Homeschool Year Two: post1

This new homeschool year is bringing such unexpected delights. The book selections this year are every historical literature afficianado’s dream. While I’ve never been a huge fan of historical texts, the Medieval times and Renaissance period are both eras which produced a plethora of texts, both fiction and nonfiction, that really speak to the heart of humanity. Already I have had such great conversations, centered around this literature. What better way to teach a child about the moral and ethical paths to take in life, than through story? My 9 year old and (almost) 13 year old students are reading and discussing some of the same texts. It has been so encouraging to see them both fully understand the deeper meanings within these stories. While my younger student may see a king who has learned that ruling with compassion ensures more support, my older student hears the same story and concludes that the author is showing through her characters, that humility and forgiveness are two of the most important ways to share our humanity. The two boys have been able to learn from each other by sharing their own unique perspectives. Beowulf is next on the agenda. This has always been a favorite. But, I think I am mostly looking forward to reading and discussing The Canterbury Tales. I am sure teaching my bilingual 13 year old how to pronounce the prologue in Old English will be a hoot. Southern meets Colombia!!! Video of teacher and student soon to come. Stay tuned.

Forget Prepositions, Let’s Just Read…

For those of you who do not know, I am teaching the language arts portion to two home-school children this year. Today’s post is a result of my time spent with my third grader, Lorenzo, this morning. I had intended on spending about an hour on grammar this morning… but as I’ve said before, sometimes the best lessons come when you least expect them. We worked so hard yesterday on grammar that I wanted to begin today’s lesson with just a simple picture book. I had intended to simply read the book to Lorenzo and move on to the all important task of crossing out those prepositional phrases. However, as I began reading, Lorenzo began opening up. He began smiling. He began sharing his thoughts and feelings and opinions. I absolutely love this book and knew that it had the possibility to open up the lines of communication. But Lorenzo, took the bull by the horns and led us away from grammar today. He had so much to say about this book, that I just decided to let him say it. So without further ado, I give you Lorenzo’s guest appearance on my blog today…. Take it away, Lorenzo.

The Book that Makes My Feelings Happy: by Lorenzo

The  picture book the fantastic flying books of mr. Morris lessmore shows us how books can be great. In the begining mr morris was writing his own story. But then a storm came and blew all of his pages away. Because of his unhappiness a book angel drops a book that leads him to a library. While he is there he becomes happy again and finishes his story. In the end mr moress goes to heaven and a girl reads his book that he left behind.my faverate part is when he takes care of the books the way they took care of him.This story makes me happy and sad at the same time because he dies but the books have been changed by him and he was changed by the books. this story shows how the way we live our lives is important because it can change other people around us and our lives can also be memories for them once we are gone.