Christ Followers Academy Week 1, 2011-12

After a rocky start the first day, we managed to have a great week.

To be quite honest I was skeptical about using books that had been published in the late 1800's to early 1900's.  It just didn't seem like a good idea.  There were so many questions about whether they would be too outdated or wouldn't meet with state standards.  But I've found they are not as "dumbed-down" as current textbooks are.

Then of course there were doubts that family and friends would disapprove of this choice.  Although we're still in the preliminary stages of using these books, I'm encouraged by my son's willingness and excitement.

I found Miss Maggie's website, An Old-Fashioned Education, a few years ago.  I wrote it off at first, but when I was looking for new curriculum again, I decided to give it a second look.  Just reading her home page made me believe this had great potential.  I really began to fall in love with the whole idea of using this type of curriculum.

The fact Miss Maggie taught her two boys using these texts also won me over.  I felt she knew my son's needs, and her choices could deliver everything I was looking for.  Miss Maggie gives plenty of choices for educating girls too, but since she was not teaching girls her initial choices are aimed for more masculine interests.

Here is how our first week progressed:

Monday:

• Bible Study ~ Mailbox Ministry, Explorers Course 1 Lesson 3 (We completed Lesson 1 and 2 last week.)
• Math ~ CIMT MEP, Interactive version year 3a, page 1-2; Scott Foresman Math, 2 games
• Health ~ The Child's Day, Chapter 1-2
• History ~ The Book of Discovery, Chapter 1
• Social Studies ~ Our Little Korean Cousin, Chapter 1
• Geography ~  Korea, we did some research on the web

Tuesday:

• Bible Study ~ Hurlbut's Story of the Bible, Chapter 1
• Math ~ CIMT MEP, Interactive version year 3a, page 3
• Science ~ The Story Book of Science, Chapter 1
• Health ~ The Child's Day, Chapter 3
• Spelling ~ McGuffey's Speller, Lesson 27 (Using the first 8 words, my son played a few games at SpellingCity.com)
• Literature ~ McGuffey's Fourth Reader, Lesson 1 (There are questions and a vocabulary study with most of these lessons)
• Independent Reading ~ Happy Hollisters, 2 Chapters
• History ~ The Book of Discovery, Chapter 2
• Biography ~ Christopher Columbus, Chapter 1
• Social Studies ~ Our Little Korean Cousin, Chapter 2

Wednesday:

• Bible Study ~ Hurlbut's Story of the Bible, Chapter 2
• Math ~ CIMT MEP, Interactive version year 3a, page 4
• Science ~ The Story Book of Science, Chapter 2
• Health ~ The Child's Day, Chapter 4
• Spelling ~ McGuffey's Speller, Lesson 27 (Using the second list of 8 words, my son played a few games at SpellingCity.com)
• Independent Reading ~ Happy Hollisters, 2 Chapters
• History ~ We switched to On the Shores of the Great Sea because The Book of Discovery was a little too advanced for my son, Chapter 1
• Biography ~ Christopher Columbus, Chapter 2
• Social Studies ~ Our Little Korean Cousin, Chapter 3

Thursday:

• Bible Study ~ Hurlbut's Story of the Bible, Chapter 3
• Math ~ CIMT MEP, Interactive version year 3a, page 5
• Science ~ The Story Book of Science, Chapter 3
• Spelling ~ McGuffey's Speller, Lesson 27 (Using the third list of 8 words, my son played a few games at SpellingCity.com)
• Literature ~ McGuffey's Fourth Reader, Lesson 2
• History ~ On the Shores of the Great Sea, Chapter 2

Friday:

• Bible Study ~ Mailbox Ministry, Explorers Course 1 Lesson 4
• Math ~ CIMT MEP, Interactive version year 3a, page 6, Scott Foresman Math, 2 games
• Science ~ The Story Book of Science, Chapter 4
• Health ~ The Child's Day, Chapter 5
• Spelling ~ McGuffey's Speller, Lesson 27 (Using the fourth list of 8 words, my son played a few games at SpellingCity.com)
• Independent Reading ~ Happy Hollisters, 2 Chapters
• On the Shores of the Great Sea, Chapter 3
• Biography ~ Christopher Columbus, Chapter 3
• Social Studies ~ Our Little Korean Cousin, Chapter 4

Some lessons my son can do independently, while others we take turns reading aloud.  This allows for discussion and questions to be asked during and after reading, which shows me my son is comprehending the text.

If you notice I haven't incorporated any grammar or writing lessons yet.  Mainly because my son hates these subjects, but also due to the amazing opportunities the texts offer for proper English language study.  We've spent more time this week searching the dictionary for unknown words and their usage than in his previous year and a half of homeschooling.  He has shown a real interest in understanding some of the "arcaic" English words used in these texts.  I'll be adding grammar and writing later using another resource, but we're content for now with what we're doing.