flynn057

Last week I started a new blog series, Image & Imagination , to  explore how to stimulate our children's curiosity with pictures .  I like to integrate fine art and Biblical themes when I teach, whether it is in my own home or in our home school co-op English or history classes. Our 5th and 6th graders have been studying the early church in history class and reading through the book of Acts in English class.  In class this week, I showed them several pieces from the huge volume of  Great Bible Stories and Master Paintings by Owen S. Rachleff, which was a gift from my late father-in-law in our early home schooling years.  I wish we had more time to take a long look at them!  Maybe next week...  You can look up these paintings on-line, keeping in mind that there are variations in titles.  I have linked some of them here: “ The Pentecost” by El Greco (Spanish, 1541-1614) “ The Stoning of St. Stephen” by Fra Angelico (Italian, c. 1400-1455) “...

The Apostles' Creed I believe in God the  Father , Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ, his only  begotten   Son , our Lord: Who was conceived by the  Holy Ghost , born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He  descended  into hell: The third day he rose again from the dead: He  ascended  into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From  thence  he shall come to judge the  quick  and the dead: I believe in the  Holy Ghost : I believe in the holy  catholic  church: the  communion  of  saints : The forgiveness of sins: The resurrection of the body: And the life  everlasting . Amen. Vocabulary: begotten  - born descended  – went down ascended  – went up thence  – there quick  – living Holy Ghost  – Holy Spirit catholic  – universal or whole (not the same thing as the Roman ...

Friends,   In our home school co-op, the 5th-6th English class that I teach is reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.  We do about two chapters per week, and I am creating the study questions, writing assignments and activities as I go.  There are 17 chapters in the book, and so far I have finished up through chapter 8.  I'll post the other 9 chapters later on! (Edit to add - many years later, I never did!) The study questions are a mix of simple recall and deeper reflection.  Occasionally, I refer to vocabulary words, grammar, punctuation, or literary devices.  Some of the writing assignments are geared for practical real life application, while others stimulate imagination and creativity.  If you have study questions or writing assignments to suggest, please add them in a comment! At the bottom of this post, I have included several links to other on-line study guides for this book.  Som...

Dear friends, A couple of days ago, I wrote a post on www.startwellhomeschool.blogspot.com  about  What We're Doing for Elementary School This Year .  We're also home schooling two middle school students: a son in 8th grade and a daughter in 6th grade.  My son has always been home schooled, while my daughter attended a public elementary school for the last four months of the last school year. Our family is continuing with the home school co-op that we've been in for several years with the exception of one year we just home schooled - at home. Here is a run down of what we're doing in and out of co-op. My daughter is taking 6th grade math, with only one other student in her class. They are using the McDougal Littell text, along with a student notebook volume.  For science and history, she is in mixed level classes with 4th-6th grade students.   The science class is using the Apologia text about flying creatures , which is mainly birds and insects but include...

Dear friends, I've tried to cultivate a habit of reading a chapter of the Bible to my children each morning.  When our school year ended, I got pretty lax with this, but this week, we picked back up in the book of Acts.  I was struck as we read through it how many vocabulary words we could learn, so whenever I came to a word that I thought some of my children wouldn't know very well, I stopped and discussed it with them.  I feel that this really brings out the meaning of the passage and helps them think about it more fully.  Since we aren't doing much formal schooling during the summer, this gives me at least a little time to engage their brains in deeper thinking, too. I use the New International Version (NIV) 1984 translation for daily reading with my children.  You can find this and other versions on www.BibleGateway.com  or download it onto a mobile device such as an iPod Touch or iPhone using the YouVersion app.  You can also probably find a Bible...

Dear friends, In the 7th-8th grade home school co-op English class that I teach, I try to incorporate Biblical themes as often as possible. We have done literature studies on the lives of Joseph, Daniel, and Esther. We learned about Psalms and Proverbs for a week or two each. We usually do integrated literature/art/music/Scripture units for Christmas and Easter. And we often study books that highlight Biblical themes, such as The Bronze Bow, which is set in Bible times, or The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which is set in Puritan America. Here is the audio version of the workshop I presented a week ago at the Books & Beyond literature conference in Orlando. I am pasting in my workshop handout text below. I spoke about some things in the workshop (especially letting the Bible launch our children into life rather than holding them into a mold) that aren't in the handout, and visa versa. I know the handouts are pretty sparse. Below the handouts are a whole bunch of web links, not onl...

Dear friends, In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, my home school co-op English class is listening to his "I Have a Dream" speech and answering study questions on it.  I thought you might like to join us.  I have split the speech text into three sections to make it more manageable.   You will find a persuasive paragraph writing assignment at the end of this post. For peace and justice, Virginia Knowles Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" Speech August 28, 1963 (Section 1) I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one ...