I wanted to share an update on how we are doing with the Robinson Curriculum which we began early summer 2009.

Pros:
Self educating
Cost effective
Minimal parent preparation for lessons
Three subjects
Self paced
Used with multiple students and multiple grades

Cons:
Takes time to print books
Takes getting use to, especially if you didn’t begin this way when the kids were young.

This all I can come up with. I think the pros out weight the cons. Most of the books can even be purchased if you prefer that route.

So far we have slowly evolved into a routine that is doable. The kids still have a hard time getting started every day, but we are still working on them being more independent in that area.

One challenge was completing a Saxon math lesson a day. For a few weeks we did half lessons. If their error rate was high, I also cut the lesson down to half. The kids are both in Saxon 54, and are doing very well. I did have to learn to keep away because I tend to want to help. The kids were use to asking me for help for every little thing. For a while I would help them, but when I re-read the introduction, it reminded me that the kids need to go back and find out how to do something if they get stuck. So I let the kids know that they needed to go back and look at the examples and read the lesson again if they don’t understand.

MaryEllen did hit a spot where it was getting difficult, but I realized it was because she didn’t know all her multiplication & division facts. So we have stopped Saxon for a few weeks and we are drilling on these until they can complete all of them in five minutes. I stopped Donnie too, because I figure he might hit the same spot. Mr. Robinson does recommend that the kids know all the facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) before they begin Saxon 54. I understand why now.

The other challenge was reading for 2 hours. We still aren’t there yet, but we have slowly worked up to an hour. We started at half an hour. I assign pages to make sure they are reading and not day dreaming or talking during this time. I now join them and read an hour too.

During reading, the kids read out of a science book, history book and a literature book, 20 minutes each. Right now we are using Christian Liberty Nature Readers for science, for history and literature, we are using what we had in our personal library. Once we deplete this, we will begin to read more of what is on the RC list.

Here is a post where I mention their booklists and how I substituted books on the RC list for ones we had at home. http://albright-news.com/blog/2009/11/back-from-vacation/

One area that was, and still is, hard for me, is putting aside other curriculum I had bought. I had purchased quite a few of the Beautiful Feet Packs and am planning on using all of her studies. After much thought, I decided to keep them and either do them together as a way to spend time together researching different eras, or assign the books and use the discussions questions as book tests and some of the assignments as writing projects for their writing time.

We do have read aloud and bible time after dinner most days. I usually read for about an hour to an hour and a half. The kids draw usually.

So basically, Robinson is the 3r’s, reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic. We add bible to that in the morning also. The kids practice their memory verses before beginning their studies. I also have them read out of a devotional in the morning too.

Anything else you want to add such as music or language, comes after the 3r’s are done. I eventually want to add music, sewing, maybe latin or Spanish.

I hope that was a little insightful. The RC YahooGroup is very knowledgeable too. You do not have to be using RC to join, but simply have to have an interest in learning more about it. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RobinsonUsers4Christ

Blessings,

I was sharing with my sister the other day on the phone about how my kids enjoy a simple recipe I found on Clara’s site called Pasta with Peas. It is so simple!! I knew the kids would eat it, because they are really good at trying new things that I make, but I didn’t know it would end up being one of their favorites.

When I tell them we are having Pasta with Peas, they get all excited and cannot wait for it to be done. Go figure!! My husband enjoys it too, so that makes it one of our regular, quick recipes.

We have also enjoyed her tradition of having sugar for Sunday breakfast. The kids like this. Clara had sugar cookies, and we have her sugar cookies now and then, but we have extended this to enjoying sticky buns or scones of different types. The kids and I then enjoy these with a cup of tea.

Here is the video of her cooking Pasta with Peas. You can see more on her YouTube Channel.

She even has a book out now!!

I think Clara’s Book and DVD will go great with any Great Depression Unit Study. I have listed a few links I found around the net that have Great Depression Lesson Plans. I have noticed that most of the lessons I found were geared more for the upper grades, middle and high school. But I did find a nice selection of books that can be read by or to the lower age kids.

After doing these searches, I am thinking of doing a mini-study myself with the kids. It would be great for them to get an idea how we might have to live if we ever get that bad again. It is also good just to learn how to be frugal and to live below our means. We are so blessed right now, that I would hate to be unprepared, both mentally and physically, if we were to have to cut down or do without.

Other Great Depression Resources

Here is her Depression Cooking Channel on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking

Visions in the Dust
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/99/dust/intro.html

The Great Depression Unit – Based around Alabama, but still great for understanding the time.

Great Depression Lessons- Scroll Down to Unit Nine titled, "United States Between the Wars".

Great Depression Journals- A nice activity that will fit along fine with your Great Depression Study.

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt- Letter written to the first lady by children asking for her help during the Great Depression.

Surviving the Dust Bowl (PBS)- Teacher Resources and a video to watch online.

Great Depression Powerpoints

Books of Interest

More Books on The Great Depression

Blessings,

The kids and I have begun to use English from the Roots Up Vol. 1. Like everything else, I seem to over think things out. Should we copy them to index card? Or maybe just use a notepaper and have them draw a green/red square around the word. Should I just buy the ready-made index cards and have them use those instead of writing them out? Should we do a root a week and a word a day? Ack!!

Well, I decided to have them notebook the roots copying the words and definitions. We might…might add some words of our own. I remember reading in the book that you can look up some additional words in the dictionary. Later on, we might do this also.

I made up notebooking pages for the kids and I to use. One for Greek words, and one for Latin words. We will just color in the border with marker with its respective color. (You can also use crayon or color pencils.) We could have used regular notebook paper, but I didn’t like how it turned out. I thought of gluing on an index card too, but then decided to go with creating the page and printing them off. Silly probably…but….

If you are using English from the Roots Up, you are welcome to give these a try. They might even work if you are not using English From The Roots Up.

~Download Links~
Black and White
English From The Roots Up - Black & White - Greek (41)
English From The Roots Up - Black & White - Latin (29)

Color
English From The Roots Up - Color - Greek (32)
English From The Roots Up - Color - Latin (27)

Blessings,

My daughter, who is soon to be 10, has been drawing horses since I can remember. It is fun to see how far she has come. For Christmas, I decided to get her this art course by Barry Stebbing, The Wonderful Art of Drawing Horses, that way she can continue to improve and expand her learning into areas of shading, and more realistic techniques. She was excited to get this, and has already begun.

The Wonderful Art of Drawing Horses By Barry Stebbing / How Great Thou Art Do sketches of ponies keep showing up in the margins of your kids’ homework? Here’s your chance to develop that "doodling" into art! Designed for ages 8 and up, Stebbing’s curriculum offers 87 progressive lessons that emphasize the value of practice and provide drawing tips, black-and-white samples of student artwork, sketches by master artist Leonardo da Vinci, and horse trivia. 119 pages, softcover.

One thing I did tell her was this was NOT part of studies. This was for her to do whenever she wanted. It is her own, so make it something you will be proud to look at 5, 10 years down the road. She was hesitant to write in the book, but when I explained how it is something she can look back on years down the road, she felt more comfortable. There is also a nice section in the back with blank paper titled, ‘Sketchbook,’ which is a place for her to jot down her progress.

Here are a few drawings she has done. Although, I think she has improved much on her own by examining and copying pictures of various horses, I know she will benefit from this course. I like how there is a section on copying the masters.

These are her before pictures. I look forward to her after pictures.

Blessings,

This was such an inspirational speech by President Ronald Regan, that I wanted to share it with you all. Jesus IS the reason for the season…may we never forget that.

Merry Christmas,

Well, my laptop will be sent off to the repair shop once again. Luckily I don’t have anything on there that is too important. I had just begun to download my mail once again, but I had Google keep a copy on their server.

When I first got it back, it didn’t boot up properly. It gave me a blue screen that disappeared before I could read it. Then it would try to reboot. It would go in circles doing these two actions. I eventually shut it off by holding down the on/off button.

The next day when my husband called the service center to let them know, lo and behold, it booted up. We re-booted it a few times while on the phone with the rep, and it worked fine. We hung up.

Now these past two week, it keeps doing this on and off. When my husband went to look for the recovery partition, it was gone. They had deleted it. Ack! Now we had no way to do a recovery. We had to order the CD’s for 20 some odd dollars!!

Today, after updating, my computer would not boot up again. The blue screen kept coming up. So I took out my 20 some odd dollars recovery CD’s (that I think the repair plan should have covered since they erased our partition), and began the recovery. Now it says that the recovery has failed and I cannot even start windows. Ugh!!

So, I am throwing in the towel and am sending it back to be repaired. We had bought a two year plan, so it should still be covered.

I am going to try not to be frustrated. I have a lot of reading to catch up on anyway. We will be spending this week preparing our hearts and house for Christmas. Don works on Christmas Eve and day, so we are going to celebrate it on his next day off which is December 30th. I do plan to let the kids open their stockings, make a special dinner and we will bake a cake for Jesus.

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

Blessings,