flynn057

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...

Preparing Our Children for the Storms of Life by Virginia Knowles (excerpted from my archives) The storms of life will come and go, but will your child be prepared or be blown away? In some ways, home schooling shelters children from many storms of life – appropriately so!  In other ways, it can prepare them to be even more effective in dealing with challenging and disappointing situations.  This process takes effort on the parents’ part as they try to discern the balance of sheltering and preparing.  There are many ways any parent can help prepare a child for weathering the storms of life. Cultivate a sense that God is in control, no matter what happens.  Show how faith, hope, and love can conquer depression, fear, and anger.  We don’t always understand what is happening, but we can trust a sovereign God.  In showing God’s providence and our need for perseverance, you can use Bible stories (such as Joseph, Ruth, or David), Bible ve...

Dear friends, This is an assignment I gave to my 7th-8th grade English students in our home school co-op several weeks ago.  They really seemed to enjoy this one! Virginia EXPOSITORY WRITING ASSIGNMENT "HOW TO" INSTRUCTIONS This week your assignment is to write about how to do something.   This writing skill comes in quite handy because giving people instructions is a regular part of real life.   Here are the steps to writing a great "how to." 1.       Choose a topic that is simple enough to be explained on a single page. It should be one that you already know enough about, or can research easily, to make it clear and interesting.  Here are some sample "how to" topics: ·        How to make a hot fudge sundae ·        How to organize your bedroom ·        How to pump up bicycle tires ·        How to play a favorite ...

Truth Never Dies Author Unknown Truth never dies.  The ages come and go.   The mountains wear away, the stars retire. Destruction lays earth’s mighty cities low;    And empires, states and dynasties expire; But caught and handed onward by the wise,   Truth never dies. Though unreceived and scoffed at through the years;   Though made the butt of ridicule and jest; Though held aloft for mockery and jeers,   Denied by those of transient power possessed, Insulted by the insolence of lies,   Truth never dies. It answers not.  It does not take offense,   But with a mighty silence bides its time; As some great cliff that braves the elements   And lifts through all the storms its head sublime, It ever stands, uplifted by the wise;   And never dies. As rests the Sphinx amid Egyptian sands;   As looms on high the snowy peak and crest; As firm and patient as Gibraltar stands,   So truth, unwearied, waits the era blessed Whe...

GOD'S GRACE IN THE MIDST OF MIDDLE SCHOOL MISERY by Virginia Knowles 8th grade San Carlos, California.  April 1977.   I had just announced to my classmates that our family was moving to Baltimore.  A red headed chick named Kathleen burst out, “Yay!  Now we won’t have to pick her for our teams in gym class anymore!”   I have laughed about that many times since then, but there was also still a sting from the constant and cruel peer rejection that I suffered for so many years.  I’m sure many of you can relate.   Middle school kids can still be vicious.   Maybe this happened to you or maybe you treated other kids like that.  Middle school misery is real. Well, I was one of those middle school outcasts.  I dressed and acted weirdly.  I talked too much.  I played chess at lunch time in the school library with the other outcast nerds, or we hung out at the nerd bench in the playground.  I had one dear Christian frien...

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, I presented a workshop called "With  Literature and Justice for All:  Teaching Virtuous Reality with American Literature for 4th-8th Grades"  the 4th Annual  Books & Beyond conference . I've got four video clips linked below, as well as handouts and links for on-line study guides. Part 1: Justice & Stories Part 2: Exploration, Colonies & Revolution Part 3: Pioneers, Civil War, Immigration & Civil Rights Part 4: Family History, Field Trips & Virtuous Reality Workshop notes... With Literature and Justice for All: Teaching "Virtuous Reality" with American Literature in the 4th-8th Grades What do stories teach?   Stories capture our interest, stir our imagination, and engage the heart. Stories teach us to ask, "What would I do if you found myself in this scenario?" Stories teach, by positive and negative examples, how to handle situations and challenges in life. What are the consequences of each decision? (Noble action ca...