Our homeschool community, Bridges, is officially back at full swing. I’m excited to be the tutor for our Logic level program which is equivalent to 7 and 8 grade (middle school). We do both grades together with a 2-year curriculum that can be taken in any order.
This is the stage where learning is driven by asking questions and applying formal logic to check your answers. In addition to traditional core subjects, one year we cover formal logic, and the other year we do fallacies. We’re on fallacies this year and using the popular Fallacy Detective book. My favorite teaching book on this stage of education is The Question by Leigh Bortins (feelings about CC aside).
Here’s the line up for this year.
Latin-I use Henle First Year as my base. I teach it from beginning to end each year adjusting the assignments for first and second year students respectively. I focus less on memorization and more on how to use a set of declension and conjugation charts and a dictionary to translate. If students have come through our Grammar (or grade school program), they have a tremendous grasp of English grammar and the Latin follows much easier than the students anticipate. I also find that moving quickly through the book keeps their attention more than spending an entire year on declensions and not understanding verbs and other parts of speech until later levels and years.
Science-I’m pulling from Science World magazine and ScienceWise 2 to design discussion-based and experiential lessons. The students will also be writing formal lab reports based on the scientific method.
English– Writing is integrated across many of the subjects. We continue to use IEW tools to guide us. For literature, we will read one classic together and dig deeper into the IEW critique model as well as explore literary critique methods and vocabulary. The rest of the books are student chosen. Each month the students read a book, write a critique, and present it to the class. I was inspired to use a more student driven approach for choosing literature after reading the Reader’s Odyssey.
Health– We’ll be reading and discussing articles from Scholastic Choices magazine.
Social Studies-The focus will be on world geography and current events. I like the Mapping the World with Art curriculum because it also checks off the required art box requirement for our state. I have the students read the lesson’s reading at home, and we complete the drawing lesson in class. We don’t do the extra enrichment activities. Additionally, we’re using Seterra to help us memorize all the countries in the world. We’re going continent by continent. For current events, the class has a subscription to WORLD Teen (yes, we’re magazine heavy in this year of the curriculum). We’ll be doing discussion around those articles through the month.
Bible-We’ll start by exploring praying in the Bible. Then we’ll study and pray for countries around the world using
Window on the World: When We Pray God Works which ties into our World Geography focus. We’ll also learn about world religions as we go.
Math– Because math is the one thing I couldn’t figure out how to teach modularly, we just provide some math study hall time. Fallacy Detective won’t take us all year, so we will also use Uncle Eric Talks about Personal Career and Financial Security as an intro to economics.
I’m in the market for a great one-year, comprehensive formal, logic course for next year. Any recommendations?
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The Auditory Learner
From the beginning, we’ve always had a tune (some catchier than others) for each piece of memory work. We’ve memorized skip counting of numbers, science facts, history facts, Latin vocabulary and grammar, locations for geography, Bible verses, an extensive timeline, and English grammar. My auditory learner could study using an mp3 player with headphones or in the car while we drove.
The Visual Learner
This is the child who I was worried about because she could never remember our phone number. However, we always practiced in the car where I would say it and have her repeat it. One day, she saw it written on our white board and memorized it on the spot and never looked back. I’m embarrassed it took me that long to figure out because, much like me, if she doesn’t see it, it doesn’t happen in her world. Our memory work songs were only helpful to her as reinforcement after she had read and re-read the memory work. Visual learners may also benefit from copying the memory work. Additionally, visual representations of certain memory work–creating charts or color-coding it–can be great tools. Our visual learner is a great example of how memory can be developed. She struggled early on and seemed generally clueless about the memory work. Memory Master which came naturally to our auditory learner seemed an insurmountable goal for our visual learner. However, she was diligent, and by the time she was 9ish, she was totally owning her own memory work and retaining exponentially more and more. Now her memorization skills could put most people to shame.
The Kinesthetic Learner
While I think all learning experiences are more robust with an experiencial or kinesthetic piece, some students can only learn if this piece is in place. We ended up with one of these, too. He’s the kid who has to jump each letter of his spelling words out on a trampoline and has to experience something concretely to really understand it. A verbal explanation or even a diagram aren’t good enough. He has to experience and feel it. He takes in memory best when singing and listening to the song while seeing it written down and doing matching hand motions. Then he doesn’t understand the words until you can stand on the “X” where JFK was shot or walk the battlefields of the Civil War.
Despite all of their differences (including one who has documented brain abnormalities), they have all found their niche in how to memorize their memory work. They’ve committed a ridiculous amount of information to memory, and we’re watching how our now Logic and Rhetoric stage students are able to use that knowledge as the foundation of their education as they add strong analytical and communication skills to their repertoire.
If you use memory work in your homeschool, what works for your students?
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I know I’m pretty late in posting this, but I wanted to make sure what I chose was actually going to stick. Plus, I figure this is when other people start realizing what they chose isn’t working and are looking for Plan B. The subjects listed are what we are required to teach in our state. (Bible is the obvious exception and that is required by our oversight organization.)
Bible
- We are listening through the Bible is approximate chronological order based on a reading plan from Bible.com. I’m varying the translations as we go. Have you ever listened to the Message’s paraphrase of Proverbs? You should.
- As we listen, I am introducing our passages with information from the Catholic Study Bible
. No matter the denomination your identify with or don’t, the study guide at the beginning of this Bible is second to none.
- This year’s memory work also includes a scripture each week.
English
- Our classical learning community, Bridges, has a built in language arts time which is super helpful this year.
- Ty (beginning reader): He’s memorizing his English grammar memory work, getting an activity to reinforce it at community, doing modified lessons from Primary Language Lessons (mostly copywork), and reading (to himself and out loud and listening to read alouds) a lot.
- Mia (advanced reader): Claritas Press has a language arts curriculum that is complements their memory work and is comparable to CC’s Essentials. We are also using IEW’s Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales book in community for the writing portion of our language arts time. She spends time reading every day and listens to stories in the car. Our book lists are shelved at Goodreads this year.
- Both kids are doing Spelling this way with lists appropriate to their levels. We introduce the lists in community which is also super helpful.
- PJ (diacletic stage): We have a reading contract inspired by The Reader’s Odyssey
. For writing he opted to write a beginner’s Minecraft manual. We’re also working through First Year Henle Latin
together.
Math
- For the main curriculum we use Math Mammoth (MM) which is based on the Singapore methodology but written for homeschoolers. Periodically, you can score a deal through Homeschool Buyers Co-op to buy 6 levels in pdf form. Another large family, budget-friendly curriculum. We us a math manipulative that I really like to reinforce number sense. It’s the Learning Resources Desktop Abacus
. You can read about how cool it is here.
If your child struggles with math concepts, I recommend holding off math until he can read fluently or check out the Right Start Math curriculum. It’s pricey and teacher-intensive but totally worth it if you can make it happen. - The one thing MM lacks is drilling so everyday the kids sign in to Xtra Math and do a set of drills. I love this because it’s FREE and tailors itself to the student.
- The kids will also have plenty of math memory work.
- PJ: He completed all the levels of MM and transitioned to the set of Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 0-2 books. To supplement he does about 20 minutes of Khan Academy a week. For logic, I’m facilitating a discussion between him and a friend that is guided by the The Fallacy Detective
.
Science
- Besides memory work, Mia and Ty will get 14 science projects loosely coordinated to the memory work at Bridges. I also include related books in our weekly book list.
- PJ: Patrick is teaching him to code plus there are science lessons woven into his math curriculum (win for Life of Fred).
Social Studies
- We start every morning (that we do school) by watching CNN Student News.
- Mia and Ty have history memory work that follows The Story of the World
. There is also Geography memory work.
- PJ (dialectic): He is doing Mapping the World with Art and dialectic discussions on current events with a friend. Currently, they are (with me helping) writing a policy for the NFL on whether or not to imposed further consequences when players find themselves in trouble legally.
Art
- Mia and Ty get 14 art lessons at Bridges.
- PJ’s art is covered in geography. #twobirdswithonestone.
Music
- Mia and Ty get a music lesson each week at Bridges, and this year’s memory work includes a portion of a hymn each week.
- PJ plays in a band organized by the music school where he took drum lessons.
Health
- We’re using Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool’s suggested health lessons. I chose the odd set because we are in an odd year.
Physical Education
- We’re still doing Tae Kwon Do as a family. In addition each kid has a physical activity of some sort at some time during the year (soccer, dance, gymnastics, etc.).
Other
- We’re involved in a social co-op that does field trips and special small group activities. For example, Mia’s getting home-ec and additional art, and PJ has a Middle School study hall. We also have various field trips and service projects planned.