(on) The Road (to becoming a) Scholar: This Old Schoolhouse

Showing posts with label This Old Schoolhouse. Show all posts

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Our Little One Room School House Experiment

This summer a dear friend posted to our homeschool support group a request to find a Catholic version of Classical Conversations to which she could bring her kids. Seems the nearest thing was about 45 minutes away and they were taking a hiatus this year. I sent her some suggestions of Catholic memory programs, my favorite of which is Classically Catholic Memory. I sheepishly called her and asked her if she was up for putting together a small group to do it together. She was.

I put my money where my mouth was, ordered the curriculum, and we all got together at our church's family camp in August and pow-wowed about how we could pull it off. I offered to do ANYTHING but find space. I knew that was a tough job. I also knew I couldn't open my house up for yet another thing. I already run four book clubs out of my house each month.

We started with seven interested families. Only five were able to make it work. We all bought our own copy of the curriculum so that if we miss, we can all keep up with each other. We're splitting up the teaching, too.

Well, after lots of calls and contacts, we ended up meeting at a home. One of our families' grandmother graciously offered her basement to us. We now, 13 pupils, 5 mentors, 4 teachers, 7 toddlers and 2 nursery teachers, all meet three times a month in her very large basement to do Classically Catholic Memory. We are only one week in but can I just say, "Wow!" My 5 year old, along with all the rest, has memorized 8 subjects worth of material this week. I can't wait to see how it goes.

We are doing this as a one-room-school-house experiment. All kids 12 and under are pupils and kids over 12 are mentors. The mentors are required to know the material right along with the pupils. We go through each subject starting with recitation (all the kids stand and say what they memorized) for each subject. The teachers go over the new material. Then, the mentors break off into teams, which one boy came up with creative, Catholic names for and they all get busy practicing. Then, in about 20 minutes a day, the kids practice the material for the rest of the week.

I'll keep you posted on how it's going.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

One Room SchoolhouseTo Go!

+ McGuffey Readers (along with millions of free titles) + iBooks + Kindle Reader for the iPad/iPhone + iTunes U + a digital media library (on a 500Gb portable drive)+ Apps for Education (like Khan Academy, Dragon Box, Math Ninja) + iCloud = One Room Schoolhouse To Go!

This year we are embarking on an experiment. I bought the three older kids Generation 2 iPod Touches for less than $85 each. After futzing with the settings, restrictions, iTunes, loading up the digital medial library and loading apps, I have the 9th, 8th and 4th graders ready to do much of their school on a mobile device. That means we can all be more portable. That makes the kids happy. I will have to "let go" a little, but we will be doing lots and lots of discussions around how it is working . We started with a few things this summer to see how the kids take to it (duh, they love it) and how I feel about them holding a device in front of their face more than I'm accustomed.

Here's a partial list of what they are doing on the iPod Touch:

McGuffey Reader (4th Grader)
McGuffey Speller (for supplements)
Reading the Little House Books on iBooks (4th Grader)
Listening to book club books on the Audible account or reading them on the Kindle Reader or iBooks
Great Books Triple Play - Reading on the Kindle App, Google Play Books or iBooks, listening to the corresponding audio lecture from the Great Course "Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition" (which I picked up for less than $40 at a used book sale), AND watching the Great Course "Life Lessons from the Great Books" (Older kids)
Science via Khan Academy - Biology topics as we cover them from the CK-12 Biology Book (Older kids)
Botany - via various Apps like Botany Encyclopedia (4th Grader)
Religion - older kids reading YOUCAT ebook, daily readings and Saint-of-the-day via a nice Catholic App we found for free, and watching video catechism series
History - We're still working that out...we have several actual supplemental things to do, but this is Dad's subject. However, we might just have the younger ones listen to Story of the World Audio CD's read by Jim Weiss on their iPods.
Math support (not full subject) - Khan Academy, and many other Math apps... UPDATE: I had Dragonbox here originally. I contacted the app writer because it was not working on the iPod Gen 2, but that is because it needs ios 5.x to run. We've moved it to the iPads instead. If you want your kids to love Algebra, consider looking at Dragonbox!

Latin for the older kids will still be old-school, low tech (ha ha) via Skype with support from the interactive CD we use to support or curriculum. The 4th Grader will finish book two of Minimus (with the audio on her iPod).

My older kids are doing Calligraphy this year along with Art History. Yes, there is an app for both. My 4th Grader will be watching the Leonard Bernstein "Young People's Concerts" with others and discussing them via Skype. Her art will be working with different media (chalk, pastels, colored pencils, charcoal, and paint.)

Just an aside: When I configured the iPods, I enable a screen lock to protect the iPods from the 5 and under crowd :-), enable Restrictions. I turn off Safari, YouTube, Ping and Deleting Apps. I also set the age restrictions for Apps, Video and TV. I disable wireless as a battery saving technique.

I'd love to hear of apps you LOVE as well as techie things you are doing in your homeschool this year.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Quick! Before it's too late!

Calling all Catholic Home Educators!!! The Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference takes place on June 1-2 at the beautiful University of St. Thomas Campus in St. Paul, MN. It's not too late for the discounted registration. Early bird discounts end on May 9th. There will be great speakers, including the keynote, Marcel LeJeune, great vendors and great camaraderie. I love seeing friends, visiting, looking at all the new curriculum and getting a much-needed booster shot of Catholicism.

I hope you can make it. If you do, I hope you can squeeze me in to your schedule. I am giving the Beginning Homeschooling talk at 11am and my favorite talk, This Old School House at 3pm. I hope I see you there!

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The Road Scholar

Cathie and her husband are blessed with six children and have home educated them since 2003. Before children, Cathie developed curricula and taught classes for adults around the world on a variety of topics in the computer industry at the corporate and technical school level. She loves to develop curricula, teach homeschool co-op classes and organize book clubs. For five years, she held board positions on a large homeschool support group such as general coordinator, membership coordinator and advisory member.

Workshops, Presentations and Seminars

To arrange a presentation for your homeschool group or convention contact me here.

Topics:

Beginning Homeschooling - Beyond the Basics

Are you new to homeschooling? Where do you start? How do you ensure a very good (not just adequate) homeschooling experience, especially in that important first year? This practical how-to session will help you determine the appropriate first steps on your homeschooling adventure. We'll talk about picking a curriculum, scheduling and strategies for developing an independent child as well as strengthening your family and social relationships.

Get Your Game On!
Using EASY, Almost No-Fuss Games to Help Keep Learning Fun

Kids love games and so much is gained by playing games: learning to taking turns, good sportsmanship, patience and development of relationships. By using games, we can tailor to the needs of the child - not just academically, but socially, too. Come join in the fun yourself and learn how easy it is to put together games for your children—and you don't have to be creative to do it, either! Besides learning how, you will walk away with instructions, tips and resources to make your own games at home.

How to Get Your Kids to See the Light (or Feel it or Hear it)!

Teaching different learning modalities requires different tactics. Learn how to determine which modality your child uses and find ways to present material so that it sticks the first time, especially if it is different than your own learning modality.

This Old Schoolhouse

The school marms and school masters of yesteryear taught several children at different levels and formed many of our favorite American heroes. We will look back at how those school marms ran their one room schools and take some tips on making our school days more successful. We’ll talk about schedules, curriculum, discipline, independence, character development and motivation for the one room school in your home.

Socrates Meets Homeschool Mom

If Socrates could teach you one thing, it would be to use his method (the Socratic Method) for literary analysis. This presentation addresses the fundamentals of literary interpretation from within the accessible world of children’s literature, so even young students can easily identify the language of literary analysis. As they mature they will readily spot these fundamentals in more difficult works, enriching both their understanding of the literature and their appreciation for the author’s handiwork. Learn the aspects of literary analysis and how to help kids appreciate and find the meaning in all the great books they read.

The Motivation Myth

What do sticker charts, time-outs and spelling bees have in common? They are examples of “Carrots and Sticks.” Over the last 40 years, study after study has shown that "Carrots and Sticks" don't work for long term motivation, especially when thought is required in the process. How are you motivating and inspiring your kids to study, do chores and reach goals? Learn about what truly motivates kids, how to mentor them and help them become successful in their endeavors. I will dispel the myths and reveal truths about human motivation and mindset. And here’s a hint. It’s you, not them. I hope you will join me to find out what that means.