The students and faculty at Scott Classical Academy have been working hard since mid-August. Here's what the headmaster can report.
At-home school has been going really even with adding a 3rd student to the mix. I came up with a schedule that has me working with Hannah mostly first thing in the morning while the boys do independent work. We follow this some days and other days she would rather start her day playing in her room. It's been working though!
Speaking of schedule, we had a big change to our Tuesdays. After much discussion with us back in August, Ben voiced his desire to drop trombone. It came as a big surprise because he seemed to like band so much. He was adamant he wanted to continue piano lessons though which was great to hear. So instead of just Ben doing band, both boys are now doing choir. This rehearsal actually fits into our schedule so much better. The choir director is also a highly respected retired public school teacher from the area and we are thrilled the boys are under his direction. First concert is in December!
One of my greatest delights so far this year has been seeing the magic of the three year tour of Essentials, our language arts program done in conjunction with Classical Conversations. The English grammar portion is the same every year and the writing program is mostly the same (the time period of the historical writing assignments changes from year to year). The first year is meant to be a year of exposure to everything with just a little mastery expected. The second year builds more mastery, and the third year builds even more. Now that Ben is in his third and final year of Essentials I see the fruit of the two previous years' worth of work. I especially see the growth in his writing. Each year the students practice adding in different elements of style which teach them to vary how they write their sentences. What was very forced and technical in year one is now second nature and he's adding these elements without the weekly checklist.
Classical Conversations has been great! Our community had some changeovers with some families having to step back and new families coming on board. We are now halfway through the second quarter. Not only is it great to have friends in class, it's great to have the community outside of class with playdates and field trips and families just hanging out together. I made a decision to pass off directing Foundations/Essentials to someone else next year as I will move up to directing Challenge A with Ben. While Foundations/Essentials is an administrative role, Challenge directors are in a teaching position. I've enjoyed the administrative role but I can feel that teaching itch again. ;-) One one hand I can't wait to be a part of the Challenge program -- I've been saying for years that when I grew up I wanted to be a Challenge director -- but then there's the part of me that will be sad that I'm not with Hannah and Joey all day in their classes.
My little kindy girl has been doing so well with her formal lessons in reading, math, and printing. Learning how to read was a bit iffy at first and I thought we'd either have to go back a bit in her book or take a little break. But then it all of a sudden just clicked and she's on a roll now! She enjoys her math lessons and is proud of being able to do the addition doubles facts. She doesn't care for printing practice, mostly because it gets in the way of her very busy play schedule in her bedroom. :-)
At-home school has been going really even with adding a 3rd student to the mix. I came up with a schedule that has me working with Hannah mostly first thing in the morning while the boys do independent work. We follow this some days and other days she would rather start her day playing in her room. It's been working though!
Speaking of schedule, we had a big change to our Tuesdays. After much discussion with us back in August, Ben voiced his desire to drop trombone. It came as a big surprise because he seemed to like band so much. He was adamant he wanted to continue piano lessons though which was great to hear. So instead of just Ben doing band, both boys are now doing choir. This rehearsal actually fits into our schedule so much better. The choir director is also a highly respected retired public school teacher from the area and we are thrilled the boys are under his direction. First concert is in December!
One of my greatest delights so far this year has been seeing the magic of the three year tour of Essentials, our language arts program done in conjunction with Classical Conversations. The English grammar portion is the same every year and the writing program is mostly the same (the time period of the historical writing assignments changes from year to year). The first year is meant to be a year of exposure to everything with just a little mastery expected. The second year builds more mastery, and the third year builds even more. Now that Ben is in his third and final year of Essentials I see the fruit of the two previous years' worth of work. I especially see the growth in his writing. Each year the students practice adding in different elements of style which teach them to vary how they write their sentences. What was very forced and technical in year one is now second nature and he's adding these elements without the weekly checklist.
Classical Conversations has been great! Our community had some changeovers with some families having to step back and new families coming on board. We are now halfway through the second quarter. Not only is it great to have friends in class, it's great to have the community outside of class with playdates and field trips and families just hanging out together. I made a decision to pass off directing Foundations/Essentials to someone else next year as I will move up to directing Challenge A with Ben. While Foundations/Essentials is an administrative role, Challenge directors are in a teaching position. I've enjoyed the administrative role but I can feel that teaching itch again. ;-) One one hand I can't wait to be a part of the Challenge program -- I've been saying for years that when I grew up I wanted to be a Challenge director -- but then there's the part of me that will be sad that I'm not with Hannah and Joey all day in their classes.
My little kindy girl has been doing so well with her formal lessons in reading, math, and printing. Learning how to read was a bit iffy at first and I thought we'd either have to go back a bit in her book or take a little break. But then it all of a sudden just clicked and she's on a roll now! She enjoys her math lessons and is proud of being able to do the addition doubles facts. She doesn't care for printing practice, mostly because it gets in the way of her very busy play schedule in her bedroom. :-)
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