Homeschool Plan 2014 - 2015

I am pretty sure that I made this way harder than it should have been, but, at long last, we have a plan.

Zippy:
Classical Conversations Challenge A - this is a total curriculum that is as the names states challenging.  We decided that Zippy is going into grade 9 this year.  Challenge A is geared for grade 7, fortunately there are some minor modifications to make this high school appropriate.  A good example is math.  Zippy is doing Algebra instead of 7/8 grade math.  I love that students can work on the math that is appropriate for their learning level and still discuss math concepts on the community day with their fellow Challenge students.

Extra Curricular
Those fun, social activities during the week.  This year kind of turned service oriented, but it is what she chose to do:
American Heritage Girls - She joined AHG last year and made some really nice friends. Her first badge she wants to work on is cooking.  Look forward to seeing lots of yummy badge requirements here on the blog.

The Animal Shelter - She started volunteering during the summer.  You have to be 13 to volunteer and she has been bugging me about it for a while.  She is really impressing me with her desire to help the animals even though the job is sometime kind of stinky.

The Library - She is also volunteering once a month for an hour at the library as part of the teen advisory group.  Basically they discuss things they can do to help in the library and community and work on projects. This summer they helped out with a program where they one on one read to a small child.

Church - This year our church is trying something a little bit different.  There is not a normal Sunday School class for the teens.  Instead they are encouraged to participate in a small group of teens on a different night and serve on Sunday morning.  I think Zippy will be part of the team that greet people as they enter the church.  It is right up her alley.  There is also the fun youth group meeting once a week as well.

Little Dude
This was where a lot of the thinking and rearranging came into play. I really had to figure out what the goal needed to be for this year and plan accordingly. The goal, in case you were wondering is to get his speech well in hand.  That means practicing, practicing, practicing, and not just with me.  So I had to find places for him to go where there would be other people to talk to.  We already decided that we are going to homeschool him because of his medical issues so finding a place was a little more challenging than just putting him in kindergarten.

Preschool - 3 half days so he can practice talking with the other children, and also work on all those preschool skills, like holding a pencil and letter recognition, that he still is working to master.

Speech Therapy - One time a week through our local public school.  While I have had serious reservations about our public schools, the speech therapist that we started working with last year is super helpful.

Classical Conversations Foundations - This was probably the hardest bit of the puzzle to fit together.  I had this mental block that said he is not is kindergarten so he should not be in classical conversations, right?  In addition to that because I am tutoring Challenge A I did not want to just throw him into this new, slightly more rigid class environment.  However an opportunity came up for me to tutor Essentials on a different campus.  I take him with me to give Zippy the time to work on her work (and the responsibility to get it done withing a set time frame).  Essentials meets in the afternoons and Foundations meet in the morning.  It dawned on me that he could attend class and the work at home - all oral memory work since he does not read yet - would provide a perfect opportunity for him not only to learn more words but practice saying them as well.  He gets to hang out with the younger siblings of my Essentials class.

The road is set before us, and in truth we have been traveling on it for a couple of weeks, but I am now comfortable in saying this is the direction that we are going this year.

Classical Conversations Parent Practicum and zoo trip

One of the really lovely things about Classical Conversations is the community.  This past week I got to experience that lovely community at the Parent Practicum.  These are free, three day events designed to equip, encourage and educate parents about classical education.  I had to travel a bit to get to one that had the particular training I needed as a new Challenge A directior. (So excited about doing this!)  We ended up in Columbus, Ohio, because I had family that I could stay with.  The Hubby and the kiddos came with me and we made a mini-vacation of it (sort of).

Zippy went to "camp" at the practicum. (She told me it was not real camp because there was not a tent or campfire.) She got a taste of the kind of writing she will be doing next year.  Day 2 she spent with the Little Dude and her Dad at the great Columbus Zoo and aquarium.

This year's theme for practicum was "Cultivating the Conversation, The Art of Rhetoric".  While I learned about the art of rhetoric and gained a greater understanding of that topic, practicum is just as much about the conversations that happen outside the auditorium.  Here are some of the great things I took away from this event.

Copiousness - we need to teach from a place of abundance

You can't pour anything out of an empty pot.

Teach from a place of rest. 

Not anxiety. 

We have to tackle the hard 

to get to the good 

And lastly the shared this YouTube video.  It really made me think, so I wanted to share it with you:

Zippy is Cracked

An end of year Celebration

We all enjoyed Classical Conversations this past year.  Zippy gains so much knowledge and confidence through the experience.  The last day was full of fun and excitement.  Zippy's speech was a top ten list of things she liked at Classical Conversations

A Top 10 List of Great Things About Classical Conversations, by Zippy

1. The presentations on food by fellow classmates (these included a pi pie, homemade doughnuts, and beer bread).
2. My mom tutoring for a day
3. The family presentations (topics included maple syrup, camping, and India)
4. A presentation done by sisters including a star poster they made.
5. A presentation on a bow and arrow by a fellow classmate
6. The time line song
7. Playing with others after lunch
8. Eating lunch at Classical Conversations
9. Learning new things
10. Making new friends

The Part where Zippy is cracked

One of the fun aspects of Classical Conversations is the weekly science experiment.  The last two weeks of class was all about building an egg protector and the last day they tested them by dropping first of the grass then on the hard pavement of the parking lot.

 

Most of the eggs came out intact.  One boy's egg was broken and Ivy's egg was cracked at little bit.

Then there was lunch

One of the things that I love about Classical Conversations is the fellowship.  The last day we had a potluck with lots of great conversation, laughs and tons of healthy food. 

It looks like Zippy will be continuing with Classical Conversations next year with the Challenge program.  It look just about perfect for her needs and she (and I) are looking forward to another outstanding year.