Shurley English Curriculum Review - A Homeschooling Post

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I can hear you snoring!  However, homeschooling is a big part of my life & I don't want to neglect that in this blog.  From time to time I receive emails & calls from other homeschoolers or want-to-be homeschoolers with questions.  I'm no expert, but I'm now on year 4, so I feel that experience, coupled with years as a preschool teacher and even a phys. ed. teacher, as well as many, many education classes in college can at least qualify me to write a curriculum review for the public!

Shurley English.

www.shurley.com

To back up, Noelle began her home education in 3rd grade with Abeka.  Language Arts is an area she excels in.  I found the grade 3 Abeka curriculum to just not be challenging enough for her.

My very good friend, Susan, was using Shurley, so I switched to that for grade 4 and have been using it since then.  I ordered it through Homeschoolers of Maine, (HOME), because I was placing a large order through them.  The lady in charge tried to discourage me from ordering it because she did not like the curriculum.  However, I am very thankful that I did.

The best thing that Shurley English does is teach the parts of speech, how to diagram a sentence and how to use this information for good writing.  I have learned things teaching Noelle that either I never learned in school or I don't remember covering.  The "jingles" that come with the curriculum, (little ditties put to music that help you remember all the possessive pronouns, prepositions, what an indirect object is, etc.), are super-catchy and probably the key to the true learning and remembering that I have seen occur in Noelle and Micah.

The Shurley books have about 32 chapters, usually with 5 lessons a chapter.  The 4th lesson is usually a test and the 5th lesson is usually a writing assignment.  There are 8 vocabulary words for each chapter.  Shurley is NOT a curriculum based on worksheets.  I think that in 1st and 2nd grade Micah needed those worksheets, but at this age they would just be busy work.  There are usually sentences to diagram for lessons 1-3, plus some practice for new concepts. Shurley is not flashy or visually stimulating.  (Reminder:  I have the homeschool version.)  It can seem a bit wordy, but this has not been a hindrance to us.

To back up, Micah-wise, I used Abeka language arts for him for 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade.  I can't speak for the younger grade Shurley material, but I think the Abeka material was right on target for 1st and 2nd grade.  Micah is a good reader and I credit a lot of that to the ease and repetition of that curriculum.  Language Arts usually also includes literature, spelling, and writing.  By grade 4, when my children were beginning Shurley, I no longer needed to buy "readers", because they could choose-or I can choose- books that are appropriate for reading at their current level.

I thought that Micah might have a hard time with Shurley because it is geared toward auditory learners, and he is not one.  However, having heard the jingles that Noelle had done, for two years, he was ready to jump in and do it too,.  The writing comes harder to him, but I don't really want to compare because Noelle excels in that area.

Noelle started Shurley 4 in 4th grade.  Halfway through that year, at age 9, she came to me and said that she had found a book by Ralph Fletcher on writing.  She requested to take a break from her language arts curriculum so that she could read this book and learn more about writing.

I was amazed at her initiative and resourcefulness and I encouraged her to do so.  Because of this and other ways she worked on writing, we took 2 years to do the Shurley 4.  

I had read that the curriculum is quite repetitive, so this year, grade 6, we went right to Shurley 6.  This transition went so smoothly that I am unsure what to do with Micah!  He is doing well in Shurley 4.  If I skip Shurley 5 with him, it will be to work on his writing, penmanship, and other skills he seems to have a harder time with.

We have already purchased Shurley 7 for next year.  Should we educate at home for 8th grade, which is the plan at this point, I will have to do some research and see what I think we should use for curriculum.  When I was a student we did literature in the middle school years, at least for a couple of years.  This especially makes sense with what we've done with Shurley.  Once the student knows inside-outside-upside-down all the parts of speech and how to use them, they can focus on reading and writing.  For Noelle, she wants to learn Greek, (!).  I'm willing to let her try because if she "fails" it is not really a failure because she tried.  So perhaps that would be a great 8th grade thing to begin on.  

So wordy I am!

Hope this was helpful.  I feel that Shurley will have well-prepared my children for all that they need to know in this area.

I'll Take It - A Parenting Post

I'll Take It.

I was all set to write a curriculum review post.  I even head the header ready.  However after doing the "goodnight" rounds, I'd rather write a little about savoring the everyday normal things.  Perhaps this cheesy song says it better than I can.  I've always loved it, cheesy or not!

And the words:

I count it as a privilege
I count it cause for praise
to kiss my children goodnight
at the close of everyday
for I know too soon they’re off and gone
and walkin’ out the door
and I’ll never have a child to kiss
goodnight anymore

It’s very strange how times have changed
from the present to the past
when did they grow so quickly
the time has flown so fast
for it seems that only yesterday
I helped him with his shirt
or pat my baby on the back
or kissed away a hurt

tell the story read a book
wipe a nose or tie a shoe
they never ask me to rub their back
the way they used to do
once it was a bother
just a troublesome kind of chore
now I would give anything
to do it just once more

mommy bounce me on your knee
daddy flip me in the air
throw a rubber ball to me
and help me comb my hair
mommy tickle my tummy
daddy hold me high
let’s go outside for awhile
or make a kite to fly

I count it as a privilege
I count it cause for praise
to kiss my children goodnight
at the close of everyday
for I know too soon they’re off and gone
and walkin’ out the door
and I’ll never have a child to kiss
goodnight anymore.

I've actually never loved bedtimes, because, like most, I'm pretty exhausted by this time & I am ready for a quick goodnight and off to have alone time or do something that needs to be done.  I say that knowing that someone reading this may just be Longing, Longing for this privilege.  I do not want to be insensitive to this fact.  

You hear it when you are pushing your grocery cart with a newborn in it  

"Enjoy.  It goes by so quickly."

I spent a little while during both Noelle & Micah's 9th birthdays crying because it was HALF over!  

"Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails.  Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without perturbation; let company come and let company go, let the bells ring and the children cry,--determine to make a day of it"  Henry David Thoreau

I do not believe in child-centered parenting, (although if you know me primarily through facebook you may think I do, since I talk of my kiddos a lot).  

However... as often as we can...

Yes, I'll help you look out for the "bad guys."

Yes, I will come to the circus.

Yes, I'll play a game with you.

Yes, I want to see what you made.

Yes, I'll color with you.

Yes, I'll snuggle with you for a few minutes.

Yes, I'll play in the snow with you.

Yes, we'll swing some more.












Yes, let's sing that song again.
Let's read that book again.
One more goodnight kiss.

I WILL love you forever.

I WILL like you for always.

As long as I'm living my babies you'll be.

Even the ones that are a little painful to this heart o' mine:

Yes, we can wash the car.

"The walks & talks we have with our two-year-olds in red boots have a great deal to do with the values they will cherish as adults."

-Edith F. Hunter

Backyard Chickens - A Farming Post

I shall begin this new blog with a perhaps boring little post about getting a start in chicken-raising.  Non-controversial and contains no danger of offending, although I can't make that promise for all future posts!

“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” 
― Aldo Leopold

The day our first chickens arrived.

~For me, I was very interested in chickens and eggs, but not in experiencing the baby chick and in between stage, so we started out with already laying hens.  We started with Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rock & Rhode Island Reds.

~Within a few days, they were used to their new digs & were providing yummy eggs for us.  They have beautiful dark yellow yolks.








By the following year, I was ready to try my hand at incubating.  By this time we had received a few various stray chickens, including an Americana rooster.  My first little chick took 12 hours to peck out of its shell.  I did not know how strange this was, but experience now tells me that they should be out in 30 minutes or less.  I ended up calling someone for advice.  I "helped" it along with a dropper of hot water.  It was one of our few yellow chicks & even though it was always a little strange, it was one of my favorites.  Unfortunately, something killed it when it was a few weeks old.  At any rate, it was a bit of a turning point for me in having animal compassion, b/c I felt very responsible, having chosen to bring these lives into the world, and I worried a lot until all were hatched.

Romans 1:20 - For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;


Hatching out these chicks was a Wonderful Homeschooling Experience, (capitalized just like the important words that Pooh says!)  Truly amazing.

After hatching chicks, we need no convincing about the miracle that life is.

We ended up keeping three roosters from that batch so that when May 2012 rolled around, I felt chances were very good for incubating again.  Those baby chicks were also a marvel to us.


Having said what we ended up keeping, we also butchered some of our chickens.  The children helped & we all ate them.  This past fall we butchered quite a few roosters and have enjoyed them this winter.  I have excellent brine & crockpot recipes that make roosters & non-meat birds rather yummy.

This brings me to the sad truth that sooo many people, perhaps especially children are quite removed from their food sources.  Is there a taste difference between one of my chickens and a chicken nugget?  Of course.  There is also a huge difference in the life of these two chickens.  As a farmer's granddaughter, growing up in the least populated county east of the Mississippi, it is hard for me to believe there are those who are not accustomed to the raising & slaughtering of small farm animals.  However, I know it is so.  This past December we introduced a girl to a hen & she mentioned that she thought chickens had fur.  A grown-up at my work, after buying some eggs from me, said that they tasted to "farm-y."

Perhaps I am not capable of a "little" post.

2 questions I often get asked:
~No, I do NOT refrigerate my eggs.  There is no need.  They can last weeks like this, although mine never last more than a week, b/c we eat them up!
~I do NOT wash my eggs before selling them.  I try to choose the cleanest ones for selling.  When eggs are washed commercially, they are power-washed at a specific temperature for a specific amount of time.  I do not have that kind of control in my kitchen.  Eggs are porous and when you wash them you are inviting contaminants to enter.  If a child needs a little washing, you can use sandpaper or do what I do - just wash them right before you use them.

There are many types of chicken coops, "tractors" you move, nice ones.  We built off an existing structure.  You will never recoup money put into this type of thing, so the cheaper the better!  There are recommendations for square footage per bird, etc.  2 great choices are:

~Raising Poulty the Modern Way by Leonard S. Mercia   or
~Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow

I do believe that Maine has a law that you need to purchase a minimum of 6 chicks.  You can do this from any ole' farmer/hillbilly, Blue Seal, or check out McMurray.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/standard_breed_chicks.html

It's been my experience that even with selling extra eggs and allowing for free-range eating in the warmer months, the result is still
"The most expensive eggs I've ever had"
to quote my husband!

However, we think it is well worth it.  If I can do it, trust me, you can too!