Looking Towards 2014-2015 School Year {YIKES!}

The 2013/2014 School Year still has over 2 months left and then there is about 2 more months before we really get rolling with the next year {2014/2015}. But maybe it's not too early to get started. Or too early to already have it all planned...?

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Most of the planning was super easy. Fox's 10th grade {gasp!} will be almost identical to Lee's 10th grade, but will follow even closer the schedule at AO. I'm switching a few of the books as well. I followed the schedule for the devotion The Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson for Lee but will switch it for The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith for Fox. Also, Lee didn't read History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson, but I think Fox will appreciate it more than the one I'd selected for Lee. 

Here are other subs/omissions:

Subbing: 

• Washington: The Indispensable Man by Flexner for Founding Father - Rediscovering George Washington by Richard Brookhiser OR Life of Washington by David Ramsay
• Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose for Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler

Omitting: 

• The English Constitution by Walter Bagehot
• Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis {he's already read it}
• Simond's Literature - Increase and Cotton Mather from Chapter 1 & 2
• Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift
• John Adams and the American Revolution by Catherine Drinker Bowen 
• Letters to His Son by Lord Chesterfield, selections 
• Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin OR 
• Natural History of Selbourne by Gilbert White OR The Life of the Fly by J. Henri Fabre 
• The God Who is There by Francis Schaeffer
• The Story of Painting by H.W. Janson (sections)
  
• Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen
• The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence 
• Faust, Book I by Johann Wolfgang Goethe 
• The Problem of Pain by CS Lewis 
• Postmodern Times by Gene Edward Veith, Jr. 
• Reflections on the French Revolution by Edmund Burke

For science he will use various resources for biology, one being Ellen McHenry's Cells curriculum, and a biology coloring book*. I still need to find some living books to add in for his science. I have a board on Pinterest with science links so I'll be looking in there. But mostly, I'll be looking at the "Alternatives to Apologia" on the AO forum. I am considering CK12 Biology texts*, partially because they are free. Oh, yes, and I am adding in William Harvey and the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood by Thomas Henry Huxley that was scheduled in the last term of Y8 for this year {I purposefully took it out of his schedule this year}. It'll be in Term 1. And he will still have nature study but I'm not sure I will schedule any books for this because he really doesn't seem to like any of them so far. It could simply be a case of poor disposition...ahem.

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Some other things will be 'added' in, such as Science Matters by Hazen and Trefil, which we are all reading together at Round Table. It won't last the entire year though. And The Attributes of God by Pink, also a Round Table read. I really want to get Plutarch back into the week. And we do composer study/music appreciation, artist study/art appreciation and drawing, and How to Read a Book for logic. But I think that is about it for Fox's planning. Oh yes, he chose Napoleon for Term 3 biography so I am still looking for a book for that. It's between A Life of Napoleon by Stendhal* or The Story of Napoleon by H.E. Marshall. The second is by far more interesting and an easier read but geared toward younger readers {but it's free online!}. 

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For Lee's senior year I combined AO's Y11Lite and Y12 to come up with a schedule. And since I made it myself, although utilizing AO's curriculum, I feel okay about sharing the link to the document I made of her full year schedule. {If any AOers have a look and feel it's wrong to share, let me know.} Since it's her senior year and I'm fairly sure she will have or want to have a job, I've left it 'light' for the year. Term 2 looks like it has more but that's mostly historical readings that aren't that long; there are just a few of them. 

You should be able to click on it to see it larger in a new window.

So, Lee's scheduling is done. I am pre-reading a book called Poemcrazy* to see if I'll add it to the schedule but as I'm going through it and thinking ahead at what her year might be like, I think it will go on the optional free reads. I don't honestly care for the book. To me, poetry is an art form. But when I read a poem, I want it to make sense. I don't need to necessarily understand what the poet is saying exactly but it should be sensible. It's much like abstract art. I border on loathing abstract art; the same with poetry that is simply made up words, or words just crammed together just because. Call me a hater if you want but I don't care for jabberwocky. But I realize that we are all different. Lee does well with poetry; I do not. She may appreciate the book more than I. 

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And I just bought three more books for next year {Napoleon, The Lives of a Cell*, and A World in a Drop of Water*}. I love planning and don't like it at all. When I'm doing my planning I buy a lot of books. Then sometimes the books don't work out and I still buy more books. I don't sell my books any where near as often...I am done for now with planning! I think I have it all figured out. 

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Until next week that is *wink*.

Only a Few Days Left...and "It" Starts Again!

...school. That's what "it" is. 

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I spent one full week planning it all out. I've written posts about it; here and here. Oh yes, and here. It's barely mentioned in the first part of this post as well. It's all 'down on paper' and ready to go. 

But am I? I feel like I still have all that planning left to do. Perhaps I should get it all out, double-check it and then tack it up so I can see it; make myself feel better. 

Are the kids ready? Well, probably not if you ask them but by their actions and behaviors, yeah they're ready. Actions speak louder than words, remember? Our school day isn't strict and regimented. We don't start at a precise time, work on a subject for an allotted time and then move to the next. Our breaks aren't planned into the day necessarily. But there is still a routine that school provides. We have school hours from 9am to 4pm. They may not like it but they do like it. They do better with it. It helps with self-discipline; knowing you have something that you have to do and cannot do other things until it is complete.

I also just thought that one of my goals for this coming school year was to get the kids' school books read before they started. That's a real hoot! I've finished two of Lee's books (Character is Destiny and Evaluating Books) and am about 1/2 way through one of Fox's (The Case for Christ).

The first month of school will actually amount to about 2 weeks because we'll start after July 4th (Fox is in a parade with the Young Marines that day so it'd be hours out of the day anyway). When I made that decision, silly me, I didn't realize it fell on a Thursday and we could have had school the other three days. The third week of July we will be out of town for much of it. Another week gone. Then the last week includes Fox's birthday (holiday for North Laurel School *wink*). The "official" number of days for school in July = 12. The 'field trip' the third week of the month might be considered school; we are visiting the Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. Quite educational! We will be going camping overnight that week also. Another educational experience. So, I could squeeze 4 more school days out of the month. If I were really wanting to push it and count more, the Fourth of July Parade could be counted as well. But I'm not really that concerned with number of days of school. In Ohio I am required to cover 900 hours for school. E.a.s.y...

Having put this down here, for some reason, I feel much more relaxed. I'm still going to double-check my plans to see if there is anything important I missed and/or need to alter. Otherwise we're good to go!

Book Review: World History by James P. Stobaugh (High School History Curriculum)

World History: Observations and Assessments from Creation to Today by James P. Stobaugh, High School Level, Student book
ISBN: 978-0-89051-648-5
Publisher: Master Books
Retails: $24.99

From the back cover:
A new series from respected educator Dr. James Stobaugh that takes you on a journey through history without the filters of revisionist or anti-Christian perspectives. This book is designed for a year’s worth of study; 34 powerful weeks of historical viewpoints. A summary sets the stage for learning so the student can enjoy a daily lesson with thought-provoking questions, and an exam that takes place every fifth day. With clear objectives and challenging assignments, students investigate ancient and modern source material, all provided.

Historical content covered in this volume includes the following: Mesopotamia, the Jewish Exile, Egyptian Life, Greece, Life in Athens, Roman Life, Early Church History, Japanese History, Indian (South Asian) History, Persian History, Chinese History, the Middle Ages, the Crusades, the Renaissance, the Reformation, German History, the World Wars, and South Africa.

A history curriculum that is easy to implement, compact and designed for independent study- that’s what you will find in this book. It would work well for those who are not attempting to do an extremely in depth World History course in high school. Also it will fit nicely those students who prefer to do their work on their own.  I don’t think it would be well received for those who are looking for an intensive World History course in high school. Nor would it be a good fit for those who appreciate living books for their education.

Each chapter has 5 lessons that follows the format of read, answer critical thinking questions (most are open-ended, only a couple are T/F or multiple choice/matching), and then take an exam (as the ‘5th lesson’). It also contains the following components (from the book): narrative background, concepts/generalizations, a bit on a person who made a difference in history (called History Maker), historiographies or historical debate (presents theories surrounding a period or topic), world view formation, and history and world view overviews throughout the book.

It is suggested as a 12th grade book. The book can be purchased from New Leaf Publishing Group. Other books in the series include American History (10th grade) and British History (11th grade).

Here are the pros I found with this book:

• Short lessons that would take about 20-30 minutes, perhaps a little longer for answering the questions in depth
• Many open-ended questions (it says that they are critical thinking based roughly on Bloom’s Taxonomy) that help students think ‘outside the box’
• Interesting presentation of some information/worldviews (such as book review for Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety)
• Includes quite a few religions and views from other cultures (without giving up it's Christian perspective)
• It is a year long course (it has 34 weekly lessons)
• Affordable
• Compact and light book (not like a heavy textbook)
• Christian viewpoint (but it doesn’t shelter needlessly –presents overviews and some insight into worldviews)

The cons for our family are as follows:

• There really are no primary source documents (it does have quotes and excerpts from some but it doesn’t really direct the learner to more than just what is in the textbook)
• It is too textbook –it isn’t terribly engaging until the questions are asked.
• It seems very basic and just skims the surface (not to say that it should be college level work but a little more would have been nice). Some of the information isn’t any more in depth than my current 7th grader is already learning.
• The exams are only included in the teachers book (I don’t have it and the preview I found does not show the format of the exams). If it were truly ‘independent’ I would like it to include them in the student book with the answers in the teachers book.
• If we were to use this as a World History text we would need to supplement it with other books. There are websites included (referenced in the paragraphs) where the information was obtained but very few authors and books. That may not bother some people especially since our world is becoming immersed in the internet but *I* would prefer a book.
• And finally, which doesn’t really take much away from it, it is all in black and white. Keeping the cost down, I am sure, is part of the reason for printing in black and white but it’s just not as ‘pleasing’. My kids and I read lots of books on the Kindle –which is gray scale –so the black and white isn’t new, I just didn’t expect it in a textbook.

Bottom line:

I expected it to be more in depth and complete than it is - since it is designed for independent learning. It states at the beginning the students are responsible for reading and following through with assignments –the teacher obviously is expected to give insight as well and to correct/discuss the questions and exams- that’s the impression I got. It is ‘comprehensive’ as in it includes a lot of historical content in terms of quantity. I would like to have seen more references and resources suggested for further reading (if the student –or parent –so desired). I think this might work for a spine with other books and resources integrated to further study the times, places, events and/or people. I don’t think it is all that is needed for a really good World History high school course. Of course, if one isn’t really that into history then this may be perfect for them. If they need to just get the credit this might be just the thing. For us, we need more.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to those who are in need of a World History curriculum that ‘gets the job done’ while presenting it with a Christian perspective. But I wouldn’t really recommend it to those who want serious study into history (or those who aren’t interested in it having a Christian perspective).

***Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NLPG in exchange for an honest review. A positive review was not required. See Disclosure/Policies.***

Classes for Next Year- High School

If you read my post from yesterday, you'll know that although we still have a while to go until this school year is complete, I'm thinking about next year.

I'm going to put down the books/resources I am considering using for Lee's freshman year of high school. *I think I fainted a moment there... lol*

Our spine (or base) is Ambleside Online Yr 8 and going into 9 towards the end of the year. There are books that will not be used, and some books added in that are not included in AO's recommendations. In every homeschool it's necessary to find what works.

Here goes:

Bible/Verses/Devotion/Study: 

KJV (continuing reading through alternating Old Testament and New Testament), Romans 6, Colossians 3, 1 Corinthians 13, The Mind of the Maker, Commentary by Jamieson-Faussett-Brown and/or Matthew Henry (haven't decided on which books to study at this point), Saints and Heroes (should be finished, or almost, with Vol 1 and moving to Vol 2)

Math:
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra, Advanced Algebra, Khan Academy

Writing/Literature/Grammar/Composition: 

Written narrations, History of English Literature for Boys and Girls, Everyman: A morality play, Westward Ho!, The Holy War, The Roar on the Other Side, others?, Jensen's Grammar if haven't finished

History/Geography:  

Western Civilization chapters 11-13 and 15-16, How the Heather Looks, towards the end of the year possibly Introduction to Geography OR The World Today

Science:  

Biology 9th Ed. chapters 1-16, BodyQuest (maybe not? because the amount of material covered in the biology text)

Government/Economics/Civics:

Whatever Happened to Justice? (followed by Are You Liberal, Conservative, Confused?), Utopia, Francis Bacon Essays (will see how many we get to), followed by The English Constitution, Common Sense and Essays (by Jane Haldimand Marcet), Ourselves Book 1 and 2, Plutarch's Lives

Foreign Language:  
First Form and Second Form Latin and Spanish (1010) possibly at the local community college.

For PE/Band/Choir/Music/Art I'm not decided yet. I am still looking for another trumpet program for Lee because the one she has is very beginner (she isn't done with it but will need something else soon). PE is an every day occurrence but never really scheduled. For Art, she may take a class through the community college (community education department- not for credit). Choir we have at Co-Op. As for 'music', we'll see how it goes...


So there it is. I think it is quite trimmed from my planning last year due to the fact that I'm trying to be more realistic this time. We didn't get to a lot of subjects/books that I would like for us to have this year. Hopefully this coming year will be successful in doing what's planned :)


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