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Since we do memory work with Missionettes at Church, we are going to do 1 lesson per week & take 2 years to complete the book. Our next book will be American Indian Prayer Guide and will coordinate with early American history studies which will happen in 2 years. We may read the Discover's Bible or similiar that year as well.
Our schedule looks like this: Monday--we will introduce the memory verse & read the story. Tuesday--we will review the memory verse & talk about the story using the questions. Wednesday--review memory verse, read Bible passage Thursday--say memory verse.
We are starting next week. |
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It has been quite a week. We were at Disney World for 8 days and it was a truly magical experience. We got to meet all the princesses, Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming and Aladdin & the Genie.
It was so much fun. We were able to pretty much see all we wanted to see in Magic Kingdom by noon on our second day. We saw Philharmagic 4 times. The girls loved this 3-D show. They would try to grab at the characters as they "came out" of the screen.
They also enjoyed Small World enough to want to ride it twice. Other favorites were Peter Pan, Splash Mountain and the Barnstormer. We loved Cinderellabration (the crowning of Cinderella) and the nighttime parade. Belle's storytime was ok and the Wishes fireworks were nice.
We paced ourselves to open the parks, go back to the room between 12 and 1 for swimming and napping before going back to the parks about dinnertime. So we were not out in the hottest part of the day & got some much needed rest midday to keep down the crankiness in all family members. We all still got tired of walking and skipped over the longest lines.
At MGM--we loved the Beauty & the Beast Show which was a muciscal that also invloved ballet & jazz dance. Very Nice!! My oldest insisted on riding the tower of terror & it scared her so much she couldn't scream. Too hot & crowed at this park so we didn't spend a lot of time there. We did see my favorite Muppets in 3-D!! I still love the Muppets & Fraggle Rock too.
Epcot was a hit with our girls too. We took our masks to all the countries to be stamped. Lunch at Akerhaus with the princesses was neat but the food was awful. My oldest loved the ride in the Globe thing--a ride through the history of communication. We were dissapointed that the Seas was closed but enjoyed looking at the fish.
Journey into imagination was fun. Dh also liked test track & always has to ride Mission Space.
Animal Kingdom was hot & croweded as always. We only did the Kilamajaro water ride & dh went on the new rollercoaster.
We did the meal plan & it was worth it. We had more than enough food and 2 meals a day is enough. We used our snacks to buy water & lemon ices to keep us cool in the parks.
All Star Movies was a neat resort--we ended up at Herbie the Love Bug instead of Toy Story. The pool always seemed to be shut down for one reason or another but for the price & the fact that we were never in the room but to nap & sleep it was a great deal. Being on Disney property makes things so much easier. Although they were really cramming us on the buses this time. Luckily most times we had at least one seat to put the girls in.
Because we were primarily there for Dh's work (just stayed extra days to tour the parks) we switched hotels & if you have the money to spend the Yaght & Beach Club is the place to stay. The rooms are so much bigger & have a daybed.
They have this guy there who all he does is organize the children at the pool into playing. He remembered the names of all the children and would introduce them to each other. He would start the day out with the raising of the pirate flag then get the children organized into building a sand castle.
It was a sand bottom pool & so much fun. After the building of the castle, he would bring out bubbles then a squirt gun and organize the children into a game such as volleyball or marco polo. The day would end with a treasure hunt in the pool with a prize for every child.
It was truly a great time.
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Our black raspberries are ripe and as I picked them for my girls' breakfast this morning I thought about how the small activities are the ones that build the largest memories & bring the greatest joys.
I belive in happy childhoods. And picking berries & eating sun-ripened organic fruit together is a joy. Strawberry time was wonderful. The girls danced in the sun & gathered berries with us. They ate quite a bit right off the vine enjoying the warm sun toasted sweet juicy berry taste.
Now, I am bringing them raspberries for breakfast. Some are sour but the next one may be juicy sweet. The girls love picking the berries & especially enjoy eating them.
Thoughts of simple pleasures lead to thoughts of Charlotte Mason's theories on education. The joy of reading a book together cuddled on the couch or bed. The joy of discovering nature and beauty of life. The simple joys and the small experiences are really the foundation of large memories.
Enjoy life in it's simplicity. Turn off the TV. Tune out the Music & sing together even if you can't carry a tune. Just enjoy life like you were a little child again and the pleasure will return. |
Posted in Reviews
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I bet you didn't know that the writer who gave us The Good Earth also wrote a story bible for adults. Pearl S. Buck was the daughter of missionaries to China and although her father would never read the bible to her as a child--he believed that it didn't translate well from the original Greek (here another reason to learn Koine Greek). She did grow up & read it herself and has written this wonderful intrepretation.
She cuts to the core of the story linking story to story and person to person so that you can clearly see the flow of time. It is an easy read & without interruptions could be easily read in as little as 3 days or you could take several weeks.
She also tells you who all these groups are that you have always wondered about. Who were the samaritains--they were the Jews that stayed behind and intermarried with the heathens after the Bablonians carried mots of them off. I didn't know that. Now I do.
It would be a great book for an adult or a teen to read before attempting the bible in its entirity. It pulls everything together so that it is easy to understand. Almost like Cliff notes for the Bible. You now know the plot and can read with clairity the real thing.
Good Book!! |
Posted in Reviews
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My daughter wanted to learn Greek so I picked up Hey Andrew! level 1 for her and she is fast picking it up. So I decided that I need to be a step ahead of her and picked up Teach Yourself New Testament Greek by Gavin Betts from the library.
I wrote the alphabet down on index cards with the pronounciation & their names spelled in Greek on the back. Then I went through the first word list & did the same. The names for places & people are almost the same except for the Greek letters look different.
It's almost like learning a secret code. How fun!! |
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I recieved my copy of Teaching the Trivum by the Bluedorns in the past couple of days & have been rereading the ten things to do before ten section. The part on read alouds I have found to be very encouraging.
I laughed out loud when Laurie descibed ordering MacDonalds in Scottish Brogue. This has happened to me as well. When reading books written in dialect--I often pick up the dialect. But she made an important point in giving the different characters in books their voice including accent. This brings the characters to life.
Her words were encouraging as she talked about read aloud time with young ones. The idea of giving toddlers/preschoolers blanket space to play & color as you read to them is invaluable. I have avoided daytime read aloud because I didn't know how to keep my children still & listening. Now, I know that it is ok to let them play & draw quietly because this movement will help them absorb the story.
Now, dealing with other distractions is tougher. Turning off the phone, potty breaks, kitten trouble, Daddy coming home & people stopping by are all a part of life. So we will just deal with these issues as they pop up. I know I could never turn off our phone because everyone would panic if we didn't answer.
We are going away soon and when we come back I think I will start implementing more daytime read alouds. Aesops, fairy tales, Christian Liberty Nature Readers, Kitten Friends books, the Odyesssy, Story of the World, oooh maybe we could do the Tales from Shakespeare or Stories of the Opera, the Bible, wow this could really open up the doors to larger books as well.
Thanks Laurie for writing your book. It is an inspiration for those of us who want to fully educate our children but not overload them in the early years.
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I just finished up laying out how we are going to do our studies for July through Dec. We have decided that rather than rushing through Story of the World I and going into II next year that we are just going to do Greece & Rome.
So we are going to do Greece this fall & Rome next spring. We are also going to alternatre Science & History readings.
Things will look like this:
Week 1
LLG, SWR, SOTW & Usborne Myths (Greece), LNST, Rightstart, Hey Andrew Greek
Week 2
SOTW & Myths will be replaced with Christian Liberty Nature Readers
And every 5-7 weeks we are going to have a week for projects, experiments, games & review.
At the end of December we should be done with Greece, Level 1 of Greek & Latin, Rightstart B & through 3-4 parts of Leading Little Onese to God. I have no real goal in mind for Spell to Write and Read but will be testing dd in Aug. to see where she needs to start again in September.
It feels like a good plan. We are also going to use Christine Miller's 1000 Good books list, Veritas Press's List & perhaps Sonlight to draw in literature this fall. I would like to read some good books instead of perusing so many picture books and we are really just about done with fairytales.
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Ah, summer is here at last & today we are going to the pool with friends. Hopefully, it won't rain as the girls have been looking forward to this. It has been so hot and humid already. The thermometer at my mother's house said it was 100 degrees on Tuesday!! But ours said it was only 80 degrees in the shade.
I have been looking forward to the new school year which starts for us this year in July. We are trying to keep things simple but my daughter wants to learn both greek & Latin. So it looks like the line-up is:
Spell to Write and Read--for phonics/spelling instruction
Story of the World I & perhaps the Veritas Press Cards for Greek & Roman Culture--For History along with lots of great books from the library. We may just stick with Greece & Rome this year & then move onto Mideval history after that.
Righstart Math B & C--We will finish up B in Early Fall then move onto C. My youngest is going to start A. Lots of fun here!!
Christian Liberty Nature Readers I--very nice & gentle for science.
Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek I & II--We will finish level I by fall & start into level II. Dd loves this.
Latin's Not So Tough I & II--same as the Greek. She was so excited when we got this the other day in the mail. Had to go over the flashcards right away!
My little one is going to learn to write with Handwriting Without Tears PreK.
So our focus is phonics, math, Latin & Greek with gentle readings of Greek & Roman History as well as the natural world around us added in.
It looks to be a fun year. |
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We got a new kitten on Friday. She is supposed to be 7 weeks old but I think she was not quite ready to be away from her mother. She is so tiny and I have had to make sure she knows where her food & water is and then take her to the litterbox. She was not litter trained and so I had to train her.
She is an absoultely sweet kitten. Butterscotch stripes & white fur with pretty yellow eyes. And she loves my girls. Her name is Lovey and her nickname the girls inform me is Purry.
Fluffy and Warm, our other cat has adopted her and will sit and wash this kitten. So even with the watering down of the kitten food & training her to use the litter box Lovey has found a home & fits well here.
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I just added a link to a site that brings up beautiful pictures of architecture through time. |
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I just added a link to reviews of all known latin curricula. This is a great compilation from the Well Trained Mind board where people responded to posts asking for information on pros, cons & how each program worked.
This is a great resource of information and includes links to other reviews on the web & even where to buy the curriculum that fits your family's needs.
If you are wondering what to buy for latin--click on my link to Paula's Archives and get all the info you were looking for. And if you have used a program that is under-represented send Paula an e-mail & let her know about your experiences.
Personally, we are going with Latin's Not So Tough because my dd is not a fluent reader but wants to learn latin & Greek now.
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I remember as a child being read the book Mop Top and also seeing a short movie on it. It was a wonderful book that struck my imagination and about six months ago I went to the library to check it out to read to my girls.
The library didn't have it. They had never even heard of this book by Don Freeman.
Imagine my shock & dismay. A book I had loved as a child was not available for me to share with my children and they didn't seem interested in finding it either.
This past weekend though I went to some garage sales with my mother and at the first sale there it was Mop Top and only 25 cents.
My girls thought that this story of an imaginative little boy who didn't want to get a haircut was great. Mop Top has been a hit.
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Dh got some great deals from our supplier so for the next few days I will be listing my heart out on e-bay. We got in some beautiful sets & some nice high-end bedding.
For those of you who don't know, our store is the UnReal link.
But we have made a decision to not get overwhelmed in the coming weeks but to take it easy.
Oh, I have to tell everyone but this air dry clay that crayola makes. We picked it up at walmart for just over $4 but there is a lot in there--enough for 2 sessions for us. We'll it works just like real clay but not as messy and then it is supposed to dry in 24 hours then we can paint it with tempera or watercolors or acrylic paints.
We make summerian tablets and sort-of chinese pottery and a snowman & of course who can leave Larry from veggietales out of any artistic endeavor. Today, we are going to paint them. It should be lots of fun.
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I found a used copy of Teaching the Trivium for a great price. I will now have a copy of my very own. Yeah!!
Our list of books for this week:
The Aesop's for Children by Milo Winter Usborne's Greek Myths for Young Children Leo the Lucky Kitten by Jenny Dale--my girls love these kitten books. Fluff but training for listening to longer books.
Tales from the Odyssey Book One by Mary Pope Osborne--we are into our 4th week of workng on this but they seem to enjoy the story.
Cleo the Cat by Caroline Mockford Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel--an absolute hit here. The girls love this book of a good/bad/good kitty Curious Catwalk by John Gravdhi Pal the Pony by R. A. Herman Flower Girls by Gail Herman
The Kingfisher Children's Who's Who in the Bible--brief stories about important people in the bible. Looking to fill in the gaps that our history studies doesn't cover.
Wake up, World! by Beatrice Hollyer Children Just Like Me by UNICEF Material World by Peter Menzel--all 3 books show us how blessed we are and to be grateful for what we have.
Daniel in the Lion's Den by Jean Marzollo Daniel in the Lion's Den by Mary Auld Daniel in the Lion's Den by Alice Joyce Davidson
Life in a Medieval Castle by Barrons--looks like a hardback castle but has paper pages & lots of great info on life in a castle.
Ancient Greek Children by Richard Tames An Ancient Greek Town by R. J. Unstead The Trojan Horse by Warwick Hutton Odysseus and the Cyclops by Warwick Hutton The Greeks by Anne and Barry Steel In Search of Troy by Giovanni Caselli
Picasso and Minou by P.I. Maltbie Luka's Quilt by Georgia Guback--about Hawaii & hawaiian style quilting Kite Flying by Grace Lin In the Leaves by Huy Voun Lee
Elevator Magic by Stuart J. Murphy--a mathstart book. We love these. They are truly living books about math not math books trying to be living books.
So we seem to be concentrating on cats, Early Greece, and Daniel.
A good place to be. |
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Right now at the Well Trained Mind K-8 curriculum board there is a latin curriculum survery going on. Someone has listed the names of all the latin programs they have heard mentioned and asked people who have used them to write a description of how it works and likes/dislikes of the program.
It has been so informative--as I have been researching latin myself and wondering what to use with my girls. Just hit on the WTM link I have at the side and then hit the discussion board, then K-8 then if you do ctrl-f you can type in Latin & it will take you to the discussion.
My findings were that we may want to do the first 2 levels of Latin's not so Tough while playing with minimus and then go into Latin for Children in the 3rd grade using the dvds while supplementing with the minimus program. I want latin to be fun but our goal is to learn to read latin.
So we will get pronounciation & vocab from LNT & fun reading activities from minimus and then we can go into the meat of grammar in 3rd grade learning the grammar & vocabulary but using minimus to apply what we are learning. I am hoping that this will be a nice balance. |
Posted in Reviews
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I picked up the full set of these at a local used curriculum sale this weekend. My youngest dd has already taken them over. She is a naturalist--loves to hear stories & observe the natural world.
This looks like a great addition to our line-up. I have been looking for a science that was gentle and not too much for young children. Something I don't have to simplify but could read from the book. Not a textbook but more of a story of a science.
Yes, a living science book was what we were looking for. I thought that the Elementary Explorer series from Apologia would fit the bill but it was too much even for my daughter who loves astronomy.
But the Christian Liberty Nature Readers are gentle and not too much for young children. The first book has large print & the topics are a about a page long. So short and simple. The pictures are simple drawings rather than full-color busy affiars like what you find in those Usborne books. This book is about God's creation and the world around us--the familiar insects, animals and birds that your child in North America might see outside.
The second book has smaller print & longer passages as well as discussion questions. Topics in this book include crabs, wasps, bees, spiders, shellfish, and worms.
The third book has passages of about 3 pages long and discussion questions. Topics include ants, flies, beetles, barnacles, jellyfish, sea stars and dragonflies. Again these are creatures that your child may encounter in everyday life or on a trip to the beach.
The fourth book has passages of about 4 pages long, disscussion questions, and activities to do. Topics include perching birds, birds of prey, studying birds, insects, moths, turtles and snakes, and toad & bat & beaver.
The fifth book is about the biology of man. From what I understand the old version of this book has incorrect information but the new one is updated & revised to align itself with what we know today instead of what they thought they knew in 1900.
This is a great gentle science approach to do with young children until they are ready for reading on their own. I am looking at using these over the next couple of years then doing the Real Science 4 Kids books before going into the college prep round of sciences.
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We took the week off due to stress and a messy house. It seems like we have had a lot of outside activities, appointments etc. as well as sinus activity that is making everyone cranky. I got a few things done and updated our e-bay store.
Auctions seem down this week but the store is up. We just got in a whole load of High-end Ralph Lauren Bedding--the stuff that is made in Italy--so I will be busy with that this weekend. Most of this is very nice. 100% silk, 400 plus thread count. Beautiful bedding.
I found a series of videos at the library by Schlessinger Media called Ancient Civilizations for Children. These are really great. We've watched Egypt, Greece & Agean. My girls are young though so the big thing my oldest picked up from Greece was that women & girls were not allowed at the Olympics because the men competed naked. She decided that the reasoning behind that was that the men were afraid the girls would laugh at them.
We are starting the Agean cultures and moving into Greece. Lots of fun ahead.
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Posted in Reviews
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Our copy of Leading Little Ones to God arrived on Saturday. It looks like if we concentrate on one lesson & verse per week it may take us 2 years to get through this book.
It looks to be a very thorough and complete bible curriculum for the early years. I think what we will do is read the lesson on Mondays, talk about it with the discussion questions on Tuesdays, Wednesdays will be for the reading of the bible passage and Thursday we will do the prayer and song. Every day we will work on the verse.
I am also thinking of getting the CD that Sonlight sells to go with this but I am unsure if the verses set to song are those that are in Leading Little Ones to God or others that Sonlight has picked out. If you know--let me know. Thanks. |
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How do we see the trivium or classical education? How are we implementing or planning to implement it? How do we define it? How do we define the seperate stages?
You can choose to become legalistic in the definition or framework of classical education or you can with the freedom of homeschooling choose what works best for your family. There is the Trivium as defined by the Bluedorns, there is Heart of Wisdom's plan based on Jewish traditions, there is the plan laid out in The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise. These are just the plans.
There is also a plethora of curriculum available & many school in a box companies are jumping on the Classical bandwagon. So it is easy to get lost in the sea of curriculum and choices and plans and opinion and ideas and beliefs and you get the point.
We define Classical education or the Trivium as education in three parts--grammar, logic and retoric.
What do we study and how do we implement this?
We are currently in the "grammar" stage, where penmanship, intensive phonics and basic math skills are the focus. These are the skills your children need to get anywhere in life. To write, read and make change--skills you need everyday. They are also the foundation upon which you will build your child's education.
For fun and to introduce our children to the great conversation, we do chronological history, greek, science, art and music. These are done not as scheduled textbook subjects but as fun extras that we enjoy and learn together. Art days, experiment days, stories from history, listening to music--all of these enrich our lives.
The Bible and our beliefs are another important part of the early years. This is the time to sow the seeds of Christ. Reading bible stories and talking about God. Answering all their questions about how God works and what he does as they discover and explore the wonders of the world around them is a perfect time to sow the seeds of faith and belief.
I see many adults today who struggle with issues of belief because no one planted the seeds of faith in them when they were children of any age. Young children are the most accepting of this gift, it is easy for them to grow their belief because they are open and accepting--they have not been filled with the doubt and negativity of the world. Most adults have a difficult time growing their own belief if the seeds have never been planted.
So the first level of the trivium is laying the foundations of skills, belief and introducing the great conversation. The second level continues this, building on the skills and deeper exploration.
For us the second level will switch emphasis from penmanship and phonics to application of these skills in our chronological history studies. History, Latin, grammar, composition and mathematics are the focus here. The study of Latin and Greek strenghtens the command of the English language. Grammar needs to be studied so that composition can be done well. Mathematics are further developed.
Science gains a greater importance shifting from the natural world to more abstract. Music and art are still taught as exploratory subjects but instruction in crafting their own works begins.
Even though it is many years away we see the third level as a deepening of knowledge and a time to become a craftsman of expression in composition, speech, music, art etc. This is a time to fully explore the sciences and higher mathematics. Study at this level will be mainly self-directed with minimal guidance from me--the teacher.
A classical education starts with a foundation of skills, building upon that foundation with the development of skills & introduction to the great conversation and finally the finishing touches with the perfection of skills and self-directed studies.
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When we subscribed to the Old Schoolhouse, we got a free copy of Greek 'n Stuff's Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! The Reader. We have started going through the alphabet with it and my daughter is picking it up.
It is easy & fun and when I checked on their website--their products are relatively inexpensive. Most language programs costs at least $100.00 to get started with. Hey Andrew! is only about $25.00 to $35.00 to get started with. It also has seven levels and with level three they start copywork with the book of John.
I am thinking about carrying these in our store but wonder if they would sell. Most people want to start with Latin & we plan on doing latin & hebrew too but this greek is very simple and easy to use with a young child.
Our goal with greek and hebrew is to gift our children with the ability to read the bible in the original text. Our goal with latin is to give them the ability to better decode the english language as well as open a gateway to understanding the romance languages.
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