Preparations for School 2007-2008

Posted on February 14th, 2007 by hanfaith.
Categories: General.

I’ve been very busy the last couple of weeks putting together my homeschool curriculum for next year. Eva will be in first grade and Seamus in preschool. My family can attest to the many hours of research I have put into next year’s choices, and the fun is only just beginning! I’m getting about 95% of my materials used and I love the hunt.

Phonics

We used Abeka for phonics this year and for consistency sake, I plan on continuing with them for another year. I give them credit for a thorough program. There are a few things I take issue with, such as Manuscript only being a handwriting option (i.e. some of the visuals in kindergarten are in Script) and huge variations between workloads on various days (i.e. some days have way too many workbook pages while others have barely any). I do feel like Eva is well grounded in phonics, though, so I’d give the program about 4 out of 5 stars.

Grammar & Composition

I wish I had known about Shurley English when I was teaching in a classroom. What a great program! Shurley English fits well into a classical model, making just of jingles, chants, and question/answer sessions. Students learn the parts of a sentence by asking and answering questions. This curriculum is great for an auditory learner, but would probably need to be supplemented with more visuals for other types of learners. I like the flow of the teacher’s manual, but I feel like the student workbooks could have been better laid out. Students constantly have to flip back and forth all over the book for different activities. I think it would be better if the student workbook was designed around each lesson, giving all the activities on the same page. Overall, though, I’m impressed.

** after typing this, I went and looked at Shurley’s website, and it looks like a new edition is due this fall, with some of the workbook issues solved. I’m not sure, however, if this is only for the school version of Shurley or also for the homeschool version. Hopefully both.

Mathematics

We’re switching next year from Abeka math to Horizons math. Pretty much all the reviews I have read indicate that Horizons is similar to Abeka math, but better. Both use a spiral method to teach arithmetic, but Horizons apparently does a better job of not overdoing repetition. I’ve heard that for those students that have lost the joy of math through the Abeka program, Horizons is a good fit. Hopefully that will be the case for us too. Again, like in their phonics program, Abeka is thorough, and students coming out of their math program will know their stuff, but in the process I think many stop enjoying math. Horizons is also colorful, something that appeals to my children.

History

We’re voyaging into Core 1 with Sonlight this year, exploring a first year course of World History. I love that Sonlight teaches without textbooks, using “real” books to interest students in history. I’m impressed by some of the books I’ve collected so far. Looks like an excellent program. We’re also doing the read-aloud part of Sonlight, sharing many good books with our children.

Penmanship

I’m going to try out A Reason for Handwriting, Manuscript A next year. I haven’t received a copy in the mail yet, so I don’t have much to go on, but the idea of making presentation pieces based around Bible verses and decorating the borders sounds like something that will appeal to Eva.

Science

We’re going to try Sonlight’s science program for Core 1. I’ve heard that Sonlight jumps around a bit when it comes to science, but we’re going to give it a try and see if it works for our kids. At the very least, they’ll be exposed to a lot of different scientific topics, and we’ll see what piques their interest.

Music

I like the looks of Praising God on the Piano, and I’ve heard good things about it on various message boards. Thankfully, it’s not too expensive, so looks like we’ll give this program a try this year. We’ll probably do a lesson once a week, so I’m still looking for something else to do once a week – preferably centered around classical music.

Art

We’ll be using the Come Look with Me books to talk about various art pieces, and will be producing our own masterpieces with our art supplies.

Preschool

I’m working on putting together Seamus’ preschool curriculum from various books I’m collecting. Our local library has a book cellar with .25 books, so I try to pick up a couple every time I go. Hopefully I’ll have enough soon to organize them into unit studies, and we’ll work from there. I’d like to get some of the Developing the Early Learner books as well as Critical Thinking Press’ Visual Perceptual Skill Builder.

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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi

Posted on February 7th, 2007 by hanfaith.
Categories: General.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (rpkg) (HarperClassics)

When I was in sixth grade, my class performed book reports in front of the class, pretending to be a character in the book. I chose one of my all-time favorite books (The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin). A fellow classmate chose to be Charlotte from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. After hearing her review, I quickly found the book in the library, and have loved it ever since.

I love adventure books set at sea. Give me Horatio Hornblower, Long John Silver, or Harvey Cheyne any day. I don’t think I’d ever like to go to sea myself, but I thoroughly enjoy the reading about storms at sea, ship hierarchy, and sailor lingo.

True Confessions (now you know where my blog title came from) is unusual in that it follows the story of a girl. And not just any girl, but a thirteen-year-old demure child who blossoms throughout the course of the story into a freethinking, capable young woman. Charlotte Doyle finds herself on a ship full of sailors seeking revenge on a nasty captain. Her fellow passengers are delayed, and she must make the journey alone to America to join her family. Before the voyage really even begins, Charlotte finds herself “courted’ by both Captain Jaggerty and the sailors (particularly the old, black cook Zachariah), each trying to win her over to their side. In her naivety, Charlotte initially trusts the captain, believing him to be much like her father. She becomes his eyes and ears on the ship, dutifully reporting to him all the crew’s grumbling.

Things come to a head when Charlotte stumbles upon the crew writing a round robin – a sign of mutiny. Feeling torn by duty to the captain, and not wanting to cause trouble, Charlotte finally tells Captain Jaggerty what she saw. The captain shuts down the uprising, but not before killing a stowaway in cold blood. Charlotte is shocked by the brutality, and stunned at the reality of dictatorship that the captain holds over the ship. Captain Jaggerty then proceeds to whip Zachariah, using him as an example to the others. Charlotte looses her temper and strikes the captain, trying to stop the whipping. Later on that day, Charlotte stumbles upon the sailors performing a brief ceremony before committing Zachariah’s body to the sea – yet another victim of the captain’s rage.

Horrified at the consequences her actions brought about, Charlotte presents herself to the crew, willing and able to do her best to fill in the place of a sailor. The crew agrees hestitantly, but only after making her climb the rigging to the top of the ship. Captain Jaggerty allows her to sign articles (as Mr. Doyle), and fully expects her to hold her own. Charlotte learns quickly from the others, and does her best to cause no trouble with the captain. Captain Jaggerty had not forgotten the way Charlotte attacked him, however, and constantly kept a watch on her waiting for a mistake to be made.

Without going into too much detail (I don’t want to ruin the ending!), after weathering a brutal hurricane that Captain Jaggerty makes the crew steer into, an officer is found dead by a knife in the back. Charlotte is accused of murder, and stands trial in front of her peers.

Themes of loyalty, trust, duty, and conscience are riddled throughout the book. If you like adventure stories, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is worth reading, especially with its unlikely heroine.

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