I thought I would give blogging a try and for the most part it was fun and interesting; but I don't think I can keep up with it. I find it too distracting to our home life. In general life is more pleasant and more productive when I am not on the internet blogging, reading other blogs or homeschooling forums. Instead of putting pictures on the blog I really need to be scrapbooking, I am over 2 years behind in my scrapbook!!!!
So, I will be taking down the blog in the near future. If I keep it up and just do not post anymore I will be tempted to start up again and I know it's not the right direction for me or our family right now, so unfortunately I feel I need to delete it.
Blessings to all!
Sonlight and Humanities
My husband has recently finished a college class in humanities to seal off his degree. It was a very interesting class as he shared what he learned. Humanities is essentially learning about being human, not in a biological sense but in a social sense. His class studied history and didn't really spend much time memorizing names and dates but talking about the people and why and how things happened. It made me realize how thankful I am to give my children a literature education like Sonlight. Spending so much time reading important literature and reading history from books rather than solely from a textbook is so important to understand what it's like to be a human. Understanding what it's like to be pioneer family, or a black slave or a king....the list goes on!
Humanities opens the door for compassion and forgiveness when you can see the other side of a coin. It is very easy to look out on the world with a very narrow view, when you judge everything by your own understanding and experiences. I feel like reading all this great literature to my children opens their minds and more importantly their hearts to other walks of life, other people's experiences and therefore they can learn to not judge others; but instead just accept them for where and who they are.
Humanities opens the door for compassion and forgiveness when you can see the other side of a coin. It is very easy to look out on the world with a very narrow view, when you judge everything by your own understanding and experiences. I feel like reading all this great literature to my children opens their minds and more importantly their hearts to other walks of life, other people's experiences and therefore they can learn to not judge others; but instead just accept them for where and who they are.
Did I Mention A Few Months Ago About A New Approach To Math?
Yeah....well forget it....it's done with! Didn't last long! Oh...how I loved it!! But I know my limitations and that was it!!!
Math on the Level is so cool!! What a great way to teach math. But..it's extra work and you have to really be on the ball and ....did I say extra work! I greatly applaud those who use it successfully.
I have done my period of mourning and now we are both happy with Saxon math. What a turn I know!! I have always been a fan of Saxon, as this is what I used with Isaac with great success. Before plunging into Math on the Level, Elijah had been doing Right Start since 1st grade. We have enjoyed Right Start and it has really worked well. I decided not to go back to it since it doesn't go through high school, I just decided to switch to whatever I thought would be good to use from now through high school. It was a toss up between Singapore and Saxon. I yanked out my Well Trained Mind book and read up on math and decided to go with Saxon. It is tried and true and solid.
So, what about all the fun math extras? I decided that instead of making the games and activities be the lessons and meat of our math that we would use it as a supplement. Once we do some lessons in Saxon and take a test then we will have a fun math day and I will pull out the games and math toys.
I will still be on the hunt for fun math stuff! In fact today at the thrift store I found the game Equate for $2. This game has been on my list.
So, I am not in total despair over this. I wish I could teach math the other way, with a more natural and living math approach. But, I just have to do the best that I can. Sometimes that means I have to put my ideal aside. I have noticed in the years I have been homeschooling that I have realized an untruth. The untruth is this: IDEAL equals GREAT EDUCATION and therefore NOT IDEAL equals POOR EDUCATION. Quite logically this seems it should be true, but it's not. A Great Education can be so many things. Our Ideals can put us in a box if we are not careful. It can cause stress, despair, lack of confidence, judgement of others, to name a few of it's symptoms. A Great Education is living and moving, changing and growing and most of all A Great Education is loving. It is loving to ourselves, loving to others and loving to God most of all. A Great Education is a result and not a destination!! A Great Education is what happens as a result of prayer and loving our children and being loving and compassionate to our friends, loving God and being kind and loving to ourselves.
Math on the Level is so cool!! What a great way to teach math. But..it's extra work and you have to really be on the ball and ....did I say extra work! I greatly applaud those who use it successfully.
I have done my period of mourning and now we are both happy with Saxon math. What a turn I know!! I have always been a fan of Saxon, as this is what I used with Isaac with great success. Before plunging into Math on the Level, Elijah had been doing Right Start since 1st grade. We have enjoyed Right Start and it has really worked well. I decided not to go back to it since it doesn't go through high school, I just decided to switch to whatever I thought would be good to use from now through high school. It was a toss up between Singapore and Saxon. I yanked out my Well Trained Mind book and read up on math and decided to go with Saxon. It is tried and true and solid.
So, what about all the fun math extras? I decided that instead of making the games and activities be the lessons and meat of our math that we would use it as a supplement. Once we do some lessons in Saxon and take a test then we will have a fun math day and I will pull out the games and math toys.
I will still be on the hunt for fun math stuff! In fact today at the thrift store I found the game Equate for $2. This game has been on my list.
So, I am not in total despair over this. I wish I could teach math the other way, with a more natural and living math approach. But, I just have to do the best that I can. Sometimes that means I have to put my ideal aside. I have noticed in the years I have been homeschooling that I have realized an untruth. The untruth is this: IDEAL equals GREAT EDUCATION and therefore NOT IDEAL equals POOR EDUCATION. Quite logically this seems it should be true, but it's not. A Great Education can be so many things. Our Ideals can put us in a box if we are not careful. It can cause stress, despair, lack of confidence, judgement of others, to name a few of it's symptoms. A Great Education is living and moving, changing and growing and most of all A Great Education is loving. It is loving to ourselves, loving to others and loving to God most of all. A Great Education is a result and not a destination!! A Great Education is what happens as a result of prayer and loving our children and being loving and compassionate to our friends, loving God and being kind and loving to ourselves.
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