I have to admit that more than any time since being with these people, I am more focused on them and enjoying our moments together but, apparently am not as good as recording these said moments as I would like to be. I am inspired though, by my sweetest friend Kim to make this effort more of a purposeful one, so that these moments so appreciated will also go remembered for a bit.
I consider myself, recommitted. I have been working on getting my Project Life caught up, which has been a good exercise in gratitude. To recap my year in just a few days via pictures has been so great a reminder how wonderfully, ridiculously blessed I am.
I am going to work on that better in 2015 :)
As far as our school year, we are almost exactly half way through it but I can say definitively that we are doing the best that we ever have. We have delved into a new (for us) method of education, called classical education. We are also part of a community based on this method, where we learn together weekly, and encourage each other as we strive to develop life-long learners. The program has been a huge blessing to our family, and right now it seems that it is the direction we will be heading in the next several years. Classical Conversations (CC) has changed our schooling at home dramatically, making it feel so much more focused and productive.
Classical education recognizes various stages of a kid's development from when they are new learners who absorb everything in their path like a sponge, to when they are learning to logically analyze all that info they absorbed, to when they are able to defend right info and weed out weak or wrong info. Each stage of development has goals, and each goal builds on each other for a great understanding and appreciation of the learning in seven basic areas: math, history, science, latin, language, geography and the world timeline.
Right now, all three boys are in the Grammar Stage of learning, where they are collecting facts in each area. They are absorbing information that they don't necessarily understand nor are able to analyze yet but will serve as building blocks for their future understanding in later stages. All three of them are learning the same facts in each area, though the degree to which they comprehend it varies.
Joshua, as a preschooler only is learning new words and can recite a lot of what he is hearing. There isn't much understanding, but a lot of memorizing and some impressive sounding things coming out of his mouth. He has learned his states and capitals, and skip count a few numbers including 1,2 and some of 3. He knows the "bones of the axial skeleton" and can tell you some things about Columbus and the Pilgrims. :)
We have completed our first 12 weeks, and look forward to starting our second 12 weeks after the first of year. Yes, I actually mean it when I say that we are looking forward to school starting back after Christmas break! :) A miracle.
Because I apparently have to delve into anything I do with both feet, I am also a tutor this year. This actually has been great for me, because it has made me more accountable to the program and has helped me stay more focused on our learning. I have a class of 5, 1st and 2nd graders who are just precious. One of my favorites is Canon :) We learned the weekly material together, each week and review past material so that we can keep in our brains.
My "kids" this year are Eleanor Holmes, Liam Patton, Nolan Toennies, Josephine Beall and Canon :) One of the little gals in this pic is Elizabeth, she was visiting this particular day and we may get to spend more time with her starting in the spring. For science these last few weeks of the fall semester we put together our "bodies", complete with a whole bunch of organs that we had to layer on. They will be a fun things to look at ..and try to find a place for in our little house :)
Lord willing, we will keep this as part of our Steedly School curriculum for many years to come. I have much faith in the potential of these methods for developing godly men who love to learn about the world around them and their place in it. Its gonna be a great rest of the year! :)
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