Making homeschool decisions easy
Ask a college English professor and chances are he or she will tell you that most incoming freshmen are woefully unprepared for college-level compositions. Why? Consider this commentary from Dr. Robert Einarsson, professor of English at Grant Macewan University in Edmonton, Alberta: In the past, the carefully structured sentence was the medium for encapsulating and precision-stating our thoughts. Today, precision and structure seem to
Our family has used the classical homeschooling method in various forms for over a decade. My boys grew up listening to the Story of the World and learning about great thinkers in history. They read poetry, Shakespeare, the Bible, and living history as they connected all aspects of history together in their minds and on paper timelines. One tool that we used in the early
Everyone who studies ancient history relies on archeological finds. That makes sense, and it’s fascinating to see all the artifacts in books or, even better, in museums. It’s also fascinating to learn about ancient people’s cultures, religion, and daily life from objects found in ruins. But wait, do the objects really tell us the story…or are there interpreters who may argue among themselves and may
I cannot remember where I first heard about Favorite Poems Old and New, but I do recall the excitement when I finally found it somewhere, second-hand and affordable. This sturdy volume of almost 600 pages is a treasure. Last night Miss 12 was wandering around aimlessly, so we grabbed the book and settled down on the verandah couch for half an hour of poetry. We
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
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
Timelines appeal to me. They aid visual, kinesthetic, spatial, and logical thinkers. What’s not to love? Well, the work of putting together a visually appealing, cohesive, historically-accurate timeline, for one. How about the time it takes to find all of those little pictures? What about deciding which dates to include? What about figuring out how to put the thing together? What about figuring out where
“I dwell in Possibility/A fairer house than Prose,/More numerous of windows,/Superior of doors.” Emily Dickinson, “I dwell in Possibility” Poetry is a flexible area of study. It can be studied on its own, and for its own merit. On the other hand, born of cultural, historical, and personal experience, poetry can enhance the study of any subject. For me, the trouble with poetry is how to
