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TeaLady's CM Homeschool
Jun. 12, 2009
Individualize
From Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
INDIVID'UALIZE, v.t. To distinguish; to select or mark as an individual, or to distinguish the peculiar properties of a person from others.
There are so very many aspects of homeschooling which benefit the child, but today, I want to ponder the point of the individual. In a large family, it is sometimes easier to work as a group than to do a multitude of separate one-on-one lessons. There is a time and a place for both. We do our history, Bible, and science studies together as a family, as well as literature read-alouds. But, math, phonics, and most language arts, are highly individualized.
This year, I was planning to use CQLA for both of my older daughters (ages 9 & 7); and streamline things a bit. After looking it over, CQLA is a perfect fit for my 9yo, but not so much for the 7yo. So, I'll be doing Writing Tales with her. It was not a deficiency in the curriculum, nor in the child, but rather, like a puzzle piece, it fits. Similarly, I ended up changing up the math program that I have really enjoyed for the past few years. It worked great for the oldest one, but I found something that fits the next two children better (and it is an e-book, so, if it fits the two after that, I won't have to keep buying consumable workbooks!)
The more I have thought on these changes, and how unique each child is, I've thought about the significance of an individual before Christ. It is alone that we are convicted & repent, and are forgiven. The sense of being an individual, and that He cares for me, as well as the whole (family, body of Christ), is present in Scripture. That same sense of individual / part of the family can, by atmosphere alone, be an example to our children.
-the TeaLady
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Nov. 27, 2007
Math
Math is a big deal in our house. It is confession time - I was a math major in college & take it very seriously that the children understand the basics and can do their sums, tables, etc. My eldest DD (7) is about 2 years ahead in math & we hit a road block over this past month (roman numerals and inadequate mastery of sums). She just isn't ready to move on.... so what is a hard-core-math-mama to do????
Take a B-R-E-A-K. :-) Yes - absolutely. Take some time off, concentrate on other areas, back up and simply drill the weak areas (in this case addition & multiplication flashcards & making a little homemade game to drill roman numerals).
Being academically minded does not mean being a drill seargant! I have a dear friend who must "finish the book" by the "end of the year". It works for her. For me, we go however fast or slow we need to in order to learn the needed skills, skipping over unnecessary repetition & adding more practice depending on that particular child's understanding.
What a wonderful thing - by obeying God's command to teach our children, we can actually foster learning without excessive frustration - learning, not 'finishing'. I love the idea of a lifestyle of learning, not a high-stress pressure but a life-long journey, encouraging and inspiring. Most of all, leaning on God's Word & wisdom, realizing that He made each one uniquely & that each has their own talents & needs, strengths & weaknesses. Praise God for HIS creativity!
-the TeaLady
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Oct. 25, 2007
Habits
I have really enjoyed reading Laying Down the Railsby the Simply Charlotte Mason company. I tend to get overwhelmed when reading this type of book & want to do it all at once, but that is just not possible. As in all child-training, it needs to be done here-a-little and there-a-little, but with consistency.
Since we are expecting a new baby in the spring, I've narrowed down the list of habits to those which will be the most needful once the little one arrives. We are working on helping to clean up after meals. The children are already established in picking up their toys, basic grooming (with help for the little ones), and cleaning out the dishwasher, but we haven't worked on loading the dishwasher, scraping plates, etc. My goal is to have them be able to take care of everything except the leftovers and handwash dishes.
What habits are you working on in your family?
-the TeaLady
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Sep. 5, 2007
The Basics
Here is my basic homeschool plan for this year. I do a family-style planning, most subjects we do together, I only break out math & phonics, some grammar. So, here's the plan:
Bible - God's Amazing Creatures devotion book during breakfast
Math - Horzons (gr 3 for 7yo; gr 1 for 5yo); also flashcards for addition & mult. facts
Phonics - SWR & Really Reading (the children are in different places in these books)
Spelling - Natural Speller (7yo)
Grammar - Primary Language Lessons (7yo)
History - Mystery of History Volume 1 - Semester 2
Science - God's Amazing Creatures & Christian Liberty Nature Readers (7yo uses this as a reader).
Various family read-alouds, copy work from the Bible. During lunch we concentrate on a character attribute and study it from the Bible & apply it to our lives.
Piano - Pianimals
Art - we are going to use Masters' Art with our co-op.
Plus - lots of other fun stuff. Oh, and we use the Horizon penmanship books for practice and to teach cursive. But we use copywork for penmanship most days and use the Horizon books for specific targeted practice.
AWANA starts up this Sunday; my DH & I co-teach the Cubbies class. This year, only one of our own children will be in our class, with 2 in Sparks and 1 in the nursery.
- the TeaLady
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