For high school, we combine history and literature WTM style into a great books course which covers the full 4 year cycle. I start with the basic reading list given in the WTM for each year. I then modify this list somewhat to include more world books instead of solely western literature, as well as adding in a few books that I think are valuable. I think anyone could stick strictly to her list and do very well. My son is also a very quick and strong reader, and typically reads a work each week. If your student is a slower reader, you might want to drop some books to allow more time with each piece.
Our typical week looks something like this: Monday-he reads the background reading relating to the time period and culture we are studying. We use a variety of college textbooks for this purpose and chose from them if the subject is US, World, or European focused. My son will write an outline about the chapter he is reading, read further regarding the rest of the world during that period in the Timetables of History, and enter any important dates on his timeline book. He will also read some biographical reading about the author we are reading for the week. He then uses this background reading, as well as the biographical reading, to write a 1-2 page summary about the full background to the piece we are studying. Then he will jump into reading the text.
Tuesday: He will read some relevant primary source material from the time period we are studying. There are great sourcebooks out there and available, as well as easily accessible sourcebooks online, such as this one. He also continues reading the text for the week.
Wednesday: Mostly just reading the text, taking notes.
Thursday: We have a set discussion time on Thursday. We have been blessed to have a close friend follow our reading list along with us and come and discuss the text together with us. We discuss the context, as well as literary aspects of the text including theme, tone, characterization, style, etc. If you want to follow a similar approach, but need help preparing this discussion, I personally love the Stobaugh books which will provide you with discussion questions, etc, for a range of books. You can also find Great Books summaries and commentaries in print and online to do your research and make sure all important aspects are covered in the discussion. Ideally you will have read the text as well, but even if you haven't been able to, it is very possible to lead a solid discussion with some preparation. It is important to let the discussion be Socratic and organic, rather than lecture based. I really enjoy hearing the thoughts these two teenagers have about what they are reading, and our discussion of the literature naturally leads into good historical discussion, as well as interesting comparison and contrasts. At this time, I will typically assign him some kind of relevant essay. Often I draw from AP World History or AP English Literature essay questions to give him good solid practice in those types of essays. I try to sprinkle in AP multiple choice throughout the year as well.
Friday: Friday is spent finishing and polishing his writing and giving feedback on his weekly essay, as well as getting a jump start on the next week's text if it is longer.
That's our basic process. If you would like copies of my plans for high school history and literature years 1, 2, or 3, contact me. I am available to share my plans or to write personalized plans for you for any grade with reading and writing assignments for a donation to my son's exchange student fund. ;)
Showing posts with label WTM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WTM. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Middle School/Logic stage history
In the logic stage, I expect more out of my students than just narration. My 5th-8th graders still participate with us with our Story of the World work and unit study work, but they go beyond that work on their own. For those students we begin the process of outlining.
First of all--the why. Outlining is a very important skill. To be able to read a text and tease out the most important information is very important to comprehension and rentention. It is also a skill they will need in reverse when they start writing essays and longer papers. Practicing by directly observing the struture of other's written work, will make this process of organizing their own work easier and more natural.
To outline, my 5th graders read a corresponding or connected section in our Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. That student will then take the section (1 or 2 pages) a paragraph at a time. The main idea of paragraph 1 goes with the I. in the outline. The main idea of paragraph 2 is roman numeral 2 and so on. The sections in Kingfisher are not so long that the process is overwhelming, but they are meaty enough that the student is learning more details and practicing the art of selection. In 5th grade, this outline will be a one-step outline:
I.
II.
III.
In 6th grade, we begin 2 step outlines. Paragraphs are not just given the roman numeral and the main idea, but the main facts behind the main point will be now labelled.
I.
A.
B.
II.
A.
B.
In 7th and 8th grade, these 2 step outlines become 3 step outlines, and a 1, 2, 3, etc are added below the letters. The WTM does a good job of explaining how to outline and giving specific examples. I highly recommend you read that section before you start outlining with your child.
So basically, logic stage history is grammar stage history with the family, plus independent outlining of Kingfisher. The Story of the World activity book lists out for you already the relevant pages of Kingfisher that match each chapter. All that work is already done for you.
Edited to add: My logic stage students also have a blank timeline book. I like the one Sonlight puts out. They will add important dates to their timeline book, color coded by type of date.
First of all--the why. Outlining is a very important skill. To be able to read a text and tease out the most important information is very important to comprehension and rentention. It is also a skill they will need in reverse when they start writing essays and longer papers. Practicing by directly observing the struture of other's written work, will make this process of organizing their own work easier and more natural.
To outline, my 5th graders read a corresponding or connected section in our Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. That student will then take the section (1 or 2 pages) a paragraph at a time. The main idea of paragraph 1 goes with the I. in the outline. The main idea of paragraph 2 is roman numeral 2 and so on. The sections in Kingfisher are not so long that the process is overwhelming, but they are meaty enough that the student is learning more details and practicing the art of selection. In 5th grade, this outline will be a one-step outline:
I.
II.
III.
In 6th grade, we begin 2 step outlines. Paragraphs are not just given the roman numeral and the main idea, but the main facts behind the main point will be now labelled.
I.
A.
B.
II.
A.
B.
In 7th and 8th grade, these 2 step outlines become 3 step outlines, and a 1, 2, 3, etc are added below the letters. The WTM does a good job of explaining how to outline and giving specific examples. I highly recommend you read that section before you start outlining with your child.
So basically, logic stage history is grammar stage history with the family, plus independent outlining of Kingfisher. The Story of the World activity book lists out for you already the relevant pages of Kingfisher that match each chapter. All that work is already done for you.
Edited to add: My logic stage students also have a blank timeline book. I like the one Sonlight puts out. They will add important dates to their timeline book, color coded by type of date.
SOTW my way
Edited to add: In elementary and middle school, we work on memorizing the lists given in the WTM to go along with each year cycle, and we also work through learning the countries of the world by continent. We also have a blank timeline on the wall and a blank map on the wall and we input the informaton we study from each SOTW chapter on those 2 resources each day we do history. We do history 2 days a week around here.
As I mentioned in my first post on history here, I re-order Story of the World. No, I don't think this is necessary. I think you can use Story of the World straight through and it is fine. It is really excellently written (and I am picky about history). However, it jumps too much for us, and I also want to set it up in a way that is conducive to using unit studies and slowing down to study a topic with more depth. And so I re-order and group Story of the World. Below is our basic structure for each year of the WTM cycle as requested.
(Look for some of my year specific posts soon on some of my favorite resources for each year of the WTM cycle. I also love this link which gives you great ideas for books to go along with SOTW that are included in the Sonlight program.)
Year 1: Intro-what is history-week 1--intro, ch. 1
Egypt--weeks 2-5--ch. 2, 3, 4, 12, 13
Mesopotamia--weeks 6-9--ch. 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17
India---weeks 10-12--ch. 9, 30, 31
China--weeks 13-15--ch. 10, 32, 33
Africa--weeks 16-17--ch. 11
Greeks--weeks 18-22--ch. 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24
Persia--weeks 23-24--ch. 21
Hellenistic world--weeks 25, 26--ch. 25
Rome--weeks 27-32--ch. 27, 28, 29, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
Americas--weeks 33-36--ch. 26
Year 2: Fall of Rome/Germanic Tribes--weeks 1-2--ch. 1, 4
Islamic Empire--weeks 3-5--ch. 6, 7, 12, 24
Europe: Knights, castles, Vikings, Crusades, etc--weeks. 6-13--ch. 2, 3, 15, 16, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23
India--weeks 14-15--ch. 5, 30
China--weeks 16-17--ch. 8, 21, 22
Japan--weeks 18-19--ch. 9, 10
Americas and africa--weeks 20-21--ch. 29, 32
Fall of the Middle Ages--weeks 22-24--ch. 25, 26, 27
Renaissance--weeks 25-27--ch. 35, 39
Reformation--weeks 28-30--ch. 34, 36
Exploration--weeks 31-36--ch. 28, 31, 33, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42
Year 3: Pre-European North America, colonies--weeks 1-4--ch. 1, 4, 6, 7
Stuarts and Civil War in England--weeks 5-7--ch. 3, 9, 12, 8, 18
Tokugawa Japan, Imperialism--weeks 8-12--ch. 5, 10, 11, 19, 20, 24, 28, 39, 41
Absolutism--weeks 13-15--ch. 13, 14, 15, 21
Englightenment--weeks 16-17--ch. 16, 17, 26
18th century colonial life, Revolution, constitution--weeks 18-26--ch. 22, 23, 36, 37
French Rev, Latin Am Rev, Industrial Rev--weeks 27-32--ch. 25, 29, 33, 30, 34, 35, 27, 31
Westward Migration--weeks 33-36--ch. 32, 38, 40, 42
(We also build our state history studies into Year 4. I have extra reading on our particular state's history that we add into our studies in context. ex. We study the Civil War, and we also read a section on our state's history specifically in the Civil War.)
Years 4: Asia and Africa--weeks 1-4--ch. 1b, 2a, 3, 4b, 8b, 9, 10, 11, 12b
Industrial Revolution and Modernism--weeks 5-8--ch. 8a, 1a, 2a, 12a, 14
Americas: Civil War, Latin America, Mexican Rev.--weeks 9-15--ch. 6, 13, 5, 16
Unification of Germany, WWI, Russian Rev--weeks 16-20--ch. 4a, 7, 18, 15, 20, 21, 23
Post War, Depression, Fascism, WWII, Holocaust, Atom Bomb--weeks 21-29--ch. 26, 24, 27, 19, 28, 29, 31, 22
Cold War, 50s-80s--weeks 30-36--ch. 35, 38, 32, 33, 34, 30, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42
As I mentioned in my first post on history here, I re-order Story of the World. No, I don't think this is necessary. I think you can use Story of the World straight through and it is fine. It is really excellently written (and I am picky about history). However, it jumps too much for us, and I also want to set it up in a way that is conducive to using unit studies and slowing down to study a topic with more depth. And so I re-order and group Story of the World. Below is our basic structure for each year of the WTM cycle as requested.
(Look for some of my year specific posts soon on some of my favorite resources for each year of the WTM cycle. I also love this link which gives you great ideas for books to go along with SOTW that are included in the Sonlight program.)
Year 1: Intro-what is history-week 1--intro, ch. 1
Egypt--weeks 2-5--ch. 2, 3, 4, 12, 13
Mesopotamia--weeks 6-9--ch. 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17
India---weeks 10-12--ch. 9, 30, 31
China--weeks 13-15--ch. 10, 32, 33
Africa--weeks 16-17--ch. 11
Greeks--weeks 18-22--ch. 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24
Persia--weeks 23-24--ch. 21
Hellenistic world--weeks 25, 26--ch. 25
Rome--weeks 27-32--ch. 27, 28, 29, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
Americas--weeks 33-36--ch. 26
Year 2: Fall of Rome/Germanic Tribes--weeks 1-2--ch. 1, 4
Islamic Empire--weeks 3-5--ch. 6, 7, 12, 24
Europe: Knights, castles, Vikings, Crusades, etc--weeks. 6-13--ch. 2, 3, 15, 16, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23
India--weeks 14-15--ch. 5, 30
China--weeks 16-17--ch. 8, 21, 22
Japan--weeks 18-19--ch. 9, 10
Americas and africa--weeks 20-21--ch. 29, 32
Fall of the Middle Ages--weeks 22-24--ch. 25, 26, 27
Renaissance--weeks 25-27--ch. 35, 39
Reformation--weeks 28-30--ch. 34, 36
Exploration--weeks 31-36--ch. 28, 31, 33, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42
Year 3: Pre-European North America, colonies--weeks 1-4--ch. 1, 4, 6, 7
Stuarts and Civil War in England--weeks 5-7--ch. 3, 9, 12, 8, 18
Tokugawa Japan, Imperialism--weeks 8-12--ch. 5, 10, 11, 19, 20, 24, 28, 39, 41
Absolutism--weeks 13-15--ch. 13, 14, 15, 21
Englightenment--weeks 16-17--ch. 16, 17, 26
18th century colonial life, Revolution, constitution--weeks 18-26--ch. 22, 23, 36, 37
French Rev, Latin Am Rev, Industrial Rev--weeks 27-32--ch. 25, 29, 33, 30, 34, 35, 27, 31
Westward Migration--weeks 33-36--ch. 32, 38, 40, 42
(We also build our state history studies into Year 4. I have extra reading on our particular state's history that we add into our studies in context. ex. We study the Civil War, and we also read a section on our state's history specifically in the Civil War.)
Years 4: Asia and Africa--weeks 1-4--ch. 1b, 2a, 3, 4b, 8b, 9, 10, 11, 12b
Industrial Revolution and Modernism--weeks 5-8--ch. 8a, 1a, 2a, 12a, 14
Americas: Civil War, Latin America, Mexican Rev.--weeks 9-15--ch. 6, 13, 5, 16
Unification of Germany, WWI, Russian Rev--weeks 16-20--ch. 4a, 7, 18, 15, 20, 21, 23
Post War, Depression, Fascism, WWII, Holocaust, Atom Bomb--weeks 21-29--ch. 26, 24, 27, 19, 28, 29, 31, 22
Cold War, 50s-80s--weeks 30-36--ch. 35, 38, 32, 33, 34, 30, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42
Elementary History
I get a lot of questions about how I do history. Since history is my field, I piece together my own history really. I can tell you my approach, and I am happy to send you my lessons plans if you want to see what that looks like. There are also other great curriculum out there that are laid out for you. This post, and the next couple will cover how we approach history here. I will write a post soon with other suggestions for history curriculum that are done very well and would be a great choice if you are looking for something that comes more planned for you.
For the grammar stage (1st-4th grade), I use Story of the World as our core text. I love Story of the World. It is chronological, entertaining, and covers just enough information. I love love love the mapwork and the discussion questions that are already for me in the activity book, as well as the games and crafts we can choose from and the literature suggestions. There are a couple of things I don't love about Story of the World. First of all, I don't love the order of the chapters usually. It jumps too much for me. I have re-ordered and grouped chapters in a way that allows more of a unit study approach. I will give you those details in a 2nd post. Second of all, I have children who don't process orally well. For those kids, reading the chapter isn't going to be enough. It is for those kids especially that I love the hands-on activities. Story of the World can be used just the way it is and done well. Just pick a chapter a read. Add on as much or as little as you want from the activity book. No pre-planning required.
Our basic approach is to read the chapter, answer the questions, and do the mapwork. After we have completed a chapter, my grammar stage kids will narrate what they have just heard. For a 1st grader, that means they will tell me a brief summary, I will write it for them, and then they will draw a picture. A 2nd grader will write a few sentences on their own and draw a picture. A 3rd grader will write a paragraph and and work toward half a page. A 4th grader will be writing a full page by the end of the year.
After we have completed Story of the World work, we will choose from the variety of activities in the activity book. It contains games, crafts, cooking, and larger projects. We do as many or as few of these as we have time and interest. I also usually have other reading and resources to go along with the topic, and we pick and choose from the suggested further reading.
Since I have re-ordered the chapters, it is very easy for me to stop our basic Story of the World work and throw in a unit study if my kids are particularly interested, or if I find the topic very important. For instance, when we cover the modern world, we always do the couple of chapters in Story of the World on the Civil War and then we break off and do much more. We read books, watch movies, visit battlefields, build diaromas, go to re-enactments, and complete literature-based unit studies like those from Teacher-Created Materials. We will take 4-6 weeks to study the Civil War, and do significantly more than Story of the World does on that topic because it is fun.
That's basically our approach--Story of the World as our base, but re-structured, and allowing time for deeper exploration with additional resources, building literature into our history study. Next, I will give you the info on how I re-order SOTW chapters as requested.
Edited to add: In elementary and middle school, we work on memorizing the lists given in the WTM to go along with each year cycle, and we also work through learning the countries of the world by continent. We also have a blank timeline on the wall and a blank map on the wall and we input the informaton we study from each SOTW chapter on those 2 resources each day we do history. We do history 2 days a week around here.
For the grammar stage (1st-4th grade), I use Story of the World as our core text. I love Story of the World. It is chronological, entertaining, and covers just enough information. I love love love the mapwork and the discussion questions that are already for me in the activity book, as well as the games and crafts we can choose from and the literature suggestions. There are a couple of things I don't love about Story of the World. First of all, I don't love the order of the chapters usually. It jumps too much for me. I have re-ordered and grouped chapters in a way that allows more of a unit study approach. I will give you those details in a 2nd post. Second of all, I have children who don't process orally well. For those kids, reading the chapter isn't going to be enough. It is for those kids especially that I love the hands-on activities. Story of the World can be used just the way it is and done well. Just pick a chapter a read. Add on as much or as little as you want from the activity book. No pre-planning required.
Our basic approach is to read the chapter, answer the questions, and do the mapwork. After we have completed a chapter, my grammar stage kids will narrate what they have just heard. For a 1st grader, that means they will tell me a brief summary, I will write it for them, and then they will draw a picture. A 2nd grader will write a few sentences on their own and draw a picture. A 3rd grader will write a paragraph and and work toward half a page. A 4th grader will be writing a full page by the end of the year.
After we have completed Story of the World work, we will choose from the variety of activities in the activity book. It contains games, crafts, cooking, and larger projects. We do as many or as few of these as we have time and interest. I also usually have other reading and resources to go along with the topic, and we pick and choose from the suggested further reading.
Since I have re-ordered the chapters, it is very easy for me to stop our basic Story of the World work and throw in a unit study if my kids are particularly interested, or if I find the topic very important. For instance, when we cover the modern world, we always do the couple of chapters in Story of the World on the Civil War and then we break off and do much more. We read books, watch movies, visit battlefields, build diaromas, go to re-enactments, and complete literature-based unit studies like those from Teacher-Created Materials. We will take 4-6 weeks to study the Civil War, and do significantly more than Story of the World does on that topic because it is fun.
That's basically our approach--Story of the World as our base, but re-structured, and allowing time for deeper exploration with additional resources, building literature into our history study. Next, I will give you the info on how I re-order SOTW chapters as requested.
Edited to add: In elementary and middle school, we work on memorizing the lists given in the WTM to go along with each year cycle, and we also work through learning the countries of the world by continent. We also have a blank timeline on the wall and a blank map on the wall and we input the informaton we study from each SOTW chapter on those 2 resources each day we do history. We do history 2 days a week around here.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Planning--how do I keep up with all this?
So many people, especially those just starting out, struggle with how to organize and plan. What does that physically look like? My system is just that--my system. It works for me. You will have other needs and preferences, but maybe this will give you a good starting off point or some ideas you can pick and choose from. You are welcome to use all of these ideas, none of these ideas, or pick and choose as it works for your family.
To begin with, I separate by grade level and by year of the WTM cycle. I have a folder for each grade level and a binder for each WTM year. In each grade folder, I break my plans for the year into 36 individual weeks--math, language, foreign language, logic, art, anything else that is grade specific. I don't put a lot of detail here. I just divide out the curriculum or resources into an even flow over the course of the year. I build in lighter weeks around holidays and toward the end of the year as I can.
In each binder, I lay out my rough plans for grammar stage, logic stage, and rhetoric stage history/literature and science. Typically, this is a chart with a range of weeks (say week 1-4), a topic we will study during those weeks, Kingfisher pages related to that topic, SOTW chapters related to that topic, and additional resources I might have collected related to that topic. See my post on teaching history for more detail. I do not break these plans into what I plan to cover each week in particular. It is a rough guide. I tend to make these plans at Christmas the school year before, but normal people could do this planning over the summer-ha! I keep these binders and grade folder intact and on my shelves so that when the next child comes to that grade, I can just pull out the folder and tweak for his/her specific needs.
Storing curriculum--I have shelves where I keep grade-specific curriculum in order. At the beginning of each set, I put the grade level folder so that it is easy for me to distinguish. I also have a shelf (or 2) for each year cycle of WTM with history, literature, art, music, and science resources related to that specific year.
Throughout the year then, we do 4 weeks of school and take a week off. We complete 32 weeks between the middle of August and the middle of May. I spread the remaining 4 weeks out over the summer as we have time, to complete a full 36 weeks.
I use those break weeks to do my specific planning for each child. I take their folders and write out a workplan (see my post on workplans) for each of the next 4 weeks with what I expect each child to complete in each subject over the week. I can go through each subject quickly because I have a list of each one in the folder with my year-overview plans. I can also evaluate if a child is struggling somewhere or if something isn't working. During those break weeks, I also decide how to divide up the history/lit/science plans I have over the 4 weeks and write out those plans. This break week is great for gathering any supplies we might need for history or science, going to the library or ordering books to read, field trips, appointments, educational movies, or any other ways to solidify the learning we have just completed. It gives my kids a chance to re-charge and process the previous 4 weeks, and it gives me a chance to get caught up on everything in my world. This is by far one of my favorite homeschooling decisions. Some people take a break after 5 or 6 weeks, but work it out over a real calendar. With Christmas break in the middle, you finish about the same time regardless. 4 weeks is about what it takes my kids to start acting like they need a break. I want them excited a learning at their peak.
I often use free resources like the ones you can find free on the Donna Young Printable website to create my lesson plans. I love paperwork and organizing though. You might not. You might just want to create a simple word or excel document to lay out your plans.
I don't keep grades until my kids enter high school, so I don't do a lot of record keeping for the younger grades, but I do keep their workplans and each month evaluate their progress. See my post on high school to learn more about how I record keep for those years.
This system works for me and makes my life easier with lots of kids and repeating grades every other year with a new kid. I do not want to re-create the wheel. In a couple of years, I will be to the point that I have grade level folders for all grades and I only have to re-evaluate for specific kids each year. Almost there!
To begin with, I separate by grade level and by year of the WTM cycle. I have a folder for each grade level and a binder for each WTM year. In each grade folder, I break my plans for the year into 36 individual weeks--math, language, foreign language, logic, art, anything else that is grade specific. I don't put a lot of detail here. I just divide out the curriculum or resources into an even flow over the course of the year. I build in lighter weeks around holidays and toward the end of the year as I can.
In each binder, I lay out my rough plans for grammar stage, logic stage, and rhetoric stage history/literature and science. Typically, this is a chart with a range of weeks (say week 1-4), a topic we will study during those weeks, Kingfisher pages related to that topic, SOTW chapters related to that topic, and additional resources I might have collected related to that topic. See my post on teaching history for more detail. I do not break these plans into what I plan to cover each week in particular. It is a rough guide. I tend to make these plans at Christmas the school year before, but normal people could do this planning over the summer-ha! I keep these binders and grade folder intact and on my shelves so that when the next child comes to that grade, I can just pull out the folder and tweak for his/her specific needs.
Storing curriculum--I have shelves where I keep grade-specific curriculum in order. At the beginning of each set, I put the grade level folder so that it is easy for me to distinguish. I also have a shelf (or 2) for each year cycle of WTM with history, literature, art, music, and science resources related to that specific year.
Throughout the year then, we do 4 weeks of school and take a week off. We complete 32 weeks between the middle of August and the middle of May. I spread the remaining 4 weeks out over the summer as we have time, to complete a full 36 weeks.
I use those break weeks to do my specific planning for each child. I take their folders and write out a workplan (see my post on workplans) for each of the next 4 weeks with what I expect each child to complete in each subject over the week. I can go through each subject quickly because I have a list of each one in the folder with my year-overview plans. I can also evaluate if a child is struggling somewhere or if something isn't working. During those break weeks, I also decide how to divide up the history/lit/science plans I have over the 4 weeks and write out those plans. This break week is great for gathering any supplies we might need for history or science, going to the library or ordering books to read, field trips, appointments, educational movies, or any other ways to solidify the learning we have just completed. It gives my kids a chance to re-charge and process the previous 4 weeks, and it gives me a chance to get caught up on everything in my world. This is by far one of my favorite homeschooling decisions. Some people take a break after 5 or 6 weeks, but work it out over a real calendar. With Christmas break in the middle, you finish about the same time regardless. 4 weeks is about what it takes my kids to start acting like they need a break. I want them excited a learning at their peak.
I often use free resources like the ones you can find free on the Donna Young Printable website to create my lesson plans. I love paperwork and organizing though. You might not. You might just want to create a simple word or excel document to lay out your plans.
I don't keep grades until my kids enter high school, so I don't do a lot of record keeping for the younger grades, but I do keep their workplans and each month evaluate their progress. See my post on high school to learn more about how I record keep for those years.
This system works for me and makes my life easier with lots of kids and repeating grades every other year with a new kid. I do not want to re-create the wheel. In a couple of years, I will be to the point that I have grade level folders for all grades and I only have to re-evaluate for specific kids each year. Almost there!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
High School Science
When my oldest was starting high school, I started my research again. High School science. I had great ideas about what I wanted for him. I wanted hands-on, research-based learning. I didn't want him reading a textbook and regurgetating the facts he had just read on a test. I also don't want my kids to suffer with lab sciences and lack of materials because we home school. I want to see microscope work, dissection, and true experiments that use the scientific method.
Most everyone uses Apologia, so I looked at it. But, as you know by now, I am massively stubborn and can't just use what other people are using. Apologia seemed thorough and well-organized to me. It included labs and activities. It just felt too textbooky to me. I didn't want to just hand him the information. I wanted him to have to work for it.
I searched and I searched and I just could not find what I was seeking. I read review after review of all the typical curriculum choices, until I stumbled on a review for the Science for High School series. This was what I was looking for all this time. This series is research based. Each week, your student will be given a series of questions which they need to research answers. I bought my son a few standard textbooks he could use to do his research, but this research could be done on the internet or at a library, or a combination. Each week, the text included a relevant lab, as well as a quiz.
Our approach was basically background reading on Monday. Research on Tuesday and Wednesday. Discussion and lab on Thursday. Quiz on Friday. I also had him watch any relevant Khan videos, and write lab reports each week. For background reading, he read from Biology: A Self-Teaching Guide, as recommended in WTM.
We loved the approach to learning Biology. Active learning kept his interest and made him work for his knowledge and understanding. It was a good, basic first biology course and the labs were interesting and relevant. They included dissection and microscope work. You will definitely need a good microscope if you choose this curriculum. I had no difficulties finding the specimen and equipment we needed (Home Science Tools), and the author was easy to contact when I had questions. I did find a few errors in the teacher's book, and had to be careful grading because the numbering was different on a couple of quizzes, but overall, we were very pleased and plan to use the curriculum for chemistry next year. At this point, she has written physical science, biology, and chemistry. Physics is due out soon. Yes--that makes me very excited.
Our high school plan is Biology 1 in 9th, Chemistry in 10th, Advanced Biology with the intent of seeking AP credit and AP testing in 11th, and Physics in 12th. That plan might alter depending on the child and their interest/future plans, but that is the rough plan at this point.
Most everyone uses Apologia, so I looked at it. But, as you know by now, I am massively stubborn and can't just use what other people are using. Apologia seemed thorough and well-organized to me. It included labs and activities. It just felt too textbooky to me. I didn't want to just hand him the information. I wanted him to have to work for it.
I searched and I searched and I just could not find what I was seeking. I read review after review of all the typical curriculum choices, until I stumbled on a review for the Science for High School series. This was what I was looking for all this time. This series is research based. Each week, your student will be given a series of questions which they need to research answers. I bought my son a few standard textbooks he could use to do his research, but this research could be done on the internet or at a library, or a combination. Each week, the text included a relevant lab, as well as a quiz.
Our approach was basically background reading on Monday. Research on Tuesday and Wednesday. Discussion and lab on Thursday. Quiz on Friday. I also had him watch any relevant Khan videos, and write lab reports each week. For background reading, he read from Biology: A Self-Teaching Guide, as recommended in WTM.
We loved the approach to learning Biology. Active learning kept his interest and made him work for his knowledge and understanding. It was a good, basic first biology course and the labs were interesting and relevant. They included dissection and microscope work. You will definitely need a good microscope if you choose this curriculum. I had no difficulties finding the specimen and equipment we needed (Home Science Tools), and the author was easy to contact when I had questions. I did find a few errors in the teacher's book, and had to be careful grading because the numbering was different on a couple of quizzes, but overall, we were very pleased and plan to use the curriculum for chemistry next year. At this point, she has written physical science, biology, and chemistry. Physics is due out soon. Yes--that makes me very excited.
Our high school plan is Biology 1 in 9th, Chemistry in 10th, Advanced Biology with the intent of seeking AP credit and AP testing in 11th, and Physics in 12th. That plan might alter depending on the child and their interest/future plans, but that is the rough plan at this point.
Super excited about my newest science finds!
You probably thought I would start with history didn't you??
My first disclaimer here is that in the past, I have typically done pretty much exactly what the WTM suggests for science. It can be done, and done well, if you have the time. Science curriculum isn't a necessity. And it is covered clearly and easily in the book honestly. I do not love textbooky science. We prefer real books and hands-on learning. Yet, seeing as how I have racked up so many library fines that I can not actually use the library, and they pretty much block the door when they see my noisy crew coming, I was looking for something a little different this year. But I love the WTM and I wanted whatever I used to stay true to that scope and sequence, and also the process--narration, hands on work, real books. Basically, I was looking for someone to plan out the WTM for me and give it to me in book format with worksheets and diagrams and narration pages and lab pages all ready to go. And I found that! Yes! Exactly that! Can you hear my excitement?!
This is what I found. Elemental Science. It's genius. Ok, so it's just the WTM all ready planned out and packaged for you, but it's exactly what I was looking for. Basically it follows the plan laid out in the WTM, but sets you up with your reading (using some awesome Usborne and Kingfisher spines), your narration pages, and your labs. It is divided into the 4 year cycle of the WTM--biology, earth/space, chemistry, and physics. And it has a grammar stage and a logic stage that can be coordinated or used separately.
(For WTM newbies, the grammar stage is 1st-4th grade when kids are focused on amassing facts and data and information. The logic stage is 5th-8th where the kids developmentally are ready to start questioning information, and when you start teaching them logic to deal with those questions. And the rhetoric stage is 9th-12th, when they learn how to present their own ideas).
My plan is to coordinate my grammar stage and logic stage students, but have my logic stage students complete the work in their level that goes beyond what my little ones are doing. We will be doing biology this year so even my preschooler will enjoy listening about animals and the body. We will also take a trip to the zoo or local science museum weekly to obeserve in person the animals we are studying. The curriculum provides blank observation forms for animal studies, as well as year long project ideas to take your studies even deeper. We are all excited about getting started!
I tend to do science and history with my kids, although I have been known to let my olders take the lead in labs and projects as they are able. For those of you who need science to be super independent, the logic stage is very suitable for independent work as needed, without much parental involvement. The student is actually given a checklist they can easily follow to complete the work each day.
The curriculum is also set up in 2 different plans--a 5 day week and a 2 day week. We do science twice a week, so I appreciate that option already being laid out for me with no tweaking.
So in summary, you can easily go to the WTM and put together your own science plans, or if you, like me, need a little break in one curriculum, but want to stay true to the WTM, then you might want to look into Elemental Science.
My first disclaimer here is that in the past, I have typically done pretty much exactly what the WTM suggests for science. It can be done, and done well, if you have the time. Science curriculum isn't a necessity. And it is covered clearly and easily in the book honestly. I do not love textbooky science. We prefer real books and hands-on learning. Yet, seeing as how I have racked up so many library fines that I can not actually use the library, and they pretty much block the door when they see my noisy crew coming, I was looking for something a little different this year. But I love the WTM and I wanted whatever I used to stay true to that scope and sequence, and also the process--narration, hands on work, real books. Basically, I was looking for someone to plan out the WTM for me and give it to me in book format with worksheets and diagrams and narration pages and lab pages all ready to go. And I found that! Yes! Exactly that! Can you hear my excitement?!
This is what I found. Elemental Science. It's genius. Ok, so it's just the WTM all ready planned out and packaged for you, but it's exactly what I was looking for. Basically it follows the plan laid out in the WTM, but sets you up with your reading (using some awesome Usborne and Kingfisher spines), your narration pages, and your labs. It is divided into the 4 year cycle of the WTM--biology, earth/space, chemistry, and physics. And it has a grammar stage and a logic stage that can be coordinated or used separately.
(For WTM newbies, the grammar stage is 1st-4th grade when kids are focused on amassing facts and data and information. The logic stage is 5th-8th where the kids developmentally are ready to start questioning information, and when you start teaching them logic to deal with those questions. And the rhetoric stage is 9th-12th, when they learn how to present their own ideas).
My plan is to coordinate my grammar stage and logic stage students, but have my logic stage students complete the work in their level that goes beyond what my little ones are doing. We will be doing biology this year so even my preschooler will enjoy listening about animals and the body. We will also take a trip to the zoo or local science museum weekly to obeserve in person the animals we are studying. The curriculum provides blank observation forms for animal studies, as well as year long project ideas to take your studies even deeper. We are all excited about getting started!
I tend to do science and history with my kids, although I have been known to let my olders take the lead in labs and projects as they are able. For those of you who need science to be super independent, the logic stage is very suitable for independent work as needed, without much parental involvement. The student is actually given a checklist they can easily follow to complete the work each day.
The curriculum is also set up in 2 different plans--a 5 day week and a 2 day week. We do science twice a week, so I appreciate that option already being laid out for me with no tweaking.
So in summary, you can easily go to the WTM and put together your own science plans, or if you, like me, need a little break in one curriculum, but want to stay true to the WTM, then you might want to look into Elemental Science.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Yes-I've been singing that song all day, and my MOST favorite thing
When I thought about how I would approach this blog, the song popped into my head and it stuck. So there you go. I think it fits.
I am going to start this blog off right and talk about my most favorite homeschool thing ever. The book that completely changed my world. The book that took me from I don't know if I can do this God, to I can not wait to do this God!!
A little background, we moved a ton when my oldest was little. I hauled him to England, Nashville, and back to Birmingham through his preschool and kindergarten years. The one constant in those years was Montessori. I love Montessori. It is a hands-on, logical approach to education, and it worked for him. He could go as fast or as slow (in his case fast, fast, fast), as you were ready for. It kept him challenged and motivated, and out of trouble...mostly. Anway, in his kindergarten year, child #2 was born, and we started contemplating private school tuition for 2 kids. And then 10 months after she rocked our world, we found out that baby #3 would be coming. 3 kids in private school was just not going to happen. My Montessori education, hyper-active, constantly needing a challenge son was just not going to make it sitting in a desk in public school. But how to do you send 1 to private and not the others. This is how God put homeschooling in our world. I thought homeschoolers were insane before I was slapped in the face with it and started doing what I always do, researching. I spent the next 2 years researching. Yes, 2. Years. That's how I do things. I planned out his entire 1st grade year, and then sent him to Montessori school. I then re-planned when I found new things. I have a bad habit of finding new things, and just adding them onto the old, instead of replacing. Anyway, I continued this process for 2 years while he was in 1st and 2nd grade.
It was about January of his 2nd grade year when God took over my insanity, and finally got through my thick, planning-obsessed skull. I was looking at needing 3k for child #2 for the next year, and I had no idea how to swing it. At this point, I finally listened to one of the many, many recommendations to read the Well-Trained Mind (if you haven't read it, this is your recommendation--pay attention). I picked it up at the library, and that book rocked my world. If you are a planner, read the whole thing. If you are easily overwhelmed, only read the part relevant to your child at this time. This book encouraged me that not only could I teach them at home, but that I could do it well.
Basically, the WTM is a book that lays out an approach to schooling, a scope and sequence that is typically referred to as classical. You teach in a 4 year cycle, and that cycle repeats 3 full times throughout 1st-12th grade. As a historian, it was so appealing to me that history was taught chronologically, and that literature, science, and real books were all tied in to the approach. This was not only an education, but an excellent education, and that is what I desired for my kids.
With this approach, in year 1, you teach the ancient world and biology. If you think about the Greeks and the Romans--biology was what they knew. They were dissecting and studying the human body and nature. Your literature selections feed into that. You read fiction and non-fiction based in that time period. Year 2 is the middle ages and earth/space science. In the beginning of the middle ages, people only knew what was in front of them--earth science, and then the great space discoveries, such as Galileo, occurred during this time. Year 3 is the early modern world and chemistry, since the early modern world is the age of chemistry. And year 4 is the modern world and physics, since the modern world is the age of physics. It just makes so much beautiful, logical sense. American history is studied in context, and not isolated from the rest of world history, and students learn what happens and how those event relate to others before them in the timeline.
That same cycle will repeat again in 5th-8th, and again in 9th-12th. In the 2nd round, you add in logic, so that your student isn't only learning the subjects, but they can go deeper and start to ask why questions that developmentally are happening anyway. In high school, the student will take the facts and the logic they have learned, and will add in study of argument, called rhetoric. They will learn how to present their own unique ideas in writing and in speech.
Your first assignment then, if you are new to homeschooling. Read the Well-Trained Mind. It completely changed my focus and structure of our homeschooling and gave me the courage and plan I needed to take that first step.
I am going to start this blog off right and talk about my most favorite homeschool thing ever. The book that completely changed my world. The book that took me from I don't know if I can do this God, to I can not wait to do this God!!
A little background, we moved a ton when my oldest was little. I hauled him to England, Nashville, and back to Birmingham through his preschool and kindergarten years. The one constant in those years was Montessori. I love Montessori. It is a hands-on, logical approach to education, and it worked for him. He could go as fast or as slow (in his case fast, fast, fast), as you were ready for. It kept him challenged and motivated, and out of trouble...mostly. Anway, in his kindergarten year, child #2 was born, and we started contemplating private school tuition for 2 kids. And then 10 months after she rocked our world, we found out that baby #3 would be coming. 3 kids in private school was just not going to happen. My Montessori education, hyper-active, constantly needing a challenge son was just not going to make it sitting in a desk in public school. But how to do you send 1 to private and not the others. This is how God put homeschooling in our world. I thought homeschoolers were insane before I was slapped in the face with it and started doing what I always do, researching. I spent the next 2 years researching. Yes, 2. Years. That's how I do things. I planned out his entire 1st grade year, and then sent him to Montessori school. I then re-planned when I found new things. I have a bad habit of finding new things, and just adding them onto the old, instead of replacing. Anyway, I continued this process for 2 years while he was in 1st and 2nd grade.
It was about January of his 2nd grade year when God took over my insanity, and finally got through my thick, planning-obsessed skull. I was looking at needing 3k for child #2 for the next year, and I had no idea how to swing it. At this point, I finally listened to one of the many, many recommendations to read the Well-Trained Mind (if you haven't read it, this is your recommendation--pay attention). I picked it up at the library, and that book rocked my world. If you are a planner, read the whole thing. If you are easily overwhelmed, only read the part relevant to your child at this time. This book encouraged me that not only could I teach them at home, but that I could do it well.
Basically, the WTM is a book that lays out an approach to schooling, a scope and sequence that is typically referred to as classical. You teach in a 4 year cycle, and that cycle repeats 3 full times throughout 1st-12th grade. As a historian, it was so appealing to me that history was taught chronologically, and that literature, science, and real books were all tied in to the approach. This was not only an education, but an excellent education, and that is what I desired for my kids.
With this approach, in year 1, you teach the ancient world and biology. If you think about the Greeks and the Romans--biology was what they knew. They were dissecting and studying the human body and nature. Your literature selections feed into that. You read fiction and non-fiction based in that time period. Year 2 is the middle ages and earth/space science. In the beginning of the middle ages, people only knew what was in front of them--earth science, and then the great space discoveries, such as Galileo, occurred during this time. Year 3 is the early modern world and chemistry, since the early modern world is the age of chemistry. And year 4 is the modern world and physics, since the modern world is the age of physics. It just makes so much beautiful, logical sense. American history is studied in context, and not isolated from the rest of world history, and students learn what happens and how those event relate to others before them in the timeline.
That same cycle will repeat again in 5th-8th, and again in 9th-12th. In the 2nd round, you add in logic, so that your student isn't only learning the subjects, but they can go deeper and start to ask why questions that developmentally are happening anyway. In high school, the student will take the facts and the logic they have learned, and will add in study of argument, called rhetoric. They will learn how to present their own unique ideas in writing and in speech.
Your first assignment then, if you are new to homeschooling. Read the Well-Trained Mind. It completely changed my focus and structure of our homeschooling and gave me the courage and plan I needed to take that first step.
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