Literature Based Curriculums

As this workbook and textbook mom has been slowly pushed from the security of traditional curriculum, our homeschool has become more interesting and literature based. The most exciting part about homechooling is when you realize that your children have learned how to learn. It thrills me when they come to me and ask if I can find a unit study on a topic they want to learn about. Can we learn about this for science? I think it is pretty cute when they brag that their mom can figure out a way to count ANYTHING for school. That is a big compliment in my book. I also took a statement about Sweet Pea as an ultimate compliment. In a conference to decide our next steps in helping Sweet Pea, it was pointed out that even though her test scores are low, due to her dyslexia, she has a huge amount of knowledge on a large variety of topics. This has been a main goal for our homeschool. I want well-rounded kids who can hold their own in any environment. I believe that a literature based approach has been a big part of the equation.

So how do you incorporate a literature based philosophy into your homeschool? There are many options from being semi-literature based and continuing to use some textbooks, to a complete living book approach where almost all topics are taught by reading literature books on various topics. In future posts, I will be looking at different elements of this approach. Here are just a few curriculums to check out if you are interested in literature based homeschooling.

My Father’s World
Sonlight
Illuminations by Bright Ideas Press
Ambleside
Charlotte Mason
Five In A Row

Every family needs to figure out what works for their family. After five years, I am just now feeling that we are hitting our stride and using a method that works for us. I just want to encourage my readers to evaluate how their kids learn and what fits their homeschool environment. Every family is different. Look at other homeschool families for ideas, but don’t feel that you need to compare yourself to or incorporate everything into your unique homeschool environment.

Homeschooling Sis

I have touched a bit on the challenges homeschooling Sweet Pea. Sis is a challenge all her own. With her, she falls more into a philosophy I hold in teaching any gifted or accelerated child. My philosophy comes from being one of them, and growing up educated in a private school, followed by a public gifted and accelerated program. I hope I can explain my opinion in a manner that is accepted in the way it is intended.

My experience in education was mostly positive, but I have developed some philosophies that are probably not the norm. I have also personally watched and experienced some of the psychological problems that can be overlooked in this group of kids. They look perfect on the outside. Their grades are usually perfect. They are gifted musicians, ASB officers, varsity members of sports teams, volunteer at multiple organizations, etc., etc., etc., and are grabbed at and pulled from every direction. Gifted children put expectations on themselves that are unreasonable, so they don’t need to be pushed and pulled on by everyone who wants a piece of them. I was nicknamed “The All American Kid” by a teacher in highschool. I was a class officer, varsity cheerleader, played softball, took AP classes before they were the norm, held down a job, and participated in church youth group activities. I graduated from highschool in the top 10% of Washington graduates. I also felt that I never measured up to expectations put on me by other people.

So how does this transfer to Sis? I want to provide her with opportunities, but I am very careful to not overschedule her and protect her from everyone who wants a piece of her. I am determined to allow her to experience childhood. It is a bit difficult to educate her alongside a child who struggles and compares herself as not measuring up to her sister. Part of this is Sis’ drive and desire to learn. She pushes herself. She doesn’t need me to push her. Sis works incredibly hard for what she accomplishes. Right now I am focussing mostly on character qualities. We have talked privately about how proud I am of her. I have been very pleased to see the compassion she has developed towards her sister. She used to have a need to show her superiority in everything. Somehow, she has finally figured out that she will always beat her sister at pretty much everything. There is no longer a need for her to let her sister know this fact. After her last accomplishment, I took her out to a special lunch where she and I celebrated. Her sister was on a date with Grandma. This worked well. I am really proud of her as she has joined us is making a huge deal out of Sweet Pea’s successes. Sis understands that we aren’t overlooking the fact that she makes those same accomplishment everyday.

Along with her compassion she has developed for her sister, I am seeing it transfer to her friends. She has her best friend, with whom it is okay to compete. Both are on a similar level and are competitive. This gives her an outlet for her competitive personality. She is not allowed to compete with the other children or compare scores. With her other friends, we encourage her to just have fun being friends and doing kid stuff. What other interests do they have in common? We try to focus on these. They don’t need her to tell them about her academic accomplishments. Our goal is to focus on lifting them up and congratulating them on their accomplishments. Focus on being a good friend. Sis’ test scores are so high, my focus has turned a bit from academic achievement to learning how to be a good person and learning life skills. She can lose quite a few percentage points on a standardized exam and be just fine.

Don’t get me wrong, she is expected to put out work at an expected level, but it is not our focus. We are focussing on being a kid, learning things she is interested in, and being a solid, well-rounded kid. I think we are accomplishing it. It is my goal and prayer for her life. Sis is smart enough to be anything she wants to be, but character is not something a multiple choice test can evaluate. I also want her to go into adulthood knowing how to do things, not just pass a test.

Frog Dissection by Emantras Inc

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Here’s another “Outside the Box Homeschooling” way to use an iPad app.  I love the frog dissection app by Emantras Inc.  This app has amazing information, animation, and educational value.

• Part one is an animation of the frog life cycle.  You can scroll your finger over the egg causing it to develop through the different stages until it reaches the young frog stage.
• Part two is entitled:  All About Frogs.  It covers classification, appearance, eating and living, special senses, life cycle, digestive system, organs, ecosystem, and a comparison between frogs and toads.
• Part three compares humans to frogs.
• Part four gives detailed directions for the wet lab process in dissecting the frog.
• Part five is a quiz covering the information.
• Part six is a 3D virtual frog dissection simulation.  For those of you who don’t want to actually dissect the frogs, this is pretty awesome.  We used this part during our frog dissection for directions.  It was much easier to follow than the illustrated directions.
• Part six includes great animated videos of frog life.
• Part seven covers different types of frogs. When you click on the type of frog, it allows you to turn it all around, so you can get a 360 degree view of it.  Pretty cool.
• Part eight contains two interactive activities on the digestive and respiratory systems.  The app says that they will be adding more interactive activities soon.
• There also is a button that says, “Start Dissection”.  This section walks you step by step through the dissection process with very clear written and animated instructions.

This app is one of the more expensive apps I have purchased.  I believe it runs around $8.  (Once you have purchased an app, it no longer tells you the cost.)  I will have to say that it is a thorough study of frogs and constitutes a complete unit study.  It does also have a secular world view.  We teach Creation Science at our house, but I also expose my kids to other views and we discuss why we believe or do not believe certain ideas.  The quality of this app was so incredible, I felt is was worth the discussion.  We used it as a unit study in conjunction with the frog dissection kit from homesciencetools.com.  My children thoroughly enjoyed this unit study and the dissection lesson. (*****)