Week 9 went by with a blur (they all do these days). This happened to also be our first week of Classical Conversations, which my daughter thoroughly enjoys. There are seven subjects covered in a short amount of time, not including the Bible scripture they're memorizing. It goes by quickly. Ask my child what the 1st conjugation endings, present tense, are in Latin and she'll tell you. I kid you not. The children learn A LOT in the short three hours we're there (once a week) and the rest of the week us parents are reinforcing those subjects every way we can. Through song, play, reading, coloring and drawing...anything we can think of! It is a wonderful process.
One of the things we took away from the History part of CC was about Charlemagne (or Charles the Great, a.k.a Charles Magnus). As suggested by Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood I recently purchased The Story of The World: History for the Classical Child to go along with the history we're learning in our CC curriculum (I actually purchased all 4 volumes.) My daughter LOVED hearing the story of Charlemagne and was excited to hear the part that tied in with the history fact she learned in Classical Conversations. I love when I can see the dots connecting!
Even if you're not a homeschooler I highly suggest The Story of the World books. They teach History in a way the kids can relate to and the stories are long enough to hold their interest and keep them wanting more without be drawn out and boring. When we finished up the chapters on Charlemagne my daughter was disappointed there wasn't more.
Our week ended with a project for my daughter that had her name written all over it. She's such a performer and I knew she would enjoy this one. We were to watch the news together and I was to point out all the different ways the reporter conducted herself; from the way she clearly spoke to her composure to her eye contact. Then my daughter had to come up with something in her life that she wanted to report on and deliver it the same way she saw the news reporter do it.
When we finally got the news turned on we happened upon a piece on eating healthy, where a chef was being interviewed. She too wanted to do a report on eating healthy which ended up turning into an instructional presentation on how to make a smoothie. Afterwards though, I asked her to think of an event that she wanted to report on and what she wanted to say so that it would be presented just like the anchors on the news. She chose to report on my husband competing in the Scottish Highland Games in Long Beach back in February. She took some time to think of what she was going to say, grabbed a mike and began.
I didn't record it. I wanted to, but she was ready to go and I didn't want to interrupt the creative flow by saying, "Wait, wait! Let me get the camera." Next time, I'll have it ready and going.
Anyway, her "news report" was flawless. She knew exactly what she wanted to say. She kept herself still (no fidgeting!) and she kept great eye contact. She spoke clearly and at the appropriate volume. There were no pauses, no "ums" or "uhs". It flowed beautifully.
Like I said, it had her name written all over it.
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