It's A Wonderful Life - Homeschool Blogger

Grammatical Thoughts

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:39:00 -0500

One of the places I like to hang out on the web is at a homeschool forum called "The Well Trained Mind". I was reading through a few of the posts and one in particularly on grammar. The poster was using a certain grammar curriculum and after several months felt that her 8 or 9 yo ds was not retaining much from this particular curriculum. This was revealed to her through his writing assignments. She wanted to know if anyone else had this experience. Several people said they had the same problem and one person said it was working well for them. A comment was also made by someone that this is; perhaps, why grammar is taught repeatedly through the school years. A thought of mine that had been simmering just below the surface finally burst through. Ding, ding, the bell sounded off in my mind and my thoughts started flowing rapidly. I hope I can put them down here cleary for you.

As a child, I strongly disliked grammar. I loved math, science and history, but really struggled with grammar. Every year it seemed like we repeated the same thing. Of course their were some new things introduced, but it always covered the basics. One of the things I had a difficult time wrapping my around was direct objects. I just didn't get it..... until eleventh grade. Then it clicked.

Another area in which I struggled was creative writing. I hated it. I was not the kind to make up stories in my head or see a bee and be able to write a story about it. That is just not how my brain worked, never mind trying to remember the grammar rules and apply them.

My point is that a young child in the earlyto middle years of elementary school is probably not going to get most of it. They might understand some of it the way it is used in the book and are able to parrot it back you, but when the time comes to apply it in their writing those rules are not going to be foremost in their mind. What is going on in their mind is "what am I trying to say here and how do I put that on paper?" It is not "Do my sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark?" It is the repeated drilling and growing throughout the years that finally causes the nail to reach it's mark.

So how do I know if a grammar curriculum is right for us? The curriculum used in that tiny Christian school which I attended many yeasr ago was not full of bells and whistles, but it repeatedly represented the subject in a clear, methodical, concise manner and after years of hammering, the nail finally went through. As a homeschool mother, once I purchase I certain curriculum, I usually stick with it for the whole year. Occasionally I might change mid-stride if I feel that it is not for us and will not be beneficial to see it through. Grammar is one of those subject in which I seemed to be unable to stick with. I couldn't find the right curriculum. This was not because a particular book was bad, but because it did not meet my needs as a teacher. One was to scripted, I knew by the end of using it with 5 children (4 in a row) that I would end up in Bedlam. Another jumped around to much and didn't have clear instruction. Others I have skipped (despite their raving reviews) because they were to teacher intenstive or required an overwhelming amount of writing and review. Because of this, my daughter has not had the solid foundation in grammar that I might have wished; however, in fifth grade she has does know the basics and we are slowly proceeding. I am confident that by the time she graduates she will know her parts of speech, how to properly use punctuation and remember that the word "I" is always capitalized! The curriculum I am using now works for me because it meets my needs as a teacher. It is methodical in it's teaching, liberal in it's review and I as a teacher have learned to tweak it in the areas that are not suitable for us.

That Time of Year

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:46:00 -0500

It is that time of year. The air is getting warmer, the birds are singing, the tax refund is in the mail and it's time to look into and buy next years curriculum! To me it is more fun that opening presents at Christmas. ;)

I had already discovered my great curriulum goldmine last year in Heart of Dakota. It has been such a blessing this past year. I love the Christ centerness of it, the open and go of the TM, the easy, yet meaningful activities (that mostly use stuff around the house), the living books, the advice and encouragement from the ladies on the message board and from Carrie Austin (the author) herslf, etc. It has been a great year, so picking curriculum was easy this year. We will be doing Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory with my boys (K & 1st), Bigger Hearts for His Glory extensions with my 4th grader and the new, not yet released Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ with my oldest 6th grader. I have already received the Beyond and Bigger guides and am just blow away by the meaty yet doable content in them and am very excited about next year.

Science Links

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:33:00 -0600

I was cleaning up my school room and came across some notes from one of our homeschool meetings which contained a bunch of links for doing science, most of them free. Thought I would post them here.

www.science-teachers.com – worksheets, lesson plans, acativities K-12 – FREE
www.sciencenetlinks.com – Resources for Science & links
www.free.ed.gov – Links to other great rsources – free
www.fi.edu – Franklin Institute – lots of games, puzzles, and resources – free
www.education.jlab.org – videos of experiments, games & puzzles, hands on activites
www.lknowthat.com – videos, interactives, animations – some stuff is free, subscription $5.95/month
www.learner.org – Annenberg Media – lots of videos, movies – high school level – free
www.amnh.org – worksheets, lesson plans, activities k-12 – free
www.howstuffworks.com – anything science! Great resource – free
www.chem4kids.com – cool chemistry stuff, good resource – free
www.biology4kids.com – cool biology stuff, good resource – free
www.cosmos4kids.com – cool space stuff, good resource –free
www.physics4kids.com – cool physics stuff, good resource – free
www.exploratorium.edu – lots of neat science stuff, some in depth explnations – free
www.madsei.org – weird fun stuff, science fair projects - free

I also have in my notes to check out the Franklin Institute, American Museum of Natural History and NASA!

Update

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:53:00 -0600

Can't believe it has been six months since I have blogger here! Hope everyone is doing well. Heart of Dakota has been a great fit for us. I did change my 8 yo dd from Preparing to LHFHG with the boys (keeping her on her level of math, reading, and grammar), which has worked much better for us. Overall they are having a lot of fun with it. The toddler is into EVERYTHING and is also a source of joy and entertainment (not that the others aren't) for us.

I did start another blog for our Heart of Dakota stuff (not that I keep up with that to well, but better than this one). Not sure what else to say.

Starting School soon!

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:39:00 -0500

We will soon be starting back to school soon and hopefully blogging again in a couple of weeks. Here is what I plan to use for this year:

Boys K & 1st:

Little Hearts to Heaven (Heart of Dakota) for History, Science, Bible, Poetry, rhymes and various activities

Italic Handwriting (Getty-Duval K & Penny Gardener's Handwriting for Children 1st)

Singapore Math or some other math workbook(K), Math U See (1st)

Phonics: Hooked on Phonics

Grammar will be light just teaching the basics of nouns & verbs

Girls - 3rd & 5th

Preparing Hearts to Heaven (Heart of Dakota) includes history (CHOW, life in the great ice age, hero tales, grandpa's box), science (one small square books, find the constellations, who was leonardo davinci?, CFA Albert Einstein, Beverly Birch's Louis Pasteur, Great Dinosaur Mystery), Bible (Psalms), Poetry, dictation, copywork, spelling (through copywork)

Grammar - Primary Language Lessons, Intermediate Language Lessons, Simply Grammar

Handwriting - Penny Gardener's Beautiful Handwriting for Children

Math - Math U See

Since PHFHG is only scheduled for 4 days a week it leaves 1 day a week open for doing Home Economics for Homeschoolers (includes health), Nature Studies, Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (Apologia), PE, Field Trips & not having to figure out how to cover that 5th that is planned when those pesky 1 day holidays mess up my week

I am really excited about using the Heart of Dakota curriculum this year, usually I try to put together my own so it will be nice to have something already planned that is just open and go and easy to implement.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer!

Ergo Baby Carrier Contest

Fri, 9 May 2008 13:35:00 -0500

Win a Free Ergo Baby Carrier from Along for the Ride

On the Subject of Art

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:00:00 -0500

I am not a very creative type person, and definitely am not artsy. I have difficulty thinking outside of the box, so when it comes to teaching art, I need help and lots of pictuers (I am a visual learner). With 5 children, I also need something that is not consumable (except supplies of course) that I can use over again. Here are some books that I have found very helpful.

For learning art techniques:

Evan-Moor's "How to teach Art to Children"
This book teach's color, line, texture etc. It also has a section of books recommended for art appreciation and then projects that you can do to imitate that artist. Evan-Moor also has a good book called "ArtWorks" that are projects that you can do with your children.

Another good book for children to learn art by styles & artist is "Discvoering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters" by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga

There are seems to be a lot of good books on art appreciation being published for children. One series that I recently discovered (I had heard of it before, but not checked it out until recently) is "Come Look with Me". We are currently using there book on Art in Early America. It contains about a dozen pictures from different well known artists. Devoting one picture to a page and on the opposite page it contains some questions about the picture and then a short biography on the artists life.

For very young children (preschool to early elementary...although my 9yo loves them to) are the "Katie" series by James Mayhew. They include: "Katie and the Impressionists", "Katy and the Sunday Afternoon", "Katie and the Mona Lisa" just to name a few. They are cute stories about a girl named Katie and her grandmother who go to the art museum. While they are looking around (Grandma is usually dozing on a bench), it shows Katy going inside the pictures and having an adventure.

If you want to read about individual artists check out the "Anholt's Artist Books for Children" by Laurence Anholt or "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Arists" series by Mike Venezia.

The National Gallery of Art has an extension program where you can borrow their resources for only the cost of return shipping. We used this at the beginning of the year and it was great. We would watch the DVD about the artist, then look at the pictures by that artist that was included and then have my daughter try to imitate something in that style.

If you want a packaged art curriculum here is a list of some that I have seen recommended.

How Great Thou Art
which includes (but is not limited)
God & The History of Art (4 year program)***
I can do all things
Lambs Book of Art

***you can purchase the pictures postcards as well as the painting/marker cards from Millers Pads and Paper (great art supplies resource).....

Artistic Pursuits

Meet the Masters

Artelier (this is a neat art program....I couldnt find it, but there used to be a sample of one of the demo's)

Art Websites:

Masterpiece Art Instruction

Garden of Praise

Every Day Art

National Gallery of Art

Homeschool Freebie Links

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:11:00 -0500

Here are some free websites that I have come across in my travels or have been recommended to me. They include missions curriculum, kinder games, reading quizzes etc.

Wycliff Kids

Kinderweb Free Children's Games

TVO Kids

Book Adventure

Update

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:06:00 -0600

I have tried for a while to keep up with 3 blogs because I have not wanted to give up my homeschool and homestead blogs, but find that I must at least for a while.......I will continue to do the bulk of my blogging here:

http://kayinpa.blogspot.com

Hope all is well with everyone.

Wed, 7 Nov 2007 14:14:00 -0600

I am still alive....just not much going on except hanging out and playing at facebook as well as getting ready to go to another wedding! Emily finally finished Gamma, so onto Delta we start tomorrow!