Go for the Gold with Olympic Games!

 Age, Bible, Elementary, Geography, Handwriting, History, History & Geography, Language Arts, Middle School, Reading, Vocabulary, Writing  No Responses »
May 072012
 

Is your family looking forward to the Olympic Games this summer? My children are already talking about which events they hope to catch on TV. (My secret hope is that the stations show more sports coverage and less chit-chat, but that’s just me.) Even if Olympics fever hasn’t yet hit your house, now is a great time for Olympic Games: A Study of the Olympic Games from Ancient Times to the Present, by Charlene Notgrass and Mary Evelyn McCurdy.

Available from home education publisher the Notgrass Company, this study provides 40 lessons on Olympic history, sports education, and notable athletes. Each lesson contains some sort of written or artistic response, including creative writing, sports vocabulary, mapwork, and puzzles. The puzzles are particularly intriguing and comprise missing letter, crossword, word search, acrostic, and word scramble varieties.

Moreover, the lessons encompass a wide variety of subjects, such as Bible study, world history, geography, and language arts. I was especially impressed with the scriptural tie-ins. For example, in the section on archery, the directions read: “The Bible often speaks of bows and arrows. One passage is Psalm 127:4. Copy it on these lines. . . . Read about King David, his friend Jonathan, and what they did with arrows in 1 Samuel 20.”

The artwork is another highlight. More than mere afterthoughts, the photographs are fascinating and pertinent to the text. Vivid color photographs of events and places of interest, as well as historical black and white photos of people and places, such as Wilma Rudolph crossing the finish line in first place, are integral to the study.

Olympic Games is officially for ages 7-14, and the activities are designed for this age group. But the subject matter, related in a well-written style, is engrossing enough for older students and even adults. I myself enjoyed reading the lessons, especially those covering an Olympic timeline.

This fun and engaging study is available as both an Ebook and a spiral-bound consumable workbook; I reviewed the latter. The high quality and reasonable price makes Olympic Games an excellent value. What’s more, it would be a fantastic accompaniment to your 2012 London Games viewing!

Written by Ellen of The Blue Stocking Belle

Excellence in Literature: Reading and Writing Through the Classics (IEW)

 Classical, High School, Language Arts, Literature, Middle School, Writing  No Responses »
May 022012
 

Wondering what your student can do with all those

wonderful writing skills they learn using IEW in the younger years?

 

The IEW system is a complete writing system that homeschooling families can build on from year to year. If your family has worked through the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style course and your older student is now looking for ways to use apply their skills to other subjects, the Excellence in Literature Content Guide for Self-Directed Study series by Janice Campbell is the perfect way to connect great literature and great writing. There are two books to choose from: American or British Literature. You can download a sample of the American Literature guide from the IEW website and also one for the British Literature guide.

These courses are written directly to the student and not the parent, allowing the student to build time management skills and allowing a measure of freedom. The author says that these courses will introduce “literary reading”, where the student learns to read with discernment.

Video introduction from the IEW website

We are just finishing the American Literature course which features nine different authors, offered in chronological order by literature movement. Each book is introduced by giving background to the author and the time period along with suggested follow-up topics to write about.  The background links and resources are a rich mix of primary sources, biographies, art, music, and additional context material in written, audio, and video formats.  The background research before reading the book is fundamental to this literature/writing course and will give the student a more three-dimensional view of the literary selection.

Points to Consider

  • Targeted to students in grades 8-11 (My 16-year-old son used this as part of our 12th grade curriculum.)
  • Units include suggested additional honors texts and links.
  • Provides models, tips for general study skills, additional writing helps, sample writing pieces, and grading rubrics.
  • We found it necessary to have a copy of the course book and the literature selections for highlighting and notes.
  • The guide does not give a daily reading plan for each book. I assigned one week for background work, one week for reading the book, and two weeks for writing, as suggested by the author.
  • There is usually more than one suggested writing topic.
  • $29.00 – My son kept notes and thoughts in his book so I would suggest that each student have their own course book.

This IEW product was a success in our family and we will be moving on to British Literature next year.

Notes and Information Can Be Written in the Book

I love that we can take the pattern from this literature guide and apply it to future books.

  1. Complete background information through internet research into the author and time period.
  2. Read the book with a writing topic in mind, keeping notes as you read.
  3. Follow up with a formal writing piece using the topics or ideas from the assignments in the course.

You may be interested in my other Institute for Excellence in Writing product reviews:

 

Written by Barb-Harmony Art Mom. I blog at Harmony Art Mom and am the creator of Harmony Fine Arts. I would love for you to join us for the Outdoor Hour Challenges at the Handbook of Nature Study.

Youth Virtue Journal

 High School, Highschool, Middle School, Mom Helps  2 Responses »
Apr 162012
 

The Youth Virtue Journal is a slim ring-bound workbook with a huge goal:  to help teens choose virtues.  Working with a mentor, teens will learn how to be attentive, content, forgiving, gentle, helpful, honest, obedient, perseverant and respectful.  The booklet contains a form for parental input as well.

Each of the nine chapters contains a moment to dream and a chance to see how virtues could help achieve dreams.  In fact, the booklet states that “ …though you add virtue to your life because it is the right thing to do, it will also tremendously improve your ability to live your dreams.”

Each virtue is defined in a very personal way.  For example, Attentive is defined as

I am attentive: I watch and listen carefully.

I am not …forgetful, distracted or distracting and I don’t ignore or interrupt.

Teens are asked to discuss a list of questions about this virtue in themselves and are given a chance to rate themselves on a scale from 1 to 10.  Then they are asked questions that show how this virtue, in themselves or others, has affected their relationships, either because it was practiced or ignored.   Quotes from various sources highlight the virtue being discussed. Then the teens are given an opportunity to relate the virtue to their dreams, write down thoughts about this virtue in their lives, and sign a resolution to ‘take a stand for what is right’.

This whole process is meant to guided by a caring mentor and supported by parents at home.

How we used it:  I quickly realized that the Youth Virtue Journal would be suitable for all ages, so we began to discuss it after lunch time, question by question.  We covered a lot of ground besides virtues.

The children shared thoughts, criticisms, hopes, and frustrations.  We laughed a lot.  We discovered some things we needed to change.  We talked about what virtues were and discussed whether or not this journal was right in its definitions and why.  These were very valuable discussions, and I plan to continue them using the insightful questions in this book.

Obviously, this is not how the book was meant to be used, but this is how it worked for our family.  It is very versatile, and its lists of questions can be used in many ways.

Our thoughts:

1.With a bit of tweaking, the Youth Virtue Journal can be a valuable tool in a homeschooling family.

2.In this study, written by Christians, I was startled to find no references to sin, salvation, and our inability to become virtuous on our own.  When I contacted the author, Heather McMillan, about this, she wrote (and I added the bold face type):

This particular tool was written at the request of a government truancy court in Nampa, Idaho. In writing this Youth Journal I was fighting against the very philosophy that there is no such a thing as right and wrong, that we do nice things because it benefits ME instead of because it is RIGHT, that obedience to authority is dangerous (I know, seems extreme, but it is the prevailing thought of our day when it comes to raising children), and that correction is to be avoided instead of embraced.  

We Choose Virtues is a tool that is not the complete story. For Christians and non-Christians alike, it sets a standard of truth for people who have no biblical standard operating in their lives or who simply need a way to explain it to their children. It forces children and youth to face their true character.  So many of us walk around believing that we have no sin because we live in a lawless generation. Parents are afraid to set a consistent standard because their own parents rejected authority. Once a true standard is set before us and we compare our lives to it, then we have a place from which to repent.  If anything, perhaps repentance will come when the true condition of a young person’s heart is revealed through this journal. Beyond that, I hope (no, actually I pray) that when this tool is in the hands of Christian parents and youth pastors, the true power behind the transformation of a heart will be explained. As you stated, there is no way we can change ourselves. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that transforms us, and that only by the work of the cross. (quoted with permission)

In this sense, then, this booklet shows people what is in their hearts.  In the hands of a Christian parent or mentor, it could be a tool to show us and our children our sinful nature and our need for redemption.  That is something we can never understand deeply enough.

3. If you want a resource to promote open discussions, the Youth Virtue Journal has excellent lists of questions.

In summary:  Our family benefitted from our time with the Youth Virtue Journal and will continue to use it.  Although it was written for a different audience, it can be a valuable resource for Christian homeschoolers.

The Youth Virtue Journal is available from We Choose Virtues.  Similar products for younger children are also available.

Disclosure:  I received a review copy of the Youth Virtue Journal from We Choose Virtues in order to share my honest opinions.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

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On the Quest for Quality Children’s Literature

 Age, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, Language Arts, Literature, Living books, Middle School, Reading  No Responses »
Apr 022012
 

Let’s be honest. In the ocean of children’s books, there’s a whole lot of flotsam and jetsam. Just because a book is popular doesn’t mean it’s worthwhile. On the flip side, just because a book is decades old doesn’t mean it’s a classic. Parents, particularly homeschooling parents, need someone whom they can trust to help them guide their children toward high-quality literature.

A superb resource that has directed me for years is Honey for a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life, by Gladys Hunt. Familiar to many homeschooling families, this excellent book makes a strong case for a life of literature. Hunt writes:

“Children and books go together in a special way. I can’t imagine any pleasure greater than bringing to the uncluttered, supple mind of a child the delight of knowing the many rich things God has given us to enjoy. Parents have this wonderful privilege, and books are their keenest tools.”

Honey for a Child’s Heart is divided into two parts. The first part, “Using Books to Help Children Grow,” offers many good discussions and much food for thought. Hunt underscores the extreme importance of reading and offers suggestions on how to foster a literary atmosphere in our homes. She challenges us to consider who or what we allow to influence our children. Moreover, Hunt discusses aspects of good literature and how to discern the quality of books our children read.

Part two, “Best-Loved Books for Children,” is an annotated book list for children up to age 14. Hunt divides the lists into groups such as classic picture books, books for beginning readers, classic children’s novels, historical novels, and animal lovers’ books, among others. She also offers a chapter on poetry.

Hunt’s writing style is rich and vivid, and her love for literature is reflected in every chapter. Moreover, I appreciate her Christian perspective, her awe of God as Creator of all things lovely, her expansive tastes, and her cautious stance on wholesale censorship. Every time I pick up this book to read, I find myself nodding in agreement with her. Yellow highlighter glows on so many pages of my copy!

Books are a powerful medium, engaging our imaginations, emotions, spirits, and understanding. As informed parents, we want to guide our children through the murky waters of children’s literature and help them select worthwhile books instead of twaddle. With Honey for a Child’s Heart in hand, you’ll be better equipped to help your children make the best literary decisions.

Ellen stays busy home educating two middle-grade daughters, chasing two corgis, managing the family’s busy household, reading as much as she can, and writing about life at Bluestocking Belle.

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English Literature for Boys and Girls by H.E. Marshall

 Charlotte Mason, Classical, High School, History, Junior High Language Arts, Literature, Living books, Middle School  2 Responses »
Mar 282012
 

Ambleside Online has influenced our family in many ways, not the least by introducing us to great books.  One that we’ve been using for many years is English Literature for Boys and Girls by H.E. Marshall, written in 1909.  We are blessed to have a century-old copy for our children, complete with roughly cut pages and sturdy binding.

In 85 delightful chapters, H.E. Marshall traces English literature from the ancient Irish legend “The Cattle Raid of Cooley” to Tennyson. She includes excerpts of stories and poems, summaries of larger works, and many interesting biographical and historical tidbits. She expresses strong opinions about authors and works, and occasionally makes some disparaging remarks about various branches of the Christian faith.

English Literature for Boys and Girls is a solid book, full of information.  Since history and literature are so closely entwined, it includes numerous references to kings and queens, to the changes in the English language, and to cultural innovations such as the rise of newspapers.

As a random sample, in chapters LVII and LVIII Marshall discusses Milton, “a cold and lonely man.”  She begins with his childhood, quotes 14 lines of On his being arrived to the age of twenty-three, and continues, discussing his life and his poetry as well as venturing into the conflict between Puritans and Royalists.  While Milton became more embroiled in politics, his personal life suffered. He lost his sight, his wife died, “his children ran wild,” his second wife died, and he began to write Paradise Lost.  Several pages and excerpts later, Cromwell died, Milton married again, and the blind poet wrote Samson Agonistes, the tragic story of Samson in his blindness.

Don’t let the “Boys and Girls” part of the title fool you; this is not a childish book at all and shows just how far educational standards have slipped in the last 100 years. In fact, Ambleside Online, a rigorous Charlotte Mason curriculum with classical leanings, recommends English Literature for grades 7 to 10.  The subject matter is not too easy for today’s teens, but occasionally Marshall’s intended audience causes her to write in a somewhat patronizing way.  As I’ve come to expect from old authors, the English would be considered advanced today even though it was written for boys and girls, but no well-read modern teen would have difficulty with it.

All of our teens have read significant portions of this book over the course of several years.  Each week they studied a chapter or two and I would ask for either an oral or a written narration.  They have become familiar with early English literature and I am amazed at the history they know.

English Literature for Boys and Girls is a brilliant work, ideal for introducing modern teens to both literature and history.  It is fascinating, lively, thorough, and eminently suitable for young people since no ‘adult’ topics are included as is often done nowadays.  Of course, modern literature is not covered (and Jane Austen was left out, a serious flaw in my opinion). Even so it is an excellent book for homeschooling families, especially those interested in classical education or Charlotte Mason’s methods. 

It is available online at Project Gutenberg  and The Baldwin Project.  You can also buy a book here.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.  You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

Disclosure:  As usual, I am not paid for my reviews and my opinions are my own.

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Winter Promise All American 1

 Art, Bible, Elementary, Hands On, High School, History & Geography, Living books, Middle School, Unit study resources  2 Responses »
Mar 122012
 

A Bit of Background: For the 2011 school year my family decided to make a change in our curriculum. If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know we’re Five In A Row fans, and after 4 years of their curriculum with my eldest it was time to move forward to give him something a bit meatier for his grade level.

After some prayerful research and web surfing I discovered there’s a lot of curriculum out there that a homeschooling mama can choose from. In fact there’s so much that at times I felt truly overloaded with choices. In the end I wrote down my needs on one side of a sheet of paper and my wants on the other side. From there I was able to quickly weed out curriculum that would be of no use to me and finally settle on ones that would work. From that very short list I settled on Winter Promise All American 1.

I chose to use All American 1 because it covers your needs from grades 1-7. This does not mean that you can use this particular core for seven years, rather it means that if you have students ranging from first through seventh grades it’s a good fit for you. If you have students older than that and wish to keep them all together, you can also purchase a high school add on pack.

How We Use It:

This was our very first year using an “out of the box” curriculum. {Out of the box simply means everything you need to use is included and you’re off and running.} We basically used it exactly as it’s laid out. I ordered the core {All American 1; AA-1}, as well as the accompanying Character Supplement, Art Study, and I even picked out a science pack to round everything out.

All but the science is scheduled right in your main core. All I have to do is open to the week and day I’m on and we’re off and running. I will confess, that at times we didn’t use it exactly as it was laid out. Some weeks were incredibly light and we wanted more so we did two weeks in one. This isn’t too hard if you have a couple of back to back light weeks. Winter Promise cores are only mapped out for a four day school week.

Our core also came with Student Planning Pages that I chose not to use. I had high hopes of using them for my 4/5 grader to learn to be a more independent learner. However because his younger brother was also doing the core, it limited how much I could permit him to do on his own.

This core also came with plenty of web links to enhance the study. We did not check most of these out. We did visit a few and they were so-so. Eventually we found we were fully satisfied with the vast amount of crafts and notebooking that we were doing.

I also chose to use some of the read-alouds as audio books because our family adores having a book playing in the car. During one of our long journeys this year I purchased Fever {our current read aloud} as an audio and plugged it in the car and were able to enjoy the story while we traveled.

What I Loved:

I loved, loved, loved, the fact that this particular core decided to use Homeschool In The Woods Time (HSITW) Traveler Packs {worthy of a review all their own!}. My family happens to be HUGE HSITW fans and these packs are nothing short of fantastic. The fact that Winter Promise chose to use them in this particular core was one of the deciding factors in our purchase!

I loved the fast array of historical fiction we read this year. Many of the books I was none the wise for and wouldn’t have chosen had I not used this curriculum. We learned so much from the good quality literature that we read and my children still refer to these characters {some fictional some real} as life-long friends.

I can not stress how amazing it was to have our school year laid out for us, all 36 weeks, 180 days worth. I suffer from chronic migraines and there are times in my life where planning out our school is nothing short of a miracle. We also had to abruptly move in September and helped a family member move.. twice! It was such a relief to know that despite all of that we were not going to be held up because I hadn’t had time to finish planning the final bits of our school week. Instead, we grabbed some of our books and hit the road!

Customer Service! Living overseas I have an overseas mailing address and a US address. When the company accidentally mailed something to the wrong address, they quickly refunded my shipping so that I could then pay to have it forwarded to the right place. Anytime I contacted them they were quick to answer my questions in full. I was grateful for that.

 

The Timeline. Oh. My. I’ve never met a timeline I’m so in love with, and we’ve tried a lot! Over the years I’m pretty sure we’ve used no less than four timelines, but this one is the best! It’s a notebook timeline separated by years. You then glue timeline figures to the separating pages and place all notebooking, lapbooking, maps, etc. behind these pages. My children equally love these huge notebooks. They are a beautiful portfolio of the work they’ve done all year! Even if you use nothing else from this company, I assure you their timeline is worth purchasing all on it’s own!

What I Don’t Love:

I didn’t love the price of shipping for overseas users. Check out my tips at the end of this post for help in reducing the cost of shipping!

I was disappointed to see a few typos in the Core. Only a couple, but they did throw me for a loop for a minute.

I found the Character study to be a bit weak for my family. The prints of the artwork were small and dark compared to the large copies we found online.

To be totally honest and fair with my review I must admit my children loved the art portion and requested it frequently! I would also like to have seen the prints turned into coloring sheets for the children. I never asked my children to try their hands at drawing the pictures we studied. I knew my eight-year-old would have been quickly overwhelmed and frustrated with his attempts. Had the art prints been coloring pictures it would have allowed him to try it and critique his art in a positive way.

Their resale policy. I was unaware when I purchased from them that they had a strict request that you don’t resell their exclusive material.

I was also disappointed to see that if I had not included the Bible Character Supplement there would have been no “Christian” reference to their curriculum. I admit to being disappointed because it’s considered a Christian curriculum and I would have loved to see that better integrated.

Geography. In the AA-1 core there was geography worked into it. We ended up only doing a few weeks before leaving it alone and only doing the geography that applied to our stories {mapping the Lewis & Clark trail, Mapping the Erie canal, finding the places specific battles took place, etc.}

Tips I’d Like To Share:

I want to offer up a few tips for anyone trying to decide about Winter Promise.

  • Try ringing them directly to place your order. While I ordered online, I did ring them later that week to confirm that my order had taken place and to find out exactly when it would be shipped out. If you have your order shipped to an overseas address you must ring them anyway.
  • Only order Winter Promise Exclusives from them. That means the Core Manual, Bible, Art, Timeline, etc. Order all the books you’ll need from other sources. This is exactly what I did. I chose to order all my books {read alouds, readers, and go alongs} from Book Depository. They offer free shipping to most of the world and I knew exactly when they’d show up at my front door! No waiting on a middle man to get them to me. This is huge for overseas purchasers! The biggest complaint for people who purchased an entire core from this company that lived overseas was that books trickled in over months.
  • Use the samples on their websites, & really investigate their website! All American 1 is not listed as a core on their Themed Humanities page, but it is available if you look at the American Story {1 or 2} as a better option if you are working with a wider range of children.
  • If you don’t want to do all the crafts included, don’t! There were many I skipped mainly because we all ready had done lots and I knew my involvement would be heavily needed. For crafts that my children could do on their own I supplied them with what they needed and let them lose. For crafts that needed my involvement we only picked a few to do each week.
  • Purchase your Time Traveler Packs from The Old Schoohouse Magazine.* This will greatly reduce your costs because you won’t pay shipping for them! They are shipped directly from the Pak family and arrive in amazingly quick time. You can’t go wrong there! We also purchased the Homeschool In The Woods Mapping CD to use with the geography written in the core {the same geography we chose to drop because it seemed very watery instead of rich and purposeful.} *If you live overseas you will not be able to get the free shipping mentioned above. Instead email HSITW! When I did that they offered to put them in a priority mail envelope and post them to me, up to six, for the current price of that envelope {at the time of this review I believe the envelopes cost $14 USD}

Bottom Line:

We absolutely loved our year with Winter Promise’s All-American 1! My children learned and created so much this year. They have a timeline notebook bursting with the proof of their labors and will continue to fill that over the rest of their homeschooling “careers”. I am grateful for the freedom it gave me as I dealt with life this year. Despite my initial concerns when making the switch I’m incredibly glad that I did!

Notes: The cores do not come bound as you see in the above pictures. I chose to bind my own copy! Each core comes pre-hole punched and ready to slip into a three ring binder.

*You might also be interested in Jimmie’s review of Winter Promise American Story 1 here.

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Sisters in the Wilderness, an Introduction to Canadian History and Literature

 Elementary, Geography, High School, Highschool, History, Literature, Living books, Middle School  1 Response »
Feb 222012
 

Here’s a wonderful introduction to Canadian history and literature for the whole family:  Sisters in the Wilderness. This DVD portrays the mid-19th century pioneer life of two sisters who sailed from England expecting an easy existence in the Canadian bush.  Incorporating both contemporary artwork and dramatization, this quality film full of beauty, pathos, humanity, and history tells the story of Susannah Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, both writers.  Their two families settled in the bush close to each other and, after years of hardship, moved to town.  Throughout their lives both Catharine and Susannah  continued to write about their experiences.  The movie Sisters in the Wilderness is based on their books.

Although not designed as a curriculum, Sisters in the Wilderness can be used as the basis for a thorough study of Upper Canada pioneer life.  It shows

  • the English background of many immigrants,
  • the ocean journey,
  • the arrival in Canada,
  • survival and adaptation in winter and summer,
  • hardship and ingenuity,
  • the Rebellion of 1837
  • and so much more.

Each element of this beautifully produced movie highlights a fascinating aspect of the history of Upper Canada in the middle of the 19th century and beyond.

After watching Sisters in the Wilderness and seeing how real pioneer families lived, younger students understand A Pioneer Story much better.

Sisters in the Wilderness gives older students an appealing introduction to the two women’s books as well.

  • Catharine Parr Traill, the optimistic sister, wrote The Backwoods of Canada, focusing on hints for new colonists and on nature.  There is a wealth of practical and everyday history in Catharine’s writing.  This book is part of our Canadian geography curriculum.
  • Susannah Moodie, more gloomy and literary, wrote the famous book Roughing it in the Bush.  This sombre personal history of an upper class British gentlewoman trying to survive in the woods was written as a warning to those ‘back home’ who were considering such a move.  Roughing it in the Bush has become one of the foundational works in Canadian literature, greatly influencing it in modern times.

In summary, Sisters in the Wilderness, available from Northwoods Press, introduces the whole family to Canadian pioneer life in a delightful way and sets teens on the path to studying Canadian literature.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Sisters in the Wilderness from Northwoods Press.

Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.  You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

Home Learning Year By Year

 Encouragement, Mom Helps, New to Homeschooling, Organization  No Responses »
Feb 032012
 

What’s one of the biggest homeschooling questions you are asked or find yourself asking? I’m not talking about the, “Is this enough?” question, rather the, “What should my child know?” It’s so easy to wonder if you’re teaching your children the right information at the right time, especially if you’re not using standard textbooks.

There are solutions to this problem but my favorite comes in one small book. Home Learning Year By Year by Rebecca Rupp. This book has saved my sanity many times. Really, it has. Home Learning Year By Year breaks down exactly what children will be tested for or are learning in most US based public institutions for kindergarten through 12th Grade. One book. So much information!

How I use it:

I’m sure there are many ways you could use this. The book has an overwhelming amount of information. About once a year, during summer break or before the start of our new school term, I make a list of items I want my child to learn for his grade.

I also go back over the information my child should have learned from the previous grade , just to be sure I covered everything I wanted. You’ll find that much of the standards carry over. For instance, in Grade 2 a child is meant to learn how to use a comma when writing a date, address, or when making a list within in a sentence. By Grade 3 your child will expand their knowledge of commas, so don’t panic if you didn’t teach it in Grade 2. Just teach commas in Grade 3 and expand on it more.

The list making process isn’t complex. I read through the chapter for each of my children’s grade levels. I jot down, in a notebook, the things I know they don’t know or that I’m not sure if they’ll be covered formally in any of our curriculum. From there I type that list out and group things together. All math information, for instance, is tucked under a Math heading. I make sure to make a little check mark box next to each item I put on my list. It’s very simple. I also make sure to put the school year, grade level and child’s name on the top of each paper. I also leave some space for putting notes on my pages. I then print the pages out, and tuck the note into my Teacher/Mom notebook for school. As we go along I can tick off boxes when things are taught or learned.

Not everything has to be taught in a formal way. For instance, I’m really great for making the lists and leaving it laying around so I can bring certain topics up, “Do you guys know what an animal home is called?” If they get the right answer, I tick it off my list. Wrong answer? I plug in a Magic School Bus video and pull out a matching book, then I tick it off my list. Explaining terms like biography and autobiography can happen right at the dinner table. Where as teaching children how to alphabetize is better suited on the living room floor with an alphabet puzzle spread before you.

What I love:

I love that this one small book can guide me through my children’s entire school careers. There’s no need to purchase a new book all the time.

I love the price! Seriously, one book that will last me all 13 years of my children’s schooling and it only costs between $10 – $16 depending on where you purchase it. {Amazon.com has it for $10 + shipping & Book Depository has it for $15.97 with free shipping}

I love that Rebecca Rupp has taken the time to type out resources you can use to teach a variety of the things on her list. From main stream math programmes to lesser known picture books. It’s all right there at your finger tips!

I love that the book is small. I know that sounds silly, but really that’s big! I can toss this in my bag and take it with me nearly anywhere during the summer when I’m making my lists. It’s not much bigger than a typical paperback book!

What I don’t like:

I honestly can’t think of much about this book I don’t like. I think, if you live outside of America, you may not find the book as helpful because it is made to pass the US tests at the end of each grade. I can’t consider this a dislike because I knew that going in. I also don’t teach my kids to pass tests, so that’s not a problem for me.

There’s also the factor that while this explains what US children will be learning for history at different years, there’s going to be huge amounts of US history. Again, not something I dislike about this book for a couple of reasons. First off, I knew that going in. Secondly, my children are both American & Australian so it’s important that they know US history. For those of you not interested in learning US history you could simply substitute your country’s history in it’s place.

Bottom Line:

I love Home Learning Year by Year. I love the treasures inside of it. I love the peace of mind it helps me achieve! When asked what book to recommend to new homeschoolers this is one that’s on the top of my list!

Extra:

Rebecca Rupp has also written a book entitled The Homelearning Source Book. This book is a coffee table type book that is just bursting full of resources for teaching your children anything and everything. It’s very simple to use. And on top of the awesome resources, there’s also notes about which resources The Rupp Family used and how they enjoyed them. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it’s still in print as neither Amazon or Book Depository seem to be selling copies of it, all though CBD seems to have copies {they do ship overseas as well.} If you can get your hands on a copy it’s well worth it!

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Geography Songs

 Elementary, Geography, Middle School, Preschool  3 Responses »
Jan 062012
 

You know how, in secret societies, people recognize each other by a sign, a gesture, or a word?  Well, that’s how I used to feel about Geography Songs.

You’d just have to start, “North A-MER-i-ca,” and any homeschooler nearby would join in, “South A-MER-i-ca!”  That’s how we could tell who homeschooled.

I haven’t heard much about this CD lately, and that’s a pity because it’s one of the catchiest ways to learn basic geography facts. In over thirty songs with accompanying outline maps, Kathy Troxel teaches names and locations of countries of the world, as well as oceans, planets, and states of the US. Some songs are just listings of names. Others also tell about the culture of an area.

The music is light, cheerful and catchy, occasionally even tying in with the culture of the countries in the song.  It remains pleasant even after hearing it hundreds of times…and that is important.

My children begged to listen to it. If children color the map while they are listening (mine don’t like coloring), they will learn the locations even more quickly.  In any case, this is a great basis for any geography study.

Our version is old but the CD has been newly updated and includes a large world map as well.

Listen to samples and buy at Audio Memory or download individual songs from Amazon.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

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Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion

 Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, High School, Middle School, Mom Helps, Uncategorized  1 Response »
Oct 262011
 

If you have read many of my other reviews you already know that I like for things to be easy.  If they aren’t easy, I at least don’t want them to be a ton of work for me.  After all, my inner educator proclaims, this is their education, not mine!  This of course is true to a point.  We all know, I reply to my inner educator, learning never stops; least of all, perhaps, for a home educating mama.

In addition to easy, I want things to make sense, for them to be logical.  Timely, too, in that when they are presented with new ideas, those new ideas make sense to my little learners.  I want to be developmentally appropriate, and I want to cover material that will be useful and necessary.

We ascribe to a sort of Classical, sort of Charlotte Mason, very literary-based education for our children.  The idea of a lot of rote memory work does not fit into my idea of practical or useful.  The idea of memorization for the purpose of reviewing and cementing ideas, though, is another story.  If memory work is one of the tools–like reading and writing and listening and drawing–that we use to gather and corral ideas, that is something I like and want to use.

I have found a great resource by Andrew A. Campbell called Living Memory:  A Classical Memory Work Companion that has removed some of the burden of memory work from my shoulders.  

It is simply a book of lists.  The lists, derived from academic subjects, contain organized information for the purpose of memorization.  Dr. Campbell includes an essay detailing the how and why of using memory work as one of the tools of learning.  The remainder of the book is comprised of lists of information in the following broad subjects:  Latin and Greek, arithmetic and mathematics, grammar and composition, literature, religion, geography, world history, United States history and civics, and natural sciences.  Each section is broken down into more specific categories and into lists.  There are speeches and portions of documents.  There are formulas.  There are charts.  All of this is intended to be used over the academic lifetime of a student–from Kindergarten to graduation.

The book has been helpful to me in two ways.  First, it has given me ideas.  Sometimes the question of what to memorize has been overwhelming to me–so overwhelming that I have thrown up my hands and provided nothing for my kids to concentrate on retaining.  Now, I can open Living Memory, find a science list that fits with our studies, and put my little learners to work.

Second, Dr. Campbell has assured me that memorizing something is better than memorizing nothing, that I can start small and build, and that memory work can and should be in the context of our studies.  I like that.  It makes sense to me, because it is orderly and timely.  It is developmentally appropriate.  Also, it is simple and easy.  And you know that I like easy.

Living Memory:  A Classical Memory Work Companion by Andrew A. Campbell provides comprehensive lists in a variety of pertinent subjects to be used for memory work.  It can be found on Lulu.com in both digital ($14.95) and paperback ($22.46) versions.

 

Susan S. is a home educating mama of three in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  Her days are wild and lovely, full of chattering, learning children.  In all of the mess, she learns the most, taught by the Master Teacher Himself.  

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