As August rolls around, moms and dads everywhere feel school in the air. I suppose many kids do too!
For us homeschoolers, we get to play the encouraging parent role (yeah! a fresh new school year - fun!), as well as the "teacher" role of gathering materials, planning lessons, and organizing the daily rhythm. The virgo in me loves this sort of thing.
A full report on all that we are using will be coming up in September, for those who are interested. I always enjoy how organized mamas like Samantha share what they are using, I've discovered some great curriculum ideas this way.
At Simple Homeschool we had ourselves a little virtual Curriculum Fair in the Spring. Did you get a chance to visit? In case you missed out, here is a list of all that was covered:
- Don't Know Much About History Resources
- Resources for Early Learning
- Easy Grammar: Making Grammar Easy
- Relaxed Elementary Education
- Interest-Driven Curricula and an Open Mind
- Low Maintenance Curriculum for a High Maintenance Family
- Classical Curriculum for a Flexible Lifestyle
- Middle School Resources and Materials
- High School, Take Two
We recently took a trip up to Oak Meadow to have a hands on look at a history curriculum I had in mind for this year. I'm a very fussy lady when it comes to how history is 'taught'... haven't we heard enough from the victors?
With supplementation from wonderful resources such as Zinn Education Project, we were excited to come home with Glencoe World History. I'm intrigued by Glencoe's partnership with National Geographic and it's pairing with the Oak Meadow syllabus - meaning the assignments are not the typical, run of the mill textbook type work. The lessons relating to the text reading seem to have more breadth and meaning.
One of the things I continue to enjoy about homeschooling is the opportunity to totally customize Emily's learning experience. Even though she is technically entering 8th grade - we are not bound by a particular grade. For instance, we take math slow and steady, diligent about mastering concepts before we move on. For Emily, a slower pace and tremendous patience in this area are important. Social Studies and English however have her moving quickly ahead with solid understanding and completion of texts. This year she is comfortably placed in 9th and 10th grade for those two subjects. Science is a solid 8th grade level, Math is a steady, but slower pace with 7th grade. We really love this flexibility.
Isn't Oak Meadow such a cool and beautiful place? Love an old, converted mill building... all those wood floors! (All of the pictures in this post were from our day there.)
As was true with our visit there last summer, we were welcomed so warmly by the staff and really encouraged to take all the time we needed. Somehow we got to chatting with the high school director and learned she was heading down to the Newport Folk Festival because her husband was performing. We talked some more about music, about how true Vermonters don't ski, where to have lunch, and how it's hard to keep up with all the new incarnations of "jam bands." Nice chat, yes?
And what about you? Do you have any new and exciting curriculum and/or resources to share? I'd love to hear what you're up to!
