As we prepare for our transition, my mind is overflowing with ideas.
Ideas to redecorate our "bonus room" to be more "studious." De-clutter and reorganize the space, making room for books, craft table, computer area, and storage. I have ideas about outdoor projects, such as gardening, and working with our animals. I have ideas about field-trips, and activities...
I also have ideas about implementation of curricula.
The Hybrid School utilizes a Classical Education Curriculum. So I've been reading A Well-Trained Mind to get an idea as to exactly what this entails.
As I become proficient with this method, I will share my thoughts and our implementation adventures. But for now I'm going through the curriculum (starting with 5th grade) and pulling out potential areas of deficiency so Haley will not be "behind" in key areas in the Fall.
Of note, this Curriculum endorses teaching 2 foreign languages - an ancient language like Greek or Latin (which is a huge part of English roots) and a 'modern language' such as Spanish, French or Italian (which also utilizes Latin roots, which eases learning). Hubby *also* feels quite strongly about the necessity of speaking a foreign language. Initially he was pushing for German...
...but no one speaks German. Not even Germans. :)
He was reluctant to choose Spanish because "that can be learned on her own." While I agree that Spanish is the "unofficial" second language here in the United States, and therefore ubiquitous...
...that is the VERY reason I think the kids should study it. It's relevant, and opportunities to master the language are plentiful (unlike French or Italian here in Texas).
So I'm going to push for Spanish.
And I think we may as well try Latin too (why not, right?)
Haley is a very strong analytic thinker (so math and science she seems to pick up quickly). However, her reading is not that efficient (making it "not fun" for her) and her spelling and vocabulary could use a pick-me-up. So, in accordance to the Classical Education, I'm going to start supplementing spelling/vocabulary, and reading exercises.
So for 5th grade we will:
Begin Latin
Begin Spanish
And as necessary (PRN)
Remediate Reading
Remediate Spelling
Remediate Writing
I'm doing this by looking over the required book list for The Hybrid School for 5th and 6th grade to see if I should order anything early to give Haley a head-start. There were no books on the list that I wanted to order *early* but The Well Trained Mind did have some 5th grade suggestions on curriculum that I know Haley is missing out on now....and could use additional practice in:
Such as reading, spelling, and writing. Additionally, it is suggested that she start an ancient foreign language (such as Greek or Latin) so I decided on Latin since all of medicine is based on Latin...
....so to get her started I ordered:
For her modern foreign language, Spanish:
For music she'll continue harp and piano. AND her Piano Teacher is considering adding a homeschool music theory option in line with obtaining American high-school AND college credits via Trinity College in London. I'm sure other local homeschoolers will want to take advantage of this option. Once we begin school...I will discuss this with the director!!
For Religious Studies, we'll continue going to Unity.
And in the school next year, we will probably continue supplementing the above since the class time is focused on math, science, writing, history/literature (humanities) with the expectation that parents supplement to a large extent anything NOT covered in school.
And that's exactly our plan as per The Standard Classical Education Curriculum.
