• Jan. 7, 2007
Thinking Out Loud...

So, I am trying to figure out our curriculum plan for Chaney, and I have to visualize things.  Since I have not blogged in a couple of days, I thought I would "visualize" here and kill two birds with one stone :)

You can see our curriculum plan in the sidebar, but I thought I would explain a couple of things.  I have decided to follow Amblesides schedule for Shakespeare reading, Art Appreciation, and Composer Study.  We will also be going through The Age of Fable in Literature (It will take two years) at the same time as other books on our reading list (see sidebar.)

TT only has 115 lessons in their 7th grade math.   So, going on the assumption that the 6th grade will be similar, I am thinking of having her only do math 3 times a week and the other two add in the IEW.  I am not sure about this though...still mulling it over.

I *hate poetry...I have no idea why...I just do!  What kind of homeschooler am I???  It makes no sense to me.  Instead of reading a poem, then try to decipher the writers thoughts,  I would rather dive into a book and lose myself in the story.  I have not made our children memorize *one poem (smack my hands, Internet, I deserve it.)   Oh. The. Shame.

I doubt I will make such a big leap and have them memorize a bunch of poems (I feel that Bible verses and things like that are more practical.)  HOWEVER, I *am going to make a conscious effort to have them *read more poems.  I just hope they don't have a bunch of questions...because I really won't have a clue.

Logic???  I have no idea!  I know they need it (I think.)  They would have fun doing it...but I have *no idea where to start.  I pull out my Bright Minds catalog and next thing I know, they need everything in the book!  I have heard Fallacy Detective mentioned quite a bit...but really I am pretty clueless.  If anyone has any ideas on this (for all three girls) I am begging for would love some input!

One last thing...we like to take breaks...lots of breaks.  The Man's schedule makes it hard for us to do things on the weekends (he only has every other one off), or in the evenings (he sleeps till 3ish, and leaves for work about 6pm...add in the showering, shaving, ironing of uniform, and shining of boots, and we have about 20 mins.)  So when he is off, if there are things to do, (not pertaining to school) we do them.  That being said, the Mon-Fri is just so I can get a good visual...there are *many weeks where we do  not do 5 days of school.  I am planning on just doing lesson plans (gasp...what is that?...I have *never had to write one of those before!)  for about 180 lessons and instead of giving them dates, or days, I am just going to number them.

So here is what I am thinking (at this moment anyway)...Geez...written out, it looks like A LOT!

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Comments

• Jan. 8, 2007
Looks Good.

Posted by Anonymous

I think you schedule looks great. I too am trying to incorporate more Charlotte Mason type courses into our schedule so looking at yours was very helpful. Looking like you are on the right track. --- Beth

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• Feb. 2, 2007
Poetry

Posted by Doyle

Doyle here… So Kelli showed me your Blog as an example and I noticed your comments about poetry. If you do not mind, I have a comment or two about poetry.

<DD>First, I agree with you in regards to disliking poetry, and I believe my dislike garners more scorn than your dislike of poetry. Why, I am currently pursuing a degree in English. What kind of English Major hates poetry? I cannot stand poetry and I loath every class I take (with those millions of pages and pages of poetry).
<DD>However, poetry can give your children an advantage in English. Without going into great detail—not learning poetry in English is akin to learning math without subtraction.
<DD>The word play and/or patterns, and understanding of, increases your ability to communicate (written—yes, but even oratory). In addition, the less structured free-form allows expression without judgment and increased creativity.
<DD>There are other examples, if your children learn how to use alliteration they can create slogans (and understand why slogans, such as political slogans, are so effective).
<DD>It might also help with your lessons on Shakespeare… after all, what is Iambic Pentameter?
<DD>I’ll stop for now (mostly because Kelli is telling me that I am typing too much). Just trying to help… let me know if you have any questions.

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• Feb. 2, 2007
HTML Code

Posted by Doyle

[tab]Okay, so I thought I would try some HTML code… <DD> normally allows for a tab—obviously not in this case. I am not sure if this webpage has HTML disabled, or if it uses “chat” coding (PHP coding style I believe). This paragraph should have an indention… if not (and it has a bracketed tab at the beginning) then I am guessing the coding function is disabled. I’m not a computer geek though, so I’m going out on a limb here.

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