When Your Homeschool Must Change

Have you ever had a hard time admitting something just wasn't working?

About halfway through the last school year I just knew something had to change. It was hard for me, however, to admit what we were doing didn't work as well as it always had.

To be honest, there have been a lot of tears (mine!) over the past six months. I have felt defeated, frustrated, and that I was failing my children. It's hard to admit this, because I like to think of myself as in control and successful. 

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Our Classical Curriculum - The ABC's of Homeschooling

The letter of the week is C! As I've just returned home from a used curriculum fair and have been thinking a lot about our materials for next year, my post today is about Classical Curriculum.

Our homeschool has evolved into a mostly Classical environment. I'll share with you what we are doing that is Classical, and if you have anything you do, or any suggestions for me, I would LOVE to hear them! I'm a relative newbie on this journey and can use all the help I can get!

I am so thankful for Susan Wise Bauer, author of The Well Trained Mind. This book sits on my shelf and is read OFTEN. This description of Classical Education, taken from The Well Trained Mind website is a great summary:

A classical education, then, has two important aspects. It is language-focused. And it follows a specific three-part pattern: the mind must be first supplied with facts and images, then given the logical tools for organization of facts, and finally equipped to express conclusions.

But that isn’t all. To the classical mind, all knowledge is interrelated. Astronomy (for example) isn’t studied in isolation; it’s learned along with the history of scientific discovery, which leads into the church’s relationship to science and from there to the intricacies of medieval church history. The reading of the Odyssey leads the student into the consideration of Greek history, the nature of heroism, the development of the epic, and man’s understanding of the divine.

This is easier said than done. The world is full of knowledge, and finding the links between fields of study can be a mind-twisting task. A classical education meets this challenge by taking history as its organizing outline — beginning with the ancients and progressing forward to the moderns in history, science, literature, art and music.

(image courtesy Google Images)

This is what our Classical homeschool looks like:

• History - we are following the 4 year history cycle as prescribed in The Well Trained Mind. To this end, we are using The Story of the World Volume 1 right now, and will be using Volume 2 next year. History is the peg upon which we hang everything else in our homeschool, and WHAT FUN IT IS!

• Grammar - my youngest does First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind and my oldest listens each day (she uses Easy Grammar and loves it, so I'm not changing!)

• Math - we have used Horizons Math from the start. I selected it because it was what came with our Sonlight package the first year of homeschooling. Sonlight has never disappointed me and I feel that they recommend Horizons because of its rigor, mastery, and short spurts of new activities. My children both do well with it and I don't see the need to change. It seems that Saxon Math is the recommended course of study for Classical education - correct me if I'm wrong! I found a very interesting article entitled "An Apology for Latin and Math" - if you have a minute it is quite interesting.

(image courtesy Spurlock Museum)

• Latin - this is where I'm taking a leap! I just purchased (for $17 for BOTH, I might add!) Prima Latina and Latina Christiana. I think we will start gently (since I will have a first and fifth grader next year) with Prima Latina together and if all goes well progress to Latina Christiana.

• Writing - I'm struggling here, so could use some suggestions. We used Writing Strands this year and it was pretty much a flop. I'm thinking of Writing With Ease next year. I also am confident that lots of reading produces good writers, so I don't harp on writing too much right now. As my children get older will get more serious about this.

• Science - This is my weakest area. Currently we are very Charlotte Mason where science is concerned, with a lot of nature discovery and eclectic science units thrown into the mix. I don't know that there is a need for change, because it's working for us, but I wouldn't call our approach to science "Classical".

• Art & Music - I try to pull in artists and composers from the time period we are studying. Since I have a music degree the music part is fairly easy, and with research, the art falls into place. I don't have a set curriculum for either of these subjects.

(image courtesy Google Images)

I like to be spontaneous and use an occasional unit study or go off on a tangent that interests my children, but for the most part we are a classical home educating family. Do you have any thoughts/recommendations for me? I'd love to hear from some of you experienced homeschoolers out there!

Also, hop over to Five Kids and a Dog to see what other people are blogging about today that starts with the letter C!

*Linking up as well with The Hip Homeschool Hop!

The Attack Plan for Writing

I had heard what a blessing going to a homeschool expo would be, and my husband and I certainly felt that way today. Not only was it a chance for us to attend some very interesting workshops, it was also a time for us to sit down and really talk about where our kids are going with school this year. If you are like me, as the mom you make most of the educational decisions in your family's homeschool. I know my husband is behind me 100%, but because of the demands of his job he can't always be there to help implement things and he certainly doesn't have an in depth knowledge of what the children are really learning. Through the workshops we attended, a long and peaceful lunch together, and the car ride to and from the expo, I think I brought him up to speed. At lunch he even remarked he was so glad we had decided to go together. I am beyond thankful for my life partner.

Last night I told him the only thing lacking for this coming year was an attack plan for writing. So, I wanted to go to some writing workshops and look for something concrete to bring home for my fourth grader to build her writing skills. Ironically, the first workshop we picked was entitled "School on a Shoestring" -- I must admit I was reluctant to go because I really don't like to be the money saver.... that's my husband's job and he's good at it! As it turns out, however, that title was really a way to get people into the workshop, because once we were there we found out it was all about WRITING! I think God was looking out for me today.

The workshop was entitled "School on a Shoestring" because the program they were promoting was fairly inexpensive and covers a range of subject areas. So.... what is the program? Well, it is called Writing Strands and I absolutely loved the presentation, and loved the straightforward and humorous style of the student text. I purchased Writing Strands 3, and if you go to the link you can download a sample of the book. The presenter often talked about how most students can read a text and answer questions about it - simple regurgitation of facts, but so few college freshmen really know how to WRITE. This has been a huge concern of mine, and I loved the way this program seemed to make it so easy for the child. It's also been endorsed by Susan Wise Bauer of The Well Trained Mind, and this means a lot to me. I love this example of a student's writing on their website -- it is encouraging to read this and think of the possibilities for us this year.

It's funny to me how my style of homeschooling is beginning to take shape (I've only been doing this for a year!).... I thought I would be a solid Charlotte Mason homeschooler, but as it turns out I'm pretty eclectic, with a lot of classical education thrown in. I love this about homeschooling. You can adapt and change with the needs of your children, and there are so many truly beautiful curriculum choices out there.

We had only planned to go to the expo one day, but my husband told me I should go back tomorrow and he'll stay home with the kids. I'm looking forward to learning some more and having a chunk of time to stroll through the huge exhibit hall. Oh, and if you have experience with this program, please leave me a comment. I'm sure I'll be blogging about our writing assignments as the year progresses.

One last note -- when we got home this evening both of my children had end of the summer swim shows.... my son (five) dove from the board and swam a full lap of the pool and did a great job. My daughter (now nine) is on the synchronized swimming team and did a cute routine and then some individual things as well. I was so proud of each of my children, and so thankful we have a swim teacher who loves children and has a huge following in our community. It's too late to attach photos, but hopefully over the weekend I'll be able to post some!
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