12th Grade

Senior year!  wow--it seems surreal to be at this point with our oldest.  I have so enjoyed the experience of homeschooling him, and I am looking forward to this last year with him at home.  Here are our plans for this year.  We are continuing with a college prep approach.

History and Lit:  continuing our great books approach.  We will be in year 4 and using a modified version of the well-trained mind reading list for year 4.  He will also study for and take the AP World History exam and the AP English Literature exam.  

Thesis:  He will complete an extended senior thesis this year.  In 9th and 10th, he completed a standard research paper.  In 11th, he wrote a junior thesis, and he chose the field of history for that project.  His project this year will be longer and more involved.  He is considering doing a project in psychology this year.  Details of how to do a junior and senior thesis can be found in the WTM.

Math:  Math U See Calculus

Science:  He will be continuing psychology dual enrollment for his science credits this year.

Language:  Stewart English book 3
                    IEW's Succeed on the AP Lit Exam (testing at the end of the year)


Electives:  AP French 4--online through the Potter's school
                  AP Latin-online with Henle
                  Russian--with Pimsleur and Russian in 10 minutes a day
                  New Testament using The Promise and the Blessing, as well as open course through Yale
                  Art-continue with the Annotated Mona Lisa and the Story of Painting for art from year 3, as well as studying photography
                  Music-Classical Music 101 (2nd half)
                  Rhetoric-Classical Rhetoric:  Aristotle's Principles of Persuasion
                 Work study-he will also be required to volunteer weekly at his chosen location--this could be traditional volunteer locations, or a location that would help him think through what he wants to pursue as an occupation.
                 

2016 Refresh Retreat

The 2015 Refresh Homeschool Moms Retreat was amazing.  Wonderful speakers, yummy food, free chair massages, every room with a view, and fun with old and new friends.  Don't miss next year!  Registration opens July 16th.

All the details are here:  www.refreshhomeschoolretreat.com

Refresh Homeschool Retreat

I am so excited to announce our new homeschool moms retreat.  The 2015 Refresh retreat will be held at the 4 diamond Ross Bridge resort in Birmingham, AL.  It will be a weekend of relaxation, encouragement, and great speakers.  Registration opened today!

We have speakers lined up such as Sonya Shafer of Simply Charlotte Mason, Mary Prather of Homegrown Learners, and Susan Long of Decoding Dyslexia.  We also have planned yummy food (that you don't have to cook!) and lots of fun surprises over the weekend.

We would love to have you join us!  All the details can be found on the website below.

http://www.refreshhomeschoolretreat.com/

Dyslexia

Dyslexia.  That was not an easy diagnosis to hear. We weren't surprised really. We knew his struggles. This is why we had him evaluated. But hearing someone actually else actually give him that label hit me hard.

But I know my son. I know his quirks inside and out. I know how he takes a few minutes longer to come up with a response, but it is always worth waiting on because it is so profound. I know his giftedness in problem solving, art, and dance. I know the depth of his conversations, the interesting questions he always seems to have, and the mature thoughts he brings up. I know his heart and his sensitivity. Dyslexia isn't a problem. It is a part of who he is, and he is amazing.

We have spent the past month now talking about his amazing brain and how it works in some amazing ways thanks to dyslexia. He is embracing it--not as an excuse, but as an honor. I am spending a lot of time researching the best ways to teach him.

With my son, our biggest struggles right now are composition and spelling. He has amazing ideas, but getting those onto paper in ways that other people can read and understand is difficult. He doesn't run away from difficult, but he does get frustrated that his ideas get lost in bad spelling and the mechanics of writing.  His reading comprehension is actually good, but that is mostly due to his problem solving and ability to figure out the context based on the words he is reading correctly. Reading is difficult, but he is reading at grade level after a lot of hard work. Letters float off the page and move for him. Using a colored filter does help with that issue. He also can not tell if letters are correct or reversed, which causes even more issues with writing and spelling.

After our eval, we took the materials provided by Scottish Rite for dyslexia, but we have found them miserably boring at this point, and so we will likely just return them. To help his spelling, we ordered Apples and Pears, and we have decided to just start from the beginning. It will be super easy for him for awhile, and we should move quickly, but this will build his confidence and catch any holes in his understanding. I am also using some at-home vision therapy materials from Dr. Kenneth Lane. We are beginning with Recognition of Reversals: Perceptual Training Workbook.

I taught him to read before we had an actual diagnosis, mostly with Explode the Code, but if I had it to do over again, I would use the Wilson Reading System materials.  If I have another child showing the same tendencies, I will go ahead and purchase Wilson.  I just don't think we need this approach with Samuel.  We are going to work on strengthening his phonics skills through his spelling program.

I love this kid, his strength, and his amazing brain.  And I would love to hear any resources or suggestions you have for helping a child with dyslexia.

Summer plans and goals

This is the time of year I love.  We relax the schedule and look back on the year to evaluate our progress.  We look forward to next school year to see where we want to go.  And, we finish out our current year with lots of fun hands-on learning.  This year we will wrap up our year 1 studies with the Americas and botany.  We will visit local Native American sites and (hopefully!) grow things if my black thumb doesn't get in our way.  I am also working on planning some fun field trips for next year related to our year 2 studies-geology, astronomy, and the middle ages.

I think my favorite part, though, is to look back at what we have accomplished this past year.  I stop and evaluate where each of my little students is at currently, how far we have come, and where we hope to go, and I make a list of goals to focus on during our relaxed time over the summer.

For us this summer, we will be working on reading fluency with 2 kiddos, and early reading with a 3rd.  My current 3rd grader (almost 4th grader!) was just diagnosed dyslexic.  His summer goals involve improving his reading and spelling skills with some new materials which will hopefully appeal to his awesome dyslexic brain.  We will be using some of the materials provided by the Scottish Rite, along with Apples and Pears.  My 5th (soon to be 6th grader) hopes to spend lots of time reading this summer.  We don't school all summer, but we do try to keep our activities sensory-rich and learning-rich.  School isn't separate from our life, rather it is our lifestyle and we tend to be all in when we are studying a particular topic.

My oldest (soon to be 11th grader) is actually beginning his junior year early this year.  He will be in France in January as an exchange student, so we are starting schoolwork in June.  He will be taking a dual enrollment class, as well as starting his history and lit, math, and thesis work for the year over the summer.

When I look back at what we have accomplished, and set new goals for the summer and future school year, I try to be careful to look not just at academic goals, but also at character issues and study skill related issues in each child.  I want my children to be self-motivated and independent learners.  We use tools through the year to try to encourage them along that path.  For example, beginning in 6th grade, my kids set their own schedule using a planner.  They decide which work they will accomplish which day and week.  They set their own goals and schedule.  I come behind them to make sure they are accomplishing the work at a pace they need to meet, but they are responsible for deciding how to break the work down by day and week.

Even for my younger children, I try to give them time management skills and independence by using work plans beginning in 1st grade.  All the work they need to accomplish in a week is written onto their work plan, and it is their decision how and when to accomplish each task over the week.

Other issues we look for and encourage include note-taking, study skills, and listening skills.  Oftentimes, if you are self-teaching mostly by reading, you lose the opportunity to develop your listening and oral note-taking skills.  To attempt to teach these skills to my children, we watch videos and documentaries, use Khan academy and Coursera lectures, and take advantage of open courses available free online, such as those offered by Yale and MIT.  We also require oral presentations from the kids over the year in a variety of environments, as well as their regular written work such as research projects beginning in middle school, and shorter projects in the elementary grades.

I love watching them grow and learn each year.  In the midst of the daily grind of the school year, it is easy to miss the progress.  Taking time to look back and reflect allows me a chance to see how far they have come.  And laying out specific goals allows us to stay focused on where we are headed.  And always I try to stay focused on the fact that they don't have to learn everything in one year, or even when they are young.  They will repeat so much of the same information in high school.  If we are struggling in an area, we work on that area over the summer more intensely, but always recognizing that those character issues and study skills issues are the most important in the younger grades to prepare them for high school.

Classes and planning assistance

If you are local and have a middle schooler or high schooler, I am going to be offering some classes again this summer and next school year.  All the details are on this site Courses Available.  Let me know if I can help you!

I also do essay grading and lesson planning on an individual basis, and would be happy to help you with your homeschooling needs!  Just email me if I can help!

High School History and Literature

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.  ;)

11th grade

Our plans for 11th grade are somewhat modified because my oldest will be in France for part of the year as an exchange student.  I'm thrilled he will have the opportunity to really establish his language skills while attending a high school in France and living with a French family for 3 months.  If you are interested in a similar experience for your high schooler, or if you are willing to host a student from another country, read more here and contact me!

History and Lit:  continuing our great books approach.  We will be in year 3 and using a modified version of the well-trained mind reading list for year 3.  He will also study for and take the AP US History exam.  

Thesis:  He will complete an extended junior thesis this year.  In 9th and 10th, he completed a standard research paper.  His project this year will be longer and more involved.  Details of how to do a junior and senior thesis can be found in the WTM.

Math:  Math U See

Science:  dual enrollment Biology
                He will also work through Astronomy a Self-teaching guide so as to not skip the astronomy year altogether, but I won't include this work on his transcript

Language:  Stewart English books 1 and 2
                    IEW's Succeed on the AP Lit Exam (testing at the end of the year)

Electives:  French 3 (credit from 3 months in France)
                  Latin 4-online with Henle
                  Russian--with Pimsleur and Russian in 10 minutes a day
                  Apologetics through NCFCA Speech and Debate
                  Art-continue with the Annotated Mona Lisa and the Story of Painting for art from year 3, as well as studying sculpting
                  Music-Classical Music 101 (1st half)
                  American Government-dual enrollment
                 

First Start Reading

With my 1st grader, I needed a new phonics curriculum this year.  For personal reasons, but also because her language skills are still a bit delayed, we just needed a fresh start, and we decided to try First Start Reading by Memoria Press.  I have 4ish phonics programs on my shelf right now, so we thought we would start with this and then go on to something else if it wasn't working. 

I have always appreciated how straight forward and easy to follow Memoria Press curriculum tend to be, and First Start Reading has been no exception.  She is doing great with this curriculum.  I am starting her in book B.  We went back to the end of book A, and she could pretty easily read the material there, and could honestly start further in to book B, but I wanted to start her off easy, build confidence, and then move into new material. 

This curriculum gives a short lesson each day.  I appreciate the limited time involvement, and that I need to do no prep work beforehand.  I also love that the stories you read each week are 7-8 lines of text on a page, instead of little readers like you typically see.  I have always had issues with my beginning readers being more interested in the pictures on the page and being too distracted to read the words or guessing at the words based on the pictures.  I usually fold the page back and cover the picture anyway.  With this curriculum, there are no distractions.  There is one picture to go with each story, but it is on the opposite page.  What you read is actually all on one page, one sentence per line.  The teacher's book gives you comprehension questions and discussion starters for each line to make sure the student stays on task and is comprehending what she is reading.  There is also lots of opportunity for the student to draw the scene they just read about, which this child loves.  Some of mine hate coloring, but this particular child loves it. 

All in all, I have found the program to be simple and straightforward.  It doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles of some other programs we have used, but that is honestly what I was looking for with her.  She wants to read and doesn't need the distraction that other programs provide.  The super short lessons work well with my time.  If she was a very beginning reader, this program might not provide enough reinforcement early on, but for where we are, it has been a great fit.  When she gets through book C and has the basic phonics rules down, we will move onto something to build more fluency. 

Teaching reading has always been my most dreaded task of homeschooling, but so far this year, my kids and this curriculum are making it easy on me. 

Our year so far

We have made it through the first 2 weeks of school!  Usually, the first few weeks of school involves a bit of tweaking and changing until we find the right flow, but I think we have found our groove again finally.  The biggest exception to that is my 3 year old, who generally is not the most cooperative child and is proving exactly the same for school.  We did expand our classroom, however, over the summer, and my most easily distracted children are around the corner now and his antics are not causing major problems.  I know he will settle down into our rhythm with time.  He also potty trained himself on his own the past two weeks, so I can't be that frustrated with him-ha!

We started out our year this year studying what is history and we read the Magic School Bus Shows and Tells about archeology and Archeologists Dig for Clues to go along with our story of the world reading.  We also read You Wouldn't Want to be a Mammoth Hunter.  If you don't know this series of books, they are awesome.  Funny and entertaining, but good solid history under the humor.  For our history projects, we drew a cave painting which we created on crumpled grocery bags and they taped them underneath tables and drew from laying down.  Lots of fun.  We also started one of my favorite books of art history for kids called Learning About Ancient Civilizations Through Art.  It discusses specific art--in this case, the Lascaux Caves in France--and then gives additional activities to do related to that discussion.  My new logic stage student also worked on learning to outline her Kingfisher text and began her new drawing curriculum.  We start more technical art studies in 5th grade.

This week, we dove into the 1st of a 4 week study of Ancient Egypt.  We made pharaoh crowns, felt papyrus, burned incense, and read about the great Spinx to go along with our Story of the World reading.  We also created cuneiform clay tablets when we discussed the beginnings of writing and compared Sumerian writing to Egyptian hieroglyphics.  And, we also watched a documentary on Netflix about Ancient Egypt.  My logic stage student began a Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Egypt to go along with her Kingfisher outlining.  Much more Egypt to come! 

My high schooler is actually on the Middle Ages this year, and approaching history as a great books study.  I will write more about that soon. 

For science, we dove into Elemental Science and are loving learning about habitats for the little ones, and cells and classification for my logic stage student.  So far, we have found the curriculum to be well laid out and explained.  I love that it isn't a textbook, but sends us to a variety of resources each week, with a variety of activities to go along with it.  My grammar stage students began a diorama project that they will be continuing for their animal studies. 

So far, our studies are going well.  All kids began a new year of Math-U-See and are continuing with their language studies and additional work on their own in the mornings.  My 1st grader is progressing quickly with reading and my kindergartener is finally blending sounds!  Phonics has been more of a struggle with both of those 2 since they spoke Russian for the first years of their life, but we are finally making quick progress.  We are also working on their language processing issues with lots of listening activities including Listen and Learn Phonemic Awareness from Lakeshore Learning, as well as their regular speech therapy. 

Getting ready for back to school

Wow, what on earth happened to July?!  I don’t know about you, but our summer flew by too quickly.  We did some light schooling over the summer like we usually do, as well as our share of camps, swim lessons, vacation, and as much fun as we can squeeze in to those few weeks.  Now, I am in full scale back to school mode.

For me, back to school involves cleaning my house top to bottom, cleaning out, organizing, catching up on all the tasks that I put off when we are busy with school.  For my family, school is our priority when we are on a school week, and it is easy to let those things back up.  I make sure I am well caught up before the beginning of a new school year.  The classroom will be scrubbed top to bottom.  Books will be moved to the appropriate shelves, and school supplies will be set out in each child’s space.

In our classroom, each child has their own shelf with the books they will need for the year.  I also have a shelf of the history books we will need for the year, and a shelf for science books.  We are heading into year 1 again, so I have books about the Ancient world and biology out and available. 

Each child also has a clipboard that opens and holds their school supplies.  In their clipboard, we put a pair of scissors, glue, crayons, colored pencils, pencils, and a small pencil sharpener.  Paper goes on top.  The clipboard gives us the flexibility of being able to grab 1 thing and have everything we need if we need to car-school or we want to head outside for school.  All the supplies they might need are kept there and no one has any excuse to go searching for anything.  And yes, we color code—binders, folders, scissors, etc match the color clipboard that child has. 

I am also writing out work plans for our 1^st 4 weeks of school and making all copies we will need for those weeks to put in each child’s binder.  This year I will have 10^th, 5^th, 3^rd, 1^st, K5, 3K, and a baby toddling around.  My 10^th grader will plan out his own weeks, but the 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th graders will get work plans.  My kindergartener will be working with me some on phonics and math, and spending much of his time with Montessori materials.  And my preschooler will be learning how to operate in our classroom with the early Montessori lessons. 

The weekend before the first day of school, I will sit down with each of my older kids and go over their workplans, explaining anything new and making sure they understand what is expected of them this year.  I know that first day can be so hectic, and I need them as independent as possible while I get my preschooler working and get my 1^st grader doing more big kid work (and entertaining my 1 year old in the meantime-ha!). 

My biggest concerns for this year include my extraordinarily stubborn 3 year old and my 1^st grader.  She has a processing disorder and I have to be creative about how I introduce information to her.  All in all though, we are super excited and can’t wait to get started.  My 3^rd grader in particular is begging to start.  I love his enthusiasm!

We are filling next week with as much summer fun as we can, but we will still plan to swim and play after school each day through August. 

I hope your back to school plans are going well!  I have lots of posts in the works to answer questions you guys have had.  Be patient and I hope to get to all of those very soon!

"Transcripts, credits, and grades, oh my!"

"Transcripts, Credits, and Grades, oh my!"  This was the intro to a talk at my local homeschool convention recently.  The speaker's point was a very valid one.  Many homeschoolers I speak to are very concerned with how to record-keep and track their student in the high school years to be able to get that student into college.  There are so many good planning tools available out there.  I am going to offer some suggestions here, but please let me know if you have questions beyond what I cover here.

My first recommendation, is plan high school in 8th grade.  This plan might change as you go through the high school years, but take an evening during your student's 8th grade year and discuss with him his goals for the future.  What subjects draw his attention the most?  What fields is he interested in pursuing?  What are your goals for him as parents?  Use that information and a list of your state's requirements to put together a plan for high school credits.  If he knows what schools he might be interested in, go to those websites and look at the requirements they set for incoming students.  Here is a chart of the requirements for my state.

As you are planning out your plan of study, think of ways you can incorporate your students activities and interests as credits.  I have heard of families using eagle scout projects for a project management course, flying lessons paired with book work for an aeronautical engineering course, speech or debate club as a variety of credits, ballet as a fine arts credit, and so on.  Your goal is to both educate your child to be well-rounded and with depth in his fields of interest, but also to present that information in a simplified form that college admission officers need.  Near the end of the Well-Trained Mind is a section that converts WTM types of courses like the chronological study of the Great Books into a more typical list of courses for your transcript.  It's a great resource.

As you go through the high school years, write for yourself course descriptions for each course your student will take.  This will save time and scrambling when your student applies for college and the college asks to see that information.  A course description basically gives the details of the course--what is taught, what resources are used, and how it is evaluated.

The transcript itself can be set up either by year (ex. all work in 9th grade grouped together), or by subject (all history grouped together).  The way you compile it is your preference.  The basic information you need is the title of the course, how much credit it is worth, and the credit earned.  There are so many templates and help available for writing course descriptions and transcripts.  I personally love the planning materials available for free at Donna Young Printables.

And finally, my most favorite record keeping tool for high school is found here.  This free download allows you to keep up with your grades and will calculate final grades and gpa for you.  It also has places for booklists, activities, and any thing else you might want to keep up with during those high school years.  When you get to college applications, you will need to know volunteer hours, leadership and club experiences, and awards, as well as traditional schoolwork.  Those areas allow homeschoolers to shine, so keep track of them well.  

What does Montessori at home look like?

For my youngest learners, we try to follow a Montessori approach.  There are so many reasons why Montessori is so good for little ones.  First, in Montessori, you follow a concrete to abstract process of learning.  The kids learn skills through hands-on exploration of their world--the way they natural approach new things.  They touch, feel, manipulate objects to learn concepts such as big and little, place value, and even grammar.  The concrete, multi-sensory learning helps  to cement  concepts into their brain.  Montessori is also individualized.  Each child will move through the materials at their own pace and as they are ready for them.  They can move as fast or as slow as they like, and they can go back to a lesson as much as they need to get the concepts.  And because they move at their own pace with self-correcting materials, they build a sense of pride and a love of learning.

For a homeschool mom, Montessori has so many benefits.  It keeps little ones busy and independently learning, allowing me to work with older kids.  They are both entertained and doing school, and I don’t have to be directly involved.  Montessori lessons are designed to be appealing and enticing to kids, and they love having their own schoolwork.   Also, Montessori lessons are introduced start to finish, which encourages your student to not only get out the materials and work on their own, but to also clean up their work as they complete the task.  All materials needed for the lesson are included on the tray or bowl holding the materials—they won’t need you to get anything out, help them through it, and they won’t make a mess.  You will interact with them when you can, and they are happily learning when you can’t.

Montessori at home for us involves low shelves with a variety of materials displayed.  Each lesson is self-contained.  Everything the child needs to complete the lesson is included on the tray.  For example, if the lesson is pouring, not only will the measuring cups and spoons be included, but a piece of sponge so that the child can clean up her own drips when the lesson is complete.  I have a limited space so I cycle which lessons I have out and available at any given time.  I also have a basket of small mats that my students can place on the ground before they select a tray with a lesson.

As I was getting started with my Montessori homeschooling, I found the books Teaching Montessori in the Home:  The preschool years and Teaching Montessori in the Home:  the school years, to both be extremely helpful.  These books describe how to introduce each lesson, their function, and the order they should be used.  Many of the materials needed for lessons can be made with instructions in these books, or printed from sites such as montessorimaterials.org.   I also put together many practical life lessons using normal household materials, or even Melissa and Doug toys we already had.  For the lessons that I couldn't make, I found most of those lessons readily available on ebay.

I created an excel spreadsheet with each of my lessons laid out by appropriate year.  I can then track each student—whether I've introduced a lesson, whether they are working on it, or whether they have mastered that lesson. 

Each morning, my students will select a mat and then move through lessons at their own pace.  When I am able, I might join them for a lesson, or I might take a few minutes and introduce a new lesson as they are ready.  Oftentimes, I do a group lesson relating to some science materials I have recently put out, or a geography lesson.  We get out the Montessori globe and world map and look at pictures from representative countries on the particular continent we are studying at the time. 

There are so many free Montessori materials available.  They make a nice addition to any homeschool, even if you don’t chose to set up an entire classroom.  We are currently adding to our own classroom, so I will take pictures and add them when we complete that work. 

Analytical Grammar

As my oldest entered high school, I went researching for a solid grammar curriculum he could use to finish out his grammar studies.  I was looking for something that wasn't too involved, since he had already been exposed to these concepts.  He mostly needed some review and reinforcement during his high school years.  He needed something straightforward and not terribly time consuming.  He had already learned the rules of grammar, and now needed to focus most of his time on his great book studies.  We finally landed on Analytical Grammar and it was a perfect fit.

The philosophy of the writers of Analytical Grammar is  "that they don't need to be "doing" a grammar worksheet every day, all year long, for years and years and years!  If grammar is taught sequentially and logically, there is no need for so much repetition."  They argue that grammar instruction isn't even needed until middle school ages.  I know, I know.  That's hard for us parents to hear--especially those of us who are Classically minded.  While I am not ready to drop grammar from my elementary students' work plans, the idea of not having to struggle through busy work is very appealing.  I had noticed that my oldest and his 6 years younger sister were doing basically the same grammar work year after year, and really that much repetition wasn't necessary to achieve our goals.  

The program of Analytical Grammar is set up in 3 seasons.  You purchase 1 set and that set includes all you need for those 3 years of grammar.  You can modify the seasons and complete them sooner than 3 years, but we stuck to the 3 year plan.  The first 10-12 weeks of the year consist of new lessons with new material, as well as some practice pages. The curriculum teaches parsing and diagramming as it goes, using real literature such as Twain and the Gettysburg Address.  If you aren't comfortable teaching, they sell dvds that cover the material for you.  I found that my student was able to read the lesson and understand it himself without my instruction.  After those initial weeks, the student will complete a page of practice every other week for the rest of the year.  I hear your skepticism.  The reality is, it works.  My oldest was never a good diagrammer, and I wondered how much he would retain with only this much practice.  I was blown away by both the depth he learned and the ease at which he can now diagram complicated sentences, but also the depth of retention from one season to the next.  He just didn't need the drill when the lessons were taught with an emphasis on patterns.  

The 3 seasons can be completed anytime from 6th grade onward.  Once those seasons are complete, your student can  move on to the high school reinforcement books which allow for practice using real literature from American authors, British authors, World authors, or Shakespeare.  If you can't wait to start until 6th, they also have Jr. Analytical grammar, which my oldest daughter used and loved this past year.

The program is no-frills and uses real literature.  It teaches grammar in a logical progression, without excessive repetition and busy work.  It fits our goals and priorities well, while teaching solid grammar rules and constructions.  We have been very pleased and look forward to trying out their new writing curriculum as well.  

A great way to learn about culture

As a parent, I am very concerned making sure my kids don't just learn about other cultures and people through books, but through real-life experiences.  One of the best ways I have found to do this (other than extended travel) is to host exchange students.  We've hosted a couple of times and now I work with students during their time here in this country.  My kids love the students and love learning about their home countries.

Having a houseful of children, travel is just difficult and expensive.  Hosting is a great way to bring culture to your kids in a season of life when you can't travel.  Hosting is a great learning experience, but also a lot of fun.  I'll never forget my 4 year old pretending one day that he was going to fly in a plane over the ocean to visit Germany.  He loved his German sister.

We experienced German holidays, German food, and German music and books right in our own home.  My kids don't just know in their head that there is a country called Germany, but they lived it and it is personal and understood to them.  Having our student with us for a year went far beyond any learning we could achieve with a unit study.  And it helped them to step outside of our own little world and see the world with a wider perspective. 

And beyond learning about her country, we learned about our own.  We were able to teach her how we do things, and through her questions, we were able to stop and think about why we do things the way we do, what is important to us, and how we live life in a way that was much more introspective than we normally would have been.

When I studied in England, I learned first hand how difficult it can be to be in a new culture and far away from family, and how important it is to have local support.  I loved my family's experience hosting when I was in high school, and now it is my honor to be able to help these students find families and to support the families and the students during their time here in this country. 

I would love to talk to you more about the possibility of hosting if you are interested.  Even if you aren't local, I can put you in touch with the right people. 

10th grade

My oldest will be in 10th grade this year.  Most of his time will be spent in his history and literature work, which will be explained in another post.  He will also be studying chemistry with Science at Home.  We order science supplies through Home Science Tools. 

Math:  Math U See

Language:  Analytical Grammar high school reinforcement book
                   AP Comp readings with Everything's an argument and IEW's Succeed on the AP Comp Exam

Electives:  AP Microeconomics (more about the AP program soon)--Mcconnell Microeconomics and IEW Economics-Based Writing, as well as AP study guides and lessons
                  French 2--online with BJU French 2
                  Latin 3-online with Henle
                  Russian--with Pimsleur and Russian in 10 minutes a day
                  Old Testament Survey with The Promise and the Blessing
                  Health--Total Health (1 semester)
                  Driver's Ed/Car Maintenance-Safe Young Drivers and Auto Upkeep (car maintenance curriculum which uses real hands-on "labs" teaching a wide range of owning and driving a car from changing windshield wiper fluid to changing brakes (1 semester)
                  Art-continue with the Annotated Mona Lisa and the Story of Painting for art from the Middle Ages, as well as studying painting with Introduction to Watercolors
                  Music-The Classical Experience
                

Speech and debate

One of our favorite parts of homeschooling last year was participating in our local speech and debate club.  This club competes through the NCFCA.  I was blown away by the level of competition and the quality of performances of these students. 

My oldest participated in the LD debate, but there were others involved in TP and many categories of speech.  Participants are 12-18 years old.  The experience was excellent for him to learn about how to structure an argument, how to present himself, what evidence is important and useful, and even how to go through the formal process of a debate.  He learned a ton about the year's resolution, and it provided us great opportunity to discuss current events and history with a depth we don't usually get to experience.  The whole family was in on letting him know of any relevant quotes or fact they encountered.

I think my favorite part of the experience was the excitement and enthusiasm I saw in him for research.  In NCFCA debate, there is one resolution over the course of the year.  Each student has to write and prepare both an affirmative case (supporting the resolution) and a negative case (against the resolution).  In a tournament, each student will be required to debate both sides.  This requirement forces them to dig deeper and build strong cases, but also to look from both sides of the argument.  Instead of just picking a side, they have to be able to see the other side's point of view and understand it enough to even argue for it.  It's an incredible exercise in argumentation and research.

Parents attend tournaments and help judge which was a lot of fun.  I loved watching other debaters and speakers.  Again and again I was blown away by the quality and level at which they were competing.  To watch high school students be able to stand up and speak eloquently and deeply about real subjects and issues in an educated and passionate way--well, I just can't say enough good about the organization or our club.  It was a great experience in oral presenation that fit perfectly with our goals in the rhetoric stage. 

9th grade

So high school--Most my student's day at this point should be focused on his great books study for history and literature.  The details of that are coming in another post.  At this point, we are working on building skills like note taking, essay writing--timed and note, time management, test taking skills, reading skills, and oral presentation skills.  We study the ancients and biology using Science for High School. 

Math:  Math U See

Language:  Analytical Grammar High school reinforcement books
                   Writing Exposition
                   Vocabulary from Classical Roots

Other:  Rhetoric--A Rulebook for Arguments as described in the WTM
            Art--The Annotated Mona Lisa, The Story of Painting, and a drawing instruction book
            Music
            Bible
            Russian-Pimsleur and Russian in 10 minutes a day
            French-online with BJU French
            Latin-online with Henle
           
We also joined a speech and debate club this year.  More on that experience in another post. 

And I have a toddler underfoot

I think one of the hardest parts of homeschooling many is keeping the littlest ones busy during the school day.  I have always had a toddler, an infant, or both during my time homeschooling.  During the next school year, I will be introducing my 3 year old to our Montessori materials and entertaining a 1 year old, while trying to school 5 other from kindergarten through high school.  It's always a challenge balancing their needs, and I honestly don't think I come even close to doing a great job most days.  Mommy guilt is tough.  I love break weeks because that gives me extra time to spend with my youngest kiddos. 

I think how you handle toddlers during school time depends very much on their personality and temperament.  I have had some toddlers who are quite content to play quietly in their own space, and some that require constant, hands-on entertainment and containment-ha!  Here are some ideas that I have used over the years and that others have shared with me. 

1.  Montessori--I will write more on Montessori at home later, but even toddlers can make use of simple Montessori materials to keep themselves busy while the others work.  In fact, this is one of the reasons I love Montessori so much.

2.  Along with the idea of Montessori materials, have certain activities and toys that only come out at school time.  Some moms will do a busy bag swap.  Some set up special boxes.  You can even look into kiwicrate.com.  The main idea here is to have extra exciting, interesting, special activities and toys for your little ones that only come out during school, and that they can play with in a contained environment. 

3.  School during naptime.  This isn't always practical, but sometimes it is necessary.  We do our science and history work during naptime because the house is quieter, and the bigger kids can actually hear me read-ha!

4.  Have your older kids be more independent.  The reality is, when you have little ones running around, they are going to need you.  This is a great reason to foster independence in your older children.  Work plans are a great way to do this.  Also, having a routine with a typical way they should start their day helps.  If they know they should start their day with copywork, then they will be able to go ahead and get started, without waiting on your to sit down with them.

5.  This year, we actually woke up extra early and schooled in the morning before my then 2 year old woke up.  This gave us a good start while he got plenty of sleep.

6.  Take turns with the toddler.  I have had a few who just need hands-on attention during this time.  We just take turns entertaining that child while I work with other kids.  This isn't always easy, but it does give your older kids a break and gives them some one-on-one time with their younger sibling.

It's just for a season.  Soon, your toddler will be older and can participate more fully in school. It's temporary. Hard. But temporary.

What other tips do you have for entertaining and occupying toddler during school time?

8th grade

In 8th grade, we continue with the WTM formal reading list, formal logic, Latin and French, and outlining in history.  My 8th graders plan their own schedule and are responsible for their own time management.  They still participate in history and science with younger siblings to some extent, but are doing most of their work own their own.  Most of their time should be spent on science, history, working through their reading list, and writing about their reading at this point. 

In 7th and 8th grade, to go along with our history studies, my students use the Critical Thinking in US History books to build their skills in textual analysis and their confidence in working with primary documents.  These books are involved, but a great way to teach point of view and how to question and apply logic to texts you are reading. 

Math:  Math U See

Language:  Analytical Grammar season 3
                  Vocabulary from Classical Roots C and D
                  Stobaugh's Literary Analysis--great foundation for high school literature

Logic:  Intermediate Logic by Canon Press with dvds

Other:  Music--we do a composer study using some Beautiful Feet resources and The Gift of Music
            Art-Photography and study modern artists and pieces
            Bible/devotion
            Violin
            French--I have used Tell Me More and power glide, as well as a verb book and a translating book
            Latin-My oldest started high school Latin with Memoria Press online academy using Henle