Secular Was Not A Solution to My Problem

When my children were young, I found myself in a homeschooling predicament. The problem was that we are Wesleyan-Arminian Christians, and most Christian homeschooling curriculum is not Wesleyan-Arminian. We haven’t been very good in our tradition with publishing, and we’re especially anemic when it comes to homeschooling resources.

I tried a few Reformed resources, but they didn’t perfectly fit our family. We tried Catholic resources and found that they, too, were not a perfect fit. In my frustration, I made a mistake that I think many homeschoolers might make in my shoes. I started opting for “secular” resources over “Christian” resources, thinking I was opting for a neutral option.

Secular Is Not Neutral

However, I was wrong. “Secular” is not neutral. Everyone has a worldview. No matter how “unbiased” we claim to be, we all have biases. We all have a lens through which we see the world, which is our worldview. In my frustration over comparatively-small theological differences among fellow Christians, I was opting to use resources from a completely different lens. It wasn’t neutral. And I knew it. I had to make more adjustments to make secular resources fit— but I felt like I was just laying my theology on top of a blank book— which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

The difference between the theological differences among Christian resources was more akin to having hazelnut creamer when I wanted caramel creamer. The difference in secular resources with the worldview I wanted to teach my children was more like trying to substitute motor oil for creamer. They were just completely different things. Why was I comfortable using the devil’s resources? Why was I okay with letting the world shape my children? I was wrong. Very wrong.

Does Theology Matter?

I’m not saying the theological differences don’t matter. There are reasons we’re Wesleyan-Arminian in tradition and not Reformed, Catholic, Charismatic, etc. Those are very valid reasons, and I do think the theology matters. But when it is all said and done, those are still my brothers and sisters in Christ. As long as we agree on the big issues of orthodoxy (basically what’s in the Creeds), we’re following the same Jesus. I should have trusted my kids to those resources over the secular ones. Would that have meant more conversations about points of theological differences? Sure. But those are worthwhile conversations to have. Who doesn’t need to be reminded of their baptism? Or to discuss personal holiness? And would I rather point my kids to Jesus in every way possible? I should have.

What is the Solution?

Do I wish there were more Wesleyan-Arminian resources? Yes. Let’s get on that. Please. But in the meantime, I’m okay with using resources that aren’t necessarily in our theological camp as long as they point to the real Jesus. Because what we choose to use in our homeschool shapes our children. (Education is shaping. Homeschool, private, or public schooling is a shaping activity for our children.) I should have been more mindful of the worldview I was allowing to shape my children. And from now on, I will be.

Other Notes from the Parsonage Posts You May Enjoy

• Godbold Academy: Medieval History
• Godbold Academy: Ancient History
• 2017-2018 at Godbold Academy
• 2016-2017 Homeschool Curriculum Review

The post Secular Is Not Neutral appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

This school year, we’re going back to me fully planning the year. My home education ideals fall somewhere between Classical and Charlotte Mason. We’ve fully done both, and find that a mix between the two works best for us. I rely heavily on real books, but we don’t rely heavily on narration.

I wanted to share my plans with you because I know this isn’t something everyone likes to do. I know a lot of homeschool moms aren’t comfortable crafting an entire curriculum, or they don’t have the time or energy to do so. It just isn’t everyone’s “thing”. It is my “thing”, so I figured I’d share it, since I have it.

This year, we’re cycling back to Ancient History, which I am very excited about. We’ll have kids in all Classical stages and all Charlotte Mason forms. Essentially, I’ll have kids from elementary school to high school, so the plans for this year are for all grades. For simplicity’s sake, I’ve broken down the curriculum into four posts: Morning Basket, Grammar Stage, Logic Stage, and Rhetoric Stage.

Stages are not a one size fits all. You may notice the Logic Stage plans are too easy for your 8th grader, and you want to challenge them in certain areas. Go for it. You may think the Rhetoric assignments are too difficult for your 9th grade, bump them down in whatever subjects you choose or all of it. Swap out the books you don’t want for ones you do want. There are plenty of options out there, I’m just sharing with you what we’ll be doing.

You may notice I include some books that pure Charlotte Mason enthusiasts would consider twaddle. I try to include plenty of difficult great books for my kids to consume, but also know that I personally read twaddle from time to time for my own enjoyment. I’m just not opposed to letting kids read “fun” books (we’ll call them that instead of twaddle) to give them a break from the intense mental load of some great books. If you don’t like a book choice of mine, cool, don’t use it.

I’m simply putting this out there for anyone who wants to take a peek. Use it for your own curriculum. Use it for ideas to craft your own curriculum. Use it to look over and see options that exist. I’m just sharing.

The post Godbold Academy 2020-2021 Curriculum appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

This year, I deviated from my usual homeschool planning. Being in school full-time and trying to homeschool 5 kids, I didn’t have the time to put into planning my own curriculum out like I usually do. So, I turned to A Gentle Feast.

Why I Chose A Gentle Feast

I initally chose A Gentle Feast because it has four cycles, where each child is working at their grade level within each cycle. That is a very familiar form for me, as I have always done a four-year history cycle with everyone on the same page. I opted to implement A Gentle Feast fully, using it for Morning Time, Core Subjects, and Langauage Arts. This program is one where you can just add math.

If you’re new to Charlotte Mason, A Gentle Feast offers a lot of guidance along the way to help you implement the philosophies. There are scheduling helps, including how to schedule for a 4 or 5 day school week. For the Children’s Sake is a good book to help you understand the philosophy of a Charlotte Mason education, as well.

Forms Instead of Grade Level

A Gentle Feast uses forms instead of grades. Grades 1-3 are in form 1. The grades 4-6 are in form 2. While grades 7-9 are in form 3. And grades 10-12 are in form 4. With A Gentle Feast, you get all forms in your purchase of the main curriculum.

So, if you look at your 5th grader’s history book and think, “This is way too difficult.” You have the option to look at the form under the one they are currently in and swap in that book instead. If you look and think, “This is way too easy.” You can easily move up a form.

Additionally, buying 4 cycles is buying an entire 12 years of education. So, let’s say Little Jimmy is starting in 1st grade. In 1st grade, you buy Cycle 1. LJ does Cyle 1 Form 1. The next year, LJ is in 2nd grade. You buy Cyle 2 and do form 1. The next year, LJ moves to Cycle 3, form 1. The following year, LJ moves on to Cycle 4, form 2. The next year, you don’t buy curriculum. LJ goes back to Cycle 1 and does form 2. Each cycle has plans for grades 1-12, so once you’ve purchased all 4 cycles, you don’t have to buy more.

A Gentle Feast Morning Bible Time

I really love the Bible memory portion of Morning Time. It isn’t something we’d added to our Morning Time, and I certainly didn’t think to add big chunks of passages to learn over a term instead of a single verse here and there. I wasn’t sure my kids could handle it, but it turns out they are masters of memory, especially the younger ones.

We have also really enjoyed poetry memorization. I was surprised at how well they memorized poems and how much they seem to enjoy it. Even Daisy, who is 2, memorized a poem in the first term.

Real Book Based Curriculum

I also really like that the program in literature based. I’ve been utilizing literature to build up our education in the home for years, so it is something I’ve grown to love incorporating into our learning.

When you buy A Gentle Feast, you can choose to get a printed teacher’s manual (which is what the pictures are from) in addition to the online resources or you can opt for the online resources only. The printed manual is pretty and makes organization easy, but it isn’t as all encompassing as I would like and you still have to utilize the online resources.

The online resources aren’t organized in the best way, often using Google Documents instead of PDFs, which I find to be more time consuming and less user friendly. As a whole, it could be much more user friendly and better organized. You’ll get all the information you need by purchasing the print or digital option, but you’ll need to spend some time navigating and putting it all together.

Now, I have several complaints about A Gentle Feast, which I will outline in detail so that you can see if it’d be an issue for you. A Gentle Feast has many users and it works beautifully for many families. It is working for my family for this particular season. My complaints are not that it isn’t functional. It is. I just have some issues that will likely be the reason I choose to go back to compiling my own curriculum next school year.

Morning Time Dislikes

My issues with Morning Time are really a matter of preference. I like to have all my kids together for Morning Time. While I love the addition of Bible Memory and poetry memorization, I’ve disliked some of the other portions.

Each form has different recommendations for Morning Time. To keep everyone together, we’ve been utilizing the books from all the forms. For example, in term 1 of cycle 1, younger students are reading one of Aesop’s fables each week. Form 2 students are reading a Norse myth once a week. While form 3 students are reading Shakespeare once a week. And form 4 are reading a different book once a week. To keep everyone together for Morning Time, we read one form’s suggested reading each day. The result is that we’re never really making much progress in any of them, but we are hitting all of them each week.

I also really liked the balance we had going in our Morning Time and feel like we’ve lost balance with A Gentle Feast. Morning Time just isn’t flowing as well as it has before, and I can’t quite put my finger on anything other than we’ve spread very thin and there is little cohesion day-to-day.

Language Arts Dislikes

The Language Arts portion of A Gentle Feast goes along with the readings from other portions of the feast. If you’re skipping Morning Time, History, or Literature, the Language Arts packet will have content that is foreign for your child. I really liked this aspect of the Language Arts program and chose it for that reason. However, the excerpts aren’t always aligned with their reading. So, they may have an excerpt from a book they’ll be reading in a couple months or one they finished weeks ago. I don’t know why it doesn’t all align with their weekly reading.

Additionally, I don’t think there is enough grammar instruction in the Language Arts packets. Charlotte Mason is typically light on grammar, but I tend to find myself somewhere between Charlotte Mason and classical education (even though many will say Charlotte Mason is classical, there are clear differences), so this falls a bit short for me.

There also isn’t a lot of writing. That might be wonderful to hear for some people. My older kids do all their narrations for each subject in writing, so they are getting writing practice in somewhere.

I would say this program is grammar and writing light. There is a little of each, probably enough for most people’s taste, but it was a definite step back in difficulty and comprehensiveness for my kids. My kids have had more comprehensive grammar instruction, so the light review has been fine for them for this year, but I wouldn’t want that every year.

100 Gentle Lessons with A Gentle Feast

For the youngest kids, there is 100 Gentle Lessons for both reading and handwriting. I find both to be significantly lacking. The handwriting moves so slowly and offers no variety or interest. The reading is just a disjointed mess. My kids have had such a hard time following along and staying engaged. I ended up switching them back to An Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading, as it just does a better job at teaching the basics.

The handwriting isn’t really necessary if you’re using the Language Arts pack. There is weekly copywork included there, so they get plenty of writing practice. Also, if you’re using the student pages for Exploring Nature with Children (which is part of the receommended curriculum for A Gentle Feast), there is copywork available there, as well.

History Dislikes

This is my main issue with A Gentle Feast. In classical education, history rotates through a chornological cycle. Charlotte Mason taught an individual out history model. Instead of starting history at the beginning, you start with the child. So, A Gentle Feast has American history (or Canadian history) as the four-year history cyle. Form 1, which is grades 1-3, only has American history. The in form 2, grades 4-6, add in British history alongside American history. Finally in form 3 and 4, grades 7-12, also have Ancient history along with British and American history. This has been so confusing and scattered. So, even though my kids are all on the same cycle, they are not on the same history schedule.

Additionally, there is no history spine. You just skip from book to book, but there is nothing really tying it all together or keeping the path clear. Keeping a Book of Centuries is a necessary component because without it, the kids would have no clue where everything fits together. I just find that I prefer a classical chronological history rotation over the haphazardness of this history method. That is a completely personal preference.

Geography isn’t tied into history at all in this program. It stands on its own and kids work through their geography work as a completely seperate subject. My kids have been doing fine with geography. There is nothing wrong with how it is done, I just prefer more tie-ins between subjects and tying history to geography is so easy.

Literature Dislikes

The literature readings have been very hit or miss for my kids. I like to tie history into literature, and while there is some of that in this program, it isn’t as merged as I usually make it. There is nothing wrong with the book selections in A Gentle Feast, I think I’d just prefer to choose my own. And while you can do that with this program, just input what you want where you want, you’ll disjoint Language Arts even further by doing that. And why buy a comprehensive curriculum if you’re going to tweak it in the big areas anyway?

Science Dislikes

This program is really weak in science. Using living books is very hard to create a science program that is deep and interesting. Form 1 has no science other than nature study. That is fine with me as our nature study tends to be pretty deep, especially for the younger kids who have lots of questions. It isn’t that I love textbooks, but using living books for science with no spine is quite difficult to get a decent depth. I also like to keep everyone moving together through science, which isn’t possible with this program. The upper level science plans utilize Sabbath Mood curriculum, so this isn’t included in your purchase of A Gentle Feast.

Nature Study Dislikes

Forms 1 and 2 utilize Exploring Nature with Children curriculum in their Nature Study. I was already utilizing this resource before beginning A Gentle Feast and I really like it. I do not like the alternative plan A Gentle Feast uses for Exploring Nature with Children and stick to the original plan from Exploring Nature with Children.

Another complaint of mine falls in the nature category. Instead of reading one book, form 1 are splitting between two unrelated books each week, making it difficult for the little guys to really keep track. They learn about small mammals one day and birds on another. I would prefer to read each book quicker, rather than adding more unrelated content onto the table each week. I’d rather stick to small mammals for half the term and then move onto birds for the other half of the term.

This curriculum just spreads the net too wide and too shallow, especially for the younger kids. I constantly feel the need to supplement for the younger ones because I don’t think the curriculum provides as adequate coverage of anything. I feel like it is just spread thin in an attempt to be gentle. I’m all for young kids being exposed to nature, science, and history and not forced into the world of facts. I just felt that with so much jumping around, a lot of the interest and wonder was lost.

Older forms have a single book for Nature Study, but only read it once a week since they are also involved in other science learning. I have been pleased with the book choices for the older forms.

Citizenship Dislikes

I have always called this “character” and have typically included it in Morning Time. Form 1 have no lessons in this subject. I did swap out the Form 3 Charlotte Mason reading for something that they would find more interesting. We had a hard time slogging through Charlotte Mason’s writings and my 8th graders were having a hard time with it, as well. I usually make them keep at hard books, but I really couldn’t blame them on this one. We swapped it out for The Great Divorce, which they both loved and got a lot more out of. My form 2 student has loved the reading option for his citizenship and says it is his favorite book of the program so far.

Extra Subjects with A Gentle Feast

There is no math included in A Gentle Feast. They so offer suggestions, but it is ultimately up to you what you do for math.

There are languages and singing lessons for A Gentle Feast. There are Spanish, French, Latin, and German options for languages. I opted for Rosetta Stone instead. My form 1 kids have been using the book suggestions for learning French, but my older kids have been using Rosetta Stone and really enjoying it.

There are drawing and art lessons, as well. We haven’t utilized those since I include watercolor painting in our Nature Study. My older kids also like to use Skillshare to learn art skills that interest them. We’ve been really happy with that, so we have stuck to Skillshare and Nature Study instead of utilizing the art lessons from A Gentle Feast.

Prep Time for A Gentle Feast

I have been able to make A Gentle Feast largely independent for my older kids. I do Morning Time and Tea Time at the same time to keep my afternoons open for working on my own school work. My younger kids are finished very quickly, as there isn’t much to do for them in this program. My older kids do all their work outside of Morning Time independently and keep a narration notebook where they write their narrations for each subject down instead of telling me orally. Even if I had the time to listen to their oral narrations, this program is so light on writing that I think I’d still prefer written narrations.

Overall Impressions of A Gentle Feast

Overall, this curriculum has been a big step back from our usual education. I’m not sure I’d call it gentle, I think light and spread thin describes it more accurately. For some people, this would be absolutely ideal. I just happen to lean a bit more toward the classical side and need a little bit more than this curriculum offers.

Additionally, this program was pretty expensive for me to implement. Now, there are ways to make it more afforable. Many of the books can be found on Scribd or in your local library. You absolutely don’t have to buy every single book. Some of the books are hard to find. Like most Charlotte Mason programs, there aren’t a lot of new books suggested.

Do I recommend A Gentle Feast?

Overall, this is a good program, despite my plethora of complaints. It is a usable program that we’ve been successfully using during a very busy time in our lives with minimal modifications. The curriculum does work. I’m glad we have it for this year, even if I do plan to go back to creating my own curriculum next year. A Gentle Feast allowed me to take a step back and still have the kids’ education pretty well handled. It is similar enough to what they are used to that there was no big transition. There are aspects of A Gentle Feast that I will be adding to our own currilum next year, including written narrations, Bible memory, and poetry memorization.

The only part of A Gentle Feast I’d flat out not recommend is their 100 Gentle Lessons reading and handwriting programs. That has been the only complete flop of the program for us. Everything else is worth getting if you’re looking for things to be done for you. If you’re used to a box curriculum but want to switch to a Charlotte Mason method, this is a great option.

This post contains affiliate links. I am in no way obligated to review anything positively. Using affiliate links from your favorite content creators is a great way to offer support, sinc ethe use of affilaite links does help support them.

Other Notes from the Parsonage Posts You Might Enjoy

• Secular is Not Neutral
• Medieval History Curriculum for the Grammar Stage
• Medieval History Curriculum for the Logic Stage
• Medieval History Curriculum for the Rhetoric Stage
• Godbold Academy 2020-2021 Curriculum

The post A Gentle Feast- Full Review appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

I realized that I haven’t shared my favorite homeschool resources lately. I have been finding some really awesome things for the kids that we have all really enjoyed. I’ve also found a few things I thought would be awesome that were complete duds.

Firefly Nature School

I happened to get a resource from Firefly Nature School in a bundle pack I purchased. It was so beautiful and so well done. I immediately went and did a full year subscription. If you sign up for emails, they do send out coupon codes, so keep your eyes open for that. The lessons are really beautiful and fun. They can be used for a wide range of ages. You can incorporate them in as science or nature study curriculum or you can just use them as a fun, planned outdoor activity.

Twig and Moth

I have been loving the Twig and Moth resources. I print the cards onto cardstock and my kids absolutely love them. They are so beautiful with lots of information. They go well with our Nature Anatomy books and Exploring Nature with Children.

Exploring Nature with Children

This guide is such a good resource for science or nature study. It would also make an excellent and fun co-op, for anyone inclined toward that sort of thing. I have the guide, the print guided journal, and the cursive guided journal. The guide contains a year round curriculum for nature study. It includes book recommendations and activities. The guided journal has a poem for the child to copy each week and papers to go along with activities. We’re using it again this year because one year wasn’t enough.

Brave Grown Home

We have been loving the nature guides from Brave Grown Home. I highly recommend the Full Nature Guide sets. For weeks when we have some more time for nature study or science, I love pulling and printing these lovely cards and posters for the kids to enjoy.

A Gentle Feast

I know I’ve already talked about it on the Facebook page, but we are going full in with A Gentle Feast this year. Being in school full time, I didn’t have the time to plan every detail of our curriculum myself, which is what I usually do. A Gentle Feast has all the planning done for me. I’ll give a full review in the future, but I am really happy with the choice and it fits our family really well. This is a Charlotte Mason curriculum that is meant to work well for people who have kids in multiple grades at the same time. The main curriculum has all the plans for history, science, literature, grammer, French, Spanish, and more. Just add math. The Language Arts add on pack gives all the copywork and dictation right there on the page so you aren’t pulling it for them each day. The Morning Time packets are for poetry, Bible, fables, art, and music. If you’ve never started your days with Morning Time, I highly recommend it. A Gentle Feast also has a reading program and handwriting program.

You can read my full review of the program here.

Our Handcrafted Life

This website has several beautiful free printables you can use for science or nature study. They are really lovely when printed onto cardstock. (My kids adore cards, can you tell?)

The Peaceful Preschool

This site only has resources for up to age 12, but they are beautiful. They have full curriculum, but also several unit study type packs. They also have some really nice free resources, including the book lists for their full curriculum!

Intentional Homeschooling

This one is actually in the dud category for me. I really thought I would enjoy several of her paid resources, and I was really disappointed in what I got. I bought the Guide to Annotating Books, thinking it would be great for my 8th grader. It was a 17 page document that was really just a glorified blog post. It should have been a free blog post. There was no technical information, just pictures and rambling about how she highlights and writes in her books. It was not helpful at all and I felt pretty ripped off. I also bought her mini planner, which I think I actually bought in a bundle pack with other brands and things. It was okay. Nothing spectacular. Most of the things in it were things I already have bullet journal spread for. It was just very basic. I just feel the content of her work isn’t necessarily worth the price.

As usual, this post may contain affiliate links. These links help me and they don’t cost you more to use.

Other Notes From the Parsonage Posts You Might Enjoy

• A Gentle Feast- Full Review
• Godbold Academy: Medieval History
• Secular is Not Neutral
• 40 Holy People: A Lent Devotional for Families

The post Homeschool Resources appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

The Rhetoric Stage is roughly high school. These students should be completely independent. Though, I do still include mine in Morning Basket, and choose at least one subject each year to do with them– not because they cannot do it on their own, but just to connect.

Bible/ Apologetics Curriculum

For Bible, all my kids who can read use the SOAP method of Bible study to do personal Bible reading each day. They keep this in a notebook. They choose whatever book of the Bible they want to read.

This year, I put together an Apologetics Course for my rhetoric stage students. Each book they read has a student guide that I created. We also have weekly discussion sessions to talk about what they are learning. The books they’ll be reading for Apologetics are:

On Guard

Mere Christianity

The Case for Christ

The Story of Reality

Can Science Explain Everything?

True for You, But Not for Me

A Student’s Guide to Culture

Medieval History Curriculum

For history, they’ll be using The History of the Medieval World as their spine. A spine is simply the book that they slowly throughout the year to keep their “timeline” moving. All other books are stacked and scheduled around this “spine”. They’ll be outlining each chapter as they read. They’re also reading The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England.

Medieval Literature Curriculum

For literature, they have quite a heavy load to read. (Which is why I went a little lighter in the history section.) I have them keep notes as they read so they can use them to write a book summary when they finish a book. There are a couple books where we’ll be using the Canon Press Worldview Guide as they read. I also had a hard time deciding on a version of Beowulf. If you want to see my side by side comparison of three versions, check out my Instagram story titled “Compare Beowulf”.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Once and Future King

Pearl

Sir Orfeo

Beowulf

Hamlet (with Canon Press Worldview Guide)

The Canterbury Tales

The Three Musketeers

Don Quixote

Macbeth (with Canon Press Worldview Guide)

Romeo and Juliet

The Prince

Grammar and Writing Curriculum

For grammar, these students are actually using Rudiments of Anglo-Saxon. It is a guide for understanding and translating old English.

For writing, they’ll be using The Creative Writer, Volume 2 per their request. And they’re also reading Wordsmithy.

I noticed their handwriting has been slipping, so I’m having them do copywork into a handwriting notebook two days each week. They can copy something they have read, Scripture, or their memory work. They can choose print or cursive, just so long as they write neatly and cleanly. I’m not going to harass them about their handwriting outside of this notebook.

Biology Curriculum

For science, they’re using The Riot and The Dance including the labs. They’ll also be reading On the Origin of Species with the Canon Press Worldview Guide. They’re very excited about this class.

Character Curriculum

For character, they’ll be reading Confessions and Ivanhoe.

Logic Curriculum

I was going to replace logic with apologetics this year, but one of my rhetoric students revolted at that idea. So, they’ll be doing Canon Press’s Introductory Logic this year.

Foreign Languages Curriculum

For languages, they’ll be using Rosetta Stone for the language of their choice 4 days per week.

Math Curriculum

For math, they use Life of Fred. They’ve also been enjoying watching some Khan Academy videos, so they’ll do that, as well. This year, they’ll both be using Advanced Algebra.

For math, I always recommend that others stick with what is working for them. Math is so personal with what works for one kid might not work for another. And kids tend to get used to how their math is laid out, so changing curriculum can be quite a set back for them. So if it works, keep with it.

Other Notes From the Parsonage Posts You Might Enjoy

• Medieval History Curriculum for Grammar Stage Students
• Medieval History Curriculum for Logic Stage Students
• Medieval History Morning Basket Curriculum
• Ancient History Curriculum for Rhetoric Stage Students

**This post contains affiliate links. Using affiliate links is a great way to show your support for your favorite content creators.**

The post Medieval History Curriculum for the Rhetoric Stage appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

The logic stage is about fifth to eighth grade. These students are largely independent, though I do try to pick a subject each year to do with them just to connect with them a little more. While the curriculum is based around the medieval time period, it is NOT just for history!

Bible/Apologetics Curriculum for Middle Grades

For Bible, all my kids who can read use the SOAP method of Bible study to do their own personal Bible reading each day. They choose the book of the Bible they’re reading. They keep their notes in a notebook of their choice. This helps them learn to read, analyze, and apply the Bible for themselves without always counting on someone else to tell them what to see and what to think.

This year, Logic and Rhetoric stages are doing Apologetics for Bible class. They read these books on their own and at the end of each book, we sit and discuss. I encourage them to write down questions they may have as they go. We’ll discuss the questions that didn’t get answered in their reading as they finish each book. For logic, these books include:

Case for Christ for Kids

Case for Faith for Kids

Case for a Creator for Kids

Case for Grace for Kids

God’s Crime Scene for Kids

Cold-Case Christianity for Kids

It Couldn’t Just Happen

Medieval History Curriculum for Logic Stage Students

For history, my logic stage students also use The Story of the World, Volume 2. I do print all the coloring sheets and maps for them, as well, and include them in projects from the Activity Guide that I do with the grammar stage kids. We use this as a “spine”. We read it slowly through the year and work the rest of our supplemental readings into the timeline of the “spine” book.

They also have history supplements that they read by themselves to supplement their learning. I don’t have them answer questions or do worksheets for these books. I don’t find worksheets particularly useful for homeschooling. I find note taking guides or study guides to be better when they are necessary. But for most book, they keep notes as they read and at the end of each book, they’ll write a book summary. I also have them keep a master timeline, adding things from all the books they read to the timeline as they go.

Queen Eleanor

The Dragon and The Raven

Where is the Great Wall? 

Who Was Confucius?

Guts & Glory: The Vikings

Who Was Leif Erikson? 

The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow

Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

The Bard of Avon

The World of Columbus and Sons

Who Was Queen Elizabeth?

Who Was Genghis Khan?

Fine Print

Marco Polo: His Travels and Adventures

Medieval Literature for Logic Students

For literature, all reading is based on the medieval time period. Again, the students keep notes on what they are reading and write a book summary at the end of each book. If a book has a movie based on it, even loosely, I’ll make sure we watch that once they finish reading the book.

King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

Tales from Shakespeare

Jack

Red

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

Winning His Spurs

Grump

English Literature for Boys and Girls

Time Castaway: The Mona Lisa Key

The Adventures of Robin Hood

The White Company

Beowulf (This is a retelling! They’ll read the real one when we circle back through medieval history in four years.)

Viking Tales

The Door in the Wall

Adam of the Road

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Grammar and Writing Curriculum

For grammar, my middle school students are using 180 Daily Lessons on their level. I usually rotate years with Easy Grammar one year and 180 Daily Lessons the next. These are quick grammar reminders each day, since they should be grammar proficient by this stage.

For writing, my logic stage kids are using The Creative Writer, Level 2. They used Level 1 last year and loved it. They begged to continue the series.

For handwriting, my logic stage students do copywork twice a week. They pick a paragraph from something they’ve read this week or can use their memory verse or poetry memory. They keep a handwriting notebook for this copywork. They are expected to write cleanly and neatly in this notebook. I don’t usually harass them about their handwriting anywhere but this notebook. I just need to know they CAN write well. I also let them choose if they want to print or use cursive.

Biology Curriculum for Logic Stage Students

For science, my logic stage kids are doing biology, as well. They’re reading independently, keeping notes as they read, and they’ll be doing some experiments from Janice VanCleave’s Biology for Every Kid.

Super Simple Biology

Cells Close Up

Barron’s Visual Learning Biology

GIANTmicrobes Cells Coloring Book

My First Book About Genetics

Basher Science: Microbiology

Basher Science: Biology: Life as We Know It!

The Biology Coloring Book

Exploring the World of Biology

Who Was George Washington Carver?

Who Was Jacques Cousteau?

Who Was Jane Goodall?

Who Was Rachel Carson?

Where are the Galapagos Islands?

Logic for Middle Grade Students

For logic, this stage is using The Fallacy Detective this year. This is one of my kids’ favorite logic books. I think they’d use it every year if I let them.

Foreign Languages Curriculum

For foreign languages, my logic stage students use Rosetta Stone 3-4 days a week to learn their language of choice. They can pick a new language at the beginning of the year, but must stick with it all year.

Math Curriculum

For math, my logic stage kids are using Life of Fred. They use Fractions, Decimals and Percents, and then the Pre-Algebra series.

Math is so specific to each kid. If what you have is working– keep using it! Don’t switch a kid’s math curriculum unless you really have to as the switch will set them back in the subject. If a math program is working– keep using it until it isn’t or they graduate!

Other Posts from Notes From the Parsonage You Might Enjoy

• Medieval History Curriculum for the Rhetoric Stage
• Medieval History Curriculum for the Grammar Stage
• Medieval History Morning Basket Plans
• Ancient History Curriculum for the Logic Stage

**This post contains affiliate links. Using affiliate links is a great way to support your favorite content creators.**

The post Medieval History Curriculum for the Logic Stage appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

The grammar stage is roughly first through fourth grade. I group my kids together by stage because it allows me to work with them more easily. I still do phonics and math one-on-one during this stage.

By the end of grammar stage, I expect my kids to be self-sufficient learners. So that is something I work with them on as they grow through this stage. Most things, I read aloud during this stage. We do projects together. I don’t give tests in the grammar stage. I don’t give tests much at all– but I intentionally avoid the test/quiz format for grammar students.

Bible Curriculum for the Grammar Stage

For Bible, I purchased my grammar stage kids the same Bible. We’ll spend time in Morning Basket reading, but also during their group work. I find it easier to have the stage in the exact same Bible because it makes it easier to help them as they find their place and learn to read the Scriptures out loud. I’m not having to look over their shoulder because we all have the same version in our hands.

I chose the Adventures in Odyssey NIrV Bible for my kids in this stage this year. I added rainbow Bible tabs to help them find the books of the Bible. The format, the colors, and the little devotional aspects in the Adventures in Odyssey Bible encourage kids to keep looking, keep reading, and keep searching. It really draws them in.

My older grammar kids will also learn the SOAP method of Bible study and do that independently each day. We’ll also be reading The Dragon and the Garden and The Answers Books for Kids Set during our Bible time each day.

Medieval History Curriculum for the Grammar Stage

For history, I’m using Story of the World, Volume 2 as the “spine”. We’ll read a chapter 1-2 days each week. I use the Activity Guide to find activities each week, and I use the coloring pages so they can color as I read out loud. (My logic stage kids also use SOTW as a spine. They have the option to sit and listen to me read it or they can read it on their own in their own time. They usually opt to listen in.)

A history “spine” is just the book we’ll use to keep our timeline going. We’ll add additional readings in as they fit along the timeline of the “spine” book. So none of our books get read out of order. It is just a nice, easy way to keep your real books curriculum moving forward in a cohesive and logical way.

In addition to a history “spine”, I use additional books to help us explore the time and events deeper. For the grammar stage, this means we read quite a lot of picture books about history. I usually buy mine from ThiftBooks, because they are cheaper. (That is a referral link. If you’ve never used ThriftBooks before, you can sign up, spend $30 and you’ll get a free book credit! I will also get a free book credit if you use my link.) Though, I do sometimes have to buy them new. You can also check your local library. (I do not use our library as much as I could. I get anxious about borrowed books.) My history supplements for the grammar stage:

I Wonder Why the Romans Wore Togas

Beowulf the Warrior

How the Bible Came to Us

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Stories of the Saints

Once a Mouse

The Dragon and The Raven

Islam

Cat andRat: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac

Favorite Medieval Tales

Legends of Charlemagne

Yo, Vikings!

Cathedral

A Street Through Time

A Medieval Feast

Design Your Own Coat of Arms

Saint George and the Dragon

Sir Cumference and the Frist Round Table

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

Chanticleer and the Fox

The Bravest Knight

The Sword in the Stone

The Rabbi Who Flew

Ling and the Magic Paintbrush

Marco Polo: A Journey Through China

Baby Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave

Joan of Arc

How the Zebra Got Its Stripes

Columbus

The Discovery of the Americas

Follow the Dream

Cathedral Mouse

Come Worship with Me

The Planets

Good Queen Bess

The King’s Equal

The Bard of Avon

The Ordinary Princess

Do Pirates Take Baths?

The Paper Bag Princess

The Kitchen Knight

Pedro’s Journal

Castle

The Illuminated Alphabet Coloring Book

Medieval History Curriculum Literature for the Grammar Stage

For literature this year, we’re doing fairy tales! I find that a fairy tale literature base works extremely well with Medieval History. I like to compare and contrast different tellings of the same stories. So, we’ll have a story each week, but we’ll read it several different ways. And if there is a movie version, we’ll definitely watch that, too. We can discuss how each author tells the story in their own way. It is a lot of fun to compare and contrast different fairy tales.

I will warn you, if your kids are super sensitive, some fairy tales are quite dark and disturbing– especially in their original forms. So you may want to pre-read (particularly Grimm’s) and make sure your little one won’t be traumatized. My kids are not sensitive, so it isn’t something I generally worry about with fairy tales.

Main Fairy Tale Books

Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Classic Fairy Tales

Time Lord Fairy Tales (if your kids have not been introduced to Doctor Who, this won’t make a whole lot of sense for them)

Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales

Blue Fairy Book

Supplemental Fairy Tale Books

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Listen, My Bridge is So Cool

The Three Bears

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

The Princess and the Pea

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Aladdin

The Little Mermaid

Frozen

The Snow Queen

Skrek

The Golden Goose

Thumbelina

Dick Whittington and His Cat

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Henny Penny

Little Red Hen

Three Little Kittens

Medieval History Curriculum Reading Books

My older grammar students also have independent reading. I have had some at that age that could choose their own “free reading” books. But my current group of grammar stage students are more reading hesitant, so I assign their reading to them. The choices are also reflective of reading hesitant students. Their options this school year are:

My Father’s Dragon

Max and the Midnights

Max and the Midnights: Battle of the Bodkins

Dragon Masters: Rise of the Earth Dragon

Dragon Masters: Saving the Sun Dragon

Dragon Masters: Secret of the Water Dragon

Eerie Elementary: The School is Alive

Eerie Elementary: The Locker Ate Lucy

Eerie Elementary: Recess is a Jungle!

Prince Martin Wins His Sword

Prince Martin and the Theives

Prince Martin and the Dragons

Grammar and Writing for Grammar Stage Students

For grammar, all of my grammar stage kids are doing Beowulf Grammar— even the ones who have done it before. It is an excellent program that has plenty of variety for different learners. And it includes sentence diagramming! I cannot recommend this program highly enough! Even for logic stage kids who are poor in grammar or who haven’t really had formal grammar before– this program is excellent!

For writing, the younger grammar stage kids will simply be doing copywork. The older grammar stage kids will be doing this Interactive Writing Notebook and Interactive Poetry Notebook along with keeping a journal.

For handwriting, we’ll be using Draw, Write, Now. We use it every year twice a week for grammar stage kids. They learn to write along with drawing. My older grammar stage student is interested in cursive, so I’ll write his in cursive and the other kids will do print. I draw the picture step-by-step onto our chalkboard wall and then write the sentences for them to copy.

Biology for Grammar Stage Students

For science, everyone is doing biology. The younger kids will do a few activities from Janice VancCleave’s Biology for Every Kid. They’ll also have the opportunity to see what the older kids are doing in biology. The books I’ll be reading to them for science:

Super Simple Biology

Cells Up Close

Barron’s Visual Learning Biology

GIANTmicrobes Cells Coloring Book

My First Book About Genetics

Basher Science: Microbiology

Mr. DNA’s Book of Dinosaurs.

Math for Grammar Students

For math, my grammar students use Math Mammoth at their particular level. First grade, I usually need to sit next to them and work with them one on one. Second grade, I can usually read the instructions to them and let them do the work. Usually by third grade, I can just get it out for them and check it when they are done.

Phonics for Grammar Students

For phonics, we’re finishing up Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with two of my kids. They’ll begin the Treadwell Readers and Christian Liberty Press Nature Readers as soon as they finish phonics.

Character for Grammar Students

For character, I let them choose what books they’d like. They chose The Berenstain Bears this year. One day a week, we take turns picking a book from the character list. We usually do repeat them. So we have:

The Forgiving Tree

Kindness Counts

The Berenstain Bears and the Truth

The Berenstain Bears Do the Right Thing

The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings

The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers

The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Influence

The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Chores

That’s So Rude!

Patience Please!

Logic for the Grammar Stage

For logic in the grammar stage, you’re mostly just teaching critical thinking skills. This year, the kids are using the Critical and Creative workbooks at their level. These books do have some aspects that don’t apply to homeschool kids (a unit on things in a classroom), but for the most part, we like them. I’m not a fan of the holiday unit, but I usually just skip that one.

Foreign Languages for the Grammar Stage

For foreign languages, my kids who can read well will begin using Rosetta Stone to learn their language of choice. We have a lifetime subscription (that I got free for review) and we have definitely used it a ton! Not all the languages are available on the app version, so be sure to check if you’ll be primarily using the app and not the website. We use a mix of both, depending on the kid.

Other Posts from Notes From the Parsonage You Might Enjoy

• Medieval History Curriculum for the Rhetoric Stage
• Medieval History Curriculum for the Logic Stage
• Medieval History Morning Basket Plans

** This post contains affiliate links. Using affiliate links is a great way to support your favorite content creators.**

The post Medieval History Curriculum for the Grammar Stage appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

Morning basket is just a time that the whole family can be together each day. It is the thread that connects all the various ages together. We spend about an hour each morning together for Morning Basket before we break off into our three groups- rhetoric (high school), logic (middle grades), and grammar (the younger students).

Prayer & Bible Reading

We start morning basket by praying together. I usually ask for one of the kids to volunteer. It gives them an opportunity to practice their praying out loud skills. Then we open our Bibles and take turns reading a passage together. Once my kids learn to read, they are expected to participate in daily Bible reading. This year, we’ll be reading Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Acts together during Morning Basket.

Memory Verse and Poem Memorization

After we’ve read the Bible, we practice our memory tasks. We have a chunk of verses for Scripture Memory each term that everyone learns. We take turns going around and saying these verses. We start with a phrase and add on each week until we have the entire passage memorized. Older kids can read it until the memorize it. Younger kids repeat it after me until they memorize it. You’ll be surprised how easily you memorize something you read and say each day. Even toddlers can memorize Scripture! This year, we’re memorizing Roman 8:1-11 for term 1, John 1:1-5 for Advent, Psalm 100 for term 2, and Matthew 5:13-16 for term 3.

Once we’ve all said our memory verse, we move to poetry memory. Each stage has a different poem, but sometimes the kids will learn everyone’s poem. Our poetry selections for term one (in order of stage from youngest to oldest) are: The Teapot Dragon by Rupert Sargent Holland; Defeat by Edgar A. Guest; and the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. During Advent, all stages will learn Hark! the Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley. For term two, our poems are A Pig Tale by James Reeves; A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns; and The Walrus and The Carpenter by Lewis Carroll. For term three, we’ll memorize The Maldive Shark by Herman Melville; The Kraken by Lord Alfred Tennyson; and Sonnet XVIII by William Shakespeare.

Devotional Reading

After our memorization work, we’ll read a devotional type read. This year, we’ll be reading God’s Good News and Wise Words. After that, we’ll read something Biblically interesting– be it a biography, church history, or scientific in nature. This year, those books will be Dragons of the Deep, Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs, and Trial and Triumph.

Grammar Fun Time

Three days a week, we’ll do some grammar. Two days a week, that is just doing Mad Libs. My younger kids have all picked up grammar very easily because they had fun playing Mad Libs to learn the parts of speech when they were small. The older kids also love Mad Libs. One day a week we’ll be reading Grammarland.

Manners

One day each week, we focus some time on manners. I find it important to teach kids manners. Yes, they learn the proper fork to use. But it also teaches them how to introduce themselves, how to introduce others, how to involve others in a conversation in a way that makes them comfortable– just a whole host of useful interpersonal skills.

So, one day a week, we pull out Emily Post Etiquette and I read a portion. If it is something we can practice, like shaking hands, we’ll stop and practice, too. (If you aren’t sure you’re up for Emily Post, check out Modern Manners. It is more of a business manners book and is a little easier to tackle than Emily Post.)

Fun Family Literature

Reading books aloud is one of my kids favorite parts of the school day. Even my older kids who could easily read the books on their own find that they love read aloud time. I usually try to pick interesting Middle Grade type books. This year, the read aloud book list includes: The Wild Robot, The Giver, Pax, The Princess and The Goblin, The Westing Game, The Dragon’s Tooth, The Drowned Vault, and the Empire of Bones.

Games

I also add a couple games into our Morning Basket. We usually play them on Fridays instead of doing a read loud. This year, Camelot Jr. and Muchkin Deluxe are our games of choice.

Other Notes From the Parsonage Posts You Might Enjoy

• Medieval History Curriculum for the Rhetoric Stage
• Medieval History Curriculum for the Logic Stage
• Medieval History Curriculum for the Grammar Stage

**This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links are a great way to support your favorite content creators. They don’t cost you more to use, but they do benefit the creator. **

*** I buy a ton of my books from ThriftBooks! This is a referral link. If you use it and spend $30, you’ll get a free book and so will I. Not only do they have amazing prices on used books, but you get free shipping over $10.***

The post Medieval History Morning Basket Plans appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

This school year, we’ll have 6 students, plus a preschooler and a baby. I arrange my kids’ education so that they are all in the same time period and the same science subject each year. This allows us to do more exploring and learning as a family. It allows the kids the opportunity to share what they’re learning with one another in much more meaningful ways.

We also approach history chronologically. This gives us the story of how events unfold and not just viewing the event in isolation. We do a four year cycle, so by the time the kids graduate, they’ve been through the entire story of history three times. The first time, they’re just exposed to the story. This occurs from about 1st -4th grade. The second time, they dig a little deeper during 5th-8th grade. Then even more in depth 9th-12th grade.

This year, our science subject is biology. So, all the kids will be doing biology, though it will be at different levels. The older kids will be doing experiments that they can then show and explain to the younger kids.

Find All the Curriculum Plans

Find the Morning Basket plans here. Morning Basket time is for the whole family!

Find the Grammar Stage plans here. The grammar stage is roughly 1st to 4th grade, but I certainly include my preschoolers here as much as I can. Some kids may still be at the grammar stage when they are 5th grade age– that is fine. The beauty of homeschooling is how much you can customize it to fit your needs. My goal for grammar stage students is to introduce and expose them to the ideas and stories.

Find the Logic Stage plans here. The logic stage is roughly 5th to 8th grade, or “middle school”. Some kids may be younger, some may be older. These kids have already been exposed to the ideas and stories and are ready to go a little bit deeper.

Find the Rhetoric Stage plans here. The rhetoric stage is roughly 9th to 12th grade, or “high school”. Some may be ready earlier, some later. These students have gone through these ideas twice now and are ready for some in depth reading and analyzing the topics.

The post Godbold Academy: Medieval History appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.

The rhetoric stage is essentially the high school stage. This level bumps up in difficulty quite a bit, as students are able to handle deeper and more difficult books. I expect my rhetoric students to be fully independent, except they do join us for Morning Basket. I keep all my kids running along the same history timeline, though they may be at a slightly different pace and very different difficulty levels. I give my rhetoric students a checklist of work for the week and they are responsible for doing it and checking it off. I usually check their work only weekly, though we do discuss their readings over dinner daily.

Bible

The Bible Among the Myths (1 chapter per week; weeks 1-11)

The Epic of Eden (1 chapter per week; weeks 13-23)

The Epic of Eden Small Group Study (daily reading plus weekly video and discussion; weeks 25-36)

History

The History of the Ancient World (1-3 days per week; weeks 1-31)(Keep a list of important people and dates in history notebook)

The Iliad with Memoria Press Student Guide (weeks 1-24)

The Odyssey with Memoria Press Student Guide (weeks 25-36)

The Epic of Gilgamesh (weeks 25-36)

Science

Nature Study: The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (weeks 1-36)

General Science 2: Survey of Geology and Archaeology (weeks 1-36)

Language Arts

Grammar: 180 Daily Teaching Lessons for grade level (5 days/week; weeks 1-36)

Writing: The Creative Writer (weeks 1-36)

Literature

Till We Have Faces (weeks 1-6)

The Lightening Thief (weeks 1-17)

The Hobbit with Memoria Press Study Guide (weeks 7-11)

The Lord of the Rings (weeks 13-30)

The Sea of Monsters (weeks 18-30)

The Titan’s Curse (weeks 30-34)

Logic

Introduction to Logic (weeks 1-36)

Languages

Latin: Canon Press Latin Primer (weeks 1-36)

French: Rosetta Stone French (2-3 days/week; weeks 1-36)

Math

Life of Fred at level

Character

Plutarch Lives, Volume 1 (2 days/week; weeks 1-21)

Plutarch Lives, Volume 2 (2 days/week; weeks 21-35)

I keep everything planned out as seen above for each week.

** This post contains affiliate links. Using affiliate links is a great way to support your favorite content creators. **

I encourage you, don’t feel like you have to buy all your school books new! Check out ThriftBooks.com for some great deals on used books. (That link is my referral link!) Also, check out Scribd, which is like Netflix for ebooks and audiobooks. (That link is my referral link!) There are so many great books available through both that will save you money. Also, remember to check your library. Libby is a great app that many library systems use where you can get ebooks and audiobooks through your local library. Of course, you can also max out your library card checking out great books, as well.

The post Godbold Academy 2020-2021: Rhetoric Stage Plans appeared first on Notes From the Parsonage.