As a general rule, I have read most of the books aloud to my children as we have worked our way through our Ambleside curriculum. Well, at least until I thought their reading skills and narration skills were at a certain level (as decided by me, lol). Well, at least it worked that way with my oldest. She was doing her reading to herself by year 3 , unless it was a couple of the ones that needed Mommy to read simply because of true difficulty in reading/understanding (ie Robin Hood or Shakespeare - things like that). However, my son has been a different case. Part of that stems, simply, from his being a boy.
Young M picked up on reading fairly easily, but told others she could not read until she was around age 8 (what was that about??). But, looking back on it (and I figured it out within a couple of months), while she could do the decoding and mechanics needed to read, it was not fun and was hard work. Somewhere, around there, though, the boring decoding became automatic to her - and the joy of reading kicked in around age 8.
G2 is not much different, but about a year later in making this jump. Having had a baby and now another pregnancy tossed in there had made my brain forget about that delay and I was getting worried - after all, he is 9 already! Listening to him read out loud can be rather painful at times - unless, of all things, he is reading from the Bible. Then we have very little stumbling, stopping, etc. I have as yet to figure that one out....
So, today, I tried a little experiment. G2 HATES to narrate. Seriously - he hates it, complains about it, begs not to narrate. So today, I had him read 2 of Aesop's fables to himself, but told him he would have to tell me back what he had learned. He whined, but since they are relatively short, he did it. Yes, we should have been done with this book ages ago, but we are not, lol! Anyway, he enjoyed the first one so much, that he ended up going back and reading the whole thing out loud to me and then went on to tell me about how silly and foolish the people were to forget that they should be honest ("Honesty is the Best Policy" was the moral). The next one, he read and enjoyed as well. He did not reread this one, but gave me a fabulous retelling of it! Then, when he realized he had closed the book without the book mark in it, he ended up reading the next one in line when he found the place in the book, lol! And told me about that one as well!
I was really not expecting this big of a response to his doing that, but such a relief. I suspect, were I to look into it, he is not an auditory learning. I should know that one by now with him. And he has been getting harder books out from the library on topics he is interested in (if I see one more Star Wars book, I am going to scream, but I will accept the other normal space books, lol!).
That was my little experiment of the day and got great results. I think it is time for me to catch a nap while G3 is napping, M2 is playing in the basement and G2 is voluntarily cleaning his room (how weird is that?!).
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Hymns
I love that using Ambleside reminds me to teach my children a (sometimes) new hymn each month or perhaps a revisit to one they are familiar with already from church (we have a hymn of the month there as well).
I am always blessed by revisiting these songs that we sang in church growing up. Why so many churches have gone to "choruses" is beyond me. There is so much to be learned doctrinally within these songs that so many generations before us sang.
Doesn't that give you such a wonderful feeling of connections to the Christians that paved the paths here in America (and elsewhere) before us? Makes me ashamed to see that their hard work is being ignored these days, know what I mean? Maybe, just maybe, perhaps if churches had not strayed away from songs of such a firm message that the hymns offer, well...you can shoulda/coulda/woulda stuff to death - and we all know what is coming eventually. Anyway, back on task - this months was "Revive Us Again":
February's is "I Know Whom I Have Believed In".
I am always blessed by revisiting these songs that we sang in church growing up. Why so many churches have gone to "choruses" is beyond me. There is so much to be learned doctrinally within these songs that so many generations before us sang.
Doesn't that give you such a wonderful feeling of connections to the Christians that paved the paths here in America (and elsewhere) before us? Makes me ashamed to see that their hard work is being ignored these days, know what I mean? Maybe, just maybe, perhaps if churches had not strayed away from songs of such a firm message that the hymns offer, well...you can shoulda/coulda/woulda stuff to death - and we all know what is coming eventually. Anyway, back on task - this months was "Revive Us Again":
We praise Thee, O God!
For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.
Refrain
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.
We praise Thee, O God!
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.
Refrain
All glory and praise
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.
Refrain
All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.
Refrain
Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.
Refrain
February's is "I Know Whom I Have Believed In".
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
Refrain
But I know Whom I have believèd,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.
Refrain
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing us of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
Convincing us of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
Refrain
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
Refrain
I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.
Refrain
Thursday, January 7, 2010
What grade am I?
Did you know this can be a very hard question to answer if you are homeschooling your child? The easy answer (well, the one we give them to hand out to relatives and others within the community) is to tell them what grade they would be in based on their ages. That makes the person on the other end feel better as it is something they can understand.
However, if you have read the book Understood Betsy or are a homeschooling mom, you know that grade level topic can be a tough one to overcome, even in our own public-schooled minds.
One of the things I have explained to my dd (age 11) is just because a particular curriculum has a number attached to it does not mean that is the grade is considered it. AO has years attached to it, but they absolutely do not coincide with a PS grade level. You see, using the Charlotte Mason method, you would not even start any kind of formal education with your child until they are age 6. That is 1st grade in the PS grades. And yes, it is a relatively simple year. That said, once you leave that year behind, it gets harder and by year 4, you are studying Plutarch's Lives, Shakespeare (the real plays, not the easy fun stories we did the first three years). You have added in Latin as well. Pretty sure most PS 4th graders are not studying all that (plus the rest of their lessons!).
Young M's reading and comp levels are out of this world. She astounds me sometimes (but cannot keep her room clean, lol! Kind of like Tim Hawkins says - well, he is 9, speaks Greek and eats bugs - what grade is that??). She does very well in her math when she takes her time and does not rush it (sometimes, like the rest of us she goes fast & makes mistakes because something fun is calling her). Where on earth would I put her in PS? I know lots of people send their children to PS for high school, but I just do not see that as a good option for any of my children.
G2 (age 8) is slower in his reading than his sister was at the same age (unless he is reading his Bible - he can pronounce words out of there that I have heard grown ups trip over!), but is running ahead on his math. I expected this with him given that he is male and will develope at a different rate than a female.
Young M can give me a narration from something she has read with no problem. G2 - well, we still do paragraph narration with him regularly. But, I know once he had narrated it, it is stuck in his brain for a long time. How do I know this? Because of the questions he comes back to me with days later. He dwells on things, turns them over in his mind and looks at them from all angles. When he gives me his thoughts about something, I make myself stop what I am doing and really listen - because I am apt to learn something from him. Sometimes I have to correct him on his conclusions, perhaps made incorrectly due to lack of information, but it is very, very interesting to hear how he came to his conclusions (and I know Exactly where I need to stick in that correction, if needed, lol).
How do you test or grade this kind of work? I know they are learning and learning well. I know, for the most part, they are well ahead of their PS peers. Oh, they cannot quote the latest Hannah Montana song, but I am quite okay with that because I know they are learning more important things right now - and not just history.
A few weeks ago, we were listening to a discussion on F2A and people were calling in to the show. The topic was the priest in Britain that said it was okay to steal from retailers if you were poor or really needed something. Anyway, something one of the callers said inspired Young M to tell me that in the book of Matthew, it said something relevant to the topic. I wish I had written it down because I almost drove off the road. I was flabbergasted that my 11 yr old got that out of the scripture and could apply it to this conversation we were listening to.
G2 has done similar things at Bible Study (I know pastor looked at him good and hard because the 8 yr old pulled out the gist of the scripture - and got it right. I think it surprised him a bit). This is the kind of stuff that the PS's do not care if my children know and would actually prefer that they not talk about it (let alone thinkreally hard on it), let alone test it. Yet it is the most important part.
I know there is more I want to say on this, but I am tired, the children are in from playing in the snow and the baby is asleep. I want to go rest my head for 15 min upstairs where the children are learning work ethic 101 - cleaning their rooms...heehee!
However, if you have read the book Understood Betsy or are a homeschooling mom, you know that grade level topic can be a tough one to overcome, even in our own public-schooled minds.
One of the things I have explained to my dd (age 11) is just because a particular curriculum has a number attached to it does not mean that is the grade is considered it. AO has years attached to it, but they absolutely do not coincide with a PS grade level. You see, using the Charlotte Mason method, you would not even start any kind of formal education with your child until they are age 6. That is 1st grade in the PS grades. And yes, it is a relatively simple year. That said, once you leave that year behind, it gets harder and by year 4, you are studying Plutarch's Lives, Shakespeare (the real plays, not the easy fun stories we did the first three years). You have added in Latin as well. Pretty sure most PS 4th graders are not studying all that (plus the rest of their lessons!).
Young M's reading and comp levels are out of this world. She astounds me sometimes (but cannot keep her room clean, lol! Kind of like Tim Hawkins says - well, he is 9, speaks Greek and eats bugs - what grade is that??). She does very well in her math when she takes her time and does not rush it (sometimes, like the rest of us she goes fast & makes mistakes because something fun is calling her). Where on earth would I put her in PS? I know lots of people send their children to PS for high school, but I just do not see that as a good option for any of my children.
G2 (age 8) is slower in his reading than his sister was at the same age (unless he is reading his Bible - he can pronounce words out of there that I have heard grown ups trip over!), but is running ahead on his math. I expected this with him given that he is male and will develope at a different rate than a female.
Young M can give me a narration from something she has read with no problem. G2 - well, we still do paragraph narration with him regularly. But, I know once he had narrated it, it is stuck in his brain for a long time. How do I know this? Because of the questions he comes back to me with days later. He dwells on things, turns them over in his mind and looks at them from all angles. When he gives me his thoughts about something, I make myself stop what I am doing and really listen - because I am apt to learn something from him. Sometimes I have to correct him on his conclusions, perhaps made incorrectly due to lack of information, but it is very, very interesting to hear how he came to his conclusions (and I know Exactly where I need to stick in that correction, if needed, lol).
How do you test or grade this kind of work? I know they are learning and learning well. I know, for the most part, they are well ahead of their PS peers. Oh, they cannot quote the latest Hannah Montana song, but I am quite okay with that because I know they are learning more important things right now - and not just history.
A few weeks ago, we were listening to a discussion on F2A and people were calling in to the show. The topic was the priest in Britain that said it was okay to steal from retailers if you were poor or really needed something. Anyway, something one of the callers said inspired Young M to tell me that in the book of Matthew, it said something relevant to the topic. I wish I had written it down because I almost drove off the road. I was flabbergasted that my 11 yr old got that out of the scripture and could apply it to this conversation we were listening to.
G2 has done similar things at Bible Study (I know pastor looked at him good and hard because the 8 yr old pulled out the gist of the scripture - and got it right. I think it surprised him a bit). This is the kind of stuff that the PS's do not care if my children know and would actually prefer that they not talk about it (let alone thinkreally hard on it), let alone test it. Yet it is the most important part.
I know there is more I want to say on this, but I am tired, the children are in from playing in the snow and the baby is asleep. I want to go rest my head for 15 min upstairs where the children are learning work ethic 101 - cleaning their rooms...heehee!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Advent, Christmas, etc.
Our Grace Journey has the 2009 Inductive Advent study up on the website! Print it now so you are ready for Sunday!
While we have a usable Jesse Tree from HERE (I have blogged about it in the past), I found something that I think Young M and I will work together on for next year (perhaps a set for us and then a set to be made and put away for each child - for when they have their own households). It is a cross-stitched set - what a wonderful heirloom idea (or hope chest!).
We have Bartholomew's Passage ready to go. I just have to go buy our candles for our Advent wreath.
We will also continue our deviation from our regularly scheduled language arts and "reading" curriculum (but keeping up with our history/lit readings from AO) and work on the Christmas Unit Study I bought a couple of years ago from www.unitstudy.com. I also have a freebie lapbook from Hands of a Child that are purely "fun" and not any kind of "educational", lol, Free Here! Young M wants to also do the Symbols of Christmas lapbook from HOAC as well. I suspect she is loading herself up, but, as long as she gets her other work done, she can go for it.
Here are a couple of freebies that are also available:
Free Nativity Lapbook for younger children
Free Christmas Symbols lapbook
Free Christmas Lapbook - older children
Free TOS Digital Holiday Supplement - lots of great stuff here for Thanksgiving & Christmas!
That and along with making a few Christmas presents for some people, cookies (fun, free e-book from Homeschoolfreebies.com last week) and hopefully, some caroling, we should have a fun, Christ-centered month leading up to Christmas.
While we have a usable Jesse Tree from HERE (I have blogged about it in the past), I found something that I think Young M and I will work together on for next year (perhaps a set for us and then a set to be made and put away for each child - for when they have their own households). It is a cross-stitched set - what a wonderful heirloom idea (or hope chest!).
We have Bartholomew's Passage ready to go. I just have to go buy our candles for our Advent wreath.
We will also continue our deviation from our regularly scheduled language arts and "reading" curriculum (but keeping up with our history/lit readings from AO) and work on the Christmas Unit Study I bought a couple of years ago from www.unitstudy.com. I also have a freebie lapbook from Hands of a Child that are purely "fun" and not any kind of "educational", lol, Free Here! Young M wants to also do the Symbols of Christmas lapbook from HOAC as well. I suspect she is loading herself up, but, as long as she gets her other work done, she can go for it.
Here are a couple of freebies that are also available:
Free Nativity Lapbook for younger children
Free Christmas Symbols lapbook
Free Christmas Lapbook - older children
Free TOS Digital Holiday Supplement - lots of great stuff here for Thanksgiving & Christmas!
That and along with making a few Christmas presents for some people, cookies (fun, free e-book from Homeschoolfreebies.com last week) and hopefully, some caroling, we should have a fun, Christ-centered month leading up to Christmas.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Thanksgiving Resources
I wanted to share a couple of my favorite resources for Thanksgiving:
This is from Homeword: 30 Days of Thanksgiving - Cultivating a Thankful Heart
This is from Revive Our Hearts: A Week of Thanksgiving
This one from Resources for Christian Teachers: Audrey's Thanksgiving Page
And this is my favorite resource that I think we should all watch each year: Bill Federer - "The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving"
VCY Rally: Bill Federer - "The Real Story behind Thanksgiving" from Crosstalk America on Vimeo.
This is from Homeword: 30 Days of Thanksgiving - Cultivating a Thankful Heart
This is from Revive Our Hearts: A Week of Thanksgiving
This one from Resources for Christian Teachers: Audrey's Thanksgiving Page
And this is my favorite resource that I think we should all watch each year: Bill Federer - "The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving"
VCY Rally: Bill Federer - "The Real Story behind Thanksgiving" from Crosstalk America on Vimeo.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
A challenging question
More often than not, we homeschoolers are asked why we homeschool and get the comment "I could never homeschool my children." after you tell them why.
I want to reverse the question. If you send your child to a government (public) school, why do YOU do so? A simple enough question, but I doubt the answer is as simple as you like to think.
Then, after you answer the question, have a good look at your answer. How good are those answers? Are they solid, well supported answers or are the generic fluff. And if you were to tell me that your school is different/better than all the others, I would solidly challenge you on it to show me how/why.
You don't really have to tell me, but seriously - turn off your television, turn off your phone and put away your magazine and turn on your brain and really think about your decision to trust the government with educating your children (after all, there are a whole lot of us who do not necessarily care to trust the government with our healthcare...and this is the care and training of your children's minds & hearts).
I want to reverse the question. If you send your child to a government (public) school, why do YOU do so? A simple enough question, but I doubt the answer is as simple as you like to think.
Then, after you answer the question, have a good look at your answer. How good are those answers? Are they solid, well supported answers or are the generic fluff. And if you were to tell me that your school is different/better than all the others, I would solidly challenge you on it to show me how/why.
You don't really have to tell me, but seriously - turn off your television, turn off your phone and put away your magazine and turn on your brain and really think about your decision to trust the government with educating your children (after all, there are a whole lot of us who do not necessarily care to trust the government with our healthcare...and this is the care and training of your children's minds & hearts).
Friday, May 1, 2009
Imagination
Other children around the country save up for things like video games or American Girl dolls and such.
Not my children. My children have saved up birthday monies for their own set of Jonathan Park Communicator Watches (and yes, they really work, lol!). I have kindly offered to pay for part of the shipping for them. I was able to find them elsewhere, but the difference in price/shipping was around a dollar or so and I would rather Vision Forum have the profits for their ministry instead (especially since it was their catalog and their radio show that inspired the children).
Currently, my son wants to be a Creation scientist with vertebrate paleontology as a specialty. This courtesy of listening to Jonathan Park, lol! They listen to it every Saturday morning (or Sunday afternoon if they miss it on Saturday) and we started buying them the various seasons cd's for birthday's. They already own the first 2 seasons right now. To me, it is amazing that my children love to listen to radio shows in this day and age. But, I suppose that is way better than watching TV. We are thankful that VCY has these great radio shows for the children each week.
I think my favorite part of their listening to the radio shows (and reading) is how it translates into their play (and their imagination). I have also seen a change in how the neighbor children play. They attend PS and when we moved here a year ago, the only thing they knew how to play was "Hannah Montana", "High School Musical" and the "Penguins of Madagascar" (???) and some "star" type show. Now, they play "Narnia", explorers, spy's, being animals, etc. Lots of imagination instead of copying TV (well, Narnia is pushing it, but I would rather them play that than the other stuff). I have seen many a sword battle out in the yard and many a prisoner being held, lol!
I think the other difference is the kind of books that they read or have read to them. Rather than being twaddly worthless books, they are well written books and inspire the child to "live" them while they read them. Then, they take that story, and add it into their imaginary play. I suspect that most children, now, at the ripe old age of 10 no longer do much imaginary play. I am thankful that our homeschooling has allowed that kind of fun to develope in my children. I am thankful, too, that my parents were readers. It encouraged me to read. And I know a lot of what I read translated into play outside with the neighborhood children when we lived in Indiana (okay, I admit it - we also played Elvis and Fabian - my brother being Elvis and one of the other girls brothers was Fabian - we girls were the fans chasing them, lol! - and yet, Elvis was dead by then, LOL - {shrug}).
Anyway, if you are stuck in the rut of just doing "workbook" style homeschooling, please relook at what your children are reading - it makes all the difference in the world!
.
Not my children. My children have saved up birthday monies for their own set of Jonathan Park Communicator Watches (and yes, they really work, lol!). I have kindly offered to pay for part of the shipping for them. I was able to find them elsewhere, but the difference in price/shipping was around a dollar or so and I would rather Vision Forum have the profits for their ministry instead (especially since it was their catalog and their radio show that inspired the children).
Currently, my son wants to be a Creation scientist with vertebrate paleontology as a specialty. This courtesy of listening to Jonathan Park, lol! They listen to it every Saturday morning (or Sunday afternoon if they miss it on Saturday) and we started buying them the various seasons cd's for birthday's. They already own the first 2 seasons right now. To me, it is amazing that my children love to listen to radio shows in this day and age. But, I suppose that is way better than watching TV. We are thankful that VCY has these great radio shows for the children each week.
I think my favorite part of their listening to the radio shows (and reading) is how it translates into their play (and their imagination). I have also seen a change in how the neighbor children play. They attend PS and when we moved here a year ago, the only thing they knew how to play was "Hannah Montana", "High School Musical" and the "Penguins of Madagascar" (???) and some "star" type show. Now, they play "Narnia", explorers, spy's, being animals, etc. Lots of imagination instead of copying TV (well, Narnia is pushing it, but I would rather them play that than the other stuff). I have seen many a sword battle out in the yard and many a prisoner being held, lol!
I think the other difference is the kind of books that they read or have read to them. Rather than being twaddly worthless books, they are well written books and inspire the child to "live" them while they read them. Then, they take that story, and add it into their imaginary play. I suspect that most children, now, at the ripe old age of 10 no longer do much imaginary play. I am thankful that our homeschooling has allowed that kind of fun to develope in my children. I am thankful, too, that my parents were readers. It encouraged me to read. And I know a lot of what I read translated into play outside with the neighborhood children when we lived in Indiana (okay, I admit it - we also played Elvis and Fabian - my brother being Elvis and one of the other girls brothers was Fabian - we girls were the fans chasing them, lol! - and yet, Elvis was dead by then, LOL - {shrug}).
Anyway, if you are stuck in the rut of just doing "workbook" style homeschooling, please relook at what your children are reading - it makes all the difference in the world!
.
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