Announcement: 2022-2023 Academic Year

 I am excited to announce that I will be teaching with Scholé Academy this coming 2022-2023 Academic Year. I will be teaching Fundamentals of Mathematics (grade: adv. 6 or 7), Pre-Algebra (grade: adv. 7 or 8, and high school), and Well-Ordered Language (grammar) 1 (grade: 4 or 5). You can view the courses I am teaching and all the courses offered here. If you already know that you want to enroll for the coming year, enrollment has begun. 

About this school: This is a virtual classical school. There are actually three schools under the Scholé Academy umbrella: A Catholic school, an Anglican school, and an Orthodox school. The schools follow the principles of seeking Good, Beauty, and Truth in a restful and reflective matter. There are live virtual classes for the student to learn. 

Parents can choose a full enrollment, or they can enroll their child(ren) in the classes most beneficial for their individual needs. There are classes available for K-12, but most of the classes are 4th through 12th. Tutoring is also available for students needing more one-on-one attention. 

If this concept interests you, please browse the courses being offered!

School Schedule

I believe that many parents who are choosing to homeschool wonder how to schedule, how to keep records, and how to time their days.  Though I am just a novice homeschool parent, I have been a teacher for years.  I am going to try to share what works and what doesn't in this blog.  

My student information: 

LO, boy, 5 years old, K-1 (Schola Rosa has their K-6 program broken into K-1, 2-3, and 4-6 levels). 

MT, girl, 3 years old, PreK

CP, boy, 1 years old, Nursery

The tricky part here will be to educate the school age child while managing the other two children.  My plan is to include the 3 year old in as much learning as she is willing to participate in while having the baby set up to play with activities (sensory, crafts, blocks,etc).  My hope is that the 3 year old will float between learning and playing.  

It might be because I have managed classrooms with multiple levels, or it might be because I was homeschooled myself, but I am not afraid of teaching with toddler's underfoot.  Nor am I concerned about teaching multiple levels later.  We will see if my tone changes in a few weeks. 

For the actual subjects, my children have been learning Spanish since birth, so this will continue. We will be following the Schola Rosa subjects: Art, Classically Catholic Memory (Recitation in other school programs), History, Language Arts, Latin, Mathematics, Reading, Religion, Science, and Virtue.  We will be using Under the Home for additional enrichment, as desired.  

The bulk of school will be in the mornings.  Our family does have a reading time in the evening where mommy and daddy will read a few books to the children before family rosary.  I plan to use that evening time to read for pleasure books whenever possible.

Our daily schedule looks like this:

*Morning Gathering - Prayers, Calendar, Weather, Memory Work

*Phonics Block 1: Pre-K Phonics - Alphabet awareness, Letter sounds, Handwriting practice

*Latin, Religion, and Virtue - Latin, Bible, Religion, Virtue 

*Snack Break - Outside picnic when weather permits

*Nature Study - Directed nature study, Geography lessons, Free play, Gardening

*Mathematics - Counting, Facts drill, Lesson from Ray's Arithmetic series, Abacus practice, Chapter from Life of Fred, Notebooking

*History - History lessons and activities, Mapwork, Interactive notebooking

*Phonics Block 2: Phonics lessons from Word Mastery, Reading lessons from McGuffey

*Science - Science lessons, activities, and videos

*Wiggle Break! Exercise or play outside

*Language Arts - Picture Study, Narrations and Illustrations, Poetry, Prose, and Read aloud

*Languages - Spanish lessons and videos

*Enrichment - Art, music, crafts, projects, library, adventures

We keep lessons short. No more than 20 minutes on any subject. We take breaks when and if we need. If something does not work in a lesson, we reschedule it or omit it. When the younger children are fussy, we pause. 

Our school days can vary in time from an hour to four hours. It depends on attention spans, including mine, our week as a whole, and what needs to be done. We are usually done by lunch at the latest. Once the little ones take a nap, my oldest decides if he wants to stay and read or if he wants to nap. 

 So far it is working nicely. 

Teaching Reading Philosophy

 The Learn to Read course is designed for young children.  Very young children love to be read to, and they love to read. 

I have done a fair amount of research to decide how I wanted to teach my children to read.  My method of teaching children how to read is varied.  I believe strongly in teaching children how to read as soon as they express interest in it.  A child does not have a high level of patience.  Teaching the child how to read one or two words at a time will satisfy the child's desire without overwhelming their ability.  

Reading at this age involves a lot of repetition.  When teaching colors, parents quiz on the color many times.  Eventually, the child knows the name of the color on sight.  This is the idea behind teaching sight words.  Knowing sight words isn't enough.  

Phonics generally includes: 

Ear training

Tongue training

Eye training

Word building

Spelling

Children need to learn phonics, preferably early in their education, for them to be successful readers. Once phonics is mastered, children can read pretty much anything. 

Some educators advocate teaching phonemes and letter sounds without true familiarity with the alphabet.  The use of sounds are introduced by use (such as mmmmmm first).  Many parents sabotage this method by teaching their children the ABCs.  Some educators prefer teaching children whole words, such as sight words. 

I see value to all of these, so I prefer a mixed method.  Children are taught words, phonics, and alphabet in bit size lessons to build mastery and satisfy the child's desire to learn. 

House Aesthetics

Recently, my family returned from visiting New England.  While there, we saw many houses like this one.  Houses painted black - imposing, gloomy.  My husband was delighted by them.  I was fascinated.

My husband joked that I should not be surprised if my house was painted black. Our house is blue.  It is calming, welcoming, and secure.

A black house is unique. It is overwhelming. 

I would not want a black house. 

The aesthetics of a house help to invite people in or keep them away. 

It is my goal to be a more welcoming person. Painting my house black will not convey this.

I wish to be a happier person. A dark house may not assist here, either.

Visiting Salem, the House of Seven Gables, the Witch House, and other such Gothic locations has proven to be a fascinating deterrent.  I enjoyed my time there, but I do not want to live in a manner which would be reflected in a black house.

No, I prefer the blue.

From New England with Love

I was MIA last week.  Why? Because I was in New England!

My husband and I are about to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary.  In order to celebrate, we headed to New England for an adventure.  If you follow me on Instagram, you got to see some of the pictures.

 We headed to Salem, MA.  We saw Proctor's Ledge, where many innocent (and maybe a few not so innocent) people were hung.  We went to downtown Salem and experienced "Witch City".  

We also made our way to Hawthrone's Birthplace and the House of Seven Gables.

 The weather greeted us with a powerful, beautiful storm.

My Official Political Stance

Sometimes I read the news or friends’ statuses on Facebook and wonder why there seems to be such a disconnect between what people say...and what they mean....or what they do.

I am not a very political person. Politics bother me because invariably the rhetoric is empty and poor logic is found. I have a great love for logic. I need the world to make sense. When I have commented on politics, it has always been from this need. This desire to understand. After all, the philosopher states that the nature of Man is to know. On occasion, I will read a particularly heinous example of poor logic and I am almost compelled to comment.

Facebook had me pegged as very conservative. Politically, I am not very conservative. Personally, I wouldn’t say conservative. I live a simple, minimalist, and happy life.  I am a moderate. I believe in appropriate and swift penalties for breaking the law, but I think governments should stay out of personal lives. I think that true socialism is unsustainable, but I hold entities, such as Medicaid and Financial Assistance, as necessary. I value the success of capitalism, but I believe the successful should share their success through their generosity. I am very moderate in most things. Why? Because I am not a “conservative”. I am a conservationist - I believe in building foundations first, but applying interventions if necessary.

The second thing that gets me to comment is disrespect or disregard for life. I am a conservationist. My educational background is biology. I am also a Catholic and I believe in the sanctity of human life. It makes my blood boil when I see a disregard for the state of the environment. I loathe the aftermath of protests because of all the trash left behind. It makes me sick to hear of unnecessary loss of life for animals and habitats. Ecosystems are vital to survival. And it deeply wounds my heart when I hear or read of the disrespect of persons.

Race, creed, birth status (born or developing), citizenship, immigration status, job, socioeconomic background, education, mental health, physical health, birth defects, etc. - these all deserve respect. By their very nature, they deserve respect. They deserve the chance of happiness. They deserve dignity. The tiniest fetus. The oldest person in the world. The brilliant mathematician. The disabled adolescent. They deserve respect.

I am an advocate. I give back. I do not judge. I care about the world and everything and everyone in it. My official political position is this: Who can judge the value of life?