Review of Beowulf: An iBook from Providence eLearning

 

I'm sorry in the delay in getting these reviews out to you.  Reviewing these textbooks has been guilty pleasure for me and I've been delinquent in sharing them with you. 

This was the third book I reviewed for Providence eLearning as a consulting project, and the second I will review here.

I haven't read Beowulf in over thirty years.  And, when I read it as a ninth grader, I really didn't care for it because I thought it was for boys.  Ha! 

Two years ago, I was reintroduced to Beowulf when we read Mary Pope Osborne's Favorite Medieval Tales for my boy's book club.  Whatever was lost on me in the ninth grade was found!  I enjoyed her exposition of the story and promised myself to go back to it.  This summer, I participated in an adult book club on-line and our first read was none other than Beowulf.  That was about two weeks before I got to review Providence eLearning's version of Beowulf. 

Providence eLearning's translation was very close to the Tolkien translation that I read for the book club.  I was very surprised by how much more I got out of the book after listening to the video lectures that followed every few pages of text.  Not only were the videos useful, but the audio narration with the names pronounced correctly was more helpful than almost anything.  I really don't do very well guessing pronunciations in other languages. Just not my skill.  Mr. William Lasseter, the English Chair at Providence Academy, is the instructor and narrator.  His voice and teaching skills are truly showcased by this book. 

The video "enhanced" textbook is a boon to homeschoolers.  Any student that doesn't have a discussion group or is working through this text on their own will find great value in this iBook.  The lectures and video production are well done.  Old book illustrations were used along with other great artist renditions of the tale.  The video production is a beautiful synthesis of new technology with a medieval tale and fine art.  Having the ability to look up words on the fly, check the glossary, check your understanding and have the text narrated to you all enhance your experience.  While the video piece is wonderful, I would be doing you a disservice not to mention all the other perks of using an iBook.  This textbook would be helpful to high-schoolers assigned the task of reading Beowulf.

This epic tale is wonderfully told and explained in this rendition of Beowulf.   I highly recommend this engaging iBook. Bonus - it's on sale right now at the iTunes Store for $6.99.

Summer School Bleg

I'm curious what others  are doing during the summer.  Do you 1) shut down, do you 2) keep up with math facts and reading, do you 3) do fun stuff like camps and projects OR do you 4) keep going all year round?

This year, we are doing a combination of 2, 3 and 4.

My #2 - My first and third graders are struggling with fact memorization right now.  The third grader is definitely a right-brain learner, so memorizing facts is not an easy task for her.  We've adapted our method to her needs and we are seeing much progress.  One of the things that has helped is Times Alive by City Creek Press.  Homeschoolbuyersco-op.org is offering 50% off right now, so we decided to try it.  It's been a great help, but she really needs more work.  The first grader is just resistant :-).  They will also have some assigned reading and read alouds this summer.

My #3 - For fun, I'm hosting a Writing Club for Reluctant Boy Writers, some Engineering Camps and some AHG Badge clinics (Space Explorer, History's Canvas, Our Feathered Friends, Dawn of our Country and Archery).  My summer is filling up!  We'll also do Catholic VBS, Schoenstatt Camp for Girls, Boy Scouts Camp, our church's family camp and a couple of camping trips with the family.

My #4 - I will be still teaching Latin (Lingua Latina is our chosen curriculum), via Skype to my group of middle-schoolers at least once a week, at their request.  One of my young gents will be out of the country and plans to participate, taking his mom's iPad2 to Skype with us while he's gone an entire month.  He cracks me up because he was deeply disappointed we were going from 3x a week to 1x a week.  Love that love-of-learning!

So here's my bleg - what will you do this summer?  Your comments will be helpful for me to share with the group at the Beginning Homeschooling talk at MCHEC.  Thanks in advance!

Girl's Book Club Year-by-Year

My oldest daughter, who helps with my middle daughter's book clubs asked an important question:
What's next for them?  So, we came up a year-by-year plan.  I thought I would post it here and ask for feedback.

2nd Grade
American Girl - Josephina
3rd Grade
American Girl - Felicity
4th Grade
American Girl - Kirsten and  Kit
5th Grade
Anne Pellowski Series of books
6th Grade
Hilda Van Stockum - Mitchell Series & Cottage at Bantry Bay Series
7th Grade
Louisa Mae Alcott Little Women Series
8th Grade
Anne of Green Gables
9th Grade
Baroness Emmuska Orczy Books

10th Grade
Jane Austen Books

What do you think?  I'll be back soon with my boy's series to see what you think of those.

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)

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!

• An annotated list of book clubs I've run in the past, including age/grade levels
• A by-learning-modality post of tips and suggestions for home educators
• A by-curriculum check list for learning modalities
• A short discussion of the Tactile Learner and 2e giftedness

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.

Deadlines

As some of you may know (or not), I'm speaking in Denver, CO at the Rocky Mountain Catholic Home Educator's Conference in July.  I'm giving four talks.  I'll be updating the sidebar (of available talks) after Denver, but I thought I'd give you a preview.

I'll be adjusting my Beginning Homeschool talk to remove the Minnesota demographics and Minnesota reporting requirements.  I'm also giving my very favorite talk on Learning Modalities (How to Get Your Kid to See the Light).  I'm updating it with a new style.  My husband and I produced our technology talk using the Presentation Zen method.  I then upgraded my Beginning Homeschool talk to that format and I'm SO hooked.  Love the method.  I hope my audience does as well.  I'll write more about that later.

My two new talks are exciting for me.  The first one I've been working on for about three years, even though I haven't had a gig at which to present it.  I am so in love with using the Socratic Method for literary analysis.  I have been having Socratic Dialogues (also known here as book clubs) since 2007.  For the last four years, I have anywhere from six to sixteen kids here on Fridays discussing books.  I have done entire series of books on many topics. I love picking Catholic books, but it has not been my primary focus.  Mostly, we've done author studies.  I pick an author and we spend the year reading books by that author.  It's actually great for the kids to do this because the concepts of "authorship", "context", and "literary style" become so evident after reading four or five books by the same author.  In fact, many kids have thanked me for the opportunity to do that very thing because they then begin to see patterns.  They understand how the time an author lived, and their very life influences the "setting", "theme", and "conflict" in the story.  I struggle between making them really think things out about a particular topic and wanting to go through the book chronologically.  So, my talk "Socrates Meets Homeschool Mom" will be a lot of fun.  It involves not just Socrates but also Tomie dePaola and Robert Frost.  How's that for a cliff hanger?

My second talk is something I've always talked about with my family.  That is how my homeschool is really a one-room schoolhouse.  I've always sought advice from my mom, grandma, mother-in-law and others that attended one-room schools about how classes were managed, discipline, curriculum and character development.  I've gotten great feedback and now I get to tie in about 50 hours of research on top of that feedback.  I also get to share real data I have from my grandmother-in-law who was a one-room school teacher before she married my grandfather-in-law.  I have found some great examples of curriculum from the 19th century that actually puts some current curriculum to shame.  And, I will be talking about the 8th grade examination and how kids would fare these days taking that very test. One of my greatest finds is a book written in 1922 called _The Rural Problem and the Catholic School_ by T. Leo Keaveny which talks about what Catholic schools in rural areas.  I will be talking to Catholic homes educators, so there are many tidbits I can take away from this on running Catholic schools in rural areas that apply to our Catholic homeschools.   One of the many sources sited is Archbishop John Ireland, the founder of the Archdiocese of St. Paul (my home diocese.)  I can't wait to present this topic because there is so much great that we can learn from those one-room school teachers!

So, with all this said and lots of fun stuff ahead of me like refreshing the slides for my learning modalities talk and finishing hand outs for my other talks which are due in eight days, I will be taking a short blog vacation unless something so fabulous pops up between now and then.  Okay, I MIGHT have to give a report on Saturday about the class I'm taking Friday night (taught by a Latin professor from Temple University), but other than that I'll be off finishing off my handouts and making my presentations minimal (really.)

Technology meets the Classical Literature List

I'm currently composing a list of classical literature for my homeschool. I'm using a wide variety of sources, including the Accelerated Achievement curriculum CD, The Latin Centered Curriculum by Andrew Campbell, Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura Berquist, The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessi Wise, the curriculum lists from Ambleside as well as suggestions from Books to Build On by E.D. Hurst and book lists from Creation to Present: A Catholic World History Resource by Marsha Neill.   

What I am doing, really, is finding out what books are available for download for the Kindle.   We got one because one of our children has a vision difficulty.  The Kindle allows you to increase both the font size and line spacing on the screen.  It also has a text to speech option with a headphone jack.  Probably the best feature for me is the fact that you can move the cursor to ANY word on the screen and it brings up the definition from the built-in dictionary in the header or footer, allowing you to keep reading instead of having to put down the book to look up the words. 

The Kindle has been an object of contention lately because everyone is enjoying using it.  Really, I didn't think I would like it, but I, too, am one of the contenders.  My emerging reader is using it to look up words in the dictionary and have it read the definitions to her.  My super speller is having fun using the Kindle for word games like Word Smith or Word Up (like solitaire Scrabble).  My husband takes it with him to Adoration to read a book he has downloaded.  I am using it to keep up with my book club reading.  The Little Women book club books are all pre-1920, therefore public domain.  So, using the browser in the Kindle (new test feature), I can go to Project Gutenberg and download directly from the website to the Kindle.

I have some pros and cons for anyone considering a Kindle for their homeschool.

Pros:

• Reasonable cost at $139.  It's the cost of 10-20 books I would have normally bought in paperback, ones that are freely available already.
• Very user friendly - my 7 year old figured it out in 5 minutes
• Great for visually impaired individuals - text-to-speech and the ability to adjust font size and line spacing
• Holds mp3's so if you like to listen to music while reading, you may do so
• Very easy to organize books.  We have them organized by reader.  Each user has a book folder.  It uses real pointers, so that there is a pointer from each person's folder to the bookso multiple readers may have the book in their folder at the same time.
• Web browser allows for easy download
• Downloads a variety of content (mobi, mp3, doc, pdf) via the USB cable
• Downloads a variety of content via users' kindle account (you email the file to your kindle account and the file is downloaded the next time the Kindle connects to a wireless network)
• Kindle downloads are cheaper than the actual paper books and always backed up on your account online
• The eInk technology is very readable in sunlight and I simply bought a clamp on book light for reading at night while nursing the baby.

Cons:

• It has a web browser, which can't be turned off or moderated (no content filtering allowed)
• Can't download mp3's via the web
• Haven't found a good protective cover that allows me to use the text keyboard easily.  We've resorted to just using a neoprene sleeve while not in use (and most of the time it's not in the sleeve).
• You can't share books among Kindles.  Not a problem for us since we only have one but we may find it troublesome in the future.
• .pdf files are hard to adjust to fit the screen.  All the content from Accelerated Achievement is .pdf, so I've had to download originals from Project Gutenberg to make them more accessible and easy to use.
• If drop it, we're done for...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I will.  I am considering an iPad as well, since it is multi-functioning.  I have had Apple products in the past and found their "ease of use" almost condescending.  I come from a Unix, command-line world, folks.  I'm always suspicious of things that are "too easy".  Now, that being said, I am all for making things accessible for the kids.  I just don't want to have to port everything to Apple and I'm not a fan of mixed platforms.  When I was in the desktop support field (20 years ago), mixed platforms were my biggest nightmare.  But, I'm willing to give it a try since things have changed tremendously since then.

Replacement Book for Boy's Book Club

One of the mom's in our Boy's Medieval Book Club suggested a great replacement for The Mabinogian for our last book.  She and her son just read Men of Iron by Howard Pyle.  I've started reading it and LOVE the fact that Myles' religion plays the primary role in his decision making.  It's the kind of book 10-12 year old boys need to read.  I've also read that it is a very good depiction of the training a squire received.  I'll provide a full book report when I finish.

Update to Boy's Book Club Listing

I ran into a little trouble this week with some of the planned reading for my Boy's Medieval Book Club.  We were planning on using _The Mabinogion_ by Sioned Davies for our next book.  I took this recommendation from my very favorite curriculum guide, Latin-Centered-Curriculumby Andrew Campbell.  I made a major mistake in not reading that particular version of the book prior to recommending it because it was specifically called out in the curriculum guide.

The Mabinogion is a group of Welsh/Celtic myths surrounding King Arthur, passed down orally and written at a later date.  Lady Charlotte Guest translated them in the 1800's.  I had read her translation and found the vocabulary too challenging for our 5th-9th grade boys.  So, I took the recommendation from the book because Campbell specifically called out the Davies translation because of the wonderful introduction and awesome vocabulary guide.  He also said any "in-print" version of the Mabinogion tales were acceptable.  To his credit, he recommended a children's version,  Tales from the Mabinogion by Gwyn Thomas and Kevin Crossley-Holland.  However, that version is out of print and sadly looked a little more juvenile than my group would like.  They resisted the first book, Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne because some felt it was rather "baby-ish".   It really was well done, but these are boys who want some meat to their reading.  So, I mistakenly picked The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) which is clearly written for adults based on the content (sexual in nature) in many of the stories.

To his credit, Andrew Campbell exchanged several emails with me.  He indirectly chastised me (rightfully so) for not reading it before recommending it.  He did offer me some good advice about proceeding, however.  Here it is:

• Unfortunately there really is no way to sanitize these stories to remove all references to pre-Christian morals. The Arthurian legends themselves center on adultery as the reason for the fall of Camelot. People have different levels of comfort with this aspect of older literature. Campbell said he once taught the Arthurian legends to a group of very devout Catholic children, grades 4-7. They simply noted how unfaithfulness led to tragedy for all of the characters.  They didn't dwell on the topic, but he said they didn't avoid it entirely either.
• Now obviously if there are boys in the group who don't yet know the facts of life or recognize euphemisms for sex, the passages in the Davies version would no doubt confuse them.  Check in with the other parents (and yourself!) and ask whether they would be comfortable with the story as it is. If not, it is certainly fine to skip it.
• When it comes to the Arthurian legends themselves, you can always focus on the better-known stories: the sword in the stone, the founding of the Round Table, Lancelot (as a knight, not in his relationship with the queen), Galahad and the Grail. 

 So, lesson learned.  We are skipping it for now.  I am quickly trying to decide how to proceed so we don't miss our next reading deadlines.  Stay tuned!

2010-2011 Book Club for 5th - 8th Grade Boys

Medieval Book Club

 UPDATE:  We replaced The Mabinogion with Men of Iron by Howard Pyle.  The version of The Mabinogion we were going to use was to advanced (in more than one way) for this age group.  Men of Iron is an excellent replacement, or you could use Tales of the Mabinogion instead.










Join us as we immerse ourselves in medieval European legend with the stories of King Arthur and Robin Hood.  We will meet once a month.  We will use the Socratic method of literary analysis to discuss each book.  We welcome young men in 5^th – 8^th grade. 

Here is our reading schedule.  Please have the reading done BEFORE the meeting date:

Oct. - Read Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

Nov. - Read the Introduction, Translators Note and Chapters 1-5 of The Mabinogion by  Sioned Davies Oxford University Press

Dec. – Read Chapters 6-11 of The Mabinogion by  Sioned Davies Oxford University Press (Click to see the link on Amazon.com)

Jan. - Read the author’s note, Book 1 and Book 2 of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

Feb. - Read Book 3 and Book 4 and the epilogue of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

Mar. - Read the prologue and Chapters 1-15 of The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green

April - Read Chapters 16-24, plus the epilogue of The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green

2010-2011 Book Club for 9-12 year old girls

Little Women Book Club

Join us in reading the Little Women Trilogy by Louisa May Alcott.  We will meet once a month to discuss approximately 200 pages worth of reading.  We’ve included the schedule below.  Each book discussion will include a Socratic style literary analysis along with some stitching and snacking. 

Here’s our schedule:

Oct.  Preface and Chapters 1-15 of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Nov. Chapters 16-32 of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Dec. Chapters 33-47 and the Afterword of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Jan. Read the beginning through the chapter called Naughty Nan of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Feb. Read from Pranks and Plays through the chapter called Goldilocks Nan of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

March Read from Damon and Pythias to the end of the book of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

April Read Chapters 1-10 of Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott

May Read Chapters 11-22 of Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Where you are going and how you will get there! Advice for a Home Educator providing a Classical Education

I just read this article by Stanley Fish of the New York Times, and opinion piece titled "A Classical Education: Back to the Future."  Fish talks about his education and where he thinks we are and need to go.  Here's my favorite part:

I wore my high school ring for more than 40 years. It became black and misshapen and I finally took it off. But now I have a new one, courtesy of the organizing committee of my 55th high school reunion, which I attended over the Memorial Day weekend.

I wore the ring (and will wear it again) because although I have degrees from two Ivy league schools and have taught at U.C. Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Duke, Classical High School (in Providence, RI) is the best and most demanding educational institution I have ever been associated with. The name tells the story. When I attended, offerings and requirements included four years of Latin, three years of French, two years of German, physics, chemistry, biology, algebra, geometry, calculus, trigonometry, English, history, civics, in addition to extra-curricular activities, and clubs — French Club, Latin Club, German Club, Science Club, among many others. A student body made up of the children of immigrants or first generation Americans; many, like me, the first in their families to finish high school. Nearly a 100 percent college attendance rate. A yearbook that featured student translations from Virgil and original poems in Latin...

Here's a man that realized all the hard work paid off.  He goes on to discuss three current books on Classical Education, but finishes with this:

In short, get knowledgeable and well-trained teachers, equip them with a carefully calibrated curriculum and a syllabus filled with challenging texts and materials, and put them in a room with students who are told where they are going and how they are going to get there.
Worked for me.

I like Stanley Fish.  He's a professor of humanities and law at Florida International University in Miami and the dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  He's taught at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and Duke.  I like him.  He's in my camp.

But more importantly, he's on to something.  I think some kids (like me) need to hear where they are going and how they are going to get there.  No one ever explained to me WHY I needed humanities or Latin.  In fact it is one of the reasons I went to technical college instead of a four year school.  I did end up going later, but that's another story.  Had someone told me then what I have had to learn the hard way now, I think my life would have been so different.  I can fix that for my kids, though.

I ask my kids and the kids in my book clubs why we need to learn History, Latin, Music, Art, Math.  You'd be surprised how many kids are like me.  They don't know WHY.  Tell your kids.  They will gladly step on the bus.  Okay, maybe not gladly, but they will thank you later.  Like Stanley Fish.

 

Intellectual Friendships (Part 2 of 4)

for our Children

Children need more than just play friends, especially as they move into the tween/teen years. I hope my kids build intellectual friendships. It starts very basic for kids, though. My book clubs were designed with that purpose in mind. I wanted my kids to be able to have intellectual conversations with other kids about great books or other topics important to us, like Catholicism.

All to often, we want our kids to "go play" and they view their time studying and schooling as "work". I think that is because our misconception about learning. Kids have a natural Love of Learning that we spoil.

One of the ways we do that is to tell our little kids that want to help us with our "work" to go play. So, is it any surprise that when we want them to "work", they would rather play? Ask a two or three year old if cleaning the tub is fun and they will say yes. They also like to wash dishes. I did things any differently with my older kids. I could just get things faster and better. They have a lower interest in helping to clean. My little kids, however still want to wash, scrub, dust, vacuum and sweep. For this I am thankful.

As I stated in part one of this topic I came upon this while reading a lovely little book. In the book, Mark Henrie goes even further into some of the problems with teens/young adults (dare I say almost everyone) in America in A Student's Guide to the Core Curriculum.

...we (Americans) tend to understand leisure as the absence of work. The ancients, however, understood work as the absence of leisure. Leisure (otium, in Latin) was the substantial thing. and work the negation or absence of that (negotium). The ancients understood that human beings were made to enjoy their leisure seriously: the serious use of leisure is the cultivation of the mind, which is pleasant and good for its own sake. Americans, however, approach university studies as "work," as negotium, from which, once the work is done, they are "freed." Free time, such as time spent with friends, is thus kept clean of any trace of the learning of the classroom. This is no way to learn. It isn't even any real way to enjoy yourself.Our society is hung up on entertainment, not leisure. We look at education as "work" not "leisure."

The truly well educated use their free time to learn, not to be entertained. Or, perhaps you could say that the educated are entertained by learning. What do you do with your free time? Do you passively seek entertainment or do you seek to gain better understanding? Passive or Active?

The Ancient emperors used different forms of entertainment to pacify the urban masses, including chariot races, theatrical and musical performances, wild-beast hunts, mock sea battles, public executions, and gladiatorial combat. In the Colosseum, Rome's huge amphitheater, 50,000 Romans could watch the games. Look at our society now. TV and sports arenas are the Colosseums. The Internet, movie theaters, our TVs at home are the theatres. They serve to pacify (make us peaceful*) and we are passive (to suffer**) through it.

Education is an activity ( from L. actus "a doing" and actum "a thing done,") where entertainment is a passive event ( "to keep up, maintain,"). I'm not saying all entertainment is bad and I will tell you that I will used media in my education and that of my children. They do find it entertaining.

So, my goal is to help my tweeners to find intellectual friendships, not necessarily passing friendships where free time is frittered away in front of a TV or video game. This is a bigger challenge for my son than my daughter. I think boys are just drawn more to screen time. There are lots of studies to support my desire to limit the amount of time my boys, in particular, waste in front of a screen. One book, The Minds of Boys, states studies done using MRI technology while boys engaged in activities like reading, watching TV and playing computer games. Certain neural pathways were not engaged during activities that involved a screen. Our priest talks about how boys need to have real social relationships, not virtual relationships, like those found on Facebook or MySpace. I want them outside playing or discussing something while building Legos.

Perhaps if you are struggling with this, you can do what we have done by starting a book club or finding a Boy Scout organization or American Heritage Girls group. Both organizations help build character in children and they develop life long friendships. Perhaps an even more important aspect is having a mentor, someone other than a parent, that will guide them to the right books and activities, to develop them into a whole civilized person.

I challenge you to think about your kids' free time (and yours) and how you both use it.

* Pacify is from L. pacificus "peaceful, peace-making," from pax (gen. pacis) "peace"
** Passive is from L. passivus "capable of feeling or suffering," from pass-, pp. stem of pati "to suffer"

February Blues...

My home education mentor has me rereading the book Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot. February is the hardest month, it seems, for most homeschoolers. I am no different.

I suffer with discontent. You see, I like many of my friends that have been corresponding together worry, "Are we doing enough?" I do not want to cover too many subjects. I believe that is a mistake our society makes. I think Less is More. What really seems to be the problem is that I need change. So, I will keep at what we're doing, but I will change how I do it. My kids are doing well academically and socially. What I will be changing is our routine, which is why I'm rereading Holly's book.

I am also reconsidering a co-op venue of some sort, for my sake and my kids. There is a Catholic Co-op that meets close by, but it feels like sending them to school once a week. I am looking for a slightly more intimate setting rather than dropping off and picking up after a few hours. I'm absolutely willing to run it, organize it, staff it. That's the fun part for me.

So, my eldest daughter worries that this will be at the expense of her book clubs which she has really grown to love. I worry that she will not like to trade them for a co-op and I'm not sure if I can still manage book clubs and a co-op. I also know that I cannot turn her book clubs into a co-op.

The good news is that we start a Narnia lapbook club in March for her and her homeschooled buddy down the street. The neighbor's mom has asked to meet three times for each book rather than once per book. We're taking the spring to see how it works. If it is successful, we will continue in the Fall. I like that approach...training wheels. Try things out and if they don't work, change them. I'm just thankful to be able to use the curriculum I developed again.

New Idea - Good or Bad?

We just finished our boy's Science club. At the last session, my son did a presentation on how the pyramids were build using simple machines. We watched a Nova episode called "This Old Pyramid." The boys loved it and it sparked several great discussions. So, I thought it might be fun to do this with regularity.

Here's my rub. I would rather they be reading books than watching a video. Now, two of the four moms do these clubs for the social aspect more than anything else. So, I solicit your advice. Do I do a video club or not? Here's the plan. Let me know what you think:

Nova Science and History Workshops

Wright Brothers' Flying Machine (SCIENCE)

Lesson Plan:

Video:

Activity: See Lesson Plan – make paper airplane and observe effects of wing warping

Infinite Secrets (MATH)

Lesson Plan:

Video:

Activity: See Lesson Plan – Archimedes Recipe for pi

Lincoln's Secret Weapon (HISTORY/SCIENCE)

Lesson Plan:

Video:

Activity: See Lesson Plan: Dive! Dive! Dive!

Lost at Sea! (HISTORY/SCIENCE)

Lesson Plan:

Video: County Library

Activity: See Lesson Plan: Voyage Around the World

Medieval Siege (HISTORY/SCIENCE)

Lesson Plan:

Video: County Library

Activity: See Lesson Plan: FLING IT!

Girl's Book Club

As many of you know, I like to host book clubs for my kids. I think reading classic literature is vital in developing their language art skills, teaching history through fiction, and building character.

We will be reading two series of books by a great author, Hilda Van Stockum and published by Bethlehem Books. Each series has 3 books. 

We would like to meet at our house every month to discuss the book. I will lead the discussion at both a literary and religious level. We will fill in a worksheet using the Socratic Method of learning where I ask questions and help them to discover plot, setting, characters, theme and conflict within the story. They will take home a list of vocabulary terms to fill in for the next meeting. 

Unlike other book clubs I’ve done in the past, there will be no thematic craft or thematic snack. Snacks will be provided by participants on a rotating basis. The fee is $1 to cover the cost of copies for the book club. 

This book club is for girls age 8-12.  Here are the series and book titles:

The Mitchells Series by Hilda van Stockum Timeline: 1940's America/Canada 176 pp - 256 pp, Ages 10-up 1. The Mitchells: Five for Victory     2. Canadian Summer           3. Friendly Gables

The Bantry Bay Series by Hilda van Stockum Timeline: 1930's, Ireland 239 - 293 pp, Ages 10-up 1. The Cottage at Bantry Bay       2. Francie on the Run           3. Pegeen

The stories are about large Catholic Families. The good news is that our County Library has one or two copies available.

Boy's Book Club - G. A. Henty

As many of you know, I like to host book clubs for my kids. I think reading classic literature is vital in developing their language art skills, teaching history through fiction, and building character.

My son will be reading several G. A. Henty historical fiction books this year. I would like to offer that if others are interested in having their son’s read along with us, they would learn a lot AND have a great time discussing the books. Here’s some information about the G. A. Henty books:

While many children's adventure books that emphasize the traits of courage, high moral character, diligence, perseverance and other valuable personal virtues were written during this period, G. A. Henty's books are unique. Each adventure takes place within the setting of some important period in human history. From the fall of Jerusalem to the American Civil War, Henty's heroes live their adventures within exciting historical events. The reader learns much detailed history while he is being entertained and taught by exemplary heroes.

Moreover, through his personal experiences and careful scholarship, Henty provides very detailed and accurate accounts of history. While one might read a section of a history book concerning, for example, the conquering of Mexico by Spain, most such accounts are dry and shallow in comparison with Henty's tale of the primary happenings and of the way of life of the people caught up in those events.

Henty wrote 72 historical fiction novels for children. I’m using _The Boy’s Guide to Historical Adventures of G. A. Henty_ as a guide for choosing the most interesting books. I’d like to go through some in chronological order. Now to be fair, Henty has been some books that have an anti-Catholic bent (he was protestant) pertaining to times during and just after the Reformation, so I have DISCLUDED those from the list. Many of his novels show up in Catholic Reading lists (like Angelicum.)

The way I would like to run this book club is to have the boys complete the book before our meeting date. At our first meeting, I will introduce the boys to Mr. Henty (via biographical information) to help them understand why he wrote as he did. We will fill in a worksheet using the Socratic Method of learning, where I ask questions and help them to discover plot, setting, characters, theme and conflict within the story. They will take home a list of vocabulary terms to fill in for the next meeting. Unlike other book clubs I’ve done in the past, there will be no thematic craft or thematic snack. If you sign up for the book club, you would need to bring a nut-free/peanut-free snack to share one time. There will be some time for the boys to stretch their legs and re-enact some of the book during that time. The cost is $1 per boy to cover copying costs.

This book club is for boys 9-12.  Here’s the list of books we’ll discuss them:

_The Cat of Bubastes_ (Ancient Egypt – 1250 B. C.)

The Young Carthaginian_ (Punic Wars – 220 B. C.)  













_Winning His Spurs_ (Crusades– 1188)
 












_ A Knight of the White Cross_(Rhodes – 1480)  













_In the Reign of Terror_ (France - 1793)
 












 _With Lee in Virginia_ (Virginia, USA – 1860)

The Library System has some copies of these books available if you don’t wish to purchase your own copy or you can read them online or print your own at: http://henty.ae6gn.com/listbooks.php?sort=year or here: http://www.gahentyonline.com/example/booklist.html.   These books are all in the public domain.  If you have an eReader device or the ability to read books on your computer, you don't need to spend a dime!

Book & Movie Recommendation

My husband is a big movie buff. He loves movies that teach great moral lessons that we can share with the kids.

Two weeks ago, he brought home Horatio Hornblower: Duty from the public library to watch. I saw 10 minutes of it because it was a movie to be watched on my "night out". I LOVED IT. They LOVED IT. It's an A&E production based on the C. S. Forester Horatio Hornblower Series written between 1937 and 1967.

C. S. Forester is most well known for _The African Queen_. He was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1899. He live his early years in England. At the beginning of World War II, he came to the US to help produce propaganda to encourage American support of the war effort. To pay the bills, he was also writing a screen play about the Napoleonic Wars. Unfortunately, Captain Blood was released just as he was working on his movie script. He was disheartened and gave up. However, still needing to make a living, he started writing the Horatio Hornblower series. His first book, known as _Beat to Quarters_ in the United States, was a huge success. He added books for thirty years to the series and readers, famous and not, sung his praises. Here are a few famous men talking about the Hornblower series:

"I recommend Forester to everyone literate I know." ^- Ernest Hemingway

"I find Hornblower admirable."- Winston Churchill

I'm always looking for good books to use as book club material. As my children move closer to the Scholar Phase, I'm changing how we do our book clubs. This year I'm doing a literary book club for each of my kids where we'll used the Socratic method of literary analysis to discuss the book. We'll be using outlining the book using the worksheets from Teaching the Classics available from the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I got so excited about the Horatio Hornblower books that I was about to do this for my son's group.

I reserved all eleven volumes of the series at the public library. I picked up the first on Monday. _Mr. Midshipman Hornblower_ was written in 1950 as a prequel. It's not supposed to be very good. In fact, as I read the reviews I felt myself starting to be a bit disappointed. It was a bit disheartening to see people say it was not nearly as good as the others that were written earlier. But, I usually have to judge things for myself and I'm glad I did. I didn't get to start reading the book until Tuesday evening.

I must admit I was a bit depressed after reading the first chapter. I won't spoil it for you, but I found the content too deep for a 6th grade boy's book club. I could see myself doing it starting in 8th grade, however. I was about to give up reading it. My husband, wise as always, encouraged me to just read another chapter and give it a chance.

I wanted to resist. My time is so precious these days, having 6 kids under 12. However, part of the TJEd philosophy is "You, not them" and I tend to forget that. I have been rereading _Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning_ by Oliver DeMille and I had a completely different take away this time. I get so hung up on the day to day that I often forget my goals. I want a Leadership Education, too. I need to be reading the Classis, too. So, here was my chance and my husband was willing to help me find the time to do it. I'd be silly not to take the time.

So, I kept reading. Yesterday was one of those days we spent hours in the car driving my nieces back to Wisconsin, visiting my 90 year old grandma and visiting my best friend from junior high and high school. We were in the car for about 4 hours of the day. I normally use that time to talk with my husband. We don't often get concentrated amounts of time to just talk, free of media or children. We did have children with us, but most were occupied visiting with their cousins or sleeping. Instead of talking with my husband, I read. He encouraged it, too.

Let me tell you, reader. I love the book so far. I'm on page 222 of 310 pages and I can't even believe I stopped to write this post. So, I now have the other 10 books in my possession from the library and I will be sneaking off to read whenever I have a spare moment.

If you have a young man (teen aged years), have them read this book series. If you are interested in helping them develop values and character, have them read this book. Horatio starts out as a 17 year old boy placed on a ship as Midshipman. Get to Wikipedia often to look up the TONS of nautical terms you are not going to know or recognize. Talk about the choices he had to make. Talk about why Mathematics was so important to his career and talk about the life-and-death situations he was place in with regularity and how he survived. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Book Clubs of the Past

Announcing

The Knights of Freedom

Book Club

Our Founding Fathers

First Fridays from 1:30 – 3:30

February - May

Mission: The mission of Knight of Freedom is to create lasting friendships with boys of high character, active minds and busy hands, to introduce moral leadership activities and opportunities, to bond and move through life together.

Membership is open to boys aged 7-12.

Elements:

1. Monthly Meetings, two hours in length: Each meeting begins with an opening ceremony that includes prayer or scripture and pledge of Allegiance.
2. Reading and discussion of biographies of great men: The boys read one biography per month from the Childhood of Famous Americans series. This meeting also includes a presentation by the advisor on the era in which the famous person lived. There may be an occasional guest speaker as the advisor deems necessary.
3. Leadership training and experience: This makes up the other part of the meeting. Basic parliamentary procedure is taught. The advisor gives a short lesson on leadership. Each boy then gives a 5-10 minute presentation on the topic of his choice. For example, cooking, volcanoes, airplanes, piano recitals, Johnny Appleseed, Big Foot, Legos. This helps him develop leadership skills while increasing the feeling of brotherhood in the club. Lessons on knighthood are given during the first meeting. The lesson will include details about armor, King Arthur’s round table, weapons, the code of honor and the “Armor of God”.
4. Tuition: $20 for supplies. Book cost is not included. There are MANY copies available through the Library system.

Meeting 1 - February

• Prayer
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure
• Lesson on Knighthood
• Discussion of George Washington – Childhood of Famous Americans Series
• What is a Patriot, Liber and Public Virtue?
• Activity Plywood Shield w/Leather Straps & Snack
• Time permitting – Optional PVC Swords w/Foam Padding (additional $3 for materials) and practice fencing

Meeting 2 - March

• Prayer
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Discussion of John Adams – Childhood of Famous Americans Series
• Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs for Kids
• Member Presentations
• Activity (Paint a duck decoy) & Snack
• Time Permitting – Duck Shooting w/Bow and Arrow
  
• (PVC Bows and dowel arrows optional – additional $3)

Meeting 3 - April

• Prayer
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Discussion of Thomas Jefferson – Childhood of Famous Americans Series
• History o f the U.S. Government
• Member Presentations
• Activity Jefferson Wheel Cypher & Snack
• Time Permitting – Secret Code Cracking

Meeting 4 - May

• Prayer
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Discussion of Ben Franklin – Childhood of Famous Americans Series
• How to debate
• Member Presentations
• Activity Build a Kite & Snack
  
• Time permitting - Kite Fighting after class at local park

Liberty Girls - Kirsten

Here's the girl's book club this year:
Announcing - Liberty Girls Book Club
Kirsten: A Minnesota Liberty Girl
Assorted Fridays from 1:30 – 4:00
September – December


Mission: Liberty Girls Book Club is a club offering young girls in grades 4-6, an exciting opportunity to learn about American History through historical fiction, narration, hands on creative and explorative experiences, mentors and social interaction with other homeschoolers.

Vision: Little girls want to grow up to be great women. To do this, they need models and inspiration. As young girls, they also want to try out the things they read about, to be able to understand how it was for other American Girls and how it was for girls living long ago. They want to get messy, dress up, go places, have adventures and form friendships that last. Liberty Girls offers an avenue to meet these needs through stories, activities, cooking, games, discussions, special guests and producing a play in a fun, relaxed atmosphere.

Registration: Club membership is for 4 months: $12. This will cover all of the expenses associated with the meeting activities. The cost of the books is not included. However, there are MANY copies available at the County Library.

Reading: We’ll use the American Girls Series: Kirsten, reading the six books in 3 months (2 books a month), with the last month meeting used for the play. Books are approximately 60 pages in length each. Kirsten is a fictitious girl living in 1854 in Minnesota. Each meeting has been designed to correspond to the books for that month allowing each girl to experience for themselves some of the things Kirsten did during that time. All members are required to read the book before the meeting.

What does Mom have to do? Just help your daughter finish the book each month, bring your daughter on time, pick her up at the end, help her prepare for a one time narration, and help with one meeting or the play. Costume for the play is white shirt, mid calf to ankle length skirt, nice shoes and optional shawl. If your daughter has a long dress she would like to wear instead, that would be fine.

Narrations: We remember a story better when we tell it to our friends. Each girl will get to give one narration to the book club members during the opening ceremony of each meeting. This should be a retelling of a part of the book featured that meeting that20she decides to share. She can dress up, act out, draw pictures, have props, rewrite it in her own words, put it into verse, sing a song, whatever she is excited about doing to express this part to her friends. A narration should take 5 minutes. We’ll have a sign up sheet at the first meeting.

Program Outline

September – Book: Meet Kirsten & Kirsten Learns a Lesson

Program overview for the girls
Narration sign up
Lesson and Discussion: We will trace Kirsten's route on a map and talk about health issues of Kirsten’s time. We will learn a few Swedish words. We will learn more about Singing Bird, her tribe and what her life was like.
Craft – Make a rag doll.
Snack – Swedish Coffee bread.
Play and Talent DESIGNATIONS (Play parts will be assigned by picking names out of a hat)
7 female roles

October – Book: Kirsten’s Surprise & Happy Birthday, Kirsten

4 Narrations
Lesson and Discussion: We will learn more about St. Lucia's Day and tornadoes.
Craft – small quilted potholder.
Snack – St. Lucia Buns.
Read through play. Have you memorized Act 1&2?

November – Book: Kirsten Saves the Day & Changes for Kirsten

3 Narrations
Lesson and Discussion: We will play games like they played on the Fourth of July. We will also learn about the black be ars in Minnesota, fur trading and bee keeping.
Craft – bees wax candle
Snack – Pepparkakor (Swedish Cookies)
Play practice. Do you have Act 3&4 memorized?

December – Play

Practice Play
Play Home is Where the Heart
Snack – Swedish cookies