One of the places I like to hang out on the web is at a homeschool forum called "The Well Trained Mind". I was reading through a few of the posts and one in particularly on grammar. The poster was using a certain grammar curriculum and after several months felt that her 8 or 9 yo ds was not retaining much from this particular curriculum. This was revealed to her through his writing assignments. She wanted to know if anyone else had this experience. Several people said they had the same problem and one person said it was working well for them. A comment was also made by someone that this is; perhaps, why grammar is taught repeatedly through the school years. A thought of mine that had been simmering just below the surface finally burst through. Ding, ding, the bell sounded off in my mind and my thoughts started flowing rapidly. I hope I can put them down here cleary for you.
As a child, I strongly disliked grammar. I loved math, science and history, but really struggled with grammar. Every year it seemed like we repeated the same thing. Of course their were some new things introduced, but it always covered the basics. One of the things I had a difficult time wrapping my around was direct objects. I just didn't get it..... until eleventh grade. Then it clicked.
Another area in which I struggled was creative writing. I hated it. I was not the kind to make up stories in my head or see a bee and be able to write a story about it. That is just not how my brain worked, never mind trying to remember the grammar rules and apply them.
My point is that a young child in the earlyto middle years of elementary school is probably not going to get most of it. They might understand some of it the way it is used in the book and are able to parrot it back you, but when the time comes to apply it in their writing those rules are not going to be foremost in their mind. What is going on in their mind is "what am I trying to say here and how do I put that on paper?" It is not "Do my sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark?" It is the repeated drilling and growing throughout the years that finally causes the nail to reach it's mark.
So how do I know if a grammar curriculum is right for us? The curriculum used in that tiny Christian school which I attended many yeasr ago was not full of bells and whistles, but it repeatedly represented the subject in a clear, methodical, concise manner and after years of hammering, the nail finally went through. As a homeschool mother, once I purchase I certain curriculum, I usually stick with it for the whole year. Occasionally I might change mid-stride if I feel that it is not for us and will not be beneficial to see it through. Grammar is one of those subject in which I seemed to be unable to stick with. I couldn't find the right curriculum. This was not because a particular book was bad, but because it did not meet my needs as a teacher. One was to scripted, I knew by the end of using it with 5 children (4 in a row) that I would end up in Bedlam. Another jumped around to much and didn't have clear instruction. Others I have skipped (despite their raving reviews) because they were to teacher intenstive or required an overwhelming amount of writing and review. Because of this, my daughter has not had the solid foundation in grammar that I might have wished; however, in fifth grade she has does know the basics and we are slowly proceeding. I am confident that by the time she graduates she will know her parts of speech, how to properly use punctuation and remember that the word "I" is always capitalized! The curriculum I am using now works for me because it meets my needs as a teacher. It is methodical in it's teaching, liberal in it's review and I as a teacher have learned to tweak it in the areas that are not suitable for us.
It is that time of year. The air is getting warmer, the birds are singing, the tax refund is in the mail and it's time to look into and buy next years curriculum! To me it is more fun that opening presents at Christmas. ;)
I had already discovered my great curriulum goldmine last year in Heart of Dakota. It has been such a blessing this past year. I love the Christ centerness of it, the open and go of the TM, the easy, yet meaningful activities (that mostly use stuff around the house), the living books, the advice and encouragement from the ladies on the message board and from Carrie Austin (the author) herslf, etc. It has been a great year, so picking curriculum was easy this year. We will be doing Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory with my boys (K & 1st), Bigger Hearts for His Glory extensions with my 4th grader and the new, not yet released Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ with my oldest 6th grader. I have already received the Beyond and Bigger guides and am just blow away by the meaty yet doable content in them and am very excited about next year.
I was cleaning up my school room and came across some notes from one of our homeschool meetings which contained a bunch of links for doing science, most of them free. Thought I would post them here.
Can't believe it has been six months since I have blogger here! Hope everyone is doing well. Heart of Dakota has been a great fit for us. I did change my 8 yo dd from Preparing to LHFHG with the boys (keeping her on her level of math, reading, and grammar), which has worked much better for us. Overall they are having a lot of fun with it. The toddler is into EVERYTHING and is also a source of joy and entertainment (not that the others aren't) for us.
I did start another blog for our Heart of Dakota stuff (not that I keep up with that to well, but better than this one). Not sure what else to say.
We will soon be starting back to school soon and hopefully blogging again in a couple of weeks. Here is what I plan to use for this year:
Boys K & 1st:
Little Hearts to Heaven (Heart of Dakota) for History, Science, Bible, Poetry, rhymes and various activities
Italic Handwriting (Getty-Duval K & Penny Gardener's Handwriting for Children 1st)
Singapore Math or some other math workbook(K), Math U See (1st)
Phonics: Hooked on Phonics
Grammar will be light just teaching the basics of nouns & verbs
Girls - 3rd & 5th
Preparing Hearts to Heaven (Heart of Dakota) includes history (CHOW, life in the great ice age, hero tales, grandpa's box), science (one small square books, find the constellations, who was leonardo davinci?, CFA Albert Einstein, Beverly Birch's Louis Pasteur, Great Dinosaur Mystery), Bible (Psalms), Poetry, dictation, copywork, spelling (through copywork)
Grammar - Primary Language Lessons, Intermediate Language Lessons, Simply Grammar
Handwriting - Penny Gardener's Beautiful Handwriting for Children
Math - Math U See
Since PHFHG is only scheduled for 4 days a week it leaves 1 day a week open for doing Home Economics for Homeschoolers (includes health), Nature Studies, Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (Apologia), PE, Field Trips & not having to figure out how to cover that 5th that is planned when those pesky 1 day holidays mess up my week
I am really excited about using the Heart of Dakota curriculum this year, usually I try to put together my own so it will be nice to have something already planned that is just open and go and easy to implement.
I am not a very creative type person, and definitely am not artsy. I have difficulty thinking outside of the box, so when it comes to teaching art, I need help and lots of pictuers (I am a visual learner). With 5 children, I also need something that is not consumable (except supplies of course) that I can use over again. Here are some books that I have found very helpful.
For learning art techniques:
Evan-Moor's "How to teach Art to Children"
This book teach's color, line, texture etc. It also has a section of books recommended for art appreciation and then projects that you can do to imitate that artist. Evan-Moor also has a good book called "ArtWorks" that are projects that you can do with your children.
Another good book for children to learn art by styles & artist is "Discvoering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters" by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
There are seems to be a lot of good books on art appreciation being published for children. One series that I recently discovered (I had heard of it before, but not checked it out until recently) is "Come Look with Me". We are currently using there book on Art in Early America. It contains about a dozen pictures from different well known artists. Devoting one picture to a page and on the opposite page it contains some questions about the picture and then a short biography on the artists life.
For very young children (preschool to early elementary...although my 9yo loves them to) are the "Katie" series by James Mayhew. They include: "Katie and the Impressionists", "Katy and the Sunday Afternoon", "Katie and the Mona Lisa" just to name a few. They are cute stories about a girl named Katie and her grandmother who go to the art museum. While they are looking around (Grandma is usually dozing on a bench), it shows Katy going inside the pictures and having an adventure.
The National Gallery of Art has an extension program where you can borrow their resources for only the cost of return shipping. We used this at the beginning of the year and it was great. We would watch the DVD about the artist, then look at the pictures by that artist that was included and then have my daughter try to imitate something in that style.
If you want a packaged art curriculum here is a list of some that I have seen recommended.
How Great Thou Art
which includes (but is not limited)
God & The History of Art (4 year program)***
I can do all things
Lambs Book of Art
***you can purchase the pictures postcards as well as the painting/marker cards from Millers Pads and Paper (great art supplies resource).....
Here are some free websites that I have come across in my travels or have been recommended to me. They include missions curriculum, kinder games, reading quizzes etc.
I have tried for a while to keep up with 3 blogs because I have not wanted to give up my homeschool and homestead blogs, but find that I must at least for a while.......I will continue to do the bulk of my blogging here:
I am still alive....just not much going on except hanging out and playing at facebook as well as getting ready to go to another wedding! Emily finally finished Gamma, so onto Delta we start tomorrow!
A little history lesson. If you don't know the answer make your best guess. Answer all the questions before looking at the answers.
Who said it?
1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
A. Karl Marx B. Adolph Hitler C. Joseph Stalin D. None of the above
2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...... And to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity."
A. Lenin B. Mussolini C. Idi Amin D. None of the Above
3) "(We) ...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people."
A. Nikita Khrushev B. Josef Goebbels C. Boris Yeltsin D. None of the above
4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own ... in order to create this common ground."
A. Mao Tse Dung B. Hugo Chavez C. Kim Jong Il D. None of the above
5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."
A. Karl Marx B. Lenin C. Molotov D. None of the above
6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."
A. Pinochet B. Milosevic C. Saddam Hussein D. None of the above
Art is not one of my strongest subjects. Last year I came across the book "How to Teach Art to Children" by Evan-Moor and it was a God-Send. This year, however; I wanted to add something more and I wanted it to coincide with our American History Studies. I also did not want to spend big bucks, so I kept researching different curriculums etc. The ones that had what I wanted were expensive and the ones I could afford, didnt have what I wanted. Then I read someone's blog about the Extension program from the National Gallery of Art. So I decided to send for one of their catalogs. This is a great program. You pick one of their programs from the catalog, mail in you request on a postcard and wait. I picked American Art from 1785-1926, then forgot about it until the Priority Mail truck dropped off the package. It included a "Teacher's Guides:" with information about each artist, a DVD that a had a 20 minutes documentary on each artist, a couple of prints and slides from that artist and a big poster. The best thing of all is that it was FREE! I only have to pay return shipping on the items.
At first I thought this was funny...then
I realized the awful truth of it.
Be sure to read all the way to the end!
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed ..
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his butt
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin ,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.
Put these words
upon his tomb,
" Taxes drove me to my doom..."
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
P roperty Tax
Real Esta te Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and
Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the
most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had
the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to
raise the kids.
We are thankful today for the beautiful weather that we have been having.
A wonderful, relaxing vacation at the New Jersey shore.
Being able to attend my nephew's wedding and seeing almost all of my family.
God is good all the time!
This year for history we are studying the United States, to round out this study, we are also doing United States Geography, American Composers for Music and American Artists and Art for Art.
For geography rather than investing in a curriculum, I thought I would come up with my own. So I created a report page for each state:
Place Map of State Here
Mark the CapitalCity
CapitalCity:
State Nickname
Date Founded:
Date Entered the Union:
State Flower:
State Bird:
State Motto:
State Flag
The students put the name of the state he/she is studying on the top line. They cut out a blackline map of the state and mark the state capital on it. They find out information about the state either through the encyclopedia or online and answer the questions. They color in the state that they are studing in the miniature map of the United states. They then color the blackline flag that I printed out and glue it to the appropriate box. We also check out books out of the library for each state (if I prepare in advance). One series that I have found that I like for studying the American Colonies is the "Fact Finders: American Colonies" series.
I also printed out a full page size of the United States. Every time we study a state, we color it on our big map.
Here are some great links for information, blackline maps etc.:
