I just realized after reviewing the blog that I never listed the Reading List from this year.
Animal Farm
Fahrenheit 451
Lord of the Flies
The Hobbit
The Old Man and the Sea
Daughter of Mercy
Heart of Darkness
The Hiding Place
The Great Gatsby
The hubs said I should tell you about the transition and teaching that took place between The Hiding Place and The Great Gatsby. We read those books, in that order, on purpose. We read The Hiding Place with an eye to Corrie ten Boom's definition of suffering, love and hope. We discussed the depth and hopefulness of the book. Then we moved on to The Great Gatsby.
The kids in my class immediately commented on the hopelessness and shallowness of the book. The setting of TGG is the Roaring Twenties, between the Great War and the Great Depression and in the middle of Prohibition. This was a time of massive wealth and prosperity. No one in the book is starving or ripped away from their families, and yet, it is a very hopeless book. THP is a book set during World War 2 and involves death and starvation and concentration camps. Yet, it is full of hope and love.
Our co-op class to the time to dissect and contrast. We discussed values and eternity. We read scripture and talked of possible applications in the future. We openly confronted our fears of suffering and were reminded of God's faithfulness. What a great topic!
Overall, the lit class was one of the highlights of my year. I've received emails and even a gift from the kids involved. They can see the value of dissecting worldviews now. God is good!
Showing posts with label reading lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading lists. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Hobbit
My three oldest kids and I recently read The Hobbit. Not together, per se, but at the same time. They had to read certain chapters at a time and answer questions, explore the text and compare it to other works of literature.
They created their own riddles, explored fables and myths, and even learned the six characteristics of a quest story. We had a really good time together and with our reading group.
Tonight is the big night. The Hobbit opens tonight at 12:01 am. I've taken the two olders to midnight shows before, but this is Gracie's first one. She is super excited. My sister and nephew are coming, as well as some of our homeschool friends. It should be quite the festive event.
Tonight is one big reason that I love homeschooling. We can dedicate time to a subject and then follow it up with something fun. One thing I've found to be true and have seen proven over and over is that a fun excursion means so much more to my kids when we've studied it ahead of time. This was true when we went to the Space Center and when we snorkled over a coral reef. It was evident when we saw Big Ben and when we walked on a Roman Wall. Tonight it will be fun to watch them watch a movie based on a book we just studied. I can't wait!
I feel very blessed that God has given me the grace to enjoy where he has placed me. It's not so much homeschooling as it is just deliberately enjoying my life. And you don't have to homeschool to do that.
They created their own riddles, explored fables and myths, and even learned the six characteristics of a quest story. We had a really good time together and with our reading group.
Tonight is the big night. The Hobbit opens tonight at 12:01 am. I've taken the two olders to midnight shows before, but this is Gracie's first one. She is super excited. My sister and nephew are coming, as well as some of our homeschool friends. It should be quite the festive event.
Tonight is one big reason that I love homeschooling. We can dedicate time to a subject and then follow it up with something fun. One thing I've found to be true and have seen proven over and over is that a fun excursion means so much more to my kids when we've studied it ahead of time. This was true when we went to the Space Center and when we snorkled over a coral reef. It was evident when we saw Big Ben and when we walked on a Roman Wall. Tonight it will be fun to watch them watch a movie based on a book we just studied. I can't wait!
I feel very blessed that God has given me the grace to enjoy where he has placed me. It's not so much homeschooling as it is just deliberately enjoying my life. And you don't have to homeschool to do that.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Post Number 2 or Ten Minutes Later
I just posted the first post about ten minutes ago, but I have more to say.... now, what was it?...
Homeschooling high school is scary to me. Like, for real scary. So many opportunities to screw up with no one to blame. It makes my head spin. Deep cleansing breath. In. Out. What does it look like to trust God in this?
I have chosen our math for the year. We are going to try Teaching Textbooks. I am hopeful. With four kids, it gets almost impossible to give them each the instruction they need, especially with one child with a Specific Disability in Math. Teaching Textbooks has tutorials included. We shall see.
English/Lit we are continuing on with Learning Language Arts through Literature. I like that curriculum. Plus they will have their required reading lists. A sample of this year's lists (I'll not take the time to differentiate grades): The Neverending Story, Fahrenheit 451, Pygmalion, Lord of the Flies, The Education of Little Tree, The Whipping Boy, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Silent Boy, The Secret Life of Bees, Mere Christianity. That's not all but I'm tired of typing.
History will be a mid-depth study of the continents. Culture, art, missionaries, language, politics, geography, history, etc. The olders will be reading biographies as well.
Foreign language will be Latin with Rosetta Stone.
Science is still sketchy. The youngers are taken care of but the olders... geez Louise. Still searching. I'm leaning towards Chemistry.
Electives? Hmmm... Home Ec for Maggie and Automotive for Ty, for sure. Health. PE. Other than that? No idea.
One of the hardest things to me about homeschooling is deciding what our year needs to look like. Do we do like last year and enroll the kids into a co-op or not? This year is really our last year to be flexible and travel. Maggie and Ty are going to do dual enrollment in the local community college next year. I want to travel as much as possible this year. My sweet nephew is stationed in southern California right now with the Marines and I want to take the kids on a road trip down Route 66 to visit him. My first cousin lives near Miami and has offered us a place to stay. I want to do these things with my kids so badly. So this year is the year of the traveler... I think.
Homeschooling high school is scary to me. Like, for real scary. So many opportunities to screw up with no one to blame. It makes my head spin. Deep cleansing breath. In. Out. What does it look like to trust God in this?
I have chosen our math for the year. We are going to try Teaching Textbooks. I am hopeful. With four kids, it gets almost impossible to give them each the instruction they need, especially with one child with a Specific Disability in Math. Teaching Textbooks has tutorials included. We shall see.
English/Lit we are continuing on with Learning Language Arts through Literature. I like that curriculum. Plus they will have their required reading lists. A sample of this year's lists (I'll not take the time to differentiate grades): The Neverending Story, Fahrenheit 451, Pygmalion, Lord of the Flies, The Education of Little Tree, The Whipping Boy, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Silent Boy, The Secret Life of Bees, Mere Christianity. That's not all but I'm tired of typing.
History will be a mid-depth study of the continents. Culture, art, missionaries, language, politics, geography, history, etc. The olders will be reading biographies as well.
Foreign language will be Latin with Rosetta Stone.
Science is still sketchy. The youngers are taken care of but the olders... geez Louise. Still searching. I'm leaning towards Chemistry.
Electives? Hmmm... Home Ec for Maggie and Automotive for Ty, for sure. Health. PE. Other than that? No idea.
One of the hardest things to me about homeschooling is deciding what our year needs to look like. Do we do like last year and enroll the kids into a co-op or not? This year is really our last year to be flexible and travel. Maggie and Ty are going to do dual enrollment in the local community college next year. I want to travel as much as possible this year. My sweet nephew is stationed in southern California right now with the Marines and I want to take the kids on a road trip down Route 66 to visit him. My first cousin lives near Miami and has offered us a place to stay. I want to do these things with my kids so badly. So this year is the year of the traveler... I think.
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