Truck projects

My son's have been working on their trucks that they purchased used. It has been a family project including grandpap, dad, & uncle helping the boys. They are learning how to take something used and make it usable while staying out of debt. They both have used their own money and time to fix these trucks up. 

 Dominic wanted an older truck .So he purchased an 84 Dodge Ram.

     Joe also bought a Dodge Ram 1997. He likes the newer look and the less gas mileage. Now everyone in the family has a Dodge Ram from Grandpap down to the grand kids. We have always had GMC trucks now we have Dodge Rams. They are both 4 wheel drive which is a must were we live. I will post pictures when they are done. These projects have been taking up most of the guy's time but it will be worth it in the end.
    As for Joe homeschooling in the garage. I don't think he wants to be a mechanic or do body work for a living but it is still good to learn and gain the experience.

How and Why to Use Mcguffey Readers

“The Christian religion, 
is the religion of our 
country. From it are 
derived our prevalent 

notions of the character 
of God, the great moral 
governor of the universe. 
On its doctrines are 
founded the peculiarities  
of our free institutions.”

W. H. McGuffey

       I am planning to use the McGruffey readers for my highschool students because it is Christ centered, character building , and quality literature. They were written during a time when America was proud to be a Christian nation, revivals were spreading across the country, and Christ was still in the school rooms.

       Yes, as much as the current culture is trying to deny we were once a Christian nation!! There is documentation everywhere from the McGuffey readers used in our past education system, 10 commandments etc. being removed from our government buildings, to historical documents. I loved the movie Monumental for this reason! I want my children to know and treasure this heritage. Which is just another reason we homeschool ! I want them to learn the true American history. So beside the Christ centered and character building literature this is a secondary reason I am praying and choosing to use the McGuffey readers.

    I have been collecting information on how to use these wonderful readers in my one room school house still making an effort to make Christ the center of our education in every way possible. I have owned these books for  a few years now but I really want to use them as I have been challenged by the Lord to seek literature that will be a tool used in raising  my children. Not just good literature but  great literature  the Lord can use to shape and mold them into Godly men and women. So I thought I would share the ways others are using them, websites, and blogs as I seek to find a way to use this tool in my home.

Here is a general guide I found but place the student at their level:

McGuffey Primer for Grades 1-2This book begins with the alphabet, moves to simple one-syllable words....

McGuffey 1st Reader (Grades 3-4)Most words in this reader are phonetically regular...

McGuffey 2nd Reader (Grades 4-5)This book begins with one- and two-syllable words and progresses to more difficult words covering....

McGuffey 3rd Reader (Grades 6-8)This book develops thinking skills and the richer vocabulary...

McGuffey 4th Reader (Grades 9-12)This book develops advanced vocabulary and thinking skills and introduces
some of the greatest English authors including Webster, Jefferson, Shakespeare,
Johnson, and Schiller....

Penmanship: here again a general guide but work at the students comfort zone and build from there...
Age 6: copy letters and very short words from Reader
Age 7: copy a sentence a day from Reader
Age 8: copy a paragraph from Reader once per week, from other sources on other days
Age 9: copy 2 paragraphs from Reader once per week, from other sources on other days
Age 10: copy 3 paragraphs from Reader once per week, from other sources on other days
Age 11-13 copy entire page
Age 14 and older entire lesson throughout the week

Free McGuffey Readers Guide click here   It is from: Large Family Mothering,  a great blog if you are interested in using the McGuffey Readers.

•  McGuffey readers part 1 of blog post series.
• McGuffey readers part 2
• McGuffey readers part 3
• MGuffey readers part 4
• McGuffey readers part 5

Website to purchase books on CD click here.   www.dollarhomeschool.com

Below I have listed links that I copied from forums from other homeschool moms who use McGuffey Readers .

from forums.welltrainedmind.com click here

Here is how I do it; it may not be the WTM way but my children are all very proficient readers and spellers! Works for me!

We learn to read with the primers and speller. One reading lesson at a time until that lesson is mastered, one spelling lesson per week. We don't move on until the child can both read and spell all the words. Once the child has learned the first few pages of the speller, he's reading! With a phonetic syllabary, reading happens quickly.

My children have all been able to read the books much sooner than the schedule I mentioned above. My eight year old could read out of the fourth reader if I wanted. But I don't. I want him in the first half of the second reader. My 10 year old is in the first half of the third reader. My newly-7th grader is beginning the fourth reader.

They each learn one lesson per week.

Day 1: Read the lesson. Copy according to ability (first reader students begin with a sentence and work up to a short paragraph; the writing increases each level until the fourth reader student is copying half the lesson).

On Day 1 we also begin the week's spelling lesson. If a student studies half a spelling page per week beginning in kindergarten, he'll complete the speller by 10th grade or so. I add the reader lesson's spelling words to the list. I write out the words and the child copies them one time each on days 1-3. Small children use a chalkboard or magnadoodle. We look up any unfamiliar words in the dictionary, but I don't make them copy these definitions.

Day 2: Answer the questions at the end of the lesson. The answers must be written in complete sentences, with good penmanship.

Day 3: Spell and define. They get the most out of defining if you let them use Webster's 1828 Dictionary. By the third reader they need to be copying the entire definition correctly. Test on this lesson's spelling words.

Day 4: Read the lesson aloud. I'm fussy about diction, expression, speed, and posture. We also do dictation on Day 4; I use the work that they copied on Day 1. Occasionally I have my older students do some research and write a short paper about their lesson. In that case they write the rough draft on Day 4 and the final copy on Day 5.

Day 5: Weekly spelling bee, all students together.

dulcimeramy said

Some of my children use the (older version) McGuffey readers, and some use the Elson Readers.

I never bought the teacher's guides for the Elson books. I just teach copywork, dictation, and narration. Whether McGuffey or Elson, I assign one story each week. I use this format for grades 1 to 6:

Day 1: Read, do copywork. (A sentence for a little one, paragraph for lower elementary, half a page for upper elementary)

Day 2: Spelling and definitions. McGuffey assigns words, but I have to look for the words in Elson.

Day 3: Write the answers to the comprehension questions. Narration: oral for little ones, written for older ones.

Day 4: Dictation, using the copywork from Day 1. Read aloud.

I think we've had good results with this system. My children use Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons, too. Each week they also write one history outline, one history narration, one science summary,and one science lab report.

ETA: I learned something since I posted that. Elson Readers have excellent built-in glossary work starting in Book 5. Nowadays I prefer Elson to McGuffey for upper elementary.

http://homeschoolreviews.com/forums
 It’s my understanding that the way they were originally used, they were set up to do one lesson per week. I don’t have any guides, but here’s how we’re using them right now: 

We plan one lesson per week. The words at the beginning of the lesson become our spelling words. I go through the entire list (Monday) and the ones my dd gets incorrect go on a white board so she can see them any time. Then she reads the lesson out loud to me. Her goal is to make no mistakes in reading and to put “action” into her voice. Her mind seems to work faster than her mouth, though, and she gets ahead of what she’s saying when reading out loud. This has really helped her to slow down and be more consistent. Finally, I take the number of numbered paragraphs in each lesson and divide by either 4 or 5 (the number of days in that week we’ll be doing “school”). Those paragraphs become her copywork (Charlotte Mason style) each day. 

Each day, we go over the spelling words orally, then she reads the lesson out loud to me, and then does the next section of copywork. Fridays are spelling words written quiz day (at her request-believe it or not!). The spelling words and read aloud take about 5 minutes a day. It’s really quick, but my dd loves this time.
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Here are some samples of the 4th reader I plan on using for my highschool students. I will continue to post as I we work through finding out what formula works for our family. If you have found a formula that works for you I would be love to hear about it or if you have a recommendation for great literature that directs the heart to Christ or character please share!

Mystery of History week 4 activities

Here are Mystery of History week 4 activities. I just purchased Biblioplan's Ancient Craft book and I can't wait to add that to our MOH activities. I love fun crafts!!!
   I purchased Build Your Own Stonehenge kit from Amazon. Angelo put that together. It comes with a small book of information. Job wanted to make his out of clay and make it like it would of looked when first built. Nehemiah wanted to do the MOH suggestion gluing rocks together.

 We also learned about mummies. Here they are making mummies out of their favorite stuffed animals, their pets to bury with them if they lived in Ancient Egypt. Titus had to be apart of the action. I can't believe her turns 3 next week so this will be his preschool activities :)

We had a contest so it encouraged the older kids to get involved! They each wrapped a sibling. Titus was unanimously voted the cutest mummy. Joe did Titus.

I did Nehemiah.

Angel did Angelo.

Daniel did Job.

We plan on doing the maps project today. I can't believe we have a month of school in already! Time flys when your having fun!!!

My Book Basket

 My Father in law sent this old metal basket over just to transport some stuff he was given us. I fell in love with it . I love old things and it fit perfect on top of our workboxes. It is wide and can hold a large amount of books so I made it my book Basket.
     The books I placed in it are reading books that the kids are sharing that I don't want  in their individual workboxes. Books that we may use weekly like The Journey Through the Bible for example. Also books that I may be using to teach or reference books they may use often for writing etc. I even have room for my husband's giant notebook binder he uses for his Sunday school lessons. So this old metal wire basket that is ...ones man's garbage is another man's treasure.. turned out to be a useful everyday tool for me that I enjoy.

Apologia science kits from Creation Sensation !

I purchased a deluxe family kit from Creation Sensations. This kit has just about everything you need to complete your lesson projects!!

Click here to take you to www.creationsensation.com

 They give a list of the things you need that is not included in the kit.You can also purchase smaller add on kits for additional students which I did. They have taken care of everything they possibly can though! Everything from q tips , tape, pinecones etc.They offer kits for all of the Apologia elementary books!!!

 I purchased the scary Ghost plant it does not come in the kit. I placed everything in a plastic tote. I can then add extra things like the ghost plant or nature guides etc, to my science tote.

 When I went to make the Light hut everything but the box was in the kit!!! I just loved that.They have seeds and I don't have any great pictures but each lesson is organized in baggies with the lesson number labeled on each baggie so you can easily grab what you need. I love organized supplies that I did not have to organize or run around seeking items to complete the activites or experiments.

 I place my container in my school cabinet were it is easy to get to and pull out to complete.

Every supply is there to make you a success. When I looked at the making soap page I thought that would be fun but I will never run around and get the needed materials. Thanks to Creation Sensation I can do the fun projects!!! Even the soap making kit for lesson 1 was in there. Thank you Creation Sensation !!! The kits are very reasonable priced when you figure the time saved running around purchasing items and everything is organized ready for you to go.

What recipe of homeschooling is your family favorite?

   One of the things I enjoy about homeschooling is education that is individual to both the family and the student. We are created for His purpose and each unique in our own way so the result are different recipes will not look the same for each family. What works for one family may not work for another and that is ok. If you are looking for a recipe for your home when it comes to schooling your children the homeschooling  the video at the bottom of this link below will help explain the variety of recipes and help you begin your search.

     I enjoyed the video because the author truly understands everyone is different while knowing her recipe. She gives examples of why others may choose other recipes while at the same time she is not leaving feeling she is selling her recipe as the one size fits all.

      If you use the Wisdom Booklets as a tool for your education you can plan your school year projects etc. according to the recipe that is right for you. If you are looking to purchase curriculum this may help you narrow down what is out there that uses your recipe, or you may realize you don't need curriculum but a more self directed learning. Which even with the Wisdom Booklets may spark interests in your children as they go through the Wisdom Booklets.

Click on the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the video I am referring too.
https://simplycharlottemason.com/what-is-the-charlotte-mason-method/

     After watching the video my self and doing the evaluation questions it confirmed we have the Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling , with a touch of classical, & unit study replacing some of the Charlotte Mason ingredients. For example, I do not focus  on  art (Charlotte Mason) but think memorization is important in the younger years like math facts & grammar rules (Classical). So even if you found your favorite recipe some of the spices may be unique to your family's main recipe.

     As seasons in life pass your recipes will change so pray and allow Christ to direct you as a good Shepherd leading you through the paths of life. Enjoy the journey and no matter what recipe or path you choose purpose to make Christ the center of your homeschool !!!             Deuteronomy 6:4-7

After you watch the video let me know what is your recipe!