The summer has gone by incredibly fast and here we are at the start of a new school year. This year I am trying a few different things. Over the summer I reread "Teaching the Trivium" by the Bluedorns. I am implementing these ideas mixed in with my Principle Approach notions. Because of the age differences of my children, I have decided to include all of them in the lessons that I can. History, Literature, Science, Language, and labs and projects will be done as a group. What is required of each will vary according to their individual abilities.

We are studying from the Fall of Rome to the end of the Middle Ages. Our major textbooks are "Story of the Romans" and "Story of the Middle Ages" from Nothing New Press. We are also going to read "God's Mighty Hand" from Little Bear, "Foxe's Christian Martyrs" and "Uncle Eric's Book of Ancient Rome" from Bluestocking Press. Other resources we will use are the Webster's 1828 Dictionary, Strong's Concordance or e-Sword, the King James Bible, "Kingfisher History Encyclopedia", "The Wall Chart of World History", and "Ancient History from Primary Sources".

For our Literature reads I mainly chose books from the Veritas Press catalogue. I had a few books, my friends had some for me to borrow, and others I bought or were donated to us. My family really enjoys G. A. Henty. Four of his books from this time period are our read aloud books for the year. It might be more if we finish early with these books. I have a dozen or so other books of various levels for my children to read or have read to them. During the read aloud times, I have various Middle Ages coloring books from Dover for them to occupy their wondering bodies and (hopefully) keep their minds focused on the story. We also crochet sometimes; it'll be their choice.

Language is a challenge as I have Actress the High Schooler, Pilot the Grade Schooler, Jet the Preschooler and Baby (still no blog nickname yet) the, well, baby. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! The books we are using are:

Actress - "IEW Bible Based Writing Lessons", "Story Starters of the Middle Ages", "Grammar Made Easy", and "Poetry Daily Spark"
Pilot - "IEW Bible Based Writing Lessons" as much as he can do, Writing Road To Reading Phonics and Spelling Rules, Classical Writing Copy Book II, and McGuffey's 2nd Reader
Jet - WRTR, Classical Writing Copy Book II sharing with his brother, McGuffey Primer

We are also doing a little Latin using Latina Christiana and English from the Roots Up. All of them will participate, though just Actress will be required to do the work in Latina Christiana. They all will make the flashcards for ERU.

In Science we are all using Apologia Biology. Pray for me... and the kiddos for this one . The Modules will be read allowed and discussed. Pilot will only be required for definitions and ideas as well as the labs. Actress gets to do the vocabulary, questions, test, and lab work.

Actress is doing Pre-Algebra from a book I had lying around the house. I have no idea where it came from, but it is here anyway. Pilot is using Rightstart Mathematics and Rays Arithmetic. Jet is going to do Rightstart Mathematics.


I am also planning History, Art, Science, Music projects and field trips and other such fun things. I am hoping to add a little PE in the day to help focus our minds. For extra curricular activities, Actress is in Drama (what a shock, I know) and Pilot is in Gymnastics. Jet wants to do Gymnastics; we are just waiting for the right time.

We use notebooks for everything, so they actually develop their own work and keep it well (hopefully) organized.

If you notice, there isn't a separate Bible section. The idea is that the Lord is Lord of all subjects - He is our source and sustainer. The Bible is the basic text for all subjects. In reality, I have only figured out how to implement this into History. I would love to get it into all of the subjects, but my mind gets overwhelmed. My hope and prayer is that the Lord will open my mind to implement His Word into the work of all subjects. Little by little for now and daily steps will lead to more inclusion of His Holy Word into our hearts through His subjects.

So that is my goal for the year. We start on Monday.

I have noticed that in homeschooling, next to high school math, teaching children to read is quite challenging. I wanted to give my insight, what I have learned, what I use, and what seems to work.

With the Biblical Principle Approach, I 4-R each subject. I only did this a little with Reading and Phonics. Basically, I ended up overwhelmed and had no idea how to take such a large subject and bring it to bite sized pieces for my children. After my Literature study, I think this will be next. I have found after Mrs. Smith's training, I am less daunted.

I do have Ramalda Spalding's book "Writing Road to Reading" (4th edition) and have used it with varying success with my children. I have the luxury of having my kids spread out, so each child is in a different strata of the reading atmosphere. As such comparisons as well as my learning curve are easily measured.

If you are unfamiliar with "Writing Road to Reading," (hence forth, WRR) I'll explain it a bit. This is a program based on 76 phonograms. I have the phonogram cards and begin teaching them when my children are about 2 or 2.5 years old. They only learn a few in a year (perhaps as many as 15). I start real slow. I play games, let them touch the cards, trace the letter while sounding it out. I incorporate shapes and colors into our games. "Put the blue circle on the 'k.'" I sound out the sounds, not say the names. Here are some examples of the phonograms: ea, ar, aw, au, oy, oi, ough, eigh, and so on. You can see how there are easily 76 of these little guys!

Once they have the sounds, we drill and eventually put that card away and work on harder ones. Around 1st or 2nd grade, I introduce the Spelling Pages. WRR introduces spelling rules through seven spelling pages and the Ayre's list. The Spelling Pages are to be done in excellent handwriting (bearing in mind the age - don't expect 18th Century Calligraphy). These pages are organized and time consuming. The words are written out by syllables and marked according to the sounds (ie, silent e's, long vowels, others...). Abstract analysis is a main component of these pages; it would be unwise to push a kid into it who isn't ready for this type of thought.

Once these pages are done, the kids then move on to complete analysis of words (the Arye's list and literature words or science words or history words or, well, you get the hint) - phonics, syllables, and rules. Depending on the child, this can take a year or two or three to really understand the relation to decoding (ie, reading) and encoding (ie, writing).

Because of my study of BPA, I am lacking principles and leading ideas here, which would help in instilling God's purpose for reading and writing. However, this will come in time. My kids just may be reading proficiently by then. Such is life.

Here is how it is going with my cherubs.

1. Actress was in private school for Pre-K, K, and 1st grades using Abeka. I went on ahead and tried WRR to strengthen her reading skills as she wasn't strong in comprehension nor actual reading of some words. I am not sure if Abeka was the culprit or my daughter's daydreaminess. I tend to think it was mostly Abeka. Although Abeka did phonics, it wasn't all phonics - just mostly phonics.

During the 3rd through 5th grades, my poor daughter did the Spelling Pages 8 or so times. She is very much a concrete thinker! I think I hurried her through each pages, trying to finish the seven pages in two weeks. I have since learned to be more patient and perhaps not stick to the book scheduale (each child is different, each home is different) in teaching the rules and spelling pages. She was happy when she no longer had to do it and now (9th grade) she is reading well. Comprehension may be lacking a bit, but I've noticed this year that she is picking up books and reading on her own. Some are school related, some aren't.

2. Pilot has only been homeschooled. He started the cards at 2 and picked them up fairly quickly. By the time he started "school" he had a good number of them down. We have not gotten all 76 yet, but have only 20 or 30 to go. He is now 6.75 years and we are starting on the Spelling Pages. I have decided to break up each page. The first page consists of consonants, vowels, and the 5 silent e's. Each of those are a page for us, which roughly relates to a day. It will take three school days to finish the first Spelling Page. We do not do a full school day every day, so it may takes us a few weeks to finish page one.

He is still young and boys generally are allergic to pencils, so I don't want to push it. However, this is a mini-nerd. I mean this in the kindest way (he comes from nerds, really). As such, I let him go until he is ready to stop. He will write for an hour or two throughout the day. Not in one setting!

Here is a sample of our work today:

He has only been taught using one phonics philosophy and reads very well. He will get books on his own and read to his little brother. It is really cute and I treasure it.

3. Jet is started the sounds before my grandparents died. After that time we didn't do much and I tended to focus on the older ones when we did do school. However, when I got back to teaching him, I was surprised at how much he remembered. We are working on nine cards right now and I could probably add a few more soon. I messed up in introducing 't' and 'f' at the same time as they look similar. Naturally, he trips over these.

He now sees the sounds in public and will point them out to us. Particularly 'm', 's', 'l', and 'a' (first sound - short). He is not writing them! He won't write formally for at least a year. He likes to play games with the sounds, like I described earlier. Some days though, he isn't into it. We review the sounds about 2 or 3 times a week. More if he wants to.

WRR seems to work, when I listen to the needs of my children (and lean on the Lord!). My daughter was not ready for school when I wanted her ready. This was (and is) very difficult for me as I want reading out of the way to get them ready for advanced mathematics and science. I was wrong in rushing this. When I backed off with the structure of WRR and just let her struggle through the words, she began getting it better. My older son seems to like the structure and thrives on knowledge and knowing. I will continue to use this with my youngest son. He is only just starting, so we will see how writing goes when we get to it. The sounds (except 't' and 'f') are coming smoothly with him and he relates them to the world around him, though he calls letters "numbers." I won't worry yet.

I would still recommend WRR to struggling learners with this warning: Do Not Go By The Book!!! Play the games longer, put the pencil away, discuss the word (what sounds to you hear, how many syllables do you hear - this may dispel some mystery to their struggles). The phonics cards are simple and the rules plain. Read quality books and use these words as examples for sounds and rules.

My only other advice (I am seeing the need) is to add why this is important to God. Looking through the Psalms I read where David longed for and memorized the Word of the Lord. The Bible talks about the books the Lord has! In Genesis, how precious the communication our Lord had with His new creations! Reading, Writing, Communicating is of immense importance to God!

I would be interested in if this helps. I'd hate to think I wrote this and it was of no value!

May the Lord give us wisdom as moms in our learning how to teach our very individualistic and unique children using those methods He has led us to!

Sherlock Holmes, along with his entourage, visited two NM churches this weekend.  An honored audience was taken back into history, to another country and enjoyed watching the adventures of Sherlock unfold around them.

Professor Moriarty was so convincing as a bad guy that his complete dislike of Sherlock was felt even through his minions. Dr. Watson won the audience over with his sincere commitment to Sherlock as well as his infatuation for Miss Faulkner. Ahh, and the Suffragettes, the minions of Prof. Moriarty, were exquisite in their devious acts. Sherlock, himself, was real and confident. No one would have guessed that such an experienced young man was only in the eighth grade. The newsboys kept the town informed of all the happenings in London. Sid Prince filled the stage with his endearing methods of safe-cracking. Though I must admit, none were as talented as my little Actress who had balanced two roles, very different and distinct from each other. Lady Edwina was a cold royal. Actress not only looked the beauty, but acted the snobbery of her role. Then later she changes into the hat of Gashouse Gertie, an uneducated bombmaker. (Ok, I am very biased. My daughter is really good. However, there was not a bad actor on that stage. They were simply enjoyable to watch.)

This year my daughter and I were part of a co-op that included Drama. Other classes were offered and I even taught an Algebra class (that was my kind of fun). The Drama class was clearly the "fun" class. Fun in that the kids got to dress up and act on stage in front of an adoring audience. However, they worked hard for that end product we saw this weekend. Their Director lead, guided, corrected, and whatever else she had to do to get these kids in order to perform. She had them put everything together - props, costumes, lighting, sound, etc... To give an impressive Sherlock Holmes play, she even had an accent coach work with the kids for a week, which revolutionized the tenor of the play. Having the British accent convinced the audience that we were in London. This troupe is to be commended for their work and dedication to a great play. The director is to be commended for her commitment and dedication and leadership.

Before I begin, I have to congratulate Dana. Welcome to the wonder and excitement of life new little one. Mommy and baby are doing well and Dana went right back to blogging. She amazes me!!!

The CAPE-NM convention was a busy time - fast time. I ran into so many of my friends that I hadn't seen in years. The Bishops are missionaries in Albania, but happened to be home during this time. May the Lord continue to guide them in leading others to His grace and knowledge. My favorite local principle approach teacher and I were able to get caught up with our families and teaching. He and I are hoping to bring Ruth Smith from Pilgrim Institute during Balloon Fiesta (a short trip for my Tulsa and NE friends ). So many friends!! Some were graduating their children. Others were showing off their newest editions. I carried around my daughter's bball picture to show her off. Some friends didn't know I had another baby - he is 2 1/2 now. One lady I know is on her tenth child (I cannot wrap my brain around that). So many of these children have grown into young adults ready to go off into the world on their own.

Probably the most influential workshop was one done by a dear, long-time friend of mine on High School Transcripts. Her daughter and mine have known each other since they were 2 or 3. They are now 15 and 14. Yikes!!! Where did the time go?

Concerning graduating your child, my dear friend impressed that colleges measure every homeschool applicant by your kid's transcript. Integrity is important. Having said that, she urged that the decision to graduate and send the child off to college should be bathed in prayer. What is God's design for the life of that child? Is the child mature enough to leave home? Seek the Lord - you and your spouse - both of you with your child - grandparents... Pray about this if you haven't before or even if you have. Each child is ordained of God to carry on part of His work in this life and in this world. My daughter is very much an individual, with her own unique talents and struggles that the Lord has given her to for His purpose. Soon, we will let her go to carry God's will in her life. This idea of graduating her into life is becoming so real, and yet so surreal.

Once you have an idea of the path you child should take, then proceed high school with that goal of your child in mind that the Lord has revealed to you and your child. We are not just educating to get the child into college. Our tasks as parents transcends immediate academic goals. We are raising leaders for the next generation. We are raising ambassadors for the Lord. We are raising parents, grandparents, in-laws, employees, employers, academicians, researches, soldiers, politicians, care-takers... Be careful to not focus solely on that SAT score. There is way more to life than that. I know that my children will go through a variety of ups and downs - joys and sorrows - wealth and despair. They need to be prepared to ride the waves of life. And to know and trust in their Saviour.

As for the immediate academics, record everything and date the material! Some homeschoolers still like the idea of having a portfolio to show colleges and universities or just to have as a memento to everyones hard work. I like that idea because it goes so well with the Notebook Method that we as BPAers practice. Be prepared to do an actual transcript as well. Have a standard for grades (90-100% A; 80-89% B, etc...). If college is the path, educate in those subjects that will get them accepted into that college they want to attend (pick a few different ones, just in case they don't get into their first choice). In NM, a public high school student doesn't have all the requirements to get accepted into a state college - the requirements are different. The public schools lack foreign language. NM is changing the public school requirements. If college isn't the path, consider what the child will need to do those things that will be expected for their chosen field of work.

I want to add my feminist bent here. I ended up as a single mom for a few years - it can happen to even the most devoted Christian woman. Please teach your daughters to be able to support themselves and not just plan on getting married and being a homeschool mommy. It is important that she has talents God can use in any situation she may find herself. It doesn't mean that she should go to college and get her PhD. (Though I am all for that.) However, she should be able to support herself and children should she find herself a single mom. (Perhaps someday I'll give a testimony about that - I am not sure it would interest anyone, except my daughter who lived it with me.)

Another thing to consider as the child enters the Rhetoric phase of life is the idea of being able to learn despite who may be the teacher. Get the child used to other methods of learning (ie, my very hands on learning child needs to listen to a lecture and take notes). Even if college isn't the path. The child will be expected to learn their whole life. You cannot grow with out learning. This was an eye-opener for me as my precious daughter is a persnickety learner.

When deciding what will constitute a high school diploma, the Carnegie unit is the standard. I loved what my friend said. 1 CU = 120 hours or 40 hours x 180 days or 30 hours x 4 weeks or 3.3 hours by 36 weeks or A COMPLETED COURSE OF STUDY - NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES YOUR CHILD TO FINISH IT. If after 20 hours, your child completed Algebra II don't get another Algebra II book to finish off anther 20 hours - they know the material. Likewise, if after 40 hours you child is only half way finished, don't count that as a complete course. 1 CU = A COMPLETED COURSE OF STUDY. How freeing is that!!!

HSLDA has lots of resources for high schoolers and their parents. Begin looking at this before your child graduates!!! There is so much information for college bound, non-college bound, mission bound, marriage bound (bite my tongue!!!), wandering bound... Prepare for life as well as career years before you pack up your dear teen.

What exciting times as we prepare our young teens to enter the greater world the Lord has made. May He guide our plans and parenting to prepare that precious one for His glory.

It is convention time in the Land of Enchantment. I hope those who can come are registered and those who haven't yet decided will go ahead and come on Thursday. It is a short trip (and lovely - shouldn't be any more spring snow storms) from AZ, CO, TX and OK. My Tulsa friends might want to leave a day earlier.

One of our main speakers is "Little Bear" Wheeler of Mantle Ministries.  He has been here before, though it has been awhile. We really enjoyed listening to him. My husband and I love history. We love to see God's hand move men and nations for His glory. Little Bear does a great job of detailing this through performances. He literally takes you back into history.

Another speaker is Carol Branier. I have never heard of her, but it seems she talks about ADHD. You know, that disorder about being highly dis... Oh look, XM on the internet; what should I listen to now? What was I talking about??? I am anxious to hear if she has any advice for ADD parents. (I wasn't joking about XM on the Internet. You can look at all the songs playing. This is something akin to a cat looking into a room of lots of mice and deciding which to get first.)

We also have Dr. Jay Wile of Apologia Science talking to our graduating class as well as being our third speaker. I enjoy his Biblical approach to science. He is also neat to talk with personally. I had the opportunity to do so a few years back.

On Friday evening, homeschoolers who have finished their homeschool and are ready to enter college or the "real world" have the opportunity to have a graduation. I haven't been to one, but it seems to be growing each year. How exciting to see your little one that you raised, taught, educated, and cared for grow into an adult ready to test their own wings. I am glad that the homeschool community at large recognizes and supports this important event in these teens lives.

If you are interested in more information, visit CAPE-NM. Hope to see you there.