As the semester changes, I always review what’s working in our “homeschool” world and what’s not. I’ve come to dislike the word “school” altogether. The word seems to make my kids skeptical about learning, so I’m trying not to use it. Instead, we’re going to be “lovers of wisdom”. Since the Bible says that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, that must continue to be the priority for the New Year.
Beginning with me, I need to spend more solitary time with my mentor, my Father and my source of purpose and sanity. We’ve done a pretty good job staying in the Word daily and praying together, but as the winter months continue, THE source of constant light is definitely helpful! A goal of this semester will be to further teach the boys to listen for God in silence and memorization will get back on the bus after the holidays took us in a different (more relaxed) direction.
So, academically speaking....
Math: We’re going to do math. I love math, my kids don’t mind it either. We’re using Singapore Math and it’s working well. Now, my dh, the reader, was reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, and informs me that one reason they think that the Chinese do better in math is because their language is shorter and quicker. Instead of saying “three hundred”, they have short little words. Apparently, these short number names make it easier to remember what number you are subtracting or multiplying, thereby making it easier to do math in your head. This should be encouraging to those of you who are questioning your math program. Every culture has it’s advantages, and unless you’re going to teach them Chinese first, you may not be able to do much more than you are doing.
English: Well, although I love the theory of learning everything by reading books, and secretly I believe in it, I’m going to get my 5th grader back into Rod and Staff English. I don’t like to do English yearly, there just isn’t cause for it, but with all the writing he’s doing, it will fit well to analyze good sentence and paragraph structure.
Writing: Happily, he is also working on a “book” about a kingdom run by a lop-eared rabbit. Every once in a while I check the state standards board and it seems that as we’ve worked on this book, we’ve covered most of the Language Arts requirements outside of letter writing. It would be good for them to write some relatives and maybe the President, so we’re going to add a few letters a month to our goals.
Latin. We’re using Latina Christiana. We’ll continue to review past words and then do a chapter every 2 weeks.
Spelling and Vocabulary: We found Wordly Wise last semester and both boys love it. Carry on!
Art: We’ll be learning graphic design and calligraphy so my little entrepreneurs can improve their fine motor skills, learn a little about what art can be used for and, of course, decorate my walls with more custom work.
Faith: The Bible and more memorization. I love the memorize a block of text a month method I’ve been using. We’ll also add a Rod and Staff reader for them because it’s full of character building wisdom and more Bible at their reading level.
Science: Exploring Creation with Zoology is our current pick. They enjoy reading it together and the projects are fun and easy. My fifth grader is also assigned biographies of scientific minds to read on a regular basis. He’s a book sponge.
History: We follow the Classical approach to history, chronologically moving through time. Thankfully, we’ve crossed the line to A.D. this year! I combine The Story of the World and Mystery of History, so it’s a long but fascinating journey. Fortunately, conquering never gets boring for a house full of boys. They’ve even take to coloring famous people and mythical creatures in their spare time.
Music: Piano for both, tin whistle for fun, guitar for three of us, cello for me, the violin is collecting dust and trombone looks like its the next on the list to learn for one of them.
Literature: I’m working on a book list for the winter, but meanwhile my second grader is reading Prince Caspian. It’s so hard to pick just one! (at a time). Five in a Row is one of my favorites, but the boys aren’t interested in those stories anymore. I’m using “Teaching the Classics: A Socratic Method for Literary Education” so we can now pick our own books and “learn by asking questions”, as Socrates would have done. This great guide has also covered the elements of fiction and helped in our story writing.
Fun!: We’ve organized a Homeschool Hangout day at our church. So, we’ve got a gym and fellowship hall to use for weekly group activities, clubs and recreation. I love my church!
That’s what I have so far. I’m a little relaxed, but firmly believe in the potential of each child, so that keeps me diligently on the path to promote learning and discovery. My goal is to inspire them to love the knowledge seeking process, keep them moving in a positive direction, and give them life skills so they can be leaders of men in whatever they do. If they are nuts for God, I will have done my job, because they will then know what HE expects, and my job will be easier.
