Friday, July 8, 2011

Loose Ends/Dit un dat

I haven't been able to post very much recently because I'm trying to prepare next school year and also work on some of our main lesson blocks we haven't finished.  I've been making good progress with my plans for Veronika and Miriam.  Charlotte and Jonathan require more thought, especially because high school for Jonathan is just around the corner.
Jonathan has finished his Roman studies.  Now Rome is in ruins and the Middle Ages can start. He is still completing some entries into his main lesson book; right now he is drawing a portrait of Nero and writing his opinion about him.



When we started out with our history studies, we tried to follow the Waldorf school curriculum.  We still do, but I have decided to spread our studies out until grade 9 and not 8.  There is too much we like to study more in detail.  So next school year will be what a Waldorf school teaches in grade 7.  This will also help us to have a good sequence of history in high school.  I plan to  follow the history plans of MODG for high school, which teach American and European history in grade 9, the Ancients in grade 10, European history in grade 11, and American Government in grade 12.

Gilgamesh the HeroAncient Mesopotamian Civilization (Ancient Civilizations and Their Myths and Legends)Charlotte has read the Gilgamesh epic for children and is studying Ancient Mesopotamia with the great book Ancient Mesopotamian Civilizations.  She is making a ziggurat out of clay.




Miriam is doing simple geography with me.  One of the assignments was to build a landscape in our sandbox that is similar to the landscape around here.  Geographical Nature Studies is really helpful here and a pleasure to read.  



We have harvested our first radishes from our garden.  They are delicious.






We also discovered THREE raccoons eating our bird seed every night.  Now we take the bird feeder inside as soon as it gets dark.

I went for a walk tonight and when crossing a bridge a found a couple there that asked me if I could take their picture.  It was their 50th wedding anniversary and on that bridge they had kissed the first time, more than 50 years ago.  Of course I took their picture and made them very happy.  I told them that my husband and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary (our German, Catholic anniversary was just a few days ago, July 6th).  They thought that we were just like newlyweds.

Rose my dh gave me for our German anniversary/Rose, die mir mein lieber Mann für unseren deutschen Hochzeitstag geschenkt hat. 


Ich habe in letzter Zeit nicht so viel hier bei meinem Blog verbracht, da ich versuche, das neue Schuljahr vorzubereiten und einige alte Hauptepochen, welche noch ausstehen, abzuschließen.  Mit meinen Plänen für Veronika und Miriam mache ich gute Fortschritte, Charlotte und Jonathan dauern ein bißchen länger, da sie ja älter sind und ich für Jonathan auch schon die Planung für die Oberschule, die hier mit der 9. Klasse beginnt, miteinbeziehe.  


Jonathan hat die Römer abgeschlossen.  Rom liegt in Ruinen und das Mittelalter kann beginnen.  Jonathan muß nur noch ein paar Hefteinträge beenden.  Im Moment arbeitet er an einem Porträt von Nero und schreibt seine Meinung über ihn.  Ursprünglich haben wir im Geschichtsunterricht die Waldorfschule als Vorbild genommen, doch inzwischen hinken wir ein Jahr hinterher.  Wir haben aber festgestellt, daß wir lieber mehr Zeit mit den einzelnen geschichtlichen Perioden verbringen, als möglichst schnell fertig zu werden.  Deswegen werden wir unsere Studien bis ins 9. Schuljahr ausdehnen, also machen wir nächstes Schuljahr Mittelalter und Renaissance, dann in der 9. Klasse amerikanische Geschichte, wobei wir auch den Blick auf Europa richten werden.  Diese Reihenfolge hat auch den Vorteil, daß wir den Lehrplänen von MODG für die Oberschule in Geschichte benutzen können, die in der 10. Klasse antike Geschichte, in der 11. Klasse europäische Geschichte nach der antiken Zeit und in der 12. Klasse amerikanisches Staatswesen vorsehen.  


Charlotte hat Gilgamesch gelesen und sich mit dem alten Mesopotamien beschäftigt.  Sie arbeitet zur Zeit an einem Ziggurat aus Ton.  


Miriam macht mit mir erste Erdkunde.  Wir haben über die Landschaftsformen in unserer Gegend gesprochen.  Dabei hilft besonders das nette Buch Geographical Nature Studies.  Eine ihrer Aufgaben war das Bauen einer Landschaft, die der unsrigen hier ähnelt, im Sandkasten.


Wir haben unsere ersten Radieschen geerntet.  Sie sind ganz lecker.  Wir haben auch drei nervige Waschbären im Garten entdeckt, die immer unser Vogelfutter nachts auffressen.  Nun holen wir das Futterhäuschen nachts rein.  


Heute abend habe ich hier im Dorf noch eine Runde gedreht.  Als ich über eine unserer Brücken ging, wurde ich von einem Ehepaar angesprochen und gebeten, sie auf der Brücke zu fotografieren.  Vor mehr als 50 Jahren hatten sie sich auf dieser Brücke zum ersten Mal geküßt und heute war ihr 50. Hochzeitstag!  Ich habe ihnen diesen Wunsch gern erfüllt und dabei erwähnt, daß mein Mann und ich vorgestern unseren (deutschen, katholischen) 15. Hochzeitstag gefeiert hätten.  Dann wären wir ja noch Jungverheiratete, meinten die beiden!



6 comments:

  1. I love ziggurats! I've always liked them much better than the later pyramids. We've been studying ancient history as well. During the summer, my son is reading books we find at the library which cover this time period. He covered it this past year, although it seems we've been covering this period most of his schooling. Next year we move forward up to the Reformation and some American history.

    Too bad Iraq is such a mess - I would love to go visit that area for it's ancient history.

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  2. It's so true about Iraq, so many treasures got destroyed in the war! What books will you use for your history studies next year?

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  3. I've got a textbook as the spine, and then I fill in the body of our studies with books and articles as we go. I don't have a definite list. I draw from my internet library, the public library, and the internet. I've also got some vintage books squirreled away from my secondhand shopping trips. I should make an effort to list them as we go along. We've got that Gilgamesh book that you mentioned here. There is so much to chose from that I guess I don't want to choose ahead, as I may find something even more interesting along the way. I weave the curriculum as we go, like a journey.

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  4. Would you mind sharing the textbook you are going to use? I know what you mean about weaving your curriculum, I quite often add books later on or exchange books, but I need to know where I'm going. Otherwise we would not accomplish what we need to accomplish.

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  5. We use Rod & Staff(Amish/Mennonite) as a spine. Soon we'll be switching to Christian Light Education(conservative Mennonite) because Rod & Staff peters out after the eighth grade. It is not anti-Catholic, but is very pro-Mennonite in places. We balance it with Catholic history, and it makes for some good discussions. He enjoys seeing the viewpoints from both sides, and has a good understanding of bias, and the need to read critically. He has preferred this curriculum since Kindergarten for its style, so we adjusted when some doctrine crept in during the higher grades.

    Oh sure, I can see the need to plan, especially when you are piecing together individual lesson plans for each child. I only have to plan for two, so it's much easier to fly by the seat of my pants. I was thinking about our supplemental books - that part is loosely organized. Our state does not require us to submit a plan, so it's not in the forefront of my mind.

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  6. Alexandra, do you ever have to tell them what you are using?

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