especially when they are little. But they actually want to imitate you when they get older too. It just isn't as obvious. Teach through imitation. Let them pretend they are like mommy or daddy, unloading the dishwasher, shaving, reading. Model learning for them by doing it yourself when they are little and when they are older let them witness how you handle things in life; how you use your brain to accomplish what you need to, how you broaden and educate yourself. Live out loud so your children will see you.
Your children want to grow into competent adults. Trust that. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. It's complicated. And everybody runs at their own pace. I think this is the thing that really brings us worry. We are afraid they won't launch and the failure will reflect on us. So bottom line obsessing on finding the perfect curriculum is our pride and vanity speaking! We don't want to look bad! We are afraid that if Johnny isn't reading at age 6 he'll never make it to college. That if Mary Catharine isn't getting 100s on her spelling quizzes each week she'll never be successful as an adult. This is fear-based and irrational thinking on our part. It doesn't take into account that when Johnny is older he might decide he'd rather be an airplane mechanic and doesn't want to go to college. Or that Mary Catharine might decide she's going to major in music so spelling really doesn't matter and plus there are editors and spell check anyway.
Most importantly it also doesn't take into account the fact that children change as they mature and they might click with reading and spelling or what have you, later in life when their brain develops or when they see the point in what they need to learn so they choose to focus their attention on it of their own volition, instead of your volition pushing it on them.
So you've got all the above going for you when it comes to teaching your child:
1. Made in God's image
2. Natural curiosity
3. Natural desire to imitate
4. Natural desire to grow into competent adult
5. Maturity and development
So here it is: Even if you never bought a single piece of curriculum, your child can grow into a capable, well educated adult. They do this if you read to them, talk to them, allow them freedom to play, let them be with you as you do your daily tasks and projects, take them on outings, let them intermingle with other people, and most importantly, love them.
You will also need access to books and pencil and paper. If you have access to the internet, you are golden!
Where to get books - even though I've bought lots of books, I've also gotten lots of books free.
Library - If you have a library card you have access to books there and through intra-library loans.
Gifts - You can ask for particular books as gifts from grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.
Borrowing - You can borrow books.
Cast offs - People give away books too. Neighbors, other homeschoolers, libraries, family members. I've got tons of books from my grandparents, parents and aunt. All free.
If you have access to the internet - you can find tons of free books on line. If you have a kindle there are many, many books for free there.
But you say, you want teaching books - books on phonics and math that are set up to teach children. I don't know how to teach! I need someone to hold my hand! First of all, you could choose to educate yourself on how to teach while you are doing the easy thing of reading to, talking to, playing with, working with, living and loving your children.
If you have access to internet, you are completely covered for everything! Even if you have really limited access you can still do it. Even if you have to get internet at the library once a week or at your parents house or at your husband's office, you can still do it. Because this stuff is supplemental anyway to real learning.
Here are some on line math resources:
Free Math Resources
Jumpstart Games
Math.com
Khan Academy
This is just a tiny smattering of what is available on line.
Here's an old fashion Catholic beginning arithmetic text.
Language Arts - I just googled this and someone else has come up with an excellent list of free lessons and resources.
Catechism - Here's something that looks helpful. You need a printer though.
Here is a free catechism course on line.
Here is a list of links for every subject.
If you want Catholic history the best resource is Heritage History.
Perhaps you are still floundering with how to teach. This is all very well and good but I don't know have confidence in being able to educate my kids without enrolling in Seton. Here are ways you can teach without have to worry about method:
Answer questions your child asks. If you don't know the answer, search for the answer with your child. Try to mull it out together.
Play games with your child. Your child will learn math through card games and board games. Your child can learn spelling through boggle or scrabble.
Read out loud to your child.
Granted there are some things that need to be taught rather systematically and it might be good to be able to present them clearly and in a certain order. The things that I think are hardest to explain well are math concepts, phonics or spelling rules and grammar. But I find it is often a matter of looking things up when you stumble upon it. It is good to have references available for just this sort of situation.
Teaching phonics rules.
Spelling rules (this one has 9 spelling rules but then scroll down and the rest of the 26 rules are exceptions).
Free grammar rules
Here's some sound advice about teaching math.
What it boiled down to after 20 years of homeschooling
What follows is a list of the curricula, references, tools or programs that I've bought that I thought were worth the money to purchase. This means that after all my wasteful outpouring of money over the years (I could have fed a village of starving children in Africa!) this is what turned out to be worthwhile:
Reading:
Phonics Pathways - a one book reference from beginning reading to high school spelling.
At Last a Reading Method for Every Child - great for dyslexic kids.
A set of basal readers - if your child needs lots of practice before launching into 'real' books.
Bob books
Writing:
Beginners kit from Handwriting without Tears - if your kids really struggle with handwriting.
A template for how to form manuscript and cursive letters
Copy work (lots of it!)
Math:
A white board or chalk board
Any kind of manipulatives - such as craft sticks, pennies, anything that can be counted and grouped.
Money
Math picture books you can find at your library
Living Math website
Games and puzzles
The TMs from Modern Curriculum Press, especially for Kindergarten and 4th grade. 3rd grade might be helpful too. Some of the Kindergarten concepts are too advanced so you can basically use them for 1st and 2nd grade too. At some point you need to teach regrouping ( borrowing or carrying). The 4th grade book teaches long division really well. You can buy these TMs used really cheaply.
*** If you have been reading math literature as well as engaging your child in real world math, they will have already encountered and learned a bit about things like fractions (cooking teaches this well), decimals (money!), and percents (sales, tips for waiters, etc). Saxon always starts at the very beginning so you can actually start formally teaching this stuff at the pre-Algebra level and your student will catch up amazingly quickly. So fast, that you will truly wonder why schools take YEARS to teach this very simple stuff. The trick is to teach it later, after the student has encountered the concepts in real life for a while and their abstract thinking skills have developed.
Saxon 7/6, 8/7, Algebra I, Algebra II, Advanced Math
Fun math worksheets and puzzles you can print off
Religion:
Lots of picture books with faith related themes (Tomi DePaola, Demi, Weight of the Mass, etc)
Saints books - Sisters of St. Paul, Vision Books, etc.
Living the liturgical year (ideas abound on line at places like Catholic Icing, etc)
St. Patrick's Catechism
The Creed in Slow Motion
Quiet Waters Stations of the Cross
Beginner's Bible
Saint of the Day
CCC videos
Veggie Tales
Glory Stories
(note that the last three listed in religion make great Christmas, birthday or even Easter gifts, so you can collect them slowly over several years.)
For teens, books and talks by Scott Hahn, Matt Pinto and Jason Evert
History:
Lots of historical fiction read alouds (lists abound everywhere!)
Lots of biographies (including saint biographies)
A timeline of some sort
A Little History of the World (or some other classic narrative telling of history aimed at children)
Unit studies on various topics (again these abound - many for free on line)
Didache Church History text
Teaching Company lecture series (for high schoolers; check your library or buy them during one of Great Courses' frequent sales)
Literature:
Library - encourage lots of reading, watch classic movie adaptations too. Don't forget audiobooks!
Jim Weiss's audio retellings of stories and biographies (these make good gifts!)
Kolbe's junior high literature program (nice but not really necessary)
Lightning Literature (all of them are great but again this is nice but not necessary)
Free on line resources at sparknotes and many other free study guides
Science:
Read lots of science literature, biographies, natural history
Lots of fun science videos and shows - TV, youtube, netflix, library
Field trips to museums, nature centers, planetariums, etc
Nature walks
Science kits and experiments - Christmas and birthday gifts or while doing a unit study.
A Beka's High School biology, chemistry and physics (but we've always learned these subjects through formal classes in the homeschool community. I don't really see fundamentalist Creationism as good science or good religion, but these classes have been taught by Catholic women who really understand the Church's teachings on the matter so they modify the A Beka bias.)
Latin:
Free Latin lessons on line
Free Latin course by Catholic priest
Textkit Latin
Latin games
Quia
Quizlet
Absolutely best and simplest introduction to Latin - Getting Started with Latin
National Latin Exam website
****A really great Catholic on line resource that is also very inexpensive - LPH Resource Center
As I enter my twilight years of homeschooling, I have been in the process of clearing out a lot of old curriculum. I am very chagrinned to find that most of this stuff was a complete waste of money. Actually I have been clearing out curricula for years. There's a constant sloughing off that goes on. And I am ashamed of it. Because looking back I see what a colossal waste it was. It was my consumerist mentality - a thing I buy will fix my need! It will guide me because I don't know what I am doing! It will make it fun and my kids will love me again! Blah, blah, blah. I called myself a curriculum junkie. I knew I had a problem. Sadly, in the homeschool world it is often all about curriculum. On the Catholic Relaxed Homeschoolers facebook group there is an inexorable drift towards threads that obsess on curriculum. Should I enroll here? Will All About Spelling cure my 10 year old's lack of spelling prowess? My dd hates math - will Teaching Textbooks make her love it? And then you get all the testimonials from folks who swear up and down! They've been using this new curriculum for two weeks now and everything is coming up roses!
I do think curriculum can be useful at times, but for the most part it is unnecessary until you get older and are concerned with getting those credit hours for high school by doing things formally. Then I do think you need something for Algebra and Biology and the like all spelled out for you. Although, there are unschoolers who do things differently and somehow their kids seem to come out well. But really, in truth, curriculum is such a crutch.
Throw away your crutches! Get up and walk!
First of all, you have to believe in your heart that God made your child in His image and likeness. Do you believe that? That means that your child has a natural desire to create. People who create need to acquire a certain amount of knowledge and skill in order to be creators. They will naturally gravitate to absorbing knowledge and skill in order to support their creativity. It often happens unconsciously and very naturally.
Appreciate your child's curiosity. Aristotle said: Man, by his nature, desires to know. The word man there means human being. I am guessing your child is a human and therefore, you can trust that your child wants to become knowledgeable about the world around him. Your child has probably been asking 'why?' for a while now. Children are curious and want to explore, experiment, and talk about stuff.
Imitation - your child wants to imitate you. Especially when they are little. But they actually want to imitate you when they get older too. It just isn't as obvious. Teach through imitation. Let them pretend they are like mommy or daddy, unloading the dishwasher, shaving, reading. Model learning for them by doing it yourself when they are little and when they are older let them witness how you handle things in life; how you use your brain to accomplish what you need to, how you broaden and educate yourself. Live out loud so your children will see you.
Your children want to grow into competent adults. Trust that. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. It's complicated. And everybody runs at their own pace. I think this is the thing that really brings us worry. We are afraid they won't launch and the failure will reflect on us. So bottom line obsessing on finding the perfect curriculum is our pride and vanity speaking! We don't want to look bad! We are afraid that if Johnny isn't reading at age 6 he'll never make it to college. That if Mary Catharine isn't getting 100s on her spelling quizzes each week she'll never be successful as an adult. This is fear-based and irrational thinking on our part. It doesn't take into account that when Johnny is older he might decide he'd rather be an airplane mechanic and doesn't want to go to college. Or that Mary Catharine might decide she's going to major in music so spelling really doesn't matter and plus there are editors and spell check anyway.
Most importantly it also doesn't take into account the fact that children change as they mature and they might click with reading and spelling or what have you, later in life when their brain develops or when they see the point in what they need to learn so they choose to focus their attention on it of their own volition, instead of your volition pushing it on them.
So you've got all the above going for you when it comes to teaching your child:
1. Made in God's image
2. Natural curiosity
3. Natural desire to imitate
4. Natural desire to grow into competent adult
5. Maturity and development
So here it is: Even if you never bought a single piece of curriculum, your child can grow into a capable, well educated adult. They do this if you read to them, talk to them, allow them freedom to play, let them be with you as you do your daily tasks and projects, take them on outings, let them intermingle with other people, and most importantly, love them.
You will also need access to books and pencil and paper. If you have access to the internet, you are golden!
Where to get books - even though I've bought lots of books, I've also gotten lots of books free.
Library - If you have a library card you have access to books there and through intra-library loans.
Gifts - You can ask for particular books as gifts from grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.
Borrowing - You can borrow books.
Cast offs - People give away books too. Neighbors, other homeschoolers, libraries, family members. I've got tons of books from my grandparents, parents and aunt. All free.
If you have access to the internet - you can find tons of free books on line. If you have a kindle there are many, many books for free there.
But you say, you want teaching books - books on phonics and math that are set up to teach children. I don't know how to teach! I need someone to hold my hand! First of all, you could choose to educate yourself on how to teach while you are doing the easy thing of reading to, talking to, playing with, working with, living and loving your children.
If you have access to internet, you are completely covered for everything! Even if you have really limited access you can still do it. Even if you have to get internet at the library once a week or at your parents house or at your husband's office, you can still do it. Because this stuff is supplemental anyway to real learning.
Here are some on line math resources:
Free Math Resources
Jumpstart Games
Math.com
Khan Academy
This is just a tiny smattering of what is available on line.
Here's an old fashion Catholic beginning arithmetic text.
Language Arts - I just googled this and someone else has come up with an excellent list of free lessons and resources.
Catechism - Here's something that looks helpful. You need a printer though.
Here is a free catechism course on line.
Here is a list of links for every subject.
If you want Catholic history the best resource is Heritage History.
Perhaps you are still floundering with how to teach. This is all very well and good but I don't know have confidence in being able to educate my kids without enrolling in Seton. Here are ways you can teach without have to worry about method:
Answer questions your child asks. If you don't know the answer, search for the answer with your child. Try to mull it out together.
Play games with your child. Your child will learn math through card games and board games. Your child can learn spelling through boggle or scrabble.
Read out loud to your child.
Granted there are some things that need to be taught rather systematically and it might be good to be able to present them clearly and in a certain order. The things that I think are hardest to explain well are math concepts, phonics or spelling rules and grammar. But I find it is often a matter of looking things up when you stumble upon it. It is good to have references available for just this sort of situation.
Teaching phonics rules.
Spelling rules (this one has 9 spelling rules but then scroll down and the rest of the 26 rules are exceptions).
Free grammar rules
Here's some sound advice about teaching math.
What it boiled down to after 20 years of homeschooling
What follows is a list of the curricula, references, tools or programs that I've bought that I thought were worth the money to purchase. This means that after all my wasteful outpouring of money over the years (I could have fed a village of starving children in Africa!) this is what turned out to be worthwhile:
Reading:
Phonics Pathways - a one book reference from beginning reading to high school spelling.
At Last a Reading Method for Every Child - great for dyslexic kids.
A set of basal readers - if your child needs lots of practice before launching into 'real' books.
Bob books
Writing:
Beginners kit from Handwriting without Tears - if your kids really struggle with handwriting.
A template for how to form manuscript and cursive letters
Copy work (lots of it!)
Math:
A white board or chalk board
Any kind of manipulatives - such as craft sticks, pennies, anything that can be counted and grouped.
Money
Math picture books you can find at your library
Living Math website
Games and puzzles
The TMs from Modern Curriculum Press, especially for Kindergarten and 4th grade. 3rd grade might be helpful too. Some of the Kindergarten concepts are too advanced so you can basically use them for 1st and 2nd grade too. At some point you need to teach regrouping ( borrowing or carrying). The 4th grade book teaches long division really well. You can buy these TMs used really cheaply.
*** If you have been reading math literature as well as engaging your child in real world math, they will have already encountered and learned a bit about things like fractions (cooking teaches this well), decimals (money!), and percents (sales, tips for waiters, etc). Saxon always starts at the very beginning so you can actually start formally teaching this stuff at the pre-Algebra level and your student will catch up amazingly quickly. So fast, that you will truly wonder why schools take YEARS to teach this very simple stuff. The trick is to teach it later, after the student has encountered the concepts in real life for a while and their abstract thinking skills have developed.
Saxon 7/6, 8/7, Algebra I, Algebra II, Advanced Math
Fun math worksheets and puzzles you can print off
Religion:
Lots of picture books with faith related themes (Tomi DePaola, Demi, Weight of the Mass, etc)
Saints books - Sisters of St. Paul, Vision Books, etc.
Living the liturgical year (ideas abound on line at places like Catholic Icing, etc)
St. Patrick's Catechism
The Creed in Slow Motion
Quiet Waters Stations of the Cross
Beginner's Bible
Saint of the Day
CCC videos
Veggie Tales
Glory Stories
(note that the last three listed in religion make great Christmas, birthday or even Easter gifts, so you can collect them slowly over several years.)
For teens, books and talks by Scott Hahn, Matt Pinto and Jason Evert
History:
Lots of historical fiction read alouds (lists abound everywhere!)
Lots of biographies (including saint biographies)
A timeline of some sort
A Little History of the World (or some other classic narrative telling of history aimed at children)
Unit studies on various topics (again these abound - many for free on line)
Didache Church History text
Teaching Company lecture series (for high schoolers; check your library or buy them during one of Great Courses' frequent sales)
Literature:
Library - encourage lots of reading, watch classic movie adaptations too. Don't forget audiobooks!
Jim Weiss's audio retellings of stories and biographies (these make good gifts!)
Kolbe's junior high literature program (nice but not really necessary)
Lightning Literature (all of them are great but again this is nice but not necessary)
Free on line resources at sparknotes and many other free study guides
Science:
Read lots of science literature, biographies, natural history
Lots of fun science videos and shows - TV, youtube, netflix, library
Field trips to museums, nature centers, planetariums, etc
Nature walks
Science kits and experiments - Christmas and birthday gifts or while doing a unit study.
A Beka's High School biology, chemistry and physics (but we've always learned these subjects through formal classes in the homeschool community. I don't really see fundamentalist Creationism as good science or good religion, but these classes have been taught by Catholic women who really understand the Church's teachings on the matter so they modify the A Beka bias.)
Latin:
Free Latin lessons on line
Free Latin course by Catholic priest
Textkit Latin
Latin games
Quia
Quizlet
Absolutely best and simplest introduction to Latin - Getting Started with Latin
National Latin Exam website
****A really great Catholic on line resource that is also very inexpensive - LPH Resource Center
Thursday, January 22, 2015
And Then There Were None - Book 4
This is one of Agatha Christie's classics. My son in law gave it to Becky for Christmas, saying that when he was 13 he discovered Agatha Christie and how much he loved her books. Becky finished it yesterday and I asked to borrow it. I started reading it at 3:00 p.m. in fits and starts (in between driving people places, doing laundry and cooking dinner!) and I finished at 11:45 p.m. It was engrossing and not at all hard to read.
When I was young I really wasn't into murder mysteries. I thought it was weird that murder was treated so lightly. I remember quite consciously thinking to myself when I was in my early teens, that I was going to save reading those types of books for when I was older. Well, now I am older! Actually I started reading mysteries probably a dozen years ago, but so far, of Christie's work I've only read Murder on the Orient Express, listened to a wonderful audio recording of her short stories and seen the play The Mouse Trap. I think I also read a Christmas story featuring Poirot. I have also caught bits and pieces of PBS Poirot and Miss Marple TV shows. Anyway, it was a fun read. She is a great plot crafter! As is obvious, I couldn't put it down! Becky thinks though that any mind that can think this kind of stuff up is really twisted and scary! I assured her Christie was a proper English lady.
Two thumbs up! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
When I was young I really wasn't into murder mysteries. I thought it was weird that murder was treated so lightly. I remember quite consciously thinking to myself when I was in my early teens, that I was going to save reading those types of books for when I was older. Well, now I am older! Actually I started reading mysteries probably a dozen years ago, but so far, of Christie's work I've only read Murder on the Orient Express, listened to a wonderful audio recording of her short stories and seen the play The Mouse Trap. I think I also read a Christmas story featuring Poirot. I have also caught bits and pieces of PBS Poirot and Miss Marple TV shows. Anyway, it was a fun read. She is a great plot crafter! As is obvious, I couldn't put it down! Becky thinks though that any mind that can think this kind of stuff up is really twisted and scary! I assured her Christie was a proper English lady.
Two thumbs up! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
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