19th August, 2008

Obligatory Annual Curriculum Post- Part 1? Oi vey.

Well, here it is. My declaration of intended curriculum for this “school year”. I am very happy with our choices this year and I feel like Joe is progressing to an interesting place academically. We are working this eclectic version of the classical spiral. I am informed that we are in the Logic Stage now. That is hilarious to me because, honestly? I feel completely illogical when faced with adolescence. Like getting into a shouting match about who tossed the paper towels down the stairs and whether my aim was off or I meant to hit him in the head illogical. So I feel about as surefooted as a tight rope walker this year.

On the other hand, there are more “things” he wants to do and have now. I can totally blackmail him into more algebra. Speaking of curriculum (word I used to love and now fight vomit out of my mouth when I say it), here is our list for the year.

Math- Saxon Algebra ½- I like the straightforwardness of the Saxon program, the fact that it goes all the way through high school, and the step by step/constant review features. So even if I feel like he has a good grasp on a skill I can skip the lesson knowing that he will at least get some practice later.

Language Arts- We are trying a few different things this year. We had been using the straight up Rod and Staff hardcore Amish grammar series. I think Joe was ready for something different and a little more cohesive. We are trying out Learning Language Arts Through Literature. I skipped him to 7^th grade and right now that looks like the best choice. It seems to be a little below level to start…but maybe my expectations of 7^th grade work are a little off. This series reminds me of Saxon because of the integrated steps. You don’t have a section on just nouns or verbs, they are all woven together with passages from great literature as examples. I thought that would be a great way to up his diet of classics. We will also do some book studies with this program, previously I had devised my own, and that will be a nice timesaver for me.

Writing- Writing Strands had worked really well the first two years we schooled, and late last year Joe got tired of it. It’s a great program…it’s just all the same. I’m glad there are so many choices out there because as Joe’s needs change there is always something for him. I ordered a new program called Wordsmith (by the same publishers as LLATL) Apprentice. It looks pretty neat, the kids pretend they are working at a newspaper and there are cartoon strips featuring messages from their editor. The editor gives them assignments and the student uses real newspapers as a resource. It seems like a great idea, let me know if any of you have used it. I’d love some more feedback.

I’ve worn myself out now, I’ll get to the other subjects another day. My inner Scarlett has kicked in. *swoon*

Posted at 9:23 pm | Comment (0)

28th March, 2007

Belief Statement about Education

Remember when you were in college and you did research for a paper in one class and wrote another paper for another class based on the same research? I’m not saying I’ve ever done that (No way, not me!). But if I had? That’s how I would explain the feeling of posting my homework and calling it a post. Although, I do find your feedback and comments interesting and appreciate those of you who are nice to me.

So, that being said, I am not fond of this paper. I feel like it doesn’t quite express the passion I feel for the subject. I also tried to stick with the subject of public schooling and how it could be improved. While I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to free my child from public school, there are many more just as deserving kids who must attend for one reason or another. Nor do I even believe that homeschooling is right for everyone. I homeschool for purely selfish reasons: I want to be in charge of what my child learns and give him the chance to pursue what interests him. History and culture and foreign languages and art and a million other things are so important to our family and they are sadly lackng in our local schools. Maybe I should write my beliefs about homeschooling next? Nobody around here ever does that.

Posted at 11:53 pm | Comment (1)

20th March, 2007

John Holt Dis(s)cussed

Here is my essay on the issue of student decision-making. Just to set the record straight: I did not side with John Holt on this one. In my Educational Philosophies class we are required to read two sides of an issue and pick one side to argue for. We were not allowed to straddle the fence or I certainly would have been in pain! I have however always been of two minds about John Holt. I think his work was revolutionary in founding and legalizing the homeschooling movement. I respect him tremendously. However, anytime I have tried to implement his unschoolish strategies, we have floundered miserably. Unschooling in the purest sense does not work for our family. But I do believe in allowing kids much more say than they currently allow in public schools. Unfortunately, the system is set up to disregard learners’ personalities. So I just wanted to make the disclaimer that my arguements were more polarized than I would have personally liked. I encourage you to discuss or respectfully disagree with me. Next up for this page will be my Educational Belief Statement. I’m sure they totally love me and my loud mouth in my education department.