Ballet

New Grammar links

Over the last year, I have learned to really value the skill of memorization.  My kids and I memorized SO much last year and we have just as much to memorize this school year.  It's exciting and overwhelming!  I have learned to not get discouraged by looking at the big lists but instead, to just stay focused on small chunks at a time.  Then it's very rewarding to look back and realize just how much we have learned in a relatively short amount of time.  So of course the internet provides TONS of support and ideas for learning...everything!  In an attempt to organize and utilize everything I think is helpful.  I'm going to make this post a running list of my favorite links to use.  This idea is not to link up everything I find but just the ones I really want to refer to over and over again.  So here's the first few.

Memory work practice ideas with more links!
mulitplication explained at Khan Academy! (I LOVE this website)

CCOP Timeline weeks 1-4

If you find yourself here in search of the New CC Timeline Video's, they've been moved to their very own blog.  Weeks 1-12 are up and running.  Here's a direct link:

http://classicalconversationsorangepark.blogspot.com/

Asking questions?

 

~I couldn't have said this better!  So here's a copy of an article I recently read.   It sums up where my thoughts are this summer.  My children are in all three stages of the trivium (plus preschool) this coming school year so I'm finding a lot to read and consider before we get started with formal lessons again.~

This summer at Classical Conversations Practicums, I enjoyed turning my attention, again, to the Trivium, the three stages of learning: grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric. We often talk about how one learns in each of the stages but I have noticed that there are distinct teaching tools we use in each stage. As a parent and teacher, I want to be aware of how I am teaching so that I can bring out the best in my children in each stage of learning.

(SLOAN)  In the grammar stage, the student needs to memorize the vocabulary of the subject. There are many tools to help students memorize: singing, chanting, drawing, hand motions, body movements—anything that makes the information memorable and pleasant to repeat. Repetition over time will secure the information into long term memory. The parent/teacher role in this stage is to drill and demonstrate. The other tools to have in your toolbox are grammar level questions which enable the student to recite the information they have learned. These questions would be: Who? What? When? and Where? Grammar level teaching should pour into the student lots of rich information, so questions at this level should just ask the student to tell you what they know.

(ETHAN)  In the dialectic stage, we want our student to think about and put to use the information that he or she has memorized. The tool for teaching thinking is also going to involve asking questions, but at the dialectic level, you want to ask questions that get the student processing the information more than they did when they answered the Who? What? When? and Where? questions. There are five good questions to keep in your toolbox. They can be used in any subject to get a student thinking. They are:

1) Can you define __________?

2) How does ___________ compare (or contrast) to another idea?

3) How does ____________ relate to other ideas?

4) What circumstances affect ______________?

5) What do authorities say about __________?

For remembering the five questions simplify them to: define, compare, relate, circumstance, and authority. (DCRCA—Can anyone think of a memory device for this?) My role in this stage is to pull out ideas from the student through discussion. Having these five questions in my toolbox frees me from having to be the expert on a subject; I am the master question asker of any subject.

(CAMRYN)  In the final stage, rhetoric, the student is expected to form his or her own ideas and create original works of writing, art, or speech. This does not mean they need to be left on their own. Life will offer plenty of opportunities for that soon enough. I am still the teacher, so I use this time to help them learn to form original ideas by practicing together. My goal is to pull out ideas from them, and push them further in their thinking. Again, the tool is asking questions to get them thinking. I continue to use the five questions listed above, and I add the more profound, but humbly stated question, “So what?” As a classical educator, I ought to devise a more eloquently stated version of this question, but even though it is plain, it is profound. “So what are you going to do about this problem?” “So what are the consequences of this idea?” “So what does it mean to you?” These are the questions that take the student further in their thinking. We strive to empower them with a sense of responsibility and leadership. They should be using the word “ought” more often. “What ought to be done about this problem?” “What is the right and noble thing to do?” “What are the consequences of these actions?” If the leaders of our country were in the habit of asking themselves these questions, our freedoms and those of the next generation would be protected. We have to train and practice this type of thinking in order to develop responsible and noble leaders. You can do this with your student as you discuss themes in literature, topics in debate, or science papers. Any subject can be questioned this way.  The key is to use rich topics for discussions with my whole family, discussions which I hope will develop their ability to think deeply and act nobly.

As the leading learner in my homeschool, I am growing in the art of asking questions, and I expect that my children will develop the art of asking themselves good questions which will make them great thinkers and leaders.

an Uncle Noah day

tick/tock

  The astronomical clock in Prague. 

Homer Price

I've got to bookmark this for a future book discussion of this book.  Ethan loved reading it several months ago and so I know he will like the movie clips included.  Sloan still has this book on her "to read list" so this may inspire her to read more of the book or I'll wait until she has read it all to share this with her. I love it when someone else makes things easier for me!

Mt. Hope Chronicles: Book Detectives ~ Homer Price

Timeline

I realize I haven't written lately and the things I've been posting are YouTube videos but I have another video to post here.  The kids and I have been very busy this school year learning this timeline (among many other things).  We have 5x8 cards with the titles of each historical event, a picture, and a short summary of the history.  These are the same pictures shown in the video's below.  We've done extra research and reading on the events that interest us the most.  This has brought many great conversations into our school days also.  Each week we focus on 8 events.  and we only have 4 weeks left to get to the last card.  I recently came across these videos from another family learning this timeline also.  I like how they have the pictures flashing in the background and I think the girl here does a great job showing the motions we've been learning along with each card.  Some of the motions are different from what we use but they are very close to the same.  Anyway, this is for my kids to reference during memory practice time.  (And for anyone who may find themselves reading my blog, here's a glimpse of how we homeschool.)