Madison

The end of the second grade school year was approaching quickly, as it always does.

Being back to the second grade was not what her Daddy and I wanted to hear Madison's teacher say at our meeting with the teacher.  Madison was very discouraged at a mere 7 years old.  I was worried, honestly.  Why was she failing?

I investigated and found out she was significantly behind on her reading.  She had no problems doing the daily work if it were read to her.  I also found out that grading with letters discouraged her and made her quit trying.  Madison struggled to get good grades on her papers; and when she did get an "F", she would cry and blow it off.  She had it in her mind that she could not read.  Her self-esteem was destroyed at such a tender age.

The decision was made to home educate Madison.  She was excited to be with me all day.  She was also excited to get to be with her sisters more.  She looked up to her older sister and since she was happy to be homeschooled, so was Madison.

Fast forward a few years to today, Madison is a new girl.

Going into the fourth year of homeschooling, Madison has really improved on her reading.  She is now excited to read aloud, do papers by herself, and get rewarded for her hard work.  I do not use letter grades for her papers to this day.  I do not want to bring up old memories or negative feelings.  I grade her with love, explanations, and assisting her one-on-one until she 'gets it'.  She has learned so much in each subject because she can read now.  She does not feel behind like she did when she was in the school setting.  She smiles now when reading.

Madison has learned how to read from the Bible.  Scriptures that mean a lot to her have helped her memorize things as well.

I am so glad that homeschooling allows you to provide what your child needs and also allows you to teach any way you see fit to assist your child to learn.

Maria

My friend wrote this post two years ago.  I am just now getting on the blog.  I think it is timely.  I wonder who needs to hear this today?

Maria was a straight "A" student.  Maria was an honor roll student.  Every report card she brought to me made me so proud and never disappointed me in the least.  Her Daddy and I would pay her $10 for every "A" she made.  We would love to spoil her for her hard work and her progress.  Maria is a smart, beautiful person.

When I was planning to homeschool Maria, I was scared!  I was nervous!  I was thinking about taking her away from socialization, good grades and more; however, Maria was excited to start se tenth grade at home.  I was making a decision that could ruin her future and her whole life.  

In my heart, I felt I should homeschool her and I did just that.  

When I brought Maria into the homeschool world, we took a little time off.  She was stressed out from getting into a fight and from the other kids picking on her.  She was overwhelmed by what she was being taught in health class (i.e. "grown-up stuff").  I thought I really knew my daughter until I began to homeschool her - until I spend a lot of time with her.

On our first day of homeschooling, I gave Maria random tasks to perform.  We started with easy tasks and worked our way up to more difficult tasks.  For example in math, I gave her double-digit multiplication then division.  I quickly came to realize that Maria could not write a complete sentence.  Her sentences never ended.  I realized we had a lot of work to do.

 Maria had no self-confidence.  She was always worried about other people and what they thought of her.  She never wanted anything - just to be liked.  She would never play like a normal child for her age.  She wanted to act like an adult.  Maria started hanging out with the wrong crowd at school also.  This was concerning to me.  That could have led her down the wrong road - to many wrong places.  I feel I pulled her out of school just in time.

Since I have been homeschooling, Maria has learned so much.  She has learned to sew, cook, save money, academics, and more.  You are probably wondering.  Yes, she can write a complete sentence.  

Maria has many interests now that she did not have before home education.  She has actually found her passion - animals.  She wants to be a veterinarian.  She never knew she enjoyed sewing, cooking, or animals before homeschooling.  

I will never regret the decision to home educate Maria.  It made her realize who she truly is.  It has given us a relationship that will last a lifetime.  

Update on Maria:  SHE IS THRIVING.  As a senior in high school, Maria has been hired by a veterinarian's office starting next month.   This summer, she saved up her own money to travel, with her family, to see Dr. Pol in Michigan.  He is a famous vet there; he inspires her.  Her family made many stops along the almost nine-hour drive.  How did she save this money?  She made bread to sell.  She has babysat for me taking care of three small children, cleaning my house and doing my dishes. 

What could homeschooling do for your daughter?

Homeschool Progress - An ongoing story of success

Morgan’s Homeschool Progress!

5-11-17

Morgan Akers has been homeschooled approximately three years.  Being pulled out of public school after the first six weeks of fifth grade, Morgan was failing almost every class.  The stress she was facing (learning difficulty, bullying, depression, socializing issues) made it harder on her health condition.

When [Crystal] decided to homeschool, I thought I was making the biggest mistake of my life.  The first year was very hectic.  Morgan was so used to writing down anything just to say she was finished.  She did not want to take her time and learn the material or become interested in any subject to learn.  There were days I would give up and let her rest.  I mainly used this time to learn Morgan’s style of learning and getting to know who she really was.  When Morgan was in public school I thought I knew my daughter.  Until the end of my first year of homeschooling, my whole way of thinking changed.

The second year of homeschooling went a little more smoothly.  I’m not saying it wasn’t hard.  Morgan seemed to be a little more relaxed.  Finding her interests was becoming easier and easier.  Morgan finally understood I wanted her to learn what she wanted and nothing less.  Morgan did not know how to multiply the easiest problems; subtracting was very difficult to understand as well.  Answering a question to a story we had read was impossible.  Morgan was definitely not interested in any science or history.  This year’s focus was learning mainly what my daughter needed to catch up on at home.   Through Morgan’s second year of homeschooling, she learned the basics of multiplication, subtraction, and found out she loved to learn about the human body.  Learning how to comprehend a story and then ask and answer questions was still a work in progress.

Morgan’s handwriting was terrible also.  She did not take pride in her work or even care if I could read it.  She did not know how to write most lower case letters and always used uppercase letters when writing sentences.  I had to reteach these skills.

I also found out something else.  Morgan was really interested in piano!  Toward the end of the second year, she was excited about learning how to play the piano.  This was toward the end of our second year of homeschooling.  I felt this was a start to new beginning.  This year ended and was a very rewarding one.  I signed Morgan up for piano lessons.

Morgan’s third year of homeschooling has been the greatest year so far.  Morgan has progressed in self-care.  She can wash her hair all by herself, do her chores, respond and interact better with family, friends, siblings and both parents.  She has an eagerness to learn as well!  She has mastered multiplication and is learning division now.  Her handwriting has tremendously improved – upper and lower cases.  Punctuation is also used.

She was very excited to learn about the presidency and asked questions about elections.  She has begun to be more interested in the human body as well as being healthy. 

Morgan played her first sport this year!  She chose to play basketball.  She made great progress as the season advanced.  Morgan is making more friends every day.  She is becoming more open to socializing and learning how each person is different. 

Morgan never had a “When I grow up I want to be a ….” answer.  Now she does.  She wants to be a chiropractor.  To hear those words was music to my ears. 

Morgan has 100% improved in every subject.  She has continued with piano for a little over one year and is almost in her third piano book.  When we have hard days homeschooling, we will learn by using examples from music.  She plays the piano with confidence even in front of the camera for her Facebook audience.  She had zero confidence in any area before homeschooling.  Her eye and hand coordination is better than it has ever been. 

Morgan has blown my mind.  She is actually my daughter that I did not know.  Now, she is my daughter that I do know and is very smart in her own way.

-Crystal Akers

I’ve learned that Morgan has a few special needs.  She was previously in special education classes for some subjects but was not learning because the work was done for her a lot of the time.  I noticed this year as I was at her house for something that she appeared differently. She looked me in the eye and did not look away, as she had always in the past.  She has played the piano for me and wanted to play this time as well.  I asked Crystal to write a story about her progress and wanted to share with you. 

How have you seen your child improve since being homeschooled?

Classical Conversations Revisited.... HOW DID IT FEEL being at the Beckley Campus?

A few years ago I did a series on Classical Conversation with very negative tones a couple years ago. Well, it was worse than negative tones, perhaps if you were in love with the program....  I received a lot of flack for it (and support for the people who had not agreed with some techniques of the program.)  HOWEVER,  I recently revisited this program focusing on a Beckley, WV campus.  Joy Browning, as the new Beckley CC director, invited me to observe and see how I felt as I observed the entire day.

From the moment I arrived, I could feel the Holy Spirit directing the speakers, the children and the parents who were very interactive with each other.  I could see genuine smiles on their faces for each other - not just for my benefit.  The students greeted me with smiles too.  Some teen boys were a bit rowdy at times during the opening ceremonies, but it did not bother me or take away from the overall feel of the moment.

I felt welcomed to their community.  I felt warmth, love, & appreciation for attending.

Here's more of what I observed about the entire community.

Dress --  The ladies were all dressed so nicely with no particular dress code that could be detected; some wore modern jeans and a fashionable army blazer or a flowing blouse, while others wore a Sunday dress. The women and students were all modest and humble.  Students were dressed nicely too.  No particular dress code, yet a good variety of casual, Christian attire.

Lunch --  Most of the ladies sat with children, yet some ladies sat with other ladies; no particular pattern was observed.  During lunch, there was a vendor from Melaleuca that had set up his wares.  This was done to support Stephanie Plumley and her quest for natural cleaning items and other natural products to which she subscribes. Joy explained that the community tries to support others' venues for making additional money, because as moms we should be supportive however we can.  And if one mom loves a company, others may also.  Anyone can participate in the lunch vendor program.  Another mom sells Matilda Jane clothing.  Everyone supports each other as best they can.

After lunch, we went to more classes for the older students in Essentials and Challenge areas.  These students were still engaged.  There was a person available to look out for students who did not participate in the afternoon classes.  She charged $2/hour/kid.  This was a blessing as I had two littles who could not attend afternoon classes.  The littles played in the gym, sang, and ran.  These kids were exhausted by 3:30 pm!!!

Overall I had a great time and would highly recommend this community to others who are looking to classically educate their child with a group; this is the place to be.  I also have others who participate in the Shady Spring Campus, about 30 minutes away.  I have friends who attend there, and they are thrilled with their campus too.  I have recently spoken with a few of them on how they like CC and the campus at "Shady".

I was invited to attend the end -of -the -year program.  I LOVED it.  The best part was when Miranda Guzman told Joy Browning while offering her a gift,

"You've nurtured and supported us all year."  

Nurtured is a very unique, strong word.  This word made me feel like a great overall word for the program/campus in our areas.

Nurtured.  

How has someone nurtured you all year?  How have you nurtured someone all year?  

Classical Conversations Revisited CHALLENGE Levels

This.

I had heard Classical Conversations (CC) offered a High School option that was unable to be done at home.  A previous CC director had shared that with me....  The other levels, practically speaking, could be done at home but Challenge levels require discussions, interaction, and thinking skills.  "Conversation" takes place here.

I observed the Challenge II class with Diana Harer.  I heard words, phrases, and sentences from the students such as the following:

"I'm fasting for Lent."
"The media portrays what they want to portray."
"The media could twist any scenario."
"ACLU"
"Utilitarian"
"Worldview"

These conversations I had seen nowhere else!  High school students were comfortable speaking publically, displaying their feelings, and communicating their thoughts.  The students watched a video segment 9 of a series from Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live?  See here for the corresponding book.  The tutor then discussed the segment and asked questions drawing points about the author's purpose.
The students followed with a lab on the Embryology of Eggs.  The students do a lab after reading a Module in their Apologia Biology Curriculum.  The tutor is responsible for creating the lab setting for the students; they used a note-booking technique the day I was there.  They kept an ongoing notebook for science.  Students research their science module prior to coming to class for discussion and actual labs.

Math or Logic is dependent on the students in the class; depending on the level of math the students are proficient, determines the lessons for the week.  Saxon is recommended but not required.  Parents are in full control of their math education and are responsible for the student's learning.  With different math levels occurring in the classroom, the tutor may go over a formula, solving for an unknown, or an algebra concept.  Algebra II is the goal for the students in Challenge II, but not necessary.  This will change depending on the group of students and in which Challenge they are placed.

Reading and writing are quite impressive.  Here is a reading list of British Literature books available for purchase for 2017-18 (the catalog that I have was updated for the new school year; CCs 20th anniversary).

Beowulf
Selected Canterbury Tales
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Paradise Lost
The Pilgrim's Progress (the original version)
Gulliver's Travels
Pride and Prejudice
A Tale of Two Cities
Jane Eyre
Animal Farm
Favorite Father Brown Stories
The Hobbit
The Screwtape Letters

These books are not all simply read but are utilized as an interval of three weeks worth of simultaneous writing activities. Characters are studied; plot and setting discussed.  An essay on each book is written during the three weeks.  The tutor teaches to write a simple essay and a new element is added each week to complete a goal for writing a substantial essay by the end of the school year (with a thesis, antitheses, and synthesis.  For more information on this, click here).

The biggest question for many will be where does the money go?  I had disliked the idea that money would be paid for these lessons; however, after spending the day at CC with the amount of preparation that I observed from these tutors, it could be well worth the money.  The tutor is paid for their preparation, "grading" (although the parent is responsible for actual grades and the degree to which the tutor oversees the work), and labs or activities.  The tuition covers their prep time for the lesson and for the actual day of lesson presentation.  This cost could be seen as astronomical, but for the preparation that I saw, it could be well worth the investment.  These essays and reading lists are not seen anywhere else!  College English 101 is basically essay writing, and, with the right tutor, a student could easily pass an English 101 after sitting in this Challenge course for one year.

Diana Harer would be well worth the money/investment.  She is humble, calm, approachable, intelligent, and cheerful.  She realizes the parent is the real teacher; she does not act haughty even though she is going through this level of High School, learning right along with them.

These CC days are also filled with music, art, Latin, and debate, but I did not observe these on my day; I wish I had a more time in the day to spend listening to these mature teens as well as their lovely 'tutor'.  I'll see if I can squeeze more time into observe another wonderful and fulfilling Beckley campus day.  Enjoy this short video of the discussion time!

*There is an option for dual enrollment through Southeastern University.  For more information, click here.

Classical Education from a New Perspective: Conversation Three on Classical Conversations Revisited

HIGH SCHOOL CHALLENGE I

Jennifer Bradford and Jessica Wingrove are the parents over the Challenge I program.  Jennifer Bradford is the director, and Jessica Wingrove is the tutor for this level.  My oldest daughters attended classes with these beautiful ladies.  There were about five other students in the class.  Jessica and I talked about the program and what the students had accomplished this year.  She discussed her prep time which was a day of getting ready for her areas.  Jennifer and Jessica split their areas of expertise into two parts so each one has a more focused tutoring subject.  In other words, I feel like they are more specialized in their areas.

The students had studied American Government, Latin, Economics, Physical Science, Introduction to Debate, Shakespeare, Music Theory, Algebra and business math, and American Literature.  Their reading list was quite impressive for this level,

Reading List Challenge I

The Sign of the Beaver
The Call of the Wild
Johnny Tremain
The Red Badge of Courage
The Scarlett Letter
Gold - Bug and Other Tales
Billy Budd, Sailor
Through Gates of Splendor
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
To Kill A Mockingbird
Born Again
Up From Slavery
Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass
The Old Man and the Sea
An Old-Fashioned Girl
The Witch of Blackbird Pond

These books are taught with a perspective of learning to pick out the good and bad by making a list of Good, Negative, and Interesting facts regarding characters and situations.  The students then pick positions based upon their lists and then discuss/debate these opinions.  I have not seen anything like this in any school setting anywhere.  Here is a link with a similar process to explain the idea further.  Positive Negative Interesting

In Shakespeare, the students studied Tales from Shakespeare and The Taming of the Shrew. I still remember this from my high school days.  After reading the book my 9th-grade class watched Elizabeth Taylor as the "Shrew".

The students studied Apologia Science's Exploring Creation with Physical Science by Jay Wile.  For Dr. Wile's website, click here.  The students did experiments on the days they were in class.  They prepared and read a module a week or sometimes a module every two weeks, depending on the difficulty level.  this is quite impressive.  Parents are responsible for the completion of the work at home and how difficult or in depth, it is covered.  All lab equipment and supplies are covered in the supply fees.

The day I attended the students had done their lessons, rehearsed for an end-of-year program, and were playing Monopoly Empire to mimic the elements they had learned in Economics.  These students have a full day ending at 3 pm.

It was a busy day that was impressive, to say the least.  I did not get pictures of this group. I apologize!

Classical Education from a New Perspective: Conversation Two on Classical Conversations Revisited

 I was quite confused regarding their naming system and ‘grade levels’.  There are no formal grade levels with Classical Conversations (CC) or other classical education philosophies.  With most homeschooling methods, parents meet the child where they are academically and move forward, reviewing often.  The levels for CC for the Foundations are in the following order:  Abecedarians (a person who is just learning; a novice), Apprentice I, Apprentice II, Journeymen, and Masters. 

Parents and tutors decide at what level to place their child if newly entering CC.  If a student begins with Classical Conversations, he or she follows the sequential levels from the beginning advancing as appropriate.  Abecedarians were for 3-6 years old.  Apprentice I was from 6-7 and so on.  There is overlap for the benefit of the individual child.  A mature child can move on while one who is not ready can stay behind for another year or even a semester.

After The Foundations levels, the Essentials group would be considered the early middle school.  Challenge A & B would be junior high and Challenge I, II, III, IV would be high school levels.   These specific levels are added each year as needed.  

If there are more than eight students, Joy Browning says, they add another tutor and potentially a whole new room.  A tutor to student ratio of 1:8 is quite impressive.  This allows personal attention and clarification if something is not understood, as well as more assistance with projects that are done in class, because, remember, moms also stay to learn the teaching methods for the week - the tips and tricks to the weekly lessons. 

Example of a trifold utilized for Upper Elementary / Middle School Grades; creates a visual of learning goals.

Parents sit in the back of the room, assist with passing out papers, facilitating games or helping students stay focused.

 Amanda Schmidt did a public speaking segment, where the students were allotted a certain amount of time for this week’s goal - impromptu speeches.  The students do a different type of speech each week or so, but ultimately the parents oversee the speech and the topic.  I was completely impressed with the ease of which the students went to the podium.  One student, Andrew Jones, had to talk about his favorite thing do this summer.  He mostly talked about baseball, his family’s history of the love for baseball, who his favorite teams were, his position on the team, and much more.  The tutor had to call time.  The audience sat quietly with eyes focused on Andrew.  A few giggles were heard, but nothing disrespectful.  He asked if there were any questions at the end.

The next public speaker of the hour had the topic “What would you do if you were president?”.  Connor Bradford smiled as he spoke the entire time on presidential things, especially how he would build a wall.  The most impressive thing was a question from his classmate at the end – “What will you be known for?”  Connor thought intensely, still smiling, and mentioned that he would be known for allowing homeschoolers to play public school sports.

Andrew Jones

Connor Bradford

 The Essentials portion I attended featured Amanda Schmidt’s class doing outlines, critiquing a story, as well as discussion of the short story “Genghis Khan and his Hawk”.  She was coaching the students on using conflict, plot, outline procedures, strong verbs, and strong adjectives while recalling the story.   

The writing curriculum was from the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) by Andrew Pudewa.  IEW is a formal writing curriculum which can also be a formal language curriculum if desired.  He discusses parts of speech, how to summarize, how to dress up a writing piece and much more.  From the IEW.com site the following statements were obtained:

Our mission is to equip teachers and teaching parents with methods and materials which will aid them in training their students to become confident and competent communicators and thinkers.

Using the four language arts—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—IEW methods have been proven to be effective for students of all ages and levels of ability, including those who are gifted, have special needs, or are English language learners.

Amanda Schmidt

Math Battleship

The Essentials class also did a numbers game after finishing their segment on public speaking. Miranda Guzman facilitated this game of numbers, where the students were to get their classmates out in Math Battleship.  All the students played and were engaged.

I then went to the Challenge I & II class, but I need an entire blog post for that!  

What do you think so far of these posts?  Let me know your experiences with CC in a community of brothers and sisters working together for one purpose - "To know God and make Him known."