Well, we are bout 10 weeks into the school year and it feels like a good time to share what we are doing.
This year's thematic focus is Ancients!
For the first time, some friends of ours have gotten together to have a co-op.
Since most of us have children reaching into or are Middle School we felt it was time to start taking advantage of our specialities. In our group we have
a Chemical Engineer who handles science,
a History Major who coordinates Salvation History (this is a curriculum that combines History and Religion since they are so interrelated especially when it comes to Ancients and Medieval Times),
I coordinate Literature (not grammar but Lit analysis, terms/concepts, and some writing as the children are on different levels of grammar and I have limited time),
and two really talented artistic and creative ladies who cover Art and Art Appreciation.
In Science we are covering physical science. To which I was so thankful to not to have to teach! I only have to help with home work. I am not a big fan of rocks, but I was corrected by our Chemical Engineer that it is more a set up of Physics than geology. Recently they have been studying Phase changes and solutes. They made Oobleck! Another time, they boys had to calculate the thickness of aluminum foil. When it gets really tricky and just to give Karl a chance to share his excitement over this "cool stuff", he reviews their homework and experiments each Sunday evening to make sure they understand the concepts they should be learning. Yes, when it comes to science, I am all over biology and botany! Give me animals and plants and I can run circles around Karl but bringing out that periodic tables causes me to have college flashbacks that were none too happy!
In history, like I said before, it is Salvation History. They have begun with Sumeria/creation and have reached Ancient Egypt with Genesis and Exodus from the Bible. It really has made the connection for the children to see why the Jewish people ended up in all these places that by just studying History, you would be scratching your head. I mean we all know the Egyptians had Jewish slaves, so did Persia, but how and why did they get to the different places? It just seems to be more clear this way. It also gives a purpose. History is the story of us and as Christians, we are going to wonder how our faith has moved people through time.
In Literature, it depends on the age group. My older group is conveniently all Boys. So, I can tailor their book selections to suit them better. The boys have started the year with a heavy but very boy novel, C.S.Lewis' Perelandra. Next week they begin their new novel, The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty. I love Henty especially for Boys as that was his audience. Henty wrote Historical Fiction Adventure Books at the turn of the century, 1900. The characters have strong moral content promoting acts of bravery, chivalry, and perseverance. This is not a fluff book so common in recent novels for tweens.
My girls group is also my middle age group. These young ladies have finished C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew. Again starting out the year with a bang. Oh the pun here! Both of those books have some creation themes and they are not associated with "the Big Bang". It has enabled us to use our history/religion to add another layer to their understanding of Lewis' novels. The children were able to compare and contrast these themes in the book with that of the Bible. It was so much fun to see that deeper understanding come across their faces.
My girls are now a couple of weeks into their new book, Tirzah by Lucille Travis. This is a book about a young girl, age 10-12, who is part of the Jewish slaves in Egypt and leave through the Exodus. Again this novel allows the girls to draw a deeper understanding of what it was like in both Ancient Egypt and in the Exodus out of Egypt for the Slaves.
In Art, we have been exploring different mediums. I posted pictures of their Aluminum figures. The past two weeks have been used to work with beeswax crayons in primary tones and combine them to create the other tones. If you search Waldorf Art, you will have a better understanding of the concept they are working on. And Beeswax crayons are much different than your standard crayons. Soon they will be learning how to crochet and will be making either neck scarfs or hats. I said I will teach the children to weave baskets of reed some time as it does apply to our current studies and it is another skill that is being lost.
The rest of our schooling is done at home. We are continuing with Well Trained Mind suggestions for grammar but I switched to a writing program from the Institute for Excellence in Writing.
As for spelling, I changed to Sequential Spelling. Since Anton has the most trouble with spelling and is very technical, this program gets away from the vocabulary style of drilling to teaching spelling concepts in patterns. They take a simple word and build upon it in a pattern format. Anton and Isabella are both responding to this approach.
Math still has us using Math-U-See. It continues to work and I love it for my tactile/kinetic children.
Geography is part from the co-op with history and also some workbooks on world geography for grades 4-6.
Logic was added this year with Brain Benders, Balance Benders, and Building Thinking Skills all from Critical Thinking Press. I love this company! And as a CCD teacher who teaches 7th grade, I can tell you, logic skills are clearly laking in the school age children. It is a concept that can not be started until they reach 4/5th grade but so necessary for life, math, science, etc.
When the children were asked which foreign language they wanted to begin, since I was feeling behind here, they picked Tagalog. For those unsure, that is Filipino. We have a large Filipino population where we live, their Jujitsu instructor speaks it and one of their closest family friends are Filipino. SO, we said why not! They have been using Rosetta Stone and LOVE IT!! Isabella has been trying out phrases here and there with her friend's grandparents. I will also be adding a computer program on Greek and Latin Roots which will help with language skills but that is on my to do list.
The children are still taking piano. I have recently been given a stern request from their teacher to tune the piano. Again it is on my to do list!
Extra Curricular - both children are in soccer for the Fall. Isabella decided to give it another go and we were able to get her on one of her friend's team. Anton is with his same team that he has had for the past 2-3 years now.
Isabella continues with horse back riding lessons and
Anton is progressing through the ranks as a Boy Scout. He recently received his Tenderfoot rank and he has not been in a full year yet! He loves to camp and all things boyish about Scouts. Karl is very happy to be a part of this with him.
The children have temporarily stopped Jujitsu due to flooding problems where they have been taking lessons. We hope to return to it again soon, but we are at the mercy of others. Besides we have been so busy with everything else, it has given us more time to be together as a family.
Isabella is continuing with choir at our church but has decided to drop Schubert Singers. I think it was smart of her to streamline her activities and leave some time to be creative at home with all her art supplies. She is still hoping for that art space in the basement.
I am wondering if we can count the chickens as extra-curricular. If Isabella had continued with 4-H (another one she dropped to reduce her load) it would have counted.
Both children are also taking CCD classes at our church while Karl and I teach the first year Confirmation students.
As you can see, we are very busy but very active!
We still love our Friday Night Family Night time to relax!
