Homeschooling at the Academy, Part 2

OK, I have to admit that I am a little surprised at some of the reaction from part one of this. Remember, this is not a blow by blow of what my day looked like yesterday. Just an outline of the general routine we have. OF COURSE there are interruptions, discipline issues, breaks for water and bathroom, pleas for help because of incomprehension. From my limited experience with other people's little boys, my girls aren't near as rambunctious (most of the time - they do have their moments), but girls seem to be worse about dawdling, staring out the window, and delaying the inevitable. But my older ones have finally figured out that they aren't going to get out of the work, so it is better just to hoe in and get it over with.

Which leads me to a question I had about not taking breaks. They do take breaks, but usually short ones before lunch. They go get a drink of water and go to the bathroom, or maybe change out loads of laundry, but we keep them short. I've tried a more broken up schedule, school for a while, then a 20 or 30 minute break, but it just doesn't work for my girls. They get into playing and then feel completely oppressed that they are ripped away from it just when "we had a really good story going." They would rather get all the work done and be through with it for the day. We do take a long lunch break both for eating and for piano practice.

Also , remember that this is just the time we have set aside for school. The girls know "school" time starts at 8:30. They know what their assignments are and start going down the list, so to speak. They take however long for each one it takes. But some don't take long. Dictation takes about 5 minutes. Kora's logic exercise (which she considers the most fun ever, she'd do them all day if I let her) takes 10-15 minutes. Spelling usually 15-20, grammar varies widely. Aubrey can often finish in 15 minutes, Kora takes 30-40 depending on the assignment.

Which leads me into the Latin and Greek. I had a few comments about that (although not in the comments section, as SOME people seem to be shy about posting on the blog). Aubrey is going through a very simple, beginning book that is meant for her age. Kora is in her third year of Latin, and she really likes it. She seems to have a talent for the languages, and wanted to do more. This fits in with our classical mindset, so Kelly and I talked last summer about it. We debated on adding Spanish (for obvious reasons) and Russian (we have Russian speakers in our close family, but I couldn't find any Russian curriculum for younger than high school). Koine Greek has a couple of things going for it: it is the language of the New Testament, and would make it easier to learn Russian in the future.

Plus - AND HEAR ME ON THIS - we take it very slowly. She is taking two years to go through the Latin book and over a year to do the shorter Greek book. We have "Greek days" and "Latin days." Mondays and Tuesdays, she spends a few minutes (about 10) going through Latin vocabulary and chants, but does a full Greek lesson (which takes about 30 minutes). On Wednesdays and Thursdays, she goes through the Greek flashcards and says her chants, but does the Latin lesson (same time frame). Even I am not insane enough to do two languages full tilt. Fridays she only does vocabulary cards and chants for both.

One last thing - the Greek curriculum is FABULOUS. It is called Elementary Greek. She is in Year 1. It is very well done, and virtually self-teaching. It comes with a cd that pronounces everything, a textbook, and a workbook. There are three years available; we plan on having Kora take four years (5th through 8th grade) on the three books, since she is doing Latin as well. If you are at all interested in learning Greek or having your child take it, I highly recommend it. Very parent-teacher friendly.

Well, I hope I haven't dug my hole even deeper. :) Part 3 will be more about my routine, I promise. And Kristen, no virtual tomatoes, please. ;)