Homeschooling Day by Day - Introducing a New & Inspiring E-Book!

Now Available!  Just $4.99!

I am excited to share with you a new ebook that I had the honor of writing for!  Kristy, from Little Natural Cottage, had a desire to write an ebook about homeschooling that would be a great encouragement to homeschool moms.  She enlisted a few other bloggers to help her write this wonderful book, called Homeschooling Day By Day.  

Just like you, we are homeschool moms in the trenches raising and educating our children!  Together, we want to give you a fresh vision for what homeschooling can be.  Not just in the glamorous "bigger picture," but in the very real day-by-day living.

Contributors: Kristy Howard, Bambi Moore, Jacinda Vandenburg, Kasey Norton, Amy Maze, Jill York, Sara Elizabeth Dunn, Anna Christensen, Richele Mcfarlin, Stephanie Eidson, and Heather Bowen.

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Homeschooling Day by Day is a smorgasbord of heart-changing stories, helpful information, and just about everything you could need to help you along your journey of home education!

Throughout the forty chapters of this ebook, we'll tackle the topics of:

 

• Homeschooling Methods

• Learning Styles

• Learning Disabilities

• Homeschooling Teenagers

• Homeschooling Preschoolers

• How to Teach Multiple Ages

• Dealing with Insecurity and Criticism

• How to Handle Bad Attitudes

• Hands on Help for Lesson Planning

• Keeping up with Housework

• And So Much More!

Here are a few words from visionary Kristy Howard:

One sultry day last summer, I sat down at my computer and opened a new Word document. For weeks, thoughts had been swirling in my head and pressing upon my heart.  That day, I began to write. They were random thoughts, but it felt good to express what I was feeling and thinking. I gave my doodlings the quick title of "Homeschooling Day by Day" and briefly entertained the idea of someday turning my ideas into an ebook.  Throughout that busy homeschooling year, a pregnancy, sickness, and all the other real life experiences we moms encounter, I kept writing. Nothing is quite as inspiring as real life!

Homeschooling Day by Day - Coming August 12th

If you're a homeschool mom in need of a little inspiration, or if you've ever considered homeschooling but aren't quite sure you can do it, Homeschooling Day by Day will encourage and empower you!

This amazing ebook will be available on Amazon, as well as right here on this blog , on August 12. (Make sure you look on the sidebar to subscribe by email or follow this blog in some way so you don't miss our official launch!) 

Now Available! Just $4.99!

  We can't wait to share Homeschooling Day by Day with you!

 

Trivium Tuesdays-Classical Link-Up #68

Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this is a link-up aimed at encouraging and informing other homeschoolers who use the Classical model of teaching.  Here we can share with each other and learn from one another.

I'm still working on transferring the All Things Classical list over to Pinterest.  If you don't follow me over there already, make sure you do so that you can search the boards to find just what you need!  Click on the "P" to follow!

Featured Posts

Melody from And Here We Go! has a giveaway for what looks like an awesome resource for you Classical Conversations families.  It is a memory work lapbook that covers what you learn at CC.  If you didn't enter when she linked it up last week, make sure you head over right now because today is that last day of the giveaway!

Most Clicked on Post from Last Week

There must be a bunch of Classical Conversations friends here these days because Melody's post above was the second most clicked on from last week, only behind the post from Growing Because of His Grace.  Tara shares her CC cycle 2 plans and also offers her custom planner to any fellow CCers!

Here are the rules:

• Your post must have to do (in some way) with classical homeschooling (any age children).
• Your post may be from your archives as long as you only post it one time on this link-up.
• Please link to your direct post, not your blog in general.
• Please place my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) on your blog post so others can learn about this link-up!
• It may be helpful to state in your link description what stage of the trivium or what subject your post is about, if applicable, so others can easily find posts they are interested in looking at.
• Remember, everyone loves comments =) So don't be shy, and tell someone if you liked their post!

I reserve the right to remove any link-up that does not have to do with classical homeschooling.         If you are a regular here at Trivium Tuesdays and have something to share that is a little off topic, but still would be an encouragement to the readers here, please still share it =)  I'm referring to people who are just trying to get their blog more exposure without following the rules above.

I will visit each of your blogs this week and feature my favorite link-up for all to see next week!  Also, if your blog has a button I will place it on my sidebar (under Friends to Visit) for the week until it is replaced by the next week's favorite =)

Song School Latin Review

I am completely on board with the classical model of education.  I love everything about it from the use of living books and primary source documents, to the studying of history chronologically.  It is a fairly rigorous method, but I feel relatively confident about teaching it.  There is just one facet of classical education that stumps me...Latin. 

A key component of classical education is the study of ancient language, most commonly Latin.  Needless to say, I know nothing about Latin.  I figured that I would wait a few years and then get my kids a book that they could pretty much teach themselves from.  Well, my ideas changed once I heard some other bloggers talking about this neat little program called Song School Latin.

To read my review of Song School Latin, head on over to The Curriculum Choice!

Classical Mamas Read - The Well Trained Mind Ch. 13-14

This post contains affiliate links to highly recommended products!

Welcome back to Classical Mamas Read!  I'm excited to be back here with you today to discuss chapters 13 and 14 of The Well Trained Mind.  If you want to take a look back at our previous discussions, click the picture above to take you to a list of each chapter we have talked about.

We are beginning part 2 of the book, which is about the Logic stage.  The Well Trained Mind puts this stage as the 5th-8th grades.  This is all uncharted territory for me, so I'm counting on those of you with older children to share you thoughts!

Ch. 13 - The Argumentative Child

• How do you know when your child is entering the Logic stage?  When they start to pause in the middle of reciting their memory work and as "why?"

• There are different schools of thought regarding having children memorize information vs having children use critical thinking.  I love that the classical model doesn't say either-or to that debate, but rather puts each method in it's proper place.  We have our children memorize in the grammar stage and then think critically about it all in the logic stage.

•  The logic stage student should no longer be struggling with reading, writing, and basic arithmetic.  Logic stage students have to be able to concentrate on analyzing, not comprehending.

 

"Logic trains the mind to approach every subject in a particular way---to look for patterns and sets of relationships in each subject area."

• The composition of a logic stage student will focus on the motivation behind the events they study, not on just narrating the events (like in the grammar stage). 

• While teaching your logic stage student, there will be less lecturing and more dialogue.

• For reading, your student should be using more and more original sources.

Ch. 14 - Snow White was Irrational: Logic for the Intuitive

• How do you begin logic with your children?  This chapter recommends starting out with having your 5th and 6th graders informally doing logic puzzles and then move into a formal logic program in 7th-8th grade.

 

• This chapter gives a great basic discussion of what logic is.  It teaches you how to think about information and the validity of an argument.  Here is a tidbit that I found interesting...

"Logic is concerned with the form of the argument, not its content." (page 245)

 Now it's your turn!  I don't have a lot to comment on the ideas that I pulled from these chapters, since I haven't been there yet =)  I can tell you, though, I really like logic and critical thinking, so I think I will enjoy teaching my children when they get to this stage!

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If you don't have the book already, you can look for it at your library or get it on amazon. (The Well Trained Mind)

If you are behind, feel free to still comment on the previous discussions.  If you want to be emailed when someone makes a comment, make sure to click "Subscribe by Email" right under the comment box (right hand side), so you won't miss out on any discussion!

Classical Mamas Read Link-Up

Did you write about these chapters on your blog?  Have you been reading and blogging about another book (for you, not a children's book)?  Do you have a book club going on at your blog (once again, not for a children's book)?  I'd love for you link up here so we can all be encouraged by each other and maybe find another great book to read!

I think I'm going to keep this link-up ongoing since there aren't going to be a huge number of posts and then anyone new will be able to be encouraged by the other book reading ideas and discussions.  If the number of posts gets too large, I will fix it.

Please note, all posts must be on topic (about a book you are reading) and appropriate (think family friendly).

Planning Your Kindergartener's Day

Kindergarten is such a fun time!  Your child is growing by leaps and bounds, able to learn so much information, and still loving to be active and play.  How do you make sure that you're fitting it all in?

As my son has grown out of the preschool age and into a 'real' school aged child, I have been slowly transferring some of his daily responsibilities over to him.  While I am still making sure that things run smoothly, I like him being able to see what he needs to do in a day.

A Kindergartener's Day

Room Responsibility

• Their own room is a great place to start!  Show your child how to make their bed (don't be too picky!) and clean up their floor.  Provide good storage places so that they have a place to put all their toys, books, and clothes.

Personal Hygiene

• Have your child pick out their own clothes and dress themselves (unless you have somewhere special to go, and then you might want to help!)  Each morning have them get dressed and brush their teeth themselves.  I know 5 year olds still need some help adequately getting their teeth clean, but I like to let my son do it himself in the morning so he can learn!

Learning

• Being that we homeschool, there are some learning activities that are required each day.  I like to break it up throughout the day, but my son knows that there are certain things he has to get done each day.  He is also required to spend some time reading each afternoon for a quiet time.

Play!

• 5 year olds are going to want to (and should!) spend the majority of their day playing.  This can range from outdoor activities to imaginative play, puzzles, arts and crafts, etc.

Keeping it Organized with A Plan in Place

Over the past year, I have tried many different ways to keep things straight.  I don't like it when my children follow me around saying "what can I do?" so I have tried different types of lists and charts, hoping to provide them with ideas  =)

About three months ago, I began using the Early Learner planner from my sponsor A Plan in Place.  I have found that it has been a perfect solution keeping it all straight and organized!

The majority of the planner is the weekly pages.  There is a page for each week, and you can write in what your child need to be doing each day.  I write in one day at a time, as to not overwhelm my son.  There are rows for Math, Language Arts, and then Other (I usually put History there).

Any planner you use is going to have a section like that, but what sets A Plan in Place apart is all of the thoughtful extras that they include!  (Check out these Early Learner sample pages for a better idea.)

Early Learner 'Extras'

• Daily Checklist - Remember the parts of a kindergartener's day that I talked about above?  They are all accounted for in the daily checklist.  This is just a quick spot for your child to look on each weekly page to make sure they are on track!  The beauty of the Early Learner planner is that it has words and pictures so it works whether or not your child is reading yet!

• Calendars - My son always loves flipping to the calendar pages in his planner.  It is a great way for him to gain familiarity with the layout of a calendar and see if I've written anything fun for the day!  The planner also gives idea of what your child could write/draw in each day (weather, activities, etc.)

• All About Me! - Remember doing these kinds of pages when you were in school?  I have thought about doing these with my kids, but then I figure they would just get lost, so I haven't bothered.  How ingenious to include it with the planner that has records for the year!  I definitely wouldn't throw the planner out, so it's a great place to include these type of memory pages.  There is also a See How I've Grown page at the end which is a great way to look back at the end of the year!

• Planning Pages for Mom - While this is a planner for your child, it also includes great pages for you to use for both short and long term planning.  Once again, I often write my plans and idea out, but then misplace the paper or forget that I had saved it on the computer, so I think it's an awesome idea to put it right there in the child's planner.

• Skills Survey - A great little 'assessment' to do at the beginning and end of the year. 

• Extra Curricular Activities, Field Trip log, and Achievement log - I just love how this planner keeps everything together, and it's orderly by keeping it together by year.  I had been wanting to keep a list of the books we read aloud, but never knew where to keep the list.  Now I have it on a page in the planner! 

Remember to check out sample pages of all these extras to get a better idea of what I mean!

Do you have older children too?  A Plan in Place also offers customizable planners for them!  You just tell them what subjects you want and they make it exactly to fit your needs!

They also have a great sale going on right now.  31% off any planners for a particular state each day!  You can find out which state they pick each morning on their facebook page.  Fun!

How is Your Child Smart?

Today's post is sponsored by Great Homeschool Conventions.  They wanted to share this great freebie with you all!  Get yours by clicking the picture above or the link below.

Every child is amazingly unique.  Some children are great with words and others with music or one of many other gifts.  The problem comes when we start comparing our children against an arbitrary standard. We want to know "how smart" our children are, but Dr. Kathy Koch says that is the wrong question to be asking.  We should be asking how are they smart.

Dr. Koch is one of the speakers at the Great Homeschool Conventions this coming year and wants to help us understand and teach our children better.  From now until July 31st you can get a free download of her book "How am I Smart?" A Parent's Guide to Multiple Intelligences. This book will help you better see how your own children are naturally gifted and will give you valuable ideas to foster these 'smarts' for their good and God's glory.

I just downloaded mine and started looking through it.  I can't wait to sit down and read it all!  I have a feeling it will be a very helpful book for me =)

Sign up to get yours now!

Trivium Tesdays-Classical Link-Up #67

Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this is a link-up aimed at encouraging and informing other homeschoolers who use the Classical model of teaching.  Here we can share with each other and learn from one another.

I'm still working on transferring the All Things Classical list over to Pinterest.  If you don't follow me over there already, make sure you do so that you can search the boards to find just what you need!  Click on the "P" to follow!

Featured Posts

Are you studying Ancient Egypt next year?  Janeen from Sprouting Tadpoles has a great list or resources that she has put together from when she studied Ancient Egypt with Tapestries of Grace last year.  Check it out, or pin it for later!

Most Clicked on Post from Last Week

Growing a Godly Girl shared a great list she put together organizing Classical Conversations cards and sentences.  There must be a bunch of you CCers out there, because she got quite a few clicks last week!

This Week's Link-Up

Here are the rules:

• Your post must have to do (in some way) with classical homeschooling (any age children).
• Your post may be from your archives as long as you only post it one time on this link-up.
• Please link to your direct post, not your blog in general.
• Please place my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) on your blog post so others can learn about this link-up!
• It may be helpful to state in your link description what stage of the trivium or what subject your post is about, if applicable, so others can easily find posts they are interested in looking at.
• Remember, everyone loves comments =) So don't be shy, and tell someone if you liked their post!

I reserve the right to remove any link-up that does not have to do with classical homeschooling.         If you are a regular here at Trivium Tuesdays and have something to share that is a little off topic, but still would be an encouragement to the readers here, please still share it =)  I'm referring to people who are just trying to get their blog more exposure without following the rules above.

I will visit each of your blogs this week and feature my favorite link-up for all to see next week!  Also, if your blog has a button I will place it on my sidebar (under Friends to Visit) for the week until it is replaced by the next week's favorite =)

Trivium Tuesdays-Classical Link-Up #66

Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this is a link-up aimed at encouraging and informing other homeschoolers who use the Classical model of teaching.  Here we can share with each other and learn from one another.

I've been working on transferring the All Things Classical list over to Pinterest.  If you don't follow me over there already, make sure you do so that you can search the boards to find just what you need!  Click on the "P" to follow!

Featured Posts

This week I'm featuring a post from Classical Conversations at Home.  Here, Beth talks about teaching history using the classical method.  She is (obviously) a part of Classical Conversations, so she uses their timeline cards and song as a backbone.  I've been loving Veritas Press, who also has timeline cards and songs.  What is your favorite way to learn history?

Most Clicked on Post from Last Week

Lisa from Golden Grasses got the most clicks last week with her post that gave an overview of classical education.  I always love to read a good explanation of classical education, and I guess you do too!

This Week's Link-Up

Here are the rules:

• Your post must have to do (in some way) with classical homeschooling (any age children).
• Your post may be from your archives as long as you only post it one time on this link-up.
• Please link to your direct post, not your blog in general.
• Please place my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) on your blog post so others can learn about this link-up!
• It may be helpful to state in your link description what stage of the trivium or what subject your post is about, if applicable, so others can easily find posts they are interested in looking at.
• Remember, everyone loves comments =) So don't be shy, and tell someone if you liked their post!

I reserve the right to remove any link-up that does not have to do with classical homeschooling.         If you are a regular here at Trivium Tuesdays and have something to share that is a little off topic, but still would be an encouragement to the readers here, please still share it =)  I'm referring to people who are just trying to get their blog more exposure without following the rules above.

I will visit each of your blogs this week and feature my favorite link-up for all to see next week!  Also, if your blog has a button I will place it on my sidebar (under Friends to Visit) for the week until it is replaced by the next week's favorite =)

5 Reasons Artist Study Should be a Part of Your Classical Education

Today I am excited to have Barb, from my sponsor Harmony Fine Arts, here to share with you why you should include studying artist, especially in your classical homeschool!  Barb recently graduated her last homeschool student, and always has an incredible amount of wisdom to share.  For more great homeschool inspiration, you can visit her blog, Harmony Art Mom.  Don't miss the BIG coupon code at the end of the post!

5 Reasons Artist Study Should be a Part of Your Classical Education

1) Exposure to great art and artists creates texture to your history study.   

As you work through your history plans, make sure to include artists and their artwork in your week.  Learning about artists in a chronological way makes sense and ties many aspects of history and culture together.

2) There is no right or wrong answer.

Art is a time that everyone can express themselves without fear of 'messing up.'  Sharing thoughts and emotions about great art is a wonderful way to help your children learn to express themselves in words and new vocabulary, too.

3) Artist study balances out the more academic subjects.

Exercising the left part of the brain is beneficial to developing the whole person.  Artist study doesn't need to be another heavy course in your homeschool.  Keep it light and fun.

4) Art refreshes the creative spirit.

Nothing will inspire you more than viewing great art.  As your children learn about different styles of art, they will pick a favorite.  Don't be surprised if you see your child creating artwork in that style.

5) It simply provides an enjoyable way for you and your children to spend time together.

A few minutes each week spent viewing paintings together will be something that you look forward to as you gain confidence.  You can share your knowledge of art with your child or just share an enthusiasm for art, learning right alongside them.

Harmony Fine Arts Can Help!

If you need help getting started with chronological artist and composer study, please click over and learn more about Harmony Fine Arts.  I created the yearly plans to go along with our family's classically inspired homeschool.  Each year* includes artist study plans that bring great art to your home with little preparation on your part.  The Harmony Fine Arts ebook plans have clickable links to 4-6 paintings per artist along with additional art appreciation and art skill options to round out your year's art curriculum.

*Grade 5 features Ancient Art and you do view artwork for each time period, but no specific artists.

I am offering a big 25% discount coupon code for individual ebook plans to readers here at Living and Learning at Home for the next week. Use code JULY25 until 7/22/13 to receive your discount!

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Barb has homeschooled her four children for the past 15 years, graduating her last child this past year!  She uses an eclectic style of homeschooling, flavored with a Classical/Charlotte Mason style to emphasize the arts and sciences.  She is the owner of Harmony Fine Arts and the organizer of the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

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Classical Mamas Read - The Well Trained Mind Ch. 10-12

This post contains affiliate links to highly recommended products!

Welcome back to Classical Mamas Read!  I'm excited to be back here with you today to discuss chapters 10-12 (plus the epilogue) of The Well Trained Mind.  If you want to take a look back at our previous discussions, click the picture above to take you to a list of each chapter we have talked about.

Ch. 10 - Electronic Teachers: Computers and Video Games (grammar stage) 

"Reading is mentally active.

Watching a video is mentally passive.

Writing is labor-intensive.

Clicking icons is effortless."

How do you all feel about using electronic devices while teaching your children (or for entertainment for that matter)?

Honestly, I am not a fan.  We do watch TV, play video games, and use other sorts of electronic devices, but we limit them.  I was happy to see that The Well Trained Mind recommends no more than 1/2 hour per day and that is what we are doing right now (it's not that straight forward, but that is what it works out to be).

It just doesn't sit right with me that my kids LOVE everything electronic so much.  That only makes me think that those things are so easy on them that they prefer it to the thinking that is required to do real things.  "All children prefer ease to effort." (page 201)  Honestly, I do too, but I desire more for my children.

I desire for my children to have strong imaginations and be able to entertain themselves.  The more TV they watch, the more bored I see them become when the TV is not on and the more they ask to watch TV.  Have any of you noticed something similar with your kids?

Ch. 11 - Matters of Faith: Religion {grammar stage}

Does your faith play a large role in your homeschool?

I would say for my family, that the Bible is the biggest reason that we homeschool.  We desire to be the ones who 'train our children up.'  We believe that the Bible impacts every area of life, so it is definitely intertwined in everything that we learn.

The authors argue that not believing is God is still a matter of faith.  If you are someone who homeschools, but do not believe in God, do you agree?

This chapter finishes up by saying that the grammar stage is a good time to understand the basics of how different faiths have formed history and science.  I think that the nice thing about studying history chronologically is that you are most likely going to touch on those things as you go.

Ch. 12 - The Finer Things: Art and Music

Art:

• Training in basic techniques
• Studying great artists

For training in basic techniques, they recommend using Drawing with Children.  I have read about this book a bit and am anxiously awaiting receiving it to review!

For studying great artists, I recommend Harmony Fine Arts.  This program makes it simple to begin studying art and the thing I love is that the curriculum is by time period, designed to go along perfectly with classical education!

Music:

I think that people often make learning about music harder than it has to be.  They recommend simply listening to a classical piece.  Then listen to it again and again.  Listen while you are doing housework or eating dinner.

Harmony Fine Arts can help you with that again if you want the music you are listening to, to lineup with what you are studying (for the most part).

They also recommend at least two years of piano lessons.  I'm really itching to get a piano, so hopefully one day my kids will take lessons =)  Have your children taken piano lessons?  How about a different instrument?

Epilogue {grammar stage}

This is a great section used to summarize everything that has been talked about.  It is a perfect place to reference back to what your child should be learning in each subject each year.

Next is a section summarizing what should be in each notebook you are keeping.

Lastly is a discussion about learning to read.  They give a great argument for learning phonics for reading.  I'm guessing that most of you are on the same page with that, so I won't re-hash what they said.  Just for fun, does anyone NOT like to teach their children to read phonetically?

Next week I will be on vacation (well, really a short business trip with my husband, but I"ll take it =) so we won't discuss again until the following week.  Then we will be on to the logic stage!

Do you have children in the logic stage?  I want to make sure that reading and discussing the next part of the book will be helpful to you all, otherwise we can visit it again later.

If you don't have the book already, you can look for it at your library or get it on amazon. (The Well Trained Mind)

If you are behind, feel free to still comment on the previous discussions.  If you want to be emailed when someone makes a comment, make sure to click "Subscribe by Email" right under the comment box (right hand side), so you won't miss out on any discussion!

Classical Mamas Read Link-Up

Did you write about these chapters on your blog?  Have you been reading and blogging about another book (for you, not a children's book)?  Do you have a book club going on at your blog (once again, not for a children's book)?  I'd love for you link up here so we can all be encouraged by each other and maybe find another great book to read!

I think I'm going to keep this link-up ongoing since there aren't going to be a huge number of posts and then anyone new will be able to be encouraged by the other book reading ideas and discussions.  If the number of posts gets too large, I will fix it.

Please note, all posts must be on topic (about a book you are reading) and appropriate (think family friendly).

Trivium Tuesdays-Classical Link-Up #65

Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this is a link-up aimed at encouraging and informing other homeschoolers who use the Classical model of teaching.  Here we can share with each other and learn from one another.

I've been mulling over in my head how to make the All Things Classical index more useable, and I just couldn't figure out a way that would be really helpful.  Then it hit me that I should really just move the whole thing over to Pinterest.  My boards could really use some TLC anyways, so I guess now is the time.  I am going to have lots of classical specific boards so that you can search for what what you need.  It is going to take some time to go back through all your old posts, but slowly I will get it done =)

What that means for this week is that I haven't had the time to go through and read each of your posts from last week.  I promise I will at some point in the near future, but for this week I am just going to feature the most clicked-on posts from last week.  Of course there had to be a 3-way tie for 2nd place, so here are your top 4 posts from last week!

Featured Posts

The Crafty Homeschool Mama shares with us her 2013-2014 Curriculum Choices and Recommendations

Classical Conversations at Home shares with us How to Teach Your Child Math with the Classical Method

Home Sweet Homeschool shares some Affordable Art Prints (but I'm not getting her blog to come up right now...anyone else having that issue?)

Half a Hundred Acre Wood shares with us what their Classical Notebook looks like, including a bunch of {free} printables!

Thanks for all the great posts last week, friends!

 

This Week's Link-Up

Here are the rules:

• Your post must have to do (in some way) with classical homeschooling (any age children).
• Your post may be from your archives as long as you only post it one time on this link-up.
• Please link to your direct post, not your blog in general.
• Please place my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) on your blog post so others can learn about this link-up!
• It may be helpful to state in your link description what stage of the trivium or what subject your post is about, if applicable, so others can easily find posts they are interested in looking at.
• Remember, everyone loves comments =) So don't be shy, and tell someone if you liked their post!

I reserve the right to remove any link-up that does not have to do with classical homeschooling.         If you are a regular here at Trivium Tuesdays and have something to share that is a little off topic, but still would be an encouragement to the readers here, please still share it =)  I'm referring to people who are just trying to get their blog more exposure without following the rules above.

I will visit each of your blogs this week and feature my favorite link-up for all to see next week!  Also, if your blog has a button I will place it on my sidebar (under Friends to Visit) for the week until it is replaced by the next week's favorite =)

Are You Ready for the Great Homeschool Conventions - 2014?

I am super excited to announce Great Homeschool Conventions as my newest sponsor!  Have you been to the Great Homeschool Conventions website recently?  They have been busy getting everything ready for the 2014 season and already have a great list of speakers ready for you to get excited about!

Did you go to one of the Great Homeschool Conventions locations last year?  I heard amazing things about it and cannot wait to go this year.  I know many of you are classical homeschoolers and there will definitely be sessions for you, but no matter what you are interested in, they will have sessions that will greatly benefit you...

These sessions will include topics such as Math, Reading, Science, Spelling, Writing, Classical Home Education, Charlotte Mason Methods, Unit Studies, Beginning Homeschooling, Homeschooling through High School, Special Needs, Homeschool Transcripts, Homeschool Legal Questions, Gifted Homeschooling, Successful Parenting, Christian Worldview, Creation Apologetics, and much more!

Dates and Locations for The Great Homeschool Conventions

Mark your calendars for one of the three locations:

• Greenville, SC - March 20-22, 2014

• Cincinnati, OH - April 24-26, 2014

• Ontario, CA - June 12-14, 2014

And keep checking in for more information!  I'll be bringing you updates about once a month to make sure you have all you need to know to get the most out of the Great Homeschool Conventions 2014.

Partnering with Creation Ministries International

This year, Great Homeschool Conventions is honored to be partnering with Creation Ministries International! 

Creation Ministries International is a group of non-profit ministries in several countries.  Our role is to support the church in proclaiming the truth of the Bible and thus its Gospel message.  We provide real-world answers to the most asked questions in the vital of creation/evolution, where the Bible is most under attack today---Genesis.

Starting today, they are offering a great {free} bundle, just for you!  Go to the Great Homeschool Conventions website from July 8-16 to sign up for the following three resources:

• Why Does a Good God Allow Bad Things? (video)

• The Greatest Hoax on Earth? (ebook)

• Creation Magazine (digital edition)

  

Click on the links above to learn more about the products, but make sure to sign up at Great Homeschool Conventions to get them for free!  (US residents only)

Classical Mamas Read - The Well Trained Mind: Chs. 8-9

This post contains affiliate links to highly recommended products!

Welcome back to Classical Mamas Read!  I'm excited to be back here with you today to discuss chapters 8 & 9 of The Well Trained Mind.  If you want to take a look back at our previous discussions, click the picture above to take you to a list of each chapter we have talked about.

Ch. 8 - Making Sense of the World: Science (grammar stage)

I found this chapter extremely helpful because we haven't really done much with science yet.  We observe lots of things and read living nature books, but haven't really started on any sort of 'plan.'  Now I have some ideas for next year!

Here are some of my thoughts and notes that I took on this chapter...

• In classical education, science subjects roughly correlate with the history period being studied. 

• This is one of the things I love most about classical education.  I think it is so valuable to connect subjects like that.

• Explore and have fun!

• Science is great to learn in the grammar stage, but it is not of most importance.  If you have limited time, always choose reading and writing over science.

• You want to give your children a great taste of science so when they enter the dialectic stage they are excited to learn more!

•  1-2 days a week of science is plenty for the grammar stage

How often to you study science?

• Subjects covered:

• Grade 1 - Animal life, the human body, and plants

• Grade 2 - Earth and sky

• Grade 3 - Chemistry

• Grade 4 - Physics and computer science 

• Make a Science Notebook (just like for writing and history)

• Narration page (Answering the question "What did you learn about..."

• Experiment page (Explaining what they did and what happened)

• Definition page (sharing any new words they learned)

• Extra resource narration page (visit the library and have your child make a narration for one of those books once or twice a month)

• Resources (just a few of the major ones they recommend)

• Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals

• Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia 

• Green Thumbs

• Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space

• Usborne First Encyclopedia of our World

• Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science

Do you follow these Well Trained Mind recommendations or do you use something else?

Ch. 9 - Dead languages for Live Kids: Latin (grammar stage)

Here are some of my thoughts and notes on the subject...

• They recommend starting Latin in 3rd or 4th grade.

• That was my intention until I found out about Song School Latin.  We've been using this and LOVING it.  I've got a review of it coming out later this month, so look out for that! 

• They recommend starting with Prima Latina and then continuing with Latina Christiana. 

 

 

• Why study Latin?

• It trains the mind to think in an orderly fashion

• It improves English skills

• It prepares your child for the study of other foreign languages

• It guards against arrogance (shows your child that there are other ways of life, speech, etc.

• They give a nice little quick intro about how Latin works that I found very helpful.  Check it out if you have no idea about the Latin language.

They recommend starting with Latin.  What language do you (or plan to) start with your children?

 

Next week we will be discussing chapters 10 and 11 10-12 plus the grammar stage Epilogue.  Hopefully it won't be to much for one week, but I don't want this book to take all year to go through, so we will try!  It looks like a lot of pages, but a good chunk of it is resource suggestions, so I think we should be ok.

If you don't have the book already, you can look for it at your library or get it on amazon. (The Well Trained Mind)

If you are behind, feel free to still comment on the previous discussions.  If you want to be emailed when someone makes a comment, make sure to click "Subscribe by Email" right under the comment box (right hand side), so you won't miss out on any discussion!

Classical Mamas Read Link-Up

Did you write about these chapters on your blog?  Have you been reading and blogging about another book (for you, not a children's book)?  Do you have a book club going on at your blog (once again, not for a children's book)?  I'd love for you link up here so we can all be encouraged by each other and maybe find another great book to read!

I think I'm going to keep this link-up ongoing since there aren't going to be a huge number of posts and then anyone new will be able to be encouraged by the other book reading ideas and discussions.  If the number of posts gets too large, I will fix it.

Please note, all posts must be on topic (about a book you are reading) and appropriate (think family friendly).