CM/Classical October Thread

[MyLittleWonders]

Here's our September thread with a lot of good info in it, especially regarding various curriculum and resources.

It's a little here tonight (well, for us; it's probably balmy for others depending on geographic location ), so dh is putting on a fire and ds#1 requested that we pick back up reading Black Ships Before Troy, so I think after dinner, we'll do that. We are studying Greece in history, so it's fitting for the time period. Plus, when we finish Black Ships, we'll read the Barefoot Books version of The Adventures of Odysseus. It is beautifully done. We have read it before, but ds#1 was only about 6 and ds#2 was about 3 1/2. They both loved it (ds#2's favorite book around that time was Arabian Nights; I think he has good taste!), and I'm looking forward to reading it again.

Right now though I'm planning math for the second half of our school year (received SM 4A and 2B today, and I'm integrating Life of Fred Fractions for ds#1 - I'm so excited to start that with him). I realized that ds#1 will finish SM 4A before the end of our school year, but will work through LoF Fractions into the first part of 5th grade (summer of '11). While doing that, I'm listening to music from college (a now-defunct band from San Diego that I used to go see all the time with my best (guy) friend - it usually reminds me to enjoy the time I am in now as listening to the music makes me realize I didn't enjoy fully my time in college, always wanting to get to the next thing). Ok ... back to planning (and probably making dinner ... we are in this habit of eating late).

[Mama Rana]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

I didn't like OPGTR. We had a lot of success with Hooked on Phonics (I love the readers) but my favorite is Phonics Pathways - same basic concept as OPGTR, but something about it makes it not dull and dry. (It's not scripted for one.) FLL would work for grammar, but you would still need something for phonics. FLL is kind of dry and is scripted, but it does lay a great foundation. We are taking a bit of a break from FLL and using Growing with Grammar, but I couldn't see having started with GWG without the background from FLL (and ds#1 is still doing FLL 3 on Fridays, and ds#2 will do FLL 2 with dh when I'm on maternity "leave"). I just needed a break from the teacher-intensiveness of it.

I haven't heard of using Cuisenaire rods for diagramming ... I'll have to google that too. Ds#1 is learning traditional diagramming this year; ds#2 will learn next year, but we all do sentence analysis through Michael Clay Thompson Island materials, and it would be cool to introduce a visual/manipulative especially for the more complex sentences.

nak

oh i know fll =/= phonics I was/am just worried since i don't like opgtr that i wont like fll :/ its not the scripting that bugs me so much as the samey-samey of every lesson. ugh ill look at phonics pathways. i know a lot of people like etc but that has a lot of writing doesnt it? and in a traditional script but i'm teaching italics....

[crunchy_mama]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

Here's our September thread with a lot of good info in it, especially regarding various curriculum and resources.

It's a little here tonight (well, for us; it's probably balmy for others depending on geographic location ), so dh is putting on a fire and ds#1 requested that we pick back up reading Black Ships Before Troy, so I think after dinner, we'll do that. We are studying Greece in history, so it's fitting for the time period. Plus, when we finish Black Ships, we'll read the Barefoot Books version of The Adventures of Odysseus. It is beautifully done. We have read it before, but ds#1 was only about 6 and ds#2 was about 3 1/2. They both loved it (ds#2's favorite book around that time was Arabian Nights; I think he has good taste!), and I'm looking forward to reading it again.

Right now though I'm planning math for the second half of our school year (received SM 4A and 2B today, and I'm integrating Life of Fred Fractions for ds#1 - I'm so excited to start that with him). I realized that ds#1 will finish SM 4A before the end of our school year, but will work through LoF Fractions into the first part of 5th grade (summer of '11). While doing that, I'm listening to music from college (a now-defunct band from San Diego that I used to go see all the time with my best (guy) friend - it usually reminds me to enjoy the time I am in now as listening to the music makes me realize I didn't enjoy fully my time in college, always wanting to get to the next thing). Ok ... back to planning (and probably making dinner ... we are in this habit of eating late).

I guess I will hop over here as well

Lots of interesting thoughts about spelling and grammar and such. The diagramming sentences sounds, very, very interesting. I was looking at something the other day called The Sentence Family but it seemed to be recommended for older children. I was looking at the FLL samples yesterday and it looks like it might be doable. I just wonder if it is best for him.

I am also w/ BG though in the delayed academics though. From my reading though that does line up w/ Classical ed. Most info says nothing formal until 6 and then pretty basic reading, writing, math and nature study.

Today we have tons of things lined up and just hope we get to them all.

eta.

Thanks for the rec of the books MLW- I will have to see if I can get those ILL.

in regards to the delayed academics I know my son wasn't ready for anything until about 5.5, something just clicked with him. But who knows dd1 was counting to 10 2 yrs before ds!

[Jennifer3141]

Good morning! Happy October!

MLW, you are a really bad influence. I ordered the new FLL. What I should do now is return 100 Easy... I HATED that book.
I also had a shopping cart FULL of rescue boooks. Since we're adding REAL science, now my book load has doubled. The library is 20 miles away. It's easy for me to justify spending $3 on a reader instead of driving to the library. I'll have my friend track down the $10 books in our library system hopefully. The library has to have William Sears' kid nutrition book, right?!?!?

So we'll do more science a'la WTM today and do the rainforest. The kids are watching a DVD from NG on the rainforest right now. Then we've got a couple of history things to do. Then the readers and/or math. That depends on whether or not this is a 1-2 hour math day.

It's Thursday and if I get my Netflix out in the mailbox before 11:00, I should be able to get two new DVDs by the weeknd. It's a mad rush around here.
"Just watch it and learn something!!"

Tomorrow, we're going to hit the big library. The kids want to start dolphins next week and I have no idea what our earth thing will be.

I also want to get the worm bin cleaned out today. That's always exciting around here!! We need to make room for more scraps and I've got prime worm dirt more than ready.

My science/history buddy and I have decided to start a cooking club. I gave the kids ravioli-Os TWICE last week because we'd done school, or something school-ish until late at night every day. We have another health conscious friend who homeschools who is all over the idea too. So if we all make a dish to share once a week, we'll have some meals covered for when those, "Why is everyone so crabby? Wait! It's 8:00 and no one has eaten!" moments that we seem to have so often.
(Don't shoot me for the ravioli-Os, please. I thought that was homemade food when I was a kid. )

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by Mama Rana

nak

oh i know fll =/= phonics I was/am just worried since i don't like opgtr that i wont like fll :/ its not the scripting that bugs me so much as the samey-samey of every lesson. ugh ill look at phonics pathways. i know a lot of people like etc but that has a lot of writing doesnt it? and in a traditional script but i'm teaching italics....

I'm sorry I misunderstood. Yea, FLL is quite scripted, though at least based on my experiences with the two (FLL and OPGTR), FLL was more doable. For me, it was something that I could preread and then either choose to use the scripted lesson or reword it to teach it in a much simpler way. For some reason OPGTR didn't have that same feel to me.

Phonics Pathways doesn't have writing in it (though it does say that you can use the words for dictation/spelling practice if you wish). Otherwise, it'll reading - it introduces a sound/phonogram, talks about why/how/when it is used in words and then has a lot of reading practice with it. Maybe you are thinking of Explode the Code, which is a phonics program but also has a lot of writing? We like that too - but use it as independent work to reinforce what the older two are doing in reading and spelling. (Oh, and though we used HWOT for manuscript and cursive, neither had any issues with the font/script being different in ETC - I told them to write their responses in whatever they were doing - cursive or manuscript.)

[Jennifer3141]

Our hamster bit the dust. I had a love/hate relationship with that little guy. Cute, but he bit the crapola out of my kids.

So after the library tomorrow, I'm sure we'll have to stop at the pet store and look around...

I've got to get back to our rainforest reports...

Everyone else ok today?

[crunchy_mama]

Lots done today and more planned.

Did math, working on 10's this week- the lesson said to take 2-3 days so we took 3 as I wanted it to sink in well. I am enjoying it now that we are getting more to games. We read King Lear today and watched a little video of it online. We learned some about the Wampanoag's and built a wetu, the kids thought it great fun to play in the mud. We started Stuart Little as our next read aloud and our enjoying it very well. I was perusing on the Great Books program and going through the early years Good Books program looking at recommended books. I love reading lists of books!

We are getting ready to do reading for today(now that the girls are asleep). I believe we will be doing Science tonight or tomorrow night I like to have a good chunk of time to devote to it.

[*Jessica*]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

Our hamster bit the dust. I had a love/hate relationship with that little guy. Cute, but he bit the crapola out of my kids.

So after the library tomorrow, I'm sure we'll have to stop at the pet store and look around...

I've got to get back to our rainfprest reports...

Everyone else ok today?

Do you have room for a bit bigger of a cage? Guinea pigs are awesome pets for kids. They aren't noctural, so they won't keep you awake all night, and they don't bite like a hamster. They may nibble on your finger if you stick it right in front of their nose, but they don't bite out of fear or anything. We have four and they love to snuggle on our laps and watch tv with us.

ETA ~ Pictures of our girls.
Bandit Sweet Pea Hera S, B, H, Together
Lucky soon after being born (she's on the right, her brother had to find a new home so we didn't end up with more babies)

[Jennifer3141]

Jessica, my kids would LOVE piggies. But we have two angora rabbits. I think what we might do is take a tortoise from our friend who has two - she just doesn't think this one gets enough attention in our house. And we have no reptile representation yet...

I feel badly that a member of the family died and all but the first thing I really thought when DD came down crying was, "Wheeee!!! One less cage to clean!"

[Jennifer3141]

And crunchy, I had to look up Wampanoags to make sure I had it right.

I love reading what you all are doing!!!

We're doing Crete this week and reading the myths about Theseus and Aegeus and the minotaur. I find it fascinating how the same character can be portrayed so differently. We've got the Storytell DVD by Jim Henson on the Greek myths. Theseus is really a jerk to Ariadne in that one. (How'd you like your hero to come to you drunk at the butt crack of dawn, have his way with you, and then sneak off in his ship and abandon you on a deserted island??) And then in many of our kids books, he's the hero of Athens - but kind of dim-witted.

[mom2ponygirl]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

And crunchy, I had to look up Wampanoags to make sure I had it right.

I love reading what you all are doing!!!

We're doing Crete this week and reading the myths about Theseus and Aegeus and the minotaur. I find it fascinating how the same character can be portrayed so differently. We've got the Storytell DVD by Jim Henson on the Greek myths. Theseus is really a jerk to Ariadne in that one. (How'd you like your hero to come to you drunk at the butt crack of dawn, have his way with you, and then sneak off in his ship and abandon you on a deserted island??) And then in many of our kids books, he's the hero of Athens - but kind of dim-witted.

My daughter (12) and I recently read The King Must Die by Mary Renault. It is historical fiction about Theseus and it was wonderful. Definitely a pg-13ish type rating, so read it yourself before sharing with the kiddos! It did a great job of illustrating beliefs of the time in respect to the the physical and cultural realities of the time. The gods and goddesses, mythological creatures, and heroic feats were depicted in a way that was believable and you could see the myths we know today growing from this 'real' story.

[Momma Aimee]

here

[AngelBee]

Today was pretty good. Pluggin along. Off to lay down my sausage like limbs.....darn baby!

[craft_media_hero]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

I didn't like OPGTR. We had a lot of success with Hooked on Phonics (I love the readers) but my favorite is Phonics Pathways - same basic concept as OPGTR, but something about it makes it not dull and dry. (It's not scripted for one.) FLL would work for grammar, but you would still need something for phonics. FLL is kind of dry and is scripted, but it does lay a great foundation. We are taking a bit of a break from FLL and using Growing with Grammar, but I couldn't see having started with GWG without the background from FLL (and ds#1 is still doing FLL 3 on Fridays, and ds#2 will do FLL 2 with dh when I'm on maternity "leave"). I just needed a break from the teacher-intensiveness of it.

I haven't heard of using Cuisenaire rods for diagramming ... I'll have to google that too. Ds#1 is learning traditional diagramming this year; ds#2 will learn next year, but we all do sentence analysis through Michael Clay Thompson Island materials, and it would be cool to introduce a visual/manipulative especially for the more complex sentences.

At first, I strongly disliked Phonics Pathways, but seeing dd's massive improvement this year has made me a believer. Honestly, I just find it incredibly boring. But perhaps that's just the nature of the phonics beast, and PP seems to be a better choice than many . . .


I am so glad you reminded me of diagramming w/ Cuisenaire rods; I had noted that previously and then forgot about it. For now we're not doing any grammar, though I may start doing the Montessori-style presentations casually on Fridays.

I'm so proud of myself I have all of our Language Arts and Math planned out for the year, doing four-day weeks. I believe that will allow us to use Friday for "fun stuff" and Science, History, etc. So I'm getting closer to figuring it all out.

Maybe it's just her age, but dd poops out on school after only a couple of hours of work. It's a challenge to optimize our productive time.


We've been reading the King Arthur stories collection from the YC site (title of book escapes me now ). We are really enjoying it. With that, Robin Hood, and Shakespeare planned for this year's literature, I'm wondering if I should switch history to Medieval since we haven't actually started anything for History yet? Hmmm . . . .


Curric. ?:
Has anyone tried English for the Thoughtful Child? If so, your two cents please. DD really only has the stamina to write down one or two sentences still, but I think we may be able to work up to it toward the end of the year if we keep doing copywork and dictating her spelling words. I like that they are writing about art in the program . . .

[crunchy_mama]

Jennifer the Greek Myths dvd sounds really good! I hope I can remember all of this when we do those things next year! Sorry to hear about the hamster

craftmediahero- I am totally impressed that you have next year all planned out! I am still working on next year's lesson plans. I cannot see planning out math though. I worry I will plan and he will go faster or slower than I planned. We are doing some Shakespeare this year as well and I have planned to do some Robin Hood as well.


We did BFSU science last night, which I have been making very laid back. I introduce a concept we play around w/ something that illustrates the concept- my assistants Mr. Nye and Mrs. Frizzle talk about it a bit and then we play some more. We still didn't end up doing Latin this week, hmmm, maybe tomorrow.

Oh, and I have changed my mind. I think we will start spelling. I got some more info about AAS and think it would be a good compliment for what we are doing and will go at a slow enough pace as well. I looked more into grammar as well but I still don't think it would be a good idea for ds at his level. I do think I will start some basic dictation w/ words he does know I think he would like that. I do dream of dictation of classical works and such but I have to be on his level though!

[MyLittleWonders]

I remember when my oldest was younger and being so excited to do more things when he got older.

Crunchy - I love your science teaching assistants! We often employ Ms. Frizzle around here too. We've been studying rocks and minerals and it makes me wish my grandpa was still here - he was a "Rock Hound" and spent most of his adult life collecting specimens (he also was a ship captain and sailed all over the world - I should have written down his stories).

Today went well - we started slowly (what's new ), and used our SSL Monkey Match cards to play memory. Then we read another chapter in Minimus and discussed the use of adverbs in English versus Latin, and then the boys used 3 verbs and 3 adverbs to make sentences (for instance: Equito diligenter. - hopefully I'm remembering the spelling correctly; I'm too lazy to get up a check - which means I ride carefully). We also did some English derivatives based on the vocabulary introduced in the chapter.

After math, we did Nature Study, apples this week. Unfortunately I didn't have two varieties of apples (only gala today), so instead we compared an apple to a pear. We did the journal page in the Autumn ebook and also did a Venn-diagram on the two. Then, it was art ... we did contour drawing where we sketched a couple objects without looking at our papers but only the object. That was fun (though I had to make it very clear before we began that our drawings would not be perfect and they may not even resemble the actual object and that this is an exercise that artists do throughout their lives to train their hands to follow their eyes). Then, we did the Sketch Tuesday "prompt", which is always fun. Last week the boys had a blast seeing their drawings on the slide show.

[chrissy]

Subbing. We've been Waldorf homeschoolers, but now I consider us more Waldorf-inspired, with lots of Classical/Charlotte Mason thrown in.

My kiddos are Noah (almost 9. 3rd grade), Lilah (6, Kindy-1stish), Rowan (3) and Laney (1).

[Jennifer3141]

Craft, English for the Thoughtful Child sounds delightful. Have you found any more information about it?

Crunchy, I'll lend you the DVD next year if you like.

MLW, you are doing so much Latin. Do you think your kids have a scientific or legal bend? DH went to medical school and he had a good friend who knew Latin insanely well. That guy aced medical school!

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

Craft, English for the Thoughtful Child sounds delightful. Have you found any more information about it?

Crunchy, I'll lend you the DVD next year if you like.

MLW, you are doing so much Latin. Do you think your kids have a scientific or legal bend? DH went to medical school and he had a good friend who knew Latin insanely well. That guy aced medical school!

We joke that our oldest is a lawyer at heart the way he "argues" his cases. I'm actually looking forward to formal logic and rhetoric with him. But, really the Latin is there just to learn - not only to help with English development, but also with logical development, help us with Spanish, French and Italian in the future, and really, just to unlock the language. They think they also want to learn Greek, so we'll see. I'm just enjoying their love of things that would otherwise be deemed as "uncool" in school.

[Jennifer3141]

Good morning!

We went to the library and used our new cards yesterday. Oh, the pleasure of lifting 80 pounds of books and knowing we can take them all home.
DS has fallen in love with another set of books. They are cars and trucks with faces but at least they are not Disney. I read him the book and he does the, "Zoom! Boom!" and my mama heart melts. His speech deficit is readily apparent during reading though. I'm not sure how much longer we'll take with the "wait and see" approach.

We've got to get reading. Anyone got anything extra good planned this weekend??