I think this is the best muscle picture you'll see in a long time! Lydia is loving anatomy.

Mary's Homeschool Plan

Mary at 10 years old is convinced that she was born in the wrong century. She would rather live in a time of long skirts, pressing flowers and sewing than anything.

These are her subjects that I have assigned:

Math - Saxon Math 65. This is Mary's weakest subject. One day this week it took her four hours to complete one lesson. Because it is hard? No, because she likes to dream and doesn't like math at all. She is also required to go through her flash cards three times per week.

Science - Exploring Creation with Botany by Jeannie Fulbright. Mary loves these science books and actually started this on during the summer on her own. She works through this at her own pace because I know she enjoys it so much that she won't be slack with it. Our weakness here is the experiments. I have never done well with science experiments and need to change that.

History - War Between the States: America's Uncivil War by John Dwyer. We are approaching this one with caution. This is a high school text book that Ray came across and Mary wanted to try. He is discussing a lot of it with her and she has a lot of vocabulary word to learn from it. She is taking it very slowly and seems to be doing very well with it.

Grammar - We just got the Easy Grammar workbook set so she is planning to start it tomorrow. We have enjoyed these so much because they work well for kids to do pretty much on their own.

Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting E. Just more practice in cursive.

Spelling - Spelling Power F. Remember, I'm not worrying about spelling rules.

Spanish - is working with our friend Natalie.

Reading - This is a no-brainer - whatever she can get her hands on. She loves to read! I am going through the Veritas Press reading lists to make sure she is reading enough of the classics.

Piano - Mary is taking piano lessons at Funderful World of Music in Gainesville and is required to practice every day. (But this is not a chore for her.)

Violin - Lessons with Ms. Natalie start back tomorrow.

Exercise - This is the first year I have put exercise on her list of requirements, because Mary isn't a natural go-getter. She would much rather work her brain than work her physical muscles. She is supposed to get outside and move hard for at least 20 minutes a week. That doesn't sound like much, but knowing Mary it is hard for her to do.

Apologia

When adults hear the word "apologetics" some might get a little intimidated and think, "I'm not that smart." It isn't about being smart. It's about defending the faith. Apologia Curriculum has set out to help students do that and more. The writers are intent on teaching science in a way that opens students' eyes to the world that God created by giving them beautiful illustrations, interesting reading, and fun and informative experiments. Jennie Fulbright wrote the elementary grades. Jay Wile has written the high school books. I love these books because I can give the text to my child and say read this. I don't have to worry about what kind of teaching she will get. It is easy to add vocabulary lists, extra work and experiments for the older children or simply read aloud to the younger ones.
Mary started this science curriculum in the second grade with Exploring Creation with Zoology: Flying Creatures. She had a fascination with birds at the time and this book only fueled that love. It was an exciting day when in church she stood straight up in the middle of service and said out loud, "There's a female Cardinal on the bird feeder." Mary is in the fourth grade now and is reading her science out loud to Lydia. She is learning, teaching, and developing patience with a little girl who wants to "play" through school.
Jay Wile wrote the high school books. Hannah chose to do Exploring Creation with Marine Biology in her senior year of high school just because she really enjoyed the texts. (She has also done the chemistry and physics books, and she isn't "science" minded.) We stumbled across these books years ago and have not regretted ever buying any of them. Thanks to my friend who is loaning me the Land Animals... book until mine that I have ordered gets here. I look forward to when we own the entire series. Who knows, Lydia may be the scientist out of all of the girls. She will certainly have a great foundation.

Expelled

On Saturday a group from our church went to see Expelled the Movie. The movie was about how the scientific community has banned all teaching of intelligent design from all educational institutions. There was a little humor thrown in to keep you watching. I was impressed with the analogy used throughout the movie of our loosing the freedom to teach science to the building of the Berlin Wall. Though this movie wasn't an argument for creationism, it revealed the so-called scientists who black list scientists who teach intelligent design for what they are. The "scientists" are proven to be insecure in their false teachings and show some of their own contradictions. I hope to go back with pen and paper to see this movie again to learn more about this debate and be able to teach my own children how to defend their right to learn science with a correct worldview.