A Great Attitude...I Hope I Can Live Up to It
17 years ago
Showing posts with label curriculum. Show all posts
Figuratively and literally. I've been looking at some blogs written by some amazing Catholic moms, and feeling completely inadequate. Where do they get the time? I hardly have time to glance at anything non-school or work related! In any case, I'm doing some housecleaning. On the literal front, that means I'm cleaning out the school room - not because we take the summer off (are you kidding?), but because it provides something of a transition point. We're also cleaning out the kids' rooms as best we can, and we re-sodded both the front and the back yards (not so impressive - small yards). I'm cleaning out this blog, too. Why? Surely not because I have too many posts! I really like reviewing for The Old Schoolhouse, but those reviews are not well placed here. I'm creating a separate blog just for reviews. I'll then move them there.
When I see what the kids were doing curriculum-wise one year ago, it seems like a lifetime ago. In some ways we've made tons of progress, while in others we have moved very slowly. I have made some curriculum decisions I'm ecstatic about, and T continues to be my easiest child to teach. I love planning what I'll do with her. N is a challenge, simply because of how quickly he picks up on things, and because of how little he likes to sit still. He loves to learn, but he doesn't love to work. I'm so grateful for my opportunity to write for Heart of the Matter, as it has compelled me continually to research the learning styles of gifted kids. Without the constant bombardment of reinforcement that N is not completely insane and abnormal, I would probably go pony express.
In any case, N has finished Math 3 and is halfway through Saxon 5/4. I expect that he will finish it by the end of the summer. Fortunately, T is done with 6/5 and is into 7/6, freeing up 6/5 for N. I keep warning her that he might catch her! She is staying ahead of him for now, though! My biggest find for the year, though, was definitely Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts curriculum. I should probably cut and paste from an email I wrote to my SIL rather than try to reproduce a coherent review. Better yet, I'll wait until I have peace and quiet (or until I'm dead, which will probably come first) so that I can properly extol the virtues of the amazing curriculum. Although written specifically for gifted kids, I don't see why anyone couldn't use this wonderful program. I have never met (or "met") anyone who loved words the way I that I did until I encountered MCT. He doesn't try to make grammar fun or interesting because he recognizes that grammar *is* fun and interesting. Words are meant to be dissected, understood and, ultimately, to be played with. A sentence cannot properly be understood without an understanding of its component parts - its phrases, its clauses, etc. Even better, from the youngest ages, MCT incorporates a study of poetry: not poetry simply as memorization or "appreciation", but poetry as construction and technique. By understanding these poetic techniques, children can then be equipped to recognize them when they read prose (there is a reason that most great writers also wrote poetry).
Well, suffice it to say that T is thriving with this curriculum, and that N would stop whatever he was doing to listen in.
If T had her choice, she would do religion all day. We kind of two-tracking religion. For our instruction, we use the series I outlined back in June or July (I still love it) in conjunction with Fr. Laux's Chief Truths of the Faith. Fr. Laux quickly moves into a discussion of each of the books in the Bible, and here is where we begin our second track. We have brought in Peter Kreeft's book You Can Understand the Bible in order further to explicate Fr. Laux. Here is my conundrum. Fr. Laux has another book, a wonderful book, which is more in-depth, and focuses exclusively on a discussion of the books of the Bible. Part of me says to wait until T is older to bring this book in. Part of me says that she is old enough or, more importantly, mature enough, to handle it now. We don't have to go fast, and taking a couple of years to move through the Bible, book-by-book, now will give her a huge advantage. She can hear it all again when I do it with the younger set but, even better, she can move on to more sophisticated exegesis. Alternative #2: she can set aside the Kreeft for now, and not pick up the 2nd Laux at all. We can just keep moving through Chief Truths of the Faith, and add Bible History, which was written for 6th-8th graders. The huge advantage for me is that this is written as a textbook (although since it was written in 1931, it is not typical textbook for *our* times; it reads quite nicely, and the questions at the end of the chapter are discussion style - with mapwork!). This gives her another independent subject. Of course, I'll read the book, too, so that we can discuss, but I won't have to read it to her, like I do with Kreeft, so that we can discuss as we go. It will give her more background to do the more in-depth Bible study next year. I think I'm convincing myself; she won't be happy, though.
Religion for the little kids? St. Joseph Catechism, lots of Bible stories, narrations, and drawings. They love to do their drawings! I want N really to work on his narrations this year. He is becoming quite a good writer, and his grammar sometimes amazes even me. M and M-C love to color anything I put in front of them, especially these Rosary coloring pages.
More subjects to discuss next time. History -- oh that history. How can I love it so much, but have so much trouble figuring out how to teach it coherently? I am trying to teach the unified history of the world and everything. It's not going all that smoothly. However, M is drawing Ajax as we speak, and the kids love to reenact the Trojan War, so at least they are in touch with their roots. There's nothing bad about that. T can tell you just about anything you might want to know about the Tudors (including which of Henry VIII's wives escaped the blade!). They all know a thing or two about the Tlingit Indians. They even know that American Indians called themselves "The People." I guess we're doing okay. Now to break out those timelines so that the Tlingit don't end up fighting the Trojans. It hasn't happened so far...
I have found myself doing so much outside writing (I'm not complaining!) that I don't feel like really taking the time to post here, which is sad since the whole intent of this blog was to stay apprised of the kids' progress. I wanted to give myself status updates on the kids. Hmph. The best laid plans of mice and men...
T is 1/4 of the way through Saxon 6/5. She has had no problems thus far, so I'm pleased. I think she's right where she should be. I am changing her Grammar program from Saxon 5 to Classical Writing with Harvey Elementary Grammar, though. I don't think she is getting enough writing instruction with Saxon, and I don't think that Writing with Ease is doing it either. In spite of WwE being a product of WTM, I find it very CM and not as much Classical. I have decided to go completely Classical with the Progymnasmata. I really think that T will enjoy it more. She has such an aptitude for grammar that the repetition of Saxon was getting to her. It is not really what I would consider a 5th grade level - maybe more 3rd grade. Maybe it's just that she was so well prepared with FLL that we have to go more rigorous. In any case, I'm looking forward to beginning Aesop and Homer for the older beginner. CW considers the older beginner to be 8th grade, but when they also recommend starting Aesop at 2nd grade. Considering Aesop should precede Homer, I felt older beginner was the way to go. I'm starting N with FLL 3 as soon as it arrives at the house. He's more than ready.
Speaking of N, he's more than 1/2 through Saxon Math 3. It is still quite easy for him. We rarely have to slow down, and I rarely have to say something twice to tell him how to do it. If I ever do have to actually "teach" him a concept, it is WWIII. He does not like not getting it right away. He has to constantly be fed new challenges. I'll be very curious to see if this math-fury keeps up when he finishes 3. He will be in 5/4 while he's still comfortably six years old. That's on-level 5th grade, advanced 4th grade, math. Remind me to post the article that I just wrote for Heart of the Matter Online on teaching gifted children...
M and M-C are doing quite well with phonics, but it hasn't quite translated to formal reading yet. I'm fine with that. They're four. I still think they'll be reading short books by five, but if they're not, they're not. They love AAS. I love my affiliate checks from AAS. It is so easy to sell a product that sells itself, and that I use unreservedly. The twins are also doing Saxon Math 1. I see the point coming very soon (as in probably next week) where I will have to split them up. M races through his work and wants more, and M-C likes to take her time and be very meticulous. She only wants to do the day's work, and that's fine. By the same token, though, I'm not going to hold M back, just as I've never held the other's back. Teaching four levels of math, though...Thank Heaven T basically teaches herself. I think that next year I will invest in Saxon DIVE. It will be her last year before Pre-Algebra, and I really want to make sure she is completely ready.
Apologia Astronomy is going rather slowly, but they are learning quite thoroughly that which they are learning. I can't ask for more than that.
We are studying American Indians right now, and *that* we are doing very thoroughly. We read a wonderful biography of Sitting Bull, and even M and M-C could retell much of it if pressed. We will place him in his broader context as a Plains Indian, and then move onto other kinds of Indians, geographically speaking. I have to really think about history. I just don't have a program that I love. Maybe I'll look at Connecting with History again. I just have to accept that I am never going to find a program that has everything that I want. I love all of the resources at Mater Amabilis, and that's fine for the youngers, but T needs something more intense. Am I talking myself back into Tapestry of Grace? We had never done history as thoroughly and intensely as when doing TOG...I just don't love the investment...or the Protestantism. It's funny. As I write that, I wonder whether I will cost myself writing jobs. I'm pretty sure that the "Salve Regina" outs me as a Catholic, but I am already pretty sure that there is at least one job that I didn't get because of my answer on the question: What denomination are you? Funny. I think I'll leave that there now.
I have to give kudos to Our Holy Faith. I love this series for Religion. It doesn't have the pretty pictures of Faith and Life (which, for some reason, seems very important to many parents), but it does have so much more. It is chock full, and T is learning so much.
One more brief note. I have just found Lesson Pathways. I would never use it as a full curriculum, but as an organization of Internet links, I'm all over it. I subscribed for $4.95/mo. and consider it money well spent. There is also one free pathway per week, so it's worth looking at just for that.
Since I posted a review, I guess I should post an actual school update. The official (read: public) school year is coming to a close this week, and here is where we stand:
- T is finishing up Saxon Math 5/4 and will start Saxon Math 6/5 immediately thereafter. We will skip the first 20 or 30 lessons which constitute an insulting review. She's doing quite well in math, so I'm not worried about doing so at all. She is halfway through FLL 4, and I'm probably going to buy Rod and Staff grade 5 for her tomorrow at The Homeschool Store. I wish so much that FLL had a level 5, but no luck. Maybe by the time N is ready. T is doing Latina Christiana now, but that will probably cease when she starts Grammar I through the CLAA (http://www.classicalliberalarts.com), as she will begin learning Latin and Greek almost simultaneously, and I expect that her progress in Latin will begin to pick up. That covers core subjects (aside from History, about which I am kind of ambivalent right now). Her favorite subject is Religion, for which we are using Fr. Laux's 1930s high school course (whose name escapes me at the moment). It's Baltimore based, it's thorough, and it's wonderful!
- N is in the middle of Saxon Math 2, and is finding it so easy that I am resisting the urge to skip him to 3. I don't know why I'm resisting the urge when I skipped T...but I am. He is also about 1/3 of the way through FLL 2, and he doesn't really love it. He does just fine, though, and it's funny to hear the twins chant the "be" verbs and the helping verbs along with him. I'm thinking about how to start him on Latin, but given that he is so close in age to the twins, I really may hold him off until they are ready so that I can lessen my work load. We'll see. He'll join us for History in the Fall when we dive in full force again. He does, of course, do copywork (camping phrases right now), and his handwriting is surprisingly good! He is doing Explode the Code 3, but it is so easy that it's kind of silly. ETC 4 should provide a little more challenge.
- M-C and M are doing Saxon Math K and http://www.clicknkids.com. It's a really neat and fun approach to Phonics, and so far we like it. At four, they are too young for much else.
All of the kids are about to begin Mark Kistler's http://www.draw3d.com, about which I'm really excited. Commander Mark taught my brother how to draw even better than he already did! I think they'll really enjoy it, and it will make a nice change this summer (as we continue to do school full time). We're doing a couple of unit studies for Science as I decide which Apologia book to do next, so that, too, will be a little change for them.
On a private note, T made her First Holy Communion a couple of weeks ago, and I was so proud of her. She was the only child who looked like she had a clue. She made a beautifully reverent genuflection, and then received on the tongue. It was textbook. I have to say, she is my daughter. It seems that I still struggle with pridefulness.
