This week was a blur.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at the Practicum for Classical Conversations. I am unable to put into words everything I have learned. I need more time to digest everything.
I can tell you, however, that I am SO excited for the upcoming school year, and my children are, too.
I believe Classical Conversations is going to be a very good fit for our family.
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Curriculum for 2013-2014
I can with certainty that I have our curriculum 100% finalized for next year. Anna's curriculum is totally dictated by the Challenge A program she will be in. Grant's will continue on much of the same course as last year, but revolving around his memory work for Foundations (I'll be following the Foundations manual quite closely.).
"A child's mind progresses from accumulating facts, to making sense of the facts, to making wise, virtuous choices which honor God."
This quote stuck out to me from the week and expresses what we believe about our children's education.
It is taken from Classical Christian Education Made Approachable. This book is a good pre-cursor to Leigh Bortins' The Core, which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed as well.
The biggest things I purchased for Anna this week were The Lost Tools of Writing and Saxon 8/7 math. I also picked up Henle's Latin: First Year, which seems intimidating, but everyone assures me everything is going to be OK!
The entire three days was primarily focused on math and logic. We did lots of math problems and learned about the Godliness of math. Yes, the Godliness of math.
A book I just ordered is Beauty for Truth's Sake, which comes highly recommended for learning to see God in math.
I also got a book of Card-Game Math, to help us play with numbers more next year and make math FUN.
I soaked up so much about the teaching of math, the value of Saxon Math, and the importance of understanding the WHY behind math processes. It was so very good.
Anna and Grant also got a chance to get to know many friends they will be in class with next year. I think it's safe to say that everyone feels more on track for the upcoming school year.
Favorite Recipes this Week
One of my family's favorite dinners is a Chicken and Rice Casserole I make. It is full of roasted chicken, wild rice, green beans, water chestnuts and cheese! Yum!
I make it all in my Le Creuset cast iron dutch oven. This is my favorite piece of cookware in the kitchen. My father-in-law brought one to me a couple of years ago and I just LOVE it!
One morning Anna slept in and Grant and I spent some quiet time in the kitchen. He asked me if he could make Strawberry Muffins. Why not? After I posted this picture of him on Instagram, someone suggested he just use an egg slicer to cut the strawberries. Why didn't I think of that?
The muffins turned out beautifully, and Grant was quite proud of himself.
Speaking of Grant.....
He created this lovely drawing for me one day in his camp at Practicum. Can you read what it says?
"One dark night, when the moon was green, over the hill came a doo-doo machine."
I am officially the mom of an eight year old boy who has fallen victim to potty humor.
I was impressed, however, with his use of commas and his cursive.
My husband - ever the joker - said: "Well, I guess he was having one of his own 'Classical Conversations' this week, too!"
Do any of you dear readers with boys have this problem? I'm trying not to make too big a deal out of it - and hopefully this stage will pass (no pun intended!).
The Five Days of Teaching Music Appreciation
Next week I will be writing a 5 day series about teaching music appreciation in your homeschool.
Do you teach the great musical classics in your homeschool?
Monday the SQUILT eBook goes on sale. Please be on the lookout for the launch of the SQUILT website and also for the series.
If you are on Facebook, you can like the SQUILT fan page, too.
From the Blog
This week there are two wonderful giveaways. Make sure you have entered:
Christian Middle Grades Fiction - win a favorite of ours from Tommy Nelson
LEGO Education Simple Machines set - this is a $110 value!
I also wrote about when Your Homeschool Must Change.
Life Beyond Homeschool
Sometimes I think I neglect my life that happens outside of homeschooling. I get so caught up in homeschool things that I forget to do other things I love.
This week I've been practicing a lot of piano. I'm subbing for our church pianist on Sunday and brushing up on the liturgy and hymns.
We're also having dinner company this weekend - which I need to do more often.
Next week will be a quiet week at home, and then the following week Anna is going on a week long mission trip with our church and Grant will be at a baseball day camp. Whatever will I do with myself?
I hope you link up your weekly photo collage post! Please remember to include photo collages. Also, link back to this post or include the Collage Friday button (in my sidebar) in your post. Once you have signed the linky, please visit others on the list to gain ideas and offer encouragement. I love the Collage Friday community! (I reserve the right to delete any links that don't comply with the guidelines.)