Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Trivium Tuesdays - Classical Link-Up #165

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Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this link-up is hosted by Living and Learning at Home (that's me!) and Classically Homeschooling and is 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.


Don't forget to follow my Pinterest boards that are a part of the All Things Classical List!

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Also, please remember to only link up posts that have to do with homeschooling using the classical model of education.  Thank you for understanding this link-up's theme.


Featured Post from Last Week


This is an excellent post from Jennifer at Expanding Wisdom.  When you think of the grammar of a subject, what do you think of?  How do you go about teaching it in your homeschool?

Here's a snippet, and then head on over to read the rest of Contemplating the Liberal Arts - Grammar & Myth...

..."Therefore, we can say that the classical liberal art of grammar is a long contemplation of literature/myth/the classics in a way that allows the student to justify matters of conscience."


Apologia Botany Giveaway!


I've got a fun giveaway for you today!  Enter to win a copy of the Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany textbook and notebooking journal.

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 link back to this post in some way. You can use my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) if you'd like so others can learn about this link-up! Button code: <a href="http://www.livingandlearningathome.com/" target="_blank" title="Trivium Tuesdays"><img alt="Living and Learning at Home" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bYsfMVF9tdI6haQLUiZ1rvZIf1kDaqnjHIOJA46X62tWXnlPDkU-5OqujsZyjoDp39J7dbhUx9CRFPyV991_BapG9dHciT8osyXwMtDtG6mV_TDyoECv_e5-oKFc2ZavhE4Ds9rj_8Kn/s1600/Trivium+Tuesdays+-+button.png"/></a>
  • 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.

If you want to be reminded of this link-up each week, make sure to sign up below!
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Thursday, June 25, 2015

Botany in the Backyard - An Apologia Science Review

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I have had the treat this spring of using the Apologia - Exploring Creation with Botany curriculum.  (Thank you, Apologia, for providing me with this curriculum to review!)

I have been eying this particular Botany curriculum for a few years, but my kids were a bit young, so I wanted to wait until they could appreciate it more.  They are 5 and (almost) 7 now, plus I decided it would be more fun to do this study with friends and the group has a couple of 8 year olds in it.  These Exploring Creation books are said to be for K-6th grade, so this was a perfect time for us to start!

We school year round, so I have always had vision of being able to do a botany study in the spring and summer when we could actually be outside exploring the nature that we are learning about.  Usually my grand ideas end up falling flat, but this one is actually happening!

Studying botany right in our back yard!

Once a week, three other families come over to my house and we have class in my back yard.  I set up a table, throw a big blanket on the grass, and we are ready to go!  Here is what a typical class looks like:

Arrival Activity


I bought the Co-Op Guide to help me turn this curriculum into a fun group experience and one thing that it suggests is having an arrival activity each week.  This is a fun way to start the day, and gets the kids thinking about the topic that we will be learning about.  Some of the ideas have been: making tissue paper flowers, making a Q-Tip Bee, and taking seeds out of a melon and estimating how many there are.  Our nature journals also have a coloring page each week, so I let the kids do that at this time too.  Sometimes I use this time to review what we learned the last week and let the kids share any extra pages they did in their nature journals.

Pollinating flowers with the Q-tip bee!

Class Connection


After the arrival activity, we all run across the yard and sit on a blanket that is on the grass.  For some reason this is my favorite part of the morning =)  This class connection is also an idea from the Co-Op Guide, but I have tweaked it to suit our needs.  We sing a song, review our memory work, and I give the kids time to each share about something nature related they saw or did in the past week.  The kids really enjoy this time and I do too!


Teaching Time


Next, we head back to the table for teaching time.  This is when we really dive into the content of the chapter.  So far we have covered topics like seeds, fruit, and pollination.  You will notice that all of the pictures in this post are from our pollination lesson.  I take a really hand-on approach to this because all of the kids in my group are in the lower age range for this curriculum.  I love that I can pull out the information that is appropriate for them, but if you had older kids, you could really dive in deep and learn so much more!

Hard at work drawing and writing what they just learned about pollination!


Usually this time will include a page or two in the nature journal.  We have labeled parts of a plant, traced leaves, drawn flowers, and made up stories.  There is so much available in the Nature Journal for each lesson that we don't even get to it all.  I tell the kids that they can do the other pages at home if they want to.

Since we are doing our lessons outside, I always include a nature walk of some sort.  We have collected leaves, looked for certain types of flowers, pollinated flowers, and more!  This gives the kids a good chance to get up and move around since our meeting time is pretty long.


On a nature walk, enjoying God's creation.

Review and Snack


The last part of the day consists of a snack and a review time.  We send the kids to play for a few minutes while we set up the snack.  Since the topic is plants, there are always so many great opportunities to incorporate the theme for the week into our snacks.  Now, I am not a fancy, creative pinterest-worthy kind of mom, so I'm not talking about cutting strawberries to look like bees or designing an edible garden.  I'm talking simple ideas =)  The week we learned about seeds, we ate seed butter on Ezekiel Bread (which is made from seeds and other stuff).  When we talked about fruits, we ate all kinds of fruits and veggies, after discovering which veggies were actually fruits!  The week we studied pollination was especially fun!  The kids got to be pollinators by transferring "pollen" from a powdered sugar doughnut to a plain one.


The kids loved pretending to 'pollinate' the doughnuts!

The Co-Op Guide always has a good picture book suggestion, so we read that while the kids eat.  Then we do a final review and add a lapbook type piece to our journals.  Sometimes this time will include a little experiment for the kids to see in action what we have been learning about.



Finishing up the day (with the healthy part of our snack) drawing a story about pollination.

There are just so many options in this curriculum.  Honestly, I wish that I could take two meeting times to cover the material, but since I am doing it in a group, meeting once a week for a longer time works for us.  You can get a better idea of what is all included by taking a look at sample pages of the text book, notebooking journal, and junior notebooking journal.

I love doing this study as a group and I love being able to do it outside, surrounded by our subject matter!  

The material covered in the text book goes pretty deep.  If you only have a Kindergartener or 1st grader, I would probably wait a couple of years to do this study.  If you have older elementary kids and younger ones, then it is great because you can have the older kids read the chapter and fully participate in all the activities.  You can just include the younger kids in the parts that are interesting for them.


Would You Like to Try Apologia Botany for Free?


When I was ordering the books for my class, I accidentally more than I needed.  Instead of returning them, I thought I could bless one of you with a set!



One person will win an Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany textbook and a notebooking journal (regular level, not junior).  So, enter below for a chance to win! (Don't see the raffelcopter widget?  Click Here.)

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Trivium Tuesdays - Classical Link-Up #164

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Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this link-up is hosted by Living and Learning at Home (that's me!) and Classically Homeschooling and is 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.


Don't forget to follow my Pinterest boards that are a part of the All Things Classical List!

 photo AllThingsClassical-titlepic_zps4a3485e7.png

Also, please remember to only link up posts that have to do with homeschooling using the classical model of education.  Thank you for understanding this link-up's theme.


Featured Post from Last Week



I really enjoyed this post from Classically Homeschooling.  Ordo Amoris means ordering affections/loves and is such a fascinating concept!  This is something that I am definitely thinking deeply about these days.  I thought this was a neat quote from Sara's post, "Aristotle says that the aim of education is to make the pupil like and dislike what he ought." 


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 link back to this post in some way. You can use my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) if you'd like so others can learn about this link-up! Button code: <a href="http://www.livingandlearningathome.com/" target="_blank" title="Trivium Tuesdays"><img alt="Living and Learning at Home" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bYsfMVF9tdI6haQLUiZ1rvZIf1kDaqnjHIOJA46X62tWXnlPDkU-5OqujsZyjoDp39J7dbhUx9CRFPyV991_BapG9dHciT8osyXwMtDtG6mV_TDyoECv_e5-oKFc2ZavhE4Ds9rj_8Kn/s1600/Trivium+Tuesdays+-+button.png"/></a>
  • 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.

If you want to be reminded of this link-up each week, make sure to sign up below!
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Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Trivium Tuesdays - Classical Link-Up #163

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Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this link-up is hosted by Living and Learning at Home (that's me!) and Classically Homeschooling and is 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.


Don't forget to follow my Pinterest boards that are a part of the All Things Classical List!

 photo AllThingsClassical-titlepic_zps4a3485e7.png

Also, please remember to only link up posts that have to do with homeschooling using the classical model of education.  Thank you for understanding this link-up's theme.


Featured Post from Last Week



I really enjoyed the post from Learning Mama last week about Self Education.  I would love to be more disciplined about reading.  How about you?  It seems like there is always an excuse: no time, no energy, no desire...but being a life-long learner is so important!


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 link back to this post in some way. You can use my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) if you'd like so others can learn about this link-up! Button code: <a href="http://www.livingandlearningathome.com/" target="_blank" title="Trivium Tuesdays"><img alt="Living and Learning at Home" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bYsfMVF9tdI6haQLUiZ1rvZIf1kDaqnjHIOJA46X62tWXnlPDkU-5OqujsZyjoDp39J7dbhUx9CRFPyV991_BapG9dHciT8osyXwMtDtG6mV_TDyoECv_e5-oKFc2ZavhE4Ds9rj_8Kn/s1600/Trivium+Tuesdays+-+button.png"/></a>
  • 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.

If you want to be reminded of this link-up each week, make sure to sign up below!
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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Trivium Tuesdays - Classical Link-Up #162

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Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this link-up is hosted by Living and Learning at Home (that's me!) and Classically Homeschooling and is 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.


Don't forget to follow my Pinterest boards that are a part of the All Things Classical List!

 photo AllThingsClassical-titlepic_zps4a3485e7.png

Also, please remember to only link up posts that have to do with homeschooling using the classical model of education.  Thank you for understanding this link-up's theme.


Featured Post from Last Week



The Simply Blog shared last week all about the Value of Effort and Habits.  This is a topic that is frequently on my mind, so I loved reading her thoughts about it!  I am always trying to help my kids make good habits and my son really struggles in the area of effort.  If anyone has any practical tips, I'd love to hear them =)


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 link back to this post in some way. You can use my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) if you'd like so others can learn about this link-up! Button code: <a href="http://www.livingandlearningathome.com/" target="_blank" title="Trivium Tuesdays"><img alt="Living and Learning at Home" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bYsfMVF9tdI6haQLUiZ1rvZIf1kDaqnjHIOJA46X62tWXnlPDkU-5OqujsZyjoDp39J7dbhUx9CRFPyV991_BapG9dHciT8osyXwMtDtG6mV_TDyoECv_e5-oKFc2ZavhE4Ds9rj_8Kn/s1600/Trivium+Tuesdays+-+button.png"/></a>
  • 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.

If you want to be reminded of this link-up each week, make sure to sign up below!
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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Trivium Tuesdays - Classical Link-Up #161

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Welcome to another week of Trivium Tuesdays!  For those of you who are new here today, this link-up is hosted by Living and Learning at Home (that's me!) and Classically Homeschooling and is 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.


Don't forget to follow my Pinterest boards that are a part of the All Things Classical List!

 photo AllThingsClassical-titlepic_zps4a3485e7.png

Also, please remember to only link up posts that have to do with homeschooling using the classical model of education.  Thank you for understanding this link-up's theme.


Featured Post from Last Week



Besides reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit, I really didn't know anything about Beatriz Potter until a few weeks ago.  I watched a movie based on her life and found it fascinating!  This morning I checked out a number of her other books from the library.  Then I can home to find that Trivium Pursuit linked up a post all about Ms. Potter!  I really enjoyed reading it and I think that you will to.



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 link back to this post in some way. You can use my Trivium Tuesdays button (found on my right sidebar) if you'd like so others can learn about this link-up! Button code: <a href="http://www.livingandlearningathome.com/" target="_blank" title="Trivium Tuesdays"><img alt="Living and Learning at Home" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bYsfMVF9tdI6haQLUiZ1rvZIf1kDaqnjHIOJA46X62tWXnlPDkU-5OqujsZyjoDp39J7dbhUx9CRFPyV991_BapG9dHciT8osyXwMtDtG6mV_TDyoECv_e5-oKFc2ZavhE4Ds9rj_8Kn/s1600/Trivium+Tuesdays+-+button.png"/></a>
  • 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.

If you want to be reminded of this link-up each week, make sure to sign up below!
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