FRIDAY FAVORITES - A FAVORITE ESSAY

This is an essay that has been making the homeschool site rounds for years, apparently. It makes very clear the difference between going to school and getting an education. They are NOT the same thing.

Of Daffodils and Diesels

Author Unknown

I'm not very good in school.
This is my second year in the seventh grade, and I'm bigger than most of the other kids. The kids like me all right, even though I don't say much in class, and that sort of makes up for what goes on in school. I don't know why the teachers don't like me. They never have. It seems like they don't think you know anything unless you can name the book it comes out of.

I read a lot at home-things like Popular Mechanics and Sports Illustrated and the Sears catalog-but I don't just sit down and read them through like they make us do in school. I use them when I want to find something out, like a batting average or when Mom buys something secondhand and wants to know if she's getting a good price.

In school, though, we've got to learn whatever is in the book and I just can't memorize the stuff. Last year I stayed after school every night for two weeks trying to learn the names of the presidents. Some of them were easy, like Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln, but there must have been 30 altogether and I never did get them straight. I'm not too sorry, though, because the kids who learned the presidents had to turn right around and learn all the vice presidents.

I am taking the seventh grade over, but our teacher this year isn't interested in the names of the presidents. She has us trying to learn the names of all the great American inventors. I guess I just can't remember the names in history. Anyway, I've been trying to learn about trucks because my uncle owns three and he says I can drive one when I'm 16. I know the horsepower and gear ratios of 26 American trucks and want to operate a diesel. Those diesels are really something. I started to tell my teacher about them in science class last week when the pump we were using to make a vacuum in a bell jar got hot, but she said she didn't see what a diesel engine has to do with our experiment on air pressure, so I just shut up. The kids seemed interested, though. I took four of them around to my uncle's garage after school and we watched his mechanic tear down a big diesel engine. He really knew his stuff.

I'm not very good in geography, either. They call it economic geography this year. We've been studying the imports and exports of Turkey all week, but I couldn't tell you what they are. Maybe the reason is that I missed school for a couple of days when my uncle took me downstate to pick up some livestock. He told me where we were headed and I had to figure out the best way to get there and back. He just drove and turned where I told him. It was over 500 miles round trip and I'm figuring now what his oil cost and the wear and tear on the truck-he calls it depreciation-so we'll know how much we made. When we got back I wrote up all the bills and sent letters to the farmers about what their pigs and cattle brought at the stockyard. My aunt said I only made 3 mistakes in 17 letters, all commas. I wish I could write school themes that way. The last one I had to write was on "What a daffodil thinks of Spring," and I just couldn't get going.

I don't do very well in arithmetic, either. Seems I just can't keep my mind on the problems. We had one the other day like this: If a 57 foot telephone pole falls across a highway so that 17 and 3/4 feet extend from one side and 14 and 16/17 feet extend from the other, how wide is the highway? That seemed to me like an awfully silly way to get the size of a highway. I didn't even try to answer it because it didn't say whether the pole had fallen straight across or not.

Even in shop class I don't get very good grades. All of us kids made a broom holder and a bookend this semester and mine were sloppy. I just couldn't get interested. Mom doesn't use a broom anymore with her new vacuum cleaner, and all of our books are in a bookcase with glass doors in the family room. Anyway, I wanted to make a tailgate for my uncle's trailer, but the shop teacher said that meant using metal and wood both, and I'd have to learn how to work with wood first. I didn't see why, but I kept quiet and made a tie tack even though my dad doesn't wear ties. I made the tailgate after school in my uncle's garage, and he said I saved him $20. Government class is hard for me, too.

I've been staying after school trying to learn the Articles of Confederation for almost a week, because the teacher said we couldn't be a good citizen unless we did. I really tried because I want to be a good citizen. I did hate to stay after school, though, because a bunch of us guys from Southend have been cleaning up the old lot across from Taylor's Machine Shop to make a playground out of it for the little kids from the Methodist home. I made the jungle gym out of the old pipe, and the guys put me in charge of things. We raised enough money collecting scrap this month to build a wire fence clear around the lot.

Dad says I can quit school when I'm 16. I'm sort of anxious to because there are a lot of things I want to learn.

CIVIL WAR UNIT

The next 6 weeks, we will be covering the Civil War of the United States. Or, as some prefer to call it, the War of Northern Aggression. :-) Above is our bulletin board for this unit. I have kept it very simple. Above that are the books we will be reading. I have simply spread them out over the 6 weeks, as evenly as possible. They are as follows:

Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster - the last 16 sections

The Pictorial Encyclopedia of American History - Volume 7

Virginia's General Robert E. Lee and the Civil War by Albert Marrin

All Things for Good (Stonewall Jackson) by J. Steven Wilkins

Clara Barton Founder of the Red Cross by Helen Bore Boylston (a Landmark book)

An Unlikely Friendship by Ann Rinaldi

The Life of J.E.B. Stuart by Mary L. Williamson

The Boys' War by Jim Murphy

Big Girl will be reading Robert E. Lee, the Christian by William J. Johnson, and Little Girl will be reading Welcome To Addy's World 1864, an American Girl book.

We are also watching Ken Burns' Civil War, and will be watching The Great Civil War Debate after we finish the unit.

Our next composer is Wagner and artist is Monet.

HOW WE USE SPELLING POWER

I just recently purchased a used 3rd edition Spelling Power to use with Little Girl. I have seen so many people talking about how long the instructions for use are, and how complicated. I suppose they would be, if you bothered to use them. But, being a rebel, I never use anything like the directions tell you to. Instead, I have modified to fit what works for us. So here is how we are using it.

First of all, I gave her the placement tests. No big deal. I let her type the words out on the computer, and it didn't take long at all to figure out where to place her. Then I got two composition books for her to use for the regular tests, as I want her to actually write the words out. I think they "see" them better that way.

Spelling Power has lists of 20 words with a spelling rule above each list. The rules are pretty useless in my opinion, so we don't use them. We learned spelling rules with Spell to Write and Read, which had really good rules but was much too time consuming to continue. However, I am glad for the time we did use it. I learned a lot myself. I could have just used the Wise Guide from SWR the way I am using Spelling Power, but after research, I realized I like Spelling Power better. SWR only has 2000 words. It doesn't include variations of words because those are included in the exercises the student does (adding prefixes, suffixes, etc.) Nor does it review words throughout the lists, but each word only appears once. SP, on the other hand, has 5000 words. It does include the variations of the words and it also reviews them throughout the lists, thus accounting for the number of words included. This is what I wanted.

Ok, so on with how we actually use it. The first day, I call out one word at a time from our list. Little Girl writes the word in her notebook, then spells it aloud to me. If it is correct, we go to the next word. If it is wrong, I have her mark it out, give her the correct spelling, and discuss any rules, hints, or tricks for remembering how the word is spelled. We continue to the end of the list. The rules say to stop when they have missed 3 or 4 words, but the most she has ever missed is 3 anyway.

After we finish the test, I have her copy the missed words into her second composition book. I have her spell each one aloud to me, to make sure she doesn't copy them wrong. She then studies the words, one at a time, covers them, and rewrites each out beside the original. She hasn't missed any so far, but if she does, she will erase it and repeat.

The next day, we get a clean notebook page. We start with the words she missed the day before and go through the next list, using the same steps as before. So far, she hasn't missed any a second day.

As I said, review is built in, and every 5 lists, I believe, is a review test. We had our first today. I crossed out some of the easier words and replaced them with some she had missed from the recent lists. She got them all right the first time.

I like this book because it goes all the way through 12th grade and the kids don't have to study words they already know, but only the ones they need to work on. I had previously dropped spelling for a while, but I think I will continue this until she graduates, or finishes the book, whichever comes first. Good spelling is important.

A BRAND NEW YEAR

I love a new year. It is like a fresh new notebook, or a new pack of crayons. :-) I do have a few resolutions I am hoping don't fall by the wayside by February.

1. Daily Bible reading (hoping to read through a couple times this year)

2. Post here at least once a week, especially about schooling

3. Write in my diary/journal daily

4. Exercise 3 days a week

5. Go for walks when weather permits

6. Continue eating healthy and try for smaller portions

7. Keep up with revolving housecleaning schedule (in which we thoroughly clean a different room of the house each week

8. Post on accountability threads at RBG

If we did grades in our homeschool, Big Girl would be in 12th and Little Girl in 8th. Wow! That is just crazy to think about!

We are continuing to do my homemade history, since dropping TOG. We have been enjoying it much more. Lots and lots of reading! We are still covering the 1800s.

We are covering one composer at a time, trying to do the ones we have cds for and who were most important in the 1800s.

We are also covering important artists of the time period in much the same way, one at a time. I simply read a bit about the artist, then use his paintings as desktop pics (one at a time) on my computer for the weeks we study him.

We are continuing to read through How People Live, one two-page spread each morning. I think I am going to alternate with The Fallacy Detective, which we have already been through before, but can use a refresher.

Big Girl is reading the Idiot's Guide to Music History, Abeka World Literature, The American Impressionists, A Ready Defense, and Carson's A Basic History of the United States. She also has at least one other book going at all times, as well as doing her own writing, video making, and drawing. Oh, and I almost forgot, she is continuing to practice on the keyboard.

Little Girl is still using CLE math and language arts, Vocabulary Vine, and she just recently started an italic handwriting program (her penmanship is woeful), and Spelling Power. She still always has many books going at a time during her reading time. I am having her read a two-page spread of the Kingfisher history encyclopedia each day. It has lots of cool pictures and sidebars. We skipped the first sections about pre-history junk.

Both Girls are currently rather obsessed with Dr. Who and Sherlock Holmes. They have been watching the old versions of both shows. Little Girl still loves her trampoline, and is not enjoying the cold weather that is keeping her off it. :-)

WEEKLY REVIEW

We have had beautiful weather here most of the week. Freezing nights, but the days have been in the 50s. Perfect for after lunch walks.

This week in history, we have been reading about the 1840s. Big Girl is still reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. She finished up A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Little Girl finished up a Frederick Douglass biography and a book about Sutter's Fort. Together we finished up one book on the Oregon Trail and a book about the early life of Charles Dickens. We are continuing in several other books.

I am still reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and have just started on A History of the American People by Paul Johnson. I was reading More than Conquerers, a commentary on Revelation, but could no longer take his seemingly random interpretations and symbolism. Like when he said the woman with the sun, moon, and a crown of 12 stars who gave birth to the male child represented the church of all time! I don't think I have ever heard it interpreted any way other than that this woman represents Israel, from which Christ came, which is the only thing that makes any sense at all! That was enough for me. Wish I hadn't wasted my money.

Big Girl finished The Story of Art by Gombrich. She really enjoyed that book, but said she hated the modern art when she got to that part. I have to agree with her. A bunch of blobs and scribbles does not make art, no matter who says so. Unless, perhaps, you are three years old. She continues to work on her fan fiction stories, and has some ideas for some stories of her own, which I am hoping she will do some day. She gave up on the guitar and has been practicing on the keyboard. She says she likes it much better because you can play the actual melody and don't have to sing in order to recognize the song. She also commented that, with the keyboard, "the notes actually mean something." :-)

Little Girl is continuing to read her many books. She finished Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH this week. I had to order the next levels of both her language arts and math the other day. She is coming to the end of the CLE 4 math (we sped through it), and her CLE 7 language arts. I have slowed her down to a half lesson a day in her LA because CLE only goes through level 8, and there is no hurry to get through it.

Both girls have been rather obsessed with all things "Sherlock Holmes" lately. They have been reading from a collection of his works and watching the TV series on youtube. They used their allowance to order the set on dvd the other day, and they are impatiently awaiting its arrival.

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ODDS AND ENDS

Wow! It's been two months since I posted last. I just got tired of posting our weekly reviews, since they were basically the same old thing week after week, with different books. Not exactly exciting to read or anything.

Little Girl is almost finished with the CLE level 4 math. I LOVE this math! If I had another child to homeschool, I would definitely start at the beginning with it. It covers so many things that you "think" you will cover in "real life," but never actually happens. At least, not enough to actually learn it. She is also just about finished with the 7th grade CLE Language Arts. Since they only go through 8th grade, I have slowed her down to a half lesson per day. That leaves her more time to work through the math and to read. She is still doing the Apples 2 Spelling workbook, skipping through some unnecessary pages, and the Vocabulary Vine book. She is also reading the BJU 8th grade Literature book, just one story per week right now. She still keeps several other books going at a time, as well as her Nature Friend magazine. She just finished Black Beauty and The Wind in the Willows.

Big Girl is still working through the Abeka Consumer Math book and the Story of Art book. She is also reading A Ready Defense (with discussion and discernment), and the Clarence Carson history book, as it goes along with our main history, Uncle Tom's Cabin (as am I), A Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, and A History of England by Dickens.

For history, we have dropped Tapestry of Grace. I just did not like the way we kept going back and forth in history, instead of completely chronological. I know everything can't be perfectly chronological (as when you read a biography, that person's life will cover a lot of ground), but it could be much better than most history programs do it. I started to pick Truthquest back up, but it has the exact same problems. We do not like studying history in units that cause you to go out of order, like most history programs (actually all I have looked at) do. So, I have been creating our own. We are still in the 1800s, taking it a decade at a time. I use a couple online timelines, as well as a few books I have here, and we cover a decade in 2-4 weeks, depending on how much happened during that time period that we want to study. I went through several book lists I found (along with All Through the Ages and Truthquest guides) and listed out all the most recommended books for our century first. I narrowed them down to ones we own or could get at the library. Then I put an approximate date by each. If we want to study something or someone we don't have a book listed for, we just see what we own or the library has on that topic.

We are basically reading chronologically through that book list, along with reading Abraham Lincon's World, the Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents, The Pictorial Encyclopedia of American History, The Defining of America (PAC), and utilizing BJU world and U.S. history texts where we want extra info or can't find it anywhere else. We usually have a biography or two going, as well as a historical fiction and a few nonfiction books on the period. I simply figure out what readings are about the decade we are studying and divide them up and read a bit of each book daily. We all are enjoying this much better.

I am trying to do some of my own reading lately as well. Currently (besides the Bible), I am reading Uncle Tom's Cabin on the Kindle, More Than Conquerors by Hendrikson (don't think I agree with his viewpoint, but wanted to read a good book on it anyway), and Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. I may do some short reviews on these soon.

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Switching Math

Well, Little girl had been using Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra, and doing just fine. Until this week. Up until now, the book had been all review of stuff she had already covered in MUS and the Key To books. We got to chapter 10 this week, where they started simple algebraic expressions, and discovered the weaknesses of this curriculum.

First off, I love that TT constantly reviews old stuff, so that is a positive. However, what we found this week, when going into something completely new, is that the explanations are way too wordy and convoluted. They have a way of making something simple way too complicated. I couldn't even figure out what they were talking about! I also realized that there is simply not enough practice of the new concept. Only a couple problems mixed in with the review stuff. Not good at all. Then, on top of these things, when I started to explain to her what the lesson was actually teaching, I realized I couldn't explain it my way because they hadn't even learned about negative numbers yet! So we are dropping TT.

After looking at many math programs, I ended up ordering her CLE math. She likes their language arts, and their math receives rave reviews from nearly everyone, plus, it is not expensive. So that is what we are going to try. I am sure from all I have read that it will work great. Only thing is, because of their scope and sequence being so different from what we have used from the beginning (MUS and Key To and TT), and the fact that it is quite advanced, she has to go all the way back to 4th level to catch up. But that is fine because we can move quickly through, skipping the things she already knows. I am looking forward to starting this when it comes.

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WEEKLY REVIEW 8/15 - 8/19

BOTH GIRLS

Bible: Revelation

Music appreciation: Discovering Music

Artist Study: Thomas Sully

Geography: Reading How People Live

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Week 11 - Jacksonian Democracy - Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, This Country of Ours, President books, In the Days of Queen Victoria, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Andrew Jackson biography, Sequoya bio online

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

BJU Cultural Geography

The Story of Art by Gombrich

The Sections and the Civil War by Clarence Carson

Bible/Religion: Bible, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion)

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: dis, di, dif, de - apart, away, un, down

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine, Real Food Nutrition and Health

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, BJU Literature book, Black Beauty, Henry and Beezus by Cleary, The Indian in the Cupboard by Banks

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WEEKLY REVIEW 8/08 - 8/12

BOTH GIRLS

Bible: Revelation

Music appreciation: Discovering Music

Artist Study: Thomas Sully

Geography: Reading How People Live

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Week 11 - Jacksonian Democracy - Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, This Country of Ours, President books, In the Days of Queen Victoria, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Andrew Jackson biography, Sequoya bio online

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

BJU Cultural Geography

The Story of Art by Gombrich

The Sections and the Civil War by Clarence Carson

Bible/Religion: Bible, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion)

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: vert, vers - turn

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, BJU Literature book, Black Beauty, Poppy by Avi, Ramona Quimby Age 8 By Beverly Cleary

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Book Report: The Return of Tarzan

The Return of Tarzan
By Edgar Rice Burroughs


I enjoyed the sequel especially since it was the direct continuation of the first book. It was interesting, though the story wasn’t what one would think would be in a Tarzan book: Arabs, secret agents, Russians…

My favorite place of the book would probably be the ancient ruins where the sun worshipers lived. I like mysterious ruins in general and I liked how it was hinted that this one was connected to Atlantis.

The happy ending was nice too. Jane and Tarzan are finally together, though poor Clayton died. I knew that would be his fate ever since he showed affection toward Jane in the first book. I just wasn’t sure if he would turn nasty like Disney portrayed him. He didn’t turn bad though. So his death was tragic.

I didn’t like the villain of this book. The Russian was sneaky, selfish, and a coward. Though I suppose there couldn’t be any non-sneaky villain due to Tarzan’s great strength, agility etc… So I guess its not that the villain is a bad character, but more that I dislike him strongly. Which is unusual for me. Normally I don’t hate the villain and want him dead.

Also what I didn’t like about this book was that the women keep fainting. It's rather annoying, but they did that in the first book too.

Overall this book had a very interesting plot, though I would have liked to see more of Tarzan and Jane after they married. I was wondering if she ever does more than hero-worship him. They never really had any detailed conversations. I suppose there might be more of that in the other books, but I have a feeling Jane is just an accessory to Tarzan and nothing more.

As I said before, very good for a sequel. Most sequel aren’t as good as the first but this one came close.

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WEEKLY REVIEW 8/01 - 8/05

BOTH GIRLS

Bible: Revelation

Composer: Strauss - Listened to cd and/or works online daily and read about him

Artist Study: Thomas Sully

Geography: Reading How People Live

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Week 10 - John Quincy Adams and Political Realignments - Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, This Country of Ours, President books, In the Days of Queen Victoria, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Louis Braille bio, Audubon bio, Listening to mp3 on Erie Canal

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs

BJU Cultural Geography

The Story of Art by Gombrich

The Sections and the Civil War by Clarence Carson

Bible/Religion: Bible, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion)

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: mot, mo - move

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, The Island Stallion by Walter Farley, BJU Literature book, Bobbsey Twins mysteries, Charlotte’s Web, Black Beauty, Poppy, by Avi, Sherlock Holmes stories

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WEEKLY REVIEW 7/25 - 7/28

We took four weeks off and got some major house cleaning and painting done. Back to school this week.

BOTH GIRLS

Bible: Revelation

Composer: Strauss - Listened to cd and/or works online daily and read about him

Artist Study: Thomas Sully

Geography: Reading How People Live

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Week 10 - John Quincy Adams and Political Realignments - Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, This Country of Ours, President books, In the Days of Queen Victoria, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Louis Braille bio, Audubon bio, Listening to mp3 on Erie Canal

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs

BJU Cultural Geography

The Story of Art by Gombrich

The Sections and the Civil War by Clarence Carson

Bible/Religion: Bible, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion)

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

Guitar practice

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: intro, intra - inside, within

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, The Island Stallion by Walter Farley, BJU Literature book, Bobbsey Twins mysteries, Charlotte’s Web, Black Beauty, Poppy, by Avi, Sherlock Holmes stories

Keyboard practice

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Book Report: Tarzan of the Apes

Tarzan Of The Apes

By Edgar Rice Burroughs

The majority of the book is set within the jungle on the coast of Africa, with a tiny portion being set in France and America. I’m not sure about the time period. They had cars so it wasn’t too far back in history.

My favorite character is surprisingly enough Tarzan. I normally prefer secondary characters. I guess I like Tarzan because the book is mainly told through his point of view, and he’s an interesting character. The one thing I don’t like about him is how many times it tells how handsome he is or how well built his body is. That gets annoying after a while, but that’s the author’s fault not Tarzan’s.

My second favorite character is probably the Professor. I know his character is pretty much a stereotype, but I love that stereotype. Professors and archeologists always interest me, whether they be villains or a side character. Also the Professor shows he has a bit more character in the scene when he and his companion are up in the tree talking after having just been chased by a lion. I think that it is one of my favorite conversations in the book. Sometimes it is better to hint at a deeper character than to lay it all out. At least to me it makes the person more fascinating.

I also rather liked the Frenchman, though that’s probably because he is French.

My least favorite character is Kerchak. If I hadn’t seen the Disney movie he probably wouldn’t have bugged me so much, but seeing him bloodthirsty and stupid just made me dislike him strongly.

The author was obviously coming from an evolutionary view, though I’m not sure if he was trying to teach any lessons. Perhaps that you can be raised by wild, even fierce beasts and still turn out good? That men can be just as cruel as the animals?

Yes, I did like the book. It was a very interesting read and not a single part of it was boring. The only part I didn’t like was the way it ended. What if an author ended a book like that and then died before he wrote the second one? That would just be evil, though it is a good way to make sure people will want to read the second book.

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WEEKLY REVIEW 6/20 - 6/24

BOTH GIRLS

Bible: Revelation

Composer: Schubert - Listened to cd and/or works online daily and read about him

Artist Study: None currently

Geography: Reading How People Live

Weekly vocabulary words

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Week 9 - Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, American Cultural History website, Adoniram Judson bio, Streams of Civilization, This Country of Ours, President books

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs

BJU Cultural Geography

The Story of Art by Gombrich

Bible/Religion: Bible, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion)

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

Guitar practice

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: duc, duct - lead, bring, draw

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine

Geography: South America

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, The Island Stallion by Walter Farley, BJU Literature book, Bobbsey Twins mysteries, Charlotte’s Web, Black Beauty, Poppy, by Avi, Sherlock Holmes stories

Keyboard practice

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Book Report: The Rogue Crew

The Rogue Crew

By Brian Jacques

All Redwall books including this one are set in a fantasy universe, and most of them involve a lot of travel, so there really is no set location for the book. As for the time frame I’m going to guess this book is set after all the others, as there was no mention of an alliance between the Rogue crew and the Salamandastron hares in the previous books.

My favorite character would probably be Swifto a young otter, son of Skor Axehound. I liked his youthfulness and playful attitude. Despite his father being the leader of a group of warriors he had a peaceful nature. Sadly, he was killed by vermin.

My second favorite character is Captain Rake Nightfur, a black hare. Unlike most hares he had a Scottish, not a British accent, and he wielded two claymores. Plus as I’ve already mentioned he had a black fur, and anything with black fur or hair is raised up a notch in my book.

My favorite villain would be Shekra the vixen. She was a fox, which is my favorite type of Redwall villain, and she manipulated things for her own purposes. I like sneaky villains.

I’m not sure about the a least favorite character. They all seemed to be very well built and each had some trait I liked about them, so I guess I don’t have a least favorite character.

The Redwall series is very black and white. All the vermin are evil and all the mice, hedgehogs, otters, badgers, hares, etc are good. The main lesson always seems to be good triumphing over evil.

I did like this book though I felt it wasn’t as satisfying as the others in the Redwall series. Probably because the epilogue, unlike most of the other books, didn’t skip forward in time. I liked seeing what the younger characters grew up to be.

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Book Report: Oliver Twist

I have started having Big Girl do some book reports that I will post here. This was her first one.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The time period of the novel was set during the industrial revolution, where factories and work houses were common. Its main message is how badly the poor were treated in England. As for minor messages and worldviews, there wasn’t too much, though like most people of his time period and earlier, he portrayed Jews in a bad light. Fagin, one of the main villains, was a Jew, and he was portrayed as withered, miserly, and whiny.

My favorite character of the book would certainly not be Oliver. His personality was very blah and boring, and he did pretty much nothing in the book. Everything that happened in the book happened to him, he did hardly anything on his own. If it weren’t for his friends and enemies there would be no plot.

The lot fell on him to ask for more food. If it hadn’t he wouldn’t have done it on his own, and the story would not have started. He would have stayed in the workhouse the rest of his life. It was Mr. Bumble’s decision to sell Oliver as an apprentice to the coffin maker. Oliver would have remained there if an older apprentice hadn’t teased him about his mother. At this point Oliver does show actual personality and gets angry and attacks the older boy, but there isn’t anything special or unique about it. It’s a natural reaction.

Things continue to happen to Oliver instead of him doing actions himself. This wouldn’t necessarily be bad if Oliver had a personality. His character is plain. There isn’t anything unique about it, but at the same time he has no faults to make us relate to him.

Therefore my favorite character is not the main character, Oliver, but Nancy. Nancy was raised in filth and poverty and was far from being pure like Oliver was, but she did the right thing. She warned the people that Oliver was now happily living with that Fagin, Sikes and Monks were planning on kidnapping Oliver. Yet, when they offered her a chance to leave her life of poverty and crime, she refused because of her love for Sikes. Her diverse character makes her the most interesting to me, and sadly, like my most of my favorite characters, she ended up dying at the hand of Sikes who had thought she had betrayed him.

Overall it was an okay book, but not something I would choose to read. Seeing as the version I read was adapted, it took away the best part of a Dickens novel, his writing. Plus I already knew the storyline, which really takes away from a book, if the story or the writing aren’t highly enjoyable.

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Tips for New Homeschoolers

I have been keeping an ongoing list of tips and things I have learned in our homeschool journey, many that I wish I had known sooner. Thought I'd put them here on the blog as well. These apply mostly to the younger years.

1. Make them write once they are able to so they will not hate it or try to get out of it later. (Well, they may still hate it, but it won’t be negotiable, and they will accept it as something that must be done.) Make them hold the pencil correctly and form the letters correctly (i.e. not bottom to top on letters that should be started at the top). Bad habits are hard, if not impossible, to break. Ask me how I know.

2. Once they are able, copy, copy, copy. Copy words, pictures, sentences, paragraphs (later). It is great for teaching them to pay attention to detail, as well as helping to learn spelling, punctuation, etc.

3. Memorize things. Scripture verses, songs, poems. Again, it isn’t just for the sake of the academics or the content. It develops skills they will use all their lives. It is good “brain exercise.” And just as with copying things, it sharpens their attention to details.

4. When they are young, teach them skills. Do not worry about creativity. They can be creative when they play. If they like coloring books, teach them to color in the lines and use appropriate colors (no green people, purple dogs, etc.) There is more than just coloring going on. There is neatness, following rules, carefulness, etc. (Humanists would say let them do as they wish and don’t stifle their “creativity.” We are Christians though, and recognize that even these small things can be a type of rebelling against what is accepted.)

5. Do not expect them to write creatively unless they want to. Copying is best early on. Also, avoid allowing them to spell things just any which way. Always correct spelling (except perhaps on cards they make for you). Once you get a wrong spelling in your head, it is stuck there and nearly impossible to get it out. Thus the reason copying is a much better option for young ones.

6. Remember that not all school work is for the sake of academics. You are building character, endurance, perseverance, etc. You want them to be diligent and hard working. Not lazy and careless.

7. Read, read, read. Of first importance is Scripture, of course. Don’t worry about whether they understand it when they are little. Just read it every day. It will become a part of them. For understanding, read a good Bible story book, like the one by Vos. Also read beautiful picture books with them. Not grocery store twaddle, or cartoon or movie based books, but really good ones that have stood the test of time. Familiarize yourself with some great book lists. And don’t neglect to read books that are above their reading level: chapter books, like the Little House series, Charlotte’s Web, Treasure Island, etc. They will be absorbing the vocabulary and flow of the words. Don’t worry about stopping constantly to explain. Just read. Allow them to play with blocks, color, or some other quiet activity while you read. Many people (adults included) listen better if they are doing something mindless with their hands. After reading, ask them to tell back some of what you read. What did they like best? What do they think is going to happen next? Discuss character issues if appropriate.

8. Keep lessons and reading times short when they are young (unless they request more). It is far better to do many different things with complete attention (short lessons) than to stick with one thing until they are bored and you have lost their attention. Many little ones, especially boys it seems, do well with breaks for lots of physical activity throughout the day in between lessons. Let them get up and run around for 10 minutes every so often. Set a timer so they become used to and accepting of the time limit. Take advantage of the break by throwing in a load of laundry or some other chore you can do in that time period.

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WEEKLY REVIEW 6/13 - 6/17

BOTH GIRLS

Composer: Schubert - Listened to cd and/or works online daily and read about him

Artist Study: None currently

Geography: Reading How People Live

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Weeks 7&8 - Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, SOTW 3, Struggle for Sea Power, American Cultural History website, Adoniram Judson bio, Streams of Civilization

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: The Rogue Crew by Brian Jacques

BJU Cultural Geography

Independent Reading: Bible, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion)

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

Guitar practice

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: pro - forward, before, in front of

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine

Geography: South America

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, The Island Stallion by Walter Farley, BJU Literature book, Bobbsey Twins mysteries, Charlotte’s Web, The Cricket in Times Square, Black Beauty, Poppy, by Avi, Sherlock Holmes stories

Keyboard practice

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WEEKLY REVIEW 6/06 - 6/10

BOTH GIRLS

Composer: Schubert - Listened to cd and/or works online daily and read about him

Artist Study: John Constable - Read about him and looked at works online

Geography: Reading Hungry Planet

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Week 7 Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, SOTW 3, Struggle for Sea Power, Eyewitness History website, American Cultural History website, Adoniram Judson bio, Streams of Civilization

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: Dickens - Oliver Twist

BJU Cultural Geography

Independent Reading: Bible, The Beginning of the Republic by Carson, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion)

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

Guitar practice

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: pro - forward, before, in front of

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine

Geography: South America

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, Son of the Black Stallion by Walter Farley, BJU Literature book, Bobbsey Twins mysteries, Charlotte’s Web, The Cricket in Times Square, Black Beauty, Sherlock Holmes stories

Keyboard practice

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WEEKLY REVIEW 5/30 - 6/3

BOTH GIRLS

Composer: Rossini - Listened to cd and/or works online daily and read about him

Artist Study: John Constable - Read about him and looked at works online

Geography: Reading Hungry Planet

Daily poetry reading

History: TOG Week 6 Reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, President overview books, SOTW 3, A Deaf Child Listened, This Country of Ours, Struggle for Sea Power, Story of the Great Republic, Eyewitness History website, American Cultural History website

BIG GIRL

Consumer Math

Literature: Dickens - Oliver Twist

BJU Cultural Geography

Independent Reading: Bible, The Beginning of the Republic by Carson, Pagan Christianity (with discernment and discussion), Red Pawns

Writing: She writes her own stories all the time

Guitar practice

LITTLE GIRL

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra

CLE Language Arts: 4 lessons

Vocabulary Vine: onym - name, word

Spelling: Apples Spelling Drills 1

Writing: Killgallon Sentence Composing workbook

Science: Nature Friend Magazine

Geography: Middle East

Independent Reading: Bible, Baker’s Bible Atlas, Son of the Black Stallion by Walter Farley, BJU Literature book, Bobbsey Twins mysteries, Charlotte’s Web, The Cricket in Times Square, Black Beauty, Sherlock Holmes stories, The Story of Old Ironsides

Keyboard practice

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