Detour 07 December 2013

Not much going on today.  It hasn't snowed more, however it is quite cold for this area.   It's supposed to dip into the single digits.  Lows usually don't get below freezing.  Of course, I could be wrong since I live in a nice warm house and dress for wet rather than dry cold.

All events the past few days have been cancelled (Nativity Festival, children's choir concerts, church, etc.).  I think DH is about to go stir crazy.  I know other people are driving around but we've opted to stay off the roads.  Thankfully 15yo made snicker doodle cookies and 18yo cooked lemon chicken for supper.

Tonight we played Settlers of Catan.  We haven't played in a loooong time - a year?  I read to 11yo from Peter and the Star Catchers.

Detour 06 December 2013

Snow day!

But (there's always a "but" ;), we did do math, grammar, and Latin.

And .....
I got a package in the mail!  The Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages (audio book)

Detour 05 December 2013

This was truly a fantastic first atlas.

We read through it one last time.  It is going to the grandkids.

Detour 04 December 2013

Happy to have finally finished Proper Manners and Health Habits.  : )

I enjoyed reading more stories this evening from What Your First Grader Needs to Know.  11yo brings her lap top into my bedroom and sits beside me on the bed playing Minecraft while I read aloud to her.  Here are some of the stories we read/listened to tonight:

• The Pied Piper of Hamlin
• Pinnochio (Pinnochio Runs Away, Pinnochio at the Puppet Show, The Fox and the Cat, The Return of the Cricket and the Field of Wonders)
• The Princess and the Pea
• Puss-in-Boots
• Rapunzel

Detour 03 December 2013

Yeah!  CNN Student News is back.

Detours are fun but they make me nervous.  The weekly to-do list I made before I decided to take a detour is looking too pristine.  A to-do with very few marks on it screams at me, "Do something!"  Yes, we are doing a math and grammar lesson each day, but I can feel the anxiety building as I stare at the sparsely marked page before me.

What is the detour looking like?

Prima Latina - This was the biggest surprise of the day.  Even though Lively Latin is our main program, I decided 11yo and I should make a quick run through Prima Latina before handing it over to her niece.  We read through lesson one, worked through the exercises orally, and then watched the first lesson on DVD.  I thought 11yo might be put off by the teacher's accent but she actually seemed to like it.  Happily, she found the lesson material easy and didn't grumble.  She seemed intrigued that these lessons include memorizing Latin prayers.

Key to Fractions - Since workbooks one and two have been written in, we are reading the pertinent information and quickly reviewing the booklets.  Book one has been recycled and we are half way through book 2.  So far the information we have looked at is reviewing things she has learned in Rod & Staff 4 & 5.

We read parts of:
My First Atlas (Hammond)
Proper Manners and Health Habits (Rod & Staff - This is one of those books that got lost in the shadow of more important subjects over the years.  It's for grade 2 but I wanted to read through it at least once.)
First Encyclopedia of the Human Body (Usborne)
What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know (Core Knowledge - Wow!  They've changed the cover.)

• It Could Always Be Worse
• Jack and the Beanstalk
• The Knee-high Man
• Medio Pollito

Read aloud - Peter and the Starcatchers

Detour 02 December 2013

First book to go into the donate pile.  sigh.

Black Friday and Temporary Detour

I took advantage on Black Friday to buy next year's curriculum at a discount.  But ... (there's always a "but") ... we don't have room for it.  I've spent the last couple of days trying to figure out how to squeeze it into our house.  After one day of shuffling stuff, I've realized extra shelf space isn't going to suddenly appear.  Something has to go.  My vision changed and I could see books that we no longer needed to keep with the youngest closing in on 12. But first, I want 11yo and I to read through them one last time.

Which has created a detour.  We still need to stick with out math and grammar plans through the end of the year, but we will be spending more of our school time reading the soon-to-be donated books.  Hope she enjoys the detour.

Christian Studies

Another subject from LCC (Latin-Centered Curriculum) and Memoria Press.

Why christian studies?  Cultural literacy.  Many western classics refer to stories from the King James version of the Bible, and authors assumed their readers would be familiar with those stories.

But what program to use?  Religion always gets a little sticky.  Our family is LDS/Mormon and sometimes what is taught in a christian program doesn't match up with our beliefs.  I suppose every homeschool parent runs into the same problem no matter what their beliefs are.  When choosing a program, what it comes down to is how much time you are willing to spend tweaking a program to fit your family.

Christian studies from Memoria Press fits the bill as it is more about becoming familiar with the stories and events rather than spiritual teachings.  Since 11yo and I do this program together tutor style, it is easy for me to insert my thoughts during a lesson about differences in interpretation which might pop up.

I think the hardest thing for me to get used to was the illustrations in the Golden Children's Bible.  They are so different from the style used in our church.

Suggested schedule from Memoria Press:
Christian Studies I - 3rd grade
Christian Studies II - 4th grade
Christian Studies III - 5th grade
Christian Studies IV (review of I-III) - 6th grade

We are currently coming towards the end of Christian Studies I.  We are doing one lesson per week with the goal of finishing I-III before 11yo begins early morning seminary when she is 14.

Classical Studies

I first read about classical studies in Drew Campbell's Latin-Centered Curriculum.  What we do probably isn't anything like he suggested, but we are taking a stab at it.

At Memoria Press they suggest:

3rd grade

4th grade

and 5th grade

Of course, we are playing catch-up.  We finished D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths early this school year.  Famous Men of Rome is included in our Latin program, Lively Latin, and we recently started Famous Men of the Middle Ages.  Siegfried, Kriemhilda, Alaric the Visigoth?  These aren't stories or people I'm familiar with so I'm learning alongside 11yo. 

November 27, 2013

11yo thought she wouldn't have to do school today because other kids had the day off.  Lol!  Yeah, right!   Thanksgiving is one day not two.

Sadly, CNN Student News won't air again until next Tuesday. :/

Math 5 - English measurement (linear to sixteenths, capacity, weight, time)
Spelling - reviewed LOE lesson 8, comparative and superlative adjectives, suffixes -ish and ness
English 4 - subject and object pronouns
Lively Latin - government of the Roman Republic

Classical Studies - Attila the Hun (FMofMA), several stories from D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths (Skade, Frey and Gerd,  The theft of Thor's hammer)
Christian Studies - Ark of the Covenant
World History - first civilization
American/State History - mound builders from A History of US
Science 5 - 19 Laws for Moving Things, 20 Friction
Music - Chopin in Lives of the Musicians, listened to "Polonaise in A flat-major"