Trying the CM method this year, I’m not exactly sure how I am supposed to carry out my year, so we are dabbing in many directions. I have so many things I am wanting to cover. I want my children to have a well rounded education so I am trying to entwine many subjects to give us a complete exploration in the material I am wanting us to grasp this year.
For the last several weeks we ventured into the life of George Washington & all of the happenings during his life, up to the Boston Tea Party. Then, we covered James Watt & the steam engine, which was during that time, & pulled in William Blake & his poetry from that time period. So that gives us many weeks of some great history.
For the next several weeks, we have chosen to do a unit study on deer to bring in some science. We are also going to do a unit study on Australia to bring in our geography. We will use our vocabulary words from these two unit studies for our spelling. We’ll continue in our math with Saxon 65 & working a page or two from time to time in our A Beka third grade that we didn’t finished last year. Copy Work will be random.
Our new books that we will be taking our studies from for the next few weeks are:
“Australia Today”
By Eleanor Z. Baker
“Let’s Visit Australia”
By John C. Caldwell
“Australia Calling”
Margaret L. Macpherson
We’ll read through these books while working through our unit study on Australia. I think by integrating the extra books along with some internet research, we should get a good heaping of knowledge on Australia, likewise with the deer unit study.
“Wild Deer”
By C. B. Colby
“White Reindeer”
Neill James
We will also be notebooking some post card pages to put in our states unit studies for the states we collected post cards on while traveling. Sounds like a lot, but we are excited to get in to some new books.
Well, my DS is finishing up with his spelling so I’d better go so we can dig in to our books. More later, Traci
For four years now I have been the mother that believed that we need to stick with the books. Lets make sure we stay on track, keeping up with the schedule, the Scope & Sequence of an English book& it has been push, push, push. I could not help but to think that surely they are missing the most of this material because we are having to move through it so quickly. My children didn't show signs of that, that was just my thinking. I do know one thing it was leaving out of my children's lives, "The lack of a hunger to devour great material." My children wouldn't even try to find the important facts/ideas/etc. of the material because they depended on what the book had laid out for them.
This year I have gotten out of the text books & have decided to fly with my own wings. We haven't had an English curriculum. We have been using Copy Work to enforce our pennmanship & our punctuation. After only 2 1/2 weeks of using Copy Work, I have a testimony to show the effects of Copy Work.
For two nights now my DD has followed me all over our home with books & high lighters in her hand reading & saying, "Oh Mamma, this would be great Copy Work. Mamma, this is good stuff! Mamma, have you ever noticed, most of the good quotes, they don't even know who wrote them so they just put anonimus." It has been amazing watching her graze in book after book looking & searching for the, quote, good stuff that is in the book.
By the way, one of the books she has been looking at & reading is a 1978 Daily Guide Post. That book is loaded with great quotes, poems etc. It also gives stories & history behind the quote/poem. We high lighted page after page for our future Copy Work.
Not just my DD, but I have a DS that can read, & can read great when he is made to do it, but he very seldomly picks up a book without some help from Mamma, if you know what I mean. Things have been different lately. I have seen him reading more & bringing books to me to show me things he has discovered in them. Just Copy Work has gotten my DC devouring books. For the past 2 weeks at our house, books have been like candy. They are eating them up! Yea Copy Work!!!
Well, I'd better go for now. It's about time for us to eat some more books. More later, Traci
Through the years that we have homeschooled we have been a traditional type homeschooling family. This year we decided to try a different approach to it. I had been reading & searching the Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling & after much consideration decided to give it a try.
The CM method means our year will consist of much reading to acquire the knowledge we will need to obtain this year. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant at first, but after just a couple of weeks in to our school year I feel like we are going to be fine.
CM recommends reading great living books & literature to obtain your knowledge so here is our list that we chose to begin our new school year with:
History: "George Washington" An American Life
By Laurie Calkhoven
"Benedict Arnold" Trader To His Country
By Jeannette Covert Nolan
Library Read Aloud: "A Man of Prayer & Courage" George Washington
By Norma Cournow Camp
Poetry: "William Blake"
By James Daugherty
Science: "James Watt" Inventor of a Steam Engine
By Robert N. Webb
Artist: "Copley" A Biography
By Elisabeth Ripley
Geography: "The Hudson Riverof History"
By May McNeer
We are also studying the country of Belgian (my children's choice) and reading "Gerard, Our Little Belgian Cousin" and "The Belgian Twins". We are reading these books on line & are notebooking pages of collected info & picts.
We had been reading "The Bears of Blue River" for literature, now I have to choose something else. My DC liked it so much we read it in two weeks. I haven't decided what we'll read next.
As I had said, a lot of reading, but my DC are loving it. Especially our poet. That is the first book they want to read from each day. We are enjoying his poems. We have been using some of them for our Copy Work.
As of right now, "The Lamb" is our favorite poem by him.
This blog is getting long & I'm not finished talking, but for the sake of being courteous, I'll go for now. I'll speak of more happenings another time. Blessings, Traci
Hi, my name is Traci and I am the wife of my sweetheart of 10 years and mother of our 2 wonderful children. We have been on our homeschool journey for 5 years now and loving every minute of it.
I have another blog, but I thought I'd expand my territory so I am starting this blog.
I hope to meet many new friends through this blog.
I'll be sharing the happenings of our homeschool journey with you all. The good days and even the bad. We all know this journey is not always a bed of roses, that every rose has its thorns, but we also know that roses have a sweet aroma too. Hopefully you all will get to smell our sweet roses and we can weed out the bad.
We give our homeschool journey each day to God, giving Him the power to lead us every step He would have us embark.
Pray for us as we travel on our way, Blessings, Traci