Day 8 / 101 - Classical Conversations: Foundations

Last week I mentioned that my homeschooling style was a little bit Classical.  To school a child classically, you need to believe in a three part training of the mind, called the trivium.  Today, I will briefly touch on the first part.

I believe that children in their early years of school have minds that are ready to absorb information.  Lots of information.  Young children memorize anything (songs, commercials, cartoon characters, etc.) easily and quickly, with very little effort.  Their minds are equipped to do so.  As I type this I could sing for you both a McDonald's and Wendy's commercial from my childhood as well as theme songs for Family Ties and the Dukes of Hazzard.  I don't even need to think about it, it just comes naturally, because I memorized this information (with very little effort) when my brain was at this young school age.  My children are young enough that they actually still find memorization fun.  So we still spend the majority of our school day memorizing facts - rules of mathematics, history dates, rules of grammar, descriptions of plants, animals, and the human body, the vocabulary of foreign languages, scripture, poems, geographical boundaries and landmarks, etc.  By memorizing this information at an early age, I believe that children are being taught the tools for studying and mastering any subject.

Classical Conversations (CC) has enabled me to become a Classical home educator.  They have gathered a ton of information worth memorizing and broken it down into 72 weeks of content that can be taught in a three year cycle.  In fact, their average-sized spiral bound Foundations guide is one of the few text books I use to teach my children in this manner.  It doesn't take much.  And of course, we make it fun.  As we memorize, we sing, we dance, we chant, we jump around, we play games....anything to keep my children's minds engaged during the memorization process.  As they age, and their brains mature, we will build on, and begin unpackaging, the information they have memorized.

On Wednesdays we spend our day with the Hillcrest Campus of CC.  During the morning hours we participate in the Foundations program.  Children are broken into classes of 6 - 9 students, and a trained tutor (I happen to be one!) introduces the new memory work and leads the class time.  There are six subjects we cover each week: Timeline/History, Latin, Math, English, Geography, and Science.  In addition the children have a fine arts lesson/project, a hands on science experiment, and an opportunity to practice oral presentations.  All this in 2 1/2 hours!  Then, throughout the week, parents are able to build on this information during their homeschooling time.

There really is so much more I could say, but in order to keep it brief, I'll invite you to check out the links above.  Or, please contact me if you have any further questions or thoughts about CC.  If you are considering homeschooling, but don't know if you can do it (or don't know where to begin), THIS is the place to start.  CC will enable you not only to homeschool, but to become an exceptionally good homeschooler.  It has done so for me!

Day 7 / 101 - Camping in Tents

We spent the majority of this week camping in the Hocking Hills area of southern Ohio.  Monday was our son's 10th birthday, and we have made it a tradition in our home to have 'experiences' on our birthdays rather than 'parties'.  He suggested we go camping.  Mostly because he wanted to try his hand at a high ropes course in which the minimum participation age was 10.

We planned our trip several weeks ago, and as the date approached, we became super excited.  My husband and I went to college near Hocking Hills, but we are amazed at how much the area has grown since our departure.  It is an easy day trip from anywhere in the state with so much to do that you will almost feel as though you left the state.  We spent one day canoeing down the Hocking River.  One day visiting our Alma mater Ohio University.  Of course my son and husband spent part of one day tackling 60 high ropes obstacles and 30 zip lines.  My daughter and I spent one day horseback riding on the trails (something she has always wanted to do, too!).  The list goes on.  Plus, we had the added enjoyment that comes with camping in tents!

Naturally it rained.  But there are so many life lessons children can learn with a little discomfort.  There are also multiple opportunities to learn the life skills that come from all aspects of camping.  What to pack.  How to pack.  How to read a map.  How to pitch a tent.  How to cover your tent during a storm to keep everything from getting wet.  How to dry your stuff once it gets wet.  How to build a fire.  How to cook over a fire, etc.  All food is better when prepared over a fire and eaten outdoors, wouldn't you agree....?

Day 6 / 101 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

If I had to label my homeschooling style (although I believe that labels are for tin cans), I would tell you that I'm a little bit Charlotte Mason, a little bit Classical (more on both of those styles later), and most importantly, I incorporate a ton of literature based activities into our curriculum.  When I entered into the world of homeschooling three years ago, I reentered the world of Children's Literature.  This has been one of my favorite parts of homeschooling.  I've enjoyed rereading some of my favorites from when I was a child, as well as becoming familiar with some of the new authors of today.  In addition, I believe that most anything can be learned from a book.

Both my children love to read, which is fortunate.  We don't have to encourage or force them to do so.  They will pick up a book and get lost in it.  I think some of this stems from the fact we don't have a television (I'll probably post more on that later, too) and some of it comes from seeing us read.  Especially my husband.  I don't think a day of their lives has passed that they haven't seen their father reading a book.

Reading out loud to my children is still one of my daily activities, even though they are avid readers.  Sometimes we read new books.  Sometimes we reread favorites.  I've always wanted to keep track of the books we read audibly throughout the school year, but I get sidetracked and forget.  I'm hoping this blog will help me create that list. I've decided on occasion I will post what we're reading, and quote one of my favorite parts.  Obviously you can see what my daughter and I are reading this week.

"....He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!'" - J. K. Rowling

Day 5 / 101 - Chalk Festival

Each year the Cleveland Museum of Art hosts a sidewalk chalk festival.  This was the first year that our schedule permitted us to attend.  It was definitely worth the visit.

Some artwork was done by professionals, some by amateurs, some by preschoolers, and everything in between.  Our daughter is our budding artist, so she enjoyed taking the time to decorate a square with a 'Lion in the Desert' scene.  Of course, the real fun came after she returned home and discovered exactly what she could do with chalk in our own driveway.  Unfortunately, rain came before I could capture the entire driveway on film, but you get the idea.

We simply love our Cleveland Museum of Art.  This will not be the first post about it!

Day 4 / 101 - North and South

I believe that reenactments are the absolute best way to teach children History.  Last Friday we reenacted the Civil War.

Along with U.S. Geography, we are also studying U.S. History this year.  We made a trip to Zoar Village, Ohio, for the school field trip portion of their Battle on the Ohio-Erie Canal.  This is our second time attending this program, and once again, we were impressed.  My children discussed with a Union surgeon the advancements in medicine made during the civil war.  They heard the story of an escaped slave and his work on the underground railroad.  They witnessed a blacksmith make horseshoes and nails.  They interacted with President Lincoln.  And, the list goes on......

Of course their favorite part (which was the same as the last time) was the infantry, cavalry, and weapons demonstration.  The cannon shooting in the above picture is the one that sits in front of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

Day 3 / 101 - Map Work

My husband and I love maps.  We can sit and be mesmerized by an atlas for hours.  So, it should come as no surprise that we spend a significant amount of time with our children studying Geography.  This year our homeschool curriculum has us covering U.S. Geography.

I have discovered that one of the easiest ways to teach Geography, and for my children to quickly learn and retain the information, is to have them draw the maps themselves.   We start by tracing.  To begin, I tape a map to a window.  Next, I find a blank piece of paper big enough to cover the map.  If that can't be located, I improvise and tape two sheets of paper together (or three, or four -- depending on the size of the map).  Then, I sit my child in front of the window and put them to work.  Once the map is traced, the children color and add details.  After tracing the map a few times, I believe most children could reproduce one from memory.  My son (age 10) has been able to freehand draw a United States map for a couple years.  We don't just do it with boundary lines, but also with physical features and natural landmarks.

The map pictured above is one of the latest ones traced by my daughter (age 7).  After coloring it, we stapled it to two file folders that we glued together.  Then we covered it with packaging tape (a cheap way to laminate). That way she can write the capitals on the map (she's keeping a running list on the left as she learns them), erase them, and do it again over and over.  Of course we have plenty of dry-erase maps around here, but this one has become a favorite, and is the one she prefers to use, because she made it herself.

Day 2 / 101 - Work Badges

This is really just a 'to-do' list.  But, my kids don't really care for 'to-do' lists (who does...?), so they creatively altered the idea.  They developed their own Work Badge system.

My goal as a homeschooler has always been to foster independent learning and independent working.  These badges help me to do so.  Each morning, the laminated badge is blank.  After breakfast my children begin working through the list and checking off completed tasks.  Everything on the badge can be completed independently and within a couple of hours.  Originally, this was a list posted on the wall, but for some reason the idea of a badge and lanyard made it much more exciting and motivating, so we went with it. Once everything is completed, the badge is erased, and hung up to be easily located the next morning.

This, of course, isn't all we do in a day.  But, it gives us a good start for each morning, and keeps my children occupied while I manage household tasks, or play around on the internet.  :)

Day 1 / 101 - Playaways

Have you heard of Playaways?  Imagine if someone managed to make a simpler version of an already simple product -- the audio book.  That is a playaway.  A playway is a self-playing, pre-loaded digital media player that is so easy to use.  There are audio and video versions, although up to this point, we only have experience with the audio books.

We discovered these at the library a few weeks ago.  They seem to be all the rage in northeast Ohio because the founder of the company is a Case MBA grad (as is my husband), and his company is headquartered in Solon.  The Cuyahoga Library branches carry many playaway books and videos.

My children have popped their headphones on and have listened to everything from literary classics to the latest Rick Riordan tale.  Sometimes they find the printed book and read along.  Other times they just listen.  The playaways are user friendly and so portable.  There is always huge value in hearing something read to you, rather than just reading it yourself.  In my spare time, I've listened to Anne of Green Gables (one of my favorites) while rereading it again.  I've looked into purchasing some, but they are rather pricey.  However, we'll continue to borrow our library's copies for now.  Hope you find some near you.

Welcome!

I've done this before.  The whole blog thing.  Several years ago my husband and I began documenting our life for about three people to read via the world wide web.  For some reason it became a lot of work.  Mostly because his life changed, and he no longer had the time to help me maintain it.  Then we lost all creativity.  In fact, if you're looking to waste more time on the internet than me, you can read about our life, our jobs, how we left those jobs, how we gutted a home in order to sell it, our cross country move, multiple marathon trainings, all kinds of entertainment provided by our children (who were much younger then), and more here.

Since no one really has the time to scroll through our past lives, this post alone might be worth a visit.   It tells why we made the decision to homeschool.  This is our third year homeschooling.  We love it.  My husband often says, "We're a homeschooling family...which means my wife works really, really hard."  Hard work, yes.  But, we've also had a lot of fun.  Homeschooling has come to define us, and I would love to share our experiences with you.  At times we're structured in our methods and other times we're completely unconventional.  That sums up most homeschoolers I know and is one of the joys of homeschooling.

I believe my schedule will permit me to post a couple times a week (hence the 101 Days theme), but honestly I have an ulterior motive.  If I remain committed, this blog will nicely print into our state required portfolio assessment at the end of the school year.  For those of you who have also scrambled to assemble an assessment, I trust you understand my reasoning.  Enjoy!