(taken from Daily Focus -- a devotional for homeschoolers by homeschoolers)

Totally Lost
Tuesday / October 06, 2009


Some days, even the best homeschool teacher has trouble communicating a lesson. Whether you're teaching equations in algebra or diagramming sentences in grammar, a change begins to occur in your child when he does not comprehend the information you are covering. You've seen the look — a blank stare, a squint, eyebrows up in the form of a question mark. The body begins to fidget and unintelligible utterances come from his mouth. He doesn't have a clue what you are talking about and is totally lost. What are you going to do?

When I was new to homeschooling, I walked away in frustration or assumed my child was not paying attention. I tried repeating the same information or using a louder voice. With infinite variations, the battle went on until I realized the problem was not with my child; it was with me. I was the teacher, and I had failed to teach. I needed to try again and approach the information from a different angle — a new learning style or additional visual aids.

Thankfully, God doesn't lose His temper or walk away from us when teaching life's lessons. When we begin our fussing routine or get that lost look, He gently wraps His arms around us and takes us back to where we last understood. Lovingly, He leads us to godly counsel from Christian friends or words of wisdom from the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit customizes each particular lesson until we grow "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I received this timely devotional this afternoon.  It just so happens that this very thing happened to me today.  And although I'm not new to homeschooling, as we were trying to solve for an unknown with the attitive inverse in pre-algebra today, I assumed Morgan was not paying attention as I tried to repeat the information for her over and over again -- eventually in a louder and louder voice.  Finally I did walk away in frustration and ended pre-algebra for the day, deciding to just try again tomorrow.  Yes, I failed her today.   In the end I let my temper get the best of me, not seeing that I wasn't getting the information across to her in a way she could understand it.  I'm sorry, Morgan!  Tomorrow I will try it again, but this time I will remember to gently wrap my arms around her and take her back to where she last understood, just as the Lord has done with me many times in the past and continues to do so every day.  Even though I know it to be true, I am always in awe by the fact that God knows and gives us exactly what we need at the exact time we need it.  Thank you Lord!

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I came across this the other day and thought about how true it is for me.  I am so thankful that I can stay at home and teach my children.  When I was their age I could've cared less about what I was learning about in school.  At the time it just wasn't interesting to me -- maybe it was the way the material was presented or just the public school environment overall, I don't know.  But, all of my children love to learn and I love to learn right along with them. 

Homeschooling is for Parents--

How many of us went through school without learning anything in general, or remembering anything in particular? We were neither interested nor motivated. We were simply serving our 12 year sentence. We now have another opportunity to learn these things as we teach them to our children. We have the opportunity to learn:

• The math we never understood.
• The science from a Christian instead of from a naturalistic perspective.
• The history they never taught us.
• The classical language they never offered us.
• The logic they never allowed us to use.

We never learn anything so well as when we ourselves have to teach it. What a blessing it is to have children to teach. And there are many things only a parent can teach his child.

Homeschooling is saving two generations: first us, then our children. We all must go on to earn our Ph.D. — Doctor of Parenthood.

Taken from "Seven Undeniable Truths of Homeschooling" (Number Seven) --- by Harvey Bluedorn (www.triviumpursuit.com)

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 In art class yesterday  the kids' assignment was to sketch their own hand in a curled position.  Their works of art are below:

 Andrew

Morgan

David

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Morgan and David began their General Science book by Apologia yesterday.  I think they're excited about being able to start the "big" science books.  I hope they still feel the same way after their first "big" test.  In this book they'll learn about the history of science, how to do science, the history of life, how your body works, and some of the amazing living creatures that exist in God's Creation.

Today they performed the following two experiments:

Experiment 1.1    Density in Nature

top to bottom:  vegetable oil, water, maple syrup

Drawing what they see---look close and you can see a cork floating on top of the oil layer, an ice cube floating on top of the water layer, and a rock that sunk to the bottom (you can't see it) 

Note:  There should be a grape floating on top of the syrup layer, but we didn't have any grapes.  I didn't plan too well, did I?

Experiment 1.2    Atomic Motion

David dropping food coloring into a jar of hot water.

Morgan dropping food coloring into a jar of cold water.

Observing the results---

cold water on the left, didn't mix well----hot water on the right, mixed rapidly

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Elective Choices----

Bible:  We'll again be attending Community Bible Study (CBS) once a week.  The lessons are worked on at home using the Bible.  For more information go to www.communitybiblestudy.org. There are classes all across the United States.

Foreign Language:  Rosetta Stone -- Latin

All the kids started this during the second semester of the '07-'08 school year.  They've been working on it non-stop, through last summer and Christmas break too.  They should finish it by the end of their first semester of '09-'10.

www.rosettastone.com

Why Latin? --- Why bother with Latin?  It is, after all, a dead language (a perjorative phrase)---no literature is being produced in it, no one's speaking it or doing business in it.

     We bother with it for a  number of reasons.

     Latin trains the mind to think in an orderly fashion.  Latin (being dead) is the most systematic language around.  The discipline of assembling endings and arranging syntax (grammar patterns) according to sets of rules is the mental equivalent of a daily two-mile jog.  And because Latin demands precision, the Latin-trained mind becomes accustomed to paying attention to detail, a habit that will pay off especially when studying math and science.

     Latin improves English skills.  The grammatical structure of English is based on Latin, as is about 50 percent of English vocabulary...

     Latin prepares the child for the study of other foreign languages:  French, Spanish, and Italian are all related to Latin.  Even non-Latinate languages can be more easily learned if Latin has already been studied.  ...

 ----- taken from The Well-Trained Mind--A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

Logic/Critical Thinking:   The Thinking Toolbox by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

We've all been going through The Fallacy Detective by the same authors this year and love it.  This is their follow up book.  I've posted a review by Dean Andreola from Christian Book Distributors below.

Andreola Review

                              

•  Morgan--- Home Economics for Homeschoolers, Levels 2 and 3 from Pearables.  She used Level 1 this year and really enjoyed it.  I think she could've moved a little faster through it, so we're going to go ahead and get the two follow up books for next year.

• Andrew and David--- This year they've been working on The Young Man's Handybook:  Preparing Your Son on the Homefront by Gail Keppenman and Martha Greene.  I don't think they'll finish it this year, so they'll just continue with it for next year too. 

That's it---I think.

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Science choices----

Lauren:     She'll be taking anatomy and using Apologia's Advanced Biology course---The Human Body:  Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!.  We've been using Apologia's elementary, junior high, and high school science for four years now.  The books we've used so far are:  Zoology 1, Zoology 2, Astronomy, General Science, Physical Science, Biology, Marine Biology, and Chemistry.  I love the conversational tone of the books.  They are wonderful!!!

Morgan and David:     This week they'll finish up their astronomy course for this year.  I'm 99.9% positive that I'll go ahead and start them on General Science by Apologia within the next couple of weeks.  I would've already started them at the beginning of '08-'09, but they both really really wanted to go through the astronomy book first.  So, I think they might can get half way through the General Science this year and finish it up in 8th grade next year.  Then we may go ahead and start Physical Science by Apologia as soon as they finish that up.  So, then we'd be combining General and Physical Science into a year and a half.  I think they can do it though.  They both seem to like science, especially David.

Andrew:     I'm trying something different next year for Andrew.  Instead of just using a set science course, I'm thinking outside the box and gathering different books to form a creation science course for him.  For the spine of the course he'll be using The Wonders of Creation series.  The series includes a book on each of the following:  astronomy, weather, geology, fossils, caves, and oceans. I've picked out other books to supplement each of the different subjects in the course (except for oceans---I'm still looking for something to go with it).  I've also found some good dvds at the library and Netflix to go along with them too.  I think some field trips are in order too, especially when he gets to the cave books. 

(The books he'll be using for the spine are all of the left in each row below.  The books after each of those are the ones he'll be using to supplement them.  The list is by no means complete as he'll be using guide books, dvds, and anything else we find useful to us in learning more about the wonders of God's creation.)

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Math Choices---

Morgan and David will be taking Pre-Algebra next year.  We'll continue with Math-U-See (www.mathusee.com) by Steve Demme for it.  It's another one of those that we've been using since our second year of home schooling.  I love it up until  Algebra 1.  We tried it with Lauren and decided against using it with all the others.  All the books below it have been revised, but Algebra 1 and up had not been when she used it.  It's really a great math program.  I hope they'll revise the other books soon if they haven't already.

Andrew--- He will finish up Algebra 2 by Teaching Textbooks (www.teachingtextbooks.com) before Christmas next year (He started it last month after finishing Algebra 1 in November '08).  We're still debating on whether or not to go ahead and start Geometry by Teaching Textbooks or just wait until the '10-'11 school year.  No matter what he does, he'll still have his four math credits by the end of high school.  By the way, Teaching Textbooks is what we went with for Algebra 1 after we decided against Math-U-See for the upper grades.  I don't know how TT is for the lower grades, but we love it for the upper ones.

Lauren will be taking Consumer Math by Bob Jones University Press (www.bjupress.com).   I know that now days most kids don't take consumer math---I didn't when I was in school.  I wish I had though.  So, no matter what other mathematic courses my kids take during high school, it is an absolute must that they take a year of consumer math before graduating.  I've never used BJUP for math---I've only used their life science with Lauren when she was in the seventh grade.  So, we'll see how I like them for consumer math next year.  If it doesn't work for us, I'll keep looking elsewhere.  Poor Lauren---she's my little guinea pig.

Next---science

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History Choices----

Lauren and Andrew will be using Exploring World History by Ray Notgrass (www.homeschoolhighschoolhistory.com).  It integrates world history, world literature, and Bible all in one course.  I've used their U.S. government, U.S. history (for high school) and their In the News booklets for middle school (it is no longer being sold).  The kids and I both have enjoyed their curriculum.  I only wish they would've had a full history course for middle schoolers a few years ago.

Morgan and David will continue with the All American History series by Celeste W. Rakes and start working on All American History, Volume 2: The Civil War to the 21st Century (www.brightideaspress.com/aah2.htm).  I switched to this curriculum for our '08-'09 school year after using The Mystery of History, Volumes 1 and 2 by Linda Lacour Hobar.  The third volume in the MOH series didn't get released in time for us to use it.  We were doing history chronologically and didn't want to break the cycle.  I did fill in with The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation by H.A. Guerber/Christine Miller (the kids loved this book) between The Mystery of History and All American History to get us to where we needed to be chronologically. 

Next---Math choices.

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It's that time of year again---for me anyway---to start looking at curriculum choices for next school year (We'll start our eighth year of home schooling this fall--Wow!  How time has flown.).  Actually I've slowly been looking since the first of January.  I love to look at curriculum whether in a catalog, online, or in person.  The kids think I'm nuts for spending so much time on it.  They think it's boring, but for me it's never boring---I love it!  I have to make myself stop.  I finally have next year lined up though.  Unless I see something else that strikes my fancy, but I seriously don't think I will.  For a lot of subjects we'll stick with what already works for us---a few we won't.  Only for our first year of home schooling did I buy every subject from the same publisher.  After that year I learned to research curriculum for myself.  I pick and choose from many different publishers and decide what I think is best for our family.  It's a lot of trial and error---our second year I thought we'd try unit studies and it just didin't work for us.  I packed it up mid-year and bought new curriculum for most subjects during our Christmas break.   For a few subjects we just used the library for the rest of that school year.  I've learned a lot about choosing curriculum for our family since then. 

I'll begin with our English choices...

Spelling:  I'll continue using Adams-Gordon's Spelling Power by Castlemoyle Books (www.castlemoyle.com).  I've been using it since our second year of home schooling and I wouldn't use anything else.  It's for grades 2-12.  The kids work on the level they test into each year, not necessarily their grade level.  They take a daily spelling test and only study the words they miss each day, not the whole list.  No sense in studying words you already know how to spell.  There are also review tests, delayed recall tests, and end of the level tests in each level to make sure they know how to spell the words before moving on to the next level. 

Vocabulary:  This year we'll finish up the English from the Roots Up volumes 1 and 2 (Latin and Greek root words).  So, we're going to jump back into the Wordly Wise series of vocabulary books, which is what we were doing before we started English from the Roots Up a few years ago.  Except this time I think we'll go with the newest version---Wordly Wise 3000 2nd Edition (www.epsbooks.com).  

Writing/Composition:  I'll continue with Jensen's Format Writing (www.jsgrammar.com) by Frode Jenson for Lauren and Andrew.  For Morgan and David--Complete Writing Lessons for the Middle Grades and IF YOU'RE TRYING TO TEACH KIDS HOW TO WRITE, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE THIS BOOK,  both books are by Marjorie Frank (www.cathyduffyreviews.com/grammar-composition/if-youre-trying.htm).

Grammar:  Andrew will use Jensen's Punctuation (www.jsgrammar.com) by Frode Jensen (Lauren's been using it this year.)  Morgan and David will continue with the Easy Grammar series and use Easy Grammar Plus and Daily Grams (www.easygrammar.com) both series by Wanda C. Phillips.  I've also been using the Easy Grammar and Daily Grams books since our second year of home schooling.  We started with the first one in the series then and haven't looked back.  I noticed they've come out with an Ultimate Series for ninth grade and up.  I'm looking into that for Morgan and David's ninth grade year. 

Literature:  Too numerous to include everything, but I will include what Lauren and Andrew will be reading for the English portion of their world history.

Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

The Cat of Bubastes (G.A. Henty)

Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare)

The Imitation of Christ (Thomas a Kempis)

Here I Stand (Roland Bainton)

Pilgrim's Progress (Paul Bunyan)

A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)

Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)

Eric Liddell:  Pure Gold (David McCasland)

The Hiding Place (Corrie Ten Boom)

Animal Farm (George Orwell)

The Abolition of Man (C.S. Lewis)

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) was on the list, but Lauren has already read it and I don't think Andrew will.  You never know though.

Next time---history choices.

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