Back to School

We're back in the swing of the school routine. I'm so glad I found a better way to plan each day's work. Instead of my week to week plan that I used last year, I plan a week's worth of work, then label the days as Day 1, Day 2, and so on. Then if we happen to need a day off, or someone is sick or something, it doesn't throw off my whole schedule! (There is an example of Day 14 below.)

The boys are doing the Lord of the Rings Literary Lessons this year. I have joined them in the study and I'm really liking it. I love to read but I have always had poor comprehension skills. Trying to answer the who, what and why questions was a challenge for me when I was a kid. I remember thinking "why would they ask that question, isn't it obvious?" Of course it might be obvious, but I was missing the point. I couldn't tell back what happened in my own words, or else I was just too lazy. I think narrating will help my boys avoid this problem. Being able to read a passage, then tell back in their own words what they read is the best way to retain what they read. Today, the skill of narration has been replaced by workbooks and oral lectures. Narrating challenges and strengthens the mind, teaching the child to attend to what they read, to remember it, to visualize it, to comprehend it, to articulate it.

This is what the boys will be working on today:

Day 14:
Bible Reading: John 14
Devotional Reading: 15 min. (~N~ is reading "More than a Carpenter" and ~D~ is reading "Adam and His Kin")
Math: N-Lesson 11, D-Lesson 12
Grammar: Simply Grammar Lesson 6 (orally with Mom)
Lord of the Rings: Read LOTR p. 121-131 and Lit Lessons 48-50
Dictation/Copywork: D: Psalm 46:3-6
Land of Fair Play: Mom Reads p. 35,36,39,40
Current Events: read daily newspaper (write in own words several headlines of the week)
Spanish Songs: Learn Song (listen to, sing with, memorize)
History Reading: ~D~In Freedom’s Cause, ~N~Rolf and Viking Bow - Narrate to Mom
Art in Story: Mom will read out loud

Two evenings per week, plus Sunday afternoons, we are working through the Bluedorn's logic book "The Fallacy Detective," as a family. It is a great book! I didn't learn much logic when I went to school (if any!), so I am thankful for this opportunity to discuss it now with my children. One of my favorite things about being a homeschool family is just that... I have the chance to re-educate myself!