Wordless Wednesday

Merry Christmas!

Historical Fiction to Read Aloud

Reading aloud to my children is one of my favorite things about homeschooling.  I love our cuddle time on the couch with a blankey and a good book.   In case you're looking for some good reads, here's our American History read aloud plan:

Our First Day for the 2011 - 2012 Homeschool Year

We truly consider it a blessing to homeschool, so we have a few little traditions that make our first day of school special.  Our traditions revolve around school supplies, a school year overview, and a breakfast outing.  First of all, my boys don't enjoy shopping for new school supplies.  In fact, they would be okay with just using things we already had on hand.  Me?  Not so much!  I like the look and feel of new folders, papers and pens.  So, I always put together a little assortment of goodies I think the boys will enjoy foru our school year kick-off.  I found a cool container and put pens, pencils, markers, crayons, smelly erasers, a small daily school planner and a stash of candy.  When the boys come into the school room on day one, they are greeted by their new supplies.  I also display our new books/resources and tell them about some of the things I've planned for the year.  After that, we head over to Dunkin' Doughnuts for a delicious and nutritious breakfast.  Once our breakfast is over, we pile into the van, turn on some fun music and take a drive, being sure to swing by a nearby public elementary school.  As we drive by we shout (inside the vehicle, of course!) "Homeschool rules!!"  Then we take turns listing off all the things we appreciate about homeschooling.  Here are a few things at the top of our list:

• A flexible schedule
• A great teacher AND terrific students!  :)
• Lots of read-alouds
• Field trips almost every month
• The ability to study things we're truly interested in
• Lots of projects and experiments
• Classical Conversations
• Getting school work done faster than a "regular" school kids in a classroom setting
• Having mom help whenever its needed
• Being able to pray, read the Bible, and talk about God in the things we study

So . . . here are a few pictures from our first day of school:

Brandon - Grade 4

Nathan - Grade 6

Nathan & Brandon enjoying our traditional doughnut breakfast on our first day of school.

I think they're ready for the fun to begin!

I pray the Lord will bless us as we seek to glorify Him in the things we study together this year.  May we grow and learn and use our knowledge to further His Kingdom.

Children's Literature and Picture Books for the Young and Young at Heart

Hallelujah!  I've recently rediscovered that you're never too old for picture books!

Yesterday I went to the library and felt a bit of sadness as I looked at the seemingly never ending book stacks filled with  illustrated children's literature that my boys children are now too old to read.  I thumbed through a few titles the librarian had carefully set out for the display and reminisced about the days gone by when we would pour over dozens of picture books with great anticipation and interest.  As the kids have advanced in their reading abilities, they have graduated out of the heavily illustrated books and into the world of chapter books and children's novels. 

Making a trip to the library is something my boys and I have done since they were tiny tots.  To this day, we still enjoy our weekly jaunt to the "big house of books".  Over the years, we have read hundreds of books.  I've gone through countless lists, checking off titles we read to ensure that I exposed my children to some of the finest titles ever published.  I remember a time when I longed for the days of getting lost in a Newbery Award-winning novel with my boys.  But . . . now, I sometimes wish for those sweet moments and memorable lessons that only a picture book can bring.

As I reflect on the past couple of years, I have found myself gravitating towards the chapter books and children's novels in effort to stretch their reading skills and train them to read for longer periods.  Now, the boys are now terrific readers, so I find myself in full circle wondering, "Why not return to an occasional classic told in pictures and words?"  As I stood in the midst of so many beautifully illustrated stories, I found myself wondering how a few picture books would go over with my boys.  Would they think the books were babyish?  Would they think I was crazy if they found a boatload of these so called juvenile easy readers in our book basket? 

 I LOVE children's literature and picture books.  I STILL enjoy looking at the pictures and allowing my imagination about these short stories to run wild.  So . . .I wonder, "If I still like these books, why wouldn't my kids?"  I could find no answer to this question, so I decided to load up my book bag with a dozen classic children's books!

Here's a look at what I checked out:

Well . . . long story short:  my kids did NOT think I was crazy!  They did wonder WHY on earth I brought home so many "easy" books (as they called them).  But I simply explained, "A few years ago, I read all of these to you boys.  We read them together before you knew how to read.  We loved these stories then, and I still love them.  I'll bet you will too." 

Just a little while ago, I found my 9 year old son doing this:

 
He set the timer on his watch and decided to read ALL of the books--and he DID!!  (By the way, his favorite is "Dick Wittington and His Cats".)

So, I once again have a list of classic children's literature for younger readers.  (Children's Book Guide has a terrific list!)  This summer I plan to fill our book basket with several titles from the list every week.  I'm going to encourage my boys to rediscover some of those beautiful stories told with pictures and words.   And . . . if no one is looking, I'll probably spend a few moments getting lost in some of these precious stories, too!  ;)   After all, they're for the young AND young at heart, right?

Wordless Wednesday

"Mitsie"--Our New Kitten

Educating Your Children through High School with Classical Conversation's Challenge Programs

Many parents begin to feel inadequate in the homeschool arena as their children enter the middle school and high school years. As you know, these pre-teen and teenage years are crucial and impressionable years! This is when interesting and deep discussions about the things around us and the things we study often begin to take place, but this also is when educating our children becomes more tricky and involved. Parents often ask the questions, “How can we continue to educate our children successfully? How can we do it all?”

The Classical Conversations Challenge Program was specifically designed to assist and empower homeschool parents in the ever-important process of providing an academically rich and well-rounded homeschool experience for middle school and high school students. Trained tutors teach the more difficult subjects and model learning skills. Parents still retain oversight of their student, and continue to hold onto the blessing of learning alongside them. Students receive an opportunity to meet once a week in a small group of their peers, and learn to work more independently as each Challenge Year is completed. Best of all, the curriculum is fully planned, meeting (or exceeding) all educational requirements for Virginia and West Virginia! CC not only helps to prepare kids for college or interesting careers, but for a lifetime of learning. More importantly, our Challenge Programs train and encourage students to ask hard questions, to analyze carefully, to argue and debate, and to think from a Biblical perspective. The Challenge Program provides an excellent choice for families all over the country, so that homeschooling through high school can continue to be an option.

A sampling of some of the books used in Challenge A and Challenge B

If you know what you DON’T want for your teen, but need a positive educational plan, then consider one oe of the Classical Conversations Challenge Programs. The planned curriculum, integration of subjects, and partnership with a trained tutor helps to make a classical Christian education at home DOABLE!

• To learn more about Classical Conversations visit the website: www.classicalconversations.com.

• This Challenge Page  contains a great overview of the program and educational philosophy.

• These audios are helpful if you’d like to learn more about the scope and sequence of the Challenge program.

Sumer School and Summer Fun

We've been on summer break for the last six weeks enjoying carefree summer days, but it's time for us to get back in gear.  As planned, I'm giving the year round homeschool thing a try!  ;)

For the next six weeks we're going to do some summer schoolin' that includes:

• Bible:  We're going to work through Training Hearts Teaching Minds, by Starr Meade.  This is a simple Bible study/devotional that helps to clarify and teach doctrinal truths of Christianity through short catechisms and answers.  The book focuses on one catechism each week and provides daily devotions and scripture passages that provide deeper meaning and understanding of each catechism.  We just started the book this week, and we're all really enjoying it. 
• Math:  Horizons Math is still working quite well for us.  I will go through daily lessons with the boys and ask that they complete at 4-5 lessons each week.  Brandon will also continue working on mastering math facts, especially division!
• Latin:  We're still working!  Latin for Children is a terrific program for us.  The activities and "Latin Flash" game makes the lessons especially fun. 
• Spelling:  We'll continue working on lessons from "Spelling Plus".
• Literature:  The boys are participating in our library's summer reading program, so fortunately, motivating them to read has not been an issue!  Right now, Nathan is reading "Phantom Tollbooth", and Brandon is reading "The Mouse and the Motorcycle". --Two terrific books!
• History:  I wish we were further along in our history studies, but we just linger too long on the topics that interest us.  But, that's the beauty of homeschooling, right?  I've made some shifts in our curriculum in this area!  I know . . . shock of the world!  Ha!  (Maybe I'm a curriculum junkie!)  Well . . . we're going to drop lessons from My Father's World so we can do a focused study about American History.  I'll write more about our history plans soon!
• Typing:  I haven't decided what to use yet, but I hope to get this rolling next week.

We'll continue to do lots of summer things, but I plan to spend the bulk of our mornings (and maybe the early afternoon) with our noses in books.  Our summer days will not be "full school days" but I hope they'll be days full of learning.