Every home-school is unique; this is as it should be. Every child and every family is unique. And each new school-year brings changes. Adjustments. Tweaks. Personally, I have found that the years when I was pregnant (read: sick as a dog) and post-partum (read: sleep-deprived to insanity) our schoolwork was less organized, possibly to the … Continue reading
For Catholics who are using a classical approach in their homeschool (such as Classical Conversations,) I have created a catechesis supplement for memory work. Memorization is not the heart of catechesis. The Christian faith is primarily a relationship, not a bundle of memorized facts. Faith formation takes place over time, gradually, in many different ways. … Continue reading
Our summer has been so full I haven’t made time for posting here much. I believe in taking breaks! And it’s okay because I’ve been doing some major re-organizing of our home and some major planning (and purchasing!) for the upcoming school year, and I can’t wait to share some of the gems I’ve found. … Continue reading
This school-year we have been focusing on world history from creation through the fall of Rome, using Classical Conversations Cycle 1. Included in these studies were, of course, the ever-interesting ancient Egyptian civilizations. Continuing with my theme of random topics this month, I have been wanting to share a couple of our favorite resources for … Continue reading
Here’s a sample list of places in the Middle East: Africa Alexandria Arabian Desert Asia Minor Athens Babylon Baghdad Black Sea Caspian Sea Crete Cyprus Dead Sea East Desert (in Egypt) Ephesus Euphrates River Greece Hattusa / Turkey Israel Jordan River Judah Lower Egypt Mediterranean Sea Mesopotamia Nile Delta Nile River Persian Gulf Phoenicia Red … Continue reading
We are just about to begin a new school year, and our history spine will be Classical Conversations Cycle 1. For every topic we discuss, we will try to memorize a sentence (spoken or sung), write the sentence and add it to a history binder, jot the event down in our Book of Centuries, and … Continue reading
Using Classical Conversations as a curriculum spine, like we do, helps us organize many different subject areas. The “meat and potatoes” subjects are history, science, geography, English, Latin, and math. In addition, there are science experiments for each week, and I’ve already mentioned that we supplement all of these topics with great books for independent … Continue reading
[From the 2011-2012 School-Year] One of the most effective ways for children to memorize important information is through frequent repetition. To facilitate this, I make a “playlist” for each week we are using our Classical Conversations program (24 weeks per school year.) The playlist runs 20 to 30 minutes in length. How your children could … Continue reading
As part of our Classical Conversations Fine Arts program, we are studying 6 American artists this semester. (This supplements our study of American history.) The children have really enjoyed the 3 artists we’ve studied already, and I’d like to post about them here, beginning with Norman Rockwell. For each artist, we follow this basic plan … Continue reading
I’m afraid this might end up being a long post, because I have a biology degree, and I tend to take an interest in the “study of life” more than other subjects… Over the past several years I have figured out how I want to blend the effectiveness of Montessori philosophy with the comprehensiveness of … Continue reading
I’ve been wanting to give an introduction to the Classical Conversations program that we use in our home school. I love Montessori theory, and I love making great books available to my children and reading to them, but I am also a type-A “check-list” person who wants to make sure I’m not forgetting to cover … Continue reading
I’ve mentioned that I keep the 24-weeks of Classical Conversations Foundations materials in folders, and I’ve been asked what is inside them. The folders for the current year are kept on a shelf in my office (not accessible to the children.) I also hide the supplemental books we’ll try to read each week. Here are … Continue reading
[From the 2011-2012 School-Year] This fall, one of our goals (as part of Classical Conversations Foundations Cycle 3) will be for my sons in Kindergarten and 1st grade to memorize the names and locations of the 50 States, and for my 3rd grader to learn the capitals and state abbreviations as well. These kids have … Continue reading
I have so much I want to write about education! The raising of little ones and learning to recognize their individual needs is fodder for limitless discussion. Although it is Montessori philosophy that guides how we learn in our home, the incorporation of Classical Conversations gives us a comprehensive outline and a schedule. If you … Continue reading
I’ve mentioned before that I divide our homeschool year into “CC” weeks (24 per year) and “off” weeks (all the rest.) During CC weeks, we use the comprehensive learning outlines from the Classical Conversations program. I introduce the new material on Monday, and throughout the week we attempt to understand it well, using a variety … Continue reading
Helping Children Learn 