Results are back from 3rd grade testing. His reading comprehension was average, his math was very low and his language was low. It pretty much told me what we already knew. We're still working on math and such. Part of the math test was multiplication and division and we haven't completely covered that yet, so that was part of the math problem with the test. I'm sure he'll do better next time. We'll probably do it again next year just to gauge his improvement. He doesn't want to do it but I need to be sure he has the skills before we move on.

Quick, Grab the Nearest Book!

Follow the herd:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

According to The Frugal Housewife, by Mrs. Child, written in 1832: The fact is our young girls have no home education.

---From Mom Inc. by Neale Godfrey

Here are the items I've got on my list for next school year. Most are from Ambleside Online year 4, some are things I'm tweaking and changing. We're doing chemistry for science instead of the material listed at Ambleside because this is a special interest for William.

History An Island Story
This Country of Ours
Story of Mankind
Poor Richard by James Daugherty
Abigail Adams by Natalie S. Bober

Geography Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

Natural History Madam How and Lady Why

Science Chemistry Lab
Chemistry for Every Kid
Eyewitness Books: Chemistry

Math Math U See - Foundations
Multiplication Book and CD

Poetry

Literature Age of Fable
Robinson Crusoe
Kidnapped by R.L. Stevenson
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Paul Revere's Ride by Longfellow
Rip Van Winkle

Language Simply Grammar
Simply English

Music Meet the Composers Kit with CD

Shakespeare Check term's list against books on hand
Plutarch's Lives Check term list against great books

Art Check term's list

I am a Christian and yes, we do read Harry Potter and watch the movies. Why? other Christians may ask. Harry Potter is evil. Fairy tales are evil. Science Fiction is evil. It's all against Christianity, some say. I have to disagree.

First off I know what the occult is like. I've been there. Fairy tales and Harry Potter are make believe. That's all. They are well written stories and bring imagination and vitality into our lives. These stories are nothing like the true occult.

I'm saying this because I've just returned from a meeting regarding the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling and using Ambleside Online curriculum. Ambleside is not a "christian" curriculum, although many of the parents use christian based science materials and such. The stories included in the curriculum include Greek mythology, fairy tales, science fiction, lots of good books. Charlotte Mason didn't call herself a "christian writer" or "christian teacher". She wanted students to read good books that didn't talk down to them and she didn't want anything left out of her curriclum. This is what I really like about this method and Ambleside, espeically since I love fantasy adventure and science fiction and don't find anything wrong with the genre at all.

I am secure in my faith and my beliefs, I am secure in my salvation. Reading Harry Potter or other stories will not make me seek out the occult or turn to divination or Wicca for answers. I know the answers, and if the christian people that are working against these stories were more secure in their faith then maybe they wouldn't feel so threatened. Most people that argue against the stories have never read them. How can you judge something you've never read or seen? The answer is simple - you can't.

I argued against Harry Potter for a long time until I finally read the first book and saw the movie. JK Rowling is a gifted storyteller and the story is thrilling and compelling. I can't wait for the next installment in the series. I'm very glad that I didn't let my judgemental nature keep me from reading these wonderful books.

I finally have words to describe what I have been feeling for the past few years. Life should not be seperated into christian and secular. God created it all. God created JK Rowling and inspired her to write, just as he inspired all other writers and artists over time. I don't want to keep good books from my son because they are not "christian". Are we going to stop reading Tom Sawyer and Kidnapped or Robinson Crusoe because they are not "christian" based? I am secure in my salvation as a christian so I don't feel I need to stay away from good books.

Now I'm not saying that everything is good. There are undoubtedly many things that are not good in the world, but they need to be judged on their own merits and not shrugged off just because they aren't christian based. There are many books out there that talk down to children, they are fact based and filled with busy work. Those aren't the books I'm talking about. I want my son to have to full liberal education and be well rounded. I cannot accomplish that goal if I don't allow my son to read the good books that are available to him.

I was in a car accident Friday. My car is gone. A lady didn't see me and pulled out from a stop sign. I had right of way and she was charged with fault. We'll have to see what insurance will do. I just want another car, nothing fancy. My car was a 1990 Toyota Camry. I was on my way to a homeschool meeting in Pelham, AL when it happened. I still went - my mom took me.

My next post is going to be a little of what I learned at the meeting and some info on next year's booklist.

I hate that it's been so long since I've updated. Life is crazy now.

School started back last week and it's gone well so far. I'm starting back to college next month so we are trying to finish early if possible. I'm still working for my family and just trying to get everything finished. April and May is going to be very busy for me but I promise to update at least once a week.

I'm going to a homeschool conference in Pelham, AL discussing Charlotte Mason methods and the Ambleside Online curriculum. I'll be gone over the weekend but I'll post what I learn when I get back.

Third grade testing is done but no results back yet. I'm sure he did fine.

That's all for now.

I asked William what he felt was the most important subject in school. He chose science, his current favorite. I asked him if he was doing an important experiment how would he know he was doing it right. It took a while and a few hints but he finally caught on that he would need to know how to read the directions and know numbers in order to measure correctly. Then I asked him how he would let people know about his experiment and a great invention. He replied "I would write a letter". I asked him how he would be sure the letter would be understood. He said "I get the point, Mom." I hope he does, and that he realizes that education all works together and nothing is more important than anything else.

I'll try to do better with updating. Nothing much really going on. I'm working for my parent's again which means more hours out of the house, even though I'm supposed to only work 30 hours. We did testing Monday / Tuesday. That was hard! We are on Spring Break for the rest of this week and next week. That should give me time to plan out some more for the rest of the year. Only 2 more months! I'm also planning to go back to college and so is dh, so we working on that right now as well.

I'll post more after the weekend.