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.
