Friday, October 26, 2012

Something to write about

I was a little shocked to realize that I haven't posted since August.  Time flies!  I spent a good portion of these past few months focusing on getting school going and working on our eating habits.  We are tending towards paleo now (but we haven't given up dairy - yet) and have been trying to figure out how to further reduce our bread based carbohydrates (not the technical term).  I think it has been going well - but veggies take a while to prepare.  Fortunately, one of my kids LOVES his veggies so that makes it easy.  The other one has decided it is better to eat what I serve than starve (although I think he counts down to when he can visit grandma's house).

Last weekend I was privileged to attend CIRCE's conference in Austin.  It was GREAT!  So many things to think about.  I am so glad that I am early on in the homeschooling game and getting such great input.  Actually, what stunned me as I walked away was how much Mr. Kern's description of Mimetic teaching helped me to better understand how Montessori works (or could easily be adapted to work).  Montessori is all about naming the environment - very specifically.  You don't just learn "triangle" you learn "obtuse isoceles triangle".  This naming is crucial in helping kids understand their world - and they can deal with big names. She also constantly uses what Kern would call "types of the logos".  Her whole program is basically helping kids build from one truth to the next in incremental steps.  However, she doesn't clearly point to the Logos in her teaching (which is one reason I struggle with her appraoch).  Understanding that she is basically using types to teach math and grammar has given me new inspiration for using them in our coop class (which uses Montessori materials).

This conference also helped me name my difficulties with Montessori (we discussed the power of naming a lot at the conference).  Mr. Kern talked about the three types of learning - facts, skills and ideas.  Montessori stays in the level of facts and skills which is what makes it so universal.  However, I believe that education is about equipping kids to deal with ideas, relationships and ultimately cultivating virtue.  Although you can (and will) bring these into Montessori - she seems to intentionally try to exclude them from the learning process.  Montessori was against telling young children fairy tales and fantasy stories - which is the exact opposite of what Classical educators advocate.  They believe that these stories help cultivate a child's moral imagination (the author of this article was actually doing a conference in Dallas the same weekend).   As we discussed last weekend, she is preparing students to think analytically - but we are created first and ultimately to think analogically (through analogy/ story).    Montessori does bring story into the early elementary classroom - but the teacher can weave her own story - it is not necessarily tied to a specific faith tradition.   And honestly, most kids attend Montessori for preschool and then head off to a "normal" school so they miss the story.

So those are some of my initial thoughts.  I have started studying Latin - using the Memoria Press study guide for Henle (I am on lesson 2).  I still look at Visual Latin about once a week - maybe I will get it eventually.  I have also found this Latin tutorial site to be very helpful so that I can hear what it should sound like.

Additionally, I am tackling English grammar.  I realize that learning Latin will improve my English grammar - but I need a direct infusion.  I am using Jensen's Grammar.  I learned something new in lesson 2 - this is how sad my grammar education is.  So maybe I will figure out how to apply some of this new knowledge.

Finally, I am intending to blog through Mind of the Maker with Cindy Rollins at Ordo Amoris.  I picked the book up for a buck at a local thrift store - SCORE.

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