An interview with Michael Morpurgo on Parkinson

Late tv viewing tonight; we just finished watching a fabulous interview on Parkinson with author Michael Morpurgo. This was the first episode we've seen from Parkinson for some time, as he's had a 5 year absence from television.  He's returned with a new series called 'Masterclass' where he interviews guests with artistic backgrounds.

If anyone has been reading or watching War Horse, then this interview is well worth seeing.  I knew little about the author, but enjoyed his sharing of advice, history and love of literature for children that I just had to write this up now to 'pass it on', as it were.

Here's a sample of the interview from YouTube:


Morpurgo's story of coming to be an author via his teaching was interesting.  With a mother who used to regularly read to him aloud when he was younger, as well as enjoying the works of authors such as Enid Blyton and Robert Louis Stevenson, he already had a basis of how excellent story-telling flowed.  As a teacher, he created stories as a way of capturing the attention of his class, and was then requested that he should write them down.

He has a lovely respect for his audience, never limiting or talking down to them.  Questions were answered from a variety of people, including children as young as eight years old, to whom Morpurgo gave advice to read well, especially good literature, meet many people and listen to their stories, and to write as often as possible about your feelings.  Practice letting the words flow regularly, but most importantly is to collect a store of ideas by building up a wealth of experiences.


It was interesting that he favoured Robert Louis Stevenson's works.  During the week, I'd borrowed a dvd Kidnapped. This was the BBC version with Adrian Dunbar.  This dvd had a retelling of the life of Robert Louis Stevenson with re-enacting.  This had given us a bit of background of examples to which Morpurgo referred, such as Stevenson's writing style and love of adventure.



I'd love for Morpurgo to come to our local libraries so we could meet him. He has a teaching philosophy I readily agree with.  Here's another talk he gave late last year, where he shares more insights into children's literature and making some wonderful points about nurturing a love of reading (as opposed to over-analysing a work so that it becomes 'flattened'.)   If you can, watch through to the end where he shares a song from the play "War Horse".  The words are so lovely.

Until next time!

Catherine

Our 2013 schedule and curriculum

Okay, I confess!  I am (still!) a schedule addict!

I, personally, LOVE seeing what other people do to help organise their time.  I enjoy reading through their ideas and seeing if it would be something that may fit our family lifestyle.

So, in saying that, please take this post as a way of sharing in case you are part of that type of audience who does like seeing the ideas of others.  I don't want to send a whole lot of readers into a panic.  No, you don't NEED to write up a schedule like this!  This is 'me' and how I work, and I'm just sharing if you'd like a peek into my life.

Also, do note that I don't claim to have everything perfect here.  We certainly DO!! have off-days, even off-weeks. Sometimes we are so engrossed in learning a particular topic that we spend longer on it than a written schedule allows ... so I'm flexible.  However, for my purposes, I do need an outline of how to manage our time. This is my guideline, especially where having extra students for music are concerned.

What do I use to organise our homeschool routine?

Well, I drew a lot of inspiration from Managers of Their Homes, so will still write out our routine in that format.  It works so nicely and I can print it out easily enough and paste it into my diary to check against appointments, etc.  If you'd like a look at last year's schedule again, please see here and here.  Below is a screen shot of how our 2013 schedule is looking at the moment:

click image to enlarge

Today was our first day back to the books.  It was great seeing the children enthused and pulling the books out.  We did have a few disorganised moments here and there, but I was really pleased to see that the day ran quite well.  Tomorrow may be another story, but today ... we're all happy. :)



Here is what we are using in 2013 (taking up where we left off last year):

Maestro (age 14):

• Wordly Wise 9
• IEW (B continuation course, then Speech Boot Camp), plus adhoc writing journal/comprehension
• Math U See Geometry
• History Odyssey: Early Modern 2, with readers from Sonlight Core H and 100.
• Apologia's Physical Science
• A collection of other books on life skills.  He's already reading Money Matters Workbook for Teens. CLE's Home Maintenance is his next elective choice.
• Dance (ballet, jazz, hip hop)

Mariposa (age 11):

• Phonetic Zoo A
• IEW (A) plus adhoc writing journal/comprehension
• Singapore Maths level 4, book 1, then level 5
• Sonlight Core D+E
• Sonlight Science F (3/4 through from last year), then Science E.
• CLE's Home Economics, plus sewing projects I'll put together.
• Piano lessons (preliminary).
• Horseriding
• Dance (hip hop)

Together we'll also be using:

• Grammar of Poetry
• Bridge to the Latin Road
• Visual Latin
• Meet the Masters for art (purchased through Homeschool Buyers Co-op).

Well ... that's the plan!  I can't believe another year's already underway.  I hope you ALL have a wonder 2013, and I look forward to sharing more as the year goes on. :)

Until next post!

Catherine

Planning's over, let's get to work!

Another year of homeschooling has officially begun. All the books came out, along with the new schedule I drew up, and we were putting it all to the test.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how well the day ran, and how well the children took to the idea of running to a schedule. We still had some adhoc things happening in the day, such as giving the dog a good grooming, some shopping during our lunch break, and a phone call from Papa to share notes about how he was going on his First Aid course. 


Our morning started with the usually routine and chores. Mariposa was then keen to get the maths done, but I suggested we try with the Spelling and Language Arts today to see how it would work. Maestro ended up needing some help tuning a new melodic minor scale during his violin practice, so I had to help him out with that on the piano, leaving Mariposa to finish off for herself.

Then we came to Maestro's Sonlight Read-aloud. We're reading "A Single Shard", and Mariposa wanted to hear the story also. This meant her computer time got bumped to later on.

A break (where Mariposa decided Midgy, the dog, should have his grooming done), and a cup of tea for me.

Then back again with Maestro reading his science (Apologia General .. still finishing last few modules before starting Apologia Physical), and Mariposa did her maths.

Maestro then took up his Wordly Wise whilst Mariposa and I read another chapter of "The Apprentice".

Checking back with Maestro, I looked over the history reading he needed to do for Sonlight, as well as his reader, and checked he could go ahead. He spent this time reading a number of chapters from Story of the World. Mariposa then took up her Science; we're still finishing using the NOEO Chemistry I. Today was all about experiments related to states of matter.

NOEO Science - comes with experiment packages

collecting gas from bi-carb and vinegar

gas created as tablet reacts with water

liquid and solid: cornflour mixed with water
getting the 'punch test'

With her science completed, she then did her computer time. This was a program from EdAlive that is to build word skills. I bought these discs many years ago, but they weren't being used. Mariposa also doesn't have the natural attraction to the computer that Maestro has, so this helping her develop some more of those skills.  I also have Times Alive ready for her to use, received from a TOS Review last year, and Typing Tournament which she tried out last week.

Lunch time .. and a quick shopping trip for me. Thankfully the store is only 5mins up the road. I really need to do another stocktake of our fridge and pantry, but that'll have to be later. At least I have enough to make a few day's worth of meals.

After lunch, Maestro took up his Maths. We'd started to try out Math-U-See's Pre-Algebra, so he continued with that today. He's grasping these lessons pretty quickly, so it won't be long until he's completed this and then I hope to take him back to the Singapore Maths (NSM level 1).

Watching Mr Demi explain how to convert
Celsius to Fahrenheit.

More reading for Maestro (Sonlight reader to be read: The Samurai's Tale) and Australian history for Mariposa (learning about Abel Tasman).

We decided to take 10 mins for another breather, then sat down to learn about some Composers. I know I said we'd start with Bach, but the book I had ordered from Christianbooks had arrived: A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers. I read the first chapter on early music, which lead us to Gregorian Chants. I've requested some cds from the library to use as samples, and I'll check for a few other resources online during the week.

Yes, a VERY full day ... but we did it! We had from 3pm to 6pm free from bookwork (and I then did some household chores). Maestro's ballet started at 6:15pm, which was the only other activity this afternoon.

Trying to adhere to this schedule has meant:

* I didn't spend more than 15mins on the computer myself this morning.

* I actually managed to get more housework done than anticipated.

* Both children got through their work quickly and really looked forward to that free time that was coming up at 3pm.

* Tonight, we're all suitably tired, but satisfied that we'd all done a good job.  Now that this has been posted, I'm curling up in bed with a good read myself. :)

Thank you for dropping by!

Our experience with 'Grammar Town' - MCTLA

Yes, it's something new again! Finding the right tool to fit Maestro's Language Arts learning style has been a bit of an interesting journey lately. He likes to get to the point; no waffle please. A quick version to download into the recesses of his mind, with a few reminders of how the whole plan works, then moving right into application; this is how he likes to work.

Mid March, our books from the Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts curriculum arrived. Deciding on the right level at which to start was actually a tricky decision, but we're using Level 2 as it's a new method. I really wanted him .. well, US actually, as some of this is all new to me too! .. to get a good grasp on all this so it becomes easy at the end of the whole experience.

We've followed the plan according to the Application in Elementary Levels slideshow. This meant that the first and only book we started with was Grammar Town.

Grammar Town starts so easily, as a regular 'read aloud'. The conversation then changes to a more 'grown up' tone, using all the correct definitions and explanations with diagrams, to quickly give you a great overview of the English language.

We worked our way through this at various paces, slowing down if there was something new and applying it in the practice pages. From my personal experience, I felt like someone had actually finally been able to give me a proper bird's eye view. I think this is a very helpful thing, especially for children, as they see that the whole subject is only so big, with just a certain number of elements to learn. Regular review and practice, naturally, helps reinforce the teaching, and a view of our language as a whole begins to look more beautiful.

When we were starting, I made a wall chart similar to that in the book. The eight parts of speech were all written out, with definitions and some examples. Then, via the MTCLA homeschooling support forum, I read that this wonderful lady had made a Grammar Help Sheet on her blog, GuestHollow. This has been a great help, and is laminated ready for use with our books, so many thanks are sent to her!

We've started using some of the Building Poems book, but will only continue with that intermittently at this stage. Right now, this week, we're sinking our teeth into Paragraph Town and Caesar's English 1. We actually had our first session with the former today, and will read some of the latter tomorrow.

If you'd like to have a tour of these books and other links online, then you may like to use these quick links to help you:

* Royal Fireworks Press Home Page: latest news and new featured books

* Michael's Home Page: the Overview of the Curriculum with links to each level of grammar, vocabulary, writing, poetics, and practice books, and to other works by the author. Sample pages are also available via this link.

* MCT Slideshows and Downloads about his approach to teaching and how to implement.

* Some great videos of Michael speaking about teaching language arts.

* Homeschool Packages: the most cost-effective way to purchase the MCT Levels.

* What other Homeschoolers say: some excerpts. There is also a link to classroom teachers' testimonials.

* What Cathy Duffy had to say in her review about MCT.  This is a far more detailed review, and will probably answer more questions than I have.  I agree with her advice about the possibility of using the Teacher Manuals only, but you'd need to be organised with a notebook to write out the practice work. Cathy reviews the entire MCT program, not just Grammar Town.

So far, this has been a big THUMBS UP curriculum for us. I probably could have placed Maestro further along into level 3, but what we're learning isn't too easy and certainly covering new ground which has kept it very interesting.  I'll let you know how we get on with the program as we progress further!

Second term into the year

A three week break and we're back to another term of scheduled activities and learning. Our Autumn break was marked with significant gatherings, and lots of time together as a family to enjoy conversations and outings. We now look ahead to some quieter days as a general rule, but we're also leading up to that time of the year where emphasis is on dance competitions (for Maestro only, this year).

We had started using Winterpromise's 'Animal and their Worlds' for Mariposa at the beginning of the year. The books are certainly lovely, but much of the content was very much like what she'd already covered in Sonlight's Science 3. I don't want to 'put off' anyone wanting to try Winterpromise. It was just unfortunate that it wasn't a good fit for her this time. We are continuing to finish off using the readers, and have held on to the "One Small Square" books, as these are just excellent.

So, Mariposa will now move into learning more Australian geography and history. I've been collecting some books for her and will share them as we go. We started off looking at Aboriginal life, and a trip to the Melbourne Museum to see artifacts was a wonderful experience. We also saw a puppet play, showing one of the Dreamtime stories enacted, which was very interesting.

On other subject matters for Mariposa, she's continuing with her Singapore Maths (level 3), All About Spelling, LLATL (yellow), along with various books from Winterpromise and Sonlight. She is also working through Sonlight's Science 2 schedule very quickly. As predicted, it's a little easier than work done previously, but we're compensating by letting her do most of the work independently, and at a rate of a week's scheduled work in two days.


Maestro has settled very well into Sonlight's Core G (previously known as Core 6). There's a marked difference from Core F. Core F was a very full core; it could also be that he's used to the routine. Considering we only had 3 full days to dedicate to bookwork last term, he's keeping up the pace extremely well.

Maths is about to be stepped up a level. Once Maestro completes a couple more sections of Singapore Maths Primary 6B, he'll be starting the high school books. We couldn't get this completed last term because of time doing the bow and arrow workshops, but it'll be done in the next two weeks.

Language Arts is a collection of various books. We've got Worldly Wise 6 on the go, along with LLATL (tan). Add to the mix a new curriculum we started in the last couple of weeks ... and it's working so well for him! (I'll be writing up a review for this soon.) Maestro started using the Michael Clay Thomas Language Arts program, and he's taken to it very well. It looks as though we'll be passing up the LLATL for him at the rate he's going, as this new curriculum is moving at a pace that's much better suited to his learning style.

Apologia General Science has also been a huge success. He works through a module over a two week period, so we're well on target for getting through this level by the end of the year. We've also now acquired a dvd of the BBC program "The Story of Science", which has drawn the whole family in.

So, I'll work on getting some more reviews and other information up on this blog soon, especially with regard to the new things we're doing. I'll have a little more time to write now that we're more home-based again.

It's bookclub day!

I was approached by our librarian last year about the idea of starting up a bookclub, at the library, for homeschoolers. The library already runs a teens bookclub, and an adults bookclub; but a homeschoolers bookclub hasn't been done in any of the local shires before.

What a great idea! We'll have opportunity to meet more people, broadening our homeschool social circle. The children can read and discuss books, a favourite thing in our household. But then she asked if I could facilitate the meetings. Gulp! Okay ... I think?!

Our dear librarian had it all planned out. We could have around 15 children, ages 8 to 15, and meet once a month. If we needed to have two books running at the same time, to accomodate reading levels, then that's fine. We'd have basic rules like listening without prejudice, open discussion with some questions highlighted as topic starters, a list the children can contribute to re: favourite authors/titles, etc.

So, it all kicked off last year in October. 16 children showed up at the start, all keen to get their noses into the first book. The librarian started everyone off with a middle-of-the-road book, Matilda by Roald Dahl. We ended up discussing some interesting points on what our ideas of school are, how families should treat each other, when children have special talents and then ended up discussing how we all came to homeschooling.

The following month, the older children read Tolkien's The Hobbit, and the younger ones read a book called Wish by Felice Arena (Mariposa is still trying to 'catch' 100 planes. She's almost there.)

This week, we're focusing on Jackie French. The children have taken home various titles, quite a few that I have already read personally. Maestro's been reading The Horse Who Bit the Bushranger, They Came on Viking Ships, and The Night They Stormed Eureka. I've been helping Mariposa read The Secret World of Wombats.

I really like Jackie French's writing style. Her 'living history' books are great incentive to have a look into more about the time she writes. I know that Maestro has enjoyed They Came on Viking Ships, and Mariposa is learning all about the mysterious antics of wombats. Jackie writes in a very 'real' way, engaging with fun bits of humour, whilst still trying to stay serious with the topic.

So, I'm looking forward to hearing what all the children have been reading over the summer break. I wonder what our librarian has in store for us to read this coming month?

Maestro's Books for 2011

Well, it's the quiet of the evening after a most beautiful day today. We've caught up with several dear homeschooling friends for a picnic, arrived home and everybody is calm. I have a few moments to stop and write about what Maestro will be studying this year, his first year in high school (year 7) now he's 12 years of age.

I've already put most of his books onto the bookshelf, but they're taking up so much room this year! There are more books than I thought, and some of them of considerable size. I think that the fact he'll be using a few binders has had an influence and I'm already wondering if the placement of all these items is going to work well or not. I guess we'll be finding out how the logistics go once we get on with the routine.

Spelling:

Wordly Wise book 6 will offer us lists, as well as vocabulary usage. Maestro really enjoyed working through book 5 last year, so it makes sense to stay with what works. Once he's completed this book, we'll move to Vocabulary from Classic Roots 6.



Language Arts:

Both Maestro and Mariposa began using LLATL last term, so we'll continue to use this. We're planning on working through the tan book fairly quickly, followed by the green book. The green book will have more grammar diagramming, which is where we want to begin our focus, but the tan book will ensure there aren't any gaps before proceeding to this step.

Some weeks, we will leave LLATL for a while and go to a product I was given via the TOS Review team called The Write Foundation. Maestro has already learnt some interesting lessons on paragraph writing and poetry. As writing is a point of interest with him, we'll take time to do some intensive learning using this product throughout the year.



Maths:

We will continue with Singapore Maths, beginning the year at level 6B. From there we'll move to the New Syllabus Singapore Maths, level 1.

We also have a couple of the Life of Fred books we still haven't worked through: Percentages and Decimals, and Beginning Algebra. I'm thinking we may put these to use after the Singapore Math 6B book has been completed. The first book we used was a lot of fun.

Sonlight:

We're into Core 6 this year: World History Part 1. These books are very enticing. I'm planning on reading his readers before him, they look so good!

Science:

We're moving right into Apologia's General Science.  Unfortunately, the experiment supplies kit isn't transportable to Australia, so I'm still needing to check the items needed so we can make sure we have them at the ready.

A friend, who also has her daughter currently working through this science curriculum, told me about Currclick's Apologia lapbooks.  I downloaded the first module, which is offered for free, and we'll give this a try before I commit to buying the whole package. I suspect that it will be of great benefit to have these visuals to help Maestro through the work, but he's not a very 'crafty' type of person, so I don't know exactly how they'll be received.

LOTE - Spanish

Okay, I struggle here. LOTE (Language Other Than English) has been done in fits and starts here, but I'm really hoping we'll have some more consistency now that we've decided to use Auralog's Language Learning software for Spanish. The plan is to have a set time, once a week, where Maestro will use the program to learn Spanish. I plan to have a go learning this myself so that I know what's going on, and use the built-in tests to record progress.

Art:

This is something both children will do together, as I've detailed in Mariposa's post.

One other item I have recently just acquired secondhand is Complete-A-Sketch. I will occasionally offer these for a short drawing lesson, although, again, I'm not sure how they'll be received.


And, finally, Dance will continue. This is something Maestro is quite emphatic about, so it's the full routine again this year: ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hop.


When it's all written out like that, it does look like a very full year! I assure you, though, that we'll take one step at a time and pace ourselves carefully. One thing I would still like to do is have a good search online for some local activities, especially ones that will compliment our studies (for both children). I can already see at least one visit to the Melbourne Zoo will be on the list, but I need to check the Art Gallery and Museums also.

Mariposa's Books for 2011

I know! I should be enjoying the peace and quiet, the relaxed days that have a minimal routine, no rushing about ... but I can't help myself! I think I'm addicted to my children's books. I keep getting them out for a look, to stack them neatly in piles and play with the planning pages. So, when I again found myself leafing through a folder, I decided to direct my enthusiasm to a blog post instead. Lucky you, lol!!

I'll start with what Mariposa is doing. She's now 9yrs old, so grade 4 in our state/country. We had a great time doing Sonlight's Core 1+2 in 2010. I bought a whole lot of the readers, from intermediate to advanced in that Core. We still haven't finished them all, but they're there for use now that her reading skills are picking up.  Along with those readers, we have the following:

Spelling:

We started using All About Spelling in October. We needed something to help boost Mariposa's confidence, and manipulatives are ideal for her learning style. What she already knew, she's skimmed through very quickly. This has been great, because we can tailor this perfectly to her needs.

Having the letters on tiles has helped her immensely. As she often wrote many letters in reverse, or whole words in mirror, having these already on the tiles has helped her quickly get the word 'done' and spelt correctly the first time. When we then do dictation with pen to paper, she has found that it's helped give her a better visual of what the letters and word look like. I've noticed an improvement and she's enjoying it, so we'll continue with this product for her.

Actually, we're not too far off finishing the first book, but along the way she has already had to practice some of the tricky spelling words that were tripping her up. We'll review some of the latest lessons before proceeding further along. Even Maestro picked up some rules he didn't know before, just from listening in.







Language Arts:

We're changing over to LLATL (Learning Language Arts Through Literature). This change came about from a few steps. Firstly a friend showed me how she was using them, then another friend offered me use of her Teacher's Manual. All I had to do was to purchase the Student's books, which is available at Christianbook.

Mariposa is starting with the Yellow Book, which is probably a little easy for her, but will again build up her confidence in reading/writing.  We can plough through what the book specifies as a week's worth of work in a couple of days, then slow down to the recommended pace as she the work gets harder.

Maths:

Singapore Maths again. This program worked so well in 2010, so we're sticking with it. She'll start working on Level 3 this year.

Winter Promise:

Yes, we're having a slight diversion from Sonlight for a little bit. Whilst she still has some readers to keep her busy from Sonlight's Core 1+2, we're going to use Winter Promise "Animals and Their Worlds" for the main. It's set out in the same style as Sonlight, only with different themes.

This is probably something we could have done when she was a couple of years younger, but there is a HUGE attraction to animals in her life, so why not exploit it? This is the folder I've been pulling out often, as I can see that some things in the Instructor Guide will be quite easy for her. I may need to tweek this a bit, omitting the 'too easy' and adding a few other ideas/resources from our library.

Science:

Well, I know that Winter Promise has books that would cover Science, but we're still going to have a go at another lot of science from Sonlight. I've decided to let her have a go at Science 2. It may be a bit of a step back from Science 3, but my reasoning is that she could probably do a lot of this on her own, helping again to develop some independent learning. The experiments should be fun, too.  See ... I'm trying to cater to her 'hands on' style, and if it all gets too busy, we'll stretch it over 2 years.

Art:

We're staying with Artistic Pursuits. Mariposa is naturally into the art supplies anyway, so this book will give guidance.

I have also invested in a great calendar that I heard about on Jimmie's Collage. Jimmie uses a calender from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which can be used for incidental learning of art each day, or sketching.


Dance is still going to feature in our regular routine, but Mariposa has cut back on a few classes to fit in time for gymnastics in 2011.  The gymnastics lessons will be held with a local homeschooling group.


Well, that's it for now.  I know we usually add and take away things as the year progresses.  Nothing is ever set in concrete.  At least sharing this with you all has helped stop me from playing with folders and things for a bit (smiles!).

The Write Foundation - TOS Review

Finally, I can share this writing program Maestro and I have been trialling from The Write Foundation since early October. Maestro has always enjoyed creative writing, but now we have something new to help build layers of new skills with those already acquired from previous learning.

The Write Foundation offer three levels of programs:

• Level 1 - Sentence Structure, which is aimed at ages 11 - 13,
• Level 2 - Paragraph Structure, aimed at ages 12 - 15, and
• Level 3 - Essay Writing, aimed at ages 14 - 17.

I had an option as to which program we could explore, and chose Level 2 (Lessons 1-15). It was a good choice, drawing Maestro into methods of recognising paragraph structure, methods of paraphrasing, developing more descriptive writing through grammar usage, and a once-a-week focus on poetry.

Teacher's Instruction Manual on the left.

Lesson Pages in a binder with tabs for the student.

Mindbenders .. a new favourite in our household!

The product is set out in three parts:

• The Teacher's Instruction Manual includes Introductory Notes and Lesson Plans.  
• Student Worksheets of approx. 200 pages, are separate, and best given to the student as required. 
• Finally, a download of additional resources includes all Teacher Presentation pages, assignments, evaluation and recording pages.

An optional product that The Write Foundation has incorporated into their program is the use of Mind Benders from Critical Thinking. I decided to purchase the first book from CBD, and both children have enjoyed doing these puzzles.

It is worth noting that this product is not a 'child works alone' product. It is designed for the parent/teacher to read ahead, print off required materials from the cd, then present the work to the child/ren, as one would in a class or small tutorial group.

Upon receipt of this course, take the time over a cuppa or two, to peruse all the items. It may take a week for you to familiarise yourself with the method and see how all the parts fit together to make one lesson. Take notes and highlight key points from the Teacher's Instruction Manual introductory pages. After I spent time doing this, I imagined I was already teaching the first lesson before presenting it to my son. This helped the successful flow of our experience. I needed to see how this package would work together rather than start and rummage through the pages in confusion during the actual lesson. And, yes, it did indeed work! ☺

The most intensive teaching is at the beginning of each lesson, or once a week (if work is done 5 days a week). If you are a parent that has time and is happy to do this, then this product could work for you. It is NOT a self-explanatory workbook system. This worked for us as I do usually take time to review lessons with the children 1:1 before they go off and work alone. However, with this product, the time was a bit longer on day 1 of the lesson (around half an hour) to introduce new concepts and work through the first examples. After that, a couple of minutes review only was needed for the remainder of the week, then Maestro could go ahead with the assignment. Of course, homeschoolers could tweak the lessons to even out the teaching aspect across the week better, if you have time to organise yourself to do so.

Coloured highlighters were replaced with pencil underlining here, 

but this was a fun exercise that Maestro grasped very quickly.

I admit that we've not really been very formal about presentation of Maestro's writing work. It's usually all handwritten on lined pages. Well, I took the opportunity to start setting some requirements for his final drafts as per the checklists in this product. For Maestro, checklists work really well. He was proud when he'd been able to go away and work on an assignment, then present a freshly printed, double spaced, piece of work with his name and date stated on the bottom. He likes a systematic approach and that's what this program offers. I can certainly see that this system of learning has it's merits, setting very good foundations in writing, just as the product title reflects.

Through the site's main page, you can peruse the various levels via the buttons on the left sidebar. Each level will give you sample pages to view and a syllabus outline.

Levels may be purchased complete, or in 15 lesson lots. A complete level is $69.95*US (plus shipping). A block of 15 lessons is $39.95*US (plus shipping). (*NB prices reduced, therefore amended on this post, Nov 16th).
** REMEMBER: you can use one level over a two year period if desired.
ANOTHER UPDATE Jan 10th 2011: these books are now available as downloads for overseas customers, therefore no shipping costs!!   Just go via the order page on PayPal, enter shipping destination and if you're not U.S., shipping costs are omitted.  The item will then be forwarded as an ebook.


An extra service offered by The Write Foundation is an online tutor to help with grading and holding the students accountable.  For more information on this payable service, see this page.

NB - I received this product from TOS for the purpose of review. There is no other compensation and the opinions are my own. Thank you to TOS and The Write Foundation for the use of this product. If you'd like to read further reviews on this product, please click HERE.

Encourage your budding writers

It's National Novel Writing Month at NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program. If you want to encourage your children with their writing, then this is a great online resource to check out, with FREE workbooks and resources.

I've only just looked at this site, so haven't really prepared my children to do this challenge just yet. However, I will be keeping it in mind for the future!! I'm actually reviewing another product to do with writing at the moment, so we'll finish that first and then schedule this challenge for a future date.

So, just spreading the word! Check it out HERE.

Bring your 'brolly to Melbourne

You'd better bring your 'brolly,

'Cause it's wet, wet, wet.

The weather bureau declared it's

One of the wettest winters yet.

Now, in recent years you'd be out a'walking;

The clouds, above they'd loom.

A quick downpour, you'd duck for cover,

Then your activities resume.

But not this year, my friends. Oh no!

The rain, it came to play!

And reminds us how winters used to be

When the rain would stay and stay.

Ballarat has Wendouree returned,

And a century's record broke.

Free swimming pools in the backyards

Makes gardening almost a joke.

What is growing, though, are all those weeds,

And mold on the window panes.

Quick! Wipe them down and pull them up,

When the rain begins to wane.

I'm sure the 'brolly makers

Are rubbing their hands with glee.

Everywhere we walk now'a'days

Coloured 'brollies there always be.

© alecat 01/09/2010

Newsademic: Icelandic volcano

Something I'd started last year was to use Newsademic's fortnightly newspaper in our homeschooling.  Maestro uses the free cover story for his comprehension work, and it's a great way to do some current affairs and geography at the same time. (Click here to request your free sample, or to sign up for free fortnightly cover stories).

This week is all about Iceland's volcano and how the ash has caused havoc in Europe, in particular for aircraft.

A friend has shared some fabulous photos being shared via email.  Here are a few showing the spectacular lightning occurring over the volcano.

Origin of photos unknown.

A comment was made about how the lightning was being drawn back into the ash, most likely because of the magnetic rock and lava.  A very interesting observation, although I don't know the physics of it all.

Mariposa's books for 2010

We're changing this about a bit more this year.

Maestro wants to follow the term breaks so he can catch up with his friends, but Mariposa is going to work on a schedule of 3 weeks working, one week off.   I've timed it so we'll still have parallel breaks for a week every now and then, but it's meant that we had to start our work earlier.  Actually, we started back into the books last week, but we were still quite busy, so I've not been blogging much lately.

We'd already been working on our new Sonlight curriculum at the end of 2009, so we picked up from 'week 5' on the syllabus (although we're well ahead on our read-aloud, so we're doing a family read I've chosen: Tom Appleby, Convict Boy by Jackie French).

Her books are all organised on the top shelf of one bookcase (I'll show you Maestro's another time).

Most of the books have been contacted, and labelled (just coloured paper and sticky tape) on the spine for easy reference as to where the book belongs.  Most of Mariposa's are labelled in yellow for the Core 1+2.

We've changed our Maths books from Easy-Learn Maths to Singapore Maths.  Mariposa needs lots of visuals, and the pictures and explanations in these books give a bit more detail.  I had been, and would have continued to be able to, apply visual examples with our math manipulatives, but with a busier schedule this year, I've opted for Singapore instead.

Also, we have been using Getty Dubay handwriting books in the past.  Mariposa really wants to learn the more fluent cursive, so we're trying out Abeka's handwriting books.  So far she's really enjoying it, and likes how she can now sign her name.

Sonlight's Science 3 program is for both of the children.  We're 'shooting for the middle', so it's quick and easy for Maestro, but Mariposa is being stretched a little .. as far as the worksheets are concerned.  The books are still really lovely and full of great information.  Eg: The Usborne Science Encyclopedia was covering the history of imperial measurements, whilst Maestro had to use imperial when reading Life of Fred.  It all fitted together so well!

The spare wall in the learning room has the latest posters all ready to go.   The map is being put to great use now we're using "Geography Songs".    Whilst we learnt the continents and oceans, I wrote out labels and had Mariposa 'blu-tac' them to the map.  Then, as we sang the song, she pointed to the correct labels.

Also, on the wall (above the map) is a fantastic op-shop find.  This clock which helps children learn to tell the time.  We've got our o'clocks and 1/2 pasts down, so we're working on the 1/4s and minutes.

Two other books I'm supplementing in are First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind.  We've done a week's worth of these lessons (all oral!) and although most of it's revision, she's enjoying how we chat through them and she's memorised her first poem.

We also have a new Geography book, which BOTH children are doing as of today.  I can't believe how much I learnt in our first little learning of some European countries (I'm tying this in with the countries we're learning through Sonlight).  It's called Visualise World Geography.  This is such a fun way to learn.  Each group of countries is set out with a visual and a story to help you remember the country names.  Eg: today we learnt that a hungry elephant's tummy is always HUNGARY, and his bottom sits in a boat: "row, row, ROMANIA".

We've also enjoyed math games, but currently these are her favourites.  Tens and Fractions Learning Game.

Well, this has become a long post, but I like pictures.

Next time I'll chat about how our learning room is shaping up and the chairbags I've made the children.