Bang!Zoom! Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I'm learning a whole new world here. Daunting, but beautiful. To what degree would you say you follow a Classical Path? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 100% Even the subject areas that aren't traditionally "classical" are taught in a classical way here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Doing my best to do it the WTM way here. I wasn't classically educated. Though, looking back, the best teachers I had used classical method. I don't know the percentage?? I use almost all WTM recs or things that meet the objectives best for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Trying for 100%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 It is difficult to pick a number, but probably somewhere around 20%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 I want to be good friends with all of you. My mind is soggy oatmeal. Please hold my hand & be my friend as I wander. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I want to be good friends with all of you. My mind is soggy oatmeal. Please hold my hand & be my friend as I wander. :grouphug: LOL! Don't believe her. I met her IRL recently and she's VERY sharp. But, yes, one can definitely feel overwhelmed when learning new things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I am aiming for 100%, but I am probably closer to 70% I am not sure about Math and Science. I *believe* the main goal of classical teaching is to teach the child how to teach/learn for themselves. To instill a love of learning and the tools of how to go about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 According to the WTM, 2nd grade requirements: Spelling 10-15 min. a day: 100% Begin cursive penmanship: 0% Reading 30 min./day: 100% Grammar 20 m./day: 0% Memory 10 min./day: 20% Reading fun books quietly 30 m/d: 100% Writing/dictation 10/day: 100% Math 40 m/d: 100% History: 20% Science: 20% Religion: 100% Art: 100% Music: 100% Total Classical %= 66% (i think I did that right :confused:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 One*mom, are you talking about classical or WTM? My answer is different if we are discussing just WTM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Maybe about 20%. It is the least with this child in these years, and that is closest to what SWB recommended. As you get into high school years, you should pay more attention to the future goals of your student. Since mine is going into science or technology, we have put more emphasis on science and math while still doing some history, English, and foreign language. But I see more need for this child to develop good writing skills than to read lots of classics. She will read some but certainly not as many as her brother who read almost the entire WTM reading list or her sister, who read less but still more than this one will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Thanks for the compliment C, lol...I'm just absolutely fried from listening to the audios. About two minutes into one of them, I had to take my headphones off, wander around the apartment like a zombie, come back, look at my notes, back up, listen again...."did I hear that right?" yep..I did....so back to wandering the kitchen...empty the dishwasher, throw in a load of laundry, wipe the counters..come back..look at the screen, my notes, listen to it again...yep...it's exactly as I remember him saying it...I didn't make it up. So, okay, I'll let that sit for an hour or so, see what happens if I turn away from it for a bit. I can't exactly explain how I felt listening to it; but it brought back memories of being interviewed or fired from a job; it was that stunning. This is my short note from the very brief listening..probably all of 30 seconds into it that stopped me dead in my tracks (that seems to be happening a lot lately with this stuff).... Andrew Kern, Teaching with Analytical Learning, Podcast Advice: Virtue & Honor, as a goal of teaching. This is the fundamental responsibility & goal as a teacher. If you cannot teach under this premise, it is requested that you not teach at all. You must relate all things to teaching with this goal. Do not listen, attend or participate if this relationship is not present in your mind. ----- I'm talking about Classical Learning in it's clearest sense and approach...not just WTM or WEM. WEM has just put nothing short of a forest-fire in my life; I mean this. Seriously. WTM as an overview/scope is tasty, WEM (and believe me, I'm only on page like..25..) is more like the key that opens the door...and stepping into it as a whole and actually "clicking it mentally" is the difference (for me personally) between a a rusted out 1972 Pinto and a custom Bugatti Veyron 2012. The landscape is vast and deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 :glare: I am glad you asked this. I used to do so much more! I feel guilty now most of the time, and keep on trying. My health has taken so much time out of our "school for over 1 year"! I have had to pray and not give up. I read the first edition of WTM about 12 years ago and started out very well. I joined a Classical support group and learned so much about how to implement this method. I do use Latin DVD and work books. And in the past 4 years I have been in 1 CC group. We can't do that anymore though. I still use the Foundations Guide and CD's for memory work. Classical methods can be used in most subjects, and my biggest struggle is teaching Writing. I am using Susan W. Bauer's writing for our 9 year old son. I am taking slower with our 8 year old and 6 year old and using Alphabet Island, Apologia Anatomy, and Beginner's Bible. Our 4 and 2 year olds love to "read books" and draw! 4 yr. old does an early learning workbook in the mornings and plays fun Computer games. It is our oldest two I am having more problems with. They both love to read ( thank God) dd12 likes math and latin. I just read a book every year on Classical education. Take information out of the new WTM ( I have them all now) and keep trying to make the three R's our priority with Latin and Spanish now. Please pray for my son who hates school and makes excuses all the time.I need my combat boots!:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I too have read many books in the WEM and have a group for discussion that I need to get to. Even without the discussions, I feel richer for the reading! I read aloud 4-5 days a week and that is a big part of our classics list. I need to push my readers more, every year to read on their own. I guess I feel the need to be able to discuss it with them too, but I don't know how to discuss if I have never read the book! Having them write about the books ( not necessarily a Book Report) may be best. I am so glad this forum is here to get my brain picked more. My Classical support group is no longer meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Math, Grammar, Latin, Writing-90-100% History-we use the cycle, but mainly read and listen to audio and do some hands on. I like to do lots of history field trips. Oh and history videos. Science- Total unschoolers. Did I just write that? Yep, I buy kits and we read and whatever strikes our fancy we do it. Music-same Art-waldorf inspired and lots of books Nature-we have a huge garden, etc, and go on weekly nature walks. I believe in a strong core subject, but everything else is child-led. We have a chapter RA going on at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Andrew Kern, Teaching with Analytical Learning, Podcast Andrew Kern is a genius. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 History-we use the cycle, but mainly read and listen to audio and do some hands on. I like to do lots of history field trips. Oh and history videos. Science- Total unschoolers. Did I just write that? Yep, I buy kits and we read and whatever strikes our fancy we do it. . I was just thinking I would feel better about myself if I said we were unschooling history and science because we just can't seem to get to them regularly. DD loves both subjects and would do it on her own but I have this darn schedule and plan that keeps making me feel guilty. I think we're doing most other subjects in a classical way and doing Latin & Greek and reading lots of classics and other books. Usually once a year I re-read some parts of WTM to get myself back on track. I'm due for that soon so I imagine I will answer differently when I'm done re-reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I'll say 75%. Some days more, some days less! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma aimee Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 ideally 80% classical and 20% CM. I freely admit we are not doing greek or latin or both in kindy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Started out about 70%...just guessing. It has since devolved into 100% Herrell School For Girls Method. It is whatever works for us at the time. (subject to change) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 (edited) So just to make things interesting today I switched roles with my daughter. I explained the best I could the differences between didactic learning and dialectic learning. I modeled the teaching both ways on a problem set of self-discipline in education. Then I threw it in her lap and told her she had to teach me something using the two methods. We ended up with me (student) and her (teacher) using American Girl dolls as the "model". http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/twoinstuct.html After it was all over, I asked her, "Can you get any sense of how it is for me to run around you in circles trying to figure out how to get a point across or teach you something?" Her answer: "Mom, look, I get it, but this is done. I'm done. Imagine it's like this...me, I'm a three-year old now, and you come rushing in the room all excited asking me to help you with your tax return forms. I don't want to do taxes anymore Mom. I want to play dolls." lol She really struggled with the questioning method at first. We had a really amazing day getting just these two concepts tried out for the first time ever...in a more formal manner and first flight. What a trip this stuff is. Whee! We never even brushed the surface of the following: (clip) Once you’ve grown comfortable with questioning your students, you will want to refine your understanding of dialectic instruction. Socrates’ questioning usually fell into two stages, the ironic and the maieutic. In the ironic stage, you use questions to probe your student’s understanding–to find the inadequacies in his thoughts. These inadequacies might include contradictions, insufficient definitions of terms, faulty logic (especially things like hasty generalizations and reversal of cause and effect), and other common mistakes that we make all too frequently. The purpose of the ironic stage is to weaken the individual’s confidence in an inadequate understanding of reality. After the student recognizes the inadequacy of his original idea and wants a clearer apprehension of the truth, he is ready for the maieutic stage. In this second stage, you will make more suggestions than you did in the ironic stage, but questions still drive your student. In the end, the student and the teacher both better understand an idea. The purpose of the maieutic stage is to give birth ("maieutic" is Greek for "having to do with a midwife") to this more accurate understanding of reality. It is important to notice that both the didactic and dialectic methods of teaching are engaged in thinking about ideas by asking questions. There is no more effective method for training the mind. ------------------------------------------------- Has anyone practiced the ironic & maieutic stages of teaching with their kids? I'm wondering if it's only effective as a process once the Logic stage (I'm assuming here) is fairly solid. Edited January 20, 2012 by one*mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Truly classical the way it used to be taught, you all would be teaching your children to spell and read with syllables in Latin before teaching spelling and reading in your native language. Then, you would teach spelling and reading with syllables in your native language. My percentage depends on which version of classical we're talking about! And, do I get any bonus points for teaching Latin and Spanish pronunciation with syllables even if I taught English syllables first?:lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Truly classical the way it used to be taught, you all would be teaching your children to spell and read with syllables in Latin before teaching spelling and reading in your native language. Then, you would teach spelling and reading with syllables in your native language. My percentage depends on which version of classical we're talking about! And, do I get any bonus points for teaching Latin and Spanish pronunciation with syllables even if I taught English syllables first?:lol::lol: Way bonus + :svengo: (x) ∞ Deep bow. :coolgleamA: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 According to the WTM, 2nd grade requirements: Spelling 10-15 min. a day: 100% Begin cursive penmanship: 0% Reading 30 min./day: 100% Grammar 20 m./day: 0% Memory 10 min./day: 20% Reading fun books quietly 30 m/d: 100% Writing/dictation 10/day: 100% Math 40 m/d: 100% History: 20% Science: 20% Religion: 100% Art: 100% Music: 100% Total Classical %= 66% (i think I did that right :confused:) Don't compare to those times exactly. SWB said the publishers made her come up with times. They vary from child to child. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Don't compare to those times exactly. SWB said the publishers made her come up with times. They vary from child to child. :grouphug: :iagree: And, time spent does not equal time that information is actually getting to the brain. You can sometimes spend 10 minutes of focused, quality time and get more into the brain that 60 minutes of not as focused work. Or, the case with many of my remedial students, there has been a lot of time spent getting sight words into the brain and then they "read" by guessing wildly and I have to un-train these guessing habits and re-train the brain to sound out every sound from left to right. I actually found it easier to teach remedial children of homeless moms from inner-city schools than children from stable families in inner city schools because there was no re-training necessary. After tutoring remedial students for many years, I have found ways to achieve the same grade level progress at least twice as fast, and probably 4 times as fast as when I first started tutoring, I've become much more efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASDAQ Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Any resemblance between this home school and classical (or any method of) schooling, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Any resemblance between this home school and classical (or any method of) schooling, living or dead, is purely coincidental. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Um, 50%. It varies~waffle, sidestep~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 (edited) I'm yanking this up again, apologies if warranted... Just a couple of things quickly (not that *getting* this was quick) - but I'm still not done with my first audio. Am I lame or what? At least I have company it seems. I shared this with a friend of mine, and she spent 5 hours stuck after two minutes into the same audio by Andrew Kern. She's absolutely struck dumb by the by these ideas and is doing some maniacal researching; basically, she's falling in love with the ideas. It's so cute. :D Now, I finally get through a few more minutes of it..and I hear this idea about mathematics and the act of prayer. That there is a connection between the two. I'm semi-bent on quantum and math. And this is the first time I've ever heard of this connection..about how teaching contemplation in mathematics is training for prayer. Nuclear event. Is there anyone out there that has ever heard of this before? That's the biggest idea I've run across in decades. Really. Anyone? edit: Not sure if this is the exact text his thoughts (AK) were based on, but it is the concept. http://web.me.com/grainne2/Simone_Weil/Simone_Weil_.html Edited January 21, 2012 by one*mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alenee Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I was doing nearly 100% until last year...my 7th year. We've been on "just get the basics" for about 18 mos. now. I've been fumbling because of the learning styles of my two youngest children. Child #1 was so much easier!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 One*mom, you are anything but lame! :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I guess it depends on which kid we're talking about. 10 yro is following TWTM logic stage 100%. She loves everything about it. My younger kids probably fit more in the Latin-Centered Curriculum plan (with some Charlotte Mason). We use alot of the LCC book recommendations and school is very light in the early years. My 1st grader does maybe an hour or less of formal schoolwork. I put a huge emphasis on their interests. I want them to have time to pick books that they like, learn things on their own for fun, do projects, become experts on reptiles of Madagascar :tongue_smilie:... It's important (for me) that they see learning/exploring as a natural part of their day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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