Words are loaded pistols. ~Jean-Paul Sartre
Words do two major things: They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness. ~Jim Rohn
This is my 3rd year participating in the Virtual Curriculum Fair and it's always a blast. Not sure what I'm talking about? Hop on over to Susan's blog: Homeschooling Hearts and Minds (whose is the brains behind the VCF) and find out all about it!
If you have read Golden Grasses for any length of time, you know that we be bibliophiles 'round here and often have our noses stuck in books. If you haven't, welcome to the word nerd party! I have whole Pinterest boards devoted to Literary Love, Books Worth Reading, Writing. and Homeschool English and often post fun lit chat on Golden Grasses Facebook page. If you are looking to find a good book, want to talk lit or just get a little bibliophile understanding, you've come to the right place!
What does a book and writing loving Momma use to instill and ensure a tribe of fellow bibliophiles? So glad you asked! Check out my posts from posts from previous VCF years:
2013 VCF Word Play
2014 VCF Word Nerd Love
As my kids have gotten older, we've moved past phonics and the mechanics of writing. I still recommend AlphaPhonics- simple, effective, affordable- phonics for everyone. Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons are fantastic. Language Acquisition Through Poetry Memorization is a must have, bar none. Poetry Outloud for high schoolers. Grammar of Poetry for anyone 5th grade and up. And books. Tons and tons of book, on -tape, read out-loud and privately, shared, discussed, thought about and mulled over. Not just any books because I am not of the school that says, "at least they're reading." No. Good quality, make your brain work and your imagination soar quality lit. Throw in some fun, cause life's a party, but make them good words, which abound. Redemption is the greatest story that ever lived and books, even dystopian, must redeem or it counts as carp and to be avoided.
We have done diagramming- Our Mother Tongue, Mary Dalys Whole Book of Diagramming and this year Essentials at our local Classical Conversations Community. Cub (14), Flower (11) and I sit in and work hard each week, memorizing, diagramming, chart copy-ing and writing. It's good stuff. We are all learning a ton. The kids write about a paper a week- 20 papers in 24 weeks. Cub did a 3 day class with Andrew Pudewa this summer and Flower participated in a 3 day CC Practicum Writing Camp this summer -CC kids camps are some of the best ed value around- free classical ed training for parents to boot!
This year in Foundations we are studying John 1:1 -7- and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have memorized this in Latin and English. We are people of the Word, baby!
We are studying Latin using First Form Latin.
We are studying German using Rosetta Stone.
We are studying the Grammar of the English Language using Essentials by Classical Conversations and how to write using IEW's American History Theme Book.
We are studying Poetry using the Grammar of Poetry and Cub just may participate in Poetry Outloud this year.
We are studying theater and projection and presentation by participating in CC's Foundations class (a presentation a week takes the fear right out of standing up in front of people) and Tantara, the local Festival of One Act Plays for homeschool high schoolers, as well as Drama Camp this spring.
Spelling U See for my spelling challenged mathy kiddo. Love this program!
Vocabulary gets studied every single day as we look up words, define them for each other, check synonyms, read, watch and google.
We study Shakespeare with regularity for several reasons- and by several methods-by participating in Shakespeare Camp year after year. We also use the Great Courses Shakespeare course, and our newest Bardology addition? This year we are reading outloud the, "Verily, New Hope" trilogy- a Star Wars, Shakespeare Smash up that is full of fun and serious laughs. Great stuff that will afford your kids access to Elizabethan language, Shakespearean thought, Iambic Pentameter and a whole lot of fun! You can search Golden Grasses for Shakespeare and come up with a ton of posts on Bardology.
We study the Bible because, like I said, we are people of the Word. The Word became Life and dwelt among us and His name is above all names, the name of Jesus. We study to know Him and to make Him known. Theology and Biblical studies are all part of what we study when Words come into play. We hope to be known as People of the Word. So we read the Bible and study it using various translations, several different commentaries, celebrating Biblical feasts and Holidays, gaining understanding in Biblical languages and cultures, history, geography and politics. Biblical Archeology Today and Jerusalem posts provide regular reading and discussion, along with keeping abreast of recent discoveries like Eliat Mazar's discovery of King David's Palace.
Take some time and read more posts on Word Play. And don't forget to link up!
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