So glad I've used WTM methods/resources over the years...

[Colleen in NS]

I just want to say that I am so glad I discovered TWTM book years ago, and started using it as a guide in 2004. Also very glad I found the boards around 2005 or so. I started using the methods because there was a plan laid out, and I hadn't had a plan before that. I had taught my kids to read, gave them some math worksheets, let them play and explore, and that was it (which was good enough in the preschool years). Nevertheless, when we first started, I blindly trusted. I couldn't see the big picture involved in classical-style schooling; I only knew that a plan and lots of reading appealed to me.

 

I bought FLL, SOTW, and the grammar-stage biology books, eventually searched for and implemented a formal math program (wish we'd started one from grade 1, but glad ds was able to catch up easily), and got library books based on the lit. lists in WTM. We started doing narrations and dictations. It was all fun and gave us structure to the day.

 

My kids grew, and I started looking ahead to logic stage - wanted to see just what this "logic" topic was all about. :D I bought some books wwaaayyyy ahead of time (even into rhetoric stage!), and that helped me to gain a bigger glimpse into classical education and how all the recommended methods/resources in WTM fit together. I also started to understand how I could search for resources that would ALSO fit into a classical-style education, even if not mentioned in WTM.

 

I attended the WTM Anniversary Conference in 2009, and got even more info. and a bigger picture.

 

Meanwhile, my kids kept plugging along, doing their math, doing their grammar exercises, adding in Latin, reading history chronologically, reading/experimenting in separate science disciplines each year, reading through literature chronologically, and doing narrations/copywork/dictation/outlines each week, each year.

 

Now I'm starting to see glimpses of fruit in their lives. My son occasionally draws parallels between math and grammar, and between math and Latin (grammar, I suppose). Which causes me to see parallels between things such as drawing skills and experimentation skills, or between grammar skills and computer programming coding. The other day my daughter told me she had been reading a book, and couldn't understand a particular part, so she started diagramming the sentence in her mind. I about fell over! She said she realized the sentence was not grammatically correct, and it was no wonder she couldn't understand it. I was SO HAPPY to hear her tell me this - that she is automatically using the skills that she is learning. Funnily, my (13yo) son chimed in with "Yeah, that happens when I read (I won't name the book series here, lol) - I keep seeing all sorts of grammar/punctuation errors - run-on sentences, commas where semi-colons should be, etc.. It drives me crazy! Mom, why in the world did you have to teach us this stuff - it ruins my reading pleasure!!!" :lol: Ha ha, I told him that though he likes that series for whatever reasons, he also recognizes REALLY good writing now, thanks to me. ;):tongue_smilie:

 

And my daughter who struggled with math - she does everyday life math in her mind now, quickly. She corrected me on something (I can't remember what) yesterday. She is starting to think through things on her own, too.

 

I am just so happy that TWTM came across my path, because it led us down an orderly mental road, diverting me from the unfocused one we were on before that. So glad I stuck with it, even when I struggled to see the bigger picture. My kids do complain about having to do their grammar or whatever, but I am more sure now that all of this will serve them well when they grow up. That's what keeps me going. That and the boardies I have discovered here and developed e-mail/p.m. relationships with, or boardies whose posts I read just because they've been using WTM/classical methods for longer than I have, and whose children's fruit is definitely there.

 

Anyway, just wanted to post about the fruit I am starting to see after all these years. It's fun to watch.

[Surprise Symphony]

I just love your post. I am also beginning to see my three make connections that I never made at those ages. It's wonderful.

[Tress]

Inspiring post, Colleen! And yes, I'm also very, very thankful for WTM book and forum! (still waiting a bit for the kids to make all those awesome connections :D)

[WTMCassandra]

Yes, I agree. I too am unspeakably grateful for finding the WTM when it was first being published. Congratulations, Colleen! It is indeed good to begin to see the fruit of your labor.

 

I had a similar moment this week. My DD, who was such a bear to teach to read, and a late bloomer, chose to read Great Expectations in her free time and told me yesterday that she finished it and really liked it. Shhhh, don't tell her that many people study it in school!

[Molly]

Thank you Colleen. It is great to see where you are at. I have only be looking at TWTM since last year sometime but it really struck me as how I really wanted to educate my blossoms. So a year and a half later we are getting closer and closer to the model she sets out, but I can see the big picture, I can see how my blossoms will be able to make the connections, mainly because for the first time in my life I am starting to put connections together of all I am learning.

 

I so look forward to the coming years as the children and I continue to make connections and can view the world from a well-balanced point of view.

[Catherine]

Here here!! ITA. I could say the same, and it makes me so happy.

[Colleen in NS]

Thanks, ladies - I was hoping my post would be encouraging to some here. Please remind me of it if I post a depressing post, oh, around February, in the deep funk of a Canadian winter...

[ebunny]

I just want to say that I am so glad I discovered TWTM book years ago, and started using it as a guide in 2004. Also very glad I found the boards around 2005 or so. I started using the methods because there was a plan laid out, and I hadn't had a plan before that. I had taught my kids to read, gave them some math worksheets, let them play and explore, and that was it (which was good enough in the preschool years). Nevertheless, when we first started, I blindly trusted. I couldn't see the big picture involved in classical-style schooling; I only knew that a plan and lots of reading appealed to me.

 

I bought FLL, SOTW, and the grammar-stage biology books, eventually searched for and implemented a formal math program (wish we'd started one from grade 1, but glad ds was able to catch up easily), and got library books based on the lit. lists in WTM. We started doing narrations and dictations. It was all fun and gave us structure to the day.

 

My kids grew, and I started looking ahead to logic stage - wanted to see just what this "logic" topic was all about. :D I bought some books wwaaayyyy ahead of time (even into rhetoric stage!), and that helped me to gain a bigger glimpse into classical education and how all the recommended methods/resources in WTM fit together. I also started to understand how I could search for resources that would ALSO fit into a classical-style education, even if not mentioned in WTM.

 

I attended the WTM Anniversary Conference in 2009, and got even more info. and a bigger picture.

 

Meanwhile, my kids kept plugging along, doing their math, doing their grammar exercises, adding in Latin, reading history chronologically, reading/experimenting in separate science disciplines each year, reading through literature chronologically, and doing narrations/copywork/dictation/outlines each week, each year.

 

Now I'm starting to see glimpses of fruit in their lives. My son occasionally draws parallels between math and grammar, and between math and Latin (grammar, I suppose). Which causes me to see parallels between things such as drawing skills and experimentation skills, or between grammar skills and computer programming coding. The other day my daughter told me she had been reading a book, and couldn't understand a particular part, so she started diagramming the sentence in her mind. I about fell over! She said she realized the sentence was not grammatically correct, and it was no wonder she couldn't understand it. I was SO HAPPY to hear her tell me this - that she is automatically using the skills that she is learning. Funnily, my (13yo) son chimed in with "Yeah, that happens when I read (I won't name the book series here, lol) - I keep seeing all sorts of grammar/punctuation errors - run-on sentences, commas where semi-colons should be, etc.. It drives me crazy! Mom, why in the world did you have to teach us this stuff - it ruins my reading pleasure!!!" :lol: Ha ha, I told him that though he likes that series for whatever reasons, he also recognizes REALLY good writing now, thanks to me. ;):tongue_smilie:

 

And my daughter who struggled with math - she does everyday life math in her mind now, quickly. She corrected me on something (I can't remember what) yesterday. She is starting to think through things on her own, too.

 

I am just so happy that TWTM came across my path, because it led us down an orderly mental road, diverting me from the unfocused one we were on before that. So glad I stuck with it, even when I struggled to see the bigger picture. My kids do complain about having to do their grammar or whatever, but I am more sure now that all of this will serve them well when they grow up. That's what keeps me going. That and the boardies I have discovered here and developed e-mail/p.m. relationships with, or boardies whose posts I read just because they've been using WTM/classical methods for longer than I have, and whose children's fruit is definitely there.

 

Anyway, just wanted to post about the fruit I am starting to see after all these years. It's fun to watch.

 

Your post is super inspiring for a newbie like me. Rock on!

[Colleen in NS]

Your post is super inspiring for a newbie like me. Rock on!

 

Oh, hey, rock on, yourself! Go for it! It's worth it. :D

[Starr]

I agree Colleen. We could never had made it so well without TWTM. I've got one in college and one to go. I think of all the things I wish we had done but all in all it went well. And we loved our years together. :)

[RegularMom]

Thanks for posting this. We're in the thick of it now, and there are times when I wonder why I ever started doing this... why I didn't just send them off to school and spend quiet hours working on my own career and managing a proper house.

 

But then, every once in a while, some little thing will happen, and I'll realize that it's going to be okay.

 

Like last year, we were sitting around the table finishing lunch and talking about the pink bear named Lotso in Toy Story 3. And suddenly my older dd said: "He's just like Long John Silver, ya know?" (We'd just finished Treasure Island as our lunchtime read-aloud.) And my younger dd said: "He even has a crutch."

 

And I was floored, because we had SLOGGED through Treasure Island. My younger dd moaned every time I brought the book to the table, and I figured we'd just get through it and MOVE ON and that would be the end of that. I never expected them to actually GET anything from it.

 

But... whaddaya know?

 

So, I guess I'll keep on doing this homeschooling thing.

[Ester Maria]

Love your post.

And bumping this up for you. :D

[sparrow]

Great post! I'm seeing all the dots starting to connect, too. Our framework has always stuck to TWTM and I'm grateful to have found it when my kids were just toddlers.

 

On a related note, my son has become such a history buff that he sees correlations everywhere. His nickname in Boy Scouts is 'dot com'--as in put in a question and he spits out an answer :D.

[Faithseed]

I'm beginning to see fruit as well.

 

I'm also seeing the fruit of where I didn't "get it" and trust the process and move on anyway. I have a lot of things that I'm changing for the second group coming through because I can now see a little bit more clearly where we are, and where we are going.

 

I've been on these boards- lurking since the old boards, and finally signed up when the new ones were set up. I don't talk much, but I'm here nearly every day researching, learning, putting together and gleaning from those who are going before me. Very thankful for that!

[melissel]

Lovely post, Colleen, thank you for sharing with us :grouphug:

 

I'm also seeing the fruit of where I didn't "get it" and trust the process and move on anyway. I have a lot of things that I'm changing for the second group coming through because I can now see a little bit more clearly where we are, and where we are going.

 

I was going to say something similar. I have always believed in the promise that TWTM offers, but I kept trying different things for different reasons--Winter Promise materials, Five in a Row, etc. We've owned lots of nice materials, and they all had their upsides, but as each one failed me, I ended up right back where TWTM said I should be, following the method as I should have all along. Even things that didn't work for or that I didn't implement correctly with my oldest (*cough* FLL *cough*) now work beautifully with my youngest.

 

The classical style of education is the education I always wished I'd had, even as a teenager. I always wanted more. I knew I was missing something important, but I had no one to guide me or point the way. I'm so glad that I can give my girls this knowledge--and that I can learn alongside them too!

 

We're getting close to the logic stage now, and I'm starting to sweat a bit. I'll need to start looking ahead the you did, Colleen. I may have to PM you to ask you more about what you did--or maybe I'll start a new thread so we can all learn :D

[kalanamak]

I just love your post. I am also beginning to see my three make connections that I never made at those ages. It's wonderful.

 

:iagree::iagree:

[Colleen in NS]

I'm so glad this was encouraging for some people.

 

I may have to PM you to ask you more about what you did

 

I basically just kept doing the next thing in WTM! If it said to do it, I did it. Only after that would I tweak (or if I'd read something on the boards that made more sense, like "don't outline the red KF, it's too difficult! Try outlining this instead...."). That's partly why I wrote my post - I'm one who didn't have this kind of education, so I blindly followed someone else's advice that seemed to make sense, and it worked.

 

Interestingly, after I wrote this post, I got a phone call from my mother in the States last night. We haven't talked in awhile (she has a hard time hearing on the phone). But she is a former p.s. teacher who fully supports my homeschooling. And she was asking me how homeschooling was going, so I told her about some of the thoughts I'd shared here. And she started telling me about how what I'd said about being glad about continuing with grammar study made sense to her. She said she never trusted English, and she thinks now it's because she never learned grammar! (She also never learned to spell until she discovered WRTR and implemented it in her classroom back in the 80s) She totally understood what I was talking about, esp. after I explained why learning to diagram sentences is so important. I almost had her talked into studying R&S grammar :D until she started making noises about "I'm 67, might be too old, blah blah blah." :D I'm going to keep encouraging her to start. She's writing a book now about some of her life experiences, and I think grammar would be helpful to her, at least so she knows what her editor is trying to tell her. :D So anyway, we each talked about our experiences in p.s. - hers was some type of "progressive school" back in the 50s. It was a very interesting conversation. I think she finally understands my passion for classical-style education, esp. after I told her the things about my kids that I wrote in my OP here. She thought that was hilarious.

 

Anyway, glad this has been helpful.