Posted in Our Curriculum
|
This is our third year using Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. My kids and I love the story format. This subject is what led to my decision to (loosely) follow the Classical model for education. The way I was taught history was in bits and pieces, very disjointed, and not at all chronologically. I am learning so much for the first time as I read to them. My daughter's first grade year we learned ancient history. Her second grade was the middle ages, and this year is early modern times. My son has tagged along for our journey. He's done very well considering he's two years younger. This week we will be studying the end of the slave trade. By God's provision, not coincidence, we went to rent a movie for family night on Saturday and my husband found Amazing Grace. What a great movie! It was released last year, but we rarely pay movie theater prices. For those who, like us, haven't seen it yet, it is the story of William Wilberforce. He was a British believer who in the late 1700's into the early 1800's worked tirelessly to end the slave trade in Great Britain. It fits perfectly with our lesson for this Tuesday! It offers a gentle introduction to slavery and I didn't find it too much for my children (age 6 & 8) to handle (note it is rated PG for language and other issues; Dove reviews recommend this movie for 12 and older). My children didn't pick up on some objectionable words and didn't know the meaning of them so it went over their heads for now. It has a bit about John Newton's influence on Wilberforce's life. Listening to the song "Amazing Grace", now that I know more about John Newton and his previous involvement with the slave trade makes the song much more powerful. (My next post will be about our music curriculum.) In addition to reading the Story of the World, I usually get library books Susan recommends at the end of each chapter of the Activity book. When I can find them, I also get movies related to our weekly chapter. The Activity book also includes color pages, questions for narration (I just learned that a person retains 80% if they repeat or narrate what they just learned), and crafts, dress up and re-enactment ideas, and games. I am hoping to use SOTW next year to complete the series, but have been told it takes quite a jump in difficulty. I'll be looking at other curriculum for 4th grade modern history just in case...
|
Posted in Our Curriculum
|
Thought I'd do a series of blogs sharing what we use in our homeschool. Since we start every day with it I figured I would start there. I don't use a Bible curriculum per se. I read a story or two from Egermeier's Story Bible (currently learning about Elijah) and we talk about it - right and wrong behavior, how we should behave, what we learn about God... My children are auditory learners so I know our discussion is quite sufficient and they truly don't need another worksheet to add to their school day. They love this part of our day best! We are also in Bible Study fellowship. My husband takes our son and I take our daughter to our respective men's and women's Bible studies. We all read the same passages of scripture and do six days of homework . We're studying the book of Matthew this year. It is wonderful to systematically study God's word as a family and share the different insights God gives each one of us from the same passage. My hubby and I never cease to be amazed at the answers our children give. Simple but deep and profound. They keep us on our toes and knees! I have to add here in this blog since I'm talking Bible that I just started the new Beth Moore study in Psalms called "Stepping Up". I'm already loving it! I've done almost all her studies (she's my favorite teacher) and was so missing her. I wasn't able to find one in any church (including mine) that was offering one of her studies that I hadn't already done or that was at a time I could attend for about 9 months. She's such a breath of fresh spirit and has such a unique way of making me hunger for God's word and drawing me closer to my Jesus. Hmmm, this is a little convicting - here I am blogging and I have Bible study homework to do. Gotta go! God's blessings... |