Day 95 / 104 - Dissecting Pigs

With help from many others, my Challenge A class pulled this off today.  They loved it.

Fortunately, my daughter was able to sit in on the fun, too.

Day 94 / 104 - Crispin: The Cross of Lead

Another three weeks have passed, so it's time to tell post about another Literature assignment.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead is set in 14th Century England.  Crispin is a serf and peasant boy who finds himself without direction and without help as he is falsely accused of a crime.  Like in most memorable novels, Crispin's true identity is unknown to him throughout most of the story.  His life changes when he discovers who he belongs to.

My son and I loved this book.  I finished it in two days (mostly due to my poor planning, but also because it was difficult to put down).  Completing his assignments on Invention, Arrangement, and Elocution came easier this time since my son loved the story so.

Day 93 / 104 - Piano Recital

It was full couple of days for my daughter as Thursday she proofed for Memory Master and presented on Deborah Sampson, and then on Sunday she, and her brother, had their annual spring piano recital.

Both children played their pieces beautifully and without any hiccups. They are such a joy to listen to.  Our piano teacher in Beckley has been such a blessing to us.  I'm amazed at how much my children have progressed musically in the short time we've lived here.  We will miss her greatly!

Day 92 / 104 - A Woman in Uniform

My daughter ended her Essentials year with a two-page report and presentation on Deborah Sampson.  If you are unfamiliar, Deborah Sampson is the first American woman (that we know of) who impersonated a man in order to enlist in the army during the Revolutionary War.  She fought in battle for over two years while keeping her gender a secret.  Following her service, she was also the first American woman to go on a lecture tour as she traveled throughout New England telling her story.

The Faces of History assignment is always a fun way to end our Essentials year.

Day 91 / 104 - Memory Master

This is my fourth year keeping this blog.  This is my fourth time posting about a Memory Master.

In order to not be too repetitive, a Memory Master is a honor bestowed on Classical Conversations Foundations students who have mastered all of the memory work during the twenty-four weeks of Foundations classes.  It is not a simple process.  In fact, I recently posted that I gave my daughter the choice to opt out of the process this year.  She firmly told me that was not a choice.

This year we completed Cycle 3 of the Foundations memory work, so she memorized:

- 161 events and people in a chronological timeline
- 24 history sentences to add depth to our timeline (including the Preamble to the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights)
- 44 US Presidents
- 120 locations and geographic features in North America
- 24 science facts (including the first 12 elements of the periodic table and the parts of 8 body systems)
- Latin rules and vocabulary (including the text of John 1:1-7 in Latin and English)
- English grammar facts (including the principal parts of 11 irregular verbs)
- Multiplication tables up to 15x15, common squares and cubes, as well as basic geometry formulas and unit conversions

She now has become a Memory Master for all three Classical Conversations cycles.  She pulled out all her t-shirts to compare.

What kept her in the process, even though our lives are rather chaotic at the moment, was the opportunity to pie our Foundations Director in the face when she earned the title.  This was her greatest source of motivation.

Feel free to follow the links to read about our previous Memory Master journeys. 2012, 2013, 2014.

Day 90 / 104 - Paintball

Twice a year my son plays paintball with several members of our local junior/senior high homeschool group.  This is always an incredible highlight for him.  So much so, that he has pleaded with us to let him return to play paintball after we move out of the area.

Alpine Ministries graciously hosts our students on their rugged course while providing us with a discounted rate for their afternoon.

Day 89 / 104 - Nature's Night Light

I love this lightning bug canvas that my daughter painted yesterday.  Even though all of her canvasses are packed (because of this), I did find a place to display this one where it appears properly 'staged'.

Day 88 / 104 - CC End of Year Celebration

Due to four weeks of snow cancellations, our Classical Conversations community has not ended for the academic year.  However months ago we scheduled our year-end gathering, so we celebrated Friday night by recognizing our students' accomplishments.  Both of my children, along with their friends, showcased to the community their achievements as a result of being involved with Classical Conversations.

Inspired by Friday night's gathering, I searched for a picture of my children the year they began their Classical Conversations journey.

Day 87 / 104 - Discovering Great American Artists

Since we have been studying U.S. History this year, it is only natural that we would also learn about great American artists.

Over a six week period of time, my daughter learned about Grandma Moses, Norman Rockwell, Georgia O'Keefe, Andrew Wyeth, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jim Davis.  Each week, during her Foundations class, she would learn about the styles, techniques and works of the various artist, and then complete a related activity for each artist.

Pictured are five of her six related assignments.  (Her Grandma Moses artwork is on display for our End-of-Year celebration.)  If you are familiar with any of the artists listed above, I believe you will be able to identify which picture belongs to which artist.

Day 86 / 104 - Latin Graffiti Wall

Last week, my Challenge A students visited the Challenge B class for their Latin seminar.  While observing the class, I was even more convinced of one thing -- the most important Latin concept Challenge A students can (and should) master is the vocabulary.  Once the vocabulary words are mastered, it frees up the students to learn countless other Latin grammar concepts.

In light of that, yesterday I covered our sizable white board with Latin vocabulary words, color coding them by nouns, adjectives, and verbs.  Students would take turns at the board translating a word and then erasing it if correct.  This was similar to a review activity that I completed with my Essentials class last spring.

We have four more Latin seminars left this academic year.  I'm anticipating spending quite a bit of that time reviewing Latin vocabulary.

Day 85 / 104 - House for Sale

I've written about this before.  This is the second time, in our six years of homeschooling, that we've taking on the added challenge of transitioning our lives and selling our home.  If you have never experienced this, attempting to sell a home becomes a lifestyle.  Homeschooling is a lifestyle.  To those of you who have ever accomplished both at the same time, you understand why this situation warrants its own post in this year's annual portfolio.

Day 84 / 104 - Montclaire Sting Quartet

Every spring Classical Conversations Foundations students spend six-weeks studying the orchestra.  Often, we try to arrange at least one field trip to see a symphony during this time.  This spring, we opted to host a Quartet-in-Residence from the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.  A large part of the quartet's mission is to bring classical music to children throughout West Virginia.

The Montclaire String Quartet played delightfully for our homeschool community on Monday.   The musicians educated us with a wonderful, up-close introduction to the string instrument family, covering many baseline musical and cross-disciplinary concepts.

Day 83 / 102 - Arrangement and Factorials

In my son's Math text, he's been studying compound probability.  Recent lessons had him drawing tree diagrams to list possible outcomes of events.  He loved this concept, and he desperately wanted to find a way to teach it to his Challenge A class.

There are five students in the class, and they often sit in the same five chairs.  He wanted the class to help him discover how many different ways they could be seated around the table.  He used what he had learned, as well as making his classmates rotate seats a few times, to show them that there were 120 different ways the 5 of them could sit around the table.

Fortunately, in his preparation, we came across the video above which taught us how to use the Factorial! button on a calculator.  My life has been revolutionized.  Plus, the video is a lot of fun.

Day 82 / 104 - A Gathering of Days

This was my son's least favorite reading assignment this year.  As a result, I made him complete every assignment.

This is unlike how I've responded to every other educational opportunity we've had through the years.  Usually, if my children don't like a book, I let them put it down and not finish it.  Or if they're not interested in a learning activity, I don't force them to become interested in it.  I put it away.  Learning should be fun and, for the most part, interest-based.

But, my son is now 13 1/2.  He's old enough to reason with.  Also, he's old enough to learn that sometimes we complete tasks because we have to, even if we don't want to.

My son despised this book.  (If you are unfamiliar with it, it's actually not half-bad.  It's a fictional journal of a New Hampshire girl in the 1830's.  It has a Little House feel without the phenomenal story telling of Wilder.)  It's not a long book, but it took him forever to finish it.  Often while reading, he would stop and complain.  Then we would have a conversation about what he didn't like about the story.  My response was, "Interestingly, with all your complaining about this book, we have discussed it far more than any of the other literature selections this year."

After reading a book, our curriculum has us spending three weeks on each piece of literature as we learn to write a persuasive essay.  The first week, we invent an idea to write about.  The second week, we arrange our thoughts,  The third week, we compose our essays.  We have related assignments to assist us with those three responsibilities.  For A Gathering of Days, my son completed every assignment assigned.

It was a victory for both of us !!

Day 81 / 104 - Memory Master Prep

About a week ago I gave my daughter the option of not becoming a Memory Master (even though she has earned this title more than once).  We've had much on the agenda this spring, and with my transition into Challenge A I simply have not kept up on her memory work like I have in the past.  Surprisingly, backing out of Memory Master was not a viable option for her.  I was shocked mostly because follow-through is not one of her strengths.  Also, there might have been one (or more!) arguments that ended with tears her first two times through the process.

I reasoned with her that if she was still up for the challenge, she needed to have the rest of the information mastered by the end of this week.  She's pretty confident with about 90% of the material.  Again, to my surprise, she has owned this.  Today, independently, she devised a color system to help her with her U.S. Geography, specifically the physical features.  She spent some time teaching herself what she didn't already have memorized.

There is quite a difference in the Memory Master process between a student who wants to become a Memory Master versus a student whose parents want her to become a Memory Master.  Once a student is old enough to own this process, the goal seems quite manageable.  I'm now excited to see her through this process over the next two weeks.

Day 80 / 104 - Carowinds

Amusement parks are always ripe with educational opportunities, none more obvious than Social Studies (of the people, not the subject).  We're excited to be within a stone's throw of a Cedar Fair park, and we look forward to visiting frequently over the next seven months.

Day 79 / 104 - Immigrants Flock to America

My daughter left for her Foundations class Thursday morning with two costume dresses, a 7-point green headband, and a cardboard box boat.  The goal?  Reenact Immigrants Flock to America with two of her classmates for their presentation.

Day 78 / 104 - March Happens At The Table

Somehow this month passed with the blink of my eye.  We started the month with more snow.  Then a flood.  Then even more snow.  Finally, spring sprung.  Family visited.  My husband and I began processing a situation to reevaluate what is truly important to us.  Sickness overwhelmed me.  And, we're moving.  The move happens this summer, and we've been planning for it for sometime.  But, March brought added responsibilities as we've prepped our house for the real estate market and traveled back and forth to the city which will become our new home.  In the midst of it all, some days I managed to school my children.  Keeping track of what has been happening at the table has been an encouragement to me because I realize I haven't missed the day-to-day even during major transitions.

There's been game-playing and crafting.  (My daughter recently embraced the use-fabric-markers-on-canvas-shoes phenomenon, so take comfort in knowing the shoe on the table was being decorated and had not yet been worn.  This time.)

I mentioned before that my son is learning the Human Anatomy systems this semester mostly by drawing and labeling.  This is similar to how we've been studying Geography all year.  Regardless of the disarray at the table, these have been the two simplest subjects for him to complete because all he needs is a piece of paper and a pencil.  His Challenge A classmates have enjoyed these two subjects also.

Unrelated to education, there is one of those specialty gourmet donut bakeries near our new place of residence.  The first donut I inhaled was filled with peanut butter and banana.  It was delightful.

Finally, to end March, I took a picture last night at 11:00 pm.  I love the tea cup doodle, the Aaron Rodgers football card, and of course the moving box.  As an April Fool's Day prank, perhaps my table will be uncluttered by this evening.

Feel free to follow along and join in on Instagram (link to my profile on the right) and use the hashtag, #LifeHappensAtTheTable.