My Eternal Family

What is CSMP Math?

2011-07-24T18:23:00.003-05:00

After being hung up with various illnesses and getting behind with math, we have finally finished! It was nevertheless a very fun and exciting first year with CSMP (Comprehensive School Mathematics Program). It is a very dull and boring name for a program that maintains that "the usual drill techniques are, unfortunately, dull, stultifying and sometimes even counterproductive." In other words, it designed to be fun.

I understand that CSMP was created during the "Space Race" era in order to help American students to better excel in mathematics. Apparently, some research was done to determine how children best learn math, and CSMP is what they came up with. The now defunct program has been made availabe on the Internet for free. That's right! It is absolutely FREE!

I began looking for a new program for Grasshopper when she was 5yo. We were using a worksheet-based math program, and all she could say about math was that she hated it. Yet I knew that she was good at. So why not do something to make it more enjoyable?

I was first introduced to CSMP at Mark's site. Mark has taken his first child all the way through 6th grade with CSMP, and he is nearly finished with the second. There were two things that really drew me to the program: (1) Its use of stories and discussion, and (2) its introduction of traditionally higher level material to younger children on their level.

Following is a description of the program:

It is a spiral program. But the spiral is a fairly loose one. And each time a topic is revisited, it is also built upon. So there is repetition built in to the program, but the child never has to repeat the exact same lesson or worksheet. Consequently, I never felt that I should skip an entire lesson. There were portions that I skipped if I thought it was overly repetitive, but there is new material in every lesson.
The manual is very well scripted. I always know exactly what to say, what to write and what to do. However, I never feel tied to the script. If Grasshopper wants to delve more deeply into a topic, we do. And if I feel that the material is too easy, we skip it.
The program uses the Socratic method, meaning that the teacher does not lecture the students or even demonstrate the material. Rather, the teacher guides the students to figure out the concepts on their own.
Mental math is very much emphasized.
CSMP seeks to integrate math with other subjects and areas of life. Each lesson contains suggestions for supplemental assignments, such as books to read, writing assignments, center activities, etc.
The program is teacher intensive. Every lesson is to be taught by the teacher. Worksheets are merely supplemental and cannot take the place of the lesson.
CSMP is adaptable to all types of learning styles--auditory, visual and kinesthenic. The stories and discussion are geared to the auditory learner. Their are lots of pictoral representations of math concepts designed for the visual learner. And their are manipulatives and opportunities to draw concepts on paper or on a board for the kinesthenic learner.
My favorite aspect to the program is that it presents higher level concepts at a younger child's level. In the first grade program, Grasshopper was introduced to concepts such as probability, adding negative numbers, multiplication, and fractions (even multiplying by fractions!). I highly recommend it for a child that is gifted in math.

Because CSMP has such a unique way of teaching, it might be difficult to jump into the program with an older child. But both the Kindergarten and First Grade materials assume no prior exposure to CSMP. But if you have an older child that hates math, I wouldn't be afraid to try it out. After all, it is FREE!

In spite of the nice pricetag, however, there are a fair amount of items to be printed, namely worksheets and storybooks. But I still think it is a great deal!

To get feel for the program, you really have to look at some lesson plans. Check out the First Grade lesson plans and just randomly read through a few. (Watch out, it is huge document. You want to go to Section Four.) It is amazing how they manage to touch to many different concepts, even within the same lesson.

If you have any questions, leave a comment, and I will send you an e-mail.

Duh!! My Scheduling Epiphany

2011-04-25T21:08:00.003-05:00

For some time now, I have felt that I wasn't quite getting everything done. An art lesson skipped here, a science lesson skipped there. It seemed that we could barely get the basics done, which for us is just math and spelling. And I also feel a lot of guilt for letting piano lessons go.

Well, one morning over breakfast, I pulled out my math manual to look over the lesson for that day. Grasshopper says to me, "Let's do math now!" My gut told me to say, "No." After all, we hadn't even had our devotional yet, which is supposed to set the tone for the rest of the day. But Grasshopper persisted, and I relented--just this once. But then we got math done before we finished breakfast, and we were still able to start school around the same time--only with one subject already tackled.

I started to think about all time that we spend on meals. With littles, they are eating five times per day. And they are soooooooo slow! So I figure that is at least 4 hours per day minimum on cooking and eating. No wonder we had trouble getting things done! So now we are doing math every day at breakfast, and the devotional from the previous day is just going to have to cover it. And I am now adding in some read-alouds during meal and snack times. I have been doing this for a couple of weeks now, and I can't believe how much we are getting done!

And it took me almost two full years of homeschooling to figure it out.

Speech Therapy: What We Have Learned

2011-02-25T15:24:00.002-06:00

I want to take a little time to write about our family's experience with speech therapy for Cricket as he approaches his 3rd birthday and ages out of our state's Early Intervention program. At Cricket's 2-year pediatric exam, we were referred for speech therapy. Shortly thereafter, his expressive speech was assessed at about a 15-month ability. (And that took into account about 50 ASL signs that we had taught him.) We were fortunate to end up with a fabulous speech therapist, but I am sad to say that the philosophy that she uses and teaches is rarely used in the Midwest, where we live. I write this with the hope of educating other parents seeking help with their speech-delayed children.

Our initial experience with speech therapy was not a good one. By the third session, the speech therapist was asking my 2yo to make his own schedule and mark off each item as they completed them. When she asked him what he wanted to do, he would tell her; but then she would tell him he couldn't do that activity. In other words, she already had her own plan, so I could not understand why she even bothered to ask him what he wanted to do.

My other concern was that she refused to use activities that were of high interest to Cricket. As a typical boy, he absolutely loved sports and vehicles. However, she never brought those sorts of activities. I also advised her that he really loved the alphabet and phonics. Although this may be an unusual interest for a 2yo, I thought it would be very easy to integrate this interest into a speech therapy program. But she made no effort to satisfy his needs, but rather, she kept to her own agenda. I also discovered later, that the sounds she was working on with him were not appropriate for his age.

We very quickly requested a new therapist, and we had the very good fortune of getting one that was Hanen-certified. We did not know then that is was good, but our experience has told us that it is. With this approach, speech is integrated into all of life--not just one or two sessions per week. This means that the speech pathologist becomes a trainer and teacher to the parents, which substantially speeds up the child's progress.

The first thing we were told was to stop asking the Cricket questions and telling him what to say. You see, when our children are learning how to speak, we parents get very excited and ask all sorts of questions to spur conversations with them, and we give endless commands to, "Say XYZ." But for a child that struggles with speech, this is a very heavy burden for them and usually results in the child "shutting down" and ignoring the parents or refusing to speak. Instead, dh and I were taught to model the words that Cricket might want to say.

So, for example, if Cricket were point to the milk to indicate that he wanted some, we were not to tell him to say, "Milk, please." Rather, we are supposed to say, "Milk, please," and leave it at that. If Cricket wanted to imitate, he could, but he had the option not to. The speech therapist promised us that within a week or two, he would begin to imitate words on his own. And she was absolutely right. Once we gave Cricket control over his own speech, we saw a huge leap in the frequency with which he spoke.

From this point, the speech therapist helped us to walk Cricket through each developmental speech step that he had missed, in the order and at the time that it ordinarily occurs in typical children. Some of the steps included putting the -ing on the end of verbs (I'm eating, I'm jumping, etc.), negation (I don't like, I am not, etc.), using articles (a/an/the) and practicing nasal sounds (/m/ and /n/). As the parents, we are never to require correct speech, even if we know he is capable of it. Instead, we train his ears to recognize how things are supposed to sound. We constantly model what he wants to say. When he says something wrong, we are supposed to model the correct way without requiring him to say it. But most of the time, Cricket will correct himself when he hears us model the correct way. He also often self-corrects before anyone identifies the mistake for him, so I know that this approach is working.

The speech therapist's help was absolutely critical. It was vital that I know at what point to teach each step. If you try to teach it before a child is developmentally ready, everyone will get frustrated. If you wait too long, then the child develops incorrect habits that are difficult to overcome. Cricket is now doing very well. He is still only at about a 24-month level in terms of intelligibility, but he has made about a year's worth of progress in about 8 months.

Before this experience, I was very cynical of speech therapy in general, because there is no way to know whether it is working, or whether the same progress would be made without it. I also had speech therapy in kindergarten, which I absolutely hated. It made me feel completely incompetent, and I wanted to crawl under a rock. After my experiences with Cricket, I am still cynical of traditional speech therapy, but I know that this particular approach works wonders. I would encourage anyone needing a speech therapist to seek out one that is Hanen-certified.

What Does Freedom Mean to a Home School?

2011-02-17T19:01:00.003-06:00

As a citizen of Illinois, I am reeling in the wake of SB 136, which proposed to require every home schooled student to be registered with the State, and left all registration requirements up to the State Board of Education. Since my children are not yet old enough to be required to be in any school at all, I was really caught off guard. Now I feel that I really need to wrap my brain around what our educational freedom in the state means for my family.

My original intrigue with home schooling developed when I worked as a legal secretary (before kids) and met a receptionist from a neighboring office who was only 16yo. A young person attending a brick & mortar school could not have worked in a law firm at that age simply because of the hours. I saw that home schooling gives students the freedom to take advantage of educational opportunities that would not otherwise be available.

As I had my own children, my next thoughts were about all of the bullying and teasing that I endured as a public school student. People say that schools provide socialization and prepare children to work with others as adults. But as an adult, I have never had a job whose only requirements were geographic location and age. Furthermore, I have never had a co-worker make fun of me. Not for my clothes, my body, my hair, my lack of athleticism. Not for anything. Home schooling gives me the freedom to protect my children from bullying and assaults.

As my oldest grew, I could see that she was not going to be academically ordinary. She was reading by 4yo. And at 6yo, she can read years beyond her age. If she were to go to school, we would have to choose between putting her with her age-peers or putting her with her academic peers, or something in-between. Home schooling gives me the freedom to challenge her academically while allowing her to be a 6yo. That means that math can be done on a white board, because her handwriting has not yet caught up with her math ability. It means that I can let her make maps of each kingdom of ancient history by using typed up labels, again because of the writing issue. It also means that she does not have to participate in a reading program, because she is already reading quite well. It means that I can choose not to teach her grammar (even though she is academically capable of learning it) simply because 6yo's shouldn't have to worry about grammar. While b&m schools often have gifted programs, I don't believe that they can fully meet my dd's needs the way I can at home.

Then as I started home schooling a year and a half ago, I started to educate myself on the different educational philosophies. Home schooling gives me the freedom to teach my children cursive first (before manuscript). Home schooling gives me the freedom to teach history in a chronological order while integrating literature from the time period we are studying. Home schooling gives me the freedom to teach a foreign language to my rising 1st grader or Latin to my middle schooler. Home schooling gives me the freedom to teach diagramming sentences to support their writing and foreign language skills. Home schooling gives me the freedom to use the Socratic method in teaching, a method used almost exclusively in law schools, and a method whose effectiveness has been proven over many centuries. Home schooling gives me the freedom to abandon textbooks in favor of living books.

When I was in high school, I thought I was getting a good education. By my senior year, I was getting a 3.8 GPA while taking almost all AP classes in a suburban school that was considered to be a good school. Looking back, I can tell you that I took no history courses except for some 20th Century Modern History survey courses. (I am really glad that I took Art History, because it was the only exposure that I had to history before 1900.) I took one and one half years of literature classes and read the sum total of about 450 pages of classic literature. I took a dance class that counted as an English credit. I took four years of Spanish yet could not speak it. This is abysmal! And things are so much worse in the schools now. All you politicians out there that want to check up on me and my children, please rest assured that I can do a better job than was done with me.

"Why Do You Homeschool?"

2010-09-26T16:19:00.014-05:00

As I watch Grasshopper's friends head to kindergarten, it gives me pause to contemplate anew the answers to this question. For it is not the same as it was a year or two ago, or more.

Eliminating Wasted Time and Taking Advantage of Opportunities

My original interest in homeschooling centered around the wasted time and the opportunities that could be taken advantage of if that waste were eliminated. I thought primarily of the high school years, during which a young person could have a chance to be employed in jobs that were only available during the school hours. As much as I personally got out of my job working at Kentucky Fried Chicken for three years, it never looked good on a resume and was never valued in the world. But when I met a homeschooled 16yo working in a law office, I thought that was a much more beneficial experience.

An Opportunity to Work at a More Advanced Level

After I had Grasshopper, it became quickly clear that she was gifted. While she is not the kid that will be attending college at 10yo, she is certainly ahead of her age-peers. As we have discussed schooling options with her, she has asked about why she can't go to public school with the other children. We have responded that in kindergarten, they will be teaching such things as letters, counting and colors--things she has known now for three years. She didn't complain, and I suppose she simply accepted the explanation. But recently, I was contacted by a friend of mine whose daughter is the same age as Grasshopper and attending public kindergarten. She wanted to know what she could use to teach her daughter to read, because she was bored. Grasshopper questioned me about it and was impressed that what we had told her about kindergarten was true. Later, as we were talking about future plans and goals, she asked, "You aren't going to send me to school, are you!"

So this is why we homeschooled kindergarten last year. At 4yo, there is no way that any kindergarten would have accepted her. But I was not yet committed to always homeschooling, because after she was old enough to go to school, there always would be a chance that a school would be able to accommodate her giftedness. However, over this past year of learning about my daughter and her gifts, I have also learned that the chances of finding a school that would accommodate her is very slim, at least in the early years when she is learning how to write.

Accommodating Asynchrony

You see, most people believe that an advanced child is equally advanced in all areas. But while a child may be advanced in all areas, it is very rare to find one that is equally advanced in all of those areas. And it is actually quite common to find that a gifted child is deficient in some areas. Handwriting seems to be the most common area of concern. And this is easy to see, as handwriting requires a certain degree of physical development. It doesn't matter how well one understands how writing is to be done--it still requires a certain amount of experience and practice to do it correctly. So a gifted kindergartner may be reading Harry Potter and doing multiplication and division on his own. Yet he may be barely able to write his name or compose a simple card.

For this reason, simply accellerating a child in school may not be a sufficient accommodation. And that is certainly the case with Grasshopper. While I think that she is a little ahead of her age-peers in her handwriting, it is not by much. I have also noted that her attention span is not much more advanced that her friends'. She still learns a lot through pretend, an activity that you may not see as much in the curricula of higher grade levels.

So let's say I am actually able to convince a school to accellerate her to first grade for this school year. She does her math worksheets every day but eventually starts to complain. But she is a good kid and keeps on doing that work, though it takes her longer and longer each day. Then one day she asks to learn multiplication. Is there really any chance that the teacher will agree? I don't believe so. But this is exactly what happened last year. I gave her the multiplication book, and she spent the remainder of the school year doing multiplication instead of her kindergarten math. She was happy as a clam.

Meanwhile, I knew that she wasn't ready to just move on to third grade math. So I searched for a curriculum that would be more interesting for her, both in terms of offering higher level content, as well as manner of teaching. We started at a 1st grade level this year, and so far we both love it. I have to compact it a bit since some of the concepts taught (like counting), she knows solidly. But it includes an introduction to a lot of other math concepts that we are really enjoying, such as the commutative property, probability, and charts and graphs.

We have done essentially the same thing with our other subjects. A school teacher would be unable to do this, no matter how well-informed on the subject of giftedness. It is much easier for me to use my time and energy to find, implement and tweak the right curriculum to fit my daughter's needs than to spend my resources getting others to do so.

Developing a Love of Learning and a Solid Work Ethic

I admit that there is a part of me that thinks that a child has to learn to work within a system and to do what others do and what authorities demand. I did it, and you probably did, too. And most of the time, I was okay with it. In kindergarten, I circled the dog that was bigger, even though I thought it was a joke that we were even asked to do it. In third grade, I wrote those spelling words ten times each, even though I already knew how to spell them.

But when I really think about it, I can remember some problems. In first grade, my teacher asked my mother to have my hearing checked, because I wasn't doing my work. My hearing was fine. But because I was in a split class with second graders, I was doing the second grade work instead of my own. Perhaps I was so involved in it that I really did not hear my own assignments. Or maybe I chose not to do them. I don't remember. But it was a clear sign that I was bored and insufficiently challenged.

My resulting problems were minor at the time. But the result was that all of my work throughout all of my primary and secondary education was easy. I learned that education was easy and not worth working at. In high school, I didn't go to awards ceremonies or even my graduation, because I believed that I should not celebrate that which I did not work for. I do not want my children to feel this way about education. I want them to love to learn and be willing to work at it. I believe they will be much better off in the world if they do. And I don't believe that my particular children will learn it in a public school setting.

Socialization

There are many that criticize homeschooling for its lack of socialization. I would contend, however, that any person is socialized simply by being around people, be they peers, teachers, siblings or parents. So the question is whether that socialization is the right kind. I suggest that the right kind of socialization is the kind that prepares a person to eventually be a responsible, healthy adult.

In order to determine the right kind of socialization for my own children, I first have my own socialization experiences to draw on. Throughout elementary school, I had just one friend. I was not interested in most of what the other kids were doing or playing, so I usually sat out. I craved in-depth conversation, and I couldn't bear the superficial conversations that other kids ordinarily had. If other kids had invited me to play, I might have participated more. But that sort of thing doesn't happen a lot in a school setting.

As an introvert, I would have been content to be alone most of the time. But I was easy prey for bullies. I harbored no bad feelings towards other children. I didn't understand why others would do and say things for the sole purpose of making a child cry. Yet it happened to me all the time. And because I thought that this meant that there was something wrong with me, I never told a soul. During my lifetime, although I have never questioned my intelligence, I have never really been able to rid my mind of those teasing, taunting voices. Whenever I plan to get together with a new friend, and plans get cancelled, I secretly wonder in the back recesses of my mind if they discovered what those kids from elementary school saw in me. I do talk myself out of it, and remind myself that I no longer live in that world. But the voices are always there, however faint.

I see all of those same characteristics in Grasshopper (hence her Internet name--a Kung Fu reference). I know that she would go to school, endure the teasing, cry in secret, and never tell a soul. And I am certain that she would grow up with those same voices telling her that there was something wrong with her. She is the most capable child that I know, academically, emotionally, socially. And I cannot bear the thought of a childhood of bullying erasing her knowledge and understanding of her gifts.

At no time in our adult lives are we grouped together based solely on age and geography. Yet so many people believe that this is what children need in order to become healthy adults. Right now, Grasshopper can play with children of any age and also engage adults in worthwhile conversations. But in school, playing with children in different classes is highly frowned upon. And heaven forbid if you openly enjoy the company of an adult! No, that is not the kind of socialization that I want for my children.

By the way, when I went to junior high and high school, that one friend of mine from elementary school started drinking, smoking and doing drugs. If friends had been more important to me, I could have followed suit and had many friends. But I declined and was left without friends for a while.

As a homeschooling parent, it will certainly mean more work for me to make sure my kids have friends. But it will be worth it if we can avoid the highly negative socialization that goes on in schools.

Family Bonding

A new friend of mine who was homeschooled as a teenager was recently recounting why her parents began homeschooling. They were concerned that each family member was doing his own thing, and their family was not operating as a unit. They wanted to foster love and unity in their family. As I listened to her story, I felt in my heart that this was also my reason to homeschool. My mother has a sister who will not talk to the rest of the family, and consequently, I haven't seen my cousins in over 10 years. My mother's brother moved to Florida and has not stayed in contact. I haven't seen my father's sister since my grandmother died about a decade ago. My sister will no longer speak to my mother. I believe that this scenario has become epidemic in our society, and I don't want it to happen to my family. My kids love each other and play so well together. In spite of the strong toddler urge to say, "Mine," and, "No," they share with each other and do not hoard their possessions.

Someone might contend that my kids are sheltered. But Grasshopper has three community classes per week, and is considered a model child. We formed a play group that meets once per week, and she has many, many friends. She easily and voluntarily invites new children into the group. She is appropriately wary of strangers, but she is quite comfortable and appropriate with those she knows. I have never had anyone who knows her suggest she needs any work in the area of socialization. For this reason and all the others stated above, I believe that we are on the right path for now.

Spell to Write and Read

2010-09-05T18:19:00.005-05:00

Last year, I purchased Spelling Workout for Grasshopper on the advice of The Well-Trained Mind (TWTM), which cited it as the top-pick for spelling programs. As much as I love TWTM, I am afraid that following this particular suggestion left us looking for another program. I wanted to find a more strongly phonics-based program that we wouldn't have to alter to accommodate Grasshopper's age (5yo) and writing ability (about 5-6yo). (We ended up doing Spelling Workout orally. This would have been fine if she were learning something, but she was just memorizing the spelling words rather than learning how to spell.)

Because Grasshopper has a very interactive learning style, I was looking for something that we would be able to do together rather than an independent worksheet-type program. I had heard about learning spelling through dictation (Charlotte Mason style), and I started asking whether such a program existed. Well, as it turns out, we found Spell to Write and Read, which is not at all like what I originally was asking about. What drew me to this program was its strong emphasis on the rules of reading and spelling. (Grasshopper is very rule-oriented. If I don't teach her a rule, she will make one up. This goes for any situation.)

Spell to Write and Read (SWR) is just as its title says--children learn to write and to read by spelling first. I know it sounds backwards. But by teaching children 70 phonograms and 28 spelling rules, they can learn to spell, even if they are not reading yet. And doing so gives a new reader a solid phonics foundation. Now Grasshopper has already been reading for some time, so we are using it strictly as a spelling program. (Click here for a detailed description of SWR.)

We starting using SWR two weeks ago, and so far we are really enjoying it. Grasshopper is actually asking to do more spelling. As I have researched the program and prepared to teach it, I have come to believe that this method of teaching reading, writing and spelling concurrently is the best method. (However, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I have little experience with other programs beyond a little research.) While there are many programs that teach the same 70 phonograms and 28 spelling rules, SWR appears to teach them more thoroughly, using a multi-sensory approach that suits any and all learning styles. The child learns the phonograms and spelling rules by seeing them (visual), saying them (auditory), and writing them (kinesthetic).

Another great feature of SWR is that in one Core Kit costing about $100, you get everything you need for all years of spelling that they will take. SWR is often compared to All About Spelling, which costs $250 for the same amount of teaching material.

Despite my excitement for SWR, I must warn that SWR is not for the faint of heart. Following is a list of difficulties that I have found with the program.

SWR is very teacher-intensive. It requires planning ahead, dictating spelling words and playing games with your child. I can see that once we get into the program for a few weeks, it will be a little more open-and-go. But the upfront time investment is enormous. (I spent a couple of weeks just reading the book and another couple of weeks starting my own log before I started the program with Grasshopper.) For this reason, I would caution you against starting SWR when you are in the midst of a huge transition such as moving or having a new baby.
The SWR book is poorly written, making it very difficult to decipher what you are actually supposed to do. The fact that the chapters are labled "Step 1, Step 2, . . ." is very misleading. It is very verbose and written in almost a "stream of consciousness" format, as though someone wrote out everything they did but never went back to make sure it was in order and made sense. For example, Step 3 is "Read Aloud to All Ages," Step 14 is "Expose to Classical Literature," and Step 23 is "Assign Reading in Books." By themselves, each chapter is a good read. But these are things that most of us are already doing, and you have to read through these pages to get to the parts that you actually need in order to be able to implement the program. This is just one example of many, and it is unfortunate because it does not have to be this way.
My personal belief is that programs ought to be able to be modified for the individual learning and familial circumstances. Ideally, SWR should be implemented as written, as doing so will guarantee the greatest success. But we cannot always have "ideal." However, the author and trainers on the Yahoo group are so adamant that SWR be implemented as written that they are unwilling to help exasperated mothers to adjust the program to their families and individual children. I believe that this approach only drives people away from using a great program. So, for example, if you have a 4yo that is dying to read but is not ready for writing, requests for help will result in advice to not allow him to learn to read yet. If your family is struggling because SWR is taking too long, the advice will be to hang in there and perhaps divide each session into two sessions per day. You will get little assistance paring down the amount of work.
Similar to number 3, above, I have found it difficult to get assistance to modify SWR for a 5yo that is reading well above grade level. [I recently asked the list about how to answer Grasshopper when she was asking how to spell a word. (Should I answer with letters, or with phonograms, even though she is not learning the multi-letter phonograms, yet?) The author, Wanda Sanseri, gave me a great answer about moving ahead with the phonograms, even though we hadn't started the spelling lists, yet. Then a trainer offered me a schedule for older children. When I asked how I might modify it for Grasshopper, she told me I should only teach her the 26 letters of the alphabet. When I pointed out Ms. Sanseri's advice, the trainer was unable to offer any advice on how to proceed. I could have asked again on the list, but by that time I just didn't want to bother with it.]

In spite of all this, I still think this is a wonderful program. But I hope after reading this, you can purchase it with your eyes open.

Cursive First Review

2010-08-26T22:04:00.003-05:00

I have been reading a lot about teaching cursive first, before manuscript. In theory, it makes a lot of sense. It is the fastest way to write, and when anyone needs to take notes from a lecturer, writing fast is advantageous. It also makes sense that we learn best what we learn first. Additionally, I have old letters written by my grandparents that date back over 80 years--love letters to each other from before they were married--that I want my children to be able to read. And I think it would be hard to read cursive if you haven't learned how to write it.

I started Cursive First with Grasshopper, now 5 1/2 yo, a couple of months ago. Grasshopper has been writing manuscript for 2 years, so for her, this is not her first writing instruction. I chose Cursive First, because it is integrated with our spelling program, Spell to Write and Read, and because I had hoped to use it for Cricket in a couple of years.

The various pieces arrived in a ziploc bag. I received a thin manual, practice pages, and flashcards printed 4 to a page, which needed to be cut apart. I am not at all impressed with Cursive First.

It comes in loose pages. I suppose that this keeps the price down, but I then had to buy page protectors and a binder, so I was not able to organize the materials until I could go on a shopping trip. I would have liked to have a consumable workbook and just have it all bound. Of course, I can use my original as consumable workpages, but then there is still the issue of storing them.
The assignments are half pages, but not exactly half. So when you cut the pages on the line, you do not have equal size sheets of paper. The worksheets look like they were made up on a computer and printer from 10 years ago and never updated. This is not a big deal, but it contributes to the overall impression of the program.
There is very little actual instruction. The booklet that comes with it contains information about proper posture and pencil grip, as well as suggestions for lesson plans and scheduling. But there is little guidance about how to teach the child to write, except for some pre-writing activity suggestions (like salt boxes).
For each letter taught, there are no arrows to show which way to write the letter. There are only a couple of letters to trace and then a lot of blank space for the child to practice on his own.
There are a lot of assignments devoted to practicing writing the phonograms but very few opportunities to write complete words, and there are no complete sentences at all. The manual suggests having the beginning writer practice 2-3 lines per day. But Cursive First gives mostly just individual letters with 1-2 actual words on each assignment page--tedious and boring! Maybe it is fine for a child that can't read, yet. But there is no way that I can get Grasshopper to write 2-3 lines of meaningless letters. But she will happily write complete sentences, especially if they are interesting and meaningful to her.

After Grasshopper finished learning the alphabet, I purchased the StartWrite software and started giving her copywork. (The Modern Cursive font is the same one that is used for Cursive First. I like it because every letter starts on the bottom line, preventing confusion about where to start each letter.) Fortunately, writing comes pretty easily to dd. But I think that Cursive First would be lacking for the average child and entirely insufficient for the child that struggles with writing. If you don't anticipate writing difficulties, I would recommend just using StartWrite and making your own worksheets. Otherwise, I would look into something with more help for both the teacher and the child.

Concerning teaching cursive before manuscript, I was skeptical at first, and to some degree, I suppose I still am. The transition has been difficult for her, and for that reason, I am inclined to support the teaching of cursive first with younger children. Nevertheless, I still have concerns about teaching cursive first to a young child. (Grasshopper was 3yo when she started to write manuscript.) Cursive First is not designed for children younger than 5yo, and I am not sure what programs, if any are designed to teach cursive first to a younger child.

What We Are Doing for 2010-2011

2010-08-21T17:51:00.002-05:00

I have been meaning to share our curriculum for this upcoming school year. But I wanted share some initial observations and impressions of our new programs. Since that takes more time, I was putting it off. So I decided that I would give a list and then make separate review entries of each of our programs as I have time. So here goes:

Tapestry of Grace will cover history, literature, geography and art. We are doing Year 1, Ancient Civilizations through the fall of the Roman Empire.
Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP), 1st grade
Spell to Write and Read/Cursive First
Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

In addition, we will continue memorization and add in narrations. I would also like to experiment with something called story circles, as outlined in Nebel's Elementary Education. It is intended for a classroom, but I think we can adapt it to a family situation. Basically, each child takes a turn adding to a story. As the children become adept at actually creating the story, you begin writing and illustrating the story with the students. Eventually, you can talk about grammar and literary devices. From my perspective, this is the seed of the Socratic discussions that should be taking place as the children get older.

I intend to write at length about each program as we get into it. Let me know if there is anything specific that you want to know more about.

Add-A-Century Timeline Review Update

2010-08-02T21:31:00.002-05:00

Since my original review of Add-A-Century Timeline, I have been contacted by the company. I want to share some of that interchange, as I feel that it bears substantially on the product and on the integrity of the company.

I was contacted by a company representative who wanted to respond to some of my negative comments about Add-A-Century Timeline. I was reached through my personal e-mail rather than posting a comment. I felt that it showed great integrity to handle this matter privately rather than publicly on my blog.

The first comment was in reference to my statement that "not only did I not have enough pages to get us through one whole history rotation, I did not even have enough to get me through the first year." Here is the company's response:

"The idea behind Add-A-Century Timeline, the reason it was created, is to give you the tools to build your history timeline the way you want it, without the limitations of preprinted pages or predetermined spaces. I would have no idea how many (or few) pages someone will want to use per century when building their timeline. You could use one page or ten! Someone may want to cram more centuries onto fewer pages for the ancient times, while someone else desires the consistency of keeping all centuries with equal spaces. It’s up to the individual. If the Starter Pack is not enough, Add-On-Packs are available."

I understand the concept, but I still maintain that since the only specific example used on the website is to use two pages per century, it is reasonable to assume that one pack would be enough for a first year study starting with ancient civilizations. But it was mostly my fault for not doing sufficient research, which is why I wrote this review. Most people are not prepared to conduct the same kind of research for a timeline that they do for a curriculum. I hope to be your heads-up.

Next, the representative was confused about my comment that the dates to put on the pages were calculated wrong. Here is my clarification to the company on that subject:

"The marketing materials indicate that you can cover one century on one double-page. While it indicates that you can use them however you want, this is the only way that is actually specified. By applying the date stickers according to the instructions, the years 1 A.D through 5 A.D. and the years 5 B.C. through 1 B.C. end up in a 5-year column, even though the span is 4 years. Honestly, it is a very, very minor complaint. But it is nevertheless technically incorrect. I do understand the desire to keep the year 1800, for example, with the rest of the 1800's."

The representative acknowledged this point. I think it should be in the instructions, because when I got to that point, I thought I had done something wrong. She also acknowledge the vagueness of some of the instructions and indicated that they would consider my comments upon the next reprinting. In closing, the representative had this to say:

"I will keep your comments for when we reprint our materials. Add-A-Century was never meant to be a 'here's how you do it' item as much as a 'here, do it your way' tool. But as we get more customers, I see that the 'here's how to do it' option, along with specific instructions, is a good idea."

I felt like this was a very positive exchange, and I am very much willing to spend a little extra money to support people of integrity that are working to make homeschooling a better experience.

Now, this would be a nice place to stop. But I subsequently received another e-mail sharing an idea that they are working on and inviting me to assist in testing the product. I will not share any details about the idea in the interest of protecting their intellectual property, but it is a great idea and will save people like me a lot of money. I am really excited to help with this product, and after they are ready to market it, I will post my review.

Add-A-Century Timeline Review

2010-07-03T14:44:00.005-05:00

After reading this review, please see my UPDATE.

Since we are starting our first history rotation with Grasshopper, I was interested in doing a timeline with her. (Although there is some controversy over whether it is appropriate to do timeline work with a 5yo, I felt that it would be good for her interests and abilities.) I liked the suggestion in The Well-Trained Mind to make each century take up equal space so that children can see how much more we know of more recent centuries than of ancient time periods.

The thought of doing my own was rather daunting. I needed something that would last at least through the four-year rotation and would also store well. Because of Grasshopper's age, I wanted something that I could use pictures with. I am also a person of precision. If I was going to spend the money on a timeline, I wanted the visual representation of the time spans to be precise.

I found out about Add-A-Century Timeline, and it seemed to encompass all that I needed--equal space for each century, pictures, and the ability to place on a wall and/or store in a binder. I purchased the starter pack with the binder, which includes the following for $62.95:

40 pages 80# Card Stock with mylar edges
Connectors
Category Labels for every pair of pages
Date Stickers from 4999 BC to 2025 AD
126 Colored Stickers
10 Flip-ups
Binder Tabs
2 Image Sheets
12" x 12" Binder

It wasn't long before I found I was rather disappointed in what I received. As I started to assemble the materials, I discovered that not only did I not have enough pages to get us through one whole history rotation, I did not even have enough to get me through the first year. Now, this was most certainly my own fault for not doing the math. Because I thought it would last four years, I should have checked. But I don't think that it is unreasonable to assume that it would get you through one year, so I wouldn't expect a person to check in that case. However, what Add-A-Century has done is to divide all the centuries by four and put that amount in a starter pack. But most (perhaps all) classical history rotations cover more time during the first year studying the ancients since there is so much less known about that time period. Consequently, I needed 50 more pages just for the first year, amounting to $50 more than I had already spent.

As I continued to assemble the materials, I found that the assembly instructions were very vague, leaving me to figure out how to do it largely on my own. As I did so, I found that they have actually calculated the dates wrong. Every page is divided into five-year spans. But one column is shorter to account for a four-year span. The reason for this is that there is no year 0. So years 1-5 (either AD or BC) are a four-year span. However, the date stickers put the four-year span at the end of the century instead of the beginning of the century. The only way I would have been able to correct it would be to make my own date stickers. This is a minimal annoyance, as only the first centuries AD and BC are incorrect, and most people will never notice. But I spent over $100, and I would think this type of mistake would not be happening for that amount of money.

I also quickly realized that the 2 image sheets did not cover the ancients time period at all. I knew that 2 image sheets would not be enough, and I figured I would have to supplement. But how hard would it be to include a picture of the pyramids, the parthenon, and the colloseum?

Finally, it took me many, many hours to assemble this timeline. I knew that if I tried to put it together as we went, it might not get done. So it became part of my summer prep work. I am very glad that I purchased the binder, because I think you would have a hard time finding that size of a binder for less money. And it is quite beautiful.

I am now ready, and I am still excited about using my Add-A-Century timeline. And I will probably bite the bullet and continue with it over the whole four-year rotation. In fact, since we will be doing more history in future rotations, we will probably continue to add to this one if it holds up. But I would not recommend it, as it is too much money for something that is imprecise, needs to be completely assembled, and requires supplementation.

Literature-Based Geography

2010-07-03T13:42:00.055-05:00

This year, I purchased some books that contained lesson plans for doing literature-based social studies. While the lesson plans were wonderful, I found that I really did not have time to put these lessons together in a formal way. But because Grasshopper had such a fascination with our big wall map, as well as a love of books, it was so easy to let her choose a country and then find children's books about that country. We usually started with a history book for background. But we most enjoyed the biographies, historical fiction and folklore associated with the countries. We then made up trivia games as we sat at the table looking at the map. I thought I would share my book list here for those that might want to do something similar. I continue to add to it as I find additional books.

Literature-Based Geography Book List (Google Docs)

Paradigm Shifts

2010-06-15T13:41:00.005-05:00

I am so very blessed to be able to homeschool. I guess that is the uttermost in my mind after finishing our first year. When I began this journey, I really had no way of knowing just how wonderful a journey it could be. Public school is the only thing I ever knew, so that is basically what I envisioned for my homeschool. I had no idea how many different ways there were to approach teaching.

It wasn't long before I realized that grade levels were pretty meaningless with a gifted child. For example, she can read at a 3rd grade level, but she does not have the stamina or the maturity of a 3rd grader, nor can she write at a 3rd grade level. Consequently, materials designed for 3rd graders are generally not going to be appropriate for her.

I also learned that you don't have follow the same scope and sequence as in public school. I am excited to have become acquainted with the classical method of education. I really love the idea of a chronological study of history that simultaneously integrates literature from the same time period.

Another concept that I am still trying to digest is in the area of math. I have learned that you do not have to follow the traditional scope and sequence for primary math (addition-subtraction-multiplication-division). Grasshopper was getting bored with what I thought would be a challenging, advanced kindergarten curriculum, and she was asking to learn multiplication. That public school-educated voice in my head said, "No! You have to learn addition and carrying, subtraction and borrowing first." But about that same time I was following a discussion thread on a homeschool forum about letting kids take the lead. So I bought a multiplication workbook at my local teacher resource store to supplement our current math curriculum. Well, she loved it! And it wasn't long before I could not persuade her to do anything in the prior workbook.

Because of our society's public school background, everyone thinks that either Grasshopper is some sort of genius or that I am some kind of pushy mom. But she is not, and I am not. It just makes a lot of sense to teach beginning multiplication with addition, since multiplication is just a form of addition.

One of my more recent epiphanies is the idea that you can teach cursive before manuscript handwriting. I have known about the Cursive First program for some time but had a lot of reservations about using it with an accelerated child. But I recently purchased it (because it was aligned with the spelling program I chose), and I am convinced that teaching cursive first is preferable. It is such hard work to learn one way. And just as the child is feeling proud of what he has mastered, he is asked to learn it all over again.

The Cursive First program maintains that what a child learns first is what he learns best and that children who learn cursive first will have better handwriting. Until a hundred years ago, cursive was always taught first. I recently had a chance to read some letters written by my family members in the 1930's. The handwriting was beautiful, and I am convinced that this was largely because they learned cursive first. I regret that I didn't know about this when Grasshopper was learning to write. But I am happy that we are making the transition now when she is excited about it rather than waiting until she is a little older.

I have really gone through some tremendous paradigm shifts this year, but now I am so excited about next year. I have really thoroughly researched all of our curricula and feel so confident that next year will be so much better.

Next time, I will write about our program choices.

You Are the Expert!

2010-06-15T09:06:00.002-05:00

For those who hear the voices around and within them casting doubt on their ability to homeschool their children, I want to offer some encouragement.

I recently gained an insight through an experience involving Cricket, who was recently evaluated with a speech delay of almost 50%, placing him at about the 15 month mark in expressive speech (receptive speech was normal). We decided to take advantage of the state-funded early intervention program, and a speech therapist (ST) began to visit us in our home. Within a few meetings, it was clear that the ST was not a good fit with Cricket. She had a particular plan in mind, and Cricket was not interested in her plan and completely ignored her.

I called the service coordinator seeking advice. She asked me if I had discussed my concerns with the ST. I told her that I was concerned about the appropriateness of questioning her, since she was the expert. The coordinator stopped me short and told me firmly, "No! You are the expert when it comes to your child!"

This really hit home for me. When I was working in rehabilitation services with disabled individuals, I said this very same thing to parents many times. But somehow, I didn't internalize it as a parent myself. She was right. I am the expert. I know my child.

So for those out there who are hearing voices of doubt, whether they be your own voice or that of others, YOU ARE THE EXPERT. You spend every day with your child, and you know his strengths and weaknesses. You rejoice with him when he succeeds and cry with him when he fails.

And to my religious friends out there, please also remember that it is to you that God has entrusted your child. Only you are entitled to receive personal guidance from your Father in Heaven concerning that child. Listen to His voice so intently that it will drown out your own doubts and the voices of all the naysayers. He will not fail you.

How We Tweaked the First Year

2010-04-19T13:17:00.005-05:00

Now that we are looking forward to finishing up our first year of homeschooling, I thought it might be appropriate to share how our original curriculum plan changed. Our original plan included Five in a Row, Horizons K Math, Spelling Workout, MCP Plaid Phonics, Critical Thinking: Reading, Thinking and Reasoning Skills, reading aloud from library books, BJU Science, literature-based Social Studies, and piano lessons.

Five in a Row: We have absolutely adored this program. Occasionally, we do only three or four readings rather than five--sometimes because of our schedule, and sometimes because I am just not happy with the book-of-the-week or it lessons. But Grasshopper often will say, "This book is going to be six or seven in a row!" (or even ten if she is especially excited about it).

I have made a couple of changes in how we approach it, though. I found after we completed the first volume that Grasshopper wanted to remember which vocabulary words went with which book, and she wanted to look through artwork that she did. So I started to keep a binder. I photocopy each book's cover and type the vocabulary words on the back. Then we place her artwork behind it in the binder. Additionally, I have added copywork using sentences from her FIAR books.

Horizons K Math: We chose Horizons K, because it was said to be an advanced but gentle approach to math. We have found that to be absolutely true. However, with the spiral approach, we find that we are practicing counting in the same lesson as subtraction and counting money. So I am finding that we are having to eliminate some of the sections.

Grasshopper has consistently said that she did not like math, but she recently started to do extra math at night. Around the same time, she began asking to do subtraction and multiplication. I ordinarily would have dismissed her request, but I had recently been lurking in an e-mail forum where they were discussing the merits of letting kids jump ahead when they ask for it. So I bought her a multiplication book, and she got really excited about it. So she is continuing to do Horizons some days and working out of the multiplication book on other days. I don't know how long she will stick with the multiplication or how far she will be able to take it, but she seems happy with it for now.

Additionally, I have decided not to continue with Horizons for next year. Grasshopper still is not crazy about math (though is good at it). What she really likes is one-on-one time with adults and reading. So I have chosen to do CSMP next year, which incorporates a lot of games and stories into the curriculum. I hoping that this will help her to better love math.

MCP Plaid Phonics: By Thanksgiving, I decided to ditch the phonics program. It took her so long to do it, and her reading level was soaring beyond what she was doing in phonics. I decided that what she needed was just a phonics-based spelling program.

Spelling Workout: Grasshopper was having trouble with all of the writing, so we began doing this program orally. It is working acceptably well for the moment, as she is doing well on the spelling tests and sometimes even wants to work ahead. But I am not very happy with the curriculum, as I feel that it focuses more on writing practice than on spelling practice. I still have the next Spelling Workout level here, so we will probably continue until we finish that book, but then I will have to research spelling programs at that point.

Critical Thinking: Reading, Thinking and Reasoning Skills: We only do this once per week, but Grasshopper really loves these worksheets. They address some fairly advanced skills in a way suitable for a very young child. I would love to continue with this series, but I don't know if we will have time in our schedule for it next year.

Handwriting: I had hoped that I would not have to give Grasshopper separate handwriting worksheets, thinking it would be burdensome. I hate to say that I should have listened to everyone who warned that it is easier to focus only on handwriting. Doing three worksheets a day was just drudgery for Grasshopper. I eliminated phonics and spelling worksheets and added in copywork, taken from her Five in a Row book for the week, and she is quite happy with it. She gets it done quickly, and her writing stamina is noticeably increasing.

Reading: Grasshopper continues to read to me daily from library books. She has occasionally started to read things on her own. She asks questions about vocabulary and content she does not understand. At this point, this is working well for us, and I do not think that a formal reading program will be necessary.

BJU Science: I was quite happy with this science curriculum--until I bought Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Dr. Bernard Nebel. I bought it for next year, but after reading through it, I decided to dump BJU and jump into BFSU.

Literature-based social studies: We are still doing this, but in a very different way than I had anticipated. I thought that I would use lesson plans from books that are literature-based, but I found that this just did not provide broad enough coverage of topics and was just too time consuming. Our social studies have evolved into Grasshopper choosing a topic (usually a country but sometimes a historical figure), and then I get books for her on that topic. I do online searches for both fiction and non-fiction. I have gotten pretty good at spotting the books that will appeal to both her academic level and interests. She has become very good at world geography, a great background for starting a classical world history program next year (Tapestry of Grace):

Fine Arts: I started to teach Grasshopper how to play the piano. It was a bit of a leap of faith since I don't play. But she is doing quite well. I keep lessons down to 10-15 minutes, and we do not always get around to a lesson every week. But she will sporadically sit at the piano and practice for a few minutes here and there. She is enjoying it, and she has a natural talent for it. But I am trying my best to avoid pushing her. I will continue to teach her until I think she can endure a 30-minute lesson, at which point we will seek out a real teacher.

Review of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

2010-02-25T12:06:00.003-06:00

On various forums, I have seen a lot of questions about Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, K-2 by Dr. Bernard Nebel ("BFSU"). Since we recently started using this book, I thought I would share my own review.

I purchased BFSU a couple of months ago with the intention of using it in the fall. After seeing the book, though, I ditched the $100 1st-grade science that I thought I loved, because BFSU was so much better. Dr. Nebel knows science and knows children, and that is a rare combination. And for a quarter of the price, I received three times the volume of lesson plans.

What is BFSU?
BFSU is neither a traditional nor a classical science curriculum. Rather, it is an entirely new approach to teaching science. There are two main ideas that drive this curriculum: (1) People learn more when it is relevant to their own lives, and (2) People retain more of what they learn if they are making mental connections. BFSU attempts to create and take advantage of "teaching moments," that is, those times when children are seeking to learn, asking questions and wanting to know. Although it is not marketed as using the Socratic method, I find the Socratic method used heavily to create these "teaching moments."

BFSU covers the following general areas of science, called "threads": Nature of Matter, Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Science. There is not a specific schedule or order in which you have to teach the lessons. The lessons, however, are intended to be taught approximately in a spiral such that you are teaching one or two lessons from one thread and then moving on to the next. Each lesson plan tells you what lessons from all threads that are considered prerequisite. The earlier lessons are designed for the younger K level students, and the later lessons for the older students. In this way, the child learns to integrate the different areas of science. (For example, before teaching the distinction between plants and animals from the Life Science thread, the child should first have covered concepts of energy and making things go from the Physical Science thread, since how we get our energy is an important distinction between plants and animals.) As you spiral through the different threads, you continue to revisit what you have previously covered but just go into it in greater depth each time.

BFSU is written for the classroom, but it is very easily adaptable to the home school setting (and even acknowledges this in the Introduction). It is not just "for" K-2 students, but there are easily enough lessons for three years of material, unless you have a child that is extraordinarily driven in the science category. To quote another forum post, "This is not a cutesy Kindergarten science program." BFSU tackles some very advanced concepts while managing to keep the activities and material on a young child's mental level. (For example, DH is a high school physics teacher, and he has remarked that most of his new students have never even heard of the difference between mass and weight, a concept that is dealt with in the Physical Science thread.)

Is it secular or religious?
BFSU is a secular text. But as a Christian, I have not found anything controversial. It does not address topics like the creation of the world or evolution.

What kind of preparation does BFSU take?
Each lesson is very thorough and lengthy, most covering 6-8 pages, single-spaced, with no pictures or diagrams. It is absolutely necessary to read the whole lesson carefully. Dr. Nebel is meticulous about giving you everything you might want to know, including what misconceptions children commonly have, and what answers you might expect to get out of them.

A materials list is given for each lesson. Almost every material needed is something that you would likely have in your home, but occasionally you might find something that you need to pick up. As I browse through the lessons, I see that I will have to be prepared to acquire balloons for one lesson and an empty glass jar for another. My recommendation is to go through the materials lists for all of the lessons and make a shopping list of things you don't normally have and then store those things in an easily accessible location.

Each lesson also comes with a list of reading books that you can use with the lesson. So if you are using these book lists to supplement your lessons, you will need to check those out from the library prior to the lesson, as well.

The most difficult part of preparing for a lesson is that most of us will need to change how we teach and think about science. You have to figure out how you are going to make the lesson relevant to your own child. There are many ideas and lots of guidance, but BFSU recognizes that different children will be reached in different ways. It might be as simple as planning to talk about solids, liquids and gases in the bathroom as your child brushes his teeth or takes a bath. Or you might be inspired to elaborate on a given activity or go on a field trip. I do not personally like a scripted program, yet I lack the creativity to come up with my own activities and discussions. BFSU gives me just enough script with a whole lot of ways to tailor it to my own child, family and circumstances.

But just let me warn that BFSU does take some preparation. I am spending at least 30-60 minutes reading the lesson and setting up the activities, with most of that time spent just wrapping my brain around the lesson plan. If I did not have a science background, I would want to write down the questions I was supposed to ask and the answers I wanted to elicit from the child.

What about students older than K?
Dr. Nebel has been saying on his Yahoo group that books for grades 3-5 and for 6-8 are due out by this summer. In my opinion, you could easily use this book for grade 3 unless you have a particularly savvy student. Even with an older student that is really into science, I think much could still be gleaned from these lessons. I would just go through it faster. If I had a third grader, I would get the K-2 book and start working on it now so that I would not have to worry about when the 3-5 book came out.

If you have any questions, please post them, and I will add to this review.

My Family Tree: A File Folder Game

2010-01-27T18:29:00.004-06:00

Before I had children, I was heavily involved in researching my family tree. Our ancestors were European immigrants, and I thought with Grasshopper's interest in geography and history, this would interest her. But she just wasn't that interested. Then I saw a family tree activity in a recent magazine and decided that I could turn it into this file folder game. And it has been a big hit, even with Cricket.

To make your own:

Supplies:
1 file folder
4 pages cardstock paper
Glue stick
Con-Tact paper
Velcro
Snack size Ziploc bag
Scissors

Print out two copies of pages 24-25 of the October 2009 Friend Magazine on cardstock paper.

Paste one copy in the inside of a file folder (heavy ones will last longer).

Cut the ovals out of the second copy.

Paste pictures onto the ovals that correspond with the people on the family tree (includes the child, his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents).

Print the names (and birth dates and places, if desired) on a piece of paper. Cut them out and glue them under each oval on the file folder. You may want to also paste the names onto the back of the pictures, as well, so that they can match the names. (But leave room for the velcro.)

Laminate the inside of the file folder with Con-Tact paper. Laminate the ovals with the pictures on them. (Make sure to leave enough space around the pictures so that the laminate will hold.)

Put velcro on each oval on the file folder and on the back of each picture oval. Make sure the soft side of the velcro is always used on the file folder and the rough side for the pictures.

Store the pieces in a ziploc bag with the rough side of the velcro on the back in the same orientation as it is placed on the file folder so that you can attach the bag to the inside of the file folder when not in use.

The Power of Pretend

2010-01-14T18:58:00.004-06:00

I recently was visiting a forum where a homeschooling mother asked what to do with a dd that loved to pretend, but mom did not--hated it, in fact. I read the thread with earnest, as I am in the same boat with Grasshopper, who loves to pretend. And me? I must have missed the announcement when they were handing out imaginations. I was really disturbed, though, when I saw many responses such as, "Play with my kids? No way. Not going to happen." And I was surprised that no one seemed to be able to provide any real, practical advice for this poor mom that was trying to do her best for her kids.

From the beginning, I begrudgingly tried to appease Grasshopper's demands for pretend play. Before she could even talk, she would insist that we pretend the washcloth was talking to her. (I made the mistake one time of trying to get her to cooperate when I was wiping her face.) By the time she was 3yo, she was walking around telling people that she was Pocahontas, or Mary (mother of Jesus), or whatever person she was interested in that day, and I played along as best I could. When I was pregnant with Cricket and uttlerly exhausted, I would suggest that we pretend that she was putting me to bed, and that actually worked.

But what really made a difference for me is when we moved to a location in a library district and started formal homeschooling. Books became her primary motivation for pretend play. And when I saw that she wanted to pretend anything and everything, I quickly learned that pretending to be, for example, the Egyptian Queen Tiye was so much better than pretending to be Disney princesses. And it turns out that Grasshopper is even more excited about pretending to be a real person or act out a real story than a fictional one. We still do plenty of fiction, but we pick those that have real life lessons in them. Allow me to share some examples.

We recently read a book about the childhood of Queen Isabel of Spain. Grasshopper pretended to be Queen Isabel of Castile, and I pretended to be King Ferdinand of Aragon asking her to marry him and therefore combine their kingdoms into one big country called Spain. We pretended to give money to Christopher Columbus for his trip to the New World.
Grasshopper wanted to learn about Poland, so I got a book from the library entitled Escaping to America, a true story about a family that fled Poland during WWI. While we were running errands, we pretended that we were this family. Every time we had to get in and out of the car, we pretended we were getting on a train or a ship for yet another leg of the journey. Down the aisles of the grocery store, we pretended we were hiding from soldiers. As we approached home, we pretended we were arriving in America and talked about how we would work hard for the blessing of being here. I got all my work done, and Grasshopper was immensely satisfied with her hours of pretend. And best of all for me--she is learning.
This week, we read a book called Brave Irene about a little girl that braved a terrible snow storm to deliver a dress her sick mother had made for the duchess's ball. It was a fictional story, but it had wonderful life lessons about perseverance, honesty, honor, responsibility, charity, bravery, etc. I didn't particularly like pretending. But practicing good character is something I want my kids to be doing. These lessons are better learned during pretend play before they are faced with the real thing.

Can you make yourself like pretending? Probably not. But it is so much more tolerable when you envision what your children will get out of it in the long run and guide your child into pretending things of real value.

What I Wish I Had Known

2009-12-27T18:45:00.007-06:00

Lately, I have encountered some smart homeschoolers-to-be--that is, parents of toddlers or preschoolers that are starting their research now. I have noticed that when these parents post questions about homeschooling preschool, most of the answers include, "Slow down! Don't worry about it. Let them play. Give them crayons and paints. Sing with them. Read to them." Now, in my mind, the type of parent that is asking about homeschooling preschool is probably already doing all of these things. If this is you, then this post is for you.

Unfortunately, I was not so smart. I thought that all I needed to do was order a few books the summer before we started, and I would be set. So I have joined the ranks of all those homeschoolers that are less than pleased with their first year curricula choices. I have discovered a few things along the way that I wish I had known about when Grasshopper was younger.

Curricula

Five in a Row: We are doing Five in a Row with Grasshopper now, which is a literature program designed for 4-8 year olds. I cannot say enough good about it. (For more details, see my blog post entitled A View of Our First Year.) I wish I had known about Before Five in a Row for 2-4 year olds when Grasshopper was 2yo. She has always loved books, and this would have been a perfect fit for her personality. I am going to try it with Cricket in a year or two.

Cursive First: This handwriting program is exactly what it sounds like. It bypasses printing altogether and goes straight to cursive, eliminating the need for the transition from printing to cursive. By the time Grasshopper was ready for kindergarten, she had already been printing for a year. I felt that she needed to reap the benefits of her efforts for a while rather than making the transition to cursive early, so I am not using it with her. In spite of my interest in the program, I do have one concern with regard to gifted kids. An average child would be learning his letters, phonics and handwriting all at the same time. If I had tried this with Grasshopper, she would have already known her letters, and this program would have required her to learn a new set of letters. So while I am unsure of how this would work with a gifted child, I am still intrigued with the program and will consider this program for Cricket when the time comes.

Food for Thought

Memorization: I loved the theory in The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer to "fill your child's mind with beautiful language." But when I came to memorization as one of the ways to do it (even for preschool), I was pretty cynical about it, because rote memorization has always been so hard for me. However, it was laid out so simply that I couldn't help but try it. Just read the passage to the child once per day until the child has memorized it. I tried it with Grasshopper, and I was amazed at the results. It took her only two weeks to memorize an 8-line poem. And she would recite it all the time, even when playing or conversing. We have since done the Pledge of Allegiance, various poems and scriptures, and lines from songs and books. I let her help me pick what she wants to memorize, and this increases her interest and resolve.

Work together: I started out trying to get Grasshopper to do chores on her own (simple things like putting laundry in a basket). I quickly discovered that while she was an obedient child and would do as she was told, she really hated it. In the meantime, I recently discovered myself that any work we do is easier if good feelings are associated with it. (See My Holiday Epiphany.) So now Grasshopper and I (and Cricket, too, where possible) do everything together. I invite her to help me put dishes away, do laundry, cook, grocery shopping, etc. Now she is excited to do "our" chores. And as an added bonus, I have found that she now spends more time playing by herself instead of begging me to play with her. I believe that this investment now will make it easier for her to work later on in life.

Practice Child-Led Education: I am not a big fan of a completely child-led curriculum, as I think that children need to have some structure to make sure they are meeting certain minimum standards. But to the extent that the child has chosen what they are learning, they will be more invested and learn it better. As a teacher, it is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced, and preschool is a great time to do it. Practice finding books and activities that go along with your child's interest. As we have done this, I have discovered Grasshopper's interest in musical composers, history and geography, all things I have never had an interest in. She tells me who or what she wants to study, and I find the resources, and we are both learning so much.

Great Children's Literature for Christmas

2009-12-14T08:07:00.012-06:00

Before our recent move, we did not live in a library district. I did not know what I was missing! Our family has been really loving the wonderful children's literature available through our local library. And we have especially enjoyed the Christmas stories. I don't want to forget some of those stories, so I decided to start a list here. If anyone has any suggestions for books to add, please leave them in a comment!

A Christmas Like Helen's: This book beautifully illustrates what Christmas would have been like if you lived on a farm in Vermont in the 1800's. DH and I both were sobbing as I read this to our family!

Voices of Christmas: The author insightfully imagines what the various characters of Christmas would have said at the time that the birth of the Savior was unfolding. What was the angel Gabriel thinking as he prepared to appear to Mary? What was Mary thinking upon Gabriel's departure? What were the thoughts of the wise men as they approached the child, the Messiah?

Grandma's Lost Gift: A Christmas Story: A story about a Polish girl whose family flees the country during WWII. She takes only one thing of value to her--a gift from her grandfather--but loses it during their hasty escape.

A New Coat for Anna: Following the war, Christmas is approaching, and Anna needs a new coat. Her mother cannot afford one, so she visits a farmer for wool, a spinner, a weaver and a tailor, and she has her coat by the following Christmas.

The Road to Santiago: A family in Cuba is traveling from Havana to Santiago on the other side of the island for Christmas Eve dinner with their extended family. Following the rebels' demolition of the train tracks, the family is forced to find an alternate route to be with their family and manages to arrive in time for midnight mass. This book utilizes a lot of Spanish words, giving it a more authentic feel.

One Small Lost Sheep: A shepherd boy in Bethlehem spends the night looking for his lost, lame sheep, missing the choir of angels that come to announce the birth of the Savior. I won't give away the ending but will just say that it made me cry!

A Carol for Christmas: The story of the composition of the beloved carol, "Silent Night," told from the perspective of a church mouse.

The Donkey's Christmas Song: Each stable animal greets the new baby with its own song. This is a great book for toddlers.

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: As a boy learns about why we make Christmas cookies, he discovers the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Prairie Christmas: An 11yo Nebraskan girl accompanies her mother on Christmas Eve to assist with the birth of a baby. The story has beautiful parallels to the Nativity story.

Great Joy: A little girl discovers that the man on the street corner does not go home at night, and she invites him to her pageant.

Tree of Cranes: A Japanese mother teaches her son about Christmas in America.

The Third Gift: A wonderful Nativity story told from the perspective of a family that sold the gift of myrrh to the wise men.

My Holiday Epiphany (Traditions and Hard Work)

2009-12-05T21:40:00.002-06:00

I am a strictly practical person (practically to a fault, he he!). I don't like to decorate, because it always feels like so much work for what you get out of it. I don't use serving platters, because the pans the food was cooked in seem just as good to me. And I don't send Christmas cards, because I am either going to see you at Christmas, or I will never see you again, and in either case, I just can't summon the energy necessary to send the card. But I was given an insight into the meaning of traditions as I was making homemade pierogi for Thanksgiving.

I come from a Polish-American family. My great grandparents arrived in this great nation around the turn of the 20th century. I grew up calling my grandparents Dzia Dzia (grandpa) and Busia (grandma) and hearing them speak Polish. I loved them dearly, and I have done family history research on their families in Poland. One of the few traditions that have stuck is the making of homemade pierogi. It takes most of the day to make, and is physically taxing, but the result is scrumptious. My husband, as my practical other half, is quite puzzled by the tradition, as he just cannot see how they are any better than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

As I was making the pierogi, I was well aware of the time commitment, which this year was lengthened by the presenced of Cricket, our 21-month old. (My husband tried to keep him occupied, but Cricket just could not stand the thought of leaving mom alone for the length of time needed.) But I realized that although it was going to take up most of my day, and my back was going to hurt by the end of it, I did not feel like I was working. I just thought of how grateful my mother was when I was old enough to help make them. I thought about how she learned from her father how to make the pierogi, because her mother was sickly her whole life and could not do it. I remembered how all of us--aunts, uncles, cousins--always were together for the holidays when I was a child. There was so much of nostalgia tied up in this activity that all those good feelings cancelled out any dread of the work to be done.

I knew that traditions could bind families together through the generations, which is why I have tried to keep them alive. But in that moment, I learned something else, too. The difficulty of hard work is removed when good feelings are associated with it. When I harp on Grasshopper to separate the laundry, it is hard work and takes forever. But when I jump in, and we do it together, it is pleasant for her. I recently made this change, and now she looks forward to doing laundry together. She has even started to beg me to let her help with other things. So by giving her an extra ten minutes of my time, I am ending up with a child who loves to help. And I am not really sacrificing ten minutes, because I probably spent that much time getting her to do her job in the first place. It is my desire that when she is grown, doing laundry will not be the chore for her that it is for me, because I hope that doing it will remind her of sweet and pleasant times working together.

Attachment and Homeschooling II

2009-12-02T08:16:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading Gordon Neufeld's Hold on to Your Kids, and it has really inspired me to deal differently with my children, especially with reference to homeschooling. Neufeld postulates that most of what is wrong with our youth today is due to them getting more attached to their peers than their parents, and that the fix to these problems is to find ways to strengthen the adult-child bond. Now, I want to preface this by saying that Neufeld does not endorse homeschooling as the answer to these problems, recognizing that for so many, this is just not a feasible course of action. However, for those of us who can homeschool, we need to make the most of it.

I went into the world of homeschooling thinking that I was providing my children with a superb education. In my mind, that included reading, writing, math, science. For a while, I was rather taken in by the curricula that endeavor to turn children into independent learners. I found myself trying to get Grasshopper to do some of her work and chores on her own. But after reading this book, I understand that I have a great opportunity to cultivate warm attachments between my children and all of the adults in their lives.

The basic premise embraced by Neufeld is that children will naturally want to be good and do what we tell them if they are sufficiently attached to us emotionally. If they are sufficiently attached and do not at least try to be good, then they are yet too immature to be able to do what is being asked of them. I realized that the times that Grasshopper was not doing what was asked were due either to immaturity or a lack of attachment with me. Considering she sometimes did what I asked of her and her frequent begging for time with me, I had to assume that the problem was more with her attachment needs.

So I have started to view my role very differently. Instead of having her do a worksheet while I do laundry, we do laundry together and then do the worksheet together. I don't usually help with her work, but I find things to do at her side so we can talk about the work while she is doing it. Instead of leaving her home with Dad when I go grocery shopping, she comes with me, and we go to lunch together afterward.

However, I was drawing the line at playing on the computer with her, and she was really fighting me on it. She wanted that to be something we could do together, and I maintained that this was a half hour that I should be getting something done. Yesterday, we had the same discussion, and I told her that I needed to make some phone calls while she was playing. She responded, "Then make your phone calls in here!" Well if that is all that she needed, it seemed a reasonable thing to do. I made my phone calls, and she respected my time on the phone. When I was done, she was able to say, "Look, Mom, isn't this cool!"

Now, on the front end of this endeavor, I was left with less "me time." But I am finding that as I go out of my way to spend time with her, she is more likely to go off and do her own thing. So while I have less control over when I get my "me time," I am still getting it. At any rate, a little less "me time" now is a great investment into my child's future. And I see that her education is more than just academic.

Keeping Christ in Christmas

2009-11-12T07:31:00.003-06:00

Before I had children, Christmastime was always so hectic--so many gifts to buy, special traditional foods that take days to prepare, parties every weekend of the month, and the house to clean for guests. In our family, it is important to celebrate the birth Jesus Christ at Christmas, but I found it so hard to find time to do that. After I had children, it became imperative. I loved the traditional Christmas morning devotional that many families have when they read about the birth of the Savior. However, this just seemed a little anti-climactic after all the hustle and bustle of the month. So I decided to combine this devotional with the setting up of the nativity scene and make it last the whole month. Here is what we do (songs are from either the LDS Children's Songbook (CS) or the Hymns):

WEEK 1:

Read: Luke 2:1-5
Nativity: Stable, Mary, Joseph, donkey: Place Mary, Joseph and the donkey in their “home” (a location far from the stable). This helps the child understand that they were traveling and Jesus was not there, yet.
Song suggestion: When Joseph Went to Bethlehem (CS, 38)

WEEK 2

Read: Luke 2:6-15
Nativity: Add other animals to the stable. Move Mary, Joseph and the donkey to the stable and add the baby Jesus. Place the angel and shepherds away from the stable, but not as far as Mary and Joseph were placed in the first lesson.
Song suggestions: Little Jesus (CS, 39), Once within a Lowly Stable (CS, 41), Away in the Manger (CS, 42), Mary’s Lullaby (CS, 44), Joy to the World (Hymns, 201), Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful, (Hymns, 202), Silent Night, (Hymns, 204), Once in Royal David’s City (Hymns, 205), O Little Town of Bethlehem (Hymns, 208), Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Hymns, 209), While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (Hymns, 211), The First Noel, (Hymns, 213)
Video suggestion: The Nativity (Luke II), Joy to the World

WEEK 3

Read: Luke 2:16-20
Nativity: Put the angel away and move the shepherds to the stable. Talk about how important it was for the shepherd to be watching their flocks but that they left them to see the baby Jesus.
Song suggestion: The Shepherd’s Carol (CS, 40), Picture a Christmas (CS, 50), Angels We Have Heard on High (Hymns, 203), It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Hymns, 207),

WEEK 4

Read: Matthew 2:1-11. Point out that the wise men visited the family after they had returned to their house (v. 11).
Nativity: Move Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus and the donkey from the stable and to the original location they were placed the first week. (This is their home.) Place the wise men with them.
Song suggestions: With Wondering Awe (Hymns, 210) In our family, we use the discussion of the gifts that the wise men bring as a basis for exchanging our family gifts. We do it as our regular Family Home Evening, but it would also make a great Christmas morning activity.

The Truth about Santa Claus

2009-11-11T13:03:00.005-06:00

When I had my first child, I couldn't help but wonder, even when she was still a baby, when was the best time to tell her the truth about Santa Claus. My own discovery that Santa is pretend is one of those unpleasantries of my childhood. You see, my mother had fallen asleep before putting the presents out. So when we woke up excited to see what Santa had left for us, there was nothing. I thought that surely I had awakened early, so I went back upstairs to my room. But then I heard my mother walking around. (It couldn't have been Santa, because he wouldn't be upstairs.) I opened my door to see my mother with an armful of presents going around the corner toward the living room where the Christmas tree was.

I was so disappointed and felt really betrayed. Of course, I reasoned that it should not have bothered me so. After all, I now understood why Santa's writing looked like my mother's. But the experience nevertheless left me with an empty sort of feeling.

So I have wondered if I would have felt differently if I had found out in another way. I'm sure if my mother had sat me down to break the news, it would have been better than finding out through her mistake. But after much thought, I have not been able to imagine a scenario where finding out that Santa Claus is not real is a good experience after having believed in him.

So before my oldest could understand about Santa Claus, I decided that I would always tell her the truth. We would pretend right along with everyone else that he was real. She would get presents from Santa and be allowed to visit the mall Santas, but I would tell her that it was pretend. The real benefit behind this decision is that when I tell her about God, she knows that He is not pretend. Perhaps she may someday disagree with me, but she will know that I believe in God and was not putting on a show for her sake.

Grasshopper is now 4yo, and I have not had a problem with this decision, yet. When she has expressed interest in seeing the mall Santa, we go and stand in line and wait our turn. But when she gets close and realizes that he is nothing more than a stranger to her, she wants to leave, and we do. (I want her to trust those instincts.) People ask her about Santa coming and what she wants, and I tell her that they are pretending and that she can pretend along with them. Since she loves to pretend, it all works out quite nicely. Surely, there will come a time when she is telling her "believing" friends that Santa is not real, and maybe those parents will not be too pleased with me. But for now, I am quite comfortable with my decision to be truthful with my kids.

Attachment and Homeschooling

2009-11-09T21:56:00.005-06:00

I am reading a book right now that, although is not about homeschooling, has prompted me to make some changes in the way that I teach my children. The book is called Hold on to Your Kids : Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate, M.D. The authors theorize that the reason for the numerous problems that parents have with children is that children are becoming more attached to their peers than to their parents, teachers and caregivers. They say that it is the attachment to the parents that commands children's attention and obedience and not in the discipline and imposed consequences. Furthermore, they maintain that since our industrialized society no longer supports children's attachment to adults, parents have to go out of their way to consciously "hold on to their kids." I am pretty cynical about the latest and greatest psychological and sociological theories, but this book just makes so much sense to me.

Grasshopper is a very interactive person, and it can be tiring. Most of her schooling is done together, which is entirely appropriate for a four-year-old. However, since her need to interact is so pronounced, it can be very tiring for me. So I have developed her curriculum with the idea of getting her used to working on her own more and more. Previously, she was doing three worksheets per day--math, spelling and phonics (but not all in one sitting). During those times I would try to hover around doing my work but not actually sit with her. She recently started to tell me she felt like it was too much work. And after starting this book, I have begun to realize that while education is important, my first priority must always be to maintain my children's attachment to me.

Now this doesn't mean that I don't let them have friends or take classes or encourage independent work. What is does mean is that I need to pay as much attention to their emotional needs as their educational needs. In the case of Grasshopper, she needs her gym and library classes, as well her play dates, which we have always done. But of greatest priority is that we as her parents are the people that she goes to when she needs something. She has a great need to interact, and I need to practice not pushing her away, but rather, welcoming her approaches to me, no matter how laborious it may seem at times.

So for now, this means that I put less emphasis on the writing assignments and do more oral and interactive lessons. As we take our holiday break from Thanksgiving to New Year's, I am going to try having her do a little copywork to practice handwriting so that I can eliminate the rest of her writing assignments and do them orally instead. This will be challenging with Cricket running around. But he is a bit more independent than she is, so I am hoping that I can grab those moments when he is playing happily by himself and use them to provide Grasshopper with what she needs.

Can LDS members use Tapestry of Grace?

2009-11-09T09:13:00.005-06:00

This summer, I read The Well-Trained Mind by Jesse Wise and Susan Wise Bauer and was very impressed with many of the ideas for teaching literature and history. I especially like the idea of integrating the two subjects. (I have taken classes that integrate different subjects and found them much more interesting and felt like I learned more and made more connections in my mind.) However, I am not much of a reader, and even with this great book, I felt overwhelmed with the idea of teaching through the classics.

Another concern was that I really wanted to find materials that use the Bible as a historical document. Our religion is important in our family, and I want my children to make connections between the doctrine that they learn and the history that they study.

Then I ran across a curriculum called Tapestry of Grace, which is a classical program that integrates history (including the history of science and fine arts), literature, vocabulary, writing, government and church history. It utilizes "living books" rather than textbooks (although sometimes texts are referenced), which you can either buy or get from the library. The Socratic method of teaching is emphasized, providing parents with discussion guides and lesson plans. It is designed to teach to multiple children at different levels at the same time. Consequently, when you buy one year of curriculum, you actually get all four levels. And since there is a four-year rotation, you will use the same curriculum with the same child three times-just at a higher level each time.

What more could I want? This curriculum will get my whole family reading the classics. And if you have never heard of the Socratic method, let me just say that this is a very powerful way to teach. It is the standard teaching method in law schools and involves a teacher leading the student to come to conclusions on his own. If I read a classic book, I may not even know what conclusions were intended or even what the book was really about. For example, one of the few classics I have read is Animal Farm. Because of a great teacher, I know that the book is an analogy of the formation of the Soviet Union. But I would not get that by just reading the book. Tapestry of Grace walks the parent-teacher through these important aspects of the classics and provides questions they may ask their students to lead them to draw their own conclusions.

But, alas, nothing is ideal. Tapestry of Grace, as its name would imply, is a strongly Protestant curriculum. As a Mormon, I have nothing against Protestants. I read their literature, listen to their music, and follow their radio programming. But one thing that I find distasteful is that it very common for Protestants to preach falsehoods about what other churches believe and to purposely engender bad feelings in people against other churches, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is always a major target. (For example, when I joined the Church, a Protestant relative told my mother that we did blood sacrifices, which totally freaked her out. Of course, we do no such thing, as we believe that Jesus Christ was the last and ultimate sacrifice.)

When I asked on an LDS homeschool list, every answer that I received was urging me to avoid it, although no one could say they had ever seen it or researched it in any way. But Tapestry of Grace was an otherwise perfect curriculum. I couldn't just abandon the possibility that this would work for us just because those who created it had some mistaken ideas about my religion. Furthermore, I don't want my children growing up thinking that there is nothing of use in others' beliefs, or that we are too different to work together for common goals. Those who developed Tapestry of Grace clearly had some great ideas about how to teach children while strengthening the family. So I set out to do some research and determine whether Tapestry of Grace could be tailored to my family's needs.

I asked on the Tapestry of Grace website forum, and someone kindly sent me a link to a chapter from a year 3 history book (1800's) for one of the upper levels. As expected, it was full of negative opinions about the LDS Church and its leaders, and omitted some very relevant details that would have given a more balanced look at this period of history. I wondered if this was just a result of misunderstandings of this topic in particular or whether all of the topics would be presented in such a one-sided manner. So I got every book from the library that they recommend for the first week, and I was very impressed with the collection as a whole. My husband and I talked about the subject at length and agreed that based on the quality of what we saw, and the fact that misunderstandings of the Church abound, this was likely an aberration and not representative of the entire curriculum. We also felt that this would be a good opportunity to talk to our children about how history depends on the view of the author and that every author is biased in some way. On the other hand, the part of the history that was based on the Bible, I thought was beautifully done. I loved the thought-provoking questions about the story of Moses intended for the upper levels.

So as of this writing, we are planning to purchase Tapestry of Grace at the beginning of next year so that we will be prepared to start in August with the Ancients. I want to see if I can use the books that we get under this curriculum for vocabulary and copywork (Charlotte Mason style). And when the kids are a little older, we may use it for spelling, as well.

How Many Ways Can I Teach Thee? Let Me Count the Number!

2009-10-18T16:04:00.002-05:00

When I started off on our homeschool journey, I knew that there was more than one way to do it. I was acquainted with an unschooler at one time, and though we didn't talk about her teaching philosophy much, her kids appeared to be at least as well educated an anyone else's. But I really was not prepared for how many different philosophies of general homeschooling existed, nor did I realize that within each subject, there could be a multitude of approaches. Once I had my curriculum in place, I started to take the time to read what other people had to say about it.

I knew that unschooling just would not be my cup of tea. When someone can make it work, it is the greatest, because the child will always love what he is learning. But with my personality, I need to have a plan, and I need to know that I am not overlooking anything that my kids need to know.

One of the first books that I read was The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, which sets forth the philosophy of a classical education. I have to admit that I didn't get through the whole thing, as I skipped the parts about older children and focussed on the parts about young children through early elementary. But I was nevertheless enthralled with many of the ideas put forth in this book.

I know that when it comes to reading and history, my own public education was sorely lacking. In high school American Literature class, I received my lowest grade of all time because I didn't do the reading. I didn't see any point to it. And I never took a complete US History or World History class, and my ACT score in social studies was a full 4 points lower than my next lowest score. So when I read in The Well-Trained Mind about studying history from beginning to end and integrating literature right into it, I was just so excited, because it made so much sense.

I also really love the approach to teaching young children, even babies. Just fill their minds with language. Talk to them, sing to them, read to them, play audio books for them. It is a very gentle approach, but the emphasis on early reading is nevertheless quite clear. (I am not as sold on a classical education in math and science, but like the idea of including these in history studies.)

Once I read the book, I knew that this is what we would do. But I was not very confident in my abilities to teach in this style, considering my background. I was sure that I could teach history, but literature was like a looming monster. Then I ran across a curriculum called Tapestry of Grace, which gives you correlated reading lists, integrating world history and literature and even providing activities for the youngest children. There are four years of curricula covering four historical periods. If you start from the beginning, you cycle through them three times, and Tapestry of Grace has assignments for all levels of children. And it provides lesson plans for teaching with the Socratic method (where the teacher guides students to come to their own conclusions). This is the method that was used in my law school classes, and it is very effective!

The name, Tapestry of Grace, is kind of a dead giveaway that it is a Protestant curriculum. But I am not Protestant, but Mormon. Protestants are not known for speaking highly of the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), so why would I consider using a Protestant curriculum? Tune in next time for the answer!

A View of Our First Year

2009-10-13T21:44:00.012-05:00

The curriculum that I outline below was our original plan. Click here to see how we tweaked it.

In developing our first homeschool curriculum, my first concern was, "How do I know what I should be teaching and what my child should be learning?" My first thought was to use my state's standards. So I looked up the IL State Standards, and they were 80+ pages per subject and written in a very confusing way. (Click here to see the social studies standards as an example.) Several grades were listed together, requiring you to pick through a lot of information when you only needed about a quarter of it. After further discussion with DH (a public school teacher), we decided that the public school standards were very low to begin with and that we really didn't need to be following them if we had an above average student.

I encountered many recommendations for What My (___) Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch Jr. I bought the Preschool, Kindergarten and First Grade books. (The Preschool book is not by the same author.) However, I didn't find these books quite so helpful. I think they would be a great resource for someone who didn't want to use a curriculum. They are written as if they were your child's textbook. So for the younger years, you could read from the book as part of your home schooling. They list a few additional resources. But they seemed to me to be a list of everything that a child of that age could learn rather than what they should learn. There was just so much information that you could only get an overview, and there would be nothing learned in depth. I figure that if I spend a little more money on an actual curriculum, it will come with teaching suggestions, as well reading and enrichment activities.

A book that I have used that I think gives you a lot more bang for your buck is Home Learning Year By Year by Rebecca Rupp. In this one inexpensive book, you get lists of concepts that your child should be learning from preschool through twelfth grade, divided by grade level and subject matter. For most concepts, the book also lists books that go along with that concept, most of which you can borrow from your library. My only complaint is that the book recommendations are not always age appropriate. A lot of the books have been been too difficult and some would be beyond the use as even a read-aloud. Nevertheless, it is truly a worthwhile investment.

This year, I based most of my curriculum choices on Cathy Duffy's 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. The first time around, you can't just use the website. You absolutely need the book. I was able to find it at the library.

Here is a list of what we chose to use this year, and how it is coming along.

UNIT STUDIES-LITERATURE BASED: Five in a Row is the absolute best curriculum we are doing this year. Each week, you read the same book each of five days (hence, the name), but each day, you concentrate on a different subject (social studies, language arts, art, math, science). It was recommended to me on a e-mail list, and I was intrigued by the information on the website. However, I had no idea what wonderful lesson plans were contained in this curriculum.

Every Monday, we start out by looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, shooting for about 5 words. Then each day, we read the list before reading the book, and Grasshopper points them out as we read the book. At first, I had to choose and identify most of the words for her. But she quickly became adept at doing it all herself. And she continues to identify vocabulary words from previous lists in any book we are reading.

After Monday's reading of the book, we then mark the location where the story occurs on our wall map of the world. The Five in a Row lesson book comes with story disks with pictures that correspond to the books. This is Grasshopper's favorite part. And if the story happens in more than one place, then we will move the story disk around as we read througout the week.

When I first bought the book, I expected to see one lesson plan for each day of the week. But it contains so much more than that--so many lessons that you couldn't possibly do them all in one week. So it is easy to pick the kind of lesson or activity that suits your child perfectly.

Grasshopper is the kind of child that craves interaction. So it fits her learning style perfectly to be able to cuddle up on the couch with mom everyday while Cricket is napping. Sometimes, we just talk about the book, and other times we have an activity. What I love about it is that it helps me to feed her intellectual and academic needs as a gifted child while still allowing her to be a little 4yo girl.

Some of the highlights that Grasshopper has done so far include writing and illustrating a book with all of the "elements of a good book," showing happiness with bright colors and sadness with dark colors, pretending we were in a coal mine by taping a flashlight on a hard hat and going in the dark basement, counting by 10's using Smarties and eating them when we were done, learning how to draw with charcoal pencils, and eating at a low table and sitting on the floor like they do in Japan. I could go on and on, and we haven't even finished the first 20 books, yet.

A last word of caution. Many of the Five in a Row books deal with sensitive topics, including slavery, war and death. I believe that they are age-appropriate, but you should preview these books, especially if you have a particularly sensitive child.

HANDWRITING: I really agonized over whether to purchase a separate handwriting curriculum for Grasshopper. The general thinking is that handwriting is a separate skill, and you don't want a student to struggle with both handwriting and another subject at the same time. However, Grasshopper has been writing for about a year and a half now, and has an aptitude for it. But at 4yo, I didn't want to bog her down with drills. So I opted to have her practice handwriting as part of her Math, Spelling and Phonics. Fortunately, the curricula that I chose for these subjects gives the student lots of opportunity to both trace and copy numbers or letters. This has been working well for her, but I think that when we take the month of December off, I will introduce her to copywork so that she doesn't lose the skills she has gained so far this school year.

MATH: Horizons K is a spiraling math program, meaning that it continually reminds students of material already learned. If I had known that and what it meant, I probably wouldn't have chosen it. I have read so many bad reviews of another spiraling program, which reportedly has so much repetition and drill, and I didn't think that Grasshopper would need a lot of repetition.

However, we chose Horizons K because we read that it is advanced for a Kindergarten math curriculum. I felt that Grasshopper was at about a beginning first grade level in math, but I didn't think she could keep up with the pace and felt she needed work on her writing skills. I felt that an advanced K program would be closer to her level and stamina while helping her writing skills catch up. I also didn't feel that she needed all the bells and whistles that other programs come with--manipulatives, DVD's, software, etc., as she doesn't show much of an interest in these things, although we may later add some computer games to supplement.

Of the worksheets that she does, this is the one she asks to do first. So far, there hasn't been a lot of new material, but this allows her to concentrate on writing and gain confidence in math. But I should note that the teacher's edition is not needed at all. It provides the answers but does not contain any teaching suggestions or recommend supplemental activities.

SPELLING: Spelling Workout A is what I chose, because it is phonics-based and considered a demanding program. (We use SpellingCity.com for spelling tests. This is a great setup, because she doesn't have to worry about handwriting, and I am not tempted to "help" her on the tests.) I skipped the first several lessons of Spelling Workout A, as they were basic phonics and beginning handwriting. Even so, she has gotten 100% on all of her spelling tests, and she has even started to take them early. But Level B starts using cursive writing about halfway through, and I don't think that she is ready for that, yet. So instead of moving her up, I have decided to just keep going so that she will get some practical handwriting practice. Furthermore, I have noticed that even though she is getting 100% on her tests, it takes her a good amount of time to do it. I have realized that just because she gets the words right does not mean she has mastered them. She needs to practice so that it comes more naturally and isn't quite so taxing.

PHONICS: MCP Plaid Phonics Level A approximately follows the same scope and sequence as Spelling Workout A. In hindsight, I am not sure that she needs both the phonics and the spelling. However, if I did away with the phonics, I would need to find some way to supplement the handwriting. So for now, we are continuing with the phonics curriculum.

CRITICAL THINKING: We are using a curriculum called Critical Thinking: Reading, Thinking and Reasoning Skills Level A, which Grasshopper and I both really love. We got it because it was said to be a good book for teaching reading. It is based on Bloom's Taxonomy, which I studied in college. The theory is that we think on six different levels (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation). Level A only works on the first four. The first unit contains sections on classification, real vs. make believe, fact vs. opinion, definitions and examples, and outlining and summarizing. Even though Grasshopper only does one page per week, that page becomes the basis for discussion for the entire week. For example, Grasshopper has initiated games where we identify whether something is real or imaginary and fact or opinion.

READING: Grasshopper reads one book out loud each day. Well, it averages out to every day. Some days, she reads more, and some days, we don't do any. We get most of our books from the library.

SCIENCE: Science for Home Schools by BJU Press
We used the 1st grade curriculum this year. It is a little pricey for 1st grade, but it is well worth the money. For $99, we received a very well-rounded program that included the teacher's manual, student reading text, audio tape (I understand that they are currently changing to CDs), student workbook, student tests and answer.

The teacher's manual is wonderful. It lays everything out for you, so there is almost no preparation. Every lesson starts with an activity where the scientific method is used--observation and recording observations. The activities require little preparation and use common materials that you would have on hand at home. They are very short, and while they require guidance from the teacher, the activities can almost all be fully completed by the child.

Each lesson also has a reading component. Every page of the text has beautiful, vibrant pictures that complement the reading. Reading is appropriate for 1st grade. Each chapter also has a Bible verse that is related to the topic (although some are very tenuous connections). The teacher's manual suggests questions and answers that the child should understand from the reading.

There is also a suggested writing assignment for each lesson. Usually, the writing is just making lists. I did the writing for my 4yo, but I think that these assignments are well within the abilities of most 1st graders.

One feature that I really love is the optional family activities. They are designed not to be used during normal instruction time but are for the whole family to use together. This is a great way for the whole family (dad, in particular) to be a part of the home school experience.

Another interesting feature that I did not use is a table of religious principles correlated to the lessons. I felt that the connections were simply too tenuous to teach them with the science lessons and would be better utilized during a family devotional. They are also quite Protestant, so if you are not Protestant, they are not as helpful. I have very few complaints about the program.

The one big thing that I would change is the flow of the topics. The order seemed very random. For example, there is an entire chapter (including 4 lessons) on wild animals, and another chapter on tame animals. But they are not taught one after the other. Instead, they are separated by other unrelated topics.

Lastly, this program fit our family well, because my Grasshopper does not like to do lengthy hands-on activities and does not like to get dirty. If your child needs these things, then you will need to supplement the program.

SOCIAL STUDIES-LITERATURE BASED: My original plan was to use Social Studie s Through Children's Literature by Anthony D. Fredericks (also More Social Studies Through Children's Literature and Much More Social Studies Through Children's Literature). These books are for K-6 and have tons of great activities for all different learning styles. All books are very light on US History. The second two books have a greater variety for different learning styles, but they are a little heavy on the environmental science for my taste. They are nevertheless great resources. Teaching U.S. History Through Children's Literature by Wanda Miller. I bought this to make up for the lack of US History in the former series. It is set up similarly to those books, but it is primarily geared toward upper elementary. Additionally, I have Literature Connections to World History K-6 and Literature Connections to American History K-6 by Lynda Adamson. These are only book lists, but they are sorted by both subject and grade level.

While we are still using those resources, I have found that Grasshopper does so much social studies on her own that I don't need to add very much to it. We purchased a very large wall map this summer and put it up in our dining room. Grasshopper sits at the table at every meal asking about the map and playing the "Think of a Country" guessing game. She has a list of countries that she wants to study, so I take a country on her list and get books from the library. If possible, I bring home at least one non-fiction book, one fiction book, and one biography, but I am often able to find many more than that. (But with Yemen, I had to tie that one in with Saudi Arabia.) She is also undergoing a study of composers, for which we use the Famous Children series of books and the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers series. For every person or place that we study, we mark it on the map. All of this is in addition to her regular curriculum, so if we miss a week of official social studies, I don't sweat it.

FINE ARTS: Grasshopper has always loved music. At 4 months old, she would already do motions to music and would turn on her music box attached to her crib to help her fall asleep. And she continues to thoroughly enjoy music and even has been studying the different instruments and composers. She just asks for the materials, and I find what I think she needs, and we go through it together. Anyway, I decided to give Grasshopper a chance to learn piano. At 4yo, I wasn't sure whether she was ready for formal lessons, so I decided to start teaching her myself. So far, it seems quite reasonable . . . until I tell you that I don't play the piano! Well, I used to play flute and can read music. And the beginning piano books have lots of teaching tips. We keep lessons down to 10 minutes once per week and practice 10 minutes twice per week. I think it is going well. Grasshopper usually supersedes her required practice time, and she is progressing faster than I thought she would. I just hope that I am not scarring her for life. :-)

Next time, I plan to write about how my ideas have changed after the first term of our first year and how we are planning to change our homeschool next year.

My Gifted Grasshopper (Really, I Had Nothing to Do with It!)

2009-10-07T21:36:00.002-05:00

When Grasshopper was 5 weeks old, she could already roll over and would take steps when you held her on her feet. I thought this meant she would be an active child. But this was really just my first clue to something very different than that. At 4 months, she would do motions to songs, and at 20 months, some of her first words were hearing her count pictures of sheep on the cover of a book. About the same time, she could identify all of her letters, upper and lower case. With her foam bathtub letters, she would turn them upside down and flip them over to make other letters (like W and M, or 5 and 2).

At 4yo, she is reading. I have had people ask me how I "got her to do that." Really, I had nothing to do with it. She just came out that way. Sure, I held her on her feet until my back hurt, but that was only because she screamed if I didn't. Of course, I read to her, but that is not exactly going above and beyond.

I have always felt it important to keep an open mind about schooling options--that homeschooling was not going to be the best answer for every child. I even thought that I would include my children in making that decision. But now I do not see any other way for Grasshopper. She is a 4yo that is the same size as her 19mo brother, smaller than her 3yo friends and who can read better than her 5yo friends. She loves geography and knows where many countries are that even most adults would be hard pressed to remember. Where will she be next year when they would accept her into kindergarten? Would there even be anything for her to learn there? Yet, even if I could convince the school to put her with her academic peers, could those children ever accept her as their peer when she is half their size (literally). It seems to me that public schooling for her would likely mean being bored with her age peers or being bullied by her academic peers.

Only I wish it were as easy as accelerating her a grade or two. I have seen her read as high as 3rd grade level, but it takes everything she's got to do so, and she tires quickly. And while she is advanced in her writing skills, writing at about a 1st grade level, she also does not have sufficient stamina to do the volume of work that 1st grade would require. So I am looking for curricula that (1) challenges her sufficiently, (2) do not hold her back for her writing ability, and (3) still give her some writing practice. And lastly, she absolutely craves one-on-one interaction, so the bulk of her assignments need to provide her with that interaction.

I am finding it quite complicated to figure out how to meet her needs. I can't just say that she is in first grade and find a first grade curriculum. I have to analyze not just what is being taught but the amount of writing that is required and whether it can be easily adapted to her needs. That is sometimes difficult to do without actually seeing the book.

Next I will share what we are doing now and how that is working for us.

Envisioning My Homeschool (Or My Secret Freak-Out)

2009-10-03T18:30:00.005-05:00

I was confident that my decision to homeschool was right. I believed that I could do it and that no matter what my aptitude, my children would do better at home than in public school. But deep down, what I was secretly freaking out about was all of the hands-on stuff that I knew little kids really thrived on. You see, I was always quite academic, even as a child. I detested sports and even recess. I didn't think very highly of crafty activities or even science labs. My motto was, "Just tell me what you want me to know, and I will learn it." Consequently, not only do I not enjoy those activities, but I just don't "get" them. It is hard for me to understand what people get out of them.

Well, as I was searching for curricula for Grasshopper, I was paying closer attention to her and what she likes. I started to notice that she did not spend time coloring like other 4yo children do. During this time, she had this idea to make "country cookies" (cookies shaped like countries in the world), so in an effort to encourage her interest, we did it. She did nothing except choose the countries and eat the cookies. She didn't want to get dirty; didn't want to measure the ingredients; cut the cookies out; frost them, etc. I realized that this was a clue to how she learns best, and long, drawn-out, hands-on activities were not what she wanted.

She has always loved books, and now she was beginning to enjoy longer and more complex books. She frequently asked the meaning of unfamiliar words and tried to use them in her everyday life. Conversely, as we increased our reading time, she was actually choosing to spend less time watching TV than she used to. She would sometimes watch only part of a video and then want to do something else. Furthermore, she always craved one-on-one interaction. These were clues that she was a verbal child.

I could now stop secretly freaking out. Grasshopper didn't even want those activities that I dreaded. Now I just had to find materials that would feed her craving for conversation.

Finding My First Curriculum (Or Scary Nightmare!)

2009-10-02T12:12:00.007-05:00

So back in April 2009, with my vision of a miniature public school in my head, I set out to find the right curriculum materials for Grasshopper. I really wanted to find an "all-in-one" curriculum--mostly because I was overwhelmed at the prospect of finding a different curriculum for each subject. I joined an e-mail list and asked for help.

All of the responses told me I had to figure out Grasshopper's learning style first. I responded that I didn't think that this was important. They responded that it was, and that they had little assistance to offer without that information. I was so confused, because Grasshopper, I thought, was like any child. She likes books, hands-on activities, games, music, computers, etc. But she is perfectly willing to sit and do a worksheet, too. Well, as it turns out, she is not like other children in that she is able to learn in a variety of ways. However, I later discovered that she had more of preference than I then understood.

At first, I fell in love with K12, an all-in-one curriculum often used by states as their "virtual school" option. I loved that it is mastery-based, so if my gifted Grasshopper could pass a test, she did not have to do the work. But then I learned how much it was going to cost--$1500 per year. Ouch! We just couldn't do that. (And there was no virtual school option in our state.) Now I just didn't know where to turn. I thought about attending a conference, but I was still nursing a baby and recovering from a move. I just wasn't up to a multi-day event.

Fortunately, I found a book at the library by Cathy Duffy called 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. This book was exactly what I needed. It walked me through all of the considerations when purchasing a curriculum. Wow, I couldn't believe all there was to think about! Learning preference was no surprise, but how about teaching preferences? Secular vs. religious? Oh, and how much preparation are you willing to put into it? This books gives you all of this information on each curriculum, along with details about each one that may be unique (for example, if a curriculum is more advanced than others of its kind). I highly recommend this book and Cathy Duffy's website for anyone searching for a new curriculum, but especially for the newcomer to homeschooling. Just be sure not to give in to the temptation to consult only the website. The book is absolutely necessary to understanding the information on the site. (Another place to get some thorough reviews is Rainbow Resource Center, Inc. You can order a catalog for free.)

Keep in mind that Cathy Duffy's reviews are very neutral by design. She is not going to tell you about the people that hated it and why. You can't rely solely on those types of reviews, because they are inherently biased and emotional, but they are still an important part of the research. I use Homeschool Reviews and Amazon.com. Look for reviews that give details as to why they liked or disliked it and weigh their reasons against your own circumstances.

Next time, I will write about some of the things I needed to consider as I was planning my first year.

Why I Homeschool (Or So I Thought!)

2009-10-01T21:42:00.004-05:00

I have been interested in homeschooling for as long as I can remember. As a child, I loved learning but hated school. I was both shy and sensitive, an easy target for bullies. It wasn't an awful childhood, but I was sad and alone a lot.

After I started working as a legal secretary, I met a young woman who was a secretary in another law office, and she was only 16yo! At that age, I was working for KFC at night and on weekends, for long hours for minimum wage, and it did nothing to prepare me for anything. That was the clincher for me as far as deciding to homeschool. No one in public high school could have such a job, and I wanted my children to have those sorts of opportunities, too.

However, for some time, I thought of my homeschool as being nothing more than a miniature public school. We would have similar curricula, routines, requirements, etc. I knew that there were other philosophies out there, but I felt that a traditional primary/secondary education could best prepare a child for a traditional college. I wanted my children to be able to go to college and read texts and outline lectures to prepare for exams. I thought that teaching to a particular learning style would handicap a child in the college atmosphere. Likewise, I believed that my children should learn what other children were learning in order to succeed in their post-secondary endeavors.

Well, I have discovered that there are so many more considerations. In future posts, I hope to detail my journey of discovery and what has become my vision for my family.