Master Books Curriculum
Workbooks in Homeschooling: A Misunderstood Resource? Our CEB team has met a fair amount of homeschoolers who recoil a little at the thought of using workbooks in their homeschool. We get it—who wants to replicate the schools with their repetitive worksheets when we have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give our children a rich, engaging, and living education? But what if workbooks are exactly what you need? What if we told you that workbooks could be the exact tool you’re looking for to help you provide an engaging education for your children? Introducing Master Books They are a workbook-based curriculum that should not be overlooked as you plan your homeschool year. What makes Master Books special? Their workbooks are: graded colourful Christian open and go cover a variety of subjects But are they rigorous? They are not highly academic, but they cover the basics. Some might even say they are, well, mediocre—meaning, “of moderate academic quality.” But doesn’t life sometimes call for mediocrity? We’ve all experienced seasons where mediocre meals, housework, or family time is the only option. Don’t be ashamed! We’ve all been there—or will be there. Is this a test of endurance… or contentment? Ask yourself this question when you find yourself in “that season”: Is the Lord testing you on how fast you can recover and get back to healthy eating, tip-top housework, and the most memorable family time? Consider that maybe it’s your contentment that’s being challenged. How are you responding? What’s your attitude when life doesn’t allow for “the best”? Who Are These Resources For? This resource is going to appeal to families who: need something simple as they transition from a school setting to a homeschool setting, especially families who are not ready to abandon a typical way of doing school are expecting a new baby, experiencing illness, traveling, or tackling a big move and need a resource that can be used fairly independently have a child who needs to just “get through” some language arts (or other subject) so they can indulge in delight-driven learning are accountable to authorities and need some quick box checking want to be assured they are covering the basics but want room in their week to: have extensive and enriching family-centred morning times, read through booklists, go on field trips, dive down educational bunny trails, and pursue passion projects Read number 5 again! Did you notice it? Yes, workbooks can actually give you peace of mind and freedom to pursue all the other amazing educational opportunities that are afforded to homeschool families. Do What Works for You You need something that will work for YOUR family, in YOUR situation. Maybe this year it’s Master Books. By Adrianne Curwen Adrianne is a wife to a public-school educator/administrator and a homeschooling Mama to seven children, ranging in age from 8 to 24. In 2021, the family added a son-in-law to the bunch. She believes that we have a unique opportunity as homeschoolers to design individualized education that suits giftings, interests, and passions. She and her husband have used a blend of registered homeschooling, enrolment with independent DL schools, and participation in public trade school programs to design individualized programs for their children. She is passionate about using as many read-alouds, picture books, novels, and conversations to educate her children but also gets excited by the amazing homeschool-designed curriculum that’s out there. Adrianne is thrilled by her new role as Creative Director and is grateful to have an opportunity to learn something new. She is grateful, every day, for her saviour, Jesus Christ, and has no greater joy than when she sees her most important mission field walk with Him.
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind
Written by Jessie Wise & Sara Buffington, First Language Lessons is an elementary-level grammar & composition curriculum. There are 4 levels that loosely correspond to grade levels. This is a significant plus for me as we run the full spectrum of learners; those who have giftings outside of academics and those whose giftings are academics. I greatly appreciate it when homeschool curriculum doesn’t splash the grade level across the front. It’s a simple thing but I prefer it when the terms “level 1” or “book a” are used over “grade 1”. Flexible and Easy to Use Grammar Curriculum I hold off teaching grammar until students are reading well. The First Language Lessons curriculum is flexible and allows you to do that as Level 3 can be used after levels 1 & 2 or it can be used as a first grammar text for older elementary students. Level 1 – start with a grade 1 or 2 student and then carry on with the other 3 levels Level 2 – grade 2/3 Level 3 – start with a grade 3, 4, or 5 students and then carry on with the next level Level 4 – grade 4-6 The instructions are simple and straight forward and it’s clear right from the start how you are to move through the curriculum. The fact that each level has significantly less than 180 lessons was a huge draw for me. It is a turn-off for me when homeschool curriculum packs in enough lessons to fill every possible teaching day over a 10-month period. I prefer a curriculum that allows us the freedom to veer from the schedule from time to time to pursue other interests, dive into projects, spend some time reviewing, or just take a break. Level 1 & 2 contain 100 lessons each Level 3 110 lessons: 89 regular lessons 7 writing letters lessons 7 dictionary skills lessons 7 oral usage lessons Level 4 101 lessons: 85 regular lessons 1 contraction lesson 10 writing lessons 5 dictionary skills lessons The workbooks are consumable but reasonably priced. There is a lot of white space on each page, a benefit for anyone who can become overwhelmed when there are a lot of words on a page. Also, there are no graphics or characters. We purchased the downloadable version of the workbooks, and I would not do that again. It has been a hassle to keep up with printing lessons off using our own printer and I have found having the entire workbook printed at a printing company to be costly; not enough of a savings to make the extra steps worthwhile. Classical Approach All four levels of the First Language Lessons use classical techniques to develop language ability: memory work, copy-work, dictation, picture narration, story narration, and grammar. Direct Instruction If you are at all hesitant about your own grammar skills and teaching ability this would be a great choice as every lesson is scripted, simple, and straightforward. This curriculum is not set up for a student to learn on their own; an instructor is needed! The scripted lessons make it easy for the instructor, and this direct instruction method is essential for learners who get bogged down in written instructions. Most lessons are not lengthy, so you don’t need to worry about the fact that the lessons require you to walk your student through them. There is the occasional lengthy lesson, but most are very reasonable. There is a good amount of repetition of topics throughout each level, so I have not found the short lessons to be a problem, and most lessons have an optional component that we always completed as the lessons really were so manageable. The flexibility and ease of this program allow you to use a writing program alongside it, or you could wait and use a formal writing program after Level 4. The First Language Lessons is a solid grammar curriculum and should easily make it into your top 3 when trying to narrow down your choices. by Adrianne Curwen Adrianne is a wife to a public-school educator/administrator and a homeschooling Mama to seven children, ranging in age from 7 to 23. She believes that we have a unique opportunity as homeschoolers to design individualized education that suits giftings, interests, and passions. She and her husband have used a blend of registered homeschooling, enrolment with independent DL schools, and participation in public trade school programs to design individualized programs for their children. She is passionate about using as many read-alouds, picture books, novels, and conversations to educate her children but also gets excited by the amazing homeschool-designed curriculum that’s out there. Adrianne is thrilled by her new role as Communication Specialist for Classical Education Books and is grateful to have an opportunity to learn something new. She is grateful, every day, for her saviour, Jesus Christ, and has no greater joy than when she sees her most important missions field walk with Him.
A Path for Learning Latin
First, I gave up learning Latin! Once upon a time, long ago, I wanted to learn Latin. I was not necessarily convinced by all the discussions and articles that went on at length about the benefits of Latin. I was a teenager, and Latin was “dead” they said. So I wanted to know more. After trying out a few courses, including Wheelocks Latin, I gave up. I did not understand why the endings of the words kept changing. I did not get how they did that thing with action verbs and being verbs. And let us not even start talking about prepositions. Back then Latin tutors weren’t even thinking about tutoring yet. Self-included. Latin from a Grammar vs. Vocabulary Emphasis Fast forward a few years, and a couple of babies. Of course, you must decide on which curriculum to use before your child turns 2, so I was on it. I was reviewing and reading up on anything and everything that might prepare me and my children for their education. This time around, there was more discussion around the learning of Latin. I had given up hope for myself, but I was convinced that Latin was necessary for a well-rounded education for the sake of my children. But this time I decided to go a different route. Rather than learning Latin from a vocabulary emphasis, I decided to learn it from a grammar emphasis. What is the difference? Well, with a vocabulary emphasis the goal is to have the student reading and speaking Latin as soon as possible. The more you read, the more you understand which endings go along with each other, and the more words you memorize the broader your vocabulary so you can start to understand what you are reading. With a grammar emphasis, the rules of Latin are taught, alongside vocabulary to be sure. But there are a few key reasons why one might want to learn Latin from a grammatical perspective if one is already fluent in English. Latin grammar and English grammar are very similar so as one learns Latin grammar it can double up as English grammar. What we take for granted as “the way it is” in English will be explained as a logical and reasonable structure for communication. Latin has 4 conjunctions and 5 declensions. That is all. (Ok sure, there are a few more things you need to know, but once you get the pattern and basic structure of conjugating and declining, everything else will fit around your basic knowledge of Latin.) Once those are learned, it is just a matter of using those endings and pairing them with the vocabulary to create grammatically correct sentences. There is not as much “guess” work. You have the pieces, you know how they fit together, now you just need practice. The Latin language has gender forms. By learning which gender a declension signifies, it is easy to tell the gender of vocabulary without memorizing that little bit of important information and all the vocabulary. Does it end with -a, -ae? It is feminine; -us, -i? Masculine. By learning how to put the grammar rules together, I have also learned how to parse English, and English grammar has become one of my favorite subjects. Words matter. We need to know how to construct a sentence with accuracy and precision. Many English words come from Latin. As Latin vocabulary knowledge expands, so will your understanding of the English language. There are great minds who have written extensively on the benefits of Latin. I would encourage you to read a few of their thoughts. And if in doubt, just jump into teaching Latin in faith. The riches are there, and some of them cannot be explained; you have to experience them. Here is the plan that I have pursued. A Plan for Teaching Latin Latin Resources for Ages 4-6 Song School Latin Book 1 After I’ve said all that, I’ll be honest and admit that yes, this is a vocabulary program and it’s an excellent way to start with a young child. It introduces them to the language and gives them a few words to use around the house. This is especially fun if you have older kids learning Latin. Anything that makes the younger ones feel a part of the family is a winner. The DVD is the best part of this course. If you have a child who loves workbooks, add that in. But if your child isn’t into that, then just do the DVD. Latin Resources for Ages 7-8 Latina Christiana This is a simple program that teaches a list of vocabulary words, a Latin saying, and a grammar form each week for 25 weeks, with 5 review lessons. If this is your first time teaching Latin, then I recommend the DVD or Online Streaming videos. The flashcards are a helpful, simple way to review the weekly memory work. Age 7 can do this work, but do not add on the extras. Age 8 can do this for a second year and add in the extras, or start here. Add ons: Ludere Latin Latin Review Worksheets (year 2) Ecce Caecilia Et Verus (Latin Reader). Note: if you are someone who really needs to learn from a vocabulary perspective, then you would love Song School Latin, Book 2 followed by Latin for Children, Primer A instead of the above. Latin Resources for Ages 9-12 First Form Latin, Second Form Latin, Third Form Latin This program can also be an entry point for a student. If you are just starting your Latin lessons at these ages, start with First Form Latin. This is a slow, methodical walk through Latin grammar forms while presenting vocabulary to memorize. The Student Workbooks presents repetitive work for mastery. The DVDs or Online Streaming are necessary if you have not learned Latin before. Add ons: Ecce Caecilia Et Verus (Latin Readers) Lingua Angelica Acts of the Apostles: A Latin Reader Lingua Latina Series Note: if
Curriculum Spotlight – Science Through History
How do we know how things work? What are atoms and molecules? How do human organs function? Why are the sparkling lights in the sky? In today’s curriculum spotlight, let’s talk about science through history. Understanding Science Through History These are questions that humans have been asking from the beginning of time, and we want answers. This science program tells us about those men and women who asked the questions and then proceeded to find answers to them. With a solidly Biblical beginning in, Science in the Beginning, we move on to Science in the Ancient World. The stories of Archimedes, Galen, and Hippocrates describe some of their first questions and how they were answered. Archimedes is the first person who recorded his observations of mathematics in space as well as things like water displacement, engineering in movement, and calculating volume. Galen observed the human body and how each part connected with the others. Hippocrates decided that fluids in the body influenced the emotions that we experience. You may wonder, how is this relevant to our world today? What is scientific about these things? Can science be learned through history? Science is something that is not settled, it’s actually constantly being discovered, tested, and changed. So how can we tell our children about this world of discovery? By reading the stories of the men and women who observed and wrote about their findings, we can show how our knowledge of the world in its minutest and grandest forms was discovered, but not always with a definite conclusion. Aristotle, one of the greatest scientists and philosophers in history, believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. While we can learn so much from his work, we now know that he was wrong on this very important subject. How can this program help our students to study and learn about science? As an elementary program, this is the story of how people came to believe what they did. Young children love to hear stories, and imagine them, and play them out. Rather than giving children dry facts of anatomy, astronomy, chemistry, and the other sciences, this program tells them the story of the discovery. However, it’s not just a story. Each lesson also has an experiment. Again, as a course for elementary students, it’s a beautiful introduction to start the first books of the series with younger ages. The experiments are very basic and engaging, and even mind-blowing to 6- and 7-year-olds. After those first basic discoveries, we move on, with the ages, and engage with the renaissance world as they build on the ideas first discovered. Galen told us so much about the human body, but he was not correct in everything. Leonardo da Vinci begins to show us more and we experiment with more complex materials. Copernicus and Galileo challenged Aristotle’s ideas about the universe and bravely published their works, showing us that even the most intelligent Aristotle could be wrong on some things. This is the story of science, and yes, we can learn science through history. It’s a method: purpose, hypothesis, materials, procedure, results, and conclusion. In telling our children about the brave men and women who were able to publish their conclusions to a world that might not accept them, we are raising up a generation of young people who can lead us into the next generation of scientific discovery. Quick facts: This tells the story of science from the beginning of time including the people who presented their ideas. This is not just a story. Experiments accompany every story as the students are compelled to prove the theory. As an elementary program, it begins very basically and as they are more able to understand and build on discoveries, this program guides them. These books do not have to be done in order. Each text stands alone in content. Every lesson concludes with questions for the student. The questions are for three levels: youngest, older, oldest. This is an excellent program for a one-room schoolhouse approach. You can teach many ages with one text. The reading in each lesson is very manageable. Printable Notebook Pages are included and can be accessed through links in the product descriptions on our website. See sample. 5 Volumes – 180 lessons in each volume Science in the Beginning Science in the Ancient World Science in the Scientific Revolution Science in the Age of Reason Science in the Industrial Age Or buy the entire set for an excellent price: Science Through History. Optional but Recommended Helps and Hints Resource Helps and Hints for Science in the Beginning Helps and Hints for Science in the Ancient World Helps and Hints for Science in the Scientific Revolution Helps and Hints for Science in the Age of Reason Helps and Hints for Science in the Industrial Age *You can purchase the text and helps and hints as a set or separately. by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home-educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.
Well Ordered Language – Review
Our Story I didn’t know much about Well-Ordered Language when I bought the 1A student edition earlier this school year. I thought it’d be a bit of a last-ditch effort for my (ahem, older) kids to properly learn grammar after doing practice with Daily Grams, some IEW sentence wrangling, and some really great Ruth Heller picture books when my two were younger. Nothing seemed to stick. They could stumble through the two afore-mentioned curriculums; paying attention just enough to get them done within the prescribed 3 minutes a day, but they had zero interest or motivation to allow the sticky notes of information in their brain to actually…stick. I’d read a different book from Classical Academic Press and had heard quite a bit about the program so…why not? I’d try it out to see if we could get anywhere with it. I’m very pleased to inform you that we’re just now finishing up Book 1B and will work steadily through 2A until the end of term, teaching two kids of different ages, and abilities and the ‘notes have stuck!’ Easily Adaptable Language Arts Program Well-Ordered language can be taught to any child at any level. It starts at the very beginning of basic grammar and sentence structure, with subjects and predicates, and moves through levels 1-4, with both A and B components or two books per year, one per semester, for four years/levels. I’ve only done level 1 so far, so I’ll stick with talking about that, but I’ve been very impressed with not only the ease and logical progression of the program, but the adaptability, and the quality literature and language it tucks in between the covers, as well. My children are not grades 3 and 4, as suggested for the Classical school’s use, but are in middle school. One has diagnosed learning disabilities, the other, just assumed (and not as severe). The ‘stickiness’ of concepts is often a cause of low executive function. A lot of review, slow pace and daily practice with solid momentum helps a lot. A beginner program that can be adapted to use for older students is always something I’m keeping an eye out for. Although there are some portions that we’ve skipped due to age (like the songs/chants–these help younger kids, I’m sure, but my older kids just feel like they are too ‘babyish’. Fair enough-if they can master the content, they can skip that exercise in each chapter). I also have adapted the program for two students to use one book as opposed to just one. It cuts my cost in half, but it also cuts the work in half, though they still get the quality content, teaching, and review. Those who struggle with a lot of writing/content at one time, this ‘less work more often’ system is very helpful. Great Layout and No Drivel! The content is excellent. Classical Academic Press (CAPs) always uses quality literature, poetry, and Latin words/definitions in their teaching, which I strongly prefer to made-up sentences that amount to drivel or uninteresting paragraphs you’d find on a standard test. My kids have had a broader understanding of the grammar rules because the way they lay out everything is, as Goldilocks says, “just right”. It’s orderly and you don’t spend too little or too much time on it before moving on to the next concept, which just builds on the prior one. It is aptly named. Complimentary Writing Program Well-Ordered Language has a sister writing program, called Writing and Rhetoric, and although I didn’t know it at the time, they mesh beautifully together. That was just a happy little accident that worked out for the benefit of my family by working through them side by side. (See also: last-ditch efforts) Working Well-Ordered Language together with Writing and Rhetoric has improved my children’s ability to understand the parts of a sentence, grammar rules, and amplification with description and dialogue drastically within one year. Their writing ability has sky-rocketed in the last 6 months alone. I am very pleased with these two programs, see the immense benefits of working them in tandem, and will continue to use them next year. I’m just a little disappointed I didn’t know about them until this past year! If you’d like to know more on how to adapt them to different ages, and abilities, or have more questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment and I’ll be in touch. Shop here for all Well-Ordered Language Levels. My name is Sarah Mast and I homeschool my two kids in Ft. Langley, BC. One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the community gained, and I volunteer with a local support group to help foster that and connect others. My family loves the outdoors and traveling, and our weekends include skiing, swimming, hiking, or biking depending on the season. I found Classical Education Books at a conference and noticed their well-curated selection of children’s books. I kept tabs on their collection of the classics and hard-to-find books and reached out. Now I get to help customers hone their collections, and work on the ever-growing inventory here at CEB!
Legends and Leagues – Geography in Color
Geography is anything but dry and boring. If that’s been your experience, then we have a treat for you! Legends and Leagues is a journey around the world, including history where relevant, and just to keep you on your toes, there are fantasy creatures involved. (How else are you going to travel across Europe in a couple of hours?) The first book and workbook are for young children, ages 5-7. This is just a fun story awakening a youngster’s mind to charting a path, and how one could do that. The next four courses are for ages 8-12. These can be done in any order since they don’t build on each other, they just cover the countries as follows. Each course includes a review of Continents and Oceans: North: British Isles, Europe, Scandinavia, Former U.S.S.R. South: Africa, Middle East East: Asia, Oceania, Australia, New Zealand West: North America, South America Each course includes a read-aloud book, which could be a stand-alone but the workbooks really enhance the stories and give a more practical look at the country being studied. It includes flags, questions about major landmarks, historical events that changed geography, recipes, crafts, and activities. There are a few questions that need answers, and those are divided into easier and harder categories so this book can be used for a range of ages simultaneously. Yes, it would make a perfect Morning Basket curriculum. A few missionary read-alouds would be the perfect pairing for this curriculum that will tell your children about other nations. The Taste of Asia devotional would be the perfect way to pray about the countries that you are studying in the Legends and Leagues East. While I was reviewing this, I couldn’t help thinking that this was the next step for the Around the World with Picture Books I and II packages. Those are the best introduction to the world around us for young children, ages 4-8. If you have completed those, this is certainly the next step in your geography curriculum. Quick facts: First book and workbook for grades 4-7 (or you could do the Around the World with Picture books packages). The next 4 levels can be done in any order There are two sets of questions directed to younger and older students This can be done with children of multiple ages simultaneously Includes recipes and activities Click here to shop now! by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home-educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.
Apologia Exploring Creation with Marine Biology
Apologia is a Christ-centered, award-winning homeschool curriculum. Their mission is to help homeschoolers learn, live, and defend their faith through their curriculum. Overview Exploring Creation with Marine Biology is a high school level, college-prep, lab science (Biology is a prerequisite) yet it is also captivating to teens that are not majoring in science. The course covers a complex topic using a conversational style that is engaging for students. Parents will appreciate that it can be completely student-led. Apologia offers several ‘add-on’ components to the course, including a DVD, tests, and solutions, and a student notebook to complement the textbook. We used the text, test booklet, and the notebook, which we found indispensable. It offers a daily schedule which was easy to follow and includes a chart for grades. There are pages for notes, definitions, study guide questions, an experiment and lab report section, and space for the ‘On Your Own’ questions found throughout the text. The test manual includes solutions for the study guides, a test and solutions for each module, and quarterly tests. The course contains 16 modules, intended to be completed in 34 weeks using the lesson plan schedule of 45 minutes per day, 5 days a week. One module with lab experiments and tests should be completed every 2 weeks. *Our daughter found this pace quite relaxed and often would complete 2 lessons in 1 day. After completing the study guide for a module, she would start the next module, while studying for the test of the previous module. She completed the course in approximately 28 weeks. The Pros and Cons Pros included the easy-to-read delivery and the abundance of information on fascinating sea creatures. She also appreciated that while the focus of the course is on creationism, other viewpoints were presented as well for a balanced view of both sides. Cons were the large amount of time spent on microscopic creatures (not her personal favorite topic) and she found that often the study guide was not an accurate representation of the test questions. Final Thoughts While not considering herself a science kind of kid, our daughter really dove into this course (water, get it?…) We often heard her narrating fascinating tidbits at the dinner table, showing that she absorbed a lot of detailed information without the course being overly time-consuming. The ‘On Your Own’ questions were a great way to explore new knowledge on a deeper level, instead of just repeating learned facts and she liked that the author wrote for a high school audience in a way that was not overwhelming but was also not condescending. After going through all of the elementary Apologia science courses as well as several high school courses, we are excited to continue exploring creation! Other Apologia Titles for Highschool Science: Exploring Creation with General Science Exploring Creation with Biology Exploring Creation with Physical Science Exploring Creation with Chemistry Exploring Creation with Physics Exploring Creation with Advanced Biology Exploring Creation with Advanced Physics Julia lives in Langley, BC with her husband and four children. Their adventures include traveling as The Springmans, a family band. Yes, that means that Julia homeschools on the road! This last year has made them available online for everyone to enjoy. Visit their Facebook page for live concerts, and follow Ryan, Sarah and Jacob as they search for treasure in the wilds.
Curriculum Spotlight – Christian Studies
The Bible contains the foundational stories of the Christian faith. The Christian Studies program is a kind of literature study of these stories. It is delivered in three parts. Book 1 The first is a K-2 enrichment book that is used with The Story Bible. This three-year program will read through all the Bible stories with the children once. Each lesson will review big words and ask comprehension questions. Book 2 The second part is for grades 3-5 and it covers the stories of the Bible in three years. This part is based on The Golden Children’s Bible. Each lesson covers Facts to Know, Comprehension Questions, Geography, Activities, and Memory Verses. Book 3 The third part is a one-year overview of the entire Bible. It can start at grade 6 and it relies on the student’s understanding of the stories of the Bible as they read through the Reader which has an overview of each book. The Student Guide will then review key people, terms, and geography, and an outline of each book. Common Questions Questions that commonly arise ask about the Bible storybooks that are used in this program. While the student and teacher’s guide refers to the required storybook pages, they also refer to the stories being taught. So one could use any story Bible to complete this course, but it would be best to use the recommended resources. These resources are the closest to the text that I’ve seen, which is one of the strengths of this program. Without getting theological, or imposing judgment on characters and situations, these texts faithfully tell the stories that are recorded in the Scripture. The course is a Bible literacy course, not a theological treatise or Bible study. It tells the story and helps the student remember the characters, time, and place. As such, it is a good resource for all Christians who want to know the Bible well, commit passages and texts to memory, and understand key phrases and words. Quick facts: Read through the Bible in three years with the K-2 Enrichment book Read through the Bible again in three years with the Christian Studies books I-III Read through an overview of the books of the bible with Christian Studies book IV Each part can be done independently of the other Bible story resource with parts 1 and 2 not required but it is strongly recommended This is a Bible literacy course, with memory verses required every week. Add in memory verse flashcards to help with memorization Learn the books of the bible and an outline of each book by the end of all 7 years Memorize 200+ trivia questions Create a timeline of events Can include maps of the geography for classroom or kitchen walls Grades are a recommended starting place, but it can be used in higher grade levels as well by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home-educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.
Curriculum Spotlight – Center for Lit
The Center for Lit has done something amazing for teaching literature. You don’t need textbooks or analytical reviews. You just need to know how to ask the right questions. Their flagship product, Teaching the Classics is an eight-hour seminar for parents, teachers, and readers. It gives them a tool for reading literature that acts like a pair of glasses which are to be worn whenever you read a book. This method shows how every story has the same structure, and it provides a long list of questions that will equip the teacher or parent to begin a Socratic Dialogue. By using dialogue a teacher can help the student engage with the story in a way that challenges his own views and opinions, rather than asking the student to assess a story whereby he just applies his paradigm to the text. Teaching the Classics also reviews literary devices and their importance to understanding classic literature. This program is for all grades and beyond. In fact, it’s easiest to start to learn how to teach with dialogue using kids’ picture books. A shorter story means less that gets in the way of spotting the key elements. But we can use this with texts as complex as Tolstoy or Tolkien. Beyond the seminar, the only thing you need is a desire to learn, and a good book. Once you have completed the seminar, Center for Lit helps us choose books for each grade level in their book Read Roadmaps. This guide also gives us a summary of each book and short notes for the teacher as tips for Socratic dialogue. If you want to have complete lesson plans for select books, you can use the Ready Readers. The Ready Readers Series have texts for Elementary to High School, even one for The Chronicles of Narnia. Each Reader provides several lessons for each book and they cover specific questions mapped out for the teacher, all within the scope of what was discussed in the seminar Teaching the Classics. You must watch the seminar to understand the scope of what these books are doing. I highly recommend the Ready Readers as a reliable support for teaching literature in the form of a Socratic dialogue. Quick Facts: Teaching the Classics is the central piece of this program. It’s all you need. Teaching the Classics is a DVD seminar with a workbook that can be done as a group. You will need to purchase additional workbooks for each viewer. Reading Roadmaps is a K-12 booklist with summaries of Teaching the Classics story chart. Ready Readers are open and go lesson plans for selected titles. This method can be used on any text, you do not have to use the Reading Roadmaps or the Ready Readers. by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home-educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.
Classical Education: Back to Basics
Classical education is a new term for an old path. Over the last several years it is being rediscovered. It’s the classic path, the path that was well travelled but somehow our adventurous natures took us beyond that path. As we try to rediscover how our Western Culture gave us a richness of beauty, truth and goodness that we have not been able to replicate in recent years, it turns out we’re in for a bit of a journey. This journey is presented in many different ways, styles and methods. Classical Education: Way Back When I’d like to take you back to a time before the phrase “classical education” emerged. Way back to the time when communication between human beings was primarily oral, or speaking. Some people were beginning to create systems of writing where words could be put down in a concrete, tangible ways. But it was not easy to do, so only the most important, or valued words were set down in a way that could exist outside of the human mind. Many of the texts that we have from that beginning are a good source for us to learn about who we are as human beings, but also how human beings have behaved and how or if that has changed. We need to pay special attention to some of the civilizations that existed before the birth of Christ such as the Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures. These are three cultures whose words were put in written form and passed through the ages. When we take a closer look we will see that, as some of the first recorded thinkers, they presented foundational truths that have been built upon. To be fair, it’s not easy to take a few thousand years of history and boil it down to into a neat little summary. However, like a valiant student of the subject who can’t always distinguish between brash and brave, I’ll delve in with you and take to heart what G.K. Chesterton said: “If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.” And I believe so strongly that it’s worth learning about our past because I believe that there is no other way to change our future. So let’s give this a try. Some Truth and Good Ideas The Greek civilization was keen to look at man as more than a physical phenomenon. Through the works of Plato we learn that man is more than a body; more than what is visible to the eye. Plato tells us about another part of man which we know to be the soul. He goes on, at tedious length I might add, to discuss what that means, and how a man can take control of his actions and become self-governed. He explains to us that to become more human, man must learn to conduct himself in a way that benefits the greater good, and the wider community of mankind. While all these ideas resonate with us, we feel something lacking. That’s because there was a major piece missing in Greek thought which became evident when, despite their efforts to be man in perfection, they were invaded by a barbarian horde who became their rulers. Some of the barbarian hordes listened to the ideas that the Greeks had put forward, and these ideas resonated with them too. As a result, they tamed their wild natures to be able to get along for the greater good of the community, or you could say they learned to be civil. And thus, we come to one of history’s greatest civilizations, the Roman Empire. The Greek ideas became the teachers in this new order, and the idea of a self-governed man became alive as the civilization began to set up structures to rule over other people. The self-governed man was learning to rule as a governor of many men, but also how to live under a governor or many governors as good citizens. As a result of their thoughts and actions, they were able to extend their rule over less governed people and barbarians became civilized. An Unavoidable Problem As lovely as it might sound, this was not the utopia that man was longing for. Self-government and learning to live under man’s rule as a good citizen did not work out the way it had been planned. While many Romans were courageous and lived honorable lives, there were many cowardly and dishonest Romans. So it’s fair to ask the question: if these ideas are so great why was Greece conquered? Why did Rome fall? Because man cannot be the perfectly self-governed individual. We know that this is true because before Plato ever drew breathe, a man named Moses lived. He was the leader of a small tribe of ex-slaves, wandering like nomads in the desert. Moses famously ascended a mountain to receive instruction from his God, the great YHWH. Moses received the powerful words spoken and etched into stone by YHWH for all the world to read: the two stone tablets of the law. He presented these words to his people and they scorned him. This Moses, beloved of YHWH, receiver of these great words was unable to contain his fully human anger towards the people. According to his God, the great YHWH that was the point. YHWH had been saying for many generations that His people could not keep these laws. But that didn’t stop Him from presenting the law to His people anyway, even after Moses destroyed the first copy deciding that the people were not worth of these great words. Jesus is the Answer So it was no small matter that, at the height of the Roman Empire, during the reign of one of Rome’s greatest governors, or Emperors, YHWH fulfilled his promise to take matters into His own hands and make everything right. He became man, in the form of a small baby, born in backwoods Jerusalem, far from the glory of Athens or Rome. This God-Man was to be the
Curriculum Spotlight – Zeezok Music
The Zeezok Music Appreciation program comes in many pieces and the program is so versatile. My favorite thing about this program are the books about the composers. These books, by Opal Wheeler, are living books at their best. Each story is captivating and some of them include short pieces of music that a young aspiring musician can try to play on a keyboard or piano. With details about their character and life, these are read-alouds that are the perfect addition to your morning basket. They are about a grade 3 reading level so they can also be used for independent reading. But you don’t need to just read the books and plink out the tunes on your own. You can also purchase a thumb drive that contains all the music referred to in each book. And if that wasn’t enough, you can purchase a Student Activity Book, a Coloring book, and another thumb drive with files to create a lapbook. The question is, how much is too much? Well, how much time do you want to spend studying music? I have been teaching through the Student Activity Book One. It contains about 4 lessons for each reader. The lessons repeat their content for each reader, so you know what to expect. Each set of lessons starts with comprehension questions, a lesson that points out good character traits shown by the composer, and some activities like mapping the composer’s travels, or recipes to make food from their time and culture. It spends time talking about music theory and music styles because there is a difference between classical and baroque music. It introduces the instruments of the orchestra as well as how different kinds of orchestras are arranged. The Student Activity book is quite an in-depth study of music, not just composers. It’s not exactly a living text, but it is hands-on, and it often refers to the files on the thumb drive for the Lapbook activities. There are two Activity books, Book 1 covers Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Mozart, Paganini, and Handel. You can purchase the complete study here. Book 2 covers Chopin, Schumann, Wagner, Foster, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and MacDowell. Quick Facts: Living books about composers for any age. Add the music thumb drive to play the music referred to in the books. Make it a full-year study of composers, music styles, and orchestra by adding in the Student Activity and Lapbook. Book 1 is for Grades 2-4. Book 2 is for Grades 5-7. The Activity books are flexible in that you can choose to skip a certain aspect of study and not miss out on the rest of the course. (i.e. the character study is a bit long and boring and irrelevant). by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home-educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.
Curriculum Spotlight – Myself & Others
What About Socialization? There is one question that is guaranteed to get a response from a homeschooling parent. It goes something like this: What about socialization? What follows is usually an entertaining conversation. Asking a homeschooling Mom about socialization is like asking an alien about extra-terrestrial life. We live with these tiny humans. All we do is socialize them. Just don’t get us started. Reactive or Proactive? In truth though, there is a tiny molecule in our brains that doubts our confidence. Are they really socialized? Do they really have the social habits and behaviors that are acceptable in public? I would suggest that they do, but only because we’re actually really self-conscious about this subject. We react more than we act, and when we see our children behave in a way that is not sensitive to their surroundings we will follow up and teach them after the fact. But we don’t have to react. We could be proactive and know what it is that we need to teach our children about habits and behaviors that are respectful to our fellow humans. This is how the curriculum Myself and Others can help. This program addresses subjects that we know we want to teach to our children, but we don’t think about it until it’s too late. Add Read-Alouds This program starts with the very basics by helping a child to understand what he or she is feeling. What does it mean? How shall the child respond? If you just do the core program you will be so blessed with the topics that are addressed. But if you are able to add in the read alouds, then the richness of manners really displays itself. For example, there is no better work on friendship and the fruit of kindness than Winnie-the-Pooh. Loyalty shows up in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and diligence in The Little Red Hen. Children might understand rules, but they definitely understand stories. As they travel with Miss Rumphius, scattering beauty wherever she goes, they will see the truth of how kindness and generosity extend beyond our actions and bless others after we are gone. Teach Them to Love After four programs, children will have a good idea of how to conduct themselves in a way that not only shows love to their neighbors, but also honors God, and reflects His design for our lives. After all, one of the greatest commandments is to love your neighbor as yourself. Knowing how to control our bodies, minds, and thoughts is right up there in loving those around us. Quick facts: This can be done with special needs children too. You can purchase the guide alone for plenty of ideas and tips. The books with the core sets enhance and illustrate the ideas. The read-aloud packages are optional, but they both help you as the parent to see where to guide discussion and they are excellent stories to guide the child’s moral imagination even if you never get a chance to discuss a word of them. by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home-educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.
Curriculum Spotlight – Old Western Culture
The more I read, the more I want to read and realize that I will never get through my list. That doesn’t stop me from reading, but sometimes I wonder if my time is spent wisely on one text versus another. This is particularly true about the literary canon where I want to read every single word. But even if I knew where to start, I would never get through it all. And I’m sure it would only make me ask more questions as I wonder about context and relationship to other texts that are not included in the literary canon. The perfect solution to this problem would be a tutor or a guide to help me navigate that great and worthy body of thought. That is why I get pretty excited about Old Western Culture and the program that they have created. They feature the esteemed Dr. Wes Callihan, an approachable, wise teacher who has extensive insights and knowledge into the Great Books. In these lectures, he comfortably approaches each topic from his leather armchair, ceding the screen for the occasional picture or piece of art that illustrates his point. He shares with us his knowledge of the text and how it integrates with the rest of the humanities, and he shows us how these works echo through history and thought turns to action. Later units include other presenters, but it’s hard to improve on Dr. Callihan’s friendly expositions. Curriculum Overview In this program, the Great Books of Western Culture are split into four different eras: The Greeks, The Romans, Christendom, and Early Moderns. Each era is divided again into four parts, each part dealing with an aspect of the era equalling a total of 12 units. The Great Books will be covered, but only excerpts will be selected as required reading. You can be sure those are the excerpts that are worth your time. DVDs The lectures, or rather, delightful monologues as I like to call them, are presented on DVDs with 12 lectures per DVD. Readers There is required reading for each lecture which is where the Readers become very handy. The Readers for each unit are the selected readings all compiled into one volume. Sure, you could buy the individual works of Augustine, Anselm, or Aquinas. But you could also buy just the one volume published as the Reader for each unit which will contain all the required reading. If you’re like me that will save time both in hunting down texts and organizing them so you can find them when you need them. Workbook Finally, if you want to engage with the content you can purchase the workbook applicable to each unit which will help you to ask questions and further digest the content. Adaptability It’s easy to look at this entire program and get overwhelmed once again. Even bite-sized lessons, when piled high can look like a mountain. Yes, it’s nicely organized and arranged, but even this is a commitment beyond our ability. It’s our dream to have each of our kids do something like this program during their high school years, but what if we are homeschooling from one year to the next? What about wanting to do this for ourselves so we can at least engage with our teenagers on these issues? I suggest that we don’t let those questions hold you back. This program is perfectly organized, as we established, so maybe you need to take it one unit at a time. Pick something you want to learn. Is it Nicene Christianity? Poetry and Politics in the Modern Era? Or the writings of the Reformation? Even one of these units would be an amazing course. Maybe you can find time for two. Three? It’s possible. We could even take this further. This doesn’t need to be about your homeschool or your own education. This could be a unit study for your youth group at Church. Or a study group with other adults. This is a fully credited high school course, but it can be anything you want it to be. Each of us wishes we could have the education that our children will have. Well, I’m suggesting that we don’t have to wish any longer. We can start right here. It’s only 12 units, and a good time with our teenagers as we learn together in community with our Church, our homeschool group, or just as a family. Quick facts: Each unit includes a DVD, Reader, and Workbook. You don’t need to do the workbook. An option is to just watch the DVD. Watch reviews on Youtube of Dr. Callihan’s teaching style here. This is not a four-year commitment. It is only a commitment to one unit (and then the next…). The Readers provide easy access to the text. The Workbook completes the program as a course for high school. Each lecture is around 30 minutes long. by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.
Curriculum Spotlight – Writing and Rhetoric
Common Writing Challenges There is no tyranny like the blank page, or so the saying goes. If you have taught writing you know that look. The eyes glaze over, heavy sighing ensues, and the pencil drops on the page. What shall we write about? Where shall we start? It is difficult to ask a child to write about something when they don’t have much to fall back on for content. Another Approach What if we did not ask a student to “write something, anything!” Instead, spend our time with them reading good stories, fables, poems, and other works that others have written. We tell these stories back to each other, both in summary and with dramatic flair. We spend time understanding the story, and then, while the words are flowing through our minds, pull out the pencil and paper and start transferring thoughts to paper. This is the basic idea behind the program Writing and Rhetoric by Classical Academic Press. Writing and Rhetoric starts with Fables. It helps the child to collect their thoughts by narrating passages back which is the initial stage of rhetoric. By filling a child with stories, vocabulary, phrases, the child is learning not only how to write, think and speak, but they will also have a rich body of literature to draw ideas from. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then Writing and Rhetoric does a fine job of flattering great literature. Quick facts: Recommended to start with Book 1 in Grades 3 or 4 You can start later. Grades 4-5 start with Book 3. If the student can already identify the “5Ws (who, what, when, where, why)” start at Book 5. Each book covers one semester, so a student is expected to complete two books per year One semester of books is simply a Student Book and a Teacher’s Edition You can purchase .mp3 files from CAP that include jingles of the memory work Teacher’s Editions are open and closed lesson plans. This program will take your student through Grades 8-9 and have them ready for Logic and Rhetoric It can be taught to one student or a class of students Includes narration and memorization Progresses from basic storytelling to writing persuasive essays to deliver eloquent speeches. If done along with Well-Ordered Language the student will learn grammar by imitation as well. by Hester VanBraeden Hester is a second-generation home educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many great books.
