"Intellectual distinction is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for election to a Rhodes Scholarship. Selection committees are charged to seek excellence in qualities of mind and in qualities of person which, in combination, offer the promise of effective service to the world in the decades ahead. The Rhodes Scholarships, in short, are investments in individuals rather than in project proposals..."

Monday, July 25, 2011

Links for This Old Schoolhouse

In This Old Schoolhouse, I talk about how the old School Marms (and Masters) provided kids in grades K-8 with an excellent education.  One of the contributing factors was the curriculum.  Here's what I presented in the handout about FREE, OLD curriculum.

Free “Old” Curriculum Resources:
·         Books.google.com
·         Archive.org (Download the ePub reader or Kindle Reader if using your PC)
·         www.gutenberg.org (Download the ePub reader or Kindle Reader if using your PC)
·         openlibrary.org (Download the ePub reader or Kindle Reader if using your PC)
·         manybooks.net (Download the ePub reader or Kindle Reader if using your PC)

Catholic Books List with links to their locations for free or small fee:

Ambleside – Free Charlotte Mason Curriculum:

Free Catholic Books:

For-fee “Old” Curriculum Resources (Collections of old curriculum put together for you and available on CD):
·         Accelerated Achievement (A2)A K-12 curriculum based on Classical model
·         Dollar Homeschool - Old curriculum, available by subject on CD (i.e. Ray’s Arithmetic, McGuffey Readers, etc.)

Linky List of Book Clubs

I just went through and made a list of all the book clubs I've posted.  I owe a link for one more.  I will add that when its finished.

Book Club for 6-8 year old girls

Book Club for 6-9 year old girls

Book Club for 8-12 year old girls

Book Club for 9-12 year old girls

Book Club for 7-12 year old boys

Book Club for 8-13 year old boys

Book Club for 10- 13 year old boys

Great Big List of Book Clubs (Group of 4)

A Sneak Peak at Socrates Meets Homeschool Mom

I did a talk about using the Socratic Method for literary analysis at RMCHEC this month.  For those that attended, I had a book list available on the handouts.  I didn't expect to run out of handouts.  So, I'm posting some of the information here.  The handouts will end up on the RMCHEC site.

First, the book list includes links to either FREE resources, the vendor link or the amazon.com entry for the resource:


Don’t forget! You can use Cliff Notes or Sparknotes AFTER you have read the book yourself.

Things to remember:
Literature Analysis:
1 Goal:
1.       Teach children to understand Literature and uncover the message the Author has hidden for them.  By learning more about the human condition, we grow closer to God.
2 Rules:
1.       YOU must read the book.
2.       Be sure YOU can answer the questions you are prepared to ask first!
3 Step Lesson Plan:
1.       Read the book.
2.       Discuss the book and fill in the analysis form.*
3.       Write a report or paper.

Poetry:
·         Take Poetry one line at a time.
·         Context and Authorship is still important. 
·         Great opportunity to learn and start identifying Literary Style like alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, and poetry form.

Beginning Homeschooling Link List

I will be adding pieces of my talk handouts, parsed and easier to understand with some context. 

I mention many books and links in my Beginning Homeschooling talk.  Here's the list of links:


I'll add my Socrates Meets Homeschool Mom book list next.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Back from RMCHEC with a to-do list!

First of all, I wanted to thank all the attendees of my talks at RMCHEC.  I brought 50 copies of hand-outs to each talk and ran out at all four!  You can go to the conference site to pick up a new copy if you missed one in a few days.

I did come home with a few to-dos.  I hope to catch up and have them posted this week.  The list includes:
  • iPad apps that are actually "good"
  • Review of a couple of books on Learning Styles/Learning Modalities
  • Create a list of links for each of the talks I did (so you don't have to enter the links yourself)
  1. Beginning Homeschooling
  2. This Old Schoolhouse
  3. Socrates Meets Homeschool Mom
  4. How to Get You Kids to See the Light!
Here's one I didn't promise, but I can save you the work of digging through the Google Books for textbooks discussed in the This Old School House talk.  Check out my Google Bookshelf.  Scroll down on the left side to see the book organized by subject.  Once I move them to the subject shelf, I move them off my main bookshelf.  I will be organizing the bookshelf this week by subject. 

This will probably take more than a week to get the to-do's done, and given I've been gone for days, I have to catch up on the home front first.  Laundry does NOT do it self, it appears.

Again, I want to thank all the folks in Colorado for the absolutely warm and wonderful treatment.  I hope I have the opportunity to visit you all again!

p.s.  If I've missed something or you would like to add something to my list from the talks this weekend, please feel free to add them to the com-box.

Friday, July 15, 2011

RMCHEC - Day 1

It was a beautiful day in Denver!  The Rocky Mountains are stunning and I just couldn't do them justice with my cell phone camera.  So, no pictures.  Sorry.

My first talk went great and I had the great pleasure of spending time with Maureen Wittmann and her lovely daughter, Laura.  I also got to hear Dr. Ted Sri give a presentation on his book The Biblical Walk Through the Mass.  Our parish offered a study of the book using Ascension Press' Study Guide and our host was Jeff Cavins.  He's no slouch.  However, hearing Dr. Sri's words about the book were very powerful. He's an animated speaker and totally in love with our Catholic Faith.  What a blessing.  He and his wife also homeschool their six children.  Our venue was the location at which he video recorded the DVD Study Program.  I'm tempted to purchase it since it's $25 less here than on Amazon! 

Speaking of spending money.  I found some great finds at the used curriculum table.  I found the Teaching Company's Great Course on the Iliad for $4.  That's right $4.  I also picked up a couple of presents for my kids.  Kids, if you are reading this, you will have to wait until I get home!  Oh, I could spend more money, but I will be so busy tomorrow doing three talks, I will not have time to cruise the vendor floor.

The talks tomorrow are:  This Old School House, Socrates Meets Homeschool Mom and How to Get Your Kid To See the Light!  I can't wait and must sign off now to get a good nights sleep.

Good night from Denver!