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2023-24 School Year – Completed and Reviewed
This is my second time through Year 2. Em is doing Year 2 while M is doing Year 5.
The following subjects are discussed below:
Weekly Schedule
Every week I will make a weekly schedule for Em to follow (see Planning and Scheduling for further details). I plan out what he will do independently and what he will do with me and make sure it can all fit into the school time allotted. This is not all of his work since we also spend 30-40 minutes in Together Time first thing in the morning. (Together Time template here).
Bible
We will continue what we’ve done in the previous years with the Bible reading: Using M’s Old Testament Readings during our Ordinary Time Vespers (June through Thanksgiving – see the Liturgical Year page for further details) and reading Em’s New Testament reading in the morning. Though instead of going through the specific readings on the AO schedule, will read the entire gospels of Matthew and Luke. I have created a bookmark of the 1 and 2 Kings readings to use during Vespers, just as I did for the previous years. Bookmarks for the readings are on the Liturgical Year page.
Also like last year, I will read the New Testament reading several days a week, then read one of the Saints stories one day to give us a little church history (especially since we are not yet reading Trial and Triumph) and then do a general Bible or theology lesson the last day. Since the New Testament readings do not take us all year, I do not need to do a reading every day.
Bible Memory will be included in morning time. See below under Recitation for further information.
Bible in Review
I continued to use the Bible time during our Together Time and our Vespers reading to work through the Bible, though not necessarily along with the AO schedule.
| Together Time | Vespers | |
| Aug – NovOrdinary Time | Luke | Joshua and Judges |
| Advent | Hallelujah by Cindy Rollins | Advent Readings |
| Christmas | n/a (no school) | Christmas Readings |
| Jan/Feb | Special Study – Creation Story using Bible Project videos and Streetlight readings of Scripture | Luke |
| Lent | The Sacred Sacrifice by Hannah Paris | Lent Readings – selected stories of patriarchs from Genesis and Exodus |
| Easter | I and II Kings | Acts |
| Jun – Aug Orinary Time | n/a (no school) | Finishing Act and John |
During Vespers time we include a special Sunday reading, and this year we worked through Pilgrim Progress. We finished these readings several weeks into summer. I’m glad I’ve read it, but I enjoyed the Little Pilgrims Progress by Helen Taylor so much more. If I had pre-read both of them, I would probably have decided that Little Pilgrim’s Progress was sufficient.
Reading the book of Kings took a little more preparation than the other readings we’ve done so far. I wanted to be sure we were following the action, so I found some maps and a timeline of kings, and I created a log where we could list the kings we were reading about as we came across them. I also broke down the books into readable chunks and created bookmarks for easy reference. This document is available on the Other Guides page. We only made it through I Kings 16, so will be continuing this in the fall. Keeping track of the kings in the log was helping us remember the stories and keep things straight. And the boys were enjoying noticing how many bad kings there have already been.
History & Biography
We will continue with An Island Story, looking places up on maps occasionally after the reading when it makes sense. When we get to William the Conquoror in Week 4, I will break out the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland book and hang up the included chart. I didn’t find this until M was in Year 3, but it helped him keep all the rulers straight by having a little picture and summary to remind us. Before every reading we would look at where we were on the chart, and if the summary in the book was helpful, review that as well. I’m hoping having it from the beginning will help Em keep the rulers straight better than M and I did the first time through. M enjoyed coloring the in the Dover coloring book while I did the readings. Many of the rulers mentioned are pictured in it and he would color the corresponding ruler.
For This Country of Ours I am looking forward to using the new edition published by Donna-Jean Breckenridge. The new edition is being released in volumes and this first volume will take us through the end of Year 3 (chapter 28). I’m hoping by then the additional volumes will be released. I have also started posting any maps or resources I use with book on my This Country of Ours page.
As I did with M, I will read The Little Duke to Em. The AO study guide was helpful the first time around but because I’ve already read it I may not need it a much this time (we’ll see!). There were helpful maps available on the AO Forum that I will use again as well. I may split up the readings this time and do them over the week instead of fitting each reading into one day.
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley was a big hit with M. Em was listening in to some of the readings, but it was so long ago I don’t worry about him remembering them well enough to be bored. I do worry a little about his sensitive spirit with the ending (at the end of the Hamlet retelling, he sobbed and got mad at me for reading him a sad story). So I may edit the ending… we’ll see how he’s doing with it. I will definitely warn him before I start that this has a sad ending.
Once again we will put off Trial and Triumph until both boys are a little older and read it in Together Time or Sunday Vespers.
History in Review
Island Story was a big hit. Em looked forward to the readings, narrated in detail, and became invested in the stories and people. He literally cried with King Harold was killed in the Battle of Hastings and holds a grudge against Wiliam the Conqueror. We had to draw up a diagram to help us through the War of the Roses so that before each reading we could review what had happened between the Yorks and Lancasters. I liked reading Island Story with M, but I thoroughly enjoyed the second reading with Em.
As predicted, I loved the new version of TCOO by Donna-Jean Breckenridge. This year we only read the first 5 chapters, but Em was engaged and narrated well. I am looking forward to re-reading TCOO in the new versions.
Little Duke was more difficult to get through this time. We listened to an audio version and I had the book available for Em to follow along, but he mostly refused. He groaned whenever he saw it on the weekly schedule and hardly narrated at all. There were a couple of stories that got his attention, but mostly he slogged throught it.
When we got to Joan of Arc, Em was excited and enthralled with the story. We got through it faster than planned because he never wanted me to stop reading. Before starting the book, I informed him that it had a sad ending and when we got close to the ending, he decided to just have me tell him that she is killed instead of reading the details. He was sad about it, but not overcome with grief (like he had been with Harold).
Geography
Long and Mason’s geography readings assigned this year cover the compass and how the earth moves. These are topics that I’ve covered in Together Time several times. Em has a good grasp of these concepts, so I won’t be reading directly from these books. Both boys have a compass and often take them on our hikes and nature walks. Daddy is an Eagle Scout who has led hiking trips professionally, so is serious about the boys knowing how to use one :).
I will not be reading Tree in the Trail to Em. I tried it with M. There was a lot of language I had to edit out and it got to the point where I was not comfortable with the tone of entire chapters. I want to still read something that covers the geography of the Southwest area. So I found a book about the man for whom Pike’s Peak is named. He was an explorer who was sent out at the same time as Lewis and Clark to explore the southern part of the newly acquired land. I enjoyed the story and had to make very few edits. I will use a map of the United States and have Em fill in the adventures as we read them. I have written a guide for the book Pike of Pike’s Peak by Nina Brown Baker that is posted in Other Guides. This one has a bit of a sad ending, so I may leave off the last chapter since the expedition is finished before then. I will have Em follow the journey on the United States Map.
Seabird was a fun book that M enjoyed. M carved his own Seabird using this kit. It was relatively easy to carve as most of the shape was already there. I have one for Em to carve as well. I also wrote up a guide for this book to help us label all the places Seabird goes. It is posted in Other Guides.
Geography in Review
Pike of Pike’s Peak and Seabird were hits. Em loved the stories and looked forward to filling in the maps along with the journeys. Based on his reaction to William the Conqueror, I decided to leave out the last chapter with Pike’s death. But even then, we covered a lot of geography between the two books.
Continent Study
In Together Time we are working our way around the world…slowly. I decided when M was in Year 2 to start doing geography lessons on each of the continents. I started with Africa, using the Amazing Africa Heritage Pack from Heritage Mom. We checked out as many of the recommended books from the library as we could find and worked our way around Africa. We each had a folder with blank paper in it and every week we practiced drawing Africa. We started with drawing the shape of the continent, then added in the countries we learned about including geographical features such as rivers and mountains and deserts. It was fun to see how much better at drawing a freehand Africa we got as the year went on!
When M was in Year 3 we started doing the same for the United States. We started in the South using the Sweet Tea & Cookies Multicultural Enrichment Guide from Heritage Mom. I spent one to two weeks on each state and when we finished that Guide, I followed the pattern of books, videos, and maps for more states. That year we made it up the East Coast and over to the Midwest. We read picture books about the states and just like with Africa, we practiced drawing the U.S.A. and its states and geographical features.
The next year M was in 4th grade and we were required to do State History by our Charter School. So we took a break to study California (see Other Guides for what we did). This year we will get back to the U.S.A. I will spend Term 1 reviewing all the states we covered two years ago. Then we will spend a week on each remaining state – reading a picture book and learning about its geographical features. Instead of drawing the country and states each week, I will have them draw the geographical features and state capitals on the United States Map. Since they are both already using that map for other readings, we’ll just use the map for this as well.
Continent Study in Review
The study of the U.S. States was a success. Em especially enjoyed drawing the landmarks on his giant U.S.A. map. I had gathered a lot of material for each state, but had to remind myself to stick with the time allotted for state study in the morning time schedule. So we really did just do a high level overview of each state. By the time we were done, Em could tell me many of the state capitals, point out major rivers and mountains, identify most states by their shape, and tell me a little about the people who live or lived in the area. I’d call that a success, even if I wish we could spend years this study!
Literature and Poetry
Literature
For Shakespeare I will use the Lambs or Nesbit versions. Nesbit does not have as many stories as Lamb and they are usually much more simplified. And sometimes I like that better, but sometimes I don’t :). I will read each version several weeks before it is scheduled and decide. I will then divide the story up into the weekly readings, making the stopping points where it makes sense. For narration we use peg people, so I look at the ones I’ve already painted and write the character’s names on the bottom. Sometimes I have to paint a new one, like a monk or donkey head. I am using my own Shakespeare schedule (see Other Guides) so that I can do some of the readings with M. The one we read in Together Time will be the one that I’m reading with M before reading the full play. The second reading in the term will be in the same weeks as the AO schedule and be done during school time with Em.
For M’s Year 2 we read Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen Taylor. Instead of reading this during school time, we read one chapter every Sunday evening as part of our family Vespers time. It took us about 18 months. Both boys really enjoyed and narrated well from it. This time we’ll read the original version during Sunday Vespers and let it take however long it takes. Because of the way it’s written in dialogue, I’ve decided to have us listen to an audio version and have them follow along in the book. I’ll let you know how that goes!
With M, we used Robin Hood as bedtime reading with Daddy. It took more than one term, but he started in the fall and just went until they were finished. Em only listened in occasionally, so he’ll be ready for his own bedtime reading of it.
Understood Betsy and Wind in the Willows were hits with M when he went through. Em listened in, but it was long enough ago that I don’t think he remembers them well. Last time, for both, I read an entire chapter in one sitting. It took a long time, so I think this time I will break it up into more than one day each week. Also, since Robin Hood is being read at bedtime, I have a term and half for each of these books. With M, I sometimes used the Librivox recordings of Betsy and Willows because reading aloud an entire chapter can be too much for me (especially with all of the other readings for the day). But since I’m breaking it up, I might do the readings myself.
Once again we will put off Parables of Nature until both boys are a little older and read it in Together Time or Sunday Vespers.
Literature in Review
Literature went pretty much as planned. Em enjoyed the Lambs or Nesbit’s versions of Shakespeare and narrated back well with our wooden Shakespeare people. We are just about finished listening to Pilgrims Progress (see Bible section above). Robin Hood was a favorite. Though he listened to Daddy read it at bedtime, I often got a spontaneous narration the next day and I heard him talking about Robin Hood with his brother and friends. Daddy has now started The Sword and the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff. Em enjoyed Understood Betsy, followed the story, grasped some deeper meaning, and narrated well. I was disappointed that he did not enjoy Wind in the Willows as much as I did. We listened to an audiobook and had him follow along in the hardback. If the story that week did not involve Mr. Toad, he had no interest and barely narrated. But he did at least belly laugh at Toad’s escapades!
We also read through A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, Alice in Wonderland, and Mr. Popper’s Penguins this year. We listened to audiobooks and Em followed along. He loved all of these books and looked forward to them each week.
Poetry
When I do not already own a book of poems by the scheduled poet, I have decided to purchase the AO collection. With M I used the poems AO has on the Poetry page and just read them from the browser on my phone. But I prefer having a book and not having to stop the flow of Together Time to search online and then remember where we left off last time. It was difficult for me to read the Riley poems, so in my weekly planning I would search for recordings of his poems on You Tube or Librivox to use for the week’s readings. Now I’m wishing I had saved those links so I don’t have to search for them again every week. I’ll do it this time through and post them for you :).
Poetry in Review
We ended up only making it through the Walter de la Mare poems. Since I read the poetry in morning time when we are together, I focused more on the Year 5 poems for M. Which Em followed along with well. After I read a poem I ask them what they pictured in their minds or what they thought about while I was reading it. Em almost always grasps the meaning and images. We spent most of Term 3 listening to the audiobook and following along with Jump Back, Paul by Sally Derby. We all enjoyed this book. We listed to it everyday and sometimes there were multiple Dunbar poems in the reading for the day along with his biography. We all enjoyed it.
Recitation
I am once again so thankful to the AO Advisory for all the work they do. They have recently added in a recitation section to each year with recommended poems and memory verses for each year and term. This will be the first year I’ll be pulling our recitation pieces from their recommendations. I will include the Bible passages in our morning time. I’ll pick from M and Em’s recommended verses. As before, I’ll read the chosen passage every morning until they are able to say it along with me. For the poetry passages, I’ll schedule Em to read and practice it twice a week.
Recitation in Review
These are the poems Em chose to do this year:
- Silver by Walter de la Mare
- The Cupboard by Walter de la Mare
- The Listeners by Walter de la Mare
- The Friendly Cow by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Who Has Seen the Wind by Christina Rosetti
Reading
Reading recommendations here and Free Read list here
Em read so well in Year 1, there will definitely be no need for any formal reading lessons in Year 2. I will have him read aloud from one of the Free Reads that is closer to his reading level. We will also listen to an audiobook of one of the Free Reads that is a bit above his level and have him follow along. He has listened along to many of the Year 2 Free Reads already (as we often listen to these in the car). I plan on having him follow along in the following books (as many as we can get through):
- A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater
- Heidi by Johanna Spyri
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Reading in Review
For Read-a-loud practice, Em read through the remaining Deckawoo Drive book series by Kate DiCamillo and then finished The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (though there were tears at the end of this one and a request to listen to the audiobook of the second one). For Free Reads, Em loves to pick biographies and non-fiction books. He read through stacks of Easy Reader Level 5 books from the library and then several shorter chapter books. He picked the Sword in the Tree as his favorite book of the year.
In the car we listened to the following auidobooks this year:
- The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White narrated by E.B.White
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens narrated by Hugh Grant
- The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss narrated by Jonathan Keeble (an abridged version)
- The Adventures of Pincocchio by Carlo Colodi (a re-listen) narrated by Simon Vance
- The Jungle Book part I by Rudyard Kipling narrated by Ralph Cosham
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin narrated by Janet Song
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery narrated by Susie Berneis (We skipped the very sad second to last chapter per Em’s request – he just got a summary of what happened.)
- Mooses with Bazookas by S.D. Smith narrated by S.D. Smith and more
- Harry Potter Books 1 & 2 by J.K. Rowling narrated by Jim Dale
- Currently listening to Green Ember by S.D. Smith narrated by Joel Clarkson
The boys received several books for Christmas this year that I wanted to read too, so I decided to start a semi-regular afternoon read-aloud time. We got through several books this way and I’ve decdided to keep it up during the summer too:
- The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling
- The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
- The Day Boy and the Night Girl by George MacDonald
- Currently Reading House of Arden by E. Nesbit
Copywork
Em’s handwriting can be well done – when he wants to apply himself. In Year 1 he mostly chose to do his copywork on a ruled white board. I will entice him to use a pencil in a copybook by telling him that he can start typing practice if his copywork can be done well in pencil. He has been begging to start typing like his big brother for a year now, so hopefully this will be incentive enough to apply himself.
The charter school requirements often include writing samples that are more than copywork. As I agree with the progression of writing in the Charlotte Mason philosophy, I have to turn in some kind of writing examples sometimes. So to fill this requirement, I will have Em narrate a story to me or tell me a story. I will write it down for him and then use his own words as copywork and count it as a writing sample. I have a template I use for this.
Copywork in Review
Em did so well with copywork in the first term, that we started using Copywork: Quotes from famous Americans. He finished the book by the end of the year. Most days he would only write my required minimum of two lines, but some days he would finish an entire quote. I let him use a green pen because he asked – I figured if it made copywork more fun for him, there was no reason to insist on a pencil.
Math
I will continue to use the Simply Charlotte Mason (SCM) math series. Em is working so quickly through the books, we may be in book 3 in Year 2. I also have to look at the state requirements for second grade because of our charter school. If there is anything that SCM does out of sequence, I’ll add in some extra lessons.
Reviewing the state requirements, I see several we’ve already covered or will soon cover in Year 1, so I’ll just do a quick review at the beginning of the year. There are several items such as measurement and graphing that are covered in later SCM books. I’ll use education.com and Khan Academy to find some lessons to cover the state requirements. Or I may just use the lessons from later SCM books. I may do some of these topics in Together Time or fit in a break from the SCM book between topics.
I will continue to use the Math Wrap-Ups or an app such as Space Math to drill math facts and will schedule 15 minutes of math with me for oral math and new concepts and 5 minutes of math in independent time for review of concepts. Scheduling it this way has been working, so I will continue with that.
Math in Review
Em was getting bored with the SCM math, so at Christmas we decided to switch to Saxon Math. We went with this instead of using the MathUSee that we were switching M because Saxon has much more variety every lesson. When I got the package and started going through what each lesson entailed, I got a bit overwhelmed at the detail for every lesson. But I took it one week at a time and soon was able to figure out what we needed to do, what we could cut out or shorten. We did the daily log pages for the first month or so but it became tedious so I cut them out and did a shorter verbal version. And some days I did not have him do both sides of the worksheet, just the lesson with me. He made it almost all the way through Book 3 by the end of the year and started enjoying math again.
Foreign Language: Spanish
I have decided to put off Spanish this year. See my thoughts on this on the Year 4 planning page.
Foreign Language in Review: ASL
After school started, Em expressed interest in learning American Sign Language. Since I had decided not to do Spanish, I thought we’d try out ASL casually. So I found You Tube Videos to work our way through basic words and phrases. We watched about 5 minutes several times a week and reviewed the other days. Em loved these tries to use the new words throughout the day.
Nature Study and Science
In Year 2 we will deviate from the AO Nature Study schedule. I have already done Night Sky in Year 1 (in place of mammals) so I will replace that. Also, living in the Southern California desert does not allow for much observations of amphibians, so I will replace that as well. I have decided to go with Trees, Flowerless Plants (like mushrooms, lichens, mosses, etc.), and Weather and Climate. My Nature Study Guides for these topics will be posted on my nature study page.
To meet the requirements of our Charter School I have decided to cover a different topic each term, following along with the guides from Sabbath Mood Homeschool. We will do this in Together Time and some of the experiments will be done in the evenings or weekends with Daddy.
- Term 1: Machines
- Term 2: Chemistry
- Term 3: Weather. This compliments our Nature Study on Weather and Climate this term. I will also be including a Nature Lore called The Story of the Trade Winds by Ruth Brindze.
Science in Review
The Machines and Chemistry books and experiments were a lot of fun for Em. A lot of it was new for me so I was learning along with them. Daddy did most of the expriments with them on the weekends. We ended up not doing the Sabboth Mood Homeschooling weather science study because the weather study I made for Nature Study covered enough of the same material. And I needed to cut something from morning time anyway. Em really enjoyed the weather nature lore book The Story of the Trade Winds by Ruth Brindze. He followed the story, understood the science behind the wind patterns, and narrated well.
Natural History
Nature Study and Natural History booklist here
Besides Tree in the Trail (which we won’t be doing – see the geography section above) and Seabird, the other book suggested here is the Burgess Animal Book. The first time through this with M, we thoroughly enjoyed the book (even if we did learn more about rodents than we ever knew we wanted to know!). Each week I would search for You Tube videos or photos of the animals discussed in the chapter. I have found a list of videos made by A Humble Place, so I might just use hers. If I come up with new ones, I’ll post it. I also used the coloring pages from the After Thoughts Blog. I let M and Em (who was listening in) color the animal of the week while I was reading. Since M was still able to narrate well, it didn’t seem to distract from the reading. I saw posted on the AO Facebook page a recommendation for this National Geographic book Animals of North America because it has pictures of most of the animals in the Burgess Book. I was able to find an inexpensive used copy, so we’ll have this available for reference as well.
One other thing I did with M was to make a taxonomy chart as we got further in to the book so we could keep track of the different types of animals we’d learned about and how they were related. This helped us to meet a science requirement for our charter school. Here is the one M did:
Natural History in Review
We used an audiobook of the Burgess Animal Book and Em followed along. He looked forward to these readings every week. We usually read two chapters a week, so were able to complete the entire book, which I wasn’t able to do when I went through with M. But Em loved these readings so I prioritized getting through this book. After the reading we would watch the vidoes on the A Humble Place list. We did not use the coloring pages or the National Geographic Book nor did we do a taxonomy chart. We just read, narrated, and watched a video or two.
Art
It took me a little while to decide which artist and pictures I want to include this year. There are so many options and I want to do them all! I want to make sure to include some diversity in the artists. When making my decision, I also consult the local museum websites to see if there are any artworks on display for the artists I am choosing from. This year Claude Monet is in the rotation and the Getty Museum has several of his works available for viewing, so I’ll definitely keep him in the rotation. I will have to do a little more research on the other two to determine if any of their art is on display within driving distance. Not that it rules them out if they we can’t see their art in person, it just helps me with my decision. I also like to find an artist for which prints are easily available so I don’t have to deal with finding prints that are in a good enough resolution and then sending them to be printed. But of course, I have done this in the past.
I have decided to use two artists on the AO list and use a new one:
- Robert S. Duncanson
- Claude Monet with the study guide and prints from A Humble Place
- Georges Seurat also with the study guide and prints from A Humble Place.
I will continue to alternate weeks between artist study and architecture. We are currently working our way through Young People’s Story of Architecture 3000 B.C – Gothic Period and will continue it this year as well. I have created some documents as we’re going through – some to give us better pictures of the buildings discussed and some as reference so we can remember the list of types of things (columns, moldings, etc.). These are on the Other Guides page under General Topics.
Art in Review
We enjoyed our artist studies this year, and were able to find exhibits of all three artits to view their work in person. Having the prints from A Humble Place made the last two artist studies much easier. For Duncunson, I used these prints and had them printed from FedEx. The quality of the printings were not as great as I had hoped, so I usually ended up using the picture on the website for the study and then hanging the lesser quality one up above the school desks for the week (as I do with all of the artists studies).
Drawing and Handicrafts
For drawing I plan to continue using the Bestowing the Brush videos that we will not get through in Year 1. When M was in Year 2, I worked part of the way through What to Draw and How to Draw It by E.G. Lutz. M did well – better than I could. I see that there is a version for kids, so I may use that version with Em and add it to his schedule with me so he gets the basics like M did.
Oh Handicrafts. How I love and hate thee. We all enjoy the first weeks of learning a new skill. But I am so awful at following through with finishing our projects or progressing beyond the first several lessons. After watching demonstration lessons at last year’s A Delectable Education conference, I am inspired to try clay modeling this year. I’m keeping my expectations low – one new skill this year. I’ll keep you updated on our progress!
Drawing and Handicrafts
Em finished all the lessons in What to Draw and How to Draw It book. He enjoyed working through the book and seeing his progress. Handicrafts on the other hand worked out about as well as usual – I had some projects for them, but we never really finished. They did spend the year working, occasionally in the evenings, on knot tying with Daddy. We also occasionally got out the watercolors and practiced, but it was not very regularly.
Music
Hymns and Folksongs
As we have in the past, I will continue to follow the Ambleside Online Hymn and Folksong rotations using the beautiful accompaniment of Folks and Hymns on You Tube. For more detail on how we do this, see Year 1.
This year I will make a little bit of a change with the Hymn study. In addition to using the AO Hymn rotation, I will use Heritage Hymns pack from Heritage Mom. We will continue learning the AO Hymn during our Vespers time. But this year I will add in the Heritage Hymn into our morning time. We will alternate it with our Folk Song so that we are listening to and singing this hymn twice a week. In her hymn pack, Amber O’Neal Johnston encourages us that listening to a “variety of versions…teaches [us] to appreciate the way others worship, even if it’s different than what were used to hearing…” So I’ve decided to use the links she provides to various versions and listen to the same hymn for a month. I haven’t decided how we’ll then incorporate this hymn into our Vespers singing, but maybe I’ll have the boys pick their favorite version to use in our family worship time.
Composer Study
We will continue to follow the AO Composer Study schedule. For each composer I usually purchase one or two pieces and add it to a “composer playlist” in our music library. This way we can listen to a playlist of all our composers while driving, or in the background during reading time, or meals. This year’s schedule includes “Renaissance Music” and “Opera.” So it will be a little different since there is not a single artist for these. I have gone through the recommended Renaissance Music links and decided which ones to use and put them in the 36-week schedule. For the Opera selections, I have decided to purchase the CD 25 Opera Favorites to make listening to them easier. I will also schedule in time to watch these videos about Opera from the Kennedy Center.
Composer Study in Review
The Opera study was a big hit – more so than I would have thought. For the first several weeks, we watched the Kennedy Center videos The Weird and Wonderful World of Opera. Then each week we would watch a quick overview video about the story of the week’s opera. Then we’d watch a YouTube performance of the song. Here is my playlist of videos. I was amazed at how much the boys both loved these – they loved the stories (weird as they all seem to be), and they absolutely loved watching the performances with the elaborate sets and costumes. To be honest, I was dreading this study a bit since I have zero experience with Opera, but I enjoyed it right along with them!
Piano
Em will continue working through the Hoffman Academy online lessons. He is making good progress. Though I realize I will need to be working more deliberately on having him learn to read music. I have found several apps that are games to quiz on the notes on the staff. If they work out, I’ll update you here!
Physical Activity
As of this writing (the winter of Year 1), Em is still interested in continuing Taekwondo, so the plan is to continue letting this be his Physical Activity. He will attend class twice a week and practice for 20 minutes the other days of the week.
P.E. in Review
Halfway through the year Em decided he was done with Taekwondo. He had lost all interest so he decided to do swimming with M. Besides doing the yoga videos at home, he was also working with Daddy to learn about the mechanics of baseball. Thankfully we have a city batting cage half a mile from our home, so he was able to use up piles of tokens to get in some practice there as well.
Ambling Together 