How We Do... History

Here is the third in a series of posts on how we do each of our academic subjects. (The first was on Bible study and the second was Math.)

I never liked history when I was in school. I didn't see the big picture until I was in college. Until I took a History of Civilization class, I didn't see any of it as connected. Because of this, I always wanted to teach my children history chronologically.

But for a long time, I couldn't really find a curriculum that did this, so we floundered around in Ancient Egypt and the American Revolution. I figured that at least if we had an interest in some part of history, that the love of learning about it would carry over to history in general. And I actually think that is a fine approach.

But, a few years ago, when a friend showed me her brand new copy of Mystery of History, I knew in a flash that was what I had been waiting for. Currrently there are 3 volumes in the series, with a fourth (and final) volume being finished

Why? Well, it's strengths are:

• Chronological
• Christian
• Conversational
• Creative

We have worked our way through Volumes 1 and 2. For those two volumes, I led the lessons, reading them aloud to my children, and then doing a project once a week or so to extend the learning. I don't really pay any attention to the tests. For those volumes, we did a timeline and we did the learning cards for volume 1 only.

As we progressed, I stripped the history lessons to exactly what we wanted. I don't want our history to be a bunch of memorization. I want it to be something that whets the children's appetites for learning more about history, as well as something that allows them to see each event in relation to a larger picture. It's learning a worldview and a context, rather than memorizing dates and names. (Note: I am not opposed to memorization. I just want more than that.)

For Volume 3, however, I needed to do something differently. As I have mentioned before, since I am working 20+ hours a week, I need to streamline our curriculum. So, David is "teaching" history this year by reading the lessons aloud to his siblings. He is gaining practice in reading aloud (which is something he needs to work on) and in teaching. Is it the most ideal way to teach history? Probably not. Are they continuing on toward my goal for them? Yes, they are.

What would I like to change or add? I would like to return to doing the projects. For MOH3, I would need the teacher book. The publisher changed the format for Volume 3. Instead of one volume with the info and the resources, the books were separated into a full color textbook and a separate teacher volume. I should probably order that and add that back into our history lessons. I think that adds a richness we have been missing.

Volume 4 (the final MOH) will probably not be ready in time for us to use it when we finish Volume 3. So, we will probably take the time in between to do an in-depth study of American History. Or maybe we will do a year of Geography since David already did a survey of American History. Our options are open.

How We Do... Math

Here is the second in a series of posts on how we do each of our academic subjects. (The first was on Bible study.)


For several years, we used Math-U-See, which we all liked very much. However, my work hours this year required that I pare my schedule down to the bare bones. I found that grading four math papers every day was one thing that I would like to be able to delegate somehow.


So, I went looking for a curriculum that would grade the children's work for me and keep track of their scores. After doing a little research, I settled on Switched-on Schoolhouse for several reasons. First, it is affordable, especially when found used. Second, it keeps grades and allows me a lot of leeway in how I assign the lessons and set the parameters of the program. Third, it is a computer-based program and the kids enjoy that.


For the most part, the program has worked as expected. Because we moved from Math-U-See, which covers topics in a less traditional order, the three younger kids had never done certain topics, such as fractions. Because one of those three children struggles a lot with math, that child is not working at grade level. (I think this child could be diagnosed with dyscalculia, if I ever thought that was necessary.)


My oldest has always found math quite intuitive and he is doing Geometry (Math 1000) this year. I gave him a lot of input on deciding which curriculum to use and he told me it didn't matter to him. He has found the adjustment to SOS quite easy and basically teaches it to himself. If he is stumped, he usually looks for a video on youtube to learn the concept.

The other three need a lot more help. A lesson does include a written explanation but none of the 3 read it carefully as a matter of course. I often have to go through the lesson with the student, or re-explain the concept after many problems are wrong. Because Math-U-See has a video that explains each concept, I think the children are used to that visual approach. It's not really fair to expect the children to teach themselves their math, I suppose, no matter how much I would love that. So, I've reconciled myself to the necessity of explaining math concepts. But don't expect that most children will teach themselves math with SOS because I don't think that's going to happen. For me, the tradeoff in having the grading done for me is worth it.


My youngest is not reading fluently, so the transition to SOS has been the hardest for her. She is in 3rd grade and is doing SOS Math 3, but the reading is beyond her especially when she is trying hard to figure out math. This difficulty requires that someone be near her to help her with the reading, or else she'll just get the problems wrong. She doesn't find the math difficult, just the reading. She has recently asked to go back to her math book (which I assume means MUS) but this is not going to happen for her.

Oh, and the spelling! That's a problem for everyone. If the user doesn't enter a word like SOS expects, it's wrong. The teacher can (and I did) set the spelling penalty to be more lenient, but it's still more strict than I would be on a workbook page. That's good though. They're learning to do things to the standards of others, which they will have to do at some point.


Now that the kids and I understand the intricacies of the program, they are doing better with it. I have been too lax about requiring the amount of time needed though, so they are not as far as I would like. Add to that the fact that I require at least an 80% score (70% for the student with math difficulties); anything lower requires a do-over. So, they have had quite a few quizzes and tests to retake.

Lately, I've been requiring 2 lessons per day (with at least an 80% score, though I allow some exceptions for the student with the mathematics disorder). Since we have a 4 day week, this works out well for us in making up for past laxness and redoing lessons that are not acceptable.

Is this a perfect way to teach math? No. I freely admit that. However, this is the least stressful for me - a working mom who homeschools. I doubt that whatever method was used in a public school would be perfect either. So, if they are progressing, and they are, I am pleased. I actually wish I'd switched several years ago, when it became clear that being a homeschool mom with a job was my reality.

And what about Math-U-See? I still like it very much. If I were the mom who didn't have to spend half her day in other commitments, I would not have switched.

Working and Homeschooling

I was asked to share some thoughts at a homeschool support meeting on the topic of working and homeschooling and I thought I'd publish them here.

What are the ages of your kids?
Currently they are 8, 11, 13, and 16. When I started working in 2000, they were almost 1, 3 and almost 6. My youngest wasn't born yet. So really the entire time I have had school-age kids, I have worked at least part-time, save for a few months after my last one was born.

What kind of work do you do, schedule do you keep? Outside the home or in?
I work out of my home 4-5 hours a day on the computer. I have to work at least 4 hours a day Monday through Friday. I try to work 1-2 hours before we begin our lessons for the day and fit in the rest in the afternoon and evening.

Other work I have done while homeschooling includes: direct sales home parties (selling Usborne books), teaching part time (during school day, afternoons, evenings), and full time factory work on 2nd shift.

Who stays with your children while you work?
The older two watch over the younger two now, but when my kids were younger, I did a number of different child care arrangements. When #3 was a baby, I arranged my schedule so my husband could watch the kids. After he was injured when #4 was born, I needed to rely on other people somewhat, but I never paid for child care. Since I work at home now, I am always here when I am working.

What sorts of things do you have for your children to do while you are working? (How do you keep them occupied?)
Nowadays they occupy themselves, though I do have gaming systems for them which I always thought we'd never have. They read and play Legos and play outside and play in their rooms. They also do a lot on the computer; we have 2 desktops and 2 laptops for them to use. They do their schoolwork and chores. When they were younger, I worked my schedule around them and they had a caregiver when I was not able to be there.

How do you get schoolwork done? Is your schoolwork independent or require your time?
I try to keep my mornings available for them and require math and reading/literature/phonics to be done during this time. They do a lot more on their own than I imagine a lot of families require. For instance, the oldest reads history aloud to the other 3 and I am not involved at all. We switched to SOS Math so that I would not have the burden of grading math homework. They also do quite a bit online – Livemocha foreign language, typing.... #3 is reading a science book aloud to #4.

How do you get household tasks completed? How do you organize these tasks (if you organize at all!)
I am very organized with household tasks. We have a job chart that tells everyone what to do that day – everything from meal prep to cleaning the bathroom to cleaning the microwave. The kids do all the meal clean up, some of the meal prep, almost all of the household cleaning, and folding their own laundry. I change this chart once a year. The jobs rotate – weekly now, but we have done daily rotation up until now.

What do you do well as a working mom? What do you struggle with the most?
I am great at organization and delegation as well as at protecting my personal time. I am not great at planning meals, though I go in spurts. I also tend to lean more toward the relaxed side of homeschooling, which as they get older may not be in their best interests. So, I struggle with the balance between teacher-led and child-led learning. I also spend a minimal amount of time on my house and almost never entertain.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I want to add that I am very blessed to have the job I have now - I have the flexibility to work whatever hours I want, as long as they add up to 4-5 in a day; I make good money for a work-at-home online position and I am good at it. My kids want to remain at home or else they probably would have gone to traditional school long ago. And I am blessed to have a husband who has supported our efforts and pitched in as much as he can.

Self-Directed Learning?

Our home education has recently looked a lot different lately than it has in the past. I used to set up all the children's assignments for them every day. I haven't had time lately to oversee every bit of the learning as I had previously and I struggle with that reality, wondering if they are at a disadvantage now, if they would be better served in a traditional school, if children truly need adults to tell them everything they should be learning.

But I still balk at the idea of traditional school. I like having my kids at home. I like seeing what they are working on. They like being here. And I think that education can be more than me giving them lists of workbook pages to accomplish and choosing their books for them. But I'm not the nature-study-science-experiment-hands-on kind of teacher either. Never was, even when I taught school. I'm more pencil-and-paper, more books-and-internet.

So, what's the compromise? We've been trying to hit the right balance of self-directed learning. It hasn't quite happened yet. I am still struggling with it. What I WANT is them to love to learn things and love to read and love to write and love to spend their time in productive enterprises. And I see glimmers of it. But it's not as much as I'd like nor as rewarding as I thought. Maybe that's just life, eh?

Here are some things I've been looking at about self-directed learning.

Self-Directed Learning
From the Older Kids column, by Cafi Cohen, originally published in the May-June 1996 issue of Home Education Magazine.

Beach High School: Freedom for self-direction

Life Learning Magazine

I'm trying to get a sense of what it looks like for other people, especially in the high school years. Isn't this when a student should find a passion? Something that grabs all his interest and that he wants to master? I want to see that happen. I'm tired of apathy and tired of "this is the stupidest book ever".

Any thoughts? Input?

How We Home-Educate, Part 3A

I started this post months ago and left it as a draft. Sorry! Just realized that I never finished it. So, it's on to a discussion of Language Arts!

Language Arts has been a sticking point for me for years now. I have a BA degree in English and I am a voracious reader. I like to think I am a competent writer as well. So, it stands to reason that I would want an above-average language arts curriculum, doesn't it?

However, despite lots of looking, I could not find an effective curriculum that would accomplish my goals, meet my children's needs, and not be a drag at the same time. Every now and then, I'd find something that looked promising, but upon closer inspection, I'd find something about it that wasn't what I wanted.

So, I've basically pulled together my own curriculum using different components instead of an integrated curriculum. I'll give you a list of the materials and then discuss how we use them.

• Spelling Power, beginning around age 8-9
• Grammar workbooks from no particular series, starting in about 5th grade
• English From the Roots Up, beginning around the same time
• Rummy Roots, to go with English from the Roots Up
  
• Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) for composition, just discovered it, but using as soon as a child's language skills allow them to read comfortably and write 2-3 sentences
  
• Handwriting, plain old Zaner-Bloser
  
• Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
• Journal Writing
• Reading real books
• A Beka reading comprehension speed drills
• Copywork
• Writing letters to real people

Spelling - When I taught school, I saw way too many of my students get A's on the Friday spelling tests and then misspell the very same words in assignments the following week. I wanted my children to avoid the trap of learning the words just for the test. My goal for spelling is practical application. What good are 100% scores if one cannot spell words when needed? Spelling Power is just what I was looking for. There are no weekly word lists, no weekly tests. Instead students are tested to see where to begin and then work through lists grouped by phonics rule. They are "tested" daily to see which words need to be learned, and then those words are practiced. Rarely does one of my children have a word for more than 2-3 days; usually words are learned by the next day. Review tests and delayed recall tests are periodically scheduled to make sure words are retained. The real strength of Spelling Power, other than the absence of the "weekly spelling list" is the method for studying the words. A step-by-step process is used, and this could be used with any program. I no longer purchase the blank Spelling Power books to test and study in. Now I use a sheet I found on the internet that I feel has improved on the original. (It's HERE on Paula's page; click on Modified Study Sheet.) Of course, Spelling Power isn't perfect - some of the rules are not grouped according to my preference, but we can adapt.

Grammar - I don't think early grammar instruction is useful or beneficial at all, unless the child specifically requests it. I think all the grammar that is generally taught (and retaught and reviewed and retaught) in the elementary grades can easily and more effectively be taught in one junior high school year. In this opinion, I am referring to the mechanics of writing more specifically known as parts of speech, sentence structure, and punctuation. I think all of these concepts are better learned in the elementary years by modeling and practice during actual REAL writing instead of endless boring worksheets and drills. (Sorry, Easy Grammar users!)

So, even though I have an twelve-year-old son, his first study of grammar was last year when we did a short workbook from the teacher store. (Frank Schaffer, I believe) It was a basic introduction, and generally worthless, if I am being truthful. He was in fifth grade. This year, in sixth grade, he is doing another cheap basic workbook, probably because I feel a little insecure in my convictions about this, having never actually used this method all the way through before. He does a page a couple times a week or so, so it's not a major component of our language arts curriculum. We do Mad Libs from time to time also, so this helps with identification and understanding of parts of speech.

I would really like to peruse Analytical Grammar to see if it is workable for us. The philosophy behind the program seems to fit with mine. Anyone have it that I can look at? It's pricy or I would have ordered it by now. Probably next year will be David's Grammar Year.

Ok, this takes forever! lol I'll work on the other components another time. Stay tuned!

How We Home-Educate, Part 3B

Well, this is turning into quite a series, eh? One might actually think I have put some heavy consideration into my curriculum choices!

LATIN? Why would I teach my kids Latin? And if I am going to teach Latin, why am I not using Latina Christiana or some other full Latin curriculum?

Well, I don't want to waste time actually teaching my children to read Latin, unless they feel called to do so. It IS a dead language after all, and I daresay that any important Latin works we might want to read have been translated, and translated well, into English already. Why re-invent the wheel?

But because Latin has had such a great influence on the world's language, including English, I find it important to learn some Latin. And Greek too, for that matter. I think the main benefit to studying these languages will be to increase the understanding of English vocabulary and spelling.

So, I chose English from the Roots Up to study Greek and Latin root words. We study one root word a week, usually, by copying the root word onto a card. On the back of the card, we write the meaning and some examples of English words based on that particular root word. This is not an in-depth study at this time, just an overview, but I have noticed the children integrating these root words into their vocabulary by pointing out places they notice the roots and then stating the meanings.

I cannot give all the credit to English from the Roots Up, however, as we also play Rummy Roots about once a week. This is a rummy (go fish) type card game that helps the children match Latin and Greek roots to their English meanings. They enjoy it, although my oldest is much better at it than his sister 2 years younger, and he does take advantage of his skill. I look forward to my younger son also being able to play in the near future and this changing the dynamics of that game!

Composition - After seeing IEW curriculum at many conventions and ads in many magazines, I still found the purpose and design of the curriculum difficult to discern. I finally got to hear Andrew Pudewa speak at the INCH Convention last May and was so impressed that I decided to order the curriculum anyway, despite having no understanding of how it worked!

A friend and I went to another convention and cornered the IEW rep and asked her some questions to help us figure out exactly WHAT to order. We decided to jointly purchase the Teaching Writing: Style and Substance DVD seminar and work our way through the confusing thing together. We were assured by the rep that as soon as we began to watch that things would become clear, and you know what? She was right!

We soon enlisted some other friends to watch with us, and now we have a small group of moms meeting monthly to watch a section of the DVD, work through the corresponding exercises, and talk about how the curriculum is working out in our homes.

I have started the program with David, age 12, and Emily, age 9. David has shown remarkable ability in keyword outlining paragraphs and rewriting them to make them stronger! Emily is also doing well. As soon as James is able to write a few sentences and read comfortably, I will begin the program with him too.

I may try to purchase the student seminars for next year, as I think that will keep ME more accountable to doing the program, but they are not necessary. These techniques can be used with any available books.

Handwriting - Having had a hard time with handwriting myself, I try not to create too much pressure on my kids for handwriting. However, I realize that I do need to put a little more effort into teaching correct formation. I dislike the "modern" styles of penmanship, such as D'Nealian, and much prefer the traditional ball-stick methods, also known as Zaner-Bloser. I purchased a reproducible handwriting exercise book from the Zaner-Bloser company and make copies for my kids.

I am going to redouble my efforts towards handwriting too, as it has been mostly a time filler exercise here. David and Emily both need some intensive cursive instruction as neither feels comfortable writing cursive as a default handwriting.

Ok, enough for now. I have a few more components to discuss and then I can describe how I put it all together.

How We Home-Educate, Part 2

My previous post described how we begin our learning each day with our group subjects - Bible, Art, Science, and History. Now, I'll move on to describing how my children learn Math. I'll save Language Arts for another post.

Math is done each day that we do home learning. I prefer it to be one of the first things done after our group work, since the children (especially Emily) have more brain power earlier in the day. All of my kids (except the 4yo) are using Math-U-See. My almost 12 year old is doing MUS Zeta, My 9.5 yo is doing MUS Beta, and my almost 7yo is nearly done with MUS Alpha.

I like math to be a fairly independent subject. Since Math-U-See comes with instructional DVD's, this is relatively easy for us to accomplish. For each new lesson, the child watches the DVD (usually without me, although I hover nearby) and then works on the lesson. I help if needed, especially with Emily's work, but for the most part, this is something the child does on his or her own.

There are 6 workpages for each MUS lesson, and then a test. The children must do workpages until the concept becomes easy. The first 3 workpages offer practice just on the new concept. The remaining 3 pages offer review of previous concepts along with the new concept. After showing mastery, he or she may take the test. The test must be done without the blocks or any assistance. If he or she cannot pass the test, we go back and review with more help from mom or dad.

Emily and James also work on math drills - either on the MUS website, drill cards, flashcards, audiotapes, or any other method I can find. David knows his facts very well.

Emily particularly has a hard time with math, thus her still being in Beta at age 9.5. However, I am pleased with our approach, as it is mastery-based, and I know she will actually learn the math, instead of just going through the motions. She probably could benefit from a little more instruction from me, so I am trying to add that in this year for her especially.

How We Home-Educate, Part 1

Shall I describe a typical homelearning day for you? (This will be a day that we don't have any committments until late afternoon; days with other things going on are a leetle bit confusing!)

The kids are up before me usually, as I am rather a night owl and like to sleep til the last possible second, and then some. Sometimes that's past 9, but more often it is somewhere between 8 and 8:30. (If I were doing what my ideal plan said, I would be up at 7. Not happening right now.)

We usually get to our lessons somewhere around 9:30, but it can be around 10 before we actually get to it. We begin with our Bible studies. We learn a new hymn every month. This month it is Fairest Lord Jesus. Then someone picks one of our previously learned hymns to review. Currently we are doing a character Bible study on gentleness. We alternate character quality study with a Bible survey course called Bible Study Guide for All Ages, which we have been using for years. We are on volume 3 of 4. I am also reading them the book by the Mally kids called: Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends. I highly recommend this book. Bible study usually takes around 30 minutes.

Last year we did art every day, but we finished the book and I haven't found another that works the same for us, so we have not done art consistently this year. However, they all love to draw and color so they do get plenty of that, and lots of crafts too. If we do an art lesson, it comes right after Bible.

Then we move on to Science and/or History. Science this year is Considering God's Creation, which I like. It's not a textbook, but a "notebooking" sort of curriculum. We did not begin at the beginning, but skipped to the unit on Plants and began with that. We just finished it last week. I like the fact that it is adaptable to many age levels. Next year, I imagine David will do Switched-on Schoolhouse for Science, or some other independent text, as I have decided against using Apologia, at least for now.

Mystery of History Volume 1 is our history curriculum and I love it. The lessons are just the right length. I love the mix of activities - some hands-on, some quizzes (which we often do orally or as a game), some review. Very strong program and from the point of view I believe in. I am hoping to get through the second half of this book rather quickly this year and begin Volume 2 before the "year ends". Currently we are at about 500 BC and just recently learned about Confucious, Buddha, and Daniel.

Once we have finished with these subjects, the kids begin their separate work. I'll write about that in a separate post, since I am, quite frankly, itching to move on to other things! LOL