Our One room Schoolhouse a la Classical Education
I will have a first grader this year!!!! EEEEEEeeeeeeeek!! Now homeschooling gets serious- or a little more serious for sure, we actually have to DO schoolwork!! Hehehe...but I'm not kidding.
There is a lot to learn, a lot to read, a lot to study. I am not bogged down, but I really want to educate myself and make the right choice. There is time though to tweak and switch things up. You too can do it. I am on a mission to get myself more organized, better prepared and really see what we are capable of!! From all my searching online I have come up with a good wealth of information to share on our selected approach of Classical Education.
Great Homeschooling websites:
Holy Experience- I stumbled upon this woman's website months ago when I was searching for something random and it is one of those I haven't been able to stop navigating to. She has a lot of good info, but I mostly like her personal posts actually.
A Well-Trained Mind Blog- If you are leaning toward Classical Education for your homeschooling, this is the place to go.
Ambelside Online Curriculum- a free online intense classical education course, great for readings lists for the kiddos (thanks P!)
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Curriculum Guide- Just a guide with how to select curriculum, how to get what you really need and other important and useful info.
There are also some women who seem to know what I want to read when it comes to home education- they just get me, what can I say? Pioneer Woman Homeschooling and the pretty lady at Passionate Homemaking as well.
Answers to my Classical Education questions, which may be yours too:
What is classical education in a nutshell?? The Joy of Classical Education by Susan Wise Bauer will answer that for sure!
Does Charlotte Mason's approach work with the Classical Education style from Well-Trained Mind AKA Susan Bauer?? Yes it does, they differ a tad and you be the judge of where you lean on the differences.
Why study Latin? Really, LATIN!? yes, classical educators include Latin in language studies. It is good for kids minds, and also for helping them understand their own language. Get a much better answer at An Apology for Latin and Math by Cheryl Lowe.
What on earth did I get myself into?? My kids fight, have bad attitudes and we spend tons of time working on discipline. I loved this post by the homeschooling guru Susan Wise Bauer- School at my House. I read all the ones she has, each time I feel like I am able to do it, her kids act up too!!! It is all part of the learning process really.
How can I get some feedback on the Classical Education style? Oh, well I have asked friends (more like bombarded them) with questions and have looked into The Well-Trained Mind forums as well. TONS of stuff there.
The books that I love (love, love, love) so far on Home Education
If you are interested in a classical approach I would steer you towards these rich materials. They are packed with so much good information that will help you in your selection of materials, state homeschooling laws, local homeschooling connections and much more. These are the two books that I go back to again and again- especially this first one. The second is more the practical application as well as information.
Great book on everything a la Classical Education- this is one amazing book!
I just got this one and can't put it down, there is so much good information on "The Gentle Art of Learning" also from the classical education approach
Within the next bit I will post up about what materials we have chosen to use for our first grader. This may help you learn something- but I am always happy to hear your comments on if you have used the materials and what you have to say as well (good or bad).
What other websites or books would you recommend?? I NEED information!! I just love doing all this. It so isn't a chore yet so I want to get as much info while I am still very excited about the process of home education. Give me tips, links, ideas or ask questions, pretty please!?!?
NurtureShock (the best parenting/child studies book I have EVER read!)
Nurtureshock: New Thinking about Children
This is the best parenting/child development book I have read ever!! I just cannot recommend this book enough. Every time I think about it I want to grab whoever is next to me and tell them that this book is so important and each individual who has any contact with children at all should read it. I wish you could see the full extent of my smile and how I was nodding up and down with my head like a car dash toy pretty much the whole way through NurtureShock. It is sickingly good.
There were several chapters that gave me the chills as I read them, one is the first chapter which is titled The Inverse Power of Praise, and subtitled "Sure, he's special. But new research suggests that if you tell him that, you'll ruin him. It's a neurobiological fact". Okay, so you can probably see where that is going-but the amount of research and time proved what I have known since day one with my boys. My oldest is very smart and educational success comes easily, however I have noticed that he is much quicker to give up than his younger sibling if he doesn't get it right the first time. That is a key of this chapter, that the way we praise our children makes a world of difference as to if they will quit or try until they get it. I can't tell you just how important this chapter is to me, especially since I am staying at home with the boys and we are homeschooling. The second I got this info I tried it and it is completely true- he started to be proud of how hard he was working and not give up as quickly!!
Another chapter (Chapter 3) Why White Parents Don't Talk About Race, subtitled "Does teaching children about race and skin color make them better off or worse?" was shocking! This one will BLOW YOUR MIND. Study after study shows that children DO notice racial differences even if their parents never mention it at all. What this does is it causes them to think that they aren't supposed to notice these differences either-but since they do notice they begin to think all sorts of negatives about why their parents don't want to discuss it.
This chapter as well proved to be completely true in our home. We have been around people of different races, they have friends with different skin tones so I figured-hey why cause distinctions where there shouldn't be any and thus ignoring the issue. I mostly did this because I really had no idea how to talk about it or what to say. Immediately after reading this chapter in the book I began telling the boys about different races, and that we needed to be sure to treat all people equal no matter if they have dark skin, light skin...and so on. Jackson's face lit up and he said, " I was wondering why all those men who play football looked like they have dark skin but I think they are just dirty-they probably smell bad too". I could not believe I was so naive as to think kids could figure out such a difficult issue without my guidance. I guide them in everything else! My negligence could have been really bad if I hadn't figured it out while reading this book. Kids will make guesses as to why others are different and without a parent's guidance they will generally make very wrong assumptions. Now I tell all my friends-"Don't hide race from your kids, they see it!". My kids are 5 and 3 and they noticed already. I now am an advocate for discussing race with children!!
Those are just two of the chapters in the book and you see how it gets me going!? The other chapter titles are:
1. The Inverse Power of Praise "Sure, he's special. But new research suggests that if you tell him that, you'll ruin him. It's a neurobiological fact"
2. The Lost Hour "Around the world, children get an hour less sleep than they did thirty years ago. The cost: IQ Points, emotional well-being, ADHD, and obesity"
3. Why White Parents Don't Talk About Race "Does teaching children about race and skin color make them better off or worse?"
4. Why Kids Lie "We may treasure honesty, but the research is clear. Most classic strategies to promote truthfulness just encourage kids to be better liars",
5. The Search for Intelligent Life in Kindergarten "Millions of kids are competing for seats in gifted programs and private schools. Admissions officers say it's an art: new science days they're wrong, 73% of the time"
6. The Sibling Effect "Freud was wrong. Shakespeare was right. Why siblings really fight"
7. The Science of Teen Rebellion " Why for adolescents, arguing with adults is a sign of respect, not disrespect-and arguing is constructive to the relationship, not destructive"
8. Can Self-Control Be Taught? "Developers of a new kind of preschool keep losing their grant money-the students are so successful they're no longer "a-risk enough" to warrant further study. What's their secret?
9. Plays Well With Others "Why modern involved parenting has failed to produce a generation of angels"
10. Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn't "Despite scientists' admonitions, parents still spend billions every year on gimmicks and videos, hoping to jump-start infants' language skills. What's the right way to accomplish this goal?"
Again after I wrote all those out I thought, " I need to read Nuture Shock again!!!" Uh-oh! I really just can't tell you how much I think this book will blow you away. I didn't %100 agree with every single thing, but really about %99 of it for sure. I can almost guarantee that you will probably want to underline and pass this book around to your friends. It is the best parenting book that I have read ever. EVER. And captivating to read too- you will understand for the first time so many things that you thought you already knew. A MUST READ.
- ISBN: 9780446504126
- Subtitle: New Thinking about Children
- Author: Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
- Publisher: Twelve
- Subject:Parenting, Child rearing, Child Development, Children's Studies
- Copyright:2009
- Publication Date:September 2009
- Pages:336
I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids
If you are a parent, you know that a parent does what a parents gotta do-that is just the way it is. We drive the kids around, we make sure they brush their teeth, we take them to school (or even Homeschool them) we aim to do everything short of coddling them in order to have them turn out into able bodied adults and well rounded individuals. However from so much scheduling and activity the most important aspect of a whole person, which is the spirit and soul is many times neglected, or passed off as "the Sunday school teacher's job". We aren't doing our job as parents who love Jesus if we aren't intentional in instilling faith into our children.
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is a book, or even more a type of help manual which goes through each age and stage of the child from preschool through high school and equips parents with the tools necessary to pour a passion for what is right into their children. It is called How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph because no matter what the situation, Joseph (yes as in the Joseph with the coat of many colours) was able to make the right decision even when life really was not seeming to move in his favor. God gave him a dream as a boy and he must have thought many times that it was just a hoax and that God was no where close- however the faith that he kept when it came time to make the right choices is to be admired. He was surrounded by a people who didn't know God, who worshiped all different sorts of gods and he didn't even have a local home Bible study to go to, or a youth group and still he stood strong.
That is what every christian parent should aim to nurture in their child, not that everything is up to the parent, but it is nice to know when your kids grow up that you did what you could with the gift that God blessed you with. It isn't up to a youth leader to train your children spiritually, just as much as it isn't up to the pastor make you grow. The biggest problem with kids and adults alike is that they think they go to church to be challenged and to grow- and the result is that church has never been so full of saggy and faithless Sunday-only Christians. It is up to the individual to trust God, to place their feet on steadfast ground, no program for adults or kids will ever fashion that on its own. With or without programs and church events, we as parents are called to guide our children into a real relationship with Christ.
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is not a step by step guide on how to raise all children, it is a guide for creating a personalized and practical plan to best help your children bloom into teenagers who know, love and serve their Lord. I will use this book with my kids. We have started working with it and I love the scripture verses that it has for each different age group. Modern-Day Joseph is an excellent book for parents to keep on hand.
Title: How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph
ISBN: 9781434765314
Subtitle: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids (An Awana Resource)
Author: Linda Weddle
Publisher: David C. Cook
Subject: Christian Life - Family
Publication Date: June 2009
Pages: 220
I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!
Work and Play in the Garden
How does your garden grow? Ours grows with water, weeding, and watching. The boys enjoy helping me with their red wagon, they pretend to "harvest" weeds, and then bake them in the sun to kill them. These are all activities that I welcome, as they are becoming pretty rapidly semi-professional weeders. The progress the garden is making is good as well. There are currently TONS of green tomatoes just waiting to ripen up. I harvested variegated sage, pineapple sage and chamomile last week. I'll be sure to put some pictures of up of that process.
Isn’t that nice of Him? We get to go.
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news,
proclaim peace, bring glad tidings of good things,
proclaim salvation, and proclaim to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Isaiah 52: 7
When He says "Go", pretty much all you can do is say, "sure". I guess "No" would work too, if you had no fear of God or disobedience (think Jonah). God is calling us to move to Spain long term, to be missionaries, all we know now is that we need to be obedient, each little decision and step at a time. We are asking Jesus to call us out onto the water with him, to feel the faith within us swell when we are walking on the water, and then the second fear and dobut seep in His hand is there to catch us.
This is what our son Jackson (5 years old) had to say about Spain, the following conversation is what he said the first time we told him that we were moving to Spain for good:
b: God is telling us He wants us to go live in Spain and tell people about Jesus. We are going to live there and be missionaries for a long time.
j: (Huge smile) That is so nice of Him!
b: what do you mean?
j: I mean, we like Spain and it is so nice of Him to send us somewhere we already want to go! Isn't that nice of Him?
It is more than nice of Him, we are honoured to be called, it is an honour to go, to be used, to get to live in a far away place, and get to sew seeds into the place where I grew up. Spain, it certainly is nice of God to let us go somewhere we want to go. Children and their blind faith--but maybe it is more than that, God spoke through a donkey didn't He now?
Chores and Children: On How They Go Together
Jackson and Oliver do chores every day, we don't have a list on the wall or stars or a system of rotation (because that is not really our style), but because they are now getting older and can do more than just exist a list may be in order.
While googling "chore charts" I was stunned to find information from studies on how choreless children are the cause of higher divorce rates when they grow up, to those who think that sports can be counted as chores. Let me shock them peeps into reality, sports are not chores, sports do require doing training, but it is entirely different. I did track, cross country, soccer, and I can tell you that as much as there is physical training (which teaches perseverance, endurance...and so on), it really is just not the same as taking out the trash, or cleaning out the cat box. You get no crowd cheers when you take out the trash, you don't get applause or standing ovations. Doing chores prepares children to deal with the fact of life, that hardly ever are you going to be recognised for doing dirty work, it is just what is expected of you as a person.
If you are thinking that making kids do chores is the easy way out, think again. It will pay off in the long run, but this is not about instant gratification. As far as the parent goes, it does take much longer to teach a child how to do the chore you could do in several minutes. Try to not think that way. You are training you child to do do something on their own, which in the beginning will take much more work, but in the end you will have children who can be responsible for completing a task the way it should be done. Resist, I'll say that again, RESIST the desire to go over the job after they have finished thinking that they won't notice. If a chore is not completed to your satisfaction, first take a moment to praise the child for the work that they put into it and ask them to please come back to learn to perfect it. This is really important because if you go behind your children checking their work they will expect that of you and not learn to do it the right way themselves. Teach it to be done exactly the way you want it done, then after tons of time you will have relieved yourself of that chore.
Want to hear something crazy? My boys LOVE chores. It really helps that we started early to have them take over little things. They are always in charge of cleaning up their toys, putting away crafts they got out, and cleaning their room. Chores are good for kids, they learn to master skills, they find value in themselves for their hard work, they learn that the world does not revolve around them, learn to work as a team with siblings, they gain independence and they learn responsibility.
Chores for a three-year-old:
-help put food away
-help set the table
-wipe chairs
-feed cats
-fill cats water
-help feed chickens
-help collect eggs
-make bed
-clean up toys
-get dressed
-empty hamper
-taking his dirty clothes to hamper
-unload silverware into right compartments
Chores for a five-year-old:
-water garden
-water plants
-take sheets off beds
-fold laundry
-put laundry away
-fill washer
-transfer clothes from washer to dryer
-wipe counters in bathroom
-wipe table
-wipe chairs
-clear table
-put food away
-set the table
-feed cats
-fill cats water
-clean cat box
-vacuum small areas with dirt devil
-feed chickens
-fill up chicken's water
-collect eggs
-make bed
-clean up toys
-get dressed
-empty hamper
-taking his dirty clothes to hamper
-unload silverware into right compartments
Some chore ideas for your kids:
Simple Chores for Preschoolers
Chore Charts
What chores did you do when you were a kid? Were there some that you remember dreading? How about ideas, do you have other fabulous chore suggestions?
How to Mess Up Your Child's Life
How to Mess Up Your Child's Life
Proven Strategies & Practical Tips
by Olivia and Kurt Bruner
Authors of Playstation Nation
208 pages
FaithWords (March 25, 2009)
Written to equip every parent to be a master at creating the perfect messed up kid, granting each parent the ability to destroy their child mind, body and soul. Olivia and Kurt Bruner's book How To Mess Up Your Child's Life is an intensely humours book on how to create and perfect the kid who we've all seen, the one we've wished was our own: the one who constantly feels entitled to all his birthday gifts and does not know the words 'thank you', the little girl who throws a fit to get her way and her parents happily give in, the grown man who pushes an elderly woman out of his way because he needs to get there first. Yes, we have all seen and admired these people, and wished for them in our own lives and now with the genius help of Oliver and Kurt Bruner you too can have children who are the envy of messed up!
Not really, no. Well you could...but I am guessing you got the sarcasm in those above lines (you did right??) So, this book is genius, but because it is funny, filled with truth and very insightful, on what NOT to do just as much as on what TO do. I have read Doctor Dobson, and other such gurus before, but this book is by far my favourite parenting book to date. It really is displayed and explained in a way that makes sense! Olivia and Kurt break down the chapters into "the seven deadly sins" of which they explain all other sins stem out of. At the end of each chapter there is are activities to reinforce the attitudes in your children, movies to watch to help them understand, and goofy games and things to do as a family to help you all grasp the darkness of each sin.
Just so you get a taste, I'll list the chapters:
Chapter One: Nurturing an Enormous Ego
(Deadly Sin: Pride)
Chapter Two: Inspiring Lasting Discontent
(Deadly Sin: Envy)
Chapter Three: Encouraging an Expressive Temper
(Deadly Sin: Anger)
Chapter Four: Feeding a Voracious Appetite
(Deadly Sin: Gluttony)
Chapter Five: Discouraging Frivolous Generosity
(Deadly Sin: Greed)
Chapter Six: Fostering Total Dependence
(Deadly Sin: Sloth)
Chapter Seven: Condoning Sensual Gratification
(Deadly Sin: Lust)
Chapter Eight: Instilling Faith
(Whatever You Do, Don't!)
Personally I got more out of this book in understanding kids, and myself than any other book. I loved the style and thought it was really funny. How To Mess Up Your Child's Life is written in a way that really made sense to me and to which I could relate to. It wasn't all about creating the perfect child, making him perfect in all aspects. It is more a molding and modeling and allowing the growth to be the fruit rather than what was demanded. I feel it attacks the key issues and leaves the rest. As a parent I am constantly working on choosing the battles that are actually important (versus the fact that a child is just really getting on my nerves) and Olivia and Kent really hit it home in this one. Highly recommended.
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