o-KAY!!!!
Okay, okay, okay already!
This is for Jur, who recently commented on my lack of posting.
Well. We are homeschooling. And...we love it! Both of us, Audrey and me, are loving it.
I got a couple of weeks into Sonlight's Core 1+2, which is a condensed one year history course, and then decided, based on a couple of factors, that I wanted the two-year program instead. So most of the books were shipped back, except for the ones that go with Core 1. We've been doing an abbreviated version of school for a few days, and the new books should arrive on Tuesday. And I have to say that Sonlight has a FANTASTIC return policy. I had been thinking about just stretching the 1+2 over two years, filling in with other stuff as necessary, when on the Sonlight forums it was suggested that this is covered under the 18-week happy or return/exchange policy. It was. They had no problem whatsoever, even with pen and pencil markings in a few things.
I'm not worried about us getting behind, because we are probably already PAST where Core 1 would have us by now. And the great thing about homeschooling (there are many, and I'm sure you'll read lots of them here in the future!) is that if we don't finish up after 180 days, well, we can keep on going until we do.
Anyway, we've covered Mesopotamia, and are moving on to some other early river civilizations, namely India, Egypt, and later (ooh, I can't wait!) China!
We do other subjects too, never fear. First we have a Bible reading, and then Audrey and I work on her AWANA verses. Then we have history/geography, for which we have several resources, including a cool Usborne book with naked people and a CD of geography songs. Yes, really. Think of how well it worked for Schoolhouse Rock? Only, the CD is part of Core *2*, so we had to return it. We'll work on it some more next year, though.
After history we have read-alouds, a particularly special part of Sonlight. We are waiting a bit for the new shipment of this as well, but before we had to send it back, we just finished this. If you haven't read it (and I hadn't), I won't say what it's about, because it's all a secret until the end, but if you REALLY want to know, it's all about THIS place. VERY cool. Maybe we'll go there someday, sort of a far-reaching field trip.
We also were reading aloud, every other day, Aesop's Fables, and A Child's Garden of Verses.
Then comes language arts, which I'm coming to grips with. I LOVED language in grade school, spelling, grammar, all that good stuff. This is one area I feel Sonlight is weak on. They do have spelling words and a "theme" for each week (compound words, suffixes, etc.), and a teensy bit of grammar, but most of their focus is on creative writing. That's all well and good, but you need to be a good speller and have good grammar if you are going to be a good writer. So I'm thinking of supplementing with a good old-fashioned grammar book. Still deciding which one. And considering a spelling program as well.
She also has "readers", which are fun easy readers like Amelia Bedelia and Frog and Toad, though right now we're working our way through the Beginner's Bible, which so far corresponds to each Bible reading we have in the morning.
Then we have science; our first book was kind of interesting, and some of you will laugh out loud, whether you agree with the concept or not. (Yes, Thomas J. Brown, I'm talking about you :) And probably mrtl and kalki too). It was called The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible. Sonlight is apparently of the Young Earth philosophy, which believes dinosaurs and humans existed at the same time and may have even been on the ark. Well, I'd be willing to consider it...it sure sounds cool, and could even explain the myth of dragons, which I've always wondered about. But this book had no references or citations in it at all. Nothing to go back to and verify their suppositions with. Yes, it's a children's book, but I'd at least appreciate a "For Further Reading" list, even one for parents. This had nothing. At any rate, I now know that even among Christians this is a hot topic, and while I am in no way ready to declare whether or not dinosaurs were on the ark, I'm going to be researching both sides a little. (The other side being, basically, that the earth is millennia old, that God did create it, but not in a literal six days. Do you see how tricky this is for a devout Christian?). And what I'm teaching Audrey for now, is that there IS this debate, and we'll keep learning about it, but in the meantime, the most important thing to know is that God is the one who created the earth.
Leo teaches her math and Chinese twice a week, but she works on a little math every day. And we get all of this done tidily and happily before lunch (except maybe her homework, which she does after lunch)
My in-laws are here. That is wonderful...and not. I can't say much more out of fairness, because I want them here, NEED them here, but just imagine your in-laws, even if you have a good relationship with them, speaking another language, not understanding the way you do things, and moving in with you (invited or no).
But Jur, you may be getting a vent from me on this topic. Would that be OK?
This is for Jur, who recently commented on my lack of posting.
Well. We are homeschooling. And...we love it! Both of us, Audrey and me, are loving it.
I got a couple of weeks into Sonlight's Core 1+2, which is a condensed one year history course, and then decided, based on a couple of factors, that I wanted the two-year program instead. So most of the books were shipped back, except for the ones that go with Core 1. We've been doing an abbreviated version of school for a few days, and the new books should arrive on Tuesday. And I have to say that Sonlight has a FANTASTIC return policy. I had been thinking about just stretching the 1+2 over two years, filling in with other stuff as necessary, when on the Sonlight forums it was suggested that this is covered under the 18-week happy or return/exchange policy. It was. They had no problem whatsoever, even with pen and pencil markings in a few things.
I'm not worried about us getting behind, because we are probably already PAST where Core 1 would have us by now. And the great thing about homeschooling (there are many, and I'm sure you'll read lots of them here in the future!) is that if we don't finish up after 180 days, well, we can keep on going until we do.
Anyway, we've covered Mesopotamia, and are moving on to some other early river civilizations, namely India, Egypt, and later (ooh, I can't wait!) China!
We do other subjects too, never fear. First we have a Bible reading, and then Audrey and I work on her AWANA verses. Then we have history/geography, for which we have several resources, including a cool Usborne book with naked people and a CD of geography songs. Yes, really. Think of how well it worked for Schoolhouse Rock? Only, the CD is part of Core *2*, so we had to return it. We'll work on it some more next year, though.
After history we have read-alouds, a particularly special part of Sonlight. We are waiting a bit for the new shipment of this as well, but before we had to send it back, we just finished this. If you haven't read it (and I hadn't), I won't say what it's about, because it's all a secret until the end, but if you REALLY want to know, it's all about THIS place. VERY cool. Maybe we'll go there someday, sort of a far-reaching field trip.
We also were reading aloud, every other day, Aesop's Fables, and A Child's Garden of Verses.
Then comes language arts, which I'm coming to grips with. I LOVED language in grade school, spelling, grammar, all that good stuff. This is one area I feel Sonlight is weak on. They do have spelling words and a "theme" for each week (compound words, suffixes, etc.), and a teensy bit of grammar, but most of their focus is on creative writing. That's all well and good, but you need to be a good speller and have good grammar if you are going to be a good writer. So I'm thinking of supplementing with a good old-fashioned grammar book. Still deciding which one. And considering a spelling program as well.
She also has "readers", which are fun easy readers like Amelia Bedelia and Frog and Toad, though right now we're working our way through the Beginner's Bible, which so far corresponds to each Bible reading we have in the morning.
Then we have science; our first book was kind of interesting, and some of you will laugh out loud, whether you agree with the concept or not. (Yes, Thomas J. Brown, I'm talking about you :) And probably mrtl and kalki too). It was called The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible. Sonlight is apparently of the Young Earth philosophy, which believes dinosaurs and humans existed at the same time and may have even been on the ark. Well, I'd be willing to consider it...it sure sounds cool, and could even explain the myth of dragons, which I've always wondered about. But this book had no references or citations in it at all. Nothing to go back to and verify their suppositions with. Yes, it's a children's book, but I'd at least appreciate a "For Further Reading" list, even one for parents. This had nothing. At any rate, I now know that even among Christians this is a hot topic, and while I am in no way ready to declare whether or not dinosaurs were on the ark, I'm going to be researching both sides a little. (The other side being, basically, that the earth is millennia old, that God did create it, but not in a literal six days. Do you see how tricky this is for a devout Christian?). And what I'm teaching Audrey for now, is that there IS this debate, and we'll keep learning about it, but in the meantime, the most important thing to know is that God is the one who created the earth.
Leo teaches her math and Chinese twice a week, but she works on a little math every day. And we get all of this done tidily and happily before lunch (except maybe her homework, which she does after lunch)
My in-laws are here. That is wonderful...and not. I can't say much more out of fairness, because I want them here, NEED them here, but just imagine your in-laws, even if you have a good relationship with them, speaking another language, not understanding the way you do things, and moving in with you (invited or no).
But Jur, you may be getting a vent from me on this topic. Would that be OK?
posted by Andrea | 9:31 PM
7 Comments:
Congrats on the successful start with homeschooling! I'm glad both you and Audrey are enjoying it. I'm sure that's a huge part of the battle.
I'm glad the homeschooling is going well! Back when I was a believer, the way I justified the creation story was that it wasn't literally six days, that it had been a long period of time and even evolution had occurred. That worked for me because I was still able to believe the science stuff, which is pretty irrefutable.
I am always open for the necessary venting, dear. I told Anne the other day that if we don't have girlfriends to vent to, it makes our husbands crazy having to hear it. And I can listen to things and then let the people in question continue as they are, but the venter has a little lighter load! :) I'm there for ya, baby! :)
Loved this post. We're looking at adding Sonlight next year. I'm reading every blog I can find on Sonlight! ha!
You know me too well. -)
Actually, that you're teaching her that there's a debate is, I think, a good thing. It encourages independent critical thinking.
But really, dinosaurs on the ark? Doesn't it seem more likely that the dinosaurs were caught in the flood? That would explain why they're all gone and would give a fairly plausible reason why fossils exist (although the time line would still be way off).
And what better grammar book is there than Strunk and White? -)
Oh, Thomas, Strunk and White for a seven-year-old? That's just cruel. I, the lover of all things grammatical and copy-edited, never even bought that when it was required in college. (I mooched off a more conscientous student. And lived off the AP Style Guide instead.) :)
The AP style guide is also really good. Mmm... I loves me some style guide goodness. You should see the Apple style guide. It's simply beautiful.
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