Feb 2 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 5 – Oliver Twist

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After Pride and Prejudice, it was very difficult to motivate myself to read Oliver Twist – just too much sadness and unfairness and mind-blowing coincidences. I like believable stories and while I believe Victorian London really was as bad as described in this book, I just have a hard time with the coincidences.

But the idea of reading Charles Dickens, one of the greatest novelists in the English language, motivated me in the end. Anything in the name of literature!

Oliver Twist

On the other hand, I came up with this idea that, of the entire novel list from The Well-Educated Mind, I should allow myself to skip two if I felt like it. I know one of them will be Moby Dick. I refuse to read this book simply because Susan Wise Bauer herself says she has not finished it, even though she started it 17 times. And yet, she wrote a long paper about it in graduate school and passed her exam with flying colors. Which says a lot about graduate school in the US, but also about the dedication needed to finish this grueling novel.  Continue reading »

Jan 28 2016

Very Young People’s Concert

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For the first time, we attended a Very Young People’s Concert by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. It was wonderful. We plan to go again next year.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra tuning up before the concert

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra tuning up before the concert

We had tickets for it last year, but inclement weather canceled the concert altogether and we got our money back. So we were happy the weather cooperated this year.  Continue reading »

Jan 27 2016

Starting Cursive

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If you have been reading this blog for a bit, you may know that I do not believe in teaching manuscript first and then cursive. In fact, I don’t believe in teaching manuscript at all. My children will experience what I did when I went through school: cursive first and only.

In preschool, they learned to print: MAMA LOVES ME, for instance. In the second semester of kindergarten, they started learning cursive. By first grade, they would be ready for copy work and a writing program. We spend most of first grade perfecting handwriting, all in cursive.

Girl holding tablet with cursive handwriting

Her first lesson in cursive handwriting

Romanian children and children elsewhere have done it for centuries. Manuscript first is a relatively new phenomenon and the result of extremely liberal principles introduced in education, one of them being dumbing down the curriculum. I am surprised by the number of conservative people who have not looked into this issue more carefully.

Since small children may not have the tactile skills for holding a pen properly, I have always made it a goal to wait until mine were at least six years of age before starting cursive. My daughter is one month away from being six, but she recently asked to start cursive.  Continue reading »

Jan 26 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 4 – Pride and Prejudice

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As I work my way through the books listed in The Well-Educated Mind, all sorts of things go through my mind. Pride and Prejudice is one of those literary works that we should read at least once a decade. A teenager will experience this novel differently than a 25-year-old and a 35-year-old will see yet so many other things – new things – in this book.

Pride and Prejudice

I do not recommend the movie with Keira Knightley, by the way. It it too hard to squeeze this literary gem into a two-hour film. Plus it’s just not done well. I saw this movie a long time ago and did not like it at all. After reading the novel last week, I watched bits of this movie on YouTube and disliked it even more.  Continue reading »

Jan 24 2016

Story of the World, Vol. 2, Chapter 16

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Chapter 16 describes England after the Norman Conquest. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and, for the first time ever, we did all the crafts and activities suggested. How can I NOT build an edible castle? How could we NOT work with Play-Doh in different colors to illustrate the blending of languages into English? How could we NOT play a medieval game of Fox and Geese?

Coin purses craft for children

Coin purses – a rare cloth craft we put together for history

I even shocked myself by summoning enough courage to do a textile craft… after I told you guys I do not enjoy them and I draw a line there… But there was absolutely no sewing involved, not even fabric glue… So we made two almoners (coin purses).

The chapter is rather long, with three stories, so we finished the map and coloring page (a castle) in one day and left the crafts for the next day.  Continue reading »

Jan 21 2016

How to Balance Enrichment Activities with Family Life

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While the benefits of sports for our children are immeasurable and include so many factors that go beyond simple fitness, such as improving their alertness and sense of working in a team; it’s important not to go overkill on your child’s extracurricular activities. Getting the family together, study time, play time, and making sure your child’s growing body gets the full recovery it needs after each active session are all vital to healthy development.

But just like all the other pressures in life, from work commitments to birthday parties to gatherings with friends, it can sometimes feel impossible to balance enrichment activities with family life. So be an advocate for whichever sport your child decides to choose, but keep in mind that family matters too.  Continue reading »

Jan 19 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 3 – Gulliver’s Travels

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Written by Jonathan Swift (an Irish clergyman) and published in 1726, this book has never been out of print. It contains four volumes, each detailing a voyage to a different fantasy land. First and foremost, I want to say that this is NOT a children’s book.

Tuesday Tome - Gulliver's Travels

Many of us grew up with a fragment or two of this book in our literature program. Maybe we have watched the cartoon or seen a picture of Gulliver as a giant surrounded by six-inch Liliputians. However, this book was written as a satire on human nature, English politics, and travelling books so prevalent during Swift’s time. Until you read the unabridged book, you don’t really get the whole meaning behind it.  Continue reading »

Jan 15 2016

King Cake – A French Tradition

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In order to teach my children all about French culture, I decided to start a new tradition: bake a king cake for Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day, which is January 6th. Traditions vary from region to region. This year, I wanted to make a cake. Next year, I may opt for a galette (pastry) instead.

King Cake and breakfast

King Day Breakfast

We had a lot of fun with it. I hid a LEGO mini-figure in the cake and asked the youngest member of the family to sit under the table and decide who should get each slice.

King Day Traditions

The youngest sits under the table and decides the order of the slices.

The person who gets the slice with the mini-figure gets to wear a crown and be king or queen for a day. Continue reading »

Jan 12 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 2 – The Pilgrim’s Progress

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The Pilgrim’s Progress is a Christian classic and an English literature classic. Published in 1679, it was written by John Bunyan while he was in prison for his faith. As an independent preacher, he bothered the established Church of England and they put him in prison for preaching differently. And yet he was able to focus and write this masterpiece.

Tuesday Tome - The Pilgrim's Progress

This book can easily be read in a week, though you might want to take longer because it feels like a devotional. I stopped in several places and meditated on the meaning of the names of the characters and how what happened to him happened to me at one point or another. I read it in four days.  Continue reading »

Jan 7 2016

Why Kindergarten Is The Toughest Year

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I have a theory which says that kindergarten is the toughest year. Let’s see… Where shall I begin? This is such an obvious statement to me, I have a hard time organizing all the bombarding thoughts that come to me in its support.

For starters, you are likely to be pretty new to homeschooling. If this is your first child, then you are a nervous wreck. You are scared by the whole enormity of taking on your child’s education as your personal responsibility and the negative words of Aunt Suzy or Grandma Thelma still ring through your ears. May the Lord bless all the Suzys and Thelmas of the world with more knowledge on the subject of homeschooling and sensitivity, right?

Girl counting with math teddy bears

My daughter, in Kindergarten this year, learning (playing?) with the math teddy bears.

Secondly, you probably think that every day that goes by without doing at least an hour of the 3 Rs is a wasted day. It is not, but you don’t really accept this if this is your first child. You will probably be more relaxed by the second child’s kindergarten year though.  Continue reading »