Aug. 25, 2009 - Goals and Prayer Needs for 09-10 School Year
I'm starting Sep 14th so I'm still in the middle of my vacation and enjoying it. I prepare for the year during this time. I love lesson planning. I do it for fun.
I'm most excited about 2 things: Analytical Grammar and The Civil War.
I just found out about analytical grammar from a homeschool conf I went to in California this past July (I live in Hawaii so this was awesome for me). I have been teaching my kids (now 5th & 6th) these past years the sentence patterns from what I learned from the NP English Curr Guide and have been nervous about teaching sentence diagramming. Well, at the conference I was looking for a good program to teach that because I was nervous about teaching it. I've tried to teach myself but felt like I was in the dark. Well, the one workshop I went to besides the main sessions was Analytical Grammar and I learned more in 40 min than I've learned my whole life. Every question I had got answered and it all made sense to me. And the best part was that you don't teach it everyday. I love that because grammar can be tedious and mundane. Now I feel empowered and balanced, meaning I'll be teaching it as much as I thought it should be taught. I had heard that grammar is like math but never understood how. I love math and now I can see exactly how it works mathematically. :)
Ok, now for civil war. Growing up in public school I remember studying the wars and wondered why we had to learn them and why they are important. I hated history. Since learning the Principle Approach and Providential History it all makes sense now. So, going into it as a teacher I've been very excited about 4Ring each war and finding out what makes these wars so significant. I loved having all my questions answered. For example, I was getting ready to read about Ulysses S. Grant. I had always read about key individuals in America's founding through some amazing PA books, but FACE doesn't have much about the civil war. So, the one book I do have (The Everything Civil War Book) I wanted to know what was so special about this guy and what made him so favored. How does his story compare to that of G. Washington when he was commander of the Am Rev? I learned Ulysses' mother was a devout Christian (and this was from a secular book). I also realized he became a president too. He failed at almost everything he attempted and consistently made mediocre grades in school. Prior to becoming the leader of the Union Army, he drank heavily and resigned from the army after getting reprimanded and failed at numerous occupations. He even had a hard time getting back in the army when the Civil War started. He even ended his life broke and discouraged from numerous ventures not too mention scandal as a president. BUT, he was the savior of the civil war (so to speak). I think that's incredible and amazing! I'm so excited to teach this to my kids. We're going to have a Civil War Day and invite all the HSers in my island.
For the first time, I'll be teaching separate science and literature. My son is doing a year-long independent physical science program with the use of the computer building things. It's called Exploration Education. He keeps asking me when we're going to start it. Also for literature I'm going to use a children's version of Pilgrim's Progress and combine it with reading comprehension and vocabulary. The book is called Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrims Progress. It has short chapters and lots of pictures (that's what I wanted). There's also a dvd that has been made just from this book. He's a slow reader so we're going to take all year if we have to and focus on a deep study of it. I'm also veering from The Writing Road to Reading for my son because I want to try a different method with him to see if he can do better. I'm a Writing Road loyalist, but I've heard good things about this program and it's different. He might just be bored with Writing Road. We've been doing it for 5 years.
For my daughter, we're going to be studying Little Women, Trail Blazer of the Seas, and Shakespeare's Macbeth. I'm not looking forward to reading Little Women, but really feel the Lord wants me to. I've been doing my research and study, but my prayer is that God will work through me to teach and inspire us. I usually keep my negatives feelings to myself. I don't want her to pick up on that. I've never read a novel this big. Heidi was hard but fun. I'm usually a sprinter, not a marathon reader. I like reading philosophy any day. Anyway, I'll be using mostly Landmark books for history (Landing of the Pilgrims and Gettysburg). For science I'll be doing Real Science-4-Kids Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. By the way, Trail Blazer of the Seas is a NP 5th grade recommendation written by Jean Lee Latham about Matthew Maury. This book changed my life when I read it, but it's out of print and if you look for it on amazon it's around $50 or more. Well, just a couple months ago I found it on google books. Now anyone can read it. You can even download the pdf. Awesome!
Oh, math...we finally finished all the main levels of RightStart Math and will be venturing into new territory. My kids are on the same level. I'm using MathScape by Glencoe Mon-Thu and RightStart Geometry on Fridays. The MathScape one is teaching students how to think mathematically. It's not your typical layout of numerous problems. It's more practical/project based. I'm actually excited to learn a new math program because all the ones I've used before were so traditional and middle school math is my absolute favorite subject of all (I taught and tutored middle school math for a few years).
Another thing I'm excited about is this class I want to have on Fridays that involves entrepeneurship and economics. I want my kids to make things they can sell and learn how to manage money. We've paid them for chores and taught them to give, save, and spend but this is more like starting a business. Anyone watch Shark Tank on NBC? Amazing what you learn! I want to also incorporate elocution and film (because my kids aren't big talkers), and computer graphics (making flyers and stuff). Ever see Everyday News from Vision Forum? I get the podcast and it's amazing what those kids do.
I also want to spend time worshipping the Lord more with my kids. I hope to follow through on that.
I'm not excited about teaching Bible as a curriculum. I will use AMO program which is wonderful but I haven't solidified how to make the actually study of the Bible more relate-able, practical, and heart-felt. You know...like when I read and study the Bible for myself, I always apply it and God speaks to me about whatever. Maybe my kids are still too young for that. I want them to hear God's voice for themselves. That's my prayer.
Thanks for reading.
Raquel Werk
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Sharing Principle Approach ideas and help. Blazing a trail in the Pacific.
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