Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Week 22 - Weather Fronts - Experiment Extravaganza Day!
Today on Wonderful Wednesdays we explored Weather Fronts and did multiple experiments related to the topic of weather. We did 7 experiments in all today....I guess you'd say we had an experiment extravaganza day! We also did a weather map and then had the children be "weatherman/woman" and give us their forecast for the Country.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Linking Verbs
Today my daughter and I were discussing how it would be easiest for her to remember the linking verbs, we decided that making a linking verb chain would be one fun way. Here is her chain she made....
After we completed the chain, Sarah decided that making a video of the linking verbs song with her linking chain was the best way for her to learn it. She really enjoys making videos (as do most kids these days). We've used making videos and coming up with hand motions or word associations to learn various pieces of the memory work helpful. I find that the more input she has on the process of how to go about memorizing the information, the easier it is for her to memorize it.
So today I introduced all the linking verbs via the "ants go marching in" song. She sang it several times and then we began making the video. Each time she would do a "take" and immediately want to watch herself on my iphone. Then there might be something like a pause, missed word or other little error or thing she didn't like....so we'd remake it. We did that over and over again. By the time she made a video she liked and wanted to "keep" -she had the whole song memorized for the most part. Sneaky fun to get her to memorize the memory work - all you need is a cell phone!
After we completed the chain, Sarah decided that making a video of the linking verbs song with her linking chain was the best way for her to learn it. She really enjoys making videos (as do most kids these days). We've used making videos and coming up with hand motions or word associations to learn various pieces of the memory work helpful. I find that the more input she has on the process of how to go about memorizing the information, the easier it is for her to memorize it.
So today I introduced all the linking verbs via the "ants go marching in" song. She sang it several times and then we began making the video. Each time she would do a "take" and immediately want to watch herself on my iphone. Then there might be something like a pause, missed word or other little error or thing she didn't like....so we'd remake it. We did that over and over again. By the time she made a video she liked and wanted to "keep" -she had the whole song memorized for the most part. Sneaky fun to get her to memorize the memory work - all you need is a cell phone!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Vermicomposting -finding Science in your yard!
I've given gardening a try. The first year, it was beautiful - up until the entire thing was taken over by some sort of fungus right before I could get much of a harvest from what I had planted. My husband mercilessly teased me about my $100 cup of green beans. Since that was about all I got before the mold got everything! The second year, my husband injured his back and required surgery - so I didn't have time to plant or attend to the garden. To my surprise, the entire garden came up anyway - a volunteer garden - it all just started growing! It actually did better than the one I painstakingly (and expensively, as my husband pointed out...LOL) planted the year before! So....this year, I decided to enlist the help of a Master Gardener! I signed up for a local homeschool family gardening club so I could learn what to do and what NOT to do (though I think I am ahead on that learning curve!). The first class that came up actually fit wonderfully with what we've been studying this year. It was a class on vermicomposting.
We learned about how to properly compost - what you can put in and what you shouldn't, how much air it needs and why, how much turning it takes and why, and how to layer what you put in and what breaks down the materials into "black gold"! The Master Gardener then brought out a bucket of her own compost from her home compost pile. She proceeded to place large piles in front of the kids and gave them popsicle sticks, petri dishes and told them to dig around and investigate to see what they could find and put it in the petri dish. Well, we found round worms, segmented worms, eggs, centipedes and other bugs important to the process of vermicomposting. The various collectibles were placed in the petri dish for closer inspection with magnifying glasses and comparisons were made around the classroom.
We had our own sidebar going CC style....we discussed whether the things we were finding were vertebrates or invertebrates, what kingdom they belonged to and their classification. We talked about how the various creatures reproduced - in this case fragmentation and some by egg. We also discussed the scientific method and hypothesized what we would find and why and what our materials were we were using. It turned out to be very educational. I'm not sure I learned what I should have since I got distracted with my sidebar, but the kids certainly had a great time bringing their Science to life!
So...if you have compost in your backyard, or even if you just have dirt in a pretty flower bed, think about getting a shovel and digging up some compost or dirt, to make a deeper investigation of what lies beneath and tie that to this years Science to make it come alive in a fun and meaningful way!
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Saturday, February 23, 2013
Practicing for Memory Master
We are working towards Memory Master around our house. The idea of Foundations is that you work towards mastering the memory work. If you've read The Core by Leigh A. Bortins then you understand the reasons for working hard in the Foundation's years on the memory work. I'd highly recommend reading her book if you haven't already. I'll be posting more about the memory work and "why bother" with mastery at a later date. :)
I had to laugh today as my daughter was eating her lunch after doing a bunch of drills for Memory Master. She had mashed sweet potatoes, chicken and sliced red peppers. I look over and she's building a volcano out of her sweet potatoes. I see her put a red pepper in it and declare "Look Mom, it's an active volcano!" She then removed the red pepper, eats it and then puts a piece of chicken on top of her "volcano" and declares "This is the smoke of an intermittent volcano, Mom!" and then eats that piece. Next she takes the "volcano" potatoes and closes her "crater" and says "This is a dormant volcano!" and she proceeds to finish eating. I thought to myself, I wonder how many kids in Public School think this way?
I'm always trying to help her see how things relate to one another and how the subjects cross over from one to another and ultimately, all point back to God. I realized just how classical her thinking is becoming while eating lunch today....she's not confined to thinking within the context of the subject she's in. What she's learning flows into her entire life - even her food. It's the paradigm she views her life through. She's learning to think classically.
I've been asked by several Moms about how to prepare your child for Memory Master if their child has expressed an interest in doing it. Each child is certainly different, but I can share some of the things I do at home and within my CC Community to try and foster an atmosphere of excellence - which is ultimately, what Memory Master is about to me.
Having a special needs son has taught me to expect more than you may see on the surface in people and especially, children. Expecting your child can be a Memory Master, instills confidence and helps them to work harder and go beyond what they may even think they can do. I treat my entire class that way. I set that tone for my class from day one - this year they almost all raised their hand that they were going to go for Memory Master testing next month. They may or may not all make it to the Director level - but the fact that they all wanted to do it and are going to at least go as far as testing with me, spoke volumes to me. They've been like iron sharpening iron this year and all striving and working very hard and it shows and they're only 6-8 year olds! I'm very proud of my class and what I've seen them achieve so far this year. I encourage and push them in love, hoping to inspire them to reach their full potential. I set the bar high and make it fun and love them, so they want to reach it. I'd encourage you to do the same at home. Set the bar high, push them in love, when they do more than they thought they could-reward that and give them confidence that they can do more than they think they can!
On a practical level I drill at home consistently throughout the weeks.
Throughout the school week I take my CC Foundations guide and in pencil I ask her to go through one or two subjects for 6 weeks worth of memory work and mark any areas she might need help or get incorrect with a check mark. I re-drill those areas that are weak and retest multiple times to make sure she has it mastered before I move on. We do it silly and funny to make it not so arduous. We may sing in opera, dance as we sing it, stomp, clap, run, jump or whatever she wants to do to make it more fun. Some days I let her jump on our indoor trampoline and drill through the memory work! Whatever it takes!
I also offer to cut down on copy work for the things she can answer correctly. For example, instead of writing out all her skip counts on a given day for Math, she may "skip" the copy work for the ones she can say correctly. Any one that she requires help or hesitates, she writes them out. I use the memory work as a way for her to earn various things throughout the day. For example, if my daughter asks me for a break, I'll say "sure if you can skip the X's or tell me about X" (insert any memory work for X). Of course, she gets it whether she's correct or not and it just tells me if I need to drill it more. We also listen to our CD in the car and I have it on my MAC in the kitchen and it plays throughout the morning during breakfast or at dinner. We put the video on of the timeline hand motions and we do them watching the video side by side together on some mornings for review.
I try to weave CC throughout her days and make it a part of our everyday conversations. Anything that can tie into the memory work from this (or the previous two cycles), I am always pointing out (and now she's getting good actually, at pointing them out too).
Copy work for the memory work which is available on CC Connected and comes with the Teaching Plan, as well as file folder games that are available for matching up memory work is also great review. Another thing we do is together think of hand motions that create an association so it's easier to remember the memory work. For example on the Four Types of Volcanoes - we used jogging in place for "active", we traced our hand like we had a mitten on for "interMITTent", we put our hands up to our heads like we're napping on them for "dormant" and finally for "extinct" we stuck our tongue out and put our hands up to our throats like we were dying. We do projects in Wonderful Wednesdays that also create understanding and give visual/tangible ways for the kids to interact with the memory work and remember it. The more ways they can interact with the memory work -create associations, see it and hear it - the more likely they are to master it AND enjoy it (you too Mom and Dad)!
We do use Youtube some to just review and for fun with the memory work:
Video on Weeks 13-24 Math Memory Work I really like this link and we watch it every week a few times to review with. It really helps!
Week 24 Presidents Song Review This is also good review and goes with CD.
Fun Preposition Song for Review We like this song and used it this year - it's just fun!
helping verbs song
helping verbs alternate song
We also get on CC Connected and watch the timeline motions as I mentioned earlier as well as do the online Tutorials. Variety of ways to hear it/see it, consistency and constant exposure!
I hope those ideas help inspire you to come up with new and innovative ways to review the memory work and teach it each week! I'd love to hear any of your ideas in the comments if you have some ways I haven't mentioned above to review your memory work and work towards Memory Master.
I had to laugh today as my daughter was eating her lunch after doing a bunch of drills for Memory Master. She had mashed sweet potatoes, chicken and sliced red peppers. I look over and she's building a volcano out of her sweet potatoes. I see her put a red pepper in it and declare "Look Mom, it's an active volcano!" She then removed the red pepper, eats it and then puts a piece of chicken on top of her "volcano" and declares "This is the smoke of an intermittent volcano, Mom!" and then eats that piece. Next she takes the "volcano" potatoes and closes her "crater" and says "This is a dormant volcano!" and she proceeds to finish eating. I thought to myself, I wonder how many kids in Public School think this way?
I'm always trying to help her see how things relate to one another and how the subjects cross over from one to another and ultimately, all point back to God. I realized just how classical her thinking is becoming while eating lunch today....she's not confined to thinking within the context of the subject she's in. What she's learning flows into her entire life - even her food. It's the paradigm she views her life through. She's learning to think classically.
I've been asked by several Moms about how to prepare your child for Memory Master if their child has expressed an interest in doing it. Each child is certainly different, but I can share some of the things I do at home and within my CC Community to try and foster an atmosphere of excellence - which is ultimately, what Memory Master is about to me.
Having a special needs son has taught me to expect more than you may see on the surface in people and especially, children. Expecting your child can be a Memory Master, instills confidence and helps them to work harder and go beyond what they may even think they can do. I treat my entire class that way. I set that tone for my class from day one - this year they almost all raised their hand that they were going to go for Memory Master testing next month. They may or may not all make it to the Director level - but the fact that they all wanted to do it and are going to at least go as far as testing with me, spoke volumes to me. They've been like iron sharpening iron this year and all striving and working very hard and it shows and they're only 6-8 year olds! I'm very proud of my class and what I've seen them achieve so far this year. I encourage and push them in love, hoping to inspire them to reach their full potential. I set the bar high and make it fun and love them, so they want to reach it. I'd encourage you to do the same at home. Set the bar high, push them in love, when they do more than they thought they could-reward that and give them confidence that they can do more than they think they can!
On a practical level I drill at home consistently throughout the weeks.
Throughout the school week I take my CC Foundations guide and in pencil I ask her to go through one or two subjects for 6 weeks worth of memory work and mark any areas she might need help or get incorrect with a check mark. I re-drill those areas that are weak and retest multiple times to make sure she has it mastered before I move on. We do it silly and funny to make it not so arduous. We may sing in opera, dance as we sing it, stomp, clap, run, jump or whatever she wants to do to make it more fun. Some days I let her jump on our indoor trampoline and drill through the memory work! Whatever it takes!
I also offer to cut down on copy work for the things she can answer correctly. For example, instead of writing out all her skip counts on a given day for Math, she may "skip" the copy work for the ones she can say correctly. Any one that she requires help or hesitates, she writes them out. I use the memory work as a way for her to earn various things throughout the day. For example, if my daughter asks me for a break, I'll say "sure if you can skip the X's or tell me about X" (insert any memory work for X). Of course, she gets it whether she's correct or not and it just tells me if I need to drill it more. We also listen to our CD in the car and I have it on my MAC in the kitchen and it plays throughout the morning during breakfast or at dinner. We put the video on of the timeline hand motions and we do them watching the video side by side together on some mornings for review.
I try to weave CC throughout her days and make it a part of our everyday conversations. Anything that can tie into the memory work from this (or the previous two cycles), I am always pointing out (and now she's getting good actually, at pointing them out too).
Copy work for the memory work which is available on CC Connected and comes with the Teaching Plan, as well as file folder games that are available for matching up memory work is also great review. Another thing we do is together think of hand motions that create an association so it's easier to remember the memory work. For example on the Four Types of Volcanoes - we used jogging in place for "active", we traced our hand like we had a mitten on for "interMITTent", we put our hands up to our heads like we're napping on them for "dormant" and finally for "extinct" we stuck our tongue out and put our hands up to our throats like we were dying. We do projects in Wonderful Wednesdays that also create understanding and give visual/tangible ways for the kids to interact with the memory work and remember it. The more ways they can interact with the memory work -create associations, see it and hear it - the more likely they are to master it AND enjoy it (you too Mom and Dad)!
We do use Youtube some to just review and for fun with the memory work:
Video on Weeks 13-24 Math Memory Work I really like this link and we watch it every week a few times to review with. It really helps!
Week 24 Presidents Song Review This is also good review and goes with CD.
Fun Preposition Song for Review We like this song and used it this year - it's just fun!
helping verbs song
helping verbs alternate song
We also get on CC Connected and watch the timeline motions as I mentioned earlier as well as do the online Tutorials. Variety of ways to hear it/see it, consistency and constant exposure!
I hope those ideas help inspire you to come up with new and innovative ways to review the memory work and teach it each week! I'd love to hear any of your ideas in the comments if you have some ways I haven't mentioned above to review your memory work and work towards Memory Master.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Week 21 - Five Great Circles
Today for Wonderful Wednesday's we tackled the Five Great Circles and we celebrated Canadian style with Canadian Bacon and Pancakes with Syrup! Coming up with a project for the Five Great Circles challenged me and it took a little while for me to wrap my mind around how to do this one. I wanted to take a concept that is quite difficult to understand and has many different aspects to it, understandable to kids 6-9 yr. old children! So I first began trying to identify larger concepts that would be somewhat easy to understand - sort of generalizing some of the information for our purposes. I tried first to do that with animals but that became convoluted, then I tried doing it based on biomes and that became convoluted too. I finally landed on climate to break the Great Circles down in a way that made sense and gave them at least one concept to hang their understanding on per circle. This isn't perfect either, but it works for our purposes for this age range. So it's broken down as follows:
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Week 22 - Weather Field Trip - Making it Real
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Cacao Plant - Fun for Valentines Day!
To celebrate Valentines Day, I decided to have the kids do a short study together on the cacao plant (chocolate). It fits perfectly with not only the holiday but also our studies of Mesoamerica (Mayans/Aztecs/Olmecs) and our geography of Africa, South America and Mexico. I used elements from the free unit study on chocolate here http://www.homeschoolshare.com/chocolate.php. First I read them information about the cacao plant - how it grows, where it grows, what it's used for etc. Then they answered questions related to that information that were on the sheet. Along the way before giving the answers I'd ask them to guess what the answer might be (forming their own hypothesis). Then they colored with a crayon the various geography. We first colored Mexico (which fit with week 20 we were on) which is where the cacao originated. Then they colored parts of northern half of South America and we talked about the Amazon river basin and located that on a large globe. We then colored Africa where the cacao is now predominantly grown today - discussing the Nile river basin and other areas we thought it might be grown in Africa. We tied in the Mayan/Aztecs and their ancient uses of cacao. Then I gave each kid a piece of dark chocolate 70% cacao. They had a sheet that asked them to describe all the things about their chocolate (sight, sound, taste, color etc) and they went through each adjective to describe their experience with the chocolate. Next they did a sheet that had the word chocolate and they made as many words with that word as they could think of. Lastly, we had a chocolate bar design contest. We divided into two teams. They were each given a sheet to design their chocolate bar and decide what ingredients it would have. After they designed and named their bar as a team, they presented/marketed their new chocolate bar to the Moms who voted on which bar was the best. They really liked this activity and were very creative. I have pictures posted below of what their designs were. We of course, made sure that there was a split decision and they both tied/won! Lastly, I had made a chocolate trifle (recipe in January post of this blog - called Justin's Delight). It was a Wonderful Wednesday! Happy Valentines day!!!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Week 20 - Layers of the Atmosphere
Today we learned about the layers of the Atmosphere. We made a model of the layers using aquarium rocks and recycled glass bottles along with some labels I found that worked well. The pictures I used to label our bottles are from http://www.theozonehole.com/atmosphere.htm. I attached the label with mod podge and then some of us glued/packing taped the larger label to the side and others used rubber bands after hole punching. Both worked well and it was just a matter of personal preference.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Week 19 - Ocean Zones Project
Today we did our project on our science memory work. We made a fun sensory project on the three ocean zones.
Here is how I did it...I used various materials that are easy to come by. I went to to dollar store and purchased foam boards, white glue, shaving cream, blue colored body wash, bubble wrap, sand paper and then printed out a bunch of pictures from the internet of various ocean creatures that you would find in the three layers of the ocean. I used light blue, medium blue and black colored construction paper for the backgrounds.
Here is how I did it...I used various materials that are easy to come by. I went to to dollar store and purchased foam boards, white glue, shaving cream, blue colored body wash, bubble wrap, sand paper and then printed out a bunch of pictures from the internet of various ocean creatures that you would find in the three layers of the ocean. I used light blue, medium blue and black colored construction paper for the backgrounds.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Week 18 - Silly Ocean Study Fun
Today we decided to make some silly sea creatures using our hands and feet to take a break from the four ocean floor types study and lighten things up! We made a lobster and an octopus. Both kids enjoyed it. Simple - just need large piece of paper, paints, google eyes and I used sandpaper for the ocean floor. Fun stuff!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Week #18 - Ocean Floor Project /Groundhog Day!
Today for Wonderful Wednesdays we made a diorama of the Ocean Floor to help with our memory work for science week 18. We also celebrated Groundhog Day!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Wonderful Wednesdays in other Communities!
I'm excited to share that we now have other CC Communities replicating their own versions of Wonderful Wednesday's in their areas.
Jess from CC Joppa in Maryland, writes...."Hi Colleen, What a great blessing you have been with your Wonderful Wednesday idea. We started Terrific Tuesday last week with 12 children in attendance. Today we had 17 children at the table! It has been great! Thank you for all your great
planning and ideas! I have attached some pictures of our new adventure."
Friday, January 25, 2013
Week - 18 Mountain Ranges Project
My daughter loves the volcanoes - sooooo we kept going with them. We've made an ocean floor mountain range volcano. This fits with the four types of ocean floor. This one is water proof and we will be erupting it this week. Very fun to do and not too difficult but does take a few days to complete.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Week #17 - Sculpting -studying Michelangelo further
So today we took on the adventure of learning how to make a sculpture. We made a simple sculpture of a fish out of a bar of Ivory soap. I wanted my daughter to understand the skill and time involved in making great sculptures like Michelangelo. She commented that she didn't realize how hard it was and how long it takes! She suddenly realized why it takes years for some large sculptures to be completed.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Week #17 - Aztecs and Totem Poles!
So as I was doing my deciding about what this Wonderful Wednesday would encompass, I came across some interesting history about Totem Poles! It fit perfectly not only with some of what we have studied, are studying but also what we will be studying in later weeks. I was then at a scrap exchange perusing through their things and I saw these big fat beautiful corks! I thought - wow - those would make awesome totem poles for the kids and with what I had learned about them, I thought it would be an interesting caveat to our studies. So the project was born to do totem poles. Here's a blurb from the handout the kids got today along with pictures of Totem poles for recent and ancient history....
"Many different cultures made totem poles, not just Native Americans. While poles made by Native American tribes are the most famously known, the Mayans, Aztecs, Native Canadians, Native Australians, Maori, ingenious Koreans and ingenious Chinese are also known to have built totem poles." (fits perfectly doesn't it?)!
This week's history sentence was on Montezuma - so I decided doing some headdresses was in order. This all turned out to be a fun Wonderful Wednesday!
"Many different cultures made totem poles, not just Native Americans. While poles made by Native American tribes are the most famously known, the Mayans, Aztecs, Native Canadians, Native Australians, Maori, ingenious Koreans and ingenious Chinese are also known to have built totem poles." (fits perfectly doesn't it?)!
This week's history sentence was on Montezuma - so I decided doing some headdresses was in order. This all turned out to be a fun Wonderful Wednesday!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Creating a Master! Week #17 Michelangelo
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Week #16 - Four Types of Volcanoes!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Week #16 - Mesoamerica lapbook
We started our Week #16 for Wonderful Wednesday's prep tomorrow. Today my daughter and I did the lapbook by newbeehomeschoolers. Here is the link for the lapbooks to download them. They did a great job creating a simple to do but key information lapbook. http://www.newbeehomeschooler.com/apps/blog/show/18969726-ancient-maya-lapbook
We enjoyed doing it -it was easy and we were able to complete it and read through our History in about an hour and a half total. Lots of projects like this are part of the Solagratiamom Enrichment Teaching Plan for suggested resources to help you build out your memory work each week. There are many projects like this throughout the Teaching Plan that you can choose from each week! It really helps make memorizing permanent and memorable.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog - we're doing 4 types of Volcanos Project. It is going to be a big one! Don't forget to enter for the free drawing to win a lapbook for the Orchestra! See how to the right of the page!
We enjoyed doing it -it was easy and we were able to complete it and read through our History in about an hour and a half total. Lots of projects like this are part of the Solagratiamom Enrichment Teaching Plan for suggested resources to help you build out your memory work each week. There are many projects like this throughout the Teaching Plan that you can choose from each week! It really helps make memorizing permanent and memorable.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog - we're doing 4 types of Volcanos Project. It is going to be a big one! Don't forget to enter for the free drawing to win a lapbook for the Orchestra! See how to the right of the page!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
CYCLE 1 ORCHESTRA LAPBOOK GIVEAWAY!!! BEGINS MONDAY!!
You all know I love Karen Gill's lapbooks! She's awesome and has worked so hard to put together such wonderful lapbooks to coincide with our Cycles for CC. We use them each week in Wonderful Wednesday's to begin our time together as a group and learn our new week's memory work. She has recently come out with an additional supplementary lapbook for our Cycle 1 Orchestra!
I took a look at it and I love it! It is so detailed in the information that you can go beyond the lapbook with, that Karen provides. You can go as deep as you decide with each composer and regarding the orchestra. Her hands on lapbook portion is fabulous, colorful and interactive, as always. This is another fine product from Karen.
So...beginning on Monday January 14th you can enter to win a FREE Orchestra Lapbook http://www.wisdomandrighteousness.com/resources/cc-cycle-1-orchestra-book that coincides with our Cycle 1 orchestra studies! In order to be entered automatically just use the link on the right side of the page to share my blog on your facebook page or tweet it. The giveaway will end on Monday the 21st and the winner(s) will be given the download for this great new resource for CC families. I have 2 lapbooks I can give away! So begin sharing and entering!! Good Luck!!
I took a look at it and I love it! It is so detailed in the information that you can go beyond the lapbook with, that Karen provides. You can go as deep as you decide with each composer and regarding the orchestra. Her hands on lapbook portion is fabulous, colorful and interactive, as always. This is another fine product from Karen.
So...beginning on Monday January 14th you can enter to win a FREE Orchestra Lapbook http://www.wisdomandrighteousness.com/resources/cc-cycle-1-orchestra-book that coincides with our Cycle 1 orchestra studies! In order to be entered automatically just use the link on the right side of the page to share my blog on your facebook page or tweet it. The giveaway will end on Monday the 21st and the winner(s) will be given the download for this great new resource for CC families. I have 2 lapbooks I can give away! So begin sharing and entering!! Good Luck!!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Half-way Through...Remembering What is Important
So we're just over half way through our CC year. As I got ready to share my information with some CC Mom's today for a small group class I was teaching, I was taking out all the hands on projects/crafts we've done since beginning Cycle 1 to give them ideas on how to build out the Memory Work and what that looks like. I was sharing with them ways they can bring the Memory Work to life for their kids and help them hang a memory peg.
I later attended a class this evening myself, that was taught by Lynn Custer from Whole Heart and it affirmed what I earlier was myself teaching - that the experience of making school interactive and engaging is so important, when they are younger especially. I whole heartedly agreed with everything Lynn said and already do most all of what she recommended. It's counter culture but it's soooo beneficial to your child, in my humble opinion. You want them to want to learn because it captures their imagination and shows them the world in a new way - always pointing them to God through all they see and do. Helping them make connections and connect previously learned information with new information. Our society pushes too hard too soon -plenty of studies show the brain isn't wired for it and kids do better when it's slower. See the book Better Late Than Early. http://www.amazon.com/Better-Late-Than-Early-Education/dp/0883490498 I know for us it has worked - I see it in her age equivalent/overall knowledge scores on end of grade testing. For us, it works really well.
I really focus 24 weeks of the year on CC Memory Work. There are 52 weeks in a school year. If I don't get to all the spelling and math that I might want to cover during that period, I don't sweat it. I just focus hard on that once CC ends in April for us. I still have the remainder of April, May, June and July to get all the math/spelling she can stand in! I try to capture that 24 weeks of CC grammar work and catapult her imagination about the world it is opening up to us - the science, the history, the timeline and more - all great things for her to take off with. I look at the Memory Work and see what would capture her imagination or give her a better understanding of her world and God and build out our project work on that. Her reading is often geared around the CC Memory Work as well -so it all just blends for us throughout the CC year. During the summer or time off from formal CC we are busy with nature and being outside, continuing our nature journal, bug collecting, exploring our world and doing our math, spelling and continuing with reading/Bible study - always reading. My daughter loves to read and I've found that the Imagination Station books coincide with our CC Cycle 1 year pretty well. http://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Vikings-Imagination-Station-Books/dp/1589976274/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357963053&sr=1-1&keywords=imagination+station+series
I later attended a class this evening myself, that was taught by Lynn Custer from Whole Heart and it affirmed what I earlier was myself teaching - that the experience of making school interactive and engaging is so important, when they are younger especially. I whole heartedly agreed with everything Lynn said and already do most all of what she recommended. It's counter culture but it's soooo beneficial to your child, in my humble opinion. You want them to want to learn because it captures their imagination and shows them the world in a new way - always pointing them to God through all they see and do. Helping them make connections and connect previously learned information with new information. Our society pushes too hard too soon -plenty of studies show the brain isn't wired for it and kids do better when it's slower. See the book Better Late Than Early. http://www.amazon.com/Better-Late-Than-Early-Education/dp/0883490498 I know for us it has worked - I see it in her age equivalent/overall knowledge scores on end of grade testing. For us, it works really well.
I really focus 24 weeks of the year on CC Memory Work. There are 52 weeks in a school year. If I don't get to all the spelling and math that I might want to cover during that period, I don't sweat it. I just focus hard on that once CC ends in April for us. I still have the remainder of April, May, June and July to get all the math/spelling she can stand in! I try to capture that 24 weeks of CC grammar work and catapult her imagination about the world it is opening up to us - the science, the history, the timeline and more - all great things for her to take off with. I look at the Memory Work and see what would capture her imagination or give her a better understanding of her world and God and build out our project work on that. Her reading is often geared around the CC Memory Work as well -so it all just blends for us throughout the CC year. During the summer or time off from formal CC we are busy with nature and being outside, continuing our nature journal, bug collecting, exploring our world and doing our math, spelling and continuing with reading/Bible study - always reading. My daughter loves to read and I've found that the Imagination Station books coincide with our CC Cycle 1 year pretty well. http://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Vikings-Imagination-Station-Books/dp/1589976274/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357963053&sr=1-1&keywords=imagination+station+series
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