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Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Blog I Promised... (August 13, 2008)

As I mentioned before, we are quickly approaching our second year of home schooling, and we are so excited!! With the ruling in early August, by the State Supreme Court supporting home schooling, and reversing the earlier ruling outlawing all forms of home schooling unless by a "credentialed" teacher/parent, has brought our family a great peace! Now we con continue home schooling without an overriding fear of CPS knocking on our door!

PRAISE GOD!!


Cassidy will be in second grade this year, and Corinne will be doing Kindergarten work. Since I do not have to officially enroll Corinne with the state of California until she is 6, we will be going at her pace again this year, with no set curriculum. Next summer Corinne will take a first grade placement test, and if she is ready for first grade, first grade she will start. If she isn't quite ready, she'll be "officially" enrolled in Kindergarten, and will be using a much more structured curriculum. However, I highly doubt that will be the case! Cassidy however will be going from a very bone dry curriculum with a "modernistic" approach to teaching, to a pretty intensive, "classical" approach to teaching. It's going to be a big change for the both of us, but one in the long run will put her FAR ahead of her peers! (God willing of course!)

For any who are unsure of what a "classical" approach is, here's one of the best descriptions I can find.
"The core of Classical Education is the trivium, which simply put is a teaching model that seeks to tailor the curriculum subject matter to a child's cognitive development. The trivium emphasizes concrete thinking and memorization of the facts of the subjects in grade school; analytical thinking and understanding of the subjects in middle school; and abstract thinking and articulation of the subjects in high school. Subjects unique to Classical Education which help accomplish the goals of the trivium are Grammar, the science of language usage; Logic, the science of right thinking; and Rhetoric, the science of verbal and written expression. Classical Christian Education is further characterized by a rich exposure to the history, art, and culture of Western Civilization, including its languages (Latin and Greek), its philosophy and literature (the Great Books of Western Civilization and the Christian tradition), and the development of a Biblical world view with Theology in its proper place as the Queen of the Sciences." -(an excerpt from this great Classical Curriculum website :http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/introduction.html)

Going to a classical approach is only the first of many changes this year. The second big change for us, is that this year we won't be going it solo anymore. We have applied for and are going to be joining Hope Christian Academy. (http://www.hopeca.com/) They are an ISP operating as a "private school". As a member, I become a "faculty" member of their "school". They take care of all of the filing with the state for us, as well as keep all of the official records and transcripts for us. They have 5 annual "faculty" meetings that I must attend, as well as workshops that I can attend. So not only will I have the security of an ISP, and a higher level of accountability, but I will also be "learning" how to be a better teacher. It's a win win for all! An added bonus for us is the fact that we will do all standardized testing through Hope Christian Academy, but they also several field trip, and gathering opportunities!

So, as you can see this year will be MUCH different from last year, and we haven't even delved into the curriculum yet! We are looking at a pretty intensive, yet exciting curriculum this year! Here is our complete curriculum this year:

Core Curriculum- Tapestry of Grace (a Christian world-view history based humanities curriculum)
http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/index.php

Math- Saxon Math
http://saxonhomeschool.harcourtachieve.com

Science- Apologia (a Christian science curriculum)
https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
*We'll be doing the Sea Creatures book first, since Cassidy is fascinated by all things ocean!*

Latin-Prima Latina
http://memoriapress.com/descriptions/prima.htm

Grammar-Easy Grammar
http://www.easygrammar.com/eg2.html

Handwriting/Copy Book Work (that also coincide with our Latin curriculum)
http://memoriapress.com/descriptions/Copy-Books.html

Along with the curriculum above, we will be reading a lot of literature through our Tapestry of Grace curriculum. =o) (Literature=Lovely!)

Can you tell I'm excited? There is also going to be a change as far as routines go. We will be working on this whole next year getting into a more fluid, organized, structured routine, for everyone! So our whole day will be planned out, from breakfast to bed. School will be scheduled into our days in 20 minute increments. Chores, errands, baking, cleaning, laundry, naps, meals, etc. will ALL be planned! I personally am looking forward to this, and am praying that things will become much less hectic and stressful around here! Another thing I'm REALLY looking forward to? Scheduling "House-care" into our school days! An hour of our school days will be spent 'learning' to manage a household, from housework, to cooking, to grocery shopping!!

So there you have it folks! A glimpse into our crazy Wilson household! It may be a tall order to fill, especially now that I am working part time, but;
'I can do ALL things through Christ, who strengthens me' (Phil 4:13)

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