School Week 4 - Classical Writing

We just finished up week 4 of school, but our first week with Classical Writing - Aesop, using only the core and not the workbooks.

Our first three weeks of school I was using R&S English as written for both big girls, R&S spelling for each, and Classical Composition-Fable for Savannah.  The problems ended up being that R&S English was taking a long time, especially for Charlotte.  School, in general, was taking a long time.  Our first lesson with Classical Composition - Fable was OK, but I wasn't sold on it.  There wasn't enough explanation for certain portions of it.  And Savannah mentioned that she wasn't learning anything new with the spelling.  They are both natural spellers. 

So insert Classical Writing - Aesop.  I think we have a winner! 

I am doing R&S English 4 orally with both kids at the same time, two lessons a week.  We're skipping the composition lessons.  We apply what we are learning in grammar to 3-4 sentences from the Aesop model we are studying for the week.  I like this because we get to practice on real sentences that are never as straight forward as the canned sentences from R&S.

I dropped spelling completely.  I picked ten words from the Aesop model to analyze on the whiteboard together (separate into syllables, mark the phonograms, go over the spelling rules that apply).  Then they write the list into their notebooks twice.  Next week I will test them on the list.  They also practice spelling through dictation during the week.

The previous post has the schedule that we used.

So this is how our week with Classical Writing - Aesop went:

Monday:

Introduced the model, The Hare and the Tortoise.  I read it aloud.  We defined some of the difficult words on the board together.  Each kid read it aloud to practice oral reading (pronunciation).  Then we discussed the title, the author, the main characters, the plot, the purpose of the story, the meaning of the fable, etc.

Later that day I sat with each kid individually and we made an outline for the story (there are actually directions in Aesop on how to make a simple outline, unlike Classical Composition).  Then on their own they wrote a narration using the outline.  It worked great.

Tuesday:

The kids each read aloud the story again to practice oral reading (this time with animation/feeling).  Then we went over spelling words as described above.  I marked off a portion of the story for them to copy in their best handwriting and they copied it into their notebooks.

Later that day I sat with each kid individually and we edited their first draft of their written narration, fixing punctuation, capitalization, and making the sentences make a little more sense.  This took about 5 minutes for each child.

Wednesday:

We don't do Classical Writing on Wednesday, but I do require them to do a freewrite for 10 minutes.  This is where I set a timer and we all just write whatever we want.  The rule is that you can't stop writing, it doesn't have to be in neat handwriting, and I won't read it.  If they can't figure out something to write then they can write that over and over: "I don't know what to write.  I don't know what to write."  I give them a few topics they could write on or tell them they can write one of the poems the have memorized.  They just have to WRITE.  The purpose of this exercise is to get them over the fear of writing, or only writing when they have something perfect to put on the page. 

Thursday:

Again each kid read the story aloud to practice oral reading. 
This is the day we apply our grammar to a few of the sentences from the model, as described above.
Then they dictated to each other the copywork that they did on Tuesday.  In other words, Savannah read her copywork passage aloud to Charlotte as Charlotte writes it down without looking at the model.  They wrote this dictation into their notebooks.  Then they went over each other's dictation to make sure they wrote it down correctly, and corrected each other's mistakes. 
The point of dictation is to help them remember how to spell and punctuate correctly.  It can also be a practice in keeping a sentence in your memory long enough to write it down.

Later that day I sat with each kid and we added dialogue to their written narration.  This took about 10 minutes per kid.

Friday:

They rewrite their corrected and amplified first draft into a final product.


My thoughts:

I think this is a solid and thorough writing program and an excellent supplement to our Language Arts.  I like how we are studying one model the entire week and applying what we have learned to the model.  It makes our learning RELEVANT.  I like that.  I find it easy to implement.  I'm writing a post on the details of how I plan for the week, which I will post soon. 

For my girls, I think we will continue this pace for the rest of the year and move into Homer next year.  I don't plan on using the workbooks for Homer either.  I have found a lot of reviews talking about how people give up CW because it is so confusing to use, and I think that is because they are relying on the workbooks, wanting something easy to open and go, and don't want to, or can't, understand the Homer Core book.  I think, THINK, that for this program to be successful you have to understand the Core well enough to manipulate it to your needs and the current needs of your students.  So that is my plan.  I think this is an excellent writing program and I have every intention of sticking with it.  Then again, this is week 1 of Aesop...  I am speaking out of inexperience.  Time will tell.

Still chugging along. Week 7 & 8

This week is only a three day week.  My big kids are out of town today and tomorrow.  It has been a good, uneventful two weeks.  Nothing to report on.

Wait, I can always ramble about homeschooling...

As much as the girls complain about doing school, I am surprised how much they want to do more.  Charlotte wants a full load like Savannah.  However, I need to spend more time with my three little ones.  I finally put my foot down and told her no.  She has to go and play.  She is only in first grade, for heavens sake!  What is the rush to grow up?  Lol.  I've also trimmed back her required academic school work.

Required academics 1st grade: Math Mammoth, XtraMath, Spelling & Latin (as a family), 2 sentences of copywork, and reading outloud to me. 
Optional: phonics and spelling workbooks, science, geography.  She was begging me to let her do Writing With Ease too.  NOooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!  I don't have the time. 

Required academics 3rd grade: MM, XM, Spelling & Latin (as a family), R&S English, WWE 3, Greek Myths, read for 1 hour.  Optional: science,  geography, spelling workbook.  And I'm thinking about dropping WWE 3 again.  I really don't want any wasted time.



So, spelling as a family:  I was going to start Spell to Write and Read, then changed my mind because of how time-consuming it was and went to R&S spelling this year.  The kids actually really like it, but I kind of thought it seemed like busywork still.  In R&S spelling, the word lists are easy, but the value supposedly lies in the application of the spelling rules to the word lists.

So I took that idea and applied it to SWR.  Instead of having the girls in separate levels, I started them both on Charlotte's level.  First we review our phonogram flashcards.  Then I dictate the day's words (20 of them) and they take turns writing them on the white board and mark them (apply the spelling and phonics rules).  Then we sing the spelling rule that applies (songs are from Phonics Road) while the girls dance around the room. 
After that, they sit down and get out a piece of paper.  I dictate two sentences to them that have one of their new spelling words in them.  Then they take a test on a previous list of words from a few weeks ago that I dictate to them.  I have found this method to be very effective.

Anyway, that's it.  I'm tired.
Salvete!

Week 6

...is almost over!  I think we will do school tomorrow (Saturday) because we are three days behind.  Next week is supposed to be our week off, but we have to make up those days, so we'll school tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday, and then have the rest of the week off.

I don't know what the deal was, but this week I have been dragging my feet getting school done.  I let the girls sleep in, we get started late, it is beautiful outside so they just want to play and I just want to let them...  I think that maybe I should re-think our yearly schedule.  More breaks in the fall and spring, and just school right through winter and summer when it is no fun going outside.

Anyway, we DID do school and it went well.  I asked the girls their opinion of each subject and they really like all of their subjects except math (just because they are learning new concepts and it is sometimes a struggle) and Savannah doesn't like english very much, for the same reason.  It is a lot of writing, which I like but she doesn't.  All well.  Our english and math programs are solid and I love them.

I am not thrilled with R&S spelling.  I think spalding/O-G method is far superior.  But the girls refuse to drop R&S spelling; they both really like it.  It is their only workbook, which is why I think they like it so much.  So yesterday and today, right after latin, we did spelling together.  I use the lists from Spell to Write and Read (the Wise Guide) and the spelling rule tunes from Phonics Road.  We spell and mark 20 words together on the white board, discuss/sing the spelling rules that apply (while dancing around the room), and then I dictate two sentences from the Wise Guide that uses some of the spelling words we just went over.  It is very effective and will definitely become part of our routine for now on.

I read aloud at night while the kids are in bed because my little ones (Caroline mainly, and Zach) are difficult to read with.  We've been reading our history books, Story of the World - Middle Ages and Our Island Story (a history of Britain) three times a week. 

The other nights I've read Charlie's Monument.  It is a very short book.  I think I have only two more chapters.  It is just a good story and the kids love it.  I bawled through the whole first chapter.  It is set in the midwest in the 1800s.  It is about a boy who is born physically handicapped.  His mother teaches him about his individual worth and how to treat others like Christ treated others.  She is killed by indians when he is a young teen.  The town gives him a job as a lookout on a hilltop to help him earn money so he can take of himself.  So he spends his entire life on this hill and realizes that when he dies, no one will remember him or know he was even there, so he begins to build a monument out of rocks, one at a time, day by day.  Then one day the bankers daughter decides to venture up to the hill to see the mysterious Charlie that she has only heard about and never met.  .... It is about REAL love.  My mom read it to me a few times when I was little and I loved it.

Week 2 of P90X is almost complete.  I really enjoy the workouts.  I enjoy getting stronger and being able to do certain exercises that I couldn't do last week. 

And I need to get more sleep.