Education
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Welcome to My Classes, Where Music and Science Unite {New Music Monday}
Have you ever wondered what a song about Mendelian genetics or combustion might sound like? Well, wonder no more. I present to you two songs I wrote for my science classes: one about the four principles behind Mendelian genetics, and the other about the process of combustion. The Four Principles of Mendelian Genetics The lyrics for this song come directly from the Apologia Biology textbook, 2nd edition (you can purchase the 3rd edition here.) Dr. Wile took the older language of Gregor Mendel’s four principles and updated it to fit our modern English. I enjoyed trying to take prose and turn it into song, and then trying to get my…
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Three Interesting Articles for Science Classes
In my science classes, I like to begin class each Friday by discussing science in the news. I found my first three articles–one for Biology, one for Chemistry, and one for General Science–on World Magazine’s website under the category “Science & Tech.” I chose this article, about scientists cloning a black-footed ferret, for my Biology class. Right now, we’re discussing Mendelian genetics and DNA. I thought this article might generate some interesting classroom discussions, especially about the ethics behind cloning and how we can view cloning from a Christian worldview. I chose this article for my Chemistry class. The article isn’t really related to Chemistry (although we might end up…
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What We Saw on Our Nature Hike Today
The kids and I go on a nature hike every Friday. We like the break from our normal day-to-day routine and getting outside always makes us feel better. We visited the local marsh today, which is our usual spot. We like to study how the same place changes over time, especially with the seasons being so different from each other here in the Midwest. Fall arrived not too long ago. We wore our hats and mittens this morning! *** Here are a few photos of what we saw. We stopped for a break at this lovely spot. The kids and I climbed on some old tree roots and played in…
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Charlotte Mason vs. Neo-Classical vs. Classical (Part Three)
Welcome to part three of my series on education. Congratulations for sticking with my sometimes-scattered thoughts for so long. Here come my conclusions. First, Dorothy Sayers may be correct in saying that most children in the elementary grades like the repetition of grammar. I, however, can attest that her “ages and stages” plan does not apply to every child. I have a young boy living in my house (he shall remain nameless) who gets bored, irritable, and antsy when we try to do memory work. He wonders why we’re repeating the same things over and over again. Why aren’t we moving on, Mom? Can we do something else? We already…
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Charlotte Mason vs. Neo-Classical vs. Classical (Part Two)
You may be wondering how Charlotte Mason differs from classical education and how classical education differs from neo-classical education. I asked myself the same question not too long ago. After reading a slew of discussion forums and articles online, I came up with these working definitions. I’m going to begin with neo-classical because that’s where we’ve found ourselves the last couple years. Neo-Classical Popularized by Dorothy Sayers’ essay “The Lost Tools of Learning,” neo-classical education divides the trivium (grammar, dialectic [or logic] and rhetoric), so essential to classical education, by grade levels. According to Classical Conversations (CC), which I categorize as neo-classical, students in preschool through sixth grade study grammar.…