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Easter Ideas, More on Charlotte Mason Methods, and Florida Virtual School and Dual Enrollment Information
#1 · March 26, 2010, 5:12 pm
Posted by: virginiaknowles <virginiaknowles@...>
Dear Hope Chest friends,
This is my promised "addendum" to the issue I sent about Charlotte Mason the other day. I'm including some great Easter ideas, more Charlotte Mason web links, and several encouraging and informative reader comments. (Be sure to read my clarification on virtual schools and dual enrollment in Florida at the end.)
Easter / Resurrection Day (whatever you call it) which is only a week away! I just started reading Patricia St. John's book Rainbow Garden to my kids. It's about a girl named Elaine whose widowed mother sends her to live with a family in Wales; she feels very out of place until she learns the secret of where to find "the fullness of joy" at Eastertime. Last year at Eastertime, I read a chapter of the book to my co-op students and we answered some questions and learned more about Wales, even listening to some Welsh hymns. You can find this at Easter Week Assignments 2009, along with the other four days of homework assignments which include Scripture, art, poetry, and music. (The painting to the left, The Entry into Jerusalem, was created by contemporary Byzantine style iconographers George & Diana Voyajolu of Kamena Vourla, Greece.) Patricia St. John is the author of some of our other favorites, including Star of Light (set in Morocco) and Treasures of the Snow (set in Switzerland, theme of forgiveness). If you click on the titles above, you can see them at CBD and read a sample chapter. You may also be able to find these titles in a used bookstore. I had lent out my copies of Rainbow Garden and Star of Light to friends, but found replacements at Brightlight Books. I sold some curriculum and other books to Brightlights this morning and received $80 in store credit. I'll be using that to buy more books for our American literature studies this year. What do you have on your shelves that you aren't using? Time to dig them out for the curriculum sales or a used bookstore!"Is the Cross a Way of Life for You?" is the essay I send out each year for Good Friday, which is next week. I challenge you to read, reflect, and respond!
My Easter treasury "Celebrate the Resurrection!" includes ideas for an Easter Card Outreach, the Jesus Game, Easter Book Recommendations, Celebrating the Resurrection with Lambs, Using Eggs to Teach About the True Meaning of Easter, What is the Real Easter Bunny?, Resurrection Rolls and Easter Story Cookies
Easter Poetry and Art blog post from 2008 has some of my poems, as well as a few by Amy Carmichael
The Web Gallery of Art has a huge collection of searchable masterpieces. If you type in the keyword "resurrection" at the bottom of the page, you will pull up plenty!
You can also find web pages that focus on certain events during Easter week. Here is one for Paintings of Gethsemane.
Do you want to hear hymns, print out sheet music, read the stories behind them, or listen to short radio devotionals about them – all for free? Here’s the site for you! http://www.SongsAndHymns.org
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Blogger just updated their template design options, so I've given new spring facelifts to http://www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com and http://www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com and http://www.ContinueWellHomeSchool.blogspot.com. Check them out!
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Now, on to the Charlotte Mason stuff....
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My literature units for Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Bronze Bow, and the "I Have a Dream" speech and more can be found here: Continue Well Literature Studies. They are not strictly "Charlotte Mason" since they use comprehension questions instead of narrations, but they are "whole book" and still very useful!
I also just posted Christian Biography Report Questions which can be used when studying missionaries, pastors, authors, etc. My English students are doing this now over a period of several weeks. These reports are loosely using the written narration method advocated by Charlotte Mason, and I've been very pleased with my students' work so far.
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Longtime Hope Chest reader Dana Wilson wrote to let me know about Epikardia, a Charlotte Mason style unit study curriculum that she has co-authored. You can find out more here: http://www.epikardia.com. If you sign up for their e-mail newsletter, they will send you the link to two free poetry e-books, The Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, and poems by Henry Wadworth Longfellow. They also have a bunch of great articles, including "Charlotte Mason in a Nutshell" You will find much useful CM (and other) information at the Epikardia blog, too: http://www.epikardia.com/blog/. Check it out!
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From Kathy Stuart:
Here are some of my favorite Charlotte Mason Sites :
http://www.childlightusa.org/index.php This site is maintained by Jack Beckman, one of the authors of When Children Love To Learn and others.They publish a modern version of the Parent's Review and host an annual conference
http://jimmiescollage.com/ [Virginia's note: This one is from an American mom in China]
http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/ This site has ideas for putting your own CM curriculum together
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_2378.html Every two weeks a mini-onference of ideas of how other families are using CM methods at home
Thanks,
Kathy
Kathy
[Virginia's note: from one of Kathy's links, I found this site from a mom who uses Charlotte Mason methods: http://www.shannon-songofmyheart.blogspot.com/]
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From Beth Watler: "This is my favorite HopeChest issue of all time! I love Charlotte Mason and her philosophies. We have been following AmblesideOnline mostly for the last 8 years. It is so fulfilling to teach this way and just makes so much sense. Just reading what you have to say about this philosophy of education has so stirred me and reawakened my fervency so that I will be re-learning and re-reading my books and these sites this summer. I just want to thank you for reminding me what I'm doing and why."
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From Julie Druck in Pennsylvania: "A great newsletter - thanks for all the info.! I was interested to hear about your forthcoming "return" to Charlotte Mason - I've actually been doing a bit of the same thing. As the kids get older and their work becomes more textbookish, we've become parched. Throwing some of Mason's ideas back into the mix from when they were young is reviving us! Thanks again for the time, thoughtfulness and heart you put into each of your letters." [Virginia's note: Julie writes her own e-mail newsletter, Heart for Home, and blog, Life at Skunk Hollow. You can e-mail her at [email protected] for more information.
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From Charlotte Grogan: "Virginia that sounds like a wonderful plan.....4R'ing is really a great way to education!!!! Glad you have so much JOY and PEACE about your decisions!!!!!!" [Virginia's note: Charlotte teaches 5th/6th grade world geography in our home school co-op. I love how she assigned missionary book reports to the kids for each continent they studied!]
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From Sue Moyer: "Virginia, thank you so very much for your insight, especially at the Books & Beyond lunch. I truly appreciate it. It seems like you have just written our course of action for next year also! We have been busy with co-ops with groups for four years and it is time to get back to the basics. This is the same thing that I have been thinking of for the last couple of months also. Just amazing. "
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From Sally Clarkson: Virginia, You are indeed a blessing. I thought your article on the tenderness of mothers was so compelling. You know that Clay and I advocate grace-based parenting and loving relationships as the foundation of reaching your children's hearts. Your work is so important and I will pray for you today. Thanks for helping me get the word out about Dancing with My Father. Blessings to you and yours today. Sally
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From Jeannette Walti in Italy about the "Tender Compassion for Moms" article: "Thank you Virginia....I think I am going to print this out...and paste it on my forehead." (Pray for the Walti family as they seek out where God would have them serve next, whether in Italy or somewhere else!)
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From Tammy in Washington State -- a longer e-mail, well-worth reading:
Just wanted to thank you for your emails, and all the encouragement you send our way! Your ministry is a blessing to many homeschoolers. I enjoyed reading about your journey to pull back from the co-op, to spend more time teaching your children in the manner the Lord has placed on your heart. He is so good to us, as He leads us one day at a time. (I had almost an identical experience a few years ago, and time has shown that it was the RIGHT decision for our family, especially blessing my younger ones.)
Something you mentioned about meeting the needs of your older children touched my heart though. You said you might use the Florida Virtual School to get their upper courses done. While I certainly respect each parents' decision as to how to educate their children, I thought I would inquire more about that option. I humbly bring this up, because my first thought is that you are probably very aware of what I am about to speak of. But, it is such a huge issue for homeschoolers, that I figured it was worth mentioning. In WA state, our Virtual Schools are public schools, and by enrolling our students, we lose our homeschooling status, and are considered public school students. Perhaps it is different in Florida. [Virginia's note: It is different -- see my full reply below.] HSLDA (http://www.hslda.org) addresses the use of Charter and Virtual schools on their website, and discourages the use of them for the most part. They also acknowledge that these public school options undermine homeschool freedoms, in most states. I just wanted to encourage you to look closely at your options, and to confirm that your students remain independent homeschoolers, as you consider those options.
As a homeschool author and mentor, you are such a strong example of teaching our children at home, outside of government control. Many will look at your decision as a model, so with your ministry, comes influence.
I have also graduated a homeschooler, and I understand how intimidating some of the college prep science and math work can be. But there are so many resources out there, that do not involve the public school system, and I just wanted to encourage you to exhaust those options first, before turning to the schools. For the high school science classes, Apologia is now offering online distance learning classes, basically private virtual school classes! (See http://www.apologiaacademy.com/) I was so excited to hear that. I run a homeschool support group, and when my son was in high school, I helped teach Apologia science courses, and I know that met many homeschool needs. For some of the science classes, a group of us "hired" a homeschool mom with a degree in Microbiology to teach the class. Since those options are no longer available in our area, I am so happy to be able to tell homeschoolers about Apologia's online classes. The tuition was the same that I paid for my son's classes, so it is very reasonable. Hopefully this resource will help many homeschoolers continue in their calling, all the way through high school, rather than accessing public school programs, due to a feeling of inadequacy in teaching certain subjects.
And for math, there are several excellent DVD programs out there that offer support. Math Relief offers Algebra 1 and 2, Teaching Textbooks is another, and there is a gentleman in our area that offers live, internet math classes, with total support and tutoring available as well. It is called Live Online Math by John Bovey (http://liveonlinemath.com/), and he has students from all over the country. His business is rather new, so prices are quite affordable.
As always, the Lord will provide the answers. Again, much thanks for your wonderful ministry and resources. You are a blessing to the homeschool community. In Him, Tammy : )
[Virginia's response: Thank you, Tammy, for the encouragment and for the friendly reminder that virtual school programs may differ from state to state. The Florida Virtual School (http://www.flvs.net) offers a la carte classes for middle school and high school, and students remain enrolled under whatever school or home school they normally attend. Our children, for example, are students with our church's home school program. Home schoolers do not lose their status or control of their educational program here. We just get free classes! Lydia has taken Web Design and Latin 1, and we've been very pleased, especially since she's had the free use of rather expensive web design software this year. She will start Algebra 2 with FLVS very soon and then go on to Geometry right after that, hopefully finishing both by the end of next school year. Mary also took an FLVS English class when she was in high school. We've never had a problem. However, the other associated virtual school programs in Florida are different, including the ones contracted by local districts through FLVS, and the K12 and Connections Academy which also provide elementary programs. Find out more information on all of these from the Home Education Foundation here: http://www.flhef.org/library/113-everything-you-to-want-to-know-about-floridas-virtual-programs and here http://www.flhef.org/pdf/09virtualschool.pdf
Likewise, we have also had great experience with dual enrolling our girls in a local public two year college, Valencia. However, we have just heard they are no longer accepting dual enrollment students from Seminole County, so we will need to go through Seminole State College in the future. (I don't know whether this applies to Seminole county students already enrolled at Valencia.) You can find out more about dual enrollment in Florida here: http://www.flhef.org/dual-enrollment
If you live in central Florida, e-mail me at [email protected] and ask to be put on my local home school announcements list. Pretty soon, I'll be sending out information about various classes offered in this area, as well as home school evaluators. I also send out information about local home school events and family opportunities.
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