The Harvey Files

Wow. A year has passed.

2011-09-02T09:24:00.000-04:00

I started this blog last year with the best intentions, really I did.

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But last year kinda bullied me into submission. I barely finished school with the boys,

Gracie is now officially 'done', having taken her SAT and soon the GED.

Jason is in private school now, having come here thru March.

As I contemplated a new year, I decided I needed to SIMPLIFY both my day and the boys' day. In the spring I looked into Time 4 Learning, an online curriculum, and decided that was the way to go.

Then the siren song of Sonlight, Michael Clay Thompson, and other big-promising, guilt-inducing, teacher-intensive programs snagged the attention of my squirrel brain.

We began in earnest this week, and yesterday hit a wall.

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Already.

Seriously?

Some things that became crystal clear by 10 am:

1) My boys don't like me teaching them.

2) My boys don't like school

3) I'm pretty lazy and unorganized

4) I'm kinda over homeschooling

5) They love the computer (ding ding ding!)

With that last realization, I took a nap.

When I awoke, I grabbed my credit card then signed up for Time 4 Learning.

Cheesy Ed Mouse made me happy.

I like happy.

I suppose I could choose to feel like a 'less-than' homeschool mom,

but I actually don't really give a crap at this point.

It's either let them do school online, or send them back to school

(which has a plethora of other issues I don't have energy to cope with in this season of life.)

I won't bore you with the stress I've been under this last year, but suffice it to say, I need to streamline and de-stress as much as possible.

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I'm hoping this new online learning stuff will free up my time and energy enough

that I won't burn out as quickly,

and I might even get to do stuff I've always wanted to do with the kids but never got around to doing (reading great books together, joining some clubs and co-ops, etc.)

Of course I'll be writing up a review of how Time 4 Learning is working for us as we get into using it more.

And so, with that, I'll sign off and oversee the chores my boys are currently avoiding.

Recess. A homeschool mom's sanity-saver.

2010-09-16T05:44:00.000-04:00

Our pool is taken down now, but I wanted to share what we do for recess when the weather is warm :) We take an hour and a half break...from 11:30-1:00 for lunch, some kind of physical activity, and free time (which means rounds of Little Big Planet). I can't tell you what a difference this has made in our day. The kids work from 8:30-ish straight thru 11:30, so they're ready for a nice break. When we get back at it, they work hard for another couple hours. It makes the day go fast, but there's a lot less cranky whining. :) Here's what I do while they swam....

It really helps to have an extended period of time with no schooling responsibilities. I can check email, blog, take a quick rest, finish projects, or shower (yes, I school the kids in jammies or stinky sweats most days).....it's great motivation to finish morning work knowing we have a decent chunk of time to chill out.

In other news, my daughter who was beginning her junior year at the local public school has decided to come back home. So we're scrambling to get curriculum together for her. She's basically focusing on SAT prep using Grueber's, but I'm also having her do English Comp and Lit, American History, and Algebra 2. It's been quite a change to go from just one last year to four....but it keeps my life exciting.

I've also tweaked our curriculum a bit more, and our daily schedule is now a comfortable routine. And since we've added another kiddo to the homeschool mix, we've retrofitted (neato word, eh) our dining room into another school room/office. It looks more like a computer lab, but we're still finishing it up. When the makeover is finished, I'll share more about it. I'll leave you with a bit of footage....

Well, I kinda left you hangin' with that last one, eh?

2010-08-30T10:51:00.000-04:00

We've completed our first week since Jason joined us, and believe it not, I lived to tell the tale. I ended up using The Alpha Omega Lifepacs for Spanish and Science. The L.Arts and History Geography are currently for sale :) So here's what he's doing, for those interested in a 10th grade curriculum:
~Life of Fred Geometry
~Key to Algebra (for review)
~Fallacy Detective
~SAT Words in Pictures
~AO Science (Physical Science)
~AO Spanish 1
~History of the Medieval World (also used for outlining and summary writing)
~National Geographic Family Atlas, Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World, and the DK History of the World
~Well-Trained Mind Literature selections and discussion/writing (currently Beowulf, listening to the audio and following along in the translation by Seamus Heaney)
~Voyage Level language arts from Michael Clay Thompson: includes grammar, poetics, writing, and vocabulary study
~PE once a week
~60 minutes of free reading in a book of his choice daily

We're still finding a routine that works, but I'm pretty confident will get our groove on by the end of the week. Basically, I check with Jason first thing on what he did the day before, get him set with morning independent work, then head to the school room with the boys. We take an 90 minute lunch, free time, exercise break at 11:30. Then I do a bit of history with the boys, while Jason does history independently. Lastly I do Lit and Language Arts with Jason before he leaves for the day.

None of our work is taking longer than I expected, so time-wise we're good. I'll get links and some pictures up later in the week, but now I gotta get back to school!

The Panic sets in.

2010-08-16T14:38:00.000-04:00

My high school student, Jason, will arrive next Monday for his first day of school. You'll remember that I've been doing bits of school with my own 2 this summer, but next week I'll be juggling all three.

I received my Rainbow order last week, but due to the crazy stuff happening around here (moving 2nd dd into her new apartment), I'd not had time to really dig into it. Well, last night I did. It was bad. Very bad....

I had decided most of Jason's curriculum should be self-teaching since he'll only be with me 3 days a week. I'd looked into several programs, but decided on Alpha Omega Lifepacs for LA, History/Geography, Spanish, and Science. I poked my nose into them last night, all ready with sharpened pencil and planbook in hand, and had a panic attack. These will. not. work. Not for him, not for me. FAIL. I just am not mean enough to make him sit and do these worktexts. Back to Rainbow they go, leaving me scrambling for ideas on what to use with him.

I need to find a writing program, with a bit of grammar review. I need to find a history program, though I'm leaning towards using SWB's history stuff with him. I need to plan literature study. I have no clue what to use for science. Not a freaking clue.

So, we're in panic mode. Here's what I'm considering:
Meaningful Composition: straightforward, hand-holding writing instruction. Cheap. Downside for us, it's extremely Christian.
MCT Essay Voyage and Grammar/Practice Voyage. Not sure he can do much of this alone....
The Lost Tools of Writing: would love to get my hands on this, but the cost is prohibitive.

History....just having him plug away in SWB's The History of the Medieval World, using 8th grade logic recs for studying history in TWTM until he's comfy with outlining, summary writing, and timelining.

Literature...same as above, using period literature and the questions from TWTM.

Science....I give. No direction whatsoever. After having fits with Apologia Biology last year, I dread handing him another Wile book. Oh help.

I've been stalking the forums, trying to devise a new plan, but I'm just overwhelmed at this point.

At least the other stuff seems to be ok: Fallacy Detective, Life of Fred Geometry and Keys to Algebra, and Picture This SAT Word. All seem doable. I suppose I can start him with those at least.

Sigh.

A bit o' my philosophy. Such a big word.

2010-07-28T19:56:00.002-04:00

I get emails quite a bit from readers or friends who want to pick my brain about how I homeschool. I recently had a couple gals just starting out (one with little ones and one with kids coming back from public school) and I thought I'd make my replies a post here for others. Expanded even. Oh joy.
Basically, my approach to curriculum and teaching is

Less is more.

I enjoy doing school stuff with the boys, but I don't want to spend the entire day with our nose in school books. I start with the minimum I think it will take, and see how the kids respond to it. If I can't clarify or extend what a book is trying to teach (if it needs it), I look for a quick supplement. This doesn't happen very often. Most of the time it's simply a case of the student's brain not ready to grasp the concept. In other words, try again later. Months later.

There are so many great materials out there, but none of them will work if you don't have the time to teach them, kids who don't want to learn them, or are READY to learn them. It's sooooo hard not to want to buy everything out there that gets raves, but my mantra thru the years has been:

Don't let the good crowd out the best.

....and my best is the book that gets used. Even if it's a Walmart summer math workbook. (BTW, this mantra applies to all areas of my life). Some kids really dig workbooks or science encyclopedias or brain puzzlers....make sure they have time to explore what they're into. Our family uses the Classical model as a framework, but I'm telling you right now, we won't be spending an hour on grammar in 5th grade. And no Latin declensions. Now, if one of my sons got it into their head they wanted to learn said declensions, then boy howdy I'm all over it. I'm just not counting on it.

And I'm sure we all know this, but it bears repeating because we homeschool moms are thickheaded:

There is no such thing as 'the' perfect curriculum.

The best we can do is plan our goals for the kids (in pencil), watch for where they struggle, teach to their learning style, and be patient. Don't push....encourage. Try stuff and be willing to put it aside for awhile. Don't go buy something else. I know we all know these things, but it's hard to just trust our kids' brain development. I mean, I have an 11 year old doing WWE 2! He's JUST learning not to holler at me when I encourage him to copy 4 sentences. But he's creative and verbally articulate. I trust the tortoise will win in the end. :) So he plays LEGOs for hours a day while listening thru the Harry Potter audios for the 3rd time. Big fat hairy deal. We get in our 90 minutes of 'school', then the day is his within some set boundaries (30 minutes only on video games, for example).

Enjoy this journey. Let your kids show you how they learn, and find materials that fit that. For instance, WWE and MCT have been great, but with my olders, Rod and Staff, LLATL and Easy Grammar also worked. They all work.....you just find the ones that make sense to you and your kids and go for it. No one needs 4 writing or math or science curricula unless they WANT them. BTW, this isn't a popular view on some forums. I just know what has worked and what didn't work with my own.

There is certainly something to be said for structure, crossing t's and dotting i's.....just don't let someone else's timeline (be they an 'expert' or just a mouthy poster on a homeschool forum) supercede your mothering intuition. In classical circles, it's easy to feel like your kid will forever be scarred in life because they can't seem to tell the difference between a noun and verb before 3rd grade.....or that they haven't read Shakespeare by 6th grade. Pshaw. One of my complaints about our culture is that we assume kids need to experience everything before they're 18....and yes, it's fine to expose our kids to stuff like classical music or fine art or karate or soccer or Little Debbie Oatmeal Cakes....but to become proficients in all that stuff before 18 is well, dumb. Give them a taste, encourage maybe a second try, then let it lie.

Know thyself and thy limits.

And quick kicking yourself. You already win just for choosing to homeschool.

I must pause here to tell you I've been reading quite a bit on unschooling forums due to my Ben's right-brained learning style. I find there is much to be gleaned from such a learning environment. I'll be incorporating some ideas into our homeschool lifestyle...still within the framework of a classical model. Should be interesting....might need to stock up on some transfat.

Well, that was rambly. Let me know if I need to clarify something....after 12 years at this, I'm still finding my footing as each kid presents new challenges to my status quo.

And speaking of handwriting....

2010-07-20T19:48:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd show you some comparisons. Take note that the reason for this comparison exercise is not what you think.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Let me just say that every homeschool forum I've ever participated in has a plethora of posts that come round cyclically about handwriting woes. I used to post them myself years ago. 'Til I realized I really didn't give a hoot.

Can you guess which son did which handwriting? In looking at the samples above, do you automatically make a judgement about what a good student the owner of Exhibit A is? Were you already shaking your head in pity at the thought that I have to teach the child of Exhibit B with handwriting 'as big as a circus tent' (his words)?

Let me fill you in on something. Good or bad handwriting do indicate ANYTHING. Nada, zip, zero. Let me say it again.....handwriting determines NOTHING. Lovely penmanship has zilch to do with smarts, laziness, rebellion, or Little Debbie Oatmeal Cakes. Seriously. Of my 6 offspring, exactly ONE has beautiful penmanship (see exhibit A) and one other has fairly nice writing. The others all write in some form of chicken-scratch, and I'm just okie-dokie with it. They are all smart, doing well in college/high school, and are cute to boot.

Having said that, let me tell you that in reality, really messy handwriting from a child who gets easily frustrated and tearful CAN clue you into his learning style. Exhibit B above belongs to my 11 year old son Ben who is a Visual Spatial Learner. He has enormous difficulty with handwriting, which is not only nearly impossible to read, but takes him a super long time to do. VSL's are notorious for atrocious handwriting. So I don't sweat it. As we get more and more into our school routine, I hope to write about some techniques I'll use to teach him skills in non-traditional ways. Typical auditory-sequential (ie: traditional public school methods) don't work for VSLs because they are whole-to-parts, right brained, picture thinkers. Because they have messy writing, they are sometimes labeled in negative ways in school and by parents. Don't do it!

Then why do I make him do cursive practice, you ask? Well, first of all he's doing a 1st grade level handwriting book. This means he only needs to copy 2 short sentences a day. Secondly, it gives him practice in copywork a la WTM...seeing proper sentence structure and learning to focus on the details of commas, spelling, grammar, etc. Thirdly, as I mentioned in the linked post, it's a mini-art appreciation lesson. Lastly, I want to continue to train his hand muscles because like it or not, he will need to do some handwriting as an adult. Even if it's to sign his name on a credit slip. Also, had I known way back when that he was a VSL as he started kindergarten, I would've used Handwriting without Tears. Would've saved us many, well, tears.

This child who writes like a 3 year old, is actually extremely intelligent, thinks easily 'outside the box', and has a quick wit. Though he's easily distractable, he can hyper-focus on something he's really into...like LEGOs.
So, whether he ever nails down a fluid, fabulous hand just isn't a concern. His brilliancy shows up in other ways....ways that are sometimes (or oftentimes) disregarded or misjudged as 'problems'. Pshaw.

For those of you with kids who struggle with penmanship, don't hyperventilate over it. Some kids just won't be great at handwriting. And you might just have a VSL....if you do, see my resources tab for info sites about this kind of learning style. I also have books listed over yonder in the side bar that have helped me tremendously in leaning methods of teaching to this learning style. They also work with kinesthetic kids and can be good for the regular 'school-y' types too...everyone needs practice in visual-spatial methods, regardless of brain-dominance due to our highly visual culture....the global job market is leaning heavily to those with spatial skills.

Another time I may introduce you to another personality-typing program I use to help teach to each of my kids' strengths based on their natures. My VSL son Ben is also a 'Type 1', which is represented as airy and light, random, fun, and bouncy. He's never gonna sit for a long time doing rote memorywork. Ain't gonna happen. Not even going there.

The Week.

2010-07-18T20:17:00.002-04:00

One of the things I'd like to do on this blog is incorporate a weekly round up of stuff that we did or interesting stuff that happened to us. After all, the tag line around here is 'stuff we do'. This is, of course, for the purpose of keeping family up to speed (and for sheer bragging.... duh). If that kinda thing weirds you out, just avoid Sundays at the harvey files. Actually, I will prolly need to do some venting and complaining and scratching where it itches too....so if *that* kinda thing weirds you out, just move along to the next blog in the webring. No harm, no foul. See ya on Monday.

This past week was full of ups and downs due to my hubs and 16 yo DD Gracie being outta town. They were on a youth service trip in Chicago.

One day they sorted clothes for a clothing bank.

Another day they filled huge bags of dry cereal for the food bank.

Another couple days they handed out pop ice and cold water in some neighborhoods and a vacant lot used by the homeless.

Met some very interesting folks....for instance, one fella who sold single cigarettes for .50 with his bouncer side kick holding a tire iron.

They also had an opportunity to visit Willow Creek and hear Rob Bell speak on 'The Third Way'.

The kids were really taken with his message, but not with the church. No offense. I'm sure it's a lovely church, but it was quite a paradigm shift for them coming from working with the poor in the inner-city, showering at the Y, sleeping in pews or on the church floor, eating homecooked meals by local church members (fried chicken, collards and cornbread biscuits....don't get not better than that!)...

.....to the sanitized auditorium of Willow Creek in the 'burbs. They definitely caught the difference. Which is awesomeness because they all live in the 'burbs themselves here in NE Indiana. With the corn and soy beans.

On the home front, I was doing my part serving God by attempting not to sell my boys to the circus in 90 degree muggy heat as they picked at each other over Every. Stinkin'. Thing. That was a joke. Kinda. I also worked on revamping our screened in porch with paint, refurbished furniture and fabric. Little Debbie Oatmeal Cakes played a supporting role, as did our plastic, snap-together pool. Don't hate.

I also did some more cooking and photo-snapping of the finished recipes for the online family cookbook.

We did a touch of school each day. Sam the Younger polished off Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and Ben the Older picked up an Artemis Fowl and a Charlie Bone. Since dad came home, we got the next Percy Jackson and Sam began devouring that as well, whilst Ben started the first. They wantto go see the movie, but I told them they had to read the book first. That's 'cause I'm a mean mom. Most days.

Ben built a game board with his LEGO's including rules. It was pretty incredible. I mean, Parker Bros can start working on signing him on. Seriously.

I joined up at a couple new homeschooling forums. Check out Secular Homeschool and The Homeschool Lounge. Don't get whiplash. *grin* I haven't left my beloved Well Trained Mind Forums, though, have no fear. Anyone know if there's a button/gadget/widget for WTM I can snag to add to my bar over thar----> ?

Well, if you've made it this far, I have a wee request: there are a million and one homeschooling blogs, and just one less than a zillion online resources for homeschoolers, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can add to my spot on the web to add to the fray? Anything you're wondering about me or my homeschool or Little Debbie Cakes? Leave a comment. I'm all about listening to myself type, but I'd like this to be an interactive place too. I'm not *that* self-centered. I turn the me-meter down sometimes. I only have 5 blogs, ya know.

Queen Homeschool Pictures in Cursive.

2010-07-15T18:35:00.002-04:00

I love to kill 2 birds with one stone. I know. Gruesome. How 'bout, I love to take care of two subjects with one activity? Just right, says Baby Bear.

Sam the 3rd grader has really nice cursive, but is such a perfectionist that it takes like a thousand hours to copy 1 line. Benj struggles a bit with handwriting, so it takes like a thousand hours to copy 1 line. You get my drift. Enter Pictures in Cursive....we're going to rush thru 3 levels this year: A,B, and you guessed it C.

Basically the books are laid out such that the kiddo looks at a work of art on one side, then copies sentences about the work of art on the other side:

I have Sam the Younger just copy right into the book. Benj the Older uses wide lined paper. Since the other bird I wanted to kill was art appreciation, I actually tear out the picture and stick it in a cheap frame that sits on their school table, so it gets noticed day after day.

I also copied out the first two sentences on the white board....though I'm not sure that really needs to happen. I just wanted to use my shiney new dry erase markers.

Today was the first day we actually did this, and it went well. It will be something the boys do during their independent seat work time. We're doing 2 sentences a day until we get into longer sentences for copying. I hope to find a place where we can display all the pictures in our schoolroom, but I'm quickly running out of room....and my chippy shutter simply will not be moved. It makes me just too ding dang happy to look at each day.

I also need to find a place for our timeline.....still deciding whether to take over the hallway or put it on a tri-fold thingamabob that can be tucked away....which would defeat my purpose of having a perpetual visual display for the boys about the on-going-ness of history. I make up words. Regularly.

So far we're doing Writing With Ease 2 (into week 7 now, doing 2 lessons a day and already seeing improvement in dictation and summarizing/narrating), Math Mammoth review worksheets, 30 minutes reading, and now copywork. I also added Grammar Island today and will post about that next week. They seemed to enjoy it, at least the first several pages.

Mackinac Island.

2010-07-11T22:44:00.000-04:00

We had a vacation of sorts a couple weeks ago....which is what we homeschoolers refer to as field trips.

Hubs had a trip for work, so we all headed up for a few days to take in the beauty and history of this wee island off the tippy top of Michigan's lower part. Here's some pictures from some of our favorite parts:

The ferry ride over to the island:

The green in front of Fort Mackinac:

Horse-drawn carriages:

Arriving at the Grand Hotel:

Made it's movie debut in '79:

Our room:

The view from our window:

The fountain:

Getting dressed for dinner:

Hanging out on the porch:

'Old fashioned' phone booths:

Our menu:

Dessert!

Turn-down service with bedtime chocolate:

The Esther Williams Swimming Pool:

Arch Rock from above:

Arch Rock from below:

Fudge!

Giant Chess on the porch:

The rocking chairs:

Old pictures of the Grand Hotel porch at the turn of the century:

The cannons at Fort Mackinac:

The beauty that surrounded us:

'Twas a fabulous time....so thankful we had the opportunity to stay at the Grand Hotel again. Now that we're home, we've been working on WWE and Math Mammoth. Tomorrow we add in cursive/copywork practice and typing. Slowly, but surely we're getting into the routine of school. But there's still lots of time for swimming in the back yard....it's not the Grand's Esther Williams pool, but it does the trick for these hot, muggy days!

The Joy of LEGOs

2010-06-30T16:58:00.001-04:00

For a boy, is there anything quite like a bin full colorful, plastic, building blocks? I think not. Unless you count Spongebob Squarepants push-ups.

My hubs has been stealing away each evening to the boys' room to construct a mammoth-sized castle with them. It just needs some final touches, but he asked that I come up and document the deed.

My photography doesn't do it justice of course, but you get the idea...

My visual/spatial son will build for hours on end alone in his room. The younger son loves them too, but not to the extent as his brother. They actually play really decently together with LEGOs for the most part...so long as Harry Potter is playing in the background on CD. :)

In other quick news, I was awarded the Versatile Blogger from Becky Jean over at Sweet Bee Hollow

...to accept, I need to tell you all 7 things about myself. Well, I've done this kinda thing several times at my other blog several times in the last year, so iff'n you're interested, you can learn all kinds of random stuff about me HERE, HERE, HERE.

I'm also 'sposed to pass the award along to another 7 blogs I read. Well folks, I haven't even had time to find 7 new homeschooling blogs yet, so if you're reading this and have a blog, consider yourself tagged-a-rooed.

Lastly, I've gotten a few questions in the comments, via email, and from other venues about my homeschooling. I thought I might answer them every Friday. I might even come up with a snazzy name for it like, um, Questions Answered Every Friday. You know, something catchy and original. *rolling eyes*

History. A Plan.

2010-06-29T10:15:00.002-04:00

We haven't started this yet, but as usual, we will be using a 'road map' whilst studying Medieval history this year with da boyz. I have it in a Word document, and will print it out, stuff it in my soft-cover binder (will write about this another day, but basically it's where I keep a ready reference of 'how-to's for each subject that I've gleaned from TWTM).

Firstly, enter the ~~usual suspects~~ books that will guide us in our study...

A most excellent curriculum. Haven't met it's match yet. Yes, written by SWB.

I tore out all the student activity pages from the Activity Guide, then stored them in my box of hanging files. Here's what my pages look like:

Don't forget you can click on these pics to make them bigger.

Like the Writing with Ease workbooks, these pages walk the teacher/mom thru questions to prepare for narration, map activities, reading and literature suggestions, and hands-on crafty stuff. A plethora of ideas.

Here's *mom's* resource....just to get me up to speed on the Medieval period....SWB's newest offering, written for high school and up. Yes. Most fabulous:

In the first edition of The Well Trained Mind, Susan and her mom recommended logic age students (5th-8th) use The Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World. It is now out of print, and it used to be darn hard to find a copy under $60...in fact, I owned a copy way back when as my oldest were working thru history, and I sold it for a pretty penny when we finished. (And thus it happens with homeschoolers....buying/selling, buying again/selling, etc. ad nauseum) Luckily I found a copy recently at Half Price Books (excellent place to find this kind of thing). $6 buckaroos. Happy happy.

The logic age kiddo uses this as a spine text, outlining it, finding items to list, and discovering topics for further study. It also has a running timeline along the side of most pages making timeline activities a breeze.

When the KIHW went OOP, the newer Kingfisher History Encyclopedia took it's place, and boy howdy did it make outlining difficult. Ask me how I know. Ugh. Double ugh. So glad to have found this OOP one, and even better, the Activity Guide even has it scheduled so they correspond with our reading in SOTW. I'm all about easy planning whenever I find it.

Some other stuff I have, sideways. Logic age kids need 'eyewitness' accounts. They're called 'primary resources'. I got this from Rainbow.

This is recommended for rhetoric students, so Jason will prolly use it....but I think it's dandy too.

I also have the Usborne Internet-linked History Encyclopedia of World History for Sam. Jason is reading it over the summer.

In the TWTM, there are lots of recommended non-fiction books and literature for history study, as well as in the Activity Guide. Most of these I'll pinch from the library, but when I come across titles at used bookstores or garage sales or Goodwill, I snag 'em.

We'll be using the timeline that comes with these History Through the Ages timeline figures:

So....finally, here is the plan. I mostly c & p'ed this from my Word document, and as I said, it's a plan set in jello. Or pudding, whichever.

Monday:
~Read a chapter in SOTW and have each kid narrate a separate section using method in WWE.
~Sam colors picture in activity guide. Ben reads additional info in KIHW. Makes list of 6-8 facts in sentence form. Add dates to timeline.
~Do mapwork by comparing map in book to atlas, world map and globe. Sam does map exercise in activity guide. Benj does MapTrek assignment.
~That evening, go to library to pick out books on topics/people of interest related to chapter. Some can be read-alouds, and pay attention to biographies and primary sources. Use Activity Guide for suggestions.

Wednesday:
~Dictation of Monday’s narration.
~Sam reads one of the library books and coordinating section in Usborne History Encyclopedia. Can make a narration page (optional).
~Ben reads library books and primary resources when applicable, then outlines from one resource (5-6 paragraphs-one level outline).

Friday:
~Sam read another book from library. Ben prepares a written summary of info on chosen topic of 4-6 sentences. (help extract info…)
~Use projects and games to reinforce. Make narration pages on some of the books/projects.
~File all in chronological order in notebook or in appropriate section in logic stage notebook: biographical pages, arts and books pages, etc.

Review Notebook once a month.

I also made a list of suggested memory work, books/bios to read, and people to study. All of this was gleaned straight from the Medieval sections of TWTM. BTW, memory work is recorded, then practiced alone during the chunk of time I'm working with the other kiddo.

That's the plan. Other necessary equipment will include Little Debbie oatmeal cakes for the teacher.

Narration, Smarration.

2010-06-28T15:22:00.000-04:00

Over the course of my homeschooling journey, I continually came across this term NARRATION. I'm talking it popped up everywhere. If one was attempting to avoid the 'school-at-home' scenario, meaning no textbooks and fill-in-the-blank schoolwork, narration was described as a way to 'test' your child's comprehension of something they'd read or heard read to them without the busywork or sometimes difficult physical task of writing. (By the way, I'm not a hater of all things text-book-y, but that will be another post.)

The term is attributed to Charlotte Mason, a turn-of-the-19th-century school marm in Britain, whose teaching methods were considered quite liberal by the cultural standards at the time. Children were considered little persons, to be respected and honored (imagine that), and were given short lessons, much play and discovery time, appreciation for the arts and nature, and practiced narration within every lesson. Narration in Miss Mason's school, in it's simplest form, was a re-telling in one's own words what was just heard or read. When little, these were done orally, gradually working up to written narrations on whole chapters of books or lessons.

When Susan Wise Bauer, of The Well Trained Mind fame, began adding her voice to the chorus of 'experts' in homeschooling, she also promoted narration as a fabulous way for children to learn. Because it requires them to focus in order to remember, and it trains their little brains to hold a thought then articulate it first orally, then in written form, it fits like a glove into her neo-classical methodolgy. SWB takes narration, and hones it to a more narrow focus....using it as a necessary tool in the process of learning how to write, not just as a way to test a child's memory and comprehension.

I'm using her grammar stage Writing with Ease text with my boys, in hopes of cementing the art of narration (as well as dictation, which I'll discuss later). Eventually the series will contain a text for the logic stage then the rhetoric stage. I purchased the workbook to make my job easier. Not only do I not have to find my own appropriate passages, but it's all scripted. It holds my hand when I need to ask questions that will help lead my boys to discovering the main point.....in other words, summarizing....NARRATING. Here is a screen shot of the PDF download I purchased. I printed off one copy of the student pages for Sam, but Benj does his work on regular notebook paper.

I store the printed copies in hanging file folders....

I store all my hanging folders containing anything I've printed off for school in this here box...Math Mammoth student pages, Story of the World Activity pages, Writing With Ease Student pages...

While I'm at it, I also HIGHLY recommend purchasing her el cheapo Mp3's from Peace Hill Press about writing. It details exactly what to do when as you teach your children how to write, and will give you the 'big picture goal' of writing thru 12th grade. She gives you examples of what a beginning session of narration might look like, which is extremely helpful (and hilarious). There is an essay in the Writing with Ease text right at the beginning that says the samething, but the audios go into more detail....and Susan's a crack-up. Also, Peace Hill Press's youtube channel offers videos of Susan answering specific questions about not only writing, but all manner of questions about her methodology. Oh, and there's a bazillion articles on her blog too....click 'site resources' at the top of the page.

So, today I began our WWE workbooks with the boys. I'm adding a subject per week over the summer. Last week was 30 minutes of reading and daily chores. This week it's writing/narration/dictation. Next week is cursive copywork and typing.

I did this lesson with each boy separately, as in the other kid was off listening to Harry Potter on CD upstairs. I began letting them know I was going to read a passage, they needed to listen carefully and make a pictureor movie in their mind of what I was saying, then I would ask some questions which they needed to answer in complete sentences. (At this point, they're sighing and rolling their eyes, already thinking this is going to be 'so hard'. Like a steamroller, I move forward with nary a recognition of their complaints.) Here are screen shots of my teacher pages: (Remember you can click on these to enlarge them.)

After they'd answered the questions to my satisfaction....if they didn't remember, Susan says go back and read that portion again....they were instructed to come up with a narration describing the Patchwork Girl. I told them to use the answers they'd given previously to make ONE complete sentence in their mind SILENTLY, then to tell me it out loud so I could write it down. Here's what Sam came up with:

And here is Benj's. Below is the copywork assignment for the next day. We're doing 2 days of assignments each lesson period to hopefully get thru at least 2 levels of WWE this year. Obviously, I forgot to check it over with him....mom is supposed to catch errors as they're happening, but I was prolly snitching some Mackinac fudge while he finished. Don't hate.

Here's Sam's copywork. I told him he could do half in print if he wanted. He was also left to his own devices. Tomorrow I will sit with them and watch. Someone remind me to bring the fudge with me.

Getting complete sentences and narrations from the boys is difficult. I have to ask leading questions, correct, and suggest. You'll notice in Sam's narration, I wrote exactly what he said....but there was an extra word (were). I had him read it back to me so he'd catch the mistake, and we erased the word. It's tedious, frustrating, and not easy to form a complete sentence in your head, then articulate it. But it is a foundational skill to getting thoughts organized in the brain, remembering those thoughts, and then writing them down. I love that Susan's method breaks this all down into tiny steps to be practiced. And practiced. AND PRACTICED. Thankfully the lessons don't take more than 10-15 minutes. Again, fudge comes in handy.

Well now, let's take a look at the schoolroom-in-progress, shall we?

2010-06-26T09:38:00.001-04:00

I recently redid our formal living room from well, formal living room, to school room. We'd always kept our books and computer in there....kinda our family library/reading room. It was a peaceful place, prolly my favorite in the house.

Last year was my first year in 24 to have the house to myself. After 12 years of homeschooling, I needed a break and sent everyone off on the big yellow bus. Sold *all* my curriculum. Erased any trace of homeschooling from the house. I felt naked....2 months later I began homeschooling a friend's son who was struggling as a freshman. Ah, the heady feeling of the hunt for materials to use!

As the year went on, my love and desire to homeschool was rekindled, and decided the youngest two will be coming home again. (Oldest three are now graduated, and the one teen still at home will be a junior at the local public school). Being the armchair decorator that I am, it was the perfect excuse to remake the living room into a school room. Not that we'll do a ton of school there, but it gives me a place to corral all the books and materials at the end of the day.

So....here's a few 'before shots':

And here's some 'after' shots....remember I still have some touch-ups to do, such as where I'll put the timeline and MCT posters....and maybe paint the desk. It never ends, eh?

Mostly I used lots of paint. Paint covers a multitude of sins, don't cha know. I also painted the table for the kids to match the couch, and spray painted some lamps and some storage boxes around my desk. See?

This was the original color (got these at Walmart), and I sorta like the combination of deep aqua and happy green. Not sure I'll actually get around to painting them all to match. How predictable would *that* be? I used some cutey-patootey scrapbook paper for labels.

This is my storage shelf for stuff that I can't cram into my desk....like envelopes, earphones, ~~Q-tips~~, index cards, and art supplies. That clear bin will be full to the brim with crayons, colored pencils, and markers soon.

We'll be using binders a la Well-Trained Mind....but binders are so, um, I don't know....binder-y. Unless you want to spend a small fortune on designer binders. Scrapbook paper to the rescue once again.

So there you have it. As I tweak the room once we start really using it full force in a few weeks, I'll keep ya posted. What's your schooling area look like? Feel free to leave a link in your comments. I may even have a blog party where you can link up your room/area in the future. We all like home tours, eh?

Rainbow Resource Catalogue. You know the one.

2010-06-18T10:49:00.001-04:00

If you've been homeschooling for even a nano-second, surely you've heard of Rainbow. Most likely you've become rather quickly acquainted with this 1300+ page tome if you've been at it for even a year.

I basically have this love/hate thing going on with Rainbow. Let me show you why:

Ayup. How many little dollar bills do you suppose are represented by all those pink post-its? I refuse to even guess. Now chances are I won't be purchasing every item I marked.....some I want to throw on the WTM forums to ask more about them. Some I just want to reference if I find I need to switch out something I'm using or add some supplimentation. Lots are 'wish list' items that my fantasy homeschool could afford.

I will say I've ordered many times from Rainbow over the years and never had an issue. They are a super company to work with, albeit very conservative in their views. I appreciate all the reviews they write up on the thousands of products they offer. It's a good 'starting point' for researching curriculum, although I don't base my decisions solely on their recommendations. I like to see what the Hive Mind has to say too. Actual users and all, assuming I can't get my grubby little hands on the material myself....which I can do quite often as I work at a homeschool resale shop.

Another catalogue I enjoy browsing and discovering interesting resources is:

Timberdoodle is amazing for finding games and 'out of the box' type curricula. I found some awesome ideas in there for our school this year, including Max Axiom....which my 10 year old son LOVES:

Here's an inside view:

I'll also be ordering this:
The Global Puzzle

and
A Young Historian's Introduction to Worldview

You can find other resources I use by clicking the 'Resources' tab at the top of the page. Lotsa links. Enjoy!
But put the post it notes far, far away or you'll blow your homeschool budget in an afternoon.

Post #1.

2010-06-17T09:26:00.003-04:00

Welcome to Post Number One. I hate Post Number One. I've written tons of PNOs in my blogging career, and I hate them all. But ya gotta start somewhere, so here we go.

Today I'll simply say I'm beginning here, post a picture of what hangs above my desk, and call it good. I'm working at The Learning Garden today, so not much else will be happening, but the boys and I will get some reading in sometime. I'll keep adding links, pictures and info to my page tabs up thar too. Ideas: blogroll, links to homeschool support site/forums, and maybe favorite posts.

Post Number One will not be found there. Breathe easy, my friend.