Math, Science and History - Homeschooling High School

I've written a bit already on how we teach Math, Science, Biology and History in our home. Check out some previous posts:
Godly Patterns in Homeschooling
Discovering Patterns
Social and Physical Sciences 
Classical STEM
VCF-Globe Trotting

I've also talked about lasagna learning in our  homeschool. This is a very classical approach to learning. What I mean by lasagna learning is layer upon layer; overview, review, mastery. Going over material one time, in simple form, might be just enough to whet an appetite, but to really get a-hold of an area, to own it, love it and be able to play with it, requires familiarity, understanding it from multiple sides, from different depths and perspectives.

I am always a bit perplexed by people who talk about nailing down the one perfect curriculum for a specific subject area- especially those areas that are content rich, like Bible and History. We grab as many resources as we can find and do, what is probably best described, a yearly smash up in content areas. For instance, in Bible, my kids have their own reading/study; will be doing some serious Apologetics in CC, have spent the week-end immersed in presentations by a Rabbi from CJCUC, took part in a Middle East study last fall presented by former Missionaries to Turkey, etc. Their history reading delves into church history, as does Timeline memorization, along with much of the fiction that they read. Yes, we do actually intentionally purchase curriculum, but at this point, in High School, it's more pre-determined by who they are studying with, any outsourced classes they are taking and areas of interest.

The year, Cub will be delving deep into American History. We just finished Notgrass' 900+ page 2 volume series on "America the Beautiful." This year he'll be reading source documents and thinking and writing deeply on issues such as Free Market Economics and Liberty. Is redundancy wasted time? Hardly, if it is done with intentionality and purpose, and not as a time -filler- it takes the studetn from passive to active learner. Love that. 

In between, and for fun, he is reading The History of the Renaissance World and the Story of Science by SWB, so it's not like he'll be solely focusing on American History for the entirety of high school.

Skill specific subject areas like Math and the hard sciences require a different approach. For these classes, memory work has to happen. Laws, Rules, facts memorized make everything go so much more smoothly. Then, time on task. You can't get through much math if you don't actually sit down and do the math. I do have a math slug and for that student I set the timer. They work hard while the timer is going and when the hour is over, they are done with that subject; otherwise they'll spend all day in front of their math book, getting more and more discouraged, not getting anything done and feeling guilty about their lack of motivation.

Check out more on Math, Science and History.

http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag30/Lisa_Nehring/siggywithflower_zps2ffa66ba.png @Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

It is Well With My Soul

…we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 2 Cor 4:9

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor 4:17-18

Do God's Commandments- Love One Another.

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 4- 7






http://i1297.photobucket.com/albums/ag30/Lisa_Nehring/siggywithflower_zps2ffa66ba.png@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

Circe Institute 2015 Annual Conference

Circe Institute 2015 Annual Conference in Charleston, SC. The break-out sessions were good  but it was the plenary sessions that I loved. Holy Buckets, these guys can make it all come together. The crowd consisted of Classical Educators from private, public, university model and homeschools. In other words people from all over the country (and some from beyond) with the common purpose of using the vehicle of classical education to bring the Gospel to the hearts and minds of others. Super love. 

Not many vendors- but the ones that were there were amazing- IEW, Lost tools, Roman Roads Media, 8th Day books. What made it so good, so refreshing, so fulfilling? The great food, great conversations, great teaching  had something to do with it. But also, the common vision of Goodness, Truth and Beauty, the fellowship of the Saints who believe that God reigns in the midst of crazy educational philosophies, political foolishness and a world gone a little skewed. 

If you haven't had the chance to get to a Circe conference yet, make it so. Worth it on so many levels! 

@Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!

Mid-August Alert

Mid-August. I am not sure what happened to the last 2 weeks, other than super busy at work getting all of my students re-enrolled and curriculum purchased, getting ramped-up for CC Challenge and marinating in all of the fantastic Tutorials and learning opportunities CC provides (Wowza. If you want to get yourself some amazing Ed training, get involved in Classical Conversations), getting TM's spiral bound, and kids notebooks organized,  gathering resources and getting engulfed in a laminating frenzy, taking down barbed wire fencing, hauling gravel, working on the brick walk, landscaping, and doing my summer purge from the recesses of the basement and attic. With all of that, I have not done any super cool large crafty projects, or read a novel, and the attic floor isn't done, meaning neither is the attic. And kittens. Seriously, they are way too super cute.

So, yeah. Blogging. I've had a lot to blog about but no time to do it in. I did resign, again, from the TOS Crew. I am super bummed about this, because I L.O.V.E. the Crewbies and all of the amazing behind the scenes opportunities, not to mention the obvious, but I spent the spring/summer behind on every.single,darn.thing I was involved in and I am too much of a control freak to live there long. Sanity and all that, is a wonderful thing.

So, our yard. Booyah, baby, is totally beautiful. The front looks like a yard, complete with bushes and wildly colorful flowers. We even have a few eggplant tucked in- though we would have had more if Cub hadn't gone into over-zealous-weed-the-garden-mad-man-frenzy at one point. The east side, where the fire-trucks went through, is grassy and park-like, after 4 years of dirt hauling, leveling, grass seeding, weeding and mulching. The west side now has a bricked in landing spot by the back-door, and defined garden beds. A zillion miles of barbed wire is down and rolled in the farther-out pastures, along with tens of yards of chain link, rolled and gone and dry-rotted fence posts out. It's a bizarre feeling de-constructing pens and fields as the craftsmanship from 90 years ago is a bit different than today; i.e. built to last, and it feels like we are vandalizing history. And yet, barbed wire. 'Nuff said.

Birthday season is upon us and we kicked it off by taking Feeche and friend and kids to see Tim Hawkins live and then out to Hu Hot (which, as much as everyone else loves, I don't; the things we do for love). Tomorrow is the actual day of, then mine, then KB's, then Dr. Dh's. Had a blast sitting next to each other at Tim Hawkins laughing so hard our faces and stomachs hurt and looking at each other, saying, yeah- you do that, watching Cub and Flower and Feeche laughing with abandon, after a long and heart wrenching season. Laughter is medicine for the soul.

In other news my brain is crammed full of of 5 Common Topics, ANI charts, Declensions and more. And this week is the county fair- longest running county fair in the Territories, y'all. Good, clean fun. This week-end will be crammed full of a project Dr. Dh has spent every single free (and some of them not) moment on. It's good, good stuff, in a world gone a bit crazy. Dr.Dh is a visionary, which is a combo of memorizingly cool and a wild ride down Mosquito Coast.

School- not starting till September 1, so summer is still happening. Sleep overs, swimming, books and lots of drawing going on around here. History of the Renaissance World, Pride and Prejudice in print, and Agents of Shield and Indiana Jones on the queue. Yeah, I live with a teen-aged boy. He goes to the gym with me, takes out the trash and weeds my garden, so can't complain too much. Flower continues to nurture her Dick Van Dyke obssession; we like Dick but Morey's the Man.

How's your summer going?

Golden Grasses 2008-2013. All photographs, artwork and text are the property of the owner unless otherwise stated. Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Golden Grasses and get our articles right to your inbox!