Karen has invited me to blog here, but I've never blogged before and
know very little about how to go about it. I would love to share with
other moms about the adventure my family has embarked upon this school
year, but unless I figure out how to access this again, I may never get
to read any comments.
After finding Karen's website, a friend and I decided to plan an adventure based on famous composers. I am in my 21st year of homeschooling, have 11 children in all, but only six actually in my homeschool this year. My students range from 16 down to 7.
We chose 7 composers and made them the topics of our components. So far we've covered Bach to School, Can You Handel This?, and Mostly Mozart. We went to our church camp Labor Day weekend and had a Bach to School Festival. We rolled out our theme poster, played musical games, read a chapter or two of a biography down by the creek, made all kinds of German food and invited another musical family to come make music for an evening. It was nearly everything we'd hoped it would be. Oh, yeah, my husband also did a great session on the science of music.
After that initial good start, we got together on Fridays for "L'Academie des Beaux Esprits."
We did not have everything as planned ahead as would be ideal, but my friend and I always chose Friday's topic ahead of time and our Fridays together were always productive. We really wanted to give the kids opportunity to do oral reports so some weeks we told them what to be prepared for the next week. One time they each chose a musical instrument to report on, another time they dressed as someone Mozart had met as a child and gave a presentation in the first person. That was great fun as we had Marie Antoinette, Louis XV, and Mozart's sister Nannerl reporting. One of the highlights for the children has been having kaffee or tea at each of our Academies. It gave us an excuse to include baking European treats too.
The children are each making a Wanderlust Notebook in which they will eventually have mini reports on all the countries of Europe. We have really enjoyed learning about Europe. I am in the process of reading A Tale of Two Cities to them. Our next component is Beethoven, and we will also cover Napoleon during that unit. Just before Christmas, we spent a week studying Christmas in Europe. That was very fun! My friend's mother is of Swedish heritage and begged us to come to her house for St. Lucia Day. She had lots of marvelous stuff to share with the children including a lovely brunch.
We have been so blessed by the "catching" aspect of this adventure. We were given a violin at the beginning of school and purchased another. I just wanted to have them around for exposure and to see if someone would pick them up (most of my children take piano lessons). My husband began giving someone a ride to work and his wife is a violinist. When she heard we had a violin, she called and asked if she could come show the children some of the basics and I gladly accepted. She has come every week since! She had a breakdown of some sort last year and had stopped taking students and said she found it therapeutic to come to our home and teach eager, quick-learning students. She says we have helped her come out of her bad time and she has picked up a couple more students now, so I don't know how long we will continue to get free lessons, but it has been a huge blessing. God is so good!
So, this is my first blog posting. I don't know if I've done what Karen had hoped I would, and I may not be able to figure out how to read any comments or anything , but I'm going to try. During the school year, I barely check my email, let alone have time to blog or anything. I hope you all start the new year with renewed vigor and energy to finish the great adventures you've begun! Gloria
After finding Karen's website, a friend and I decided to plan an adventure based on famous composers. I am in my 21st year of homeschooling, have 11 children in all, but only six actually in my homeschool this year. My students range from 16 down to 7.
We chose 7 composers and made them the topics of our components. So far we've covered Bach to School, Can You Handel This?, and Mostly Mozart. We went to our church camp Labor Day weekend and had a Bach to School Festival. We rolled out our theme poster, played musical games, read a chapter or two of a biography down by the creek, made all kinds of German food and invited another musical family to come make music for an evening. It was nearly everything we'd hoped it would be. Oh, yeah, my husband also did a great session on the science of music.
After that initial good start, we got together on Fridays for "L'Academie des Beaux Esprits."
We did not have everything as planned ahead as would be ideal, but my friend and I always chose Friday's topic ahead of time and our Fridays together were always productive. We really wanted to give the kids opportunity to do oral reports so some weeks we told them what to be prepared for the next week. One time they each chose a musical instrument to report on, another time they dressed as someone Mozart had met as a child and gave a presentation in the first person. That was great fun as we had Marie Antoinette, Louis XV, and Mozart's sister Nannerl reporting. One of the highlights for the children has been having kaffee or tea at each of our Academies. It gave us an excuse to include baking European treats too.
The children are each making a Wanderlust Notebook in which they will eventually have mini reports on all the countries of Europe. We have really enjoyed learning about Europe. I am in the process of reading A Tale of Two Cities to them. Our next component is Beethoven, and we will also cover Napoleon during that unit. Just before Christmas, we spent a week studying Christmas in Europe. That was very fun! My friend's mother is of Swedish heritage and begged us to come to her house for St. Lucia Day. She had lots of marvelous stuff to share with the children including a lovely brunch.
We have been so blessed by the "catching" aspect of this adventure. We were given a violin at the beginning of school and purchased another. I just wanted to have them around for exposure and to see if someone would pick them up (most of my children take piano lessons). My husband began giving someone a ride to work and his wife is a violinist. When she heard we had a violin, she called and asked if she could come show the children some of the basics and I gladly accepted. She has come every week since! She had a breakdown of some sort last year and had stopped taking students and said she found it therapeutic to come to our home and teach eager, quick-learning students. She says we have helped her come out of her bad time and she has picked up a couple more students now, so I don't know how long we will continue to get free lessons, but it has been a huge blessing. God is so good!
So, this is my first blog posting. I don't know if I've done what Karen had hoped I would, and I may not be able to figure out how to read any comments or anything , but I'm going to try. During the school year, I barely check my email, let alone have time to blog or anything. I hope you all start the new year with renewed vigor and energy to finish the great adventures you've begun! Gloria
