Day 13 / 104 - The Global Puzzle

Beckley now has a book store.  (That in and of itself probably warrants its own post.)  During our first visit, I purchased this 600-piece world map puzzle.  Geography is one of the subjects my son will be studying in depth this year, so I'm on the lookout for any Geography related enrichment activity.

I was impressed with how quickly my children assembled this puzzle.  Within the first ten minutes, they discovered it was far easier to use his required Atlas to locate all the countries, rather than the puzzle box. Quickly, they had the countries, states, and provinces built.  They spent the rest of the afternoon putting together the oceans.

Day 12 / 104 - Year 5, Day 1

Yesterday, my daughter kicked off her Classical Conversations' year with her first day of Foundations and Essentials. 

This is her fifth year in the program.  Almost all of the material she will be memorizing this year, she has memorized before.  But, that is one of the beauties of the program.  How much easier is it for a child to learn anything once they've mastered the vocabulary of a subject?

Day 11 / 104 - Self-Directed Learning

"Mom.  Today I would like to work on my division facts and that giant Global Map geography puzzle."
 -- Daughter, age 10.

Self-directed learning -- taking responsibility, accountability, and ownership for one's learning. 

Day 10 / 104 - Challenge A

Yesterday, my son began his first day of Challenge A.

Classical Conversations has three programs, Foundations, Essentials, and Challenge.  The Challenge program offers six yearly sequences that correspond with a student's middle and high school years.  The goal of the program is to develop life-long skills of learning while discovering principles within a variety of disciplines.  Students discuss issues inside an academic community with the purpose of cultivating wisdom and virtue.  Six subjects are studied annually emphasizing academic skills from the classical model of education.  Students meet weekly for seminar with a trained tutor (that's me!!) who leads discussion and models for parents how to teach and learn skills in all six subjects. 

Yesterday was a simply fantastic day.

This year will look very different for us as we embark on this new journey.  I anticipate posting regularly about our Challenge A activities and learning adventures.  It's going to be a great year.

This is me, tutoring Latin.  Seriously.

Day 9 / 104 - On, Wisconsin!

During the first week of August, my son headed out for a five-day adventure with his grandfather (my father-in-law) to Wisconsin.  Their final destination was Green Bay to witness the Packers' preseason practices, however they made several stops along the way including Madison and the Wisconsin Dells.

They enjoyed their road trip and had some fantastic stories to share upon arriving home.  My guess is they will plan a similar trip in the future.

Also, if you are keeping track from this post, this brings my son's Total States Visited count up to 44.

Day 8 / 104 - Layered Cake Coloring Flip Book

My 10-year-old daughter created this Flip Book last night with a camera and movie editing software.  Enjoy !!