-
I'm a part-time clinical psychology researcher and full-time mother to Alex (4/05) and Colin (2/09). We are secular homeschoolers following a modified neoclassical curriculum.
Hey, did you know that we have a wish list
?
Want to follow along? Subscribe to my RSS feed or like this page on Facebook:
Current Read-Aloud
The Borrowers Aloft
Mary Norton-
Category Archives: language arts
All cursive, all the time.
Alex is obsessed with cursive. She’s been tearing through the basic book that’s languished on the shelf all year (I don’t value cursive, so it’s always been optional) and writing her spelling and dictation assignments in a hybrid of cursive … Continue reading
Posted in writing
6 Comments
Cursive and the perfectionist.
Let me tell you, when a perfectionist starts to learn cursive it is fun times. “Augh! Look at this y! It’s horrible! Look at how messed up it is!” “No, Alex. I’m not going to look at your messed up … Continue reading
Posted in writing
4 Comments
Looking ahead to third grade.
Our new school year starts on June 1st. One of my goals for third grade is that Alex start to take a little more ownership of her education, so I asked her what she would like to accomplish this year. … Continue reading
Posted in art, five in a row, math, policy & planning, writing
7 Comments
Snow candy!!
All winter, ever since I read Little House in the Big Woods to Colin, Alex has yearned to make snow candy the way Laura Ingalls did. All winter we’ve had no more than an inch of dirty snow at a … Continue reading
Posted in experiments, language arts
1 Comment
Reading homemade books.
The big thing today was making books and acting them out. Colin has continued to occasionally read sentences I’ve written on the whiteboard. This time I gave him three sentences together that made a story. It took several days to … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, languages, reading
4 Comments
First steps to reading.
For a few months now, Colin has been thinking a lot about words. “Hey Mom, did you know that ‘bridge’ starts with /b/, B?” “Do you know what’s cool? When Buzz Lightyear says ‘To infinity and beyond!’ it has FIN … Continue reading
Posted in reading, writing
6 Comments
Alex writes an “essay.”
With our new study of earth science, Michael and I decided that it was time to start requiring Alex to do some independent writing. Once a week, we’re asking her to write a few sentences explaining something she’s learned about … Continue reading
Posted in earth science, writing
4 Comments
Quick photo update.
I’m kind of too busy to post, but here’s a glimpse of what Alex has been up to. Learning valuable new words: Combing the dictionary for naughty words like “stupid”: Making Christmas ornaments: Colin, too:
Posted in art, language arts
Leave a comment
Completing sentences.
In Sentence Island, the writing component of Michael Clay Thompson’s language arts, our latest topic is sentence fragments. In particular, we’ve been grappling with the idea that a sentence can have all the parts Alex has learned that a sentence … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, Michael Clay Thompson, writing
3 Comments
Alex the playwright.
We got into a little discussion of immigration at dinner tonight. After dinner, Alex was on fire to dictate this play to me. She started out assigning roles to family members, but quickly the dramatis personae got out of hand. … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, writing
4 Comments
Grammar/writing: action vs. linking.
Assignment: Write two short descriptions of the same thing. One description should use only action verbs. The other should use only linking verbs. I am Luna Lovegood. I am good at beliveing. I am brave, and I was with Harry … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, Michael Clay Thompson, writing
9 Comments
Soccer!
Alex started soccer last week, in a friendly neighborhood under-8 league. They practice for an hour and then play a game. I like her coaches, who are kind and easygoing. Her team seems to have a lot of other beginners. … Continue reading
Posted in field trips, writing
1 Comment
Formerly reluctant writer.
Last night, I opened up a composition book I recently bought for Alex’s Language Arts work and found that she had gotten started without me. Sunset Sunset was a little girl, her Parents said she was a perl, Sunset loved … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, writing
2 Comments
Sentences have two sides.
I realized recently that I’ve never posted anything about our new language arts program. I want to write about it at length, because it’s amazing, but in the interim here’s a brief glimpse. This is an activity from Sentence Island, … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, Michael Clay Thompson
4 Comments
Second grade: New additions.
We’ll be adding two new Language Arts components to Alex’s curriculum in second grade. I’m pretty excited about both of them. I heard Michael Clay Thompson speak at the Royal Fireworks Press conference last June, and ever since, I’ve been … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, policy & planning
16 Comments
Tea and poetry.
We try not to be quite as educationally anachronistic as we could be, as classical homeschoolers. Okay, so we’re studying Latin and ancient history, and Alex only wears dresses, and I don’t ever plan to give her a “make a … Continue reading
Posted in language arts, stuff we're reading
25 Comments
Early Learning Manifesto.
Recently, someone posted to the Well-Trained Mind forums concerned that her son had “hit a plateau” in his reading program. He knew the letters and their sounds, but simply couldn’t seem to blend sounds together to make a word. Nor … Continue reading
Posted in philosophy and politics, reading, toddler world
13 Comments
“My favorite element: Ununoctium.”
I love this kid: The scan cut off some of her answers, which wobbled into and down the margin: Why is it your favorite element? Becuse it will be namd after me.[1] Write down four facts you learned about your … Continue reading
Posted in chemistry (RSO), science, writing
2 Comments
All about “All About Spelling.”
Third in an occasional series of posts about the curricula we use. Previously: Latin, math, nature study. When I was a kid, we got a spelling list every Monday, took a pre-test on Wednesday, did sentence dictation on Thursday, and … Continue reading
Posted in language arts
11 Comments
Historical fiction.
Hanna’s Cold Winter takes a real event – the people of Budapest saving their hippos during an unusually cold winter of World War II – and creates a fictional story about it, about a particular family, their affection for the … Continue reading
