Category:General
History Decisions
We have finally decided which way to go with K’s 5th-grade history. We are just going to keep it simple and do it a la The Well-Trained Mind (TWTM). (You can purchase it here.) We will be using Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History as our spine for the year. On Mondays, she will be reading the weekly topic …
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Science Thoughts
The research into science options for next year is now in full swing! Before I get into what I’ve researched, let me give a brief explanation about the method explained in The Well-Trained Mind (TWTM). (Note: Susan Wise Bauer [SWB] is much better at explaining this than I am, so if you’re wanting to do this in …
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Preparing to Prepare
It’s that time of year again… The forums are filling up with people posting their projected curricula, asking about the latest and greatest programs, and generally trying to gear up for the school year ahead. Never mind that for most the current year is still forging ahead! The time to start planning is now! In …
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IEW – First Keyword Outline and Writing Exercise
Today K had her first “lesson” in keyword outlining, IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) style. We do not have any of their curriculum at this time, but I do assist in an IEW class at our co-op and I have taught the class before. (Of note, H is going to be using their Bible …
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The Next Six Weeks
We just completed our week off from our six-weeks-on/six-weeks-off schedule. Most of what we had planned for the previous six weeks was completed, which made me a very happy teacher! I still have a few more subjects to finish planning tonight, but I’m all set for the next six weeks. In history, we will be …
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Moving Beyond the Page – A Review of the Tornado Literature Unit
This was our first taste of Moving Beyond the Page (MBtP). I really like the format of the program. It ended up being a good fit for both of my girls, who have completely different learning styles. On most days, the student reads a chapter of the book, answers questions to verify comprehension, and then …
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Growing With Grammar – A Review of Level 3
As my oldest daughter nears the end of Growing With Grammar (GWG) level 3, I feel I have enough exposure to the book to write an accurate review. First of all, I really like the format. It is basically a worktext, written to the student, except that the student manual and the workbook pages are …
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Happy 2013!
Well, our first week of the new year is complete. It was quite productive, too. For history, we are taking a break from Story of the World and starting a unit study that covers 17th/18th century. It is called A Journey Through… the Centuries of America. So far, they are really enjoying it. In addition …
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Donna Young’s V Planner (V2.5 DT)
*** Note: The version I’m using is from early 2012. There was an update to the file done in September 2012, but my school year began before that, so I’m not using it yet. For years I have been using Homeschool Skedtrack for our planning and record-keeping needs. While I loved just about everything about …
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H’s New Literature Program
Last week H started a new literature program, Moving Beyond the Page. We’re using the Tornado unit to start with. At first, she was hesitant when I gave her a piece of paper and told her to draw a tornado. “But I want to draw hearts.” “What if let you draw hearts first, then give you …
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