Day: April 13, 2004

This afternoon, I spoke with a friend at work named Joe Sullivan. He has thirteen children all of whom were or are being homeschooled. I told him that we were going to use the RealScience-4-Kids program we found at the Access Research Network website. He told me there is a group in Oregon called the Design Science Association that sponsers “design science” field trips around the state. In looking at the website, it looks like they even take some field trips out of the country.

Today, Kelly’s teacher told Lorena that she would not be allowed to go on the school sponsered field trip at her government school. Lorena let the teacher know that, based on our experience with the school, we did not feel comfortable letting Kelly go on the field trip if Lorena did not also attend. I mentioned this to Joe and he recommended the Design Science Association. It really looks like the homeschool field trips available to us will be much better than anything Kelly has available in her current schooling situation.

I was talking to a guy at work who has homeschooled and is homeschooling all of his 13 children.

Planning

I check for new articles at the Access Research Network website a couple of times each week. They have articles and announcements about events and news that has to do with Intelligent Design. I have always thought that it would be great to teach the kids using a science program based around Intelligent Design. A couple of years ago, a chemistry curriculum for third to fifth graders called RealScience-4-Kids by Rebecca W. Keller appeared on the site. I read the sample chapters and all the blurbs on it at the time. It looked interesting, but not yet mature.

When Lorena and I decided to start homeschooling again, I thought of the RealScience-4-Kids program. When I went back and looked at that part of the Access Research Network website, there was additional information on the program and its author. Dr. Keller is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at University of New Mexico and a homeschooling mom. There is a revised addition coming out in May of this year, but I bought the old materials at a discount. I paid $70 for the book and teaching materials as well as two sets of the stuff that gets used up so that both Kelly and Christian can have their own.

I chose this program because I am very interested in Intelligent Design and because it should work just fine for both Kelly and Christian. In addition, Christian just loves science and he should get a real kick out of program as a whole. Access Research Network also has a Biology program for third to fifth graders that should still be ok for Kelly next year. The idea behind the programs is to “Take high school level science and repackage it in a way that is fun and interesting for elementary students.” The biology program is set up to follow the chemistry program so we will have a couple of years of great learning with the idea that if it works well for us, Access Research Network might have a follow-on program for more advanced study by the time we are finished with these.

Progress

Last night, Christian and I continued on the math program recommended by the Moores. I forgot the name of the program last time I wrote, but it is called Math-It. According to the literature, I should not have too much trouble getting Christian through his multiplication facts by the end of the school year.

Today is the first day the kids will be memorizing a verse on their own for recitation to me in the evening. I am hoping we can get through two verses per week from now until when they have finished memorizing their assigned chapters. Christian has memorized all of Psalm 8 and the first eight verses of Psalm 9. His goal for this year is all of Psalms 8 and 9. Kelly has memorized the first 28 verses of Matthew 5. Her goal for this year is to memorize all of Matthew 5.

I spoke with Jill Hickenlooper, the kids piano teacher last night before their lesson about them switching to take singing lessons this summer. I asked her if it were possible for her to teach them how to sing parts. She said that if I brought her our hymn book, she would take a look and she did not think it would be a problem. She thought she could get them started during the summer, but after that it would be better to find them a teacher that specializes in voice. She thought it was a fine idea to give them a break from piano during the summers to study singing for the next two or three years as it is something they would always enjoy.

Access Research Network has a chemistry science curriculum based on intelligent design for third through fifth graders. I bought it.

Planning

This is just a stab at curriculum choices for the kids. This will take some refinement, but I believe it is a good first pass. The areas that I have not investigated thoroughly are History, Language (English), Writing, and Art. The former three because I am assuming I will get them from SonLight and the latter, because Lorena will be selecting, teaching, and participating in the vast majority of the art program (I am somewhat challenged in that area).

Times, locations, support materials, and other considerations will be addressed as we move forward and think of them. I will also make a good attempt to keep track of the costs of the programs. There are a couple items in the chart that I have not yet addressed in any post. I will discuss my thoughts on Spanish and the Logic program for Kelly in tomorrow morning’s post.

This is just a stab at curriculum choices for the kids. This will take some refinement, but I believe it is a good first pass. The areas that I have not investigated thoroughly are History, Language (English), Writing, and Art. The former three because I am assuming I will get them from SonLight and the latter, because Lorena will be selecting, teaching, and participating in the vast majority of the art program (I am somewhat challenged in that area).