Midwest Homeschool Convention - April 8th-10th 2010

I am excited that my husband was able to get the days off to attend this conference. I will be making our reservations soon. Our anniversary is a few days later, so we will make it our gift.  Come join us as we learn how to better school our child and fellowship with other like minded folks!

Discounts are the best if you register before the new year.

http://www.cincinnatihomeschoolconvention.com/speakers/

Merry Christmas!

What a lovely, yummy, special time we had today! I am so thankful God has lead our family to Classical Conversations. I am especially grateful to be a part of such a beautiful "family" of believers. I am thankful we can all be on our homeschooling journey together! You all have enriched our lives so much! Have a wonderful, blessed, Christmas!

The Livelys

Party!!

We will be having a party on December 3rd. Families will be bringing food from around the world to share. We will eat at 11:30am. Then we will make a craft to put in the nursing home resident's goodie bags. The next craft table will be to assemble and decorate the bags. Students will receive prizes from their tutors. Essential students will have their "auction". We will go to Woodhaven to deliver goodie bags and sing Christmas carols at 1:30pm.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Open House - October 22nd

Learn how a Classical Conversations community can help equip, encourage, and support parents in their homeschooling endeavors. At 9:15 am, we have our opening ceremony and dismiss for classes at 9:30 am. Enjoy watching the class presentations, hands-on science and Fine Arts sessions of our Foundations programs.

We eat lunch together, so pack a lunch if you would like to join us.

Hear and observe our Essentials program from 1-3pm. This is when our 3rd - 6th graders learn grammar, writing and play math games.

Reservations are required to ensure enough space is available.

You may come and go as you like during day.

Essentials - 9/24/09

Here is the "interjections" video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhHpJ45_zwM
I found it helpful.
Here is a video showing how to learn multiplication tables http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZlBtMPrMyk

EEL Assignment – Week 4
1. Complete Charts daily, working toward mastery:
– Phonograms (S4)
– Sentence Patterns (S1D)
2. Complete Task Sheets
– For sentences 1, 2 and 3 (pgs 62 - 64)
3. Complete Editing Exercise for Week Four daily
– (teacher-directed level of editing)

IEW Assignment – Week 4
1. Cut out and learn the vocabulary words for Lesson 4 **Quiz next week on words from weeks 1-4**

2. Complete page 22, finishing the KWO, listing 3 key words for each sentence.

3. Complete your writing assignment:
– Use your KWO only when writing
– Create a paragraph in your own words from your KWO
– Use checklist on page 23 to get all your points!
– Mark all elements of style with correct markings - check email for color codes
– Bring a copy of your final back to class next week

I look forward to reading your papers!

Mrs. Griffith

Abecidarian 2 Class, Week 3

Greetings to my awesome 5-year-olds and their parents! We had a great week 3 and seem to be settling into our routine! Mrs. Lively's class joined us this past week since we've had so many folks out on vacation. It was a pleasure having Keiran Capuano with us, and being able to co-teach with Mrs. Lively!

I've sent an email to all of you with the week's hand motions for your easy reference, so check your inboxes! I'll try to email these to you each week!

For review time, we played a rousing chutes-and-ladders-style game which enabled us to cover ALL of our past 2 weeks' memory work! Very cool! The kids did an amazing job of remembering everything they've learned, and we all had fun reciting every answer together! I know that I'm learning just as much as the kids are -- a true testimony to the power of repetition!

See you next week!

-Mrs. Blugerman

Journeymen/Masters

We had a great day 9/17. Our new history sentence introducing the Greek and Roman gods was set to fun music and the kids did a great job with it. The new Latin noun endings are set to the tune of "Rain, Rain Go Away". The CD sounds as if it makes the singular 1st declension sound as a short (a) instead of the correct short (u) sound. This tune is really catchy. It seems as though my daughter and I had a hard time not singing it over and over again Thurs. and Fri.. Our Science was the Animal Cell which we learned hand motions to and discussed their funtions. Next week we will cover the plant cell. This group will probably be able to make a rough sketch of these during review time next week. The Prepostion song on the "weekly" CD track 25 is a great tool for learning the prepostions. The Timeline Cards had a new set of hand motions, as they will each week. The kids seem to be picking these up pretty well. However, if you notice an area where your child seems to be having a tougher time learning the new material, please let me know. Our science experients were outside and we spent more time talking about the Scientific Method and different variables (such as the weather/season)affect our results. We well continue to review 6 weeks of new material each week. I passed out tickets in ziplock bags this week and hope to pass out tickets for those who have been absent as well. At least for the first half of the year these are given for as rewards for being a part of our class and to reinforce the responsibility of keeping up with them. After the first 12 weeks we may use the tickets to reward those who are applying more effort on their memory work. The children are doing terrific on their presentations. I enjoy their stories and interests. What a terrific way for them to express their different hobbies and get to know one another better. We have a really special class with a wide variety of presentation topics. This is probably my favorite part of the day. I encourage the students to continue to think about eye contact and thinking about enough things to talk about for at least 2-3 minutes. The class is truly interested and seems to really enjoy hearing what each other has to say. I am looking forward to next week and wish you all terrific memory work in the meantime!
Mrs. Murphy

Apprentice - 9/17/09

Thank you to Mrs. Griffith for substituting for me last week! :) We had a great class on Thursday. We still aren't back to our full class yet but hopefully we'll have full attendance next week. We began our class with a new seating arrangement and Classroom Rules. Also, I gave out tickets to redeem toward prizes every 6th week. Since we learned to skip count by sixes this week that would be the 6th, 12th, 18th and 24th weeks. Your child can earn one ticket each week if he/she respectfully conducts themself. Each child will have three marks beside their name each week (this is good) but if they disrupt our class a mark will be removed. If they lose all three marks they will not get a ticket to redeem toward a prize for that week and I will speak with the parent regarding their behavior. Parents feel free to stop by after class (if you are tutoring or have multiple children) and check out how your child is doing.

This week's New Grammar had lots of music from the CC Audio CD. For the parent whose child missed class this week, I've emailed you the Latin handout and hand motions that we did. We used Timeline motions for our timeline cards, and hand motions for both Science and English prepostitions (we also listened to the preposition song on the weekly CD, track 25). We used the acrostic J'S SIP for Geography. For our Science Experiment we observed why desert animals go underground and also how animals can hide from their predators by their color by blending into their surroundings. We had upside down drawings that helped us recognize the OILS when we draw. Great job on the cat and bird! If you need help remembering any of the motions, please don't hesitate to email or call me and I'll email them to you. Check your child's backpack for a helpful handout in Latin and to see their great artwork. We played Connect Four in our class for Grammar Review for Weeks 1 and 2. Sharpen your review for games next week by using the flashcards this week. It's amazing to watch as they remember from week to week. I was so pleased when everyone stood up for Presentations this week!
For His glory,
Mrs. Goad

Essentials - 9/17/09

Hope these videos help a bit with the overload of information we received today. Your students are extremely (ly- word!) impressive. They are working deligently at home and it shows!

EEL Assignment – Week 3

1.Complete Charts daily, working toward mastery:

Nouns (S3A)
Pronouns (S3B)
Helpful Pronoun Chart (S2C)

2.Complete Task Sheets

For sentences 1, 2 and 3 (pgs 50 - 52)

3.Complete Editing Exercise for Week Three daily

(teacher-directed level of editing)

IEW Assignment – Week 3

1.Cut out and learn the vocabulary words for Lesson 3

2.Read page 18 to gather insight into the Sumerian civilization

3.Complete page 16, finishing the Key Word Outline (KWO), listing 3 key words for each sentence.

4.Complete page 17 to have quality dress-ups on hand

5.Complete your writing assignment:

a.Use your KWO only

b.Create a paragraph in your own words from your KWO

c.Use checklist on page 19 – get all your points!

d.Bring a copy of your final back to class next week

Journeymen and Masters students and parents,

We had a great day September 10. We were a small group this week but we accomplished much. It will be terrific to have everyone back on the 17th! We did a science experiment that explained why dead fish float and another one that showed how spiders can feel the size of their web intruders by the vibrations on their web. If you have the "Janice Vancleave's 201 Awesome, Magical, Bizarre, and Incredible Experiments" these were #54 and #56. The students are bringing home their Scientific Experiment sheets so that, if they would like, they can reproduce the experiments we've done.
This is a web site that has some great drawing sheets and ideas if anyone wants some extra practice: http://donnayoung.org/art/draw1.htm.
We also did some new hand motions to the 10 commandments that may help with our memory work. These are found here: http://harvestministry.org/hand-commands-explanation.
Also there is a really catchy preposition song on the "Weekly" Cycle 1 CD track 25.
The children did a fantastic job on their presentations. We had some very interesting things shared.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week and look forward to next week. We will continue with a thorough review of the previous 2 weeks. If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 309-5620.
Mrs. Murphy

Abecedarians I - 9/10/09

I think we can all say we had a great morning in CC yesterday! Our biggest challenge is the kids' exhaustion by the time 11:30 rolls around. I will keep some flexibility as needed to adjust to everyone's needs. I am sure, in a few weeks, we will find it hard to believe this was our biggest challenge! The kids will be so used to the routine, they will energetically bounce from one thing to the next.

I am incredibly impressed with what the 4's are retaining. You all are fabulous at reciting those timeline cards and singing the history sentences. Keep working on the skip counting. The songs are really helpful. You can also color in the numbers on a 100's chart then point to the numbers as you sing the song.

I am looking forward to next Thursday! Get lots of rest between now and then!

Mrs. Lively

Essentials - 9/10/09

Today was full of vocabulary. The "big picture" will get smaller as you get to know the parts. Be sure to pull out those Mastery Charts throughout the week. I will introduce the task sheet next week!

I will be excited to see your poems next week and see how many tickets I can give you. Use the check off list to help you get everything in your poem. Space out your work. You do not need to write the whole poem in one day. Work on a few stanzas a day.

Listen to your skip counting songs if you need to brush up on some of your multiplication tables. Check out You tube for School House Rock vidoes.

I look forward to having everyone one in class next week!

Mrs. Griffith

Apprentice - 9/10/09

I had great fun in class today and was extremely impressed with what the children have accomplished in one week. Everyone will be anticipating the return of Mrs. Goad!! I tried to give number signals to help the children remember the order and number of the Ten Commandments. I left my paper at home and couldn't remember them all.

Here is the link that has the motions: http://harvestministry.org/hand-commands-explanation

We used Black Sea Baby CPR to remember the Assyrian Empire. Rearrange the order - Black Sea, Babylon, Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea.

I emailed a song to help with Latin.

Keep up the good memory at home!!



 

Abecidarians 2: 9/10/09

Hello, to all my Abecidarian kids and parents! We had another GREAT day today! I was so impressed with how well everyone did during presentation time! Kids, remember to practice the tips for good speaking: good eye contact, posture, and volume, and staying away from things like wiggling, leaning against the wall, and verbal pauses ("um...") For presentation next week, you may bring something from home again. I would love you to bring something that has a story attached to it! For example, something you found at the beach, or something you won in a contest, or something you made yourself! This makes it easier for you to talk about your object, and makes it more interesting for the listener too! Everyone loves a good story!

Everyone did a splendid job recalling their memory work from last week!! We learned a new tune to help us remember the definition of a Preposition! I hope you can recall the tune (the Merry Go Round Broke Down -- Looney Toons Song). The lyrics go, "Oh, we love prepositions, haven't you heard? They relate a noun or pronoun to another word!"

In our science experiment time, we learned how spiders use vibration to detect when something has landed in their web! If you find a spider's web this week in your yard, have your Mom or Dad examine it with you! Maybe you can see this in action!! And our "Belly Up" experiment explained why fish float to the top of the water when they die, rather than sink! If you happen to be at a swimming pool this week, practice floating on your back with your lungs full of air (by taking a deep breath and holding it). Notice how it's easier to float with full lungs than without!

See you all next week! Feel free to contact me with questions or feedback!!

~Mrs. Blugerman

Abecedarians I

We had a great time yesterday morning! I certainly didn't expect to fly through things so quickly. Now that I know what the children are capable of, I can plan much more! Thank you, moms, for your patience as I tweak and adjust our morning. I hope review will go smoothly for you this week. Please don't be concerned if you missed a hand motion or sign, at this age, we are just looking basic memory skills. My 5 year-old and I will be mainly focusing on Timeline cards, skip counting (up to x 15), and the history sentence. Your little ones will amaze you with what they can (and will) retain as my 5 year old has already! Looking forward to next week! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Mrs. Lively

First Day

The Lord blessed our first day with sunshine and many smiling faces. I hope everyone left with more knowledge than when they arrived. I look forward to getting to know each person better. We have a great group of parents! Remember to review Exodus 20:1-2.

I will be leaving to go out of town tomorrow and will not be back until Monday.

To Know Him and Make Him Know,
Laura

Orientation

We had a great evening getting to know each other and learning what to expect on September 3rd!! Many thanks go to Colonial Baptist for keeping us dry and letting the children play in the gym. We have an awesome year ahead! Look for more posts from the tutors in the near future.

Time Running Out

Parents who have students enrolled in our Essentials program will be meeting at my house on August 18th at 6pm. Our Foundation orientation is August 22nd. If you want to attend these activities and not miss out, mail in your registrations promptly!!

VA Tax Free Book Event - Saturday, August 8th

9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Colonial Baptist Church
221 Hillcrest Drive
Blue Ridge, VA 24064

Lots of books for sale - Classical Conversations Curriculum plus IEW, Saxon Math, Apologia, Latin's Not So Tough, Story of the World, Veritas Press, Henle, Canon Press, plus more!!

If we do not have what you need in stock, we will ship it to you free of charge.

I will be available to answer your questions if you are not able to make it to the park on Friday.

Info Meetings

I will be available at Bonsack park every Friday from 11am-1pm starting on July 10th and ending August 14th. Our CC community will meet so that the parents and children have a time to get to know each other. We share a packed lunch together at noon. Please call if it is raining or has rained the night before as we may cancel.

It is a nice, small park and I will wear a name tag so you can find me.

Come learn more about our program and how we can equip you as a parent to educate your child classically!

Find Me Here

I will have a table at the

GRHE Used Book Sale

Date: June 27th

Place: St. Elias Catholic Church

Time:9-12

I will be handing out informational Cds and answer questions you may have. Come find out more about Classical Conversations meeting in Botetourt.

Get Information

If you missed the Info Meeting, I will have a table at the HERF used book sale on May 16th, 9am-1pm. Feel free to come by and ask questions. I will hand out CD's that give an overview of Classical Conversations, the Foundations program and Challenge program.

You may also gain information by reading chapter four of Leigh Bortins book, Echo in Celebration. Obtain a free download of this book by clicking here. Leigh Bortins is the Founder of Classical Conversations.

Great Article

There was a great article written forthe Botetourt View!! I appreciate Laura Wade taking the time and effort to submit this for publication. She did a great job :)

Park Days

We will be meeting at area parks on Fridays at 11 am. On May 1st we will be at Bonsack Park near Bonsack Elementary behind Walmart. If you would like to meet us, come on out. We will eat a packed lunch together around noon. Next Friday, we will be going to the Science Museum.

I will be attending a practicum in Williamsburg, Monday-Wednesday, and may not be able to answer emails promptly.

I am still looking for an Essentials tutor and one for 5th/6th grade. If you meet the requirements and are able to attend training in June, please let me know.

Tutor for Journeymen

We have someone to tutor the 3rd/4th graders!! I'm excited to see how the Lord is answering prayer. Please keep praying for two more tutors. I encourage you to attend a practicum if you are interested in learning more about the classical model of education.

Parent Practicum

For 3 days each summer, adults who love learning the classical model meet to refresh their understanding of the classical model, to practice thinking like classical educators, and to receive training in the classical model of education. These events are similar to intensive teacher in-service training, so parents return year after year. The Parent Practicum in Blacksburg is open for registration. It will meet June 15th-16th. It is free to attend. There are camps available for the children of parents attending the practicum. There is a fee for the camp and they fill up early.

Hope to see you there!!!

The Last Info Meeting

The meeting on March 7th was attended by parents (and grandparent) of older children. It is exciting to see the many families who are thinking about homeschooling again (after sending to school) or for the first time. I will be praying for these families as they make decisions for their children's future education.

The Roanoke group's Foundation program is full. I expect to receive more inquiries in the future due to the referrals they are sending my way.

I will plan to have info meetings at the end of April and first part of May. I will post the dates after they are approved by the church.

Please continue to pray for this ministry.

I'll Be Gone

I will be going out of town Thursday night but will be coming back just before the info meeting on Saturday. If you send me an email and I do not reply, you will know why.

I have received word that the Roanoke group is full. I perceive our classes will fill quickly too!

Thursdays!!

Our group will be meeting on Thursdays in the fall. Originally, it was planned to meet on Tuesdays. I am so thankful for the staff at Colonial Baptist and their willingness to be flexible.

This move will allow us to offer the Challenge A program! The Lord is good!!

I thought I would share this website http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/index.html It reviews a lot of different curriculum.

Tutors!!

I have two more tutors!!! They will cover the Apprentice class and the second Abecedarian class if we have enough interest.

I still need tutors for grades 3/4 and 5/6. I am also looking for someone to tutor the Essentials class in the afternoon. Please keep praying for these needs to be meet.

Foundations Curriculum Guide, 3rd edition - NEW!

You may now purchase the Foundations Curriculum Guide, 3rd edition. If you are overwhelmed with what to purchase then just go here. You will find the 2nd edition at a discount. If you want to save money and don't mind writing in the book changes as you come upon them, then this one is for you. The 3rd edition is hot off the press and will start shipping on Feb. 16th. It is also 20% off until the end of February. If you order more than $150.00, then you receive free shipping. If more than $250.00, you receive free shipping and a 10% discount. You may want to get with another parent and combine orders, so you can receive the discount. If you go to the link above, the items listed would be the things you should order. You will want a whistle for each child but only one book and set of timeline cards for the whole family that will be good for 6 years.

We will be in Cycle One in the fall. If you want to order CD's and other helps, it is optional, but very helpful. I noticed the CD's for Cycle One are not available until spring.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Open House

It was amazing to see so many people interested in CC! I only caught sight of a few of you and talked abundantly with others. I hope it was informative.

We have an Abecedarian tutor!! If there are others interested in enrolling their children in that class, please let me know. If there is enough interest, we will have two classes.

Notice, there are more info meetings being scheduled. I have no doubt that our program will fill and multiply. I had a parent share with me today, how she teared up seeing children sing "Jesus Loves Me", then the Pledge of Allegience to the flag and the Holy Bible. You do not get this kind of interaction in most of our schools, private or public. It is awsome to see families learning together.

Feel free to share comments if you attended the open house and want others to know what it is all about.

One Full, Maybe a Second

The Abecedarians class is full. If you are interested in having your child enroll in this age group, please let me know. If there is enough interest, I will split the class and hire another tutor. If you meet the requirements to tutor and want to attend the training this summer, please contact me!
Tutors are paid and trained!

Second Info Meeting

Filling Up Fast!
The second info meeting was held today and there was a lot of excitement!! There are many families with young children who are interested in the classical model of education. The K-4/K-5 class will be the first to fill. Remember it is first come, first serve. In order to reserve a place for your child please register as soon as possible. One form per child is needed.

Essentials Class
We will have an Essentials class in the Botetourt Group this fall!! This is for 3rd-6th graders. They meet 1-3pm. It teaches English grammar, writing and math. You can enroll in Essentials without being in Foundations. Let me know if you are interested or meet the qualifications to tutor.

There Will Be Snacks!
I spoke with a mother today and realized I did not share that children receive a snack during their presentation time. Snacks are brought by the parents on a rotating basis. Snacks should be natural foods such as fruits, veggies and cheese. Water will be provided as a drink. This will benefit children with allergies and provide a nutritional snack. Each class would have a separate rotation list.

Welcome!

I have completed my first info meeting and I am excited about the community of home schoolers interested in teaching their children classically. This site will eventually be for parents and tutors to connect with one another during the 2009-10 school year. Until that time, I will use it to have updated information about the class size as I get registration forms. I still have openings for tutors and when those openings are filled, I will give you the update. Potential tutors need to be trained this summer. So, you should have an idea of what programs will be offered by then. Please pray with me, that the Lord will meet our need (4 Foundation tutors) and our wants (Essentials and Challenge tutors). I look forward to working with you and your children!!