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Growing Up

Growing Up

October 2020 Gathering

Have you been experiencing the back to school, post-Covid sickness? It hit our house about a week and a half ago and has hit almost all of us. My husband thinks it is the result of being locked in our house for the past six months. Now that we are getting out and seeing other people at our Classical Conversations Community Day and our Awana Club, we are experiencing other people’s germs for the first time in a while. And guess what? Our immune systems haven’t seen exercise in six months. Thus, we enter October with sniffles and sneezes and stuffy noses.


But we are not deterred from homeschooling in general. We spent the greater part of last week convalescing instead of reading, writing, or ‘rithmaticking. We got in a few other things, but mostly we just did our usual Gathering each day and rested.

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Growing Up

Essentials Week by Week, Tour 1, Week 1

This entry is part 18 of 18 in the series Classsical Conversations

“I am I doing too much?” “Is this enough?” “How long should this take?” “I feel like this is taking all day!”

I have heard these questions asked on social media, in community, in my own head, sometimes. And I have never really had an answer.

There seems to be a veil between the Essentials and Foundations years of Classical Conversations which obfuscates any attempts to prepare. We are often admonished, “trust the process…it will all come together someday.” For those of us who are standing on the other side of the veil, craning our necks to see the mysterious Essentials years, it is small comfort. So, we push on with memory work that makes some connections, while longing to see the bigger picture.

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Growing Up

Saxon Math K – A Teacher’s Companion

This entry is part 27 of 27 in the series Homeschool

Saxon K is a program for early years math education. It is gentle in the extreme. There are 12 lessons per month, giving much flexibility in how much time is spent “learning” math and how quickly it is completed. Math K can be a quick jaunt through math concepts to ensure a child is ready for Kindergarten or a slow stroll through a largely play-based introduction.

Having never taught K before, but working through it to prepare a Teacher’s Companion for it, I have some observations about the process. Some of these observations are specific to the Teacher’s Companion. So, this is a bit like a companion to the companion.

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Growing Up

One Thing More: CC Cycle 3 – Latin

This entry is part 17 of 18 in the series Classsical Conversations

Ah, Latin! The most intimidating aspect of a Classical education. Right? Most of us parents feel inadequate to teach Latin because most of us ever took an actual Latin course.

Interestingly enough, I had a class in 7th grade which was an exposure to various languages. It started with Latin. We moved 3 times that year, so I only got the first part of the Latin unit. I am proud to say I can perfectly remember one Latin phrase: “Quid agis?” “How are you?”

Somehow I don’t feel this is adequate preparation to teach Latin. But here we are.

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Growing Up

Essentials Spelling as a Review for All About Spelling

We are embarking on our first tour of Essentials through Classical Conversations. And I have been spending much of the summer thinking about and creating resources to help my first time student with the work. I try to create everything beforehand and get everything lined up, so we can have breathing room during the year.

One of the things I came across when perusing the massive Essentials of the English Language guide, tucked in the very back, were spelling lists for each week, divided by tour. At first glance I didn’t think I would utilize these spelling lists. They seemed too easy for my first tour Essentials student.

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Growing Up

Gathering: September 2020

Kicking off the new school year? We started last week, doing just a couple of subjects to start: math and language. We had a few little one-room-schoolhouse things we needed to get done, too. Of course, we also did our Gathering in the mornings. It is such an integral part of our day.

The September 2020 Gathering is going to be SO good! As I look back over the beauty of these simple placemats, I get so excited to share them with my kids. One of the best parts of creating the entire year’s Gathering placemats in the summer is the breathing room provided. I get them all ready, edited, printed, laminated, and then I put them aside until the first day of the new month.

When I get them out again, I glory in the way God has directed the placement of each of these little boxes, placing them just at the right time in our walk with Him, our journey through homeschool, to reach us. I take no credit for the goodness, truth, and beauty they contain. I simply curated and edited them.

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