Lately 2.23
Five weeks ago, we stepped foot onto a new Classical Conversations (CC) community in my sweet hometown. Attending once-a-week seminar days with other homeschool families as we did in San Diego feels like we're moving forward— and with the curriculum and schedule nearly identical at every campus, we haven't skipped a beat! Evie is in Challenge B, and Sandie and Ema are in Foundations with their tutors. Making the transition from state to state has been surprisingly smooth, a welcomed blessing, and even more so when connected to a Co-Op of like-minded families.
on the table —
Math takes the front seat at 9 a.m. with one lesson a day out of Saxon workbooks (Math 1, Algebra 1/2), and then on to formal reading lessons out of McGuffy's Readers, journaling with illustrations, and, when the time permits, I read literature out loud— currently reading The Chronicles of Narnia! In Foundations, we are studying the Medieval to Modern day eras (Cycle 2), memorizing Genesis 1:1-27 (KJV) through song and hand motions, learning skills from six of the great artists of the Baroque and Romantic periods, studying the geography of Europe and Asia, and learning about Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion and Thermodynamics. We loosely spend 30 minutes a day reviewing our CC memory work, and I supplement with using books relevant to Cycle 2. And the list above does not include Challenge B curriculum, nor the entire feast on our table!
“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again;’ and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult monotony.”
Twice a week, my twin sister drives from the east side of the island for her littles to join our homeschool from morning til afternoon. Her daughter, Jules (5), will be in kindergarten next year, and her son, Brave (3), is in preschool like Leia. Although it is a challenge to keep any busybody at the table, I am an advocate for play in the early stages. I try to creatively include hands-on activities to capture their imaginations (and short attention spans). Pouring into them in this way really adds up over time.
Our home life is becoming more structured and predictable than the two months after we arrived. Homeschooling, work, and family have become a pleasant weekly routine- and no words could express how grateful I am for the privilege of educating my children. We have not added much busyness outside of this, except church on Sundays and occasional time with friends.
Lastly, on a separate note, I am thrilled to say that I was able to start our spring garden over this rainy weekend, just in time for an entire week of showers! More to come…
x jena
“We learn through three avenues... repetition, duration, and intensity”
Foundations curriculum we use for all CC memory work for Cycle I, II, and III