February Update

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I keep forgetting that I have this blog. Anyways, here's a little update on our lives these past few months:

We switched last month to the classical approach to homeschooling. With the classical approach, school-age education is divided up into three stages: the first stage being 1st-4th grades, second stage being 5th-8th grades, and the third stage being 9th-12th grades. The 1st-4th grade years are the grammar years. These are the years when children absorb tons of information, so the focus is on the foundational aspects of education. Emphasis is on phonics, grammar and math.

The biggest difference I see between the classical approach and traditional public school approach can be found in the way history is taught. In public schools, children start out learning about their communities, then the knowledge expands outward to their state, country, continent and, finally, the world. There is seemingly no chronological order in this way of teaching history. So children have a very hard time relating previously taught information to any new information taught. In contrast, the classical approach to history is strictly chronological. In each four-year stage, we study history from beginning of time to now, but it is studied very simply in this first stage of 1st-4th grade. So, we have already learned about creation, Adam and Eve, Noah's flood, dinosaurs, and some early civilizations like the Minoans and Egyptians. We will continue history with this approach until we end with current history sometime in the 4th grade. Then in 5th grade we will start all over again from creation, but this time we will go a little more in-depth. Then in 9th grade we will start again at the beginning, but will go really in-depth. So far we are loving this approach.

Sammy has been doing some school work these days. Periodically, he does a math lesson, and he is almost always within earshot when I am reading to Cameron from his history book. It's amazing to see how much Sammy has picked up just from being around while Cameron does his school work. In the fall, he will begin homeschool kindergarten and will have more of a schedule with regard to school work.

We have decided to go completely independent next year. This means that we will no longer be registered with Horizon Charter School and will instead have to file the private school affidavit. This also means that I get to name our school. Any ideas? How about the Reed Academy of Learning? Sounds so funny to say that.

Time to do some cleaning, then school work.