Well, I missed it. Last Thursday the blog turned one. Last week was fantastic. The first week of school. We had a great week but it was not really a blogging week.
A year. A lot has changed, new address, new house, bigger kids, new friends! We are blessed. Thank you all for joining us on this journey!
Totus Tuus!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
So what about Kindergarden?
(The picture is just for fun!)Ok, so a couple a days ago I posted the detailed outline of 2nd grade. Lest anyone thought I forgot what about RA and Kindergarten? I didn't forget; she won't let me. She is counting down the days. T-2 and counting!
So Monday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Art, Literature, Math and Music.
Tuesday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Math, Literature, and Music.
Wednesday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Math, Literature, Art and Music.
Thursday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Math, Literature, and Music.
Poetry: She will (just like DG) listen to, repeat, memorize, and recite her poems. Then she will dictate them to me to put in a book. Then she will illustrate them. The poems she is to learn this year include: Rain, Bed in Summer, The Cow, The Moon, At the Seaside, My Shadow which are all by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Turtle by Vachel Lindsey.
Phonics: We have decided to use the same phonics program we are using with DG. She will use the Little Angel Readers for reading time but this way we can do phonics together at least to begin with. If this doesn't work, we will return to using the Little Angel readers with the teacher's guides. Handwriting is covered in the Phonics program. She loves to write and is so meticulous this is fun for her.
Religion in Kindergarten in great. One day I will read her part of a children's Bible. The next day, she retells the story (dictates it) and then illustrates it. At the end of the year, she will have written "her own" Bible. She will also join DG in continuing to learn the Bible timeline and listening to St. Patrick's Summer.
This year, like her brother RA is doing first grade math. No DG is not doing 1st grade math. They are both skipping a year. Why you ask? Quite simply because she has already met the objectives for Kindergarten math. They are Motor Control, Number recognition and writing, number value, counting, number sequencing, and simple addition. So on to first grade math.
Art for RA is really interesting. She will be using pairs of paintings by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Fra Angelico, Degas and O'Keefe. These pairs are the same painting for matching skills. The she will have pairs of different paintings with the same artists to match style. The artists she will use are Van Gogh landscapes, Michealangelo busts, Picasso children, Renoir dancing couples, Monet gardens, and Cezanne still life. The last set are 4 different artists with 4 similar subjects to again match artists. The artists here are Giotto, Bougereau (she has one of his paintings in her room), Degas (all girls love ballerinas), and Di Vinci. She will also be using the art book DG is using to make her own art with styles of famous artists and art types.
Music: RA will attempt music appreciation this year that never worked for DG. But she loves to sing and learn songs so I think she will like this. The book is called 36 Traditional Catholic Hymns. It comes with a CD and the book is sheet music. So she listens to the song, learns the words and then sings with the music. They are wonderful hymns that are often forgotten.
Literature is read aloud time every day. But for this we are going to use the Five In A Row program. This is where you read the same (usually award winning) picture book 5 days in a row and do projects that go with it. This year, we will also incorporate saint books and other books that match the liturgical year or books/stories of virtue.
It should be a fantastic Kindergarten year!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Another Suprise Blessing
At the beginning of June, our homeschool co-op here in the Colorado Springs diocese hosted their first Childrens' Holy Hour with the promise of more to come. As a side note, the holy hours are being done at my grandmother's parish, the parish my parents were married in, and the parish Blake was baptized in. It is really neat as DG has asked me all about the stain glass windows there and I remember as little girl when I would come to my grandma's house and go to mass that I would be fixated on those same windows.
Anyway, they cancelled July because the first friday of the month was 4th of July week-end. So we were looking forward to August. Well sometime in July we got an email that Fr. Antoine Thomas of the Community of St. Jean was coming to host a holy hour for children. He is the one who began doing this across the country. He cam today and had a family retreat for all the homeschool families and anyone else in the community who wanted to come. It was fantastic. We had Mass and a holy hour and then went to the Garden of the Gods for a picnic lunch. On the way home, we saw a herd of (20ish) big horn sheep very close to the road. When we moved to Monument, I was so excited to be coming home to Colorado though I must admit, I probably wouldn't have choosen the diocese or the parish that we live in. That having been said, we have been truely blessed here and it just proves, God's ways are not ours. Thanks to Fr. Antoine and all who planned the day for such a beautiful way to start a school year.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
It is time... Curriculum
The uniforms and the books are here. The kids are counting down the days and well I have had several people ask me recently what Curriculum I am using. The short answer: Mother of Divine Grace with some adjustments. Well really Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum with MoDG's Syllabi. But what does that mean what does that look like. Tonight I think I will answer that question for DG.
This year, every Mon, he will have Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Music, History and Geography and 30 minutes of reading a day. Tuesday, he will have Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, History and Geography, 30 minutes of reading and Art. Wednesday is Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Science, Music, History and Geography, and 30 minutes of reading. Thursday consists of Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, History and Geography, Music, and 30 minutes of reading. Friday is just Math and Reading.
What are we doing in these subjects.
Well, we have decided for Math, there is just no need to do such an extended review as 2nd grade math seems to be so he will be doing 3rd grade math. That includes addition and subtraction of multi-column numbers, multiplication tables, division short and long and many other concepts.
Poetry: He learns (memorizes) poems line by line. When he is finished he writes them in a book and illustrates them. The poems this year include: The Owl and The Pussycat, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, Psalm 100, The Duel, The Land of Storybooks, and The Song of Mr. Toad.
Phonics: Although DG is a fantastic reader, he just finished the Hobbit, he has not learned all of his phonograms. So this year we are going to learn phonograms and spend a good deal of time working on spelling. He can't spell to save his life. Wonder where he gets that.
Handwriting: Will be included in his phonics lessons and depending on how his printing improves, we may start cursive this year.
Religion: We use the Baltimore Catechism, where he will learn questions and answers about his faith. We also will continue learning the Bible Timeline. We also will continue reading St. Patrick's Summer. In the BC, it suggests each section a prayer to learn and most are parts of the Mass. So on off weeks, we will be making a mass book with the prayers he is learning and he will decorate it.
Art: This year, DG will be studying VanGogh landscapes, Angels by 6 different artists, and 4 portraits by 6 different artists. We will study the method, the type of tools used, the color contrast, the subject, etc. Then for art projects, both DG and RA will learn a specific trait of a specific artist, a little bio about the artist and then attempt to make their own art using the trait they learned about.
Music: DG will start by learning some basic music theory and then begin to learn the recorder and hopefully by 2nd semester the piano.
History and Geography: In geography, we will continue states and capitals. I am hoping to use the H is for Hoosier series to reinforce that concept. In History, he will learn about maps and then begin a family tree, where he will interview his family member and keep a journal. He will also be reading bios of famous Americans.
Science is learning about the seasons and what happen to plants, animals, and weather during each season. He will also be doing experiments about plants.
His 30 minutes of reading will include his history bios, lives of saints, stories of virtue, and good literature.
Kindergarten is next!
This year, every Mon, he will have Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Music, History and Geography and 30 minutes of reading a day. Tuesday, he will have Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, History and Geography, 30 minutes of reading and Art. Wednesday is Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Science, Music, History and Geography, and 30 minutes of reading. Thursday consists of Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, History and Geography, Music, and 30 minutes of reading. Friday is just Math and Reading.
What are we doing in these subjects.
Well, we have decided for Math, there is just no need to do such an extended review as 2nd grade math seems to be so he will be doing 3rd grade math. That includes addition and subtraction of multi-column numbers, multiplication tables, division short and long and many other concepts.
Poetry: He learns (memorizes) poems line by line. When he is finished he writes them in a book and illustrates them. The poems this year include: The Owl and The Pussycat, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, Psalm 100, The Duel, The Land of Storybooks, and The Song of Mr. Toad.
Phonics: Although DG is a fantastic reader, he just finished the Hobbit, he has not learned all of his phonograms. So this year we are going to learn phonograms and spend a good deal of time working on spelling. He can't spell to save his life. Wonder where he gets that.
Handwriting: Will be included in his phonics lessons and depending on how his printing improves, we may start cursive this year.
Religion: We use the Baltimore Catechism, where he will learn questions and answers about his faith. We also will continue learning the Bible Timeline. We also will continue reading St. Patrick's Summer. In the BC, it suggests each section a prayer to learn and most are parts of the Mass. So on off weeks, we will be making a mass book with the prayers he is learning and he will decorate it.
Art: This year, DG will be studying VanGogh landscapes, Angels by 6 different artists, and 4 portraits by 6 different artists. We will study the method, the type of tools used, the color contrast, the subject, etc. Then for art projects, both DG and RA will learn a specific trait of a specific artist, a little bio about the artist and then attempt to make their own art using the trait they learned about.
Music: DG will start by learning some basic music theory and then begin to learn the recorder and hopefully by 2nd semester the piano.
History and Geography: In geography, we will continue states and capitals. I am hoping to use the H is for Hoosier series to reinforce that concept. In History, he will learn about maps and then begin a family tree, where he will interview his family member and keep a journal. He will also be reading bios of famous Americans.
Science is learning about the seasons and what happen to plants, animals, and weather during each season. He will also be doing experiments about plants.
His 30 minutes of reading will include his history bios, lives of saints, stories of virtue, and good literature.
Kindergarten is next!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Some good thoughts for a new school year!
From the website: http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/a003rp.htm
Special Devotions
Sedes Sapientiae: Seat of Wisdom Marian Therese Horvat, Ph.D.
A recent article in the LA Times quotes a Labor Council leader as saying “Everybody is a knowledge worker in the new economy. Knowledge is the basis for wealth (Oct. 10, 1999). The Internet Revolution has drowned modern man in facts and knowledge in order to achieve wealth. It is the century of books, facts, science, and information. It is an age sadly in lack of Wisdom.
Statue of Sedes SapientiaeHow many sincere Catholics have been fooled into thinking that the best education can be gained at a prep school, which strives to impress parents with how much information can be crammed into a head in the shortest amount of time. A child who is a classroom eight hours of the day and then studies three to four hours at night has no time for the marvelous. St John Bosco, the wise educator said, “To cultivate only the intellect, abandoning all the other human faculties, is to deform man.” Pouring over equations and computers till midnight, he has no time to contemplate the stars. Man needs to contemplate the bonum, pulchrum and verum of the universe around him, so that he might form an idea of the goodness, beauty and truth of God, so that he can come to love God with his whole heart, soul and mind. It is wisdom that allows man to know and love the Universe created by God. Therefore, the truly intelligent man is the man who seeks Wisdom. Whoever wishes to acquire the great treasure of Wisdom, must, after the example of Solomon seek for that treasure: “I have loved and sought out Wisdom from my youth, and have desired to take her for my spouse.”
In his magnificent book The Love of Eternal Wisdom, St. Louis de Montfort says: “If we really wish to obtain life everlasting let us acquire knowledge of Divine Wisdom; if we wish to reach perfect sanctity on earth, let us know Eternal Wisdom. If we wish to possess the root of immortality in our heart, let us have in our mind knowledge of Eternal Wisdom. To know Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom, is to know enough; to know everything and not to know him is to know nothing?” He defines its marvelous fruits and effects in man:
1. Wisdom gives man light to know the truth but a wonderful capacity to make truth known to others.2. Wisdom gives man a relish for things of God. 3. Wisdom pours into his heart ineffable joy, sweetness and peace even in midst of hardest trials and tribulations.4. Wisdom sets men on fire and makes them do great things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. St. Louis de Montfort then gives the means to attain divine wisdom:
1. Ardent desire, fostered by keeping of the Commandments;2. Persevering prayer; 3. Universal mortification; 4. The last and greatest means of all, the most wonderful of all secrets for obtaining and keeping of Divine Wisdom, a tender and true devotion to the Blessed Mary. Our Lady is the Seat of Wisdom because She was the creature who knew and loved God most, contemplating Him in the universe. The Gospel tells us: She observed all things and kept them in Her Heart. Our Lady is the Seat of Wisdom because She is the Universal Mediatrix that God established between Himself and men in order to be known and loved. Here, then, is the admirable secret to possess Divine Wisdom: “Mary is,” St. Louis says, “the secret magnet.
“Wherever she is, she draws Eternal Wisdom so powerfully that He cannot resist. …Once we possess Mary we shall easily and in a short time possess Divine Wisdom through her intercession. Of all the means to possess Jesus Christ, Mary is the surest, the easiest, the shortest way and the holiest. “And the best way to belong entirely to Mary is, so to speak, to take Mary into our house by consecrating ourselves unreservedly to her as her servants and slaves. To surrender into her hands all we possess. And then, this good Mistress, who never allows herself to be outdone in liberality, will give herself to us, in an incomprehensible but real manner, and then Eternal Wisdom will come to dwell in her as in His glorious throne room.”For the only creature found worthy to conceive and give birth to Eternal Wisdom was Our Lady. And when we go to her, justly called the Seat of Wisdom, she will lead us to this Treasure. As an antidote to the false worship of knowledge so prevalent in our days, it would be an admirable practice to include this invocation often in our daily routine:
Sedes Sapientiae, Ora Pro Nobis.Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.
Special Devotions
Sedes Sapientiae: Seat of Wisdom Marian Therese Horvat, Ph.D.
A recent article in the LA Times quotes a Labor Council leader as saying “Everybody is a knowledge worker in the new economy. Knowledge is the basis for wealth (Oct. 10, 1999). The Internet Revolution has drowned modern man in facts and knowledge in order to achieve wealth. It is the century of books, facts, science, and information. It is an age sadly in lack of Wisdom.
Statue of Sedes SapientiaeHow many sincere Catholics have been fooled into thinking that the best education can be gained at a prep school, which strives to impress parents with how much information can be crammed into a head in the shortest amount of time. A child who is a classroom eight hours of the day and then studies three to four hours at night has no time for the marvelous. St John Bosco, the wise educator said, “To cultivate only the intellect, abandoning all the other human faculties, is to deform man.” Pouring over equations and computers till midnight, he has no time to contemplate the stars. Man needs to contemplate the bonum, pulchrum and verum of the universe around him, so that he might form an idea of the goodness, beauty and truth of God, so that he can come to love God with his whole heart, soul and mind. It is wisdom that allows man to know and love the Universe created by God. Therefore, the truly intelligent man is the man who seeks Wisdom. Whoever wishes to acquire the great treasure of Wisdom, must, after the example of Solomon seek for that treasure: “I have loved and sought out Wisdom from my youth, and have desired to take her for my spouse.”
In his magnificent book The Love of Eternal Wisdom, St. Louis de Montfort says: “If we really wish to obtain life everlasting let us acquire knowledge of Divine Wisdom; if we wish to reach perfect sanctity on earth, let us know Eternal Wisdom. If we wish to possess the root of immortality in our heart, let us have in our mind knowledge of Eternal Wisdom. To know Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom, is to know enough; to know everything and not to know him is to know nothing?” He defines its marvelous fruits and effects in man:
1. Wisdom gives man light to know the truth but a wonderful capacity to make truth known to others.2. Wisdom gives man a relish for things of God. 3. Wisdom pours into his heart ineffable joy, sweetness and peace even in midst of hardest trials and tribulations.4. Wisdom sets men on fire and makes them do great things for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. St. Louis de Montfort then gives the means to attain divine wisdom:
1. Ardent desire, fostered by keeping of the Commandments;2. Persevering prayer; 3. Universal mortification; 4. The last and greatest means of all, the most wonderful of all secrets for obtaining and keeping of Divine Wisdom, a tender and true devotion to the Blessed Mary. Our Lady is the Seat of Wisdom because She was the creature who knew and loved God most, contemplating Him in the universe. The Gospel tells us: She observed all things and kept them in Her Heart. Our Lady is the Seat of Wisdom because She is the Universal Mediatrix that God established between Himself and men in order to be known and loved. Here, then, is the admirable secret to possess Divine Wisdom: “Mary is,” St. Louis says, “the secret magnet.
“Wherever she is, she draws Eternal Wisdom so powerfully that He cannot resist. …Once we possess Mary we shall easily and in a short time possess Divine Wisdom through her intercession. Of all the means to possess Jesus Christ, Mary is the surest, the easiest, the shortest way and the holiest. “And the best way to belong entirely to Mary is, so to speak, to take Mary into our house by consecrating ourselves unreservedly to her as her servants and slaves. To surrender into her hands all we possess. And then, this good Mistress, who never allows herself to be outdone in liberality, will give herself to us, in an incomprehensible but real manner, and then Eternal Wisdom will come to dwell in her as in His glorious throne room.”For the only creature found worthy to conceive and give birth to Eternal Wisdom was Our Lady. And when we go to her, justly called the Seat of Wisdom, she will lead us to this Treasure. As an antidote to the false worship of knowledge so prevalent in our days, it would be an admirable practice to include this invocation often in our daily routine:
Sedes Sapientiae, Ora Pro Nobis.Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Jumping 'Gina'
We went to an amazing Renaissance Fair a couple of weekends ago. I have been waiting to post about it because my dad took all the still pictures but here is a video I have to post.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
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