10/40 Window Study for Younger Children

My older kids are doing Sonlight's Core F this year and I wanted something for Sunshine, who is in 4th grade this year.  With his auditory processing issues, he's just not able to handle longer chapter books yet, and he's definitely not ready for Core F.

I've looked and looked for a resource to use for youngers each time I've done Core F. This is my second full time through it and I planned to do it once with these kids several years ago but changed my mind at the last minute and did something else.  I've attempted to plan out fun hands-on activities for youngers before and it always ended up being too much.

This time around I found Expedition Earth from confessionsofahomeschooler.com.  It's not perfect, but it's the closest to what I've been looking for.  There are a lot of elements I've pulled into my plan and I think what it really gave me was permission to do "less is more."  Even after putting together my full plan for each week, once we actually began doing it, I cut some things out.  For instance, it's just not necessary for Sunshine to know the population or land area of each country.  Those super large numbers aren't that meaningful to him yet and there are other things about each country or culture I'd like to stick with him (like WHERE the country is).

I've also made his schedule to only loosely coordinate with Core F with each country he studies taking only two weeks.  Here is the schedule:

Mystery of History, Volume 2, Weeks 1 & 2, (Which Actually Took Us 3 Weeks)

We are excitedly jumping into our next phase of history, one I've never even been in: the Early Church and Medieval times.

Somehow, we've skipped over this time period.  Rose Bud was working through ancient history when she went off to public school.  Daisy was small and was lightly going through a little ancient history with us.  When Rose Bud was very small, we went through Sonlight's Core 1 and only half-heartedly through Core 2, which contained the medieval period.  Somehow it was much more fun to reach American history and we took our sweet time enjoying Cores 3 and 4.  Somewhere in there Rose Bud and I (with Daisy tagging along) also did Core 5.

When Rose Bud went to public school, Daisy and Pepper and I tackled Cores 3 and 4 again, enjoying American history all over.  I then debated and agonized over doing Core 5.  So many wise ones who had gone before discouraged its use by a 4th grader, which Pepper was.  So after investing in it and deciding to use it, at the 11th hour I bailed and we went for Core 6, Ancient History.

Well, it wasn't many days after that decision that I decided Mystery of History, which, being a Curriculum Junkie, I already owned was a better fit.  And we never looked back.

And now we are beginning MOH2.

So without further ado, here are our first two weeks:
Mystery of History 2

Pentecost and the First Followers of Jesus c. A.D. 29 
Saul, Who is Also Called Paul A.D. 31
Paul's Missionary Journeys c. A.D. 46-66
Nero A.D. 37-68
Martyrs of the Early Church c. A.D. 64-257








Read-Alouds (books I read to them)
Stephen, A Soldier of the Cross  This book was written in 1896 and republished by Lamplighter Books.  Although it is written in archaic language (lots of thees and thous and doest thou) the girls (and I) loved it!  It was a great story with an exciting plot intertwining actual characters from the Bible with some fictional go-alongs in a story of how-it-might-have-been.  It gave a good overview of what everyday life was like for various levels of society in the deserts of Egypt and in Jerusalem just after Jesus' death.
The Ides of April This very exciting story takes place in A.D. 62 during the time of Nero.  It's not related to the Christians of the time, but rather tells the life of a Roman household and its slaves.  One slave, having been accused of the murder of his master, has endangered all the slaves of the household.  Another slave who has escaped capture endeavors to save them all.  I began reading this aloud and then passed it off to the girls to finish. (I can only read so much before my voice gives out!)
The Life of St. Paul by Fosdick  This is a Landmark book and thus very easy to read.  I could assign it as a reader, however this article highlights some concerns about the author, Harry Emerson Fosdick.  These concerns didn't keep us from reading the book.  Instead, I chose to do it as a read-aloud so that we could discuss concerns as they came up.  The book does point out some interesting  ideas about Paul's life which I hadn't realized before.  For example, he points out how Jesus was a country boy, growing up in a rural area and being familiar with rural ideas and farming practices.  Along with that, the people he preached to were also mainly rural people and this is evident in the illustrations he uses; illustrations about sheep, crops, birds of the field, vineyards.  Paul, on the other hand, was a city boy from Tarsus, a booming metropolis.  He was well-educated, knew several languages and was a Roman citizen.  Hence his illustrations were of things like running the race (a reference to Roman athletics) and such.  He seldom mentioned anything related to farming or livestock.  In any case, we did notice that there is no mention of Jesus' divinity or the Holy Spirit in the book.  Also, in the later chapters, Paul is painted as being concerned about losing the respect and love of the churches, whereas the Biblical Paul would have been concerned with the churches losing love and respect for GOD (not himself).  We discussed this discrepancy and pointed out how one needs to be aware of the perspective and world-view of the author whatever one is reading.
(Incidently, here is a list of Landmark books listed chronologically)


On-going Read-Alouds
We are reading  each day from the One-Year Chronological Bible (NLT).  This is the Bible that got me to finally read through the whole Bible.  And I love the readability of the NLT.  Whichever version you choose, this is organized chronologically, so we've had Galatians inserted into our Acts of the Apostles already.  Readings are short, 15 min. a day.  We began with Acts.

Trial and Triumph  I have probably too many books about Early Church history, but I am finding, as we read through them, that they each bring something different to our experience.  Thus far we have only read about Polycarp and Blandina in this book, but both came to us in nice, short, story-format chapters.  Sometimes it's nice just to have something easy to read.


In that same vein, we are reading from Foxe: Voice of the Martyrs.  This version is published by Voice of the Martyrs organization.  This book tells the stories of the apostles, as well as early martyrs.  It has an old-fashioned feel with very old drawings (gory!) throughout.

AND we are reading from Peril and Peace, Volume 1: Chronicles of the Ancient Church.  Again, this is more of a story format.  However, rather than JUST stories of the martyrs, it also gives the history of the ancient church, such as background of the martyring Roman emperors and what worship in the early church looked like.

Readers

Pepper somehow escaped reading The Bronze Bow, although Daisy had finished it last spring, so Pepper has read that already this fall.  Pepper also read The Beast of Lor by Clyde Robert Bulla, about the Romans in early Britain.  Daisy read Titus: Comrade of the Cross, which is a prequel to Stephen listed above.  It was too challenging for Pepper, but Daisy enjoyed it, in spite of its 32 chapters and the 5 days I gave her to read it!  Both girls also paged through The Roman Colosseum by Elizabeth Mann when we read about Nero.

Other Media

"Prisoner for Christ,"  from Adventures in Odyssey Bible Eyewitness  (CD#3) told the story of Onesimus, the slave of Philemon (of Philemon in the Bible).  Twice Freed also tells the story, but the girls deemed the book, "boring."

They've been working through the Drive Thru History series and watched episodes from Greece and the Word DVD which touched on the travels of Paul.

And we love the Diana Waring CDs!  This year we are listening to the Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries set.  For these two weeks, we are listening to Digging Deeper, Disc 1: The Exploding Church and What in the World's Going On Here? Disc 1, Track 2: 1st century Church & Emperors.

Maps and Timeline

We are combing the map exercises in MOH2 with our MapTrek maps.  And we use the Homeschool in the Woods timeline figures on our timeline.  We add the figures suggested in MOH and any others that we've read about for the week.

Doin' a 180 (or a 90 or a 270...I Don't Know)

Remember a couple of posts ago (which was really a couple of months ago) how I posted we'd be doing an around-the-world study and Core 5's Eastern Hemisphere?

Well, people go on and on over at  the SL Forums about how difficult this SL year is and how you shouldn't do it with kids under 10 and how kids get so much more from it when they are older, yadda, yadda.

I was pretty secure in my choice to do it anyway with Daisy (who will be 12) and Pepper (who will be 9-turning-10) and to do my own travelling-around-the-world thing with Banana Boy.  We've Sonlighted all along, which is a major factor in it being successful with a younger-than-average child (such as Pepper).  She's used to the format, the reading, the discussions.

But she's not an eager reader of books she considers too hard for her.  Or books she considers not interesting (meaning not full of puppies or ponies or kittens or child detectives solving mysteries).  And Core 5 is full of not-interesting-to-Pepper books.

So in a prime example of wishy-washy, second-guessing (and over-use of the hyphen) curriculum-hopping, we're shelving Core 5 for now.

Instead---take a deep breath----I'm abandoning Sonlight.  Sort of.

There.  I said it.

Now I've always considered myself a die-hard Sonlighter, even though in actuality, I use SL pretty LOOSELY.  I own all the SL cores up through 6.  I have all the catalogs back through 1998. (I think I even have a 1996) 

I love SL.  I love what they stand for.  I love the books they choose.  I love that it's all planned out and shipped in a box right to me.

But I'm a grass is greener kind of girl and I just can't HELP messing with it.  Er, I mean, Tweaking.

So, my plan was to do Core 6 World History and use Mystery of History instead of Story of the World (which I just can't stand.  I've tried to use it.  I've tried to like it.  It. Annoys. Me.  I don't like her style.  And then when people throw in the accuracy issues... I'm just done.  If you want to buy my SOTW collection, it's for sale.)

I have a schedule I put together when I did this same thing with Rose Bud several years ago, using MOH and Core 6.  Looking over it this summer, I realized it's not Core 6.  It's not SL.  It's MOH and many of the great books SL suggests (and many great books suggested by other curriculums).

So, reluctantly, I admitted to myself that I would not be using Core 6 this fall.  And I won't be using Core 7 next year.  In fact, I'm going to do MOH for the next 3 years with the girls.  They WON'T BE USING SONLIGHT.  (insert moment of silence)

After that, I'd like to come back to Core 5.  We'll have to see, as Daisy will be in 9th grade.  If I've learned nothing else, it's not to even bother to plan ahead.  Three years from now, I'll have all new ideas.

Anyway, I AM going to do Core 1 World History with Banana Boy as written, out of the IG, open and go.  NO TWEAKING!  I do like Hillyer's Child's History of the World.  I used that with Rose Bud long, long ago.

Ok.  I might tweak a little.  I hate the Usborne World History.  But other than that.  NO TWEAKING!

Funny, how it all works out.  I've never liked SL's science and this year we are completing Science 5.  I've always used SL's Cores and this year we'll be switching to MOH.  I feel a bit like a traitor.  It was Jimmie, who actually gave me the courage to say out loud what I was wanting to do on the inside.  Thanks, Jimmie!

Wish List

Ooh, I love a new school year and I love to plan it out.

Implementing it---that's a whole different ball of wax.

But for now I am in the planning stage and it's all fun and games.

I've been pouring over my favorite homeschool suppliers and came across two fun new items that I would love to have.

Composers Lapbook


How cute is this folder? It's arranged like an orchestra. See the conductor there in the front? And all the instruments are tucked into their little pockets.

I'm also looking at the Civil War Time Travelers CD. I'm torn about this one. I have two of their other Time Travelers CDs and we used some of the projects from them, but not as many as I'd have liked for the price. I also already own the Civil War History Pockets and looking at the topics, I see many of the same in both sets. Granted, there is much, much more in the Time Travelers CD, but why not NOT use what I already own instead of spending more money to not use something else.

There. I talked myself out of it.

Yet, if I could find it for $5, I think I'd snap it up....

So basically, we'll be working through Sonlight Core 4 this year with the girls. Banana Boy is going to hang out and maybe listen in a little. I might read through The American Story with him. Not sure. I haven't ended up loving that book as much as I wanted to either. In story-length and illustrations it appears to be for young children, but then some of the language/vocabulary/concepts seem way up there. I guess I'll have to give it another shot to see.

For science I was all set to use Real Science 4 Kids: Chemistry. It will be too much for Banana Boy, so I ordered the updated parts of Sonlight Science K for him. This mostly consisted of the Usborne books I didn't already own. I have the old SL Science K from when Rose Bud was small.

AND since I was doing a SL order ( I had a $25 coupon) I also picked up most of the parts of Science 4. We have the microscope from years and years ago when SL offered it at an incredible price around Christmas. I never used Science 4 with Rose Bud, though, so I didn't have many of the books. It's been mostly revamped anyway, so I bought the new Usborne books that are included.

I have to say, The Story of Inventions has been a HUGE hit. Both girls have been gently spatting over who gets to read it and as soon as one puts it down, the other snaps it up. Rose Bud has read it, too. I read through a couple of the articles and it ranks up there as one of the nicest Usborne books I've ever read. The articles and text are easy to read, interesting and not as discombobulated as some Usborne books tend to be.

We're sticking with Singapore for math. Daisy will begin the 6th grade book next week. Pepper just began the 3rd grade book and BB is working through the 1st grade book.

For grammar, I'm typing up the worksheets from the old Sonlight LA 3, back when the grammar was good! Rose Bud, of course, used up the worksheets, but I still have the answer keys, so I'm retyping the worksheets and will use them with both Daisy and Pepper this year. The grammar instruction was so thorough and so wonderful and Sonlight has changed the format so much, that I want the girls to benefit from this, as well.

We are also continuing with Rod & Staff English. Daisy is skimming through the 4th grade book with the goal of working thoroughly through the grade 5 book later this year. Right now she is mostly working only the Review sections and skipping the main lessons and exercises. Pepper will begin the grade 3 book this fall.

Both girls are also continuing in Sequential Spelling. Daisy should begin book 2 sometime in September. Pepper is about half-way through book 1.

For spelling and phonics, Banana Boy will continue in Explode the Code. In 13 years of homeschooling, SL Language Arts has never done it for us before 3rd grade. I have tried, and I have tried and then I have tried some more, and we have yet to complete a full year of SL LA before 3rd. After 3rd, yes, the old LA was FABULOUS!

Language Arts-wise, my kids have done well doing just Explode the Code and (heh, I just accidentally typed "Explode the COD." snort) reading a lot. For those who have been strong readers by 2nd grade, we've also begun the R & S English book.

Anyway...this will be our main thrust and what I hope to get to every day. I'll share in another post the extras I hope to throw in.

Why I chose a literature-based, no-craft curriculum

For years we have used Sonlight Curriculum and loved it. And I still call myself a Sonlighter. But we have deviated so far from the SL Instructor's Guide (to the point we aren't even using it) that I feel a little fraudulent.

SL chooses all the best books for you, sells them to you in a complete, reasonably-priced package and provides math, language arts, science and some other extras should you choose to use them. Their booklists are top-notch and Rose Bud and I have enjoyed almost all of those we've read.

But this year (and to some extent last year, too) I have felt the need to reinvent the wheel. Maybe it's because the girls are a bit young for SL's Core 3 (American History, Part 1). Maybe it's because they are such different animals than Rose Bud.

Rose Bud THRIVED on SL's heavy schedule of reading and read-alouds (the books I read to her). Whenever I had the brilliant idea to toss in some hands-on craft or learning experiences, she balked and fussed and it was generally a poor experience for both of us.

Daisy and Pepper also love the reading, but they NEED hands-on like they need air to breathe. So this year I have put together my own American History curriculum based on their desires (Native Americans), a website with some great "younger" resources, and my library and a slew of craft books and kits.

So now my formerly pretty-messy house is most days taken over by crafts. We no longer eat at our dining room table because it is always covered in school.

Anyway, to relate back to today's blog title, here is why I initially chose a literature-based, no-craft curriculum:

Southwest Indian Clay Mess

I had the red Mexican air-drying pottery clay on hand (remnant of an expensive and little-used art curriculum I once had to have) only it was mostly hardened. So into a bucket of warm water it went and I stroked and caressed it back into softness. Or rather gloop. Because once I got enough clay off the block and retrieved it from the bottom of the bucket, it was a slithery mess. So I kneaded it (while the girls did math) and I squished it (while they did geography) and I scraped it off my counter and off my hands (while they ran off to play). Every half hour I poked it to see if it was dry enough to roll into snakes and then scraped it off my hands again.

Eventually, it was dry enough and the girls rolled out their snakes and made their pots, which are beautiful.

And then Daisy had a half-hour crying jag because I said her pot might fall apart if she didn't smooth the coils together, but she thought it was just right the way it was and hadn't I said it was beautiful, but yes, I also said it might fall apart and she didn't want it any more if it was going to fall apart but no-way was she making another one because she was tired of clay and I hurt her feelings by stating a simple fact. sigh.

On a positive note, all that clay has removed any dead skin that ever existed on my hands. Sort of like a free spa treatment, only with Sunshine dipping his fingers into the slurry and smearing red clay everywhere and the girls asking every 30 seconds if it was ready and Banana Boy demanding to "make one too!" So just like a spa only not relaxing. At all.

And this is why I chose Sonlight in the first place.