Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
LCC -List of Attainments
I posted a question on Latin Classical Ed yahoo groups regarding a list of attainments for LCC similar to CM's list. Mr. Andrew Campbell , author of LCC, posted the following reply.
"........ there are some skills that students need to have by the end of 8th grade in order to get the most out of the high school curriculum as written.
* Mastery of Latin grammar, a varied Latin vocabulary (1500 wordsmin.), and the ability to read Latin fluently (i.e., without translating)
* Mastery of the fundamentals of Greek grammar, but to a lesser extent than Latin
* Mastery of math facts and concepts through pre-algebra, including the basics of geometry (shapes, area, perimeter, etc.)
* Mastery of English grammar via Latin and/or through composition
* Mastery of basic composition, including the paragraph and the three-paragraph essay
* Familiarity with the foundational stories of our culture,particularly the Bible, Greek and Roman myth (including the stories ofthe Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid in retelling), fables, fairy tales,legends, and Shakespeare (in retelling), plus a generous selection of poetry
* Familiarity with the broad outline of world history, with an emphasis on Greek and Roman history
* Familiarity with world geography (including land forms, waterways,nations and capitals, plus states and/or provinces of one's owncountry and its near neighbors)
* Familiarity with the natural world by observation and, by the end of 8th grade, the general divisions of the natural sciences, the types ofquestions each science seeks to answer, and the most important principles of each branch
* Some work in formal logic (although some may want to defer this to high school)
It is also good for students to be familiar with well-known artists and composers and to be able to sing or play an instrument and draw ana ccurate representation of a natural object (including persons). I don't schedule the arts formally, since families have very different priorities and opportunities there, but I do think they are important for a well-rounded education.
Hope that helps!-Drew"
"........ there are some skills that students need to have by the end of 8th grade in order to get the most out of the high school curriculum as written.
* Mastery of Latin grammar, a varied Latin vocabulary (1500 wordsmin.), and the ability to read Latin fluently (i.e., without translating)
* Mastery of the fundamentals of Greek grammar, but to a lesser extent than Latin
* Mastery of math facts and concepts through pre-algebra, including the basics of geometry (shapes, area, perimeter, etc.)
* Mastery of English grammar via Latin and/or through composition
* Mastery of basic composition, including the paragraph and the three-paragraph essay
* Familiarity with the foundational stories of our culture,particularly the Bible, Greek and Roman myth (including the stories ofthe Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid in retelling), fables, fairy tales,legends, and Shakespeare (in retelling), plus a generous selection of poetry
* Familiarity with the broad outline of world history, with an emphasis on Greek and Roman history
* Familiarity with world geography (including land forms, waterways,nations and capitals, plus states and/or provinces of one's owncountry and its near neighbors)
* Familiarity with the natural world by observation and, by the end of 8th grade, the general divisions of the natural sciences, the types ofquestions each science seeks to answer, and the most important principles of each branch
* Some work in formal logic (although some may want to defer this to high school)
It is also good for students to be familiar with well-known artists and composers and to be able to sing or play an instrument and draw ana ccurate representation of a natural object (including persons). I don't schedule the arts formally, since families have very different priorities and opportunities there, but I do think they are important for a well-rounded education.
Hope that helps!-Drew"
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Multum non Multa or Where do we go from here....
I started off this blog with a list of goals to work towards with Sam. We have met many of them and should have no trouble meeting the remainder by his 7th birthday.
"A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six", a reprint of a curriculum outline from a CM school in the 1890's.
1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns
He has memorized 2 poems.
2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm
We haven't done this yet but he memorizes quite easily so this shouldn't be a problem to complete in the next 6 months.
3. to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters
Already done with MUS Alpha. Will continue to work through MUS.
4. to read--what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child
Nice vague goal, huh? I've rambled enough about his reading in our Fall Quarter update.
5. to copy in print-hand from a book
Sam's handwriting is getting better and better each week.
6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows
7. to describe the boundaries of their own home
8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach
Easily met.
9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history (my note here, we may want to substitute early American for early English!)
He recalls many of our stories from our Readings. Easily met.
10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views
11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees
13. to know 6 birds by song, colour and shape
We were working towards meeting all these goals without difficulty until getting side tracked this fall. We should have no trouble meeting these goals.
14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed
15. to tell three stories about their own "pets"--rabbit, dog or cat.
Easily met.
16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences
I keep putting off Spanish.
17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song
18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.
All easily met except the Spanish song.
So with the exception of Spanish that we just haven't started we will meet all these goals this year.
So the question is where to go from here? I started down this path of a CM education because of my observations of my older kids as they self-educate. This past year I have re-read the CM series, reviewed her PNEU curriculum and participated in many dialogues with CM educators and I have come to a few conclusions.
- I do not have the ability or desire to recreate a carbon-copy of a PNEU curriculum down to the precise page count and brushwork! Counting pages per quarter would drive me crazy.
- I work better with curriculum that has some of the work done for me.....so although there are many a homeschooling mama who likes to choose their own copywork , etc. I am not one of them.
-It is more important to work with my children's abilities/nuances than to work with a specific curriculum recommendations. Sam preferred SOTW and retains far more of the readings then if we followed the AO Year 1 recommendations.
Sam's current age 6 curriculum has 3 ....yes 3!....Susan Wise Bauer texts and I would never classify myself a classical educator according to her definition of the word. Her LA texts help me to fulfill my CM Language Art framework for this age and Sam's just likes SOTW. I have reread The Well Trained Mind and walked away with the same feeling I had the first time I read it. Bah! TOO MUCH STUFF! Will NEVER work for me and my kids! I have continue reading classical education texts specifically the Latin-Centered Curriculum and now have a more balanced sense of what is a classical education.
Another thing I relearned...... Nothing..... and I mean nothing...... gets a bunch of CM-purists riled up quite like comparing CM to Classical Education. Obviously TWTM and CM have virtually nothing in common even though SWB texts do mesh quite easily. BUT compare LLC and CM on an academic level and the similarities are there.
So back to the original question....where to go from here. What I will not do ......textbooks, unit-studies, lapbooks, TWTM, or unschool. So does that make me a CMer, Classical, Literature-based, LCCer, or the plain ol' nondescript eclectic? Does it matter? Probably not. But my new maxim is
Multum non Multa
not many things, but much.
I have been reviewing CM List to attain by age 12 and LCC trying to get a feel for the direction we will head. LCC does not have such a list but Handicrafts, Tonic Sol-fa, brushwork would not be on that list....and it most certainly would not be on that list before Math, Latin or Plutarch!
CM has a list of attainment for children to accomplish in the years 6-12.
What a Child Should Know at Twelve, from the appendix at the back of School Education, Volume 3 of her series.
The six years' work--from six to twelve--which I suggest, should and does result in the power of the pupils--
(a) To grasp the sense of a passage of some length at a single reading: and to narrate the substance of what they have read or heard.
(b) To spell, and express themselves in writing with ease and fair correctness.
(c) To give an orderly and detailed account of any subject they have studied.
(d) To describe in writing what they have seen, or heard from the newspapers.
(e) They should have a familiar acquaintance with the common objects of the country, with power to reproduce some of these in brushwork.
(f) Should have skill in various handicrafts, as cardboard Sloyd, basket-making, clay-modelling, etc.
(g) In Arithmetic, they should have some knowledge of vulgar and decimal fractions, percentage, household accounts, etc.
(h) Should have a knowledge of Elementary Algebra, and should have done practical exercises in Geometry.
(i) Of Elementary Latin Grammar; should read fables and easy tales, and, say, one or two books of 'Caesar.'
(j) They should have some power of understanding spoken French, and be able to speak a little; and to read an easy French book without a dictionary.
(k) In German, much the same as in French, but less progress.
(l) In History, they will have gone through a rather detailed study of English, French, and Classical (Plutarch) History.
(m) In Geography they will have studied in detail the map of the world, and have been at one time able to fill in the landscape, industries, etc., from their studies, of each division of the map.(n) They will have learned the elements of Physical Geography, Botany, Human Physiology, and Natural History, and will have read interesting books on some of these subjects.
(o) They should have some knowledge of English Grammar.
(p) They should have a considerable knowledge of Scripture History and the Bible text.
(q) They should have learned a good deal of Scripture and of Poetry, and should have read some Literature.
(r) They should have learned to sing on the Tonic Sol-fa method, and should know a number of English, French, and German Songs.
(s) They should have learned Swedish Drill and various drills and calisthenic exercises.
(t) In Drawing they should be able to represent common objects of the house and field with brush or charcoal; should be able to give rudimentary expression to ideas; and should be acquainted with the works of some artists through reproductions.
(u) In Music their knowledge of theory and their ear-training should keep pace with their powers of execution
"A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six", a reprint of a curriculum outline from a CM school in the 1890's.
1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns
He has memorized 2 poems.
2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm
We haven't done this yet but he memorizes quite easily so this shouldn't be a problem to complete in the next 6 months.
3. to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters
Already done with MUS Alpha. Will continue to work through MUS.
4. to read--what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child
Nice vague goal, huh? I've rambled enough about his reading in our Fall Quarter update.
5. to copy in print-hand from a book
Sam's handwriting is getting better and better each week.
6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows
7. to describe the boundaries of their own home
8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach
Easily met.
9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history (my note here, we may want to substitute early American for early English!)
He recalls many of our stories from our Readings. Easily met.
10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views
11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees
13. to know 6 birds by song, colour and shape
We were working towards meeting all these goals without difficulty until getting side tracked this fall. We should have no trouble meeting these goals.
14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed
15. to tell three stories about their own "pets"--rabbit, dog or cat.
Easily met.
16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences
I keep putting off Spanish.
17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song
18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.
All easily met except the Spanish song.
So with the exception of Spanish that we just haven't started we will meet all these goals this year.
So the question is where to go from here? I started down this path of a CM education because of my observations of my older kids as they self-educate. This past year I have re-read the CM series, reviewed her PNEU curriculum and participated in many dialogues with CM educators and I have come to a few conclusions.
- I do not have the ability or desire to recreate a carbon-copy of a PNEU curriculum down to the precise page count and brushwork! Counting pages per quarter would drive me crazy.
- I work better with curriculum that has some of the work done for me.....so although there are many a homeschooling mama who likes to choose their own copywork , etc. I am not one of them.
-It is more important to work with my children's abilities/nuances than to work with a specific curriculum recommendations. Sam preferred SOTW and retains far more of the readings then if we followed the AO Year 1 recommendations.
Sam's current age 6 curriculum has 3 ....yes 3!....Susan Wise Bauer texts and I would never classify myself a classical educator according to her definition of the word. Her LA texts help me to fulfill my CM Language Art framework for this age and Sam's just likes SOTW. I have reread The Well Trained Mind and walked away with the same feeling I had the first time I read it. Bah! TOO MUCH STUFF! Will NEVER work for me and my kids! I have continue reading classical education texts specifically the Latin-Centered Curriculum and now have a more balanced sense of what is a classical education.
Another thing I relearned...... Nothing..... and I mean nothing...... gets a bunch of CM-purists riled up quite like comparing CM to Classical Education. Obviously TWTM and CM have virtually nothing in common even though SWB texts do mesh quite easily. BUT compare LLC and CM on an academic level and the similarities are there.
So back to the original question....where to go from here. What I will not do ......textbooks, unit-studies, lapbooks, TWTM, or unschool. So does that make me a CMer, Classical, Literature-based, LCCer, or the plain ol' nondescript eclectic? Does it matter? Probably not. But my new maxim is
Multum non Multa
not many things, but much.
I have been reviewing CM List to attain by age 12 and LCC trying to get a feel for the direction we will head. LCC does not have such a list but Handicrafts, Tonic Sol-fa, brushwork would not be on that list....and it most certainly would not be on that list before Math, Latin or Plutarch!
CM has a list of attainment for children to accomplish in the years 6-12.
What a Child Should Know at Twelve, from the appendix at the back of School Education, Volume 3 of her series.
The six years' work--from six to twelve--which I suggest, should and does result in the power of the pupils--
(a) To grasp the sense of a passage of some length at a single reading: and to narrate the substance of what they have read or heard.
(b) To spell, and express themselves in writing with ease and fair correctness.
(c) To give an orderly and detailed account of any subject they have studied.
(d) To describe in writing what they have seen, or heard from the newspapers.
(e) They should have a familiar acquaintance with the common objects of the country, with power to reproduce some of these in brushwork.
(f) Should have skill in various handicrafts, as cardboard Sloyd, basket-making, clay-modelling, etc.
(g) In Arithmetic, they should have some knowledge of vulgar and decimal fractions, percentage, household accounts, etc.
(h) Should have a knowledge of Elementary Algebra, and should have done practical exercises in Geometry.
(i) Of Elementary Latin Grammar; should read fables and easy tales, and, say, one or two books of 'Caesar.'
(j) They should have some power of understanding spoken French, and be able to speak a little; and to read an easy French book without a dictionary.
(k) In German, much the same as in French, but less progress.
(l) In History, they will have gone through a rather detailed study of English, French, and Classical (Plutarch) History.
(m) In Geography they will have studied in detail the map of the world, and have been at one time able to fill in the landscape, industries, etc., from their studies, of each division of the map.(n) They will have learned the elements of Physical Geography, Botany, Human Physiology, and Natural History, and will have read interesting books on some of these subjects.
(o) They should have some knowledge of English Grammar.
(p) They should have a considerable knowledge of Scripture History and the Bible text.
(q) They should have learned a good deal of Scripture and of Poetry, and should have read some Literature.
(r) They should have learned to sing on the Tonic Sol-fa method, and should know a number of English, French, and German Songs.
(s) They should have learned Swedish Drill and various drills and calisthenic exercises.
(t) In Drawing they should be able to represent common objects of the house and field with brush or charcoal; should be able to give rudimentary expression to ideas; and should be acquainted with the works of some artists through reproductions.
(u) In Music their knowledge of theory and their ear-training should keep pace with their powers of execution
Fall Quarter Update 2008
It has been an interesting quarter to say the least!
Reading- Sam has been enjoying ETC online and moving through books faster than I expected. I thought we had a perfect fit until I noticed that he uses a lot of visual clues and has developed a few tricks of the trade to help him get the correct answer when matching sentences to a picture. Sneaky boy! SO.....we are going to drop all reading that has any visual clues....Ha! Sneaky mama. He is spelling better than he is reading! HOW did this happen?? It was only in July that I was complaining that his reading ability is far greater than he spelling ability. So apparently I'm just never happy. I did speak informally with the reading specialist that is associated with his Speech therapy office about this and she gave me some recommendations. SO....we are dropping AAS spelling for now....he isn't having a problem spelling first grade words and there is enough spelling with the reading lessons..... and going to concentrate on reading fluency and speed. She recommended a reading program that I have never heard of before called ABeCeDarian. I did a little research and apparently it is all the rage in the gifted kids circles. Although he can spell most if not all of the words in level A and read them at a snails pace we are going to start with the Short A level and work on fluency and speed. We still get to use the letter tiles we love so all is not lost!
Language Arts- We are on First Language Lesson , lesson26, and Writing with Easy workbook 1, week 7. These have been good additions and easy for both of us. FLL is easy to use with lots of repetitions but not at all time consuming. WWE helps me to organize his copywork and his narrations....both of which are coming along nicely! He has memorized 2 poems. The Caterpillar by Christina G. Rosseti and Work by Anonymous.
Math- MUS continues to be a great fit. Currently on lesson 19. Math is an easy subject for Sam.
Foreign Language- ahhhh.....still haven't added this......
History/Geography/Natural History/Literature/Poetry- These are all going quite well now that we fine tuned our selections and pacing. Less is more! OR in Latin-Centered Curriculum circles.....Multum non Multa.
Plans for the Winter Quarter....
-Reading- build fluency and speed
-Music appreciation/Art/Nature Study- I'm not sure how all of these fell off our daily schedule...ike....but they need to get back into the weekly routine.
Other news.
Charlotte.....has met almost all the goals we set forth for her preschool years. She has been enjoying the stories from AO Year 0 and Before Five in a Row and we will continue to look to these sources for read alouds for her. It might just be time to start thinking about an informal "letter of the week" program for her. Ideally I'd like to wait until age 4 to start this so she'll be ready to start learning to read at age 5 but we might just be stepping that timetable up a notch.
Last but not least......
Sam received his Bobcat Badge the same day Big Brother got his Eagle!
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