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.

Week 1 Report

Week 1 has been great!  A few changes in curriculum already:

From Savannah's list I'm dropping Figuratively Speaking.  It is too hard for her and she hates it.  Maybe another year.  I'm also dropping the Kolbe literature guide. We haven't tried it yet, but I think it is just pointless busywork.  I have them both reading for an hour a day.  I think that is the best thing to do to keep the love of reading alive.  I'm not incredibly impressed with Memoria Press's Geography I workbooks; I'm undecided on this one.  We'll give it another week.  We haven't tried my science plan yet; we won't do science until week 3. 
Things I LOVE:  Week 1 of Classical Composition - Fable has been a lot of fun.  Everything else Savannah is using is a continuation from last year (math, English, spelling, MP's Famous Men of Rome, Latin) and I am still very pleased with these. 

I also added grammar copywork from MP's Grammar Recitations book this year.  I find it to be very valuable for my kids to memorize the definitions of grammar terms.  We are often talking about grammar terms in Latin, and Charlotte has the hardest time keeping noun, proper noun, common noun, verb, adjective, subject, predicate, and pronoun straight.  Memorized definitions really help her, so I am pleased with our grammar copywork and flashcards.

Everything on Charlotte's curriculum list is working out just fine.  She has a lot more writing to do this year that she is not enjoying so much, but I think it is good for her.  She'll get used to it.

I decided today to drop New American Cursive for Madelynn and do the K workbook of Handwriting Without Tears.  It is so much easier!  I really want to get her writing quickly so we start on Spell to Write and Read lists.

The Gospel Principles study in the morning with Savannah and Charlotte is going really well.  I wake them up at 6 am and give them a piece of gum (they love this).  We sit at the table with the Gospel Principles book, a journal, and their new scriptures.  I taught them how to mark scriptures with their red pencil first.  Then we read one section from the Gospel Principles lesson.  Together we read and mark all of the scriptures that are referenced in that section.  There is a question or two for each section.  We discuss the questions and write the answers to one of the questions in our journals.  I've found this time to be very valuable and it is working really well.

My preschool plan has been fun.  We made A's with apple prints, colored apples, and did a cut and paste project with construction paper and apples, made jello, and introduced them to red-light, green-light and Simon-says.  They also love the read-alouds; however the Children's Bible is way over their heads.  I've actually started reading that to Savannah, Charlotte, and Madelynn at night.

Recitations, Circle-Time, and family scripture reading is going great.  Chocolate milk is the key to a successful family scripture reading time (but don't use straws; they're too loud).

Recitations: happens around 4pm, when school is over.  This is for Savannah, Charlotte, and Madelynn.  They each recite the poems we have already learned and practice the new poem we are learning.  We also are memorizing The Living Christ a few sentences at a time.  We do this 4Xs a week.

Circle-Time: is right after breakfast.  In the front of my recitations folder I have a gospel art picture and a sheet that tells us the song, scripture, and Article of Faith that we are learning this month as a family.  We sing the song, recite the scripture and AoF, and pledge allegiance to the flag.

Family scripture reading: happens right before bed, after the kids have on their pajamas and the house is clean.  We first have family prayer.  Then the kids grab their scriptures and get to the table while I make their chocolate milk.  We take turns reading a verse. Even Caroline, Madelynn, and Zachary participate; I read their scripture and they repeat after me. 

I'm liking our daily routine as well.  It is all working very nicely.  I love the hour break for breakfast and lunch, then my personal one-hour quiet time when I usually sneak some candy and take a nap in the middle of the day.  My only complaint is that our days are long right now.  I'm hoping this will ease up in the next couple of weeks as the kids get used to the new work-load.

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.

Week 5

Week 5 went fabulous.  I'm glad I added Writing With Ease 3 in.  It doesn't take much time and I do think it is helpful. 

Charlotte is learning clocks in MM1B.  Savannah is learning multiplication in MM3A.  Both are progressing nicely in math.

This is my first year using Rod & Staff English.  I really like it; it is very thorough.   A lot of people say they do it orally and skip problems.  I have Savannah do every problem and she writes it all out.  I feel that it is right on her level and provides the perfect amount of work.  If anything, she might need more practice, so I bought the workbooks and tests that go with it.  They will arrive in the mail soon.

We are going to repeat lesson 5 in Prima Latina this week so that we can really solidify the vocabulary.  Savannah memorizes very easily, whereas Charlotte does not.  She needs LOTS of repitition.  I want to keep them together in latin because it is more enjoyable (and easier on me) to learn latin in a group, so we are going at Charlotte's pace.

Let's see... spelling is fine.  I don't know that I will do a spelling curriculum next year.  It just seems like busywork.  I don't want to quit on the workbooks we have started, so we will finish them.

Savannah is really liking MP's Greek Myths study.  Like I said, she memorizes very quickly.  I am amazed at the sheer amount of information she has memorized so far. 

Exercise went great!  I finished my first full official week of P90X; the previous week I only did 30 min. of each video as a transition.  I love exercising.  It has become an enjoyable habit.  I love the way I feel, I love that I'm getting stronger, I love the way I look!  My 5-baby-belly is shrinking :)  Mostly, I just really like how I feel; that is my main motivation for getting up in the morning.  I look forward to it.

Today is the first day of week 6 in homeschool, but I decided to take the day off since the girls slept in until 900am.  We just got back from spending the weekend in Atlanta.  It is so nice outside.  The kids spent the whole day playing outside.  Not homeschooling, however, throws my schedule off, so I accomplished nothing, wasted time, didn't clean, didn't do much of anything.  I look forward to our scheduled day tomorrow. 

Week 3

It has been a great week!  The kids are getting used to the work load and the schedule.  We are happy to have full and busy days.  It is satisfying to see progress being made.  I love watching/helping the kids to learn and grow.  I'm learning and growing right with them. 

I'm learning to be more patient as a math teacher.  That is the hardest subject for me to teach and the kids to learn.  Savannah needs lots of repitition.  She could do five problems in a row correctly, and then suddenly on the sixth problem completely forget how to do it (ADD?).  Today we figured out it is easier for her to focus if she writes her problems out on the whiteboard.  I also do lots of sample problems on the whiteboard, as well as doing problems using manipulatives (apples and pencils this week).  She is getting very good at thinking through math problems, even though occasionally her brain falls out.  I'm am pleased with the progress she is making. 

Have I mentioned yet how awesome Math Mammoth is?  It's awesome.

Charlotte is my over-analyzer.  She will act like she doesn't know a simple concept, but it is actually her just over-analyzing it for the sake of clarity in her mind.  I did the same thing when I was little.  Both girls are a joy to teach though!

Charlotte got her wish for more work.  I ordered R&S phonics 1 for her, even though it is really just busy work.  She likes it.  I also ordered Climbing to Good English 2, which I think I will save for next year or for when she is finished with the phonics workbooks.  If you are looking for a workbook English, Climbing to Good English is EXCELLENT.  At least it looks excellent, having not used it yet.  I would recommend it.  It looks very solid.

I've been thinking about preparing to teach highschool and self-educating now.  Math, science, & discussing great books are my focus areas.  Today I researched math.  I found the best middle/high school math program available (according to the consensus of the Well-Trained Mind Forum experts).  Commonly referred to as AoPS, which stands for Art of Problem Solving. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/  It is described as being more in depth than typical math texts and it explains the WHY behind the math.  It is NOT just memorizing formulas, which is how I was taught.  You really know mathematics when you are finished.  It is for mathy kids, not just the average student.  It sounds like it will be a lot like Math Mammoth, which is challenging but fulfilling as well.  I want to be a good math teacher and I want my children to have a solid foundation in math, so this is the curriculum I'm going to use.

I took a placement test and tested into PreAlgebra :)  So I ordered the books.  I'm going to work through PreAlgebra this year.  I was actually really good at math in highschool, so I think it will all come back to me fairly easy.

It is a great website.  They have additional curriculum to help students to prepare for a huge math competition.. forgot the name.  They also have online math problems for each book; you work through different levels until it is mastered, much like Xtramath that the girls play online for their math facts.  I'm working through Pre-Alg.  There is a video that explains new concepts and is tied to the text as well.  There is also a very active forum for questions.

Now to research science.  I don't know that I am up to teaching chemistry and physics too.  I can't be good at every subject.  I might farm those out or get a good video curriculum to teach it; we'll see.

And lastly, what literature/history program to choose so I can begin reading through the books.  This one is more difficult being quite under-read myself.  It is hard to compare books and ideas when I haven't read them.  Off the top of my head there is My Father's World, Ambleside, Memoria Press, The Well-Trained Mind, Tapestry of Grace, & Latin Centered Curriculum.  I'm sure there are many more. 

That's it.  Here's to a great week!

Oh, and I'm still a rockstar. :D  Week 4 of Ripped in 30, here I come! 

Week 2

It was a great week.  We're on a roll!  Here is how our day goes:

I wake up at 530 and do Ripped in 30 by Jillian Michaels.  *APPLAUSE*  Thanks.  Yep, about to be half-way ripped, or I would be if it weren't for that daily bowl of ice cream. 

Then I shower and dress. 

You heard me right.  I've showered and dressed EVERY MORNING for the last two weeks. 

*APPLAUSE*  I know!  I'm pretty much amazing.  These are things I haven't done in a very long time.  You know WHY???  My 5th baby is about to be ONE!!!!   The fog is lifting and the clouds are parting.  I'm becoming human again.

After being a rockstar in the morning, at least half of my kids are awake and the baby is wanting fed, so I feed her sweet, chubby face.

7am I wake up the other half of my kids and we eat breakfast.

Right after breakfast we have family prayer and read scriptures together.
Then immediately do latin & math. 

The rest of the day is scattered with spelling, english, reading, copywork, myths, piano, lunch, dinner, etc.  It lasts all day long, from 530 am to 830 pm.

The kids do a lot of chores and keep the house clean.  I do a lot of cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, wiping bums (Zach is potty training himself!!!!), laundry, teaching, nagging, sneaking chocolate, etc.

Usually at the end of the day we squeeze in devotional (song, scripture verse, scripture story) and then recitations (IEW poetry & The Living Christ).

And then we watch Ben Hur until bedtime :)  It is so good!  I've never seen it before.  We've watched about 4 1/2 hours of it so far.  It is perfect because we are learning about the Romans in our history book right now.

Then the kids go to bed at 8pm and I read to them from Story of the World-Middle Ages & Our Island Story or a fairytale.

Tuesdays we go into town about 45 min away and take Savannah and Charlotte to piano lessons (I'm not sure about this teacher though...) and gymnastics (Savannah, Charlotte, & Maddy).  Next week we will also be going to homeschool class (PE, art, computers) on post on Wednesday mornings and Savannah will start Activity Day Girls on Wed. nights.

I have to say that I am really loving homeschool.  I love our full schedule.  I love learning along with the kids.  I love my kids!

We did do a curriculum switch this week.  I put aside Spell to Write and Read and purchased Rod & Staff's spelling for both girls.  They love it; I love it.  Charlotte wants more workbooks like her spelling, so today I bought her Rod & Staff's phonics and Climbing to Good English.  She will be just as busy as Savannah now, but that's what she wants!  Who knew?

Week 1

Done!!!

It was a great week.  The first few days were long as we were getting used to doing so much, but by the end of the week we were figuring things out.  However, our days are still quite long & busy.

Savannah has quite a bit on her plate this year.  Savannah and Charlotte both do Math, latin, spelling/writing, literature, piano, & enrichments (poetry, geography, science), but Savannah also does English, Greek Myths, Book of Mormon reading, summarizing, and Discovering the Scriptures.  It is just a lot more than what we've done in the past.  She really applies herself and gets her work done without much proding from me.  I made her a to-do list to help with this.  The only subject that she hates and drags her feet on is math.  Today, math took around... two hours or more for one front and back page of math.  Yeah, really.
I love Math Mammoth.  I love how it shows patterns in numbers; how it shows different ways of solving problems.  It is an amazing math program.  *sigh* 
She usually does just fine and completes her math page quickly without much help from me.  Today, however, her brain was MIA.  It might have been that I told her she had to complete her math before we went to a swimming party.  Her mind was on swimming, not work.  So maybe today was my fault. 

I am exhausted.

Getting ready

Well, we are getting ready to start our first day of school on Monday.  I am particularly excited about the latin.  Savannah listened to O Come All Ye Faithful in latin over and over to get the pronunciation down all day today.  She will really enjoy learning a new language... just to show off.  I'm excited about latin because she is excited.  It is fun to teach enthusiastic students (Charlotte will be learning it too). 
Charlotte is excited about spellingcity.com and the fact that I'll let her play spelling games until her heart's content.  I put their spelling lists, vocabulary lists, and latin words on there for them to play with.  Should be quite helpful.
I took our school pictures today; I'll have them up soon.  I like to make IDs with them.
Monday I am going to surprise them with something special... I'm just not sure yet.  A trip to get donuts maybe?  Or frozen yogurt?  Maybe I can wake them up early and we'll go stand at the end of the driveway and wave at the bus as it drives by, lol.  That is MY favorite part.  We are going to a Not-Back-to-School pool party on Friday with other homeschoolers in the area.
Piano lessons start on Tuesday; we took the summer off.  Homeschool class (PE, art, computers) starts next month, along with Maddy's gymnastics class.