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Posted in Homeschooling
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We are at the halfway point in our school year, so I'll give you a little update on how things are going with me planning our own history curriculum. I planned for our school year to have 42 weeks with 4 days of instruction per week. We will end up with about 200 days of instruction, but we also will have lots of breaks to keep things moving along smoothly. I initially planned about 26 weeks of instruction with intentions of finishing the planning later on in the year. We are rapidly approaching the time that I will need to finish planning the rest of the year. I didn't want to plan an entire year in advance until I saw how things were going to work and if my own planning skills were going to be adequate. I have to say that all that I did to plan for the year was done with much prayer and with many late hours reading through the materials I had available to work with. I asked the Lord to give me wisdom and to help me teach the children what they needed to know. I believe that He did just that because things have gone very well. Do you remember those skills we had to learn in school...research, writing, organizing ideas, etc.? I never thought I would have much use for those skills in life after school, but I've found those skills to be very useful in planning my own history curriculum. Here is how I did it. 1. I began by looking at the materials I had in my home, and knowing the time period we would cover (1850-modern history) I began looking for information in those books that would fall into that specific time period. I found that one particular book I had used a time line to break down the important events and people of history so I used that as my starting point. I began following that time line and looking for information in my books and in my public library for information on those topics. I also had to incorporate the states and Presidents that would fall into that time period. I found a list in the back of a school book that listed the dates and order of the states coming into the Union as well as the order and dates of the Presidents coming in to office and began putting those things on the schedule at the appropriate time. 2. I reviewed all the samples and free unit studies that I had saved on my computer to see if I could find anything useful in them and wrote down what I could use and what topic it related to. I would refer to those when the time came to plan that time period. 3. I inserted notes in my draft lesson plan of books that we could read on the topics covered, images we could use in notebooking that topic, etc. This made it simple to look ahead and week or two and see what I needed to gather from the library or what I needed to make copies of for notebooking (such as the states pages we used). Once the plan was in place and I felt comfortable with it we began our school year. I found that by planning our history lessons in the way I was able to be flexible. I've also seen how this has allowed us to study more in depth people or events that were of greater interest to us. For example when we studied the Civil War we were able to take several weeks to cover it. We learned about Civil War spies, what life was like for those left at home in the North and South, what life was like in the camps of both militaries, what types of weapons and supplies they had or needed, etc. We listened to an audio book, read a book aloud, went on a field trip to a museum about Abraham Lincoln, and were really able to immerse ourselves in the event. We didn't have a great deal of interest in the Spanish American War so we only talked about it a couple of days. We all have interest in the story of the sinking of the Titanic so in a week or so we will cover that and learn as much as we would like about it. We are hoping to go to a Titanic museum this spring or summer as well. We can incorporate things we know and love into our study, such as the building of Biltmore Estate by George Vanderbilt, and many other things. I like knowing that we can be flexible and take a little longer for some things and not worry about falling behind schedule. I also like that I am able to make this year a study of American history. We have all enjoyed learning about world history, but I really wanted to focus more on America this year. We will learn some things about other parts of the world while we are doing this because there are some things that are tied to our country's history that you cannot separate such as the Spanish American War and World War II. However, the main focus for us this year has been this great nation we call America. I want to build patriotism in my children. I want them to know the Christian heritage of this country and those who have played an important role in its growth and development. Planning our own history lessons has enabled me to do this to a greater extent than if we had followed someone elses plan. I may not do this again, but if the Lord leads us in that direction then I will know that He has shown me that He is able to give me what I need to make it happen. I hope this has helped someone else. If you have questions about any of the details please ask. I don't get to post as often as I would like, but I will try to answer your questions as soon as I can. Blessings, Missy |
Posted in Homeschooling
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Vanessa asked for it, so here it is. I thought I would give a little update on my previous post and let you know how things are working out. So far things have been going very well. We began our history this year with the year 1850 and have just finished covering the Civil War and Reconstruction. I really like that we are going at our own pace this year because it has allowed us to study things in more depth that were of interest to everyone. We've also been able to add in some topics that may not have been covered in textbooks or unit studies had we chosen just one resource. I've used some information from several history readers, textbooks, and library books as well as some information from samples of unit studies that I've had on my computer for several years. I'm amazed how smoothly this has gone. The time is drawing near to have another session of prayer and see what God gives me for the balance of the school year, but thus far it has really been great. As for other subjects the kids are all doing well with their pursuits. SOS Bible is working really well for the youngest and the older kids are loving their choices as well. They each have their own personalities and interests and it is good for them to have individualized programs of study in these areas. I cannot say enough good about Teaching Textbooks math! It is really working well for us. The older children needed some in-depth review of basic math skills before they go on to higher math so I'm thankful we made that choice, and so are they. Of course Apologia science courses are awesome. We found those a few years ago and have enjoyed using them. My oldest is loving it. I've never saw him so excited about a science curriculum before we began using Apologia. I think he is finally getting answers his questions on a level that he can understand, and in depth a little more than other curricula that we used in the past. I cannot thank God enough for what he is doing in our school this year. I often wonder why we try to make a go of things on our own when He has the perfect plan for us if we will just ask! Blessings, Missy |
Posted in Homeschooling
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Life is an ever changing learning adventure! I seem to keep learning this lesson over and again, and it seems to keep coming up in different areas of life. This time the lesson is related to homeschooling. I thought I had found the curriculum that I would be using with all of my children for the rest of our homeschooling years. I have been very happy with My Father's World curriculum, but because of issues we have encountered due to the lagging economy I've had to make some changes in our homeschool. Now, rather than having the ease of a curriculum that is already planned for me, I'm doing the planning myself. I thought this was going to be an overwhelmingly difficult thing to do, but I'm finding that it isn't as tough as I thought it would be. I already knew that we would be using Apologia science for the two older children, but I wasn't sure what I would do about the youngest. Math was already set as I was able to purchase their Teaching Textbooks packages last spring. Bible was another area that I was unsure about, and Grammar was already in full swing with Easy Grammar. My main concern for the year was how to plan for history. We had been studying through history chronologically, so I knew that we needed to cover from 1850 forward. On the surface that didn't seem to be to difficult to do, but when I really began looking at what that would involve I was a little fearful. I began to pray and ask God to help me to teach the children what He wanted them to learn in school this year. I tried to put aside all of my own thoughts and fears and tried to focus on what He wanted to say to me. What I found was that He gave me a basic plan for half of the year in a period of a few days. That basic plan included books that we already had on our shelves - some purchased and others had been given to us. Some things were of concern to me in that I didn't want to gloss over important events because we didn't have the specific information I thought we would need, but God is ever faithful. Just this past week we made a trip to the library and I found seemingly all of the right books to fill in those "gaps" that I thought existed in the upcoming weeks topics. Science for the most part is solved for the youngest child. She is currently using the Elementary Apologia series we purchased for their summer courses, and will most likely use another Elementary Apologia title we have on the shelf but haven't used. My concerns over what to do for Bible were not necessary either. Ds13 is currently going through the Catechism for his Bible. Dd12 is using Polished Cornerstones that a friend passed on to us. Dd10 is using something that I thought would never again be used in our homeschooling program. What my older children hated using she loves! She's using Switched on Schoolhouse Bible. I don't know why I hadn't gotten rid of it yet, but I still had it downstairs. It was on my heart but I thought she would hate it like the older two had. I finally decided to show it to her and once she got started she has enjoyed using it. Who knew?! Anyway, it seems that my learning adventure is never ending and I'm so very thankful to have the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead me away from what He is finished with and to what He wants for our family. Some day we may go back to My Father's World if it is His will, but for now I'm just thankful for the peace that comes from following Him. Blessings, Missy
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While most families take a summer break from school our government is hard at work in Washington. Sadly many of the things they are working on at this time are legislation that will erode our freedoms even further than they already have done. I just want to remind everyone that our responsibility as citizens does not end with a vote on election day. We have a privilege of living in a free nation with a representative government. We need to take every opportunity to express to our representatives our desires concerning legislation being considered. Here is an issue that is in the "drawing room" at this point. If we take action now and let our leaders know where we stand perhaps we can avoid the passing of legislation down the road that will restrict the freedoms we now enjoy. Health Care Reform - http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/ And here is an interesting article to read. It reminds me of how little we actually know about what our constitutional rights are in this nation, and how long we have stood by in constitutional ignorance while our government did what it pleased. Census questions are unconstitutional - http://newswithviews.com/Roth/laurie171.htm (Someone sent me the one about the census, so rather than copying the entire article here I've given you the link. This does not constitute an endorsement of the author or website linked.)
Some food for thought - We need to ask for wisdom from God and His intervention to keep this from happening, though we are already well on our way. "The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." by: Norman Thomas, (1884-1968) six-time U.S. Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America Watch this video from the past and see how well it relates to our current nation ( I do not know anything about the person/organization who introduces the video so I am therefore not offering my support to that entity).
Bottom line? Get involved! We can save our nation from ruin and destruction, God willing, but only if we get involved and take a stand. Pray for our nation's people and our leaders: 1) Repentence - the turning away from sin and to God's ways 2) Blessing - that God would bless us and that we would bless other nations 3) Wisdom - God's wisdom for individuals, families, and our leadership to honor God in all areas of life We can make a difference. Blessings, Missy |
Posted in Spiritual
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Last night on American Family Radio we listened to the coverage of the State of the Nation with Ken Ham. If you didn't hear it on the radio it's not too late, you can still listen or watch the video at the Answers in Genesis website. Here is the link: www.answersingenesis.org/events/state-of-the-nation. Come back here and leave a comment after you listen. I would love to hear your thoughts. Blessings, Missy
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