For as long as I can remember October has always been my favorite month. Usually here in Georgia it is too hot at the beginning of the month, but bearable by the end. This week I actually awoke to temps in the high 40s, and it was lovely.
I think it is my favorite month as you can actually see the changes day by day... as things die off and prepare for winter. It makes me realize the urgency that I usually feel in life is a real and valid thing, and that time is truly short and shouldn't be wasted.
I'm planning on posting a really cool recipe of the herbal variety on Monday, but this week I've really just not felt motivation to be online..... I'm talking no Facebook, no blog, not even alot of emails.
We were off school and I've really been convicted to do more, and quite honestly, the internet is a major time waster of mine (along with Sudoku). So this week I've been tying up loose ends, including a never finished quilt along with some other projects, cooking more, and getting some herbal stuff fleshed out in reality, and not just my head.
I know what my purpose is, and right now I'm really trying to meld the theoretical with the practical... again, it is a constant learning process for me. I think the day that I quit learning will be the day I die.
But... I'll be back on Monday with some old and some new. Thanks for hanging with me on the ride.....
My kids are constantly asking me to turn down the music, or to change the songs as we don't have quite the same taste in music.
The one thing we do agree on is our smart music. Smart music is what I call classical music... when they were younger I would tell them that listening to it would make them smart so they always wanted to listen to it. This is one of those things that works well for the under 5 crowd, but not so much any more. My kids are old enough now to know when I'm embellishing, BUT they still enjoy listening to smart music.
I don't have a music background and several years ago I read THIS article by Jude Wanniski, and we just started listening. Everytime we got in the car we didn't turn on talk radio, or the top 40... but Gershwin. We eventually worked our way thru the list to a degree.
The whole internet thing has changed it all though... I can listen to anything as a preview or for somewhere in full for free online. It has made the whole listening to different music easier for a family in the sticks of NW Georgia.
For a while we used the ambleside curriculum , and while we no longer follow their program I do tend to loosely follow their schedule of composers and suggested pieces. Being the non-conformist that I am, I do change it out as I mood strikes. So this month... Edvard Grieg and Jean Sibelius.
I was fairly familiar with Grieg, but had never heard of the other dude. So now we learn about them... who they were, when they lived, why they wrote what they wrote.... Very cool stuff...
So our playlist for the month is this:
The Peer Gynt Suite by Grieg
Finlandia by Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor by Grieg
Symphony No 2 by Sibelius
The video is from Peer Gynt which is their favorite piece of the month....
I must admit that I have an issue with wanting to buy books, especially books on herbs and health. Lately I've cut back significantly, and frequently revisit those I've already aquired.
This is more of a practical list..... the skeleton of my collection. I would like to think that I have a favorite out of all of these books, but I really don't. All of these are different in what they have to say or address, or to whom they are wanting to speak. Most can be found at amazon, but I would encourage you to support smaller stores such as the Bulk Herb Store when you purchase. BHS offers media mail shipping for books only purchases.
Practical Herbalism by Fritchey. Concise and complete info on herbal actions (the medical part) with a specific breakdown on 47 common herbs. Offers formula suggestions on specific ailments. Very detailed info in this book.
....................
Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Elson Haas, MD. Incredibly complete volume on everything you could ever want to know on nutrition. All aspects of foods, including carbs, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and accessory nutrients are discussed. Steps to building a healthy diet along with specific food analyses are also present.
....................
The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook by Green doesn't give specifics on herbs, but goes into the actual methods of preparing them for use in detail. Though I'm much more of a visual and need examples kind of learner, this book does a good job at making tinctures, salves and teas less daunting that first time.
....................
For beginning herbalists I would recommend The How-To Herbal by Keith. The How-To Herbal is more of a general guide with individual herbs discussed and formulas given, as well as how to use your formulas.
.....................
I also love using field guides so that I am positive in my identification when collecting. The two I use the most are Peterson's field guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs and The New Age Herbalist by Mahey and McIntyre.
I have to admit that I do have it pretty easy in life as far as homeschool. I only have 2 kids, and they are 4 years apart. This makes it easy because now that Jett is doing school, Shawn is old enough to do alot on her own or even help him out.
I have found that there are a couple of rules I need to pay attention to, the first being, what works for one child may not be best for the other. My second point would be that boys are different than girls. Lastly, you are going to spend alot of time with these children, and you will have the ability to cut them to the quick, but make sure you spend each day in prayer for your children and show them love and compassion.
I would have added consistency, but I'm not so good at that, plus I don't think that it's hugely important.
Jett has been vastly different from Shawn. Shawn has a photographic memory and has always been eager to learn. This isn't how Jett is... at all. In fact, he has just recently become eager to learn at all. I keep thinking that he is somehow slower than Shawn, but he's not, he is just different. He is also young for his grade (he just turned 7) and again, he's not Shawn.
We have gone from the struggle of learning to read last year, where he fought me everyday we worked on this, to reading being a breeze. We are listening to alot of books on tape as well as doing alot of reading aloud to encourage his love of reading.
For school, he reads a passage daily from McGuffy readers. He is almost done with the 1st grade book and should be moving to 2nd soon.
We are continuing with First Language Lessons for grammar studies, and are in the 2nd grade portion of the book now. This book focuses on memory work and narrations to learn basic grammar. He is also using Spelling Workout, and has really gotten into the books lately.
Handwriting Without Tears is his handwriting practice. He's not the kind of kid who you can just say how to do something and it's automatically in his brain. He needs reminders and little things to jog his memory, and this program is full of these things.
He is working his way through Saxon Math 2, and is working on memorizing his addition/subtraction facts at this time. I like this for the younger grades as it is scripted (easy to teach) and works on alot of basic skills in a practical manner.
Science is done with Shawn, and they are working at their own levels thru Apologia's Botany right now, with Astronomy to follow this winter. He is completing his own lapbook of what he learns that is full of narrations, experiments and art.
We are continuing the study of history with Story of the World, Volume 2 this year. The emphasis is on the middle ages, and so far, he is loving this. He does a narration on what is read to him, and has geography and other art projects for the chapters in the Activity guide.
We've been focusing on school alot over the past few weeks, and I have to say that of all the years that I've homeschooled this has been one of the smoothest times we've had, even going all the way back to the beginning. I'm not sure what led to this, I know it isn't preparation, but maybe it's realizing that school is so much more than the academics. I think it also helps having both of them used to school, not being 'littles', and setting limits with them knowing expectations.
The cool thing about starting 6th grade is that alot of the responsibility has shifted from me to Shawn. She knows what she is supposed to do, and realizes that I expect her to do as she has been told.
Now my kids aren't the best trained, or the most wonderfully perfect kids in the world. They can be mouthy and argumentative if nothing else, but it's nice to see that some of what we have attempted to teach them has sunk in over the years... They are pretty good at getting done what has been asked of them.
This is our goal for this year as far as curriculum. I had shifted to ambleside over the past couple of years, but when I looked ahead to the upper grades I realized that it wasn't quite right for us. I have now gone back to The Well-Trained Mind as our primary guide. I think that I've realized that it's a really solid program and can be as rigorous as you like.
Math has been our biggest switch this year. I decided to leave the Saxon program and started Singapore a few weeks prior to the end of last school year. Shawn has always been a major over-achiever in math, and this logic based program has really made her think on a whole new level. She was Alg 1/2 in Saxon, which I felt was inappropriate, but the rote work was always easy for her. Now she's doing 6 grade math. She's still doing well, but it is definitely a challenge for her because the problems are practical problems that require you to look at what the problem really asks before you can answer.
...........................................
We slowed grammar down last year and are doing the second half of Rod and Staff's 6th grade book this year. We are putting more of an emphasis on real life skills such as writing, and writing well. She is working thru the Spelling Workout series, and using Writing Strands as well for daily writing exercises.
...........................................
We are continuing Latin, or at least she is.... We completed the wonderful Latina Christiana series and have moved on to Henle Latin which is much more of an independent study. Quite honestly, Latin is hard, and she did really well with her last 3 years of study. Now she's starting over, and while I know it will soon be difficult again, she is getting a bit of a break in the form of a review. We use the study guide from Memoria Press for a daily schedule.
...........................................
French is being introduced via Rosetta Stone. Again, it's nice as I don't have to teach it, I just provide support when needed.
...........................................
Also on the computer is Sponge Bob typing. May not be the best, but it's not bad, and she enjoys it.
............................................
We are completing Apologia's Botany book currently. We started it this spring and will be done by the beginning of winter, just in time to start a study of Astronomy... which is generally best in winter due to visability.
............................................
The best has been saved for last.... our favorite is always history. We completed the Story of the World (SOTW) series, and I was at a loss for what to do. The Well-Trained Mind recommends alot of reading and studying encyclopedias, and this just wasn't for us.
The sequence of history in SOTW is a 4 year cycle starting with the ancients, then middle ages, early modern, and then modern. I slowed this to add in a year of emphasis on American history, and really wanted to continue to study in a chronological manner.
So this year we are returning to the ancients. I found Beautiful Feet's Study Guide and have been so impressed by it. The link also features samples to look inside the book. This literature based course also involves introducing primary sources, geography, research papers and art. So far we both love it.
Due to the level of reading involved with history, I've kept the additional reading a bit low key and figure that I can always add more later.
Year-round school seems like a good idea until our start day in July rolls around and then it seems really stupid. I had thought of pushing it back a couple of weeks as I don't feel like I've really had a break, but then I figured we might as well go ahead and start as something else would simply come along to fill my 'vacation', and there is no point in that.
So today is the first day our my 6th year of school. Shawn has been with me thru it all, but this is only Jett's 2nd year.
I was going to give a run-down on curriculum, but instead thought about why we homeschool. I don't believe I'm repeating myself, but then again, I've been wrong before.
I would like to say that I felt called to homeschool from the day I first thought of having kids, but anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not that enlightened and I would only be lying.
I sent Shawn to kindergarten at the age of 5 following 2 years of nursery school. We lived in a nice neighborhood with a great public school.
So Shawn went to school. She had a great teacher, but she showed up the first day knowing how to read and write. She could do math and was a bright, normal kid, or so I thought. Apparently most kindergarteners don't do these things. In fact half of her class didn't speak English at home. This wasn't a big deal to me... I maybe from the south, but I'm not a bigot. My kids were going to be students of the world and see how others lived....
Then the trouble started. This may not be the trouble you think, though...
Shawn started getting in trouble on an almost daily basis. She was a talker. She could get her work finished quickly and then had nothing to do and was on her own. She was expected to entertain herself quietly while the teachers worked with the other kids.
Homework was also sent home on the weekends. I saw this as homework for me, as a 5 year old wasn't able to do what they assigned independently. THis wasn't a bad thing except that I worked weekends and didn't have time for projects. And then the assistant to the teacher sent home a note saying that Shawn had won a game and had called the other kid a "looser". This was the final straw for me. But I maintained my cool, and simply circled the spelling error (of the people teaching my child to spell) and sent the note back stating that more attention might be needed on academics.
I then started searching for alternatives...
I looked to private schools and found two categories. THere were the big name prep schools that wanted $15,000+ a year or the local churches with schools that were still $3,000-5,000 a year. I went and toured some of these local church schools and saw that they were set up alot like the public schools were, and that the curriculum that they raved about was available for sale to anyone.
The answers all pointed that I should consider homeschooling... Everytime I would logically put all the info out there it seemed that homeschooling was the best thing for us. But I hated the whole idea of homeschooling. But I didn't want to give up MY life of workouts and art classes. BUT homeschoolers were the freaks at walmart during the day with at least 6 kids who dressed in skirts with girls that had long, stringy hair. These kids were well-behaved and meek and mild. I didn't want any part of it, besides, we didn't fit the mold.
I don't know that I prayed about it as I wasn't really at a place in my life where God mattered. But I think God knows how to get to me... He played on my vanity.
I thought that I could do as well as any teacher in educating my kids. I was intelligent and bright. How hard could it be?
I went to the library and got everybook they had on homeschooling... probably 40 or so books. The ones that were the most valuable to me were The Well-Trained Mind and The Case for Classical Christian Education. I realized that this was really a good idea for us.
I sat down and ordered the recommendations of The Well-Trained Mind for 1st grade from amazon and we started our school.
This is just a small part of the whole story, but it was the catalyst for alot in our lives. Yes, I've questioned the decision, but overall I don't think I regret one single day. It has made me see my kids in a wonderful light, and also forced me to see myself in a not so good one. I've met God along the way as well. I'm not the person I used to be 6 years ago. I have a different view on life that I would have missed otherwise.
So we start another year of school. I can't wait to see what we learn this year...
Today was supposed to be our last day of the school year. I say supposed to because I went to work and didn't even actually do any school stuff with the kids. That makes me feel like a crappy mother by the way, but it is what it is.
I will probably do a run down at some point of the specific likes and dislikes, but for now I'm really feeling the need for an evaluation of where my head has been the last year.
This was the first year that I really felt like I might not be doing the best I can for my kids. This was the year I used sending them to school as a threat, and meant it. This was the year that I feel went by in a blur and I failed to accomplish my goals.
I don't think that I really regret the year, but honestly, I was spoiled by doing school with just one bright little girl. Having to have her step it up and be more independent along with a reluctant boy child made things a challenge.
It is making me question whether or not I can really pull this off.
But... then I think about all those old homeschooling freaks who used to tell me that homeschool is doing the laundry. For some reason, where I live, that was always the thing I heard. I thought that these people were nuts and wanted nothing to do with homeschooling for the longest time because of them.
I then was vain enough to think that I could do it better. I could prepare my kids for anything life had to offer. I have to admit that I do still feel that way. I just feel so tired, and I'm wondering what the point of it really is.
At a conference last fall I heard Jeannie Fullbright, of Apologia fame, speak. She constantly stressed the importance of putting God first and training your children to seek Him. She made the point that if you can do this, then the rest of it will fall into place.
Maybe this year I finally learned that if you really want to do something in life, you'll figure it out. That all the education in the world won't make you a better person. All I can do is to prepare my kids and give them the tools that they will need for later in life. Knowing God is what will give them a real future. Maybe that's what this year was all about.
I do admit that I need more structure and planning than I had this year. I made alot of changes in curriculum mid-way thru the year as well and that made things a bit wierd as well. I need to get my act together in a big way before we start our next year....
But until then I may reconsider what the old homeschooling freaks used to tell me....
We are finishing up our school year in the next couple of weeks, and it seems like we've barely gotten started. This has been a strange year as I've always been so sure in what I've liked and what's worked for us, and now I find myself needing to change things a bit.... Maybe it's just kind of a fine tuning of sorts.
At any rate.... this is our final booklist for the year. Jett is still at the read aloud stage, while Shawn is reading 1000's of pages a month it seems. I backed off a bit this month with the volume for Shawn as we will be focusing on not just content, but more application in the next few weeks....
You've been watching the tracking, and it should arrive.... today!
The UPS guy doesn't even have to come to the door because you saw him pull up the street....
You run out, get you box, and holler for the kids to grab a knife to cut the packing tape....
You then spend hours looking thru your life for the next year.....
Why aren't the kids more excited? Don't y'all want to come look at the new spelling or history books with me? Don't you want to look at my tentative schedules and plans?
I love when the new school year books arrive... even if my kids aren't as excited as I am!
Can I just say how much I'm loving school right now? We are in one of those zones where everyday seems to be going well, and the kids are actually learning and working hard....
Maybe it's because we know that there is an end in sight... our year is almost over!
We started Jeannie Fulbright's Botany book this week from the Exploring Creation series, and we are loving it just as much as we did the Zoology 1 book. We school year round, so while we are approaching the end of our year, we will start back up in June. I'm planning on just starting the book now, and then working thru it at a normal pace.... we'll wrap it up sometime this fall most likely.
The first lesson discussed what botany was and how scientists separate plants by their family, phyla and class (etc) with a fun little (!) experiment. The kids had to gather 1 of every shoe in the house and determine how they would group them... making their own version of taxonomy.... Very fun, and Shawn reorganized my shoe rack afterwards as an added bonus.....
I'm being good, but I so want to order my curriculum for next school year. I so want my seed order to come in..... but I keep discovering the need to wait.
I don't know why the sudden holding pattern, or what I need to learn or get from this, but it would seem to be the order of the day.
Maybe it's a lesson in responsibility? Maybe I need to learn to complete, or to learn to be comfortable with things left undone? Maybe life's about to do something weird and I need to not waste my efforts?
Who knows and who really cares? I think I'm past it all at this point. I'm focusing more on learning myself and spending more time thinking of the real life application to homeschooling an 11 and a 6 year old. I think that things have always come easy to me and I want to make sure I'm prepared should that change.
I think that I often prefer the idea of school over actually doing it. It's like when I think about all the things I've done in life, and places I've experienced... it sounds really good, but honestly it was still just normal, mundane old life. Not really very exciting or interesting. Maybe I just crave the exciting or interesting, but have just realized that it doesn't really exist?
That doesn't change that I want to spend like crazy and buy more books, even though we haven't completed the others yet. It doesn't make my ideas for gardening more unrealistic and far-fetched. Maybe it is time to slow down and really get the why's and how's a bit better.
I'm a nurse by trade. I can read some of the worst handwriting that there is in the world as I'm used to being around doctors. Sometimes I think that they write the way that they do on purpose just because they think that they can....
For this reason, I refuse to tolerate bad handwriting from my kids. Jett does pretty good, and he is still just learning. Shawn has had a harder time due to being taught d'Nealian in preschool and public K, and then block letters by me. I decided to change as the focus in her early school wasn't on the actual letters, but on what they termed the 'monkey tail' on the end. The letter could be badly written as long as there was a swoop on the end.
Shawn then transitioned to cursive pretty quickly in early 2nd grade as she struggled with printing. Even now, her handwriting is not so easy to read.
I initially started with the Zaner-Bloser books, and Shawn did well with them, but Jett is still reversing letters at times despite being fairly neat.
I have now transitioned to Handwriting Without Tears. I got the 5th grade book for Shawn, and despite her feeling that her handwriting is fine, she enjoys doing the 'easy' writing. Her main complaint is that it is making her go slow so that she can get the letters formed right. While talking we discussed that slowing down is probably what she needed to be doing.
The program addresses reversing letters and how to fix this along with being just a good teaching program for beginners. There are songs to sing (if you are into that kind of thing) and other helps.
I just got the 5th grade book on cursive and the 1st grade teacher guide and kid's workbook. I again got them from Rainbow
I tend to be pretty excited about the things I use for school.... it is more like a passion for what I do and what I am using. It's just one of those things that I can't help.... if I don't love what I do, then I generally don't see much point in doing it.
Earlier this month I got my issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I generally enjoy the quick and easy reads, but have skipped over the product recommendations in the past. This month I read thru them, and I am so glad that I did as I would have missed a great book.
First let me admit that I am a book junkie, but I have been attempting to curb my addiction over the past couple of years. Secondly I am a fan of the Wise-Bauer camp and The Well-Trained Mind is my curriculum of choice.
The new book I just got is Writing With Ease by Susan Wise- Bauer. This is the first of 3 books designed to help you teach your children to write and understand reading. This book is geared for the 1st thru 4th grades with 5th-8th and 9th-12th books coming in the next few years. FYI... amazon has the best price, and I ordered thru rainbow due to shipping. The above link is to the publishers site (very $$) but it has samples to see online of the actual book.
The elementary book focuses on reading short passages to your children with them instructed on narration. On alternate days there are passages for copywork or dictation. It is based on a 36 week school year for 4 days a week, and there is also a workbook you can purchase for each year (the book covers 4 years), or make your own sheets as the teachers book designates.
So why would anyone need this book? You don't really, but I personally find that these tasks are some of those little things that I tend to forget. This scripted book tells what the child 'should' be saying, and guides the lesson. I'm hoping to see an improvement in focus and listening.
Jett will be starting in year 1, and Shawn, though being a pretty advanced 5th grader IMO, is going to be in year 3 and work at a quicker pace possibly. I was surprised that she could do the narrations well, but struggled with dictation a bit due to lack of practice. This happens to be my child who memorizes everything. I guess that I just figured that she was already good at it and didn't really need to do a whole lot.
So how does this help one learn to write? Basically the whole deal is to teach children to observe well written sentences and to learn to repeat these sentences on their own. They don't expect of want children to do creative writing in the early grads as they feel that developmentally children aren't ready for it. The focus is on good grammar, spelling and sentence structure. You could do it on your own, but this takes the guesswork out of it and provides a structured guide that continues to build on skills.
We took a few weeks off during December and I think that the January reading lists for both Shawn and Jett were tough. They did get thru their lists with Shawn completing her narrations on paper, but it was work.
Read alouds are usually read during lunch and dinner at our house. We read the Bible at breakfast and are currently working thru John. We didn't read All Quiet on the Western Front, but we did complete The Red Badge of Courage. It was a pretty heavy book, and I didn't think I could do two graphic war books back to back.
We are slowing down a bit in history as there is alot for Shawn to grasp in the upcoming months... it seems that studying the 20th century hits much harder due to the nature of the content than other time periods.... Maybe because it is so recent it seems more real and raw.
Jett has finished Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and has moved on to simple read aloud books. He is also working on his spelling and handwriting along with learning his math facts. We are also back at co-op and looking forward to our time there.
Latin is tough and we are slowing down a bit to take advantage of really learning the vocabulary and their derivatives. We are around ch 20 in Latina Christiana 2, and I am planning on finishing this book in May so we definitely have the time.
Shawn has been kicking math's tail and is also focusing on her math facts... it is easy for her to grasp concepts, but then she gets sloppy with basics... so we are re-enforcing them at this point....
We have slacked off of French at this time, but need to get started back..... we have been incorporating art into history and science, but I want to do more formal art as well.
Science as always is fun, and we are about to finish Zoology 1. The notebooks they have made are so nice and they are really enjoying the experiements in the book.
There are a couple of new things I am looking at starting this week, and I am so excited about them, but more on them later....
In an attempt to sort some things out I've started 2 new pages where I'm going to keep school schedules and monthly reading lists.
As one of the wonderful things about homeschooling is the ability to tailor your child's education specifically for them I have Shawn's year 5 and Jett's year 1 pages separated.
You can also click on the pictures in the sidebar for a direct link (I hope). I'm still putting things together there, like I don't have enough to do already, but will start with the skeleton of our school and hopefully add more.
Today I sent Shawn to the basement to read a book to Jett for school while I did some chores... After 30 minutes I still hadn't heard anything out of them... no one came to tattle or to talk or to anything.....
I went to investigate and found this....
A sweet, loving sister reading a book to her brother while they both acted it out with legos.....
In light of figuring out where my head is at to some extent, I have decided to get myself back on track and figure out where I need to be, and get there.
I do this, personally, by making goals. It feels so good to cross things off of my list, and to feel like I've accomplished something in life. Often the hardest thing is figuring out what life it is that I want... the making it happen tends to be the easy part.
So... for 2009 by the end of February....
I will lose 20 pounds
I will make a quilt, even if it is small
I will do better at planning out menus in advance
I will take my kids to Chattanooga
I will make a hat (crochet/knit)
I will sew more doll clothes
I will finish my green scarf
I will make a dog bed
I will learn how to groom a dog
Incidentals for the rest of the year include growing something new in the garden, learning to make crackers that taste good, and learning how to make some kind of cheese other than yogurt cheese.
I may take the hat off the list... I am chronically making hats, but look really bad in them. I also need to do something with my hair.
I have almost survived the plague of 08 and am about to move into my 'holiday power week' that is quickly approaching.
Monday I am helping with the homeschool co-op's holiday craft thing where the kids pay can make a little craft as a present to take home. The kids decide what they want to make and then pay a little fee for that particular item.
I was going to go with bookmarks, but instead came up with the idea of hot glue-ing candy canes on votives.
My question is: which style do you like the best.... fat candy canes (left) or thin, hooked ones (right).
Please vote by Monday so I'll know which ones to get.....
The Prince and I were reading about the adventures of the Phoenicians in ancient times... and I don't mean those climbing Camelback Mtn....
One of the projects in The Story of the World was to bake Phoenician bread, essentially pita bread. I had never made pita style bread before and figured that this was a good excuse so we made a batch. The Prince soon let me know that he could do it himself...
Our recipe....
6 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 T yeast
2 cups warm water
1 T honey
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in the honey and add the salt and flour slowly. I used my mixer for 6 minutes or knead by hand for 10 minutes.
Cover bowl and let dough rise for about 2 hours.
Punch down and shape it into 10 balls. Let sit for 15 minutes then shape into 6-7 inch round shapes.
Bake in preheated oven at 450 degrees on lightly greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes...
We have gone back to The Well-Trained Mind for school and have been enjoying using Story of the World for history along with the activity book for fun stuff. One of the things that I enjoy about this series is that not only are the stories interesting and engaging, but the activity guide gives you narration/outline hints, maps for geography study, pictures to color and crafts to complete ranging from simple to the complex.
I had initially planned on doing a 4 year history cycle, but with our year spent delving deeper into history has thrown off our schedule.... I think that this may be a good thing as the Princess, while in 5th grade, is working on modern times in book 4, and the Prince in 1st grade is working thru the ancients in book 1. It does mean that I have to do 2 time periods, but I'm not stressing about it too much. The cool thing is that the Princess has become much more independent and self-directed in the past few months making my job so much easier.
One other thing I really enjoy about The Story of the World series is that each chapter of the activity book also provides recommended reading of both non-fiction and literature-based books that are relevant to the time period and subject being covered. The books are rated for the grade of the student making the books easy to utilize by a range of students.
Alot of these books are on the ambleside lists, but there are also many good storybooks, especially in Books 1 and 2.
This past week the Princess has been learning about Stanley and Livingstone in Africa, and the Prince has studied ancient China.
One of the recommended books is a book called, The Dragon's Tale and Other Animal Fables of the Chinese Zodiac, by Demi. THis book essentially tells a fable with each animal of the chinese zodiac used in the fable. We all liked different ones, but this one was my favorite....
Once there was a frog who lived in a shallow well. When a goat passed by, the frog shouted, "Look how blessed I am down here! I can hop along the sides of my well when I want to, and I can rest in a crevice when I need to. I can wallow all day long, with only my head above water if I feel like it, or I can lie in the soft mud at the bottom. And at night I can see two stars in the circle of sky at the top. I am lord and master of this well! Why don't you come down and see that my way of living is best?"
The goat looked down at the frog for a moment, but did not jump into the well. He said, "Frog, I have climbed the high mountains and seen the great sea. The sea is more than ten thousand miles across, and more than ten thousand feet deep. Your little well is of no consequence compared to the vastness of the sea. And what are yoiur two stars compared to the billions in the universe? You no more understand the world than a mosquito could carry a mountain , or an ant swim in a river. Frog, you only see the world from the bottom of a well."
Those with a narrow view cannot know the immensity of the sky......
Living day to day while seeking the truth in life. Finding wisdom through Christ in marriage and my children. Finding beauty in the world in which we live...
![wings_staticbanner_125x125[1]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3601/3654768638_b42323b4d5_o.gif)
