Homeschool Year in Review 2020-21 (8th grade-Kyrie)

Kyrie started some high school work this year and also had the chance to participate in debate. She learned a lot about speech and argument and was able to participate in several nano-tournaments and a full scale tournament in May. She loved it and along with piano, these are her primary extracurriculars, along with a book group she formed with her friends. 

Here is what she studied this year: 

God's Great Covenant: New Testament 1-The Gospels We really love this curriculum and how it is the reading of Scripture, thoughtful commentary, and worksheets that help solidify the reading. She does this with Evie.

Elementary Algebra-Harold Jacobs with online instruction I'm really grateful to have found AskDrCallahan.com which took a lot of the pressure off of me to provide instruction and figure out how to test/grade. All of that is included in this course; I still have to grade work. Dr. Callahan assigns the problems he feels are most useful in solidifying the material without over-assigning. 

Story of the World Volume 3: Early Modern Times Kyrie and Evie did this class with me but Kyrie had additional assignments and a higher reading requirement. 

Latin Alive I Kyrie loves Latin and this course makes it engaging with online video instruction and an emphasis on translation. By the time we were halfway through the course, Kyrie was explaining to me why her translation was correct even though it was slightly different than the answer key. Next year, she moves to online instruction for that reason. But this is an excellent program.

Elemental Science Chemistry This curriculum, which is really a guide to using encyclopedias, outside resources, and a lab guide, allowed Kyrie to shine. She put a lot into learning the table of elements and working hard on the lab assignments. Labs are my favorite part of this curriculum. The emphasis on learning through experiments, though exhausting as a teacher, is the best way of learning in the middle grades. 

Writing & Rhetoric Comparison and Description & Impersonation Comparison guides the write to effectively comparing different things in an effective manner. Description and Impersonation teaches how write vivid descriptions of nature, people, and processes and also how to present a point-of-view from someone else's perspective based on what is known about them. Kyrie loves to write and she is working hard to perfect her craft. We both really enjoyed this year. 

Art of Argument An excellent program for informal logic and helping students to recognize the logical fallacies and build coherent arguments. Kyrie loved this and found it useful in debate. We used the video instruction as well as the books. 

Total Health Kyrie and Ben took this course together and I was thankful for a book that helped me remember all those things we needed to cover that I wouldn't think of teaching because I know them. This covered health from a physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual perspective and gave us great discussion material. Kyrie dived in and did research and a presentation on a disease a close friend suffers from and learned more about a mental health condition that helped her perspective on another friend. We added in online resources--a podcast, video, and then she went through American Red Cross first aid certification. (These were my additions to round out the course.)

Homeschool Year in Review 2020-21 (5th grade-Evie)

I haven't had time to post our review but as I put together transcripts and worked on course descriptions, I found looking over the last several years helpful. So I'm doing it again in abbreviated form. 

 Here is what Evie's course work looked like: 

God's Great Covenant: New Testament 1-The Gospels We really love this curriculum and how it is the reading of Scripture, thoughtful commentary, and worksheets that help solidify the reading. 

Horizons Math Evie hates change and really wants to stick with Horizons. I'm not entirely sure she is challenged enough, but I still think this is one of the better options out there. The spiral method is really helpful and it was good to keep coming back to concepts and reviewing. 

Latin for Children A Evie didn't want to take Latin, but there is a minimum of two years required for my two students. It was quite gratifying when midway through the year she admitted she really loved Latin. I love the rhythm and beauty of this program and having a teacher online (not interactive) for a lesson a week. I don't do the puzzles with Evie, but I do have her make the folders to help her solidify her learning. 

Story of the World Volume 3: Early Modern Times It's my third time through this curriculum and my last. I most love the activity book that has book lists for each chapter. Evie is a quick reader, and we get the most out of this aspect. 

Writing & Rhetoric: Chreia & Proverb and Refutation and Confirmation I've used all of these books with each of the kids, but with Evie, who had the least interest in writing, I wasn't sure how it would go. She loved these books, and her writing ability shot up this year. She has even started writing a book, just like her sister. Chreia focused on writing about a piece of wisdom advice and then she learned to refute something in a story that didn't fit or to confirm an aspect of a story. 

Elemental Science Chemistry While I liked this curriculum, which is really a guide to using encyclopedias, outside resources, and a lab guide, Evie was not thrilled with it. I think she would have preferred being able to find resources all in one book, and this is not that. For any science-minded kid or parent, this is an excellent program. For this non-STEM mom and daughter, it was a lot of work. However, Kyrie (see her post) liked it a lot, so it might be more about it being above Evie's grade level. 

Spelling Workout E I like that this curriculum allows us to easily accomplish a lot of learning in one or two sittings a week and that it focuses on the roots of words and the rules while not ignoring all the exceptions in English. Evie is my first kid who doesn't like spelling and I tried to analyze if that had anything to do with this program. I don't think it does, so we are going to continue on with it. 

Living Art Lessons This is a nice simple, but thorough curriculum, and was thoroughly below Evie's level. She is a painter, crafter, and had studied all of the concepts in this program previously. She did most projects, but changed and added them significantly. 

A Reason for Handwriting I thought this was a lovely curriculum with the opportunity to practice and write out Scripture. Evie really just doesn't care about handwriting, which seems odd for one so artistic. It was the right balance of very quick lessons, but since she doesn't feel it necessary to incorporate what she learns in her other work, next year, she will and not have a set curriculum. 

She lost all her extracurriculars except piano and since she tested at 97% introverted, she was absolutely fine with that. I'm still working out how to keep her more involved and develop her interest and I think she will do more art classes outside our home this year.

 

Ash Wednesday 2021-Does anyone get it?

This was the year I learned that Ash Wednesday is the Church's Santa Claus. I remember sitting under a tree in a park in early summer with friends as we all puzzled over the closures of our various churches. 

To be fair, the Baptist church didn't close down. In fact it amazes me--the sprinkling of churches I know that don't commemorate Lent, have no idea what Ash Wednesday is, and still kept meeting, unmasked. Clearly they get it.

But with a few defiant exceptions, the Catholics, the Lutherans, the Anglicans all shut down and huddled in their homes, determined not to die. 

"...for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Gen. 3:19 NIV)

Ha! Apparently, in the 21st century we don't actually mean that. 

I've always thought I would die. I'm always certain my loved ones will die. Many have been concerned about this, identified it as abnormal and unhealthy, and thought maybe I should take something. And to be fair, it has at times been unhealthy, and I have at times taken something. 

Perhaps the reason that it was Ash Wednesday that began my whole journey into liturgical worship in the first place is because it was the first time that I heard acknowledged out loud what beat in my heart all the time: "You're going to die."

But every year as I go forward and have ashes smeared on my forehead and hear: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" I get a little less anxious about it, and a little more accepting, and believe a little more that resurrection, not death, is the end of all things. 

The past year has been hard, frustrating, painful. I've come to realize not many people believe the holy water is holy. Turns out it is scary and we mustn't touch it. Years of hearing that no one has gotten ill from the receiving the common cup ("not evening during The Plague!") was tossed out the window in a couple of minutes of the covid-19 scare. We should call the elders and anoint the sick with oil became, "We should mask up, social distance and no way get close enough to anoint anyone." 

I am grateful to find I actually believe in all these things. I'm not really afraid. But finding the church believes these things like it believes in the Easter bunny has been painful. The hardest thing to believe in right now is the Church.

A Year of Books--My favorites of 2020

2020 was a good year to be reading and I found myself coming back to the same themes over and over. Here is a list of my favorite 12 reads of the year. 

Book of the Year

 

When Did We Start Forgetting God: The Root of the Evangelical Crisis and Hope for the Future  

by Mark Galli

Galli's writing has always appealed to me, and this book delivered a helpful critique. His honesty at waking up to realize his faith was an important part of his culture but that he didn't really love God all that much caused deep introspection. Galli's personal mission to seek to love God more, and to also understand what is so wrong with the evangelical church (and indeed all of Western Christendom) caused him to examine what it looks like when someone (also a church, a culture) loves God. This part was deeply inspiring for me, reading about Cane Ridge and other movements that were culture changing. He also tackles what happens when a church loves social justice or missions and not God. Inspiring, convicting. I read it twice and will have to read it again.

A Really Close Second Book of the Year

What is a Girl Worth? My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth About Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics

by Rachael Denhollander

I blogged my review of this one here.

Best Kids Read Aloud

The Mistmantle Chronicles

by Margaret McAllister 

I have one kid left who will let me read aloud to her while she works on creative projects. She loves animals and this series about a kingdom of hedgehogs, squirrels, otters and moles was our favorite. So though not technically "one" book, the whole series was spectacular, a great story with meaningful characters and thoughtful lessons on leadership and sacrifice. You might recognize a little C.S. Lewis influence here.

Best in Non-Fiction

When the Church Was Young: Voices of the Early Fathers

by Marcellino D'Ambrosio 

A book I loved so much, I'm on my third reading as I put together lesson plans for a high school course for Ben. The miracle of the early church's growth under fire, the development of doctrine and practice,  the first apologist, and the controversies and challenges of doctrinal and personal disputes. This book has this and so much more. D'Ambrosio is an excellent writer; this is thoughtful material while not being difficult reading. 

City of God

by Saint Augustine

After reading James K. A. Smith's On the Road with Saint Augustine (last year) and Ambrosio (see above), and remembering my love of Confessions in college, it was time to tackle City of God. This is a heady read, and honestly, required re-reading of most paragraphs several times. Chapters were short, and I loved walking through history with Augustine (which is what he does). I didn't always agree, but I came away feeling like I could have some really good conversations with Augustine about our disagreements and still be friends. 

Sex and the City of God: A Memoir of Love and Longing

by Carolyn Weber 

Sense a theme? I read this book because I loved Weber's Surprised by Oxford and ended up just continuing my Augustinian-themed reading. Weber holds a D.Phil. from Oxford and she is masterful at weaving together words and themes. This is not really a book about sex as much as it is about love, in particular about eros in all its seasons. E.g. The man she named "TDH" (tall, dark & handsome) in her first book is now bald.... And there is a lot of love (and four kids) in between. Thoughtful, rich, and full of literary references, I can't wait for another Weber book. 

Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus' Wife

by Ariel Sabar

Masterfully written, this book was just supposed to be a simple article. The author didn't fail to ask questions, follow any trail, and search for motive in this true tale of a con and the trap of believing what you want to believe. 

Fear Less: Real Truth about Risk, Safety, and Security in a Time of Terrorism

by Gavin de Becker

The author wrote this in the wake of 9/11 but it was frighteningly relevant to 2020. Once again, people will trade freedom for security and most public measures are designed to make people "feel safer" but won't actually make them safer. This book was actually extremely helpful for some of my anxieties and really has helped me "fear less."

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

by Erik Larson 

Erik Larson states he had the idea for this book when he moved to New York shortly after 9/11 and in talking with his new neighbors discovered how skewed his ideas of what it would have been like to have lived through the 9/11 attacks really were. He started wondering if his ideas of living in London during the Blitz might be equally unfounded. Initially, I did not love this book quite as much as the The Last Lion but then realized Larson's objective was not a deep dive into Churchill, but a cinemascope of the effect Churchill had on his countrymen.  This book left me aching for the kind of leadership Churchill brought to England during crisis. And it was a fascinating read. 

Best in Fiction

Idaho

by Emily Ruskovich

One of the best modern novels I have read, this puts muscle to the term "page-turner." I could not put it down. Told from the perspective of the second wife, this tale of a family tragedy and loss is ultimately about love, deep, real, and gritty. 

Munich

by Robert Harris 

Historical fiction that made me go back and research everything I could on the Munich Conference of 1938. Two central characters (one British, one German) seeking to prevent the famed Munich Agreement and thwarted by politicians on both sides. I came away with a different view on Chamberlain's motive for entering the ill-fated agreement. 

The White Rose Resists: a Novel of the German Students Who Defied Hitler

by Amanda Barrett 

Clearly, I had a theme this year. Like Munich, this has me researching the White Rose movement, particularly Hans and Sophie Scholl, who in a 2003 German TV poll took fourth place by viewers asked to name the "Greatest Germans." This novel was a good reminder that not everyone was silent; there were those who stood up, and paid with their lives. 

Homeschool Year in Review: 2019-20 (4th grade)

Evie's style is to get a lot of help but also work independently. She thrived this year and enjoyed her work.

Here is what we used for resources:

Math- I thought of switching math curriculum for her this year and she wouldn't have it. So we continued with Horizons. The 4th grade curriculum is probably my least favorite; it feels redundant. But it covers the topic using a spiral method (which worked well with all of my kids who would each get bored from doing too much of one thing in math for too long).

History and Reading-We used Story of the World Vol. 2: The Middle Ages with Evie and Kyrie covering the same content. Evie is a fast reader and in addition to a lot of related art projects from the activity guide, she read a lot of the suggested book titles for geography, literature, and history.

Earth Science and Astronomy-Ben and Kyrie were studying this course at their levels and I was able to take the curriculum guide by the same company (Elemental Science) and rearrange the order of the lessons so Evie was studying the same topics they were. We didn't do the experiments in her book and instead she participated in the labs for older students. But the reading assignments and books (additional purchase or library) and the writing component were more on her level. She made a gorgeous model universe and this along with identifying stars and planets while eating smores around the fire pit were probably her favorite part of science.

Grammar-I tried something new for Grammar and while Evie enjoyed the story of the family with their pets, I found Well Ordered Language to be really time-consuming and confusing. It relied on songs and Evie dismissed this as unnecessary and we skipped a lot of the material that was just not necessary. By January, we had finished and went back to First Language Lessons, Level 4 which covers grammar so well with no prep required for the teacher.

Writing & Rhetoric-I continue to love Classical Academic Press's Writing & Rhetoric series. Evie completed Narrative I and Narrative II and focused on learning about the different kinds of stories as well as the elements of narratives.

Spelling & Handwriting-Evie worked her way through Spelling Workout D and Zaner Bloser. I have liked Zaner Bloser for fundamentals; but about 4th grade it seems completely boring to me. But I appreciate the way the different letters are taught by strokes that tie in together. Spelling Workout books group spelling by similarities (i.e. Latin roots, prefixes, suffixes), and have the perfect amount of practice without feeling like busy work.

Bible- Kyrie and Evie used God's Great Covenant: Old Testament 2 from 1 Samuel through Malachi this year. In addition to Scripture reading and memorization, Evie had worksheet pages and a quiz each week. I love the way this curriculum tells the story of God's redeeming work in the world.

Art-Art was a Friday subject for Evie that incorporated projects from the Story of the World Activity guide, and then projects I came up with using art lessons from The Metropolitan Museum. Most of the lessons plans just included learning objectives and talking points; but I used the art itself to come up with ideas for projects.

Typing and Logic: Once a week, every practiced typing with Typing Instructor and did fun online logic puzzles with Mind benders.

Homeschool Year in Review: 2019-20 (7th grade)

Kyrie has a completely different style than Ben. "Tell me what I have to do and I will do it." She finds me if she doesn't understand something she is assigned and otherwise, she operates fairly independently. But she is exacting about having me keep up on corrections and grading. 

Math- She wanted to continue using Horizons math for Pre-Algebra. She enjoyed it, understood it, and other than a few times when I needed to help her, I just graded her work. 

History & Literature- We continued with The Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages. This curriculum is ideal for younger students, but I teach it concurrently to Kyrie and Evie and Kyrie is responsible for writing a summary and for using additional internet resources. The activity guide makes it for us and we check out 5 or more library books per chapter for additional learning. When the library closed in March, it dampened my style. More e-books, more creativity, and less reading requirements (just like kids who go public and private school) didn't hurt us too much.


Earth Science & Astronomy-This was our first year using Elemental Science and we liked it a lot. Making use of science encyclopedias, labs and written lab reports, and written summaries, I loved the way this book offered additional resources for going beyond, but also could be done simply. Because I was trying to teach the same subject at three levels (using two different texts-more on Evie's later), I had trouble staying ahead. Buying the lab kit in advance would have been helpful; however, for this course, the materials weren't terribly expensive or difficult to find. The curriculum is flexible, offering suggestions for a 2-day a week or a 5-day a week schedule (which can be adjusted to 3 or 4 days/week). It provides valuable guidance in preparing a science fair project, but coronavirus happened.

Grammar-We used Rod and Staff (just the text and teacher's guide). Kyrie continues to love grammar, and while we rolled our eyes at some of the focus on archaic language, bad theology, and farm references, there are not mistakes. A well-edited grammar book is good thing.

Writing & Rhetoric-We kept going with Classical Academic Press's writing program. This year it was Encomium and Vituperation which involved biographical writing while focusing on positive and negative behaviors and analysis of them. Kyrie loves to write and spent hundreds of hours researching Louisa May Alcott for her final paper. (If the library had been open, it would have been easier.)

Spelling-Kyrie worked ahead of grade level, wrapping up her spelling studies this year with Spelling Workout H. We love this series; focusing on a logical study of spelling (or as much as can be logical about English) and offering just enough puzzles and exercises to understand how to spell a word and its meaning.  The 36 lessons are four pages each, and so work nicely with a schedule of grammar four days and spelling on the fifth.

Bible-We've been using God's Great Covenant series for year and I like them more every year. This year was Old Testament 2: From 1 Samuel thru Malachi.  This series does a great job of sticking to Scripture and not missing the point of Scripture: God's love and redeeming work in the world.  It involves a lot of Bible reading, some text, worksheet pages, and a quiz. This can be taught at different grade/age levels and Kyrie and Evie did this class together.

Art-I had plans for 4 museum trips this year and we made it to one b.c. (before coronavirus). I took the Metropolitan Museum lesson plans and chose to use about half of them, particularly anything that coincided with what we were doing for history. Most of them didn't offer a lot of specific art projects; Kyrie usually viewed the art and we talked about it. For Evie (who did the same thing with us), I came up with a related art project.

Music-Kyrie kept going with piano lessons.