This year, the Co-op had some upheaval and upper school Literature was lost. Angel’s mom, Terri, was worried about Literature. She hadn’t had British Literature. Anna needed Literature, too. Both Anna and Angel are in Rob’s Statistics class. I teach British Literature while he teaches Physics. We use the older version of British Literature. It was cheap! The three of us slogged through Anglo-Saxon lit—aaarrrgghhh! Beowulf! (My husband kept saying, “Go ahead. Read the Cliff Notes. I won’t tell.” It’s a matter of principle!)
Now, we are into Chaucer. Much better. In high school, I had to memorize some of the Prologue,—The piece with the Knight. We waded through the prologue and are working on Character studies. Anna and Angel each selected three characters. The rule is to slog through the translation before turning to Cliff Notes or Spark Notes.
Our plan is to work through the entire British Literature course. Amazon’s Kindle Store has many of the course books free. I’m also locating translations online—all free. After using the Brit Lit textbook, I’m using this guide for Chaucer. Hey! The girls are getting exposure to a number of classics.
I’m learning as I go. I decided we should add a bit of history to the literature content, beginning with BBC’s Life in the Middle Ages.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
From the Where are they now files.....
Lacie was ill and missed Chemistry classes and the extra day of work. I sent her a week’s worth of Theology and History to do before Tuesday. If she works through the material well, I won’t be so anxious.
On a positive note, the British Literature (Stobaugh) is going pretty well. Anna and Angel are in the midst of Chaucer. The girls are working on Character maps. Cliff notes has loads of useful material such as this hierarchy of social classes and degree of morality. Here are character map hand-outs.
I got the idea for character maps here and am using their suggestions for traits to examine, such as personality.
Here’s how we are doing Literature. The girls each chose three characters. They must use The Prologue and translation first to locate quotes and details. Then, they may use he internet (I.e. Cliff Notes or Spark Notes) to flesh out details. Struggle with the text first, use outside information second.
Our family is split. My husband, Rob, had his older brother’s complete Cliff Note collection in high school. He only read a few books. I read every book and assignment, except The Great Gatsby—just hated it. All of our literature teachers forbade Cliff Notes. I happened to love Literature; Rob happened to loathe it.
As I work through the literature with the girls, I tend to use Oxford web sites—not Wikipedia or Spark Notes. But, the Cliff Notes material is excellent, organized, and available. We’ll start with the Brit Lit textbook, read a good translation, and then Scout for notes on the internet.
On a positive note, the British Literature (Stobaugh) is going pretty well. Anna and Angel are in the midst of Chaucer. The girls are working on Character maps. Cliff notes has loads of useful material such as this hierarchy of social classes and degree of morality. Here are character map hand-outs.
I got the idea for character maps here and am using their suggestions for traits to examine, such as personality.
Here’s how we are doing Literature. The girls each chose three characters. They must use The Prologue and translation first to locate quotes and details. Then, they may use he internet (I.e. Cliff Notes or Spark Notes) to flesh out details. Struggle with the text first, use outside information second.
Our family is split. My husband, Rob, had his older brother’s complete Cliff Note collection in high school. He only read a few books. I read every book and assignment, except The Great Gatsby—just hated it. All of our literature teachers forbade Cliff Notes. I happened to love Literature; Rob happened to loathe it.
As I work through the literature with the girls, I tend to use Oxford web sites—not Wikipedia or Spark Notes. But, the Cliff Notes material is excellent, organized, and available. We’ll start with the Brit Lit textbook, read a good translation, and then Scout for notes on the internet.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Lacie and her classes
Lacie and I are settling into more of a routine. She comes for Co-op Chemistry Tuesdays from 10:00 am -11:15. After class, we dive into school work until lunch. (My husband, Rob, has Physics until 12:30. We eat around 12:45.) Simultaneously, there are two girls doing British Literature with me. I give Lacie an assignment and then plunge into British Literature—with Stobaugh. On Thursday, Lacie arrived at noon, instead of 10 am. (I have a Human Biology class wrapping up and an anatomy class beginning soon. We meet weekly for two hours.). Lacie arrived right after the kids finished their lab this week. We ate and plunged into class. Friday is a repeat of Tuesday.
Now, on Tuesday, we worked from 10-4 with a break for lunch. On Thursday, we worked for 12:30-7pm. Friday was 10-4. Rob says it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. We spent a long day Tuesday working through Humani Generis and Algebra 1. Thursday was memorizing elements for Friday’s test, the Robinson Crusoe paper, and Guitar. Friday was more Guitar, more elements, loads of History, and a little more grammar.
Normally, Theology and History do not consume huge blocks of time. Humani Generis is tough! I also wanted Lacie to catch up on History and take a quiz. I’m trying to squeeze in more quizzes in Algebra, History, and Chemistry. Literature and Theology have more short answers, Study Guide Questions, and essays. We are in the middle of learning how to write an annotated paper for Robinson Crusoe. Things are taking forever because Lacie is young. Critical thinking and literary analysis are not learned in a week.
My goal is to have 18-20 contact hours per week. Lacie is practicing her guitar, reading novels, and studying at home. When I taught in public school, we met for seven hours a day with seven classes. If you deduct 1 1/2 hour for lunch, announcements twice a day, and passing time, classes were 5 1/2 hours. I spent very little time on administrivia such as attendance. But there were always disruptions: misbehavior, class interruptions, drills, class meetings, assembly’s, etc. At best five hours per day were spent on academics. For some reason each year, my best Chemistry class was right before lunch, fourth period, which was cut to 35 minutes every day. Really. Yet, we covered everything the other two chemistry classes had in 42 minutes because I didn’t have to discipline them or repeat instructions.
Yes, at best we had 25 academic hours per week. I know if I have 20 hours one on one with Lacie, we should be fine. We’re meeting three hours per week in Chemistry Co-op class twice a week for 35 weeks and do cover every topic. My husband manages to cover all of the Physics topics in the same time period each year, too.
We are keeping a close eye on Kolbe Academy’s syllabus, the topics, and our schedule. So far, so good. But, we may be doing grammar next summer.
Now, on Tuesday, we worked from 10-4 with a break for lunch. On Thursday, we worked for 12:30-7pm. Friday was 10-4. Rob says it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. We spent a long day Tuesday working through Humani Generis and Algebra 1. Thursday was memorizing elements for Friday’s test, the Robinson Crusoe paper, and Guitar. Friday was more Guitar, more elements, loads of History, and a little more grammar.
Normally, Theology and History do not consume huge blocks of time. Humani Generis is tough! I also wanted Lacie to catch up on History and take a quiz. I’m trying to squeeze in more quizzes in Algebra, History, and Chemistry. Literature and Theology have more short answers, Study Guide Questions, and essays. We are in the middle of learning how to write an annotated paper for Robinson Crusoe. Things are taking forever because Lacie is young. Critical thinking and literary analysis are not learned in a week.
My goal is to have 18-20 contact hours per week. Lacie is practicing her guitar, reading novels, and studying at home. When I taught in public school, we met for seven hours a day with seven classes. If you deduct 1 1/2 hour for lunch, announcements twice a day, and passing time, classes were 5 1/2 hours. I spent very little time on administrivia such as attendance. But there were always disruptions: misbehavior, class interruptions, drills, class meetings, assembly’s, etc. At best five hours per day were spent on academics. For some reason each year, my best Chemistry class was right before lunch, fourth period, which was cut to 35 minutes every day. Really. Yet, we covered everything the other two chemistry classes had in 42 minutes because I didn’t have to discipline them or repeat instructions.
Yes, at best we had 25 academic hours per week. I know if I have 20 hours one on one with Lacie, we should be fine. We’re meeting three hours per week in Chemistry Co-op class twice a week for 35 weeks and do cover every topic. My husband manages to cover all of the Physics topics in the same time period each year, too.
We are keeping a close eye on Kolbe Academy’s syllabus, the topics, and our schedule. So far, so good. But, we may be doing grammar next summer.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
How to write a science lab report!
Today, my Human Biology class did a respiration lab on tidal volume. Here is my lab rubric. The first step is to determine either a hypothesis or the purpose of the lab. Most labs have a purpose rather than a hypothesis. The purpose of the Tidal Volume lab was to understand tidal volume.
Next, the kids write the materials using complete sentences. For example, "The materials include the following: one milk jug, two meters of aquarium tubing, one milk jug, one 1000 mL beaker, and one bucket.
The methods follow. The first step is to fill a bucket about half-full. Next one fills one gallon milk jug with water and caps the jug. After filling the jug, the student inverts the jug into the bucket of water, removes the cap, and inserts the plastic tubing. The students work in pairs; one student is responsible for removing the cap and holding both the tubing in place and the jug up-ended in the bucket without cutting off the tubing. The next step is to take a deep breath and inspire into the jug via the tubing. Next, one removes the jug from the bucket and measures the remaining water. It is necessary to measure the amount of water in the full jug initially, also. It measures slightly more than one gallon. The results represent three trials for each student and tabulated.
The data table for this lab has results for four students: 600 mL, 550 ml, 500 mL, 300 mL, 750 mL, etc.
Data: Tidal Volume
Trial Volume (mL)
1 600
2 550
3 500
The results are next. The results for this lab should include the mean, median, and mode.
The next section is discussion. In this section the student explains possible sources of error. For example, it may be difficult to regulate a deep breath.
The last section is the conclusion. An acceptable conclusion is, "More study is indicated." For most experiments, the class size is too small to make broad statements about the validity of the results. For example, the average tidal volume for a healthy, young, male adult is 500 mL. Today, we took about 12 trials using four students. There is insufficient data or trials to draw meaningful conclusions.
Lab reports are good examples of technical report writing. My students use complete sentences using the third person, present tense, active voice, and indicative mood. Sometimes, the passive voice (i.e. The results are repeated.) may be used.
My students rewrite their lab reports three or four times. I require citations if the lab requires background information. My husband assigns several formal lab reports in Physics. I assign two or three formal lab reports in Chemistry. I may insist on a data table or summary statistics. Two or three times for each course, my students must write and correct formal lab reports. The Human Biology class met weekly for two hours and began in May, met over the summer, and is concluding the end of September. The class was treated as a one semester elective. The tidal volume lab will probably be the only formal lab report.
Next, the kids write the materials using complete sentences. For example, "The materials include the following: one milk jug, two meters of aquarium tubing, one milk jug, one 1000 mL beaker, and one bucket.
The methods follow. The first step is to fill a bucket about half-full. Next one fills one gallon milk jug with water and caps the jug. After filling the jug, the student inverts the jug into the bucket of water, removes the cap, and inserts the plastic tubing. The students work in pairs; one student is responsible for removing the cap and holding both the tubing in place and the jug up-ended in the bucket without cutting off the tubing. The next step is to take a deep breath and inspire into the jug via the tubing. Next, one removes the jug from the bucket and measures the remaining water. It is necessary to measure the amount of water in the full jug initially, also. It measures slightly more than one gallon. The results represent three trials for each student and tabulated.
The data table for this lab has results for four students: 600 mL, 550 ml, 500 mL, 300 mL, 750 mL, etc.
Data: Tidal Volume
Trial Volume (mL)
1 600
2 550
3 500
The results are next. The results for this lab should include the mean, median, and mode.
The next section is discussion. In this section the student explains possible sources of error. For example, it may be difficult to regulate a deep breath.
The last section is the conclusion. An acceptable conclusion is, "More study is indicated." For most experiments, the class size is too small to make broad statements about the validity of the results. For example, the average tidal volume for a healthy, young, male adult is 500 mL. Today, we took about 12 trials using four students. There is insufficient data or trials to draw meaningful conclusions.
Lab reports are good examples of technical report writing. My students use complete sentences using the third person, present tense, active voice, and indicative mood. Sometimes, the passive voice (i.e. The results are repeated.) may be used.
My students rewrite their lab reports three or four times. I require citations if the lab requires background information. My husband assigns several formal lab reports in Physics. I assign two or three formal lab reports in Chemistry. I may insist on a data table or summary statistics. Two or three times for each course, my students must write and correct formal lab reports. The Human Biology class met weekly for two hours and began in May, met over the summer, and is concluding the end of September. The class was treated as a one semester elective. The tidal volume lab will probably be the only formal lab report.
How to write a paper! Let's get started.
We are working three long days a week. Lacie has read Robinson Crusoe. We plan to complete Kolbe Academy's questions in the study guide next. I also want her to write a paper. One of Kolbe's essay topics is to describe how the island made RC a better man. (The wording is a bit different.) We are using this topic as a thesis statement for a research paper. We are starting with a list of RC's character traits before and after with quotes from the book. This is a work in progress. We started by discussing RC's traits before writing the list. Another approach is to use concept maps. I use IHMC's free concept mapping software. My Science blog has examples of the concept maps like this one.
Lacie is taking Chemistry with me, too. I'll go over concept maps soon then. After, we can apply concept maps to literature. In fact, concept maps are good tools to think about the parts of a paper or the story line.
After Lacie wrote the list, I asked her to go back and locate quotes that represent the traits of RC. I'm having her write a bit of the quote and the page number in her copy of the book. This discussion led to the use of MLA to cite quotes from a novel.
The next step is writing an outline for a five (or six) paragraph essay.
Lacie is taking Chemistry with me, too. I'll go over concept maps soon then. After, we can apply concept maps to literature. In fact, concept maps are good tools to think about the parts of a paper or the story line.
After Lacie wrote the list, I asked her to go back and locate quotes that represent the traits of RC. I'm having her write a bit of the quote and the page number in her copy of the book. This discussion led to the use of MLA to cite quotes from a novel.
The next step is writing an outline for a five (or six) paragraph essay.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
History: How to Read
Lacie and I are still novice learners. She's still learning how to study and I'm still learning how to teach a bunch of disparate subjects. Lacie was reading Light to the Nations. I spent a few minutes showing her how I read. One of the toughest skills to master is how to study. When I read, I need to take notes. I told her to start with the summary, vocabulary, and questions at the end of the chapter; the questions, summary, and vocabulary are clues to the most important aspects of the chapter. I have to take notes. I may never refer to those notes again--but I must write things down.
For example, right now, I'm teaching a Human Biology class. I was a Biology major; I had several anatomy courses. With all that said, I don't remember every detail. Before class I prepare the weekly lesson. I start by reviewing all of the headings and skimming the chapter. Next, I make a list of notes for each major heading, say in digestion: major organs, how food forms a bolus and travels, through the digestive system, mechanical vs. chemical digestion, etc. Then, I plan a quiz, activities, and labs.
Once Lacie has an idea of the important points in the chapter, I made a point to show her how I focus on a new topic. For example, in Chapter 1, there is a brief description of Herod the Great. Who was Herod? How was Herod appointed? What is an Edomite? What territory was under Roman rule? Why was there a census? The Bible mentions a census, too; how is this significant? (It's historic evidence.)
In traditional school settings, kids are accustomed to having a teacher tell them to read a chapter, define the vocabulary, and answer the questions. This does not teach a child to study. If the student asks herself questions, makes note of significant information, learns to recognize what is important to understand in the content, the child learns how to study--not just complete an assignment. The home-school students learn how to study. Too many kids in traditional school settings do not learn how to study. Hopefully, Lacie will.
For example, right now, I'm teaching a Human Biology class. I was a Biology major; I had several anatomy courses. With all that said, I don't remember every detail. Before class I prepare the weekly lesson. I start by reviewing all of the headings and skimming the chapter. Next, I make a list of notes for each major heading, say in digestion: major organs, how food forms a bolus and travels, through the digestive system, mechanical vs. chemical digestion, etc. Then, I plan a quiz, activities, and labs.
Once Lacie has an idea of the important points in the chapter, I made a point to show her how I focus on a new topic. For example, in Chapter 1, there is a brief description of Herod the Great. Who was Herod? How was Herod appointed? What is an Edomite? What territory was under Roman rule? Why was there a census? The Bible mentions a census, too; how is this significant? (It's historic evidence.)
In traditional school settings, kids are accustomed to having a teacher tell them to read a chapter, define the vocabulary, and answer the questions. This does not teach a child to study. If the student asks herself questions, makes note of significant information, learns to recognize what is important to understand in the content, the child learns how to study--not just complete an assignment. The home-school students learn how to study. Too many kids in traditional school settings do not learn how to study. Hopefully, Lacie will.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Week Three Lessons
We started the Chemistry Co-op class today. In Chemistry, we introduced graphing calculators and a brief review of graphing in general: title, axes labeled with units of measure, appropriate scale, etc. I have another high school student who is doing British Literature right after Chemistry. My husband and I are teaching Chemistry and Statistics simultaneously; after he teaches Physics. I start working on other lessons with Lacie. I just added Angel as a student for British Literature. We are using British Literature by Stobaugh. I bought an older set on eBay. For now, we're reading each lesson and answering questions. My goal is to complete four essays each term with a final term paper. My goal is one lesson per week. Today we started The Seafarer and went over questions. I did teach Junior Literature one year. I'm not an English teacher. My goal is to expose Angel to a wide, traditional range of British Literature, in chronological order. Boring? Yes. It won't hurt to read the classics.
Lacie is still working through the introductory Theology and History questions. My son, Fr. Josh, was visiting. Lacie received a thorough explanation of why the Catholic Church rejects Sola Scriptura. She's still young. This year, we'll work on critical thinking skills. I did some editing again today. For literature, Lacie is making lists of Robinson Crusoe's characteristics before and after a lengthy stay on the island in preparation for a composition, "How did the stay on the island make Robinson Crusoe a better man?" First she's making a list and next an outline.
My husband, Rob, is working through Algebra 1; she's on Lesson 2. Our goal each week is four lessons to complete the book by June. That may be too ambitious. We're not moving ahead until she understands each lesson. We did extra work in metric measure conversions. This is important for Chemistry all year. I wanted her to have a head start.
In History, I reviewed questions from Chapter 1, assigned more questions, and encouraged Lacie to find a good time to work.
In Latin, she's learning terra, terrae, porta, portae, first declension nouns. So, truthfully, we have not started Latin. Instead, we're working on grammar.
Lacie had a guitar lesson and did more grammar work in 5/6 Easy Grammar with diagramming. I know diagramming is old fashioned. I'm a believer! Diagramming, parsing verbs, and understanding mood, etc. will help her to understand Latin. The reason people struggle with foreign and ancient languages is understanding the grammar, such as the subjunctive mood.
We think Lacie needs to spend three days at our house and do all of her work then. She can read at home independently. It's hard with little ones to concentrate. If we work 20 hours a week, she can spend several hours at home reading, which is easier to work in during the course of the day.
It's a work in progress!
Lacie is still working through the introductory Theology and History questions. My son, Fr. Josh, was visiting. Lacie received a thorough explanation of why the Catholic Church rejects Sola Scriptura. She's still young. This year, we'll work on critical thinking skills. I did some editing again today. For literature, Lacie is making lists of Robinson Crusoe's characteristics before and after a lengthy stay on the island in preparation for a composition, "How did the stay on the island make Robinson Crusoe a better man?" First she's making a list and next an outline.
My husband, Rob, is working through Algebra 1; she's on Lesson 2. Our goal each week is four lessons to complete the book by June. That may be too ambitious. We're not moving ahead until she understands each lesson. We did extra work in metric measure conversions. This is important for Chemistry all year. I wanted her to have a head start.
In History, I reviewed questions from Chapter 1, assigned more questions, and encouraged Lacie to find a good time to work.
In Latin, she's learning terra, terrae, porta, portae, first declension nouns. So, truthfully, we have not started Latin. Instead, we're working on grammar.
Lacie had a guitar lesson and did more grammar work in 5/6 Easy Grammar with diagramming. I know diagramming is old fashioned. I'm a believer! Diagramming, parsing verbs, and understanding mood, etc. will help her to understand Latin. The reason people struggle with foreign and ancient languages is understanding the grammar, such as the subjunctive mood.
We think Lacie needs to spend three days at our house and do all of her work then. She can read at home independently. It's hard with little ones to concentrate. If we work 20 hours a week, she can spend several hours at home reading, which is easier to work in during the course of the day.
It's a work in progress!
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