Spring Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up

Much like the slow spring season this year, our 2018-2019 academic year limped to a close. We got'er done, but it wasn't pretty. Today, I'll share with you what we did and didn't do.

First, here are the lists of resources I had planned at the beginning of the year when things were shiny and new....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, you can find our Fall Term Wrap-Up here and our Winter Term Wrap-Up here.

Finally, here is a list of resources we used in Term 3 to end our year....

Morning Time

Bible: DK Children's Bible - we finished the Old Testament
Citizenship: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason - we finished Book I - Self Knowledge
Economics/Government: Whatever Happened to Justice? by Richard Maybury - finished
Literature: The Holy War by John Bunyan - finished
Tales: 50 Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - we only got about 2/3 of the way through. I'm undecided if we will pick this up again.
Poetry: When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne - finished
Natural History: The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, adapted by Terry Ann White - finished
Music: Classics for Children - audio CD; Peter and the Wolf; The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard - finished
Art: The Story of Painting by H.W. Janson - skipped
Artist Study: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artist: Paul Cezanne - finished

All three kids also participated in our local homeschool choir, as well as art classes outside the home this spring. Therefore, I dropped the Folk Song and Hymn study this term. In addition, they each memorized multiple poems this year for Recitation. They practiced them during our Morning Time.

Overall, I would say MT was a slog this year. I saw value in the books we read and yet, there wasn't much enjoyment. Many days were like pulling teeth. Sometimes, this is OK...and actually necessary. However, in the case of MT, if truth, beauty, and goodness are the goal, there must be some enjoyment or else it's hard to see the beauty and goodness of it. I will definitely be reassessing MT for fall.

Year 9

Bible

Riley finished the AO Year 8 Bible Reading Plan and continued to copy Psalms in Do You Journible?, which she finished at the end of Term 3.

History

A History of the American People by Paul Johnson - finished reading Parts 1 and 2 this year.

Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober - finished

John Adams by David McCullough - finishing over summer

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis - finishing over summer

George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster - finished

The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills - along with A Mind in the Light study - finished

The Children's Plutarch: The Tales of the Greeks by F. J. Gould - finished

Book of Centuries - ongoing

Literature

English Literature for Boys & Girls by H. E. Marshall - finished

Invitation to the Classics by Cowan and Guiness - finished assigned excerpts

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - finishing over summer

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

Spelling

IEW's Phonetic Zoo Level B - finished

Math

Introductory Algebra by Margaret Lial - My Homeschool Math Class - finished

Science/Natural History

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper - finished spring reading

Napoleon's Buttons by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson - finished

For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - Sabbath Mood Homeschool Part 1 - finished

A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking - finished

First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson - finished

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif - finished assigned reading 

Great Astronomers by Robert Stawell Ball - finished assigned reading

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel - finished

Signs and Seasons by Jay Ryan - finished

You can see a full review with sample notebooking pages of Riley's science year here. 

Riley also finished up her participation in our local High School Community. I will post more about that in the future. 

Overall, Riley finished well! She has a couple books that she'll be working on completing over summer. She met both goals I set for her at the beginning of the year, which were: to participate in a High School Community and to begin formal composition. Her two favorite subjects this year were History and Literature. Some of her favorite books were The Last of the Mohicans, The Betrothed, The Tale of Two Cities, and she is also loving The Count of Monte Cristo, even though she's not quite finished yet. A few books Riley didn't care for this year were A Briefer History of Time, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and she is struggling to finish Founding Brothers, not because of difficult content or reading level, but rather interest level. All in all, Riley had a great year and finished strong.

Year 8

Character

Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz - finished

History

Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers - finished

What in the World?, Vol. 3 by Dianna Waring- finishing over summer

Literature

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith - finished

Little Britches by Ralph Moody - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien - 2nd time reading - finishing over summer

Science/Natural History

The Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp - finished

Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather by Eric Sloane - Sabbath Mood Homeschool - finished

Math

RightStart Mathematics - switched mid term to MCP Mathematics and began tutoring at local Christian School - will continue over summer

Ruben had a very difficult winter and spring after his farm accident last November! He was laid up for several months, really until April, and had many doctor appointments to attend. Through it all he was a real champ and made tremendous progress in his academics. He also met each goal that I set for him at the beginning of the school year: 1) increase science; 2) focus on math; and 3) increase independent study. Ruben completed three different Sabbath Mood Homeschool science studies this year and he read most of his books independently, creating notebooking pages or giving an oral narration after each reading. We started the Fall Term very strong with math, but that is one subject that fell by the wayside after his injury. However, in April, we picked back up again with a tutor. She helped Ruben to gain some ground that he lost over the Winter Term. Math is an area we will continue to focus on in the upcoming year. Ruben LOVED his all his Literature books this year, in particular, Rifles for Watie was a favorite and seemed to leave a lasting impression. He highly recommends it!

Year 1

Phonics & Reading 

First Start Reading by Cheryl Lowe/Memoria Press - continuing

Literature

Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne - finished

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - finished

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White - continuing over summer

Math

Rod & Staff Beginning Arithmetic 1 - continuing

History/Science & Enrichment

A Mind in the Light Natural Worlds 1 - finished parts and pieces

Memoria Press's Kindergarten and First Grade Enrichment - continuing

Levi was such a trooper this year! He started the year very excited about "school". Unfortunately, things faded after the First Term when Ruben had his accident. Being completely dependent on my teaching, his academics took a sabbatical while I tended his brother. We did pick back up in the Third Term with some sense of regularity. However, we have taken a break now in June. I do plan to begin again with him over summer to make up for lost time, but it will be light as I do want him and I to have some free time to recoup and refresh before fall. Levi did meet the goals I had set for him at the beginning of the year to start formal academics and begin reading instruction. I feel like we finally have a great phonics and reading program in place and it will be easier to carry on. 

If I focus too much on my beginning plans, I feel a little deflated that I wasn't able to carry them out. However, when I look at the big picture, I see so much positive! My children are alive and well. Each and every one of them met the academic goals I set. They all showed tremendous growth, not only academically, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I am so thankful the 2018-2019 academic year is behind us....and, I am looking forward to planning the new year. My biggest takeaway this year is that sometimes God's plan isn't my plan. :)

This post does contain affiliate links. 

2018-2019 - Morning Time Curricula Preview....

We are three weeks into the 2018-2019 school year and have worked out a few kinks so I'm fairly confident in sharing our curricula choices at this point. This year, I'm teaching Year 9, Year 8 and Year 1. Since I have a great span in ages, I have chosen a variety of resources for our collective Morning Time. Some geared for each particular child, as well as some that are great for everyone, age 1 to 101.

I currently schedule school four days per week and have for the past several years. This does not mean learning is not happening on the other three days. It's just that I formally schedule our "bookish studies" in those four days. Sometimes it takes 6-7 days to complete what is scheduled, which is fine, as long as we start fresh on Monday morning with the new week's work. I don't schedule my kid's every day because over the years, I have found some of the best learning happens when they have free time to pursue their hobbies and interests. Our Morning Time follows this same four day schedule.

This year, I chose to read aloud The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos in our Morning Time. This is a re-read for my older kids, but the first time around for my Year 1 student. It's such a beautiful children's bible. I think it's appropriate for all ages. I will read the Old Testament section this year and New Testament next year. My Year 9 student is also doing a separate bible study independently, but reviewing the timeless narratives in the Vos children's bible is good.

Along with our bible readings, I have chosen two devotional type readings. First we will finish In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, which we started last year. Then we will move into Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. These books were chosen with my older students in mind. Although, I have never read Lewis and am personally looking very forward to it.

Other resources we will use this year in our Morning Time, along with sources, are as follows:

Citizenship: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason - We started this book last year and will continue this year.
Economics/Government: Whatever Happened to Justice? by Richard Maybury - AO Year 8

Geography: Longitude by Dava Sobel - AO Year 9

Literature: The Holy War by John Bunyan - AO Year 8
Tales: 50 Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - AO Year 1
Poetry: Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne - A Mind in the Light Year 1
Natural History: The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, adapted by Anne Terry White - AO Year 6

Music Study: Classics for Children - audio CD, Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes, The Carnival of Animals, Peter and the Wolf, The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard, and The Nutcracker - A Mind in the Light Year 1
Folksong: She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain, America the Beautiful, Frere Jacques/Brother John - Term 1 - We will spend four weeks on each song. I will pick Terms 2 & 3 at a later time.

Hymn: Great is Thy Faithfulness and Come, Thou Fount - Term 1 - We will spend six weeks on each hymn. I will pick Terms 2 & 3 at a later time.

Art: The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson - AO - will continue from last year

Artist Study: Degas, Cassatt, Cezanne - A Mind in the Light Year 1

Recitations: Misc. passages for each student and review The Pledge of Allegiance

We don't do all of these subjects every day, but rather, 1-3 times per week, depending on the subject. So our daily schedule looks like this....

Day 1 – Bible, Poetry, Recitations, Citizenship, Natural History

Day 2 – Bible, Folk Song & Hymn, Artist/Music Study, Economics/Government

Day 3 – Bible, Recitations, Geography/Art, Literature

Day 4 – Devotional, Folk Song & Hymn, Tales 

As you can see, I tried to have a bible/devotional reading daily. From there, I attempted to stagger subjects according to difficulty. I wanted some form of daily student interaction, whether through singing or reciting, as well as me reading aloud. I also tried to break up subjects geared for Years 8 and 9 vs. Year 1, altering between light and heavy readings. In addition, I do ask for narration once per day from each child in Morning Time. My Year 1 student narrates the Vos story bible or the tales as these are resources I primarily chose for him. The older kids take turns narrating from the citizenship, natural history, econ/gov, literature, and devotional readings. So far, this has been working well. Our total Morning Time typically takes somewhere around 45 minutes, give or take. 

Spring 2017-2018 Term Three Wrap-Up and Year End Reflections....

I've been reflecting on particular subjects from our 2017-2018 school year over the past few weeks as I prep for the 2018-2019 year. I love to look back at the end of our academic year. It's always shocking and reaffirming to see what we really did accomplish, as it's not always apparent in the day to day. I also like to do my next year's plan shortly after finishing our current year, while things are still fresh in my mind. I have learned that if I wait, our challenges and struggles become rose colored. This prompts me to plan unrealistically, which ultimately leads to failure. If for some reason I can't plan immediately, I make notes and do Mystie's Homeschool Audit at a minimum. That way, when I do plan, I can be more realistic which leads to future accountability and success.

Today, I'm completing a Term 3 wrap-up post, along with our year end reflections. I will post books read and resources used in Term 3 first. Then I will include some overall reflections of the total year at the end, including our hits and misses. You can see our Term 1 here and Term 2 here.

Year 8

You can find RileyAnn's Year 8 initial Curriculum Preview here. The list below is from Term 3.

Bible

Riley finished the AO Year 7 Bible Reading Plan and continued to copy Psalms in Do You Journible?

History

The New World by Winston Churchill (Chapters 1-10)

Riley also finished the Beautiful Feet Books Medieval History Study. I wrote a post specifically about her third term here...Beautiful Feet Books Medieval History It includes sample notebooking pages.

Literature

English Literature for Boys & Girls by H. E. Marshall (Chapters 1-49)
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Poetry

Riley studied the life and poetry of John Keats in Term 3 as suggested in AO Year 7.  She also finished the Prescripts Poetry book for practice with penmanship.

Grammar

Riley finished Easy Grammar 8, which I had on the shelf. I started using it with Angel, our older homeschool graduate, when she was in 8th grade, but it wasn't a good fit. Riley pulled it off the shelf after discontinuing Jensen's Grammar. She preferred Easy Grammar and did well completing it.

Spelling

Spelling had been a challenge for Riley throughout her younger years. However, last year, I started her on IEW's Phonetic Zoo and she showed great growth. This year, she finished Level A and began Level B.

Math

Riley completed Pre-Algebra using Margaret Lial's text through an online class.This was her second year of study under Mrs. Perkins and she has grown to love math. At this point, we plan to continue math online with My Homeschool Math Class through high school.

Science/Natural History

Riley finished the AO Year 7 Science readings, of which you can read more about here.


Year 7

You will find Ruben's 2017-2018 Year 7 Overall Curriculum Preview here.

Bible

Ruben completed the AO Year 6 Bible Reading Plan.

History

We read from Famous Men of the Renaissance & Reformation and finished the following historic literature books this term....

Morning Star of the Reformation by Andy Thomson
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by AVI
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley
Michelangelo by Diane Stanley
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
Good Queen Bess by Diane Stanley
Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley

What in the World? Vol 2 Middle Ages: Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries by Diana Waring (audio)

You can read more about Ruben's Year 7 History here and see sample notebooking pages.

Literature

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Penmanship

Ruben completed Let's Write and Spell by Mary and Warren Johnson. He also copied assigned verses from Proverbs.

Grammar

See Morning Time below.

Composition

Ruben completed a good part of IEW's Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons, of which you can read more about here.

Math

Ruben and I have been working through RightStart Level C. We have approx. 20 lessons left that we hope to finish this summer.

Science/Natural History

See Morning Time below.


Year 0 (Kindergarten)

I did not do formal kindergarten with Levi. Yet, he some how learned his letters with sounds, how to write his name, and some number skills. We read misc. books. He completed notebooking pages along side Ruben and often participated in our Morning Time. Overall, it was a great year. I was surprised by how much he picked up. You can read much more about his informal year here in Term 1 and Term 2. Levi showed much growth and many readiness skills for Year 1.


Morning Time

In our third term Morning Time, we read from and/or finished the following books...

In His Steps by Charles Sheldon
Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (through page 102)
Simply Charlotte Mason's Picture Study Portfolio - da Vinci
How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger - We read the first few chapters of this book, but then stopped. The chapters were too long for a one sitting MT read. We may or may not pick it back up in the future.
The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin Wiker
The Elements by Theodore Gray
Macbeth by Shakespeare
Man for All Seasons - we watched the movie version
The Story of Painting by Janson (through page 101)
Grammar-Land by M. L. Nesbitt

I wrote several posts about our Morning Time over the year. You can find them here....

2017-2018 Curriculum Preview - Morning Time
2017-2018 Morning Time Reflections - Six Weeks
Middle School Chemistry in Morning Time
Middle School Introductory Chemistry Wrap-Up


Misc. Fine Arts

Riley, Ruben, and Levi also participated in art classes through a local homeschool co-op during part of Term 2 and Term 3. In addition, we attended the Charlotte's Web musical, performed by our local children's theater.


Overall Reflections

Upon reflection of our year as a whole, each child showed tremendous growth. Riley stated math and spelling are both getting easier for her. Ruben picked up several assigned books and read them on his own. Levi was eager and voluntarily participating. He is very excited about beginning Year 1 in the fall. There is a sense of accomplishment as I look back.

Books we didn't get to or decided not to:

The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges (Morning Time)

The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation by H. A. Guerber (Riley's History)

Lost Tools of Writing (Riley's Composition) 

Secrets of the Woods by Willliam Long (Ruben's Natural History)
School of the Woods by William Long (Ruben's Natural History)

The King's Shadow by Elizabeth Alder

My Hits

I loved reading along with Riley and Ruben! I found book discussions more enjoyable when we read independently and then came together to discuss, rather than me reading everything aloud. It was like having our own book club, which was very much something to look forward to.

Both Riley and Ruben made great progress in math this year!

Vol. 4, Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (Morning Time)
The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin (Morning Time)

Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo (read aloud to Ruben)

Black Fox of Lorne by Marguerite de Angeli (family read aloud)

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (read alongside Riley)

Robin Hood by J. Walker McSpadden (family read aloud)

The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (read aloud to Ruben)

My Misses

I didn't find time to work with Riley on composition. She continued to do independent written narrations, which certainly wasn't all bad. However, as she enters high school, I would like her composition focus to narrow on a few particular types of writing in addition to narration.

Ruben's natural history and science was a little weak. We spent a great amount of time on history, which we both love, as well as writing. However, that didn't leave enough time for some of the science books I had scheduled. Fortunately, Ruben's an avid outdoors man and he loves to tinker. So he does get a broad range of nature study and hands on learning aside from books.

How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (Morning Time)
Daughter in Time by Josephine Tey (read alongside Riley)
How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger (Morning Time) - didn't finish

Idylls of the King by Tennyson (Morning Time) - didn't finish

Macbeth by Shakespeare (Morning Time)

Riley's Hits

Beautiful Feet Medieval History
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean
AO Year 7 Science

Riley's Misses

How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (Morning Time)
The Once and Future King by T. H. White - didn't finish
Daughter in Time by Josephine Tey
Classical Conversations Prescripts 

Ruben's Hits

The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin (Morning Time)
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard Maybury (Morning Time)
Black Fox of Lorne by Marguerite de Angeli (family read aloud)
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by AVI

The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly

Ruben's Misses

How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (Morning Time)

After reflecting, I have set some goals for our 2018-2019 year which includes me working more closely with Riley on her writing. Also, I will continue to guide Ruben in gaining further independence with his studies. I may lighten his history load in order to add a little more science. Ruben also needs some work in spelling. Levi will begin formal reading lessons. I will also gently begin formal math with him, but the greater focus will be in the area of language arts. Now that I've wrapped up our 2017-2018 academic year, I am ready to focus on the 2018-2019 year! 

Middle School Introductory Chemistry Wrap-Up...

I remember all too well the struggle Angel had in Chemistry her 11th grade year. We were using Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry. A combination of understanding the Periodic Table, math equations, vocabulary, atomic and molecular structure proved to be too much information all at one time. As a result, I vowed to do things differently with my younger students. My aim was to introduce these ideas at an elementary level in order to build a base for upper level Chemistry.

In looking at a variety of resources, I knew I wanted to stick with living books. Ambleside Online offered some suggestions in their Year 6 and Year 7 Science selections, one of which I actually ended up using with Angel once we scrapped the Apologia text. She enjoyed it so I thought it would be a suitable book for our middle school introductory year, where we focused on the elements of the Periodic Table. This week, we wrapped up our Middle School Introductory Chemistry and I'd like to share a few things we used and what I learned.

First off, a confession, I never had Chemistry....ever! I managed to escape it in high school and it wasn't required in college so I didn't volunteer, ahem! One of the many advantages of home educating is the recovery of my own education. There's no better way to develop understanding, compassion, and a love of subject than to study it yourself. For this reason, I decided to include a Chemistry study in our Morning Time (MT). This allowed me the ability to participate and learn with the kids rather than try to find extra time to pre-read or study the subject independently.

For our Morning Time Introductory Chemistry study, I chose The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin D. Wiker and The Elements by Theodore Gray. Wiker's book gave a wonderful introduction to the Periodic Table and how it was discovered. We learned about many alchemists and scientists of the past. Gray's book gives an absolutely stunning look at each individual element. There's a two page spread for every element with photographs of the actual element as well as items made from the element. It's a beautiful book! (Side note - while reading The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly for history, I was making all kinds of connections and gaining ideas from reading The Mystery of the Periodic Table. Although it wasn't planned, the two books complimented each other.)

The Mystery of the Periodic Table has 18 chapters so I read aloud a different chapter every other week throughout our 36-week academic year. On the off week, we studied 1-3 elements from Gray's book, using a schedule I found through Ambleside Online. I then had the kids notebook a page about each element we studied. They also charted each element on a blank Periodic Table. I personally charted and notebooked on each element along side them, as well as taking a few notes on each chapter or Wiker's book.

Overall, we had a great study! I know I personally learned a good deal about the Periodic Table. My one regret is that we didn't read about and complete a notebooking page on each element, or, at least all the naturally occurring elements. Not to say that we couldn't go back and finish it at some point, but we most likely won't. When it's time for Levi to work through an Introductory Chemistry study, I will have him spend more time on each element. As noted above, Gray's book is extremely visually appealing. It's well laid out and notebooking through the elements was one of our favorite parts of the study. Riley agreed that we should have covered all of them. Here are some samples....

I gave a little preview of our MT study in a blog post back in October, of which you can find more sample notebooking pages. In addition, Riley also read The Wonder Book of Chemistry by Jean Henri Fabre independently. She's decided she's not crazy about Fabre, but she was able to add to the MT conversation, making wonderful connections along the way.

Middle School Chemistry in Morning Time...

As part of our Morning Time study, we've been working through The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin D. Wiker and The Elements by Theodore Gray using Ambleside Online's Year 6 rotating schedule. Every other week, I read from each book. For example, Week One, I read Chapter One of The Mystery of the Periodic Table. Then Week Two, I read about a specific element in The Elements. Week Three, I went back and read Chapter Two from ...Mystery of...Periodic Table, Week Four, we read about another element, and so on and so forth.

In addition to the above mentioned reading, I've added a notebooking component to our study. At the beginning of the year, I gave Riley and Ruben a blank periodic table. As we read about a variety of elements in The Mystery of the Periodic Table, they plug them into their table. Then every other week, as we read about a particular element from The Elements, they write about and illustrate a picture on a blank page of something representative of that element. At the end of the year, I will bind these pages with my ProClick binder into their own personal chemistry notebooks. They initially decided they wanted to bind blank paper as opposed to using a spiral or sewn composition notebook.

So far, it's been a wonderful study! I really enjoyed looking at their pages. So much so, that I decided to join them in the notebooking venture. However, I opted to use a sewn composition notebook for my study. Below are samples of our pages....

2017-2018 Morning Time Reflections - Week Six...

We are six weeks into our 2017-2018 academic year so I thought I'd review what's working and what's not in our Morning Time (MT), since this seems to be the area in which I've made the greatest adjustments. First off, here is our original plan.

As you can see, my original plan was to have MT three days per week. I wondered how this would work since we school four days per week. However, at that time, my niece was going to join us three days a week in our homeschool and I wanted to spread the feast for her as well. Honestly, the first couple of weeks were rough. I chose many of my MT reads from AO Year 7 because it was a good fit for my kids. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be a good fit for my niece for a variety of reasons, which I won't get into here. She is no longer joining us in our homeschool, so I will write about MT as it pertains exclusively to my family.

Three days per week proved to be too little time to cover the books I had planned. AO Year 7 books are wonderful and very meaty. Some of them provided too much reading at one time. They needed to be spread out more. Sadly, I let go of Idylls of the King for now. I couldn't quite figure out how to spread it out in a way that we could understand and make sense of it. We even tried the Librovox audio for a couple of weeks because I thought maybe the fact that I couldn't find the rhythm or the beat while reading it, was the reason we couldn't understand it. However, that didn't seem to help. I feel like we don't have a good enough medieval or Arthurian base for real understanding. We are reading other Arthur books this year, which I think will help lay a foundation for a future reading. Tennyson's Idylls is definitely worthy, just not for us in this season. I may come back to it in a few weeks or possibly in our next medieval rotation, but for now, I'm subbing in other random poetry.

I've added Grammar-land by M. L. Nesbitt. I found that Grammar with Ruben was just not getting done throughout the week, so I decided to add in this gem as a read aloud during our MT. It's mostly review, which he needs. Riley scoffed a bit at first because she felt she was way beyond this point, but we're now a couple weeks in and she's been a better sport. I'm reading a chapter per week and once it's done, I hope to add some sentence parsing and diagramming into our MT. Our new MT, now looks something like this...

Day One
How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Wiker and Bendick, alternated with The Elements by Theodore Gray as scheduled in AO Year 6

Day Two
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler
Grammar-land by M. L. Nesbett

Day Three
The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy by Richard Maybury

Day Four

The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason

In addition to the read alouds, I'm adding various poetry, music, and art each day. Levi has been joining us for MT and I want him to learn The Pledge of Allegiance, so we recite it some days as well. I would like to add more memory work down the road. Possible other additions could include, health, Shakespeare, and drawing, but for now, I don't feel like I should add until we finish or take away something else. We will continue as planned for the next six weeks and reassess at that time. 

Overall, I'm happy to be back at MT and I think the kids are too. I love the conversations we've had from some of the books. We're also doing a bit of notebooking through the chemistry books, which I will share in another post. It's been fun to look at everyone's drawings and see what each person took from the book.

2017-2018 Curriculum Preview - Morning Time...

We started school this week. I'm still working out the bugs, but after a one year hiatus from Morning Time, I knew I had to bring it back. I really missed our time together, reading and discussing various books and topics.

Given the fact that Riley and Ruben are only one grade apart, I'd always done the bulk of their school together in K-6th grade. However, last year, Riley asked to be separated as she wanted to gain more independence in her studies. Although, I definitely saw growth with both she and Ruben, all year, I felt like something was missing. When planning this year, I wanted to find a way to give them space for continued individual growth and yet bring them back for some joint discussion.  Eventually, I figured out if I included Morning Time once again with a few common books, yet maintained their individual schedules for most subjects, I could gain the compromise I was looking for.

It was a bit of a trick figuring out which books to include. However, spending the summer studying Ambleside Online's Year 7, I came to some conclusions. I decided to keep Riley and Ruben in the same time period in history with different books. They have individual math and language arts. Riley is doing AO Year 7 Science as written, whereas Ruben is using a mix of science resources. They also have separate bible reading plans. Over and above this handful of core subjects, I put most of the rest of the books in our Morning Time. The first term looks something like this:

Day One
How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Wiker and Bendick, alternated with The Elements by Theodore Gray as scheduled in AO Year 6
Idylls of the King by Tennyson

Day Two
Ourselves by Charlotte Mason
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler
The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson
Idylls of the King by Tennyson

Day Three
The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy by Richard Maybury
Idylls of the King by Tennyson

We tried the above schedule this week. Some of the books were a hit and some not so much. I can already see a few adjustments that need to be made. I'm considering moving a couple of books back to Riley's individual schedule as I am not sure if Ruben is quite ready for them. In addition, my niece is schooling with us this year and most of the books were a real stretch for her. She's in 6th grade, but hasn't been raised on living books and classic lit. I may even omit a couple and use them at a later time. I would also like to add some sort of health book, possibly drawing lessons, and memorization/recitation, as well as Shakepeare. I'm still thinking this all through.

Overall, I'm glad I brought Morning Time back to our homeschool. Levi participated two out of the three days. The kids colored while I read aloud. He did fairly well. Have you kicked off your school year? Do you incorporate Morning Time? If so, I'd love to hear about it, particularly if you're using Morning Time with middle and high schoolers. Feel free to share in the comments below.

Reflections on A Handbook to Morning Time....

As part of my 2017-2018 academic planning and GHC preparation, I recently read A Handbook to Morning Time by Cindy Rollins. It's an extremely light read, but very inspirational for those already or wishing to implement morning time. We did 'morning time' for many years without knowing it had a name. However, we got away from it this year when Riley asked to be separated from Ruben in her studies. Throughout the year, I have consistently felt like something was missing. I have now put my finger on the lack being our morning time, which I definitely plan to implement again in the fall.

In the first chapter of A Handbook to Morning Time, Cindy gives a brief explanation of what morning time is and lays out the elements of morning time. In subsequent chapters, she goes more in depth on each of these elements. These elements are a big part of what makes a Charlotte Mason education and yet, many would see them as enrichment. The elements Cindy includes in morning time are...

Morning Meeting - where one takes care of family business including chore assignments/reminders and gives a list of activities for the day. This would be especially helpful for large families or to get everyone on the same page.
Bible Reading
Poetry
Memorization
Shakespeare
Plutarch
Composer/Artist Study
Language Arts - specifically grammar
Read Aloud
Nature Study - using field guides and living books to draw in nature notebook

I loved Cindy's conversational writing style as well as the end chapters on how to deal with toddlers, teens, and troublemakers. Cindy also included unedited samples of her morning time journals. One of my favorite things she wrote that I entered in my commonplace was....

Even though education is the training of affections, it is often a future hope. Some of you will have a certain temperament of child who will revel in Shakespeare. Great. But if reading Shakespeare is good, and it is, then you can afford to read it even when it is unappreciated; just keep it short. Do not weary the children with pushing through too much material. (p. 63)

Cindy concludes with a plan and list of recommended morning time resources. A Handbook to Morning Time is a short 112 page how to handbook that really packs a powerful punch. I would recommend it if you're thinking about beginning morning time or if you're struggling in your morning time. It's a handbook that I will definitely be referencing throughout my homeschool planning years.