1. Classes are divided by age group and all classes are covering the same material.  This may look slightly different depending on the age group but each class is exposed to the same memory work, fine art lesson, and science activity. 
2. While parents are required to be on site, they are not required to teach…just help out where needed.  Non-tutoring parents help to set up activities, pass out papers, clean up, answer questions, etc.
3. Classes are led by trained, paid, tutors.  Yes, tutors are also parents of the participating students but they are trained and paid for their position.
4. Classes are led by tutors…not teachers.  The responsibility for material mastery always lies with the parent.  The tutors merely introduce the material.
5. The main object is to create community not teach (although the kids do learn a lot).  To that end, the morning ends with lunch and recess.
6. Classical Conversations is a national organization with more than a decade of experience which means tried and true.  It also means that if you move, you can continue with a similar community since each community in the country is on the same cycle.
7. CC covers memory work in 7 areas (math, English grammar, Latin, science, history, geography, and timeline) plus provides a fine art and science lesson which means it can be the main skeleton of your curriculum and not just a supplement.

NOTE:  These points apply mostly to Foundations (Age 4 to 6th grade).

Because another Cycle 2 covers WWI more thoroughly (at least in my head), I really wanted to focus on the American involvement rather than the entire War.

Intro: Videos on the Lusitania and German attacks on U.S. Navy boats.

• Lesson plan for older students (see Lesson Six)
• Article on last survivor
• Color countries involved (see map)
• Listen to lots of books on mp3.  The kids will be super-excited to listen to Kit: An American Girl (all the stories).

Science: Periodic Table

Intro: YouTube video.  WARNING:  He does say “crap” near the beginning.

• Lesson 9 from Christian Kids Explore Chemistry
• Periodic Table Game (We’ve already played this and it was great fun!)
• Tom Lehrer has a song that lists all of the elements alphabetically called “The Elements.“

Enter Exhibit A: The Before Pictures

The biggest culprit was the Legos.  I decided it was time to make use of the train table which had only ever collected toys without homes since we’d moved four years ago.  I purged some books to make room for the puzzles that were stored in the train table.

Then we purged some train stuff and moved it to an empty plastic storage box that we gained from the last dress up purge.

To create a Lego building surface, we flipped the train table top.

Now both drawers are designated for Legos and they allow PJ to spread his stuff out a little more to see them.  Plus he has a surface for works in progress that hopefully be more contained than just the space on the basement floor.

We removed a larger gaming table and moved the train table to a more accessible spot.  Then we straightened up in the other areas.

Enter Exhibit B: After Pictures

Then I had this brilliant, AHA moment!  It just so happens that I was simultaneously trying to think of a good assembly line project the three kids could do to learn about the Industrial Revolution.  It also occurred to me that stencils and stamps were important to the Industrial Revolution because they allowed easier mass production. 

Voila!  Our creative Valentine idea was born.

I helped the big kids design a stamp or stencil.  We used potatoes for stamps and a clean Chinese carryout container for our stencil paper.

Ty got pre-made stamps because that was easier and because we needed letters for our design.

Then we covered the table with newspaper and set to work.  Ty stamped the initials for “Happy Valentine’s Day.”  Mia traced her stencil, and lastly, PJ topped off the corners with red hearts.

In a little over an hour, we had 100 cards that were mostly finished!

We still need to go back and fill in the rest of the “Happy Valentine’s Day.” At the end, they will look like this.

The backs are blank for the kids to address and sign them.

Industrial Revolution lesson…check.  Valentines…check.  Two birds…one stone.

• ABC’s of Immigration Book (Appendix A and B)
• Map of cities with high immigrant population (Appendix E)
• Poem for memorization (Appendix E)
• Melting Pot Exercise (Lesson 1)
• Assessment here and here

Science: Atoms and their parts

Christian Kids Explore Chemistry Lessons 6 through 8

There are many ways to model atoms.  We’re going to do the cookie models on page 67.  Basically you bake a plain cookie and use 3 different candies (M&M’s suggested) to add protons, neutrons, and electrons.

On a side note: My favorite library book so far for explaining chemistry to kids is Basher Science: Chemistry: Getting a Big Reaction.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. chopped raw maple flavored bacon (You could probably cook it first if you wanted it crispy for texture.)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup onion flakes
2 TBSP minced garlic or 2 cloves pushed through a press
salt and pepper to taste

1. Put all ingredients in a sturdy gallon-sized zip top bag.
2. Massage all ingredients until well-mixed.
3. Cut corner off of bag and squeeze mixture into patties.
4. Cook well in skillet or grill.  (The bacon keeps them from drying out.)
5. Melt a slice of cheese on top (optional).
6. Serve on lettuce or bun.

Intro: Multimedia website or video

I thought this would be a fun week to explore Spanish culture a little since it’s a part of American culture. Check out the Scholastic plans here or here.

Science: Mixtures vs. Compounds

Lesson 5 and activity on Page 24 of Christian Kids Explore Chemistry.

There is a pretty useful Powerpoint here.

Click here for more details on this semester’s science plan.

Enter one of my biggest pet peeves about international (or any) adoption conversations–any focus on the plight of waiting parents.  While many would argue that they are really concerned about the kids caught in the middle, comments like the one by Holt’s Vice President that she’d “like to resume taking applications from prospective parents” cause me to wonder.  Is she really concerned about the children or is she concerned that the slow down is bad for business?  Whille, I’m sure agencies are genuinely concerned about the children, I’m concerned that their need to satisfy their clients (a.k.a., waiting parents) clouds their evualtion of the situation.

If we were really ONLY thinking about the children, improving their living situations, and finding them safe, permanent situations, then there would be much less focus (if any at all) on all the waiting families because…

…it’s not about us.

If we were really ONLY concerned for the children, we would not have blinders on to the dozens of other ways to address the global orphan crisis.  We would more readily get out of our comfort zones to find solutions because…

…it’s not about us.

If the children really were the focus, we would not be whining about four year process times and our empty arms, we would be going and doing because…

…it’s not about us.

Why are we so narrow-minded to think that children have to come to us to get help?  We yank thousands of kids every year out of their birth culture and away from any family and anything familiar but how many families even consider making an equivalent sacrifice and taking the family to the orphan instead of the other way around?

Lest you think me incredibly naive, let me clarify that I know there are no simple solutions.  Additionally, I am not opposing international adoption.  Instead I am challenging families

1. to think outside the box when it comes to orphan solutions. 
2. to entertain the idea that the U.S. is not necessarily a better place. 
3. to remember that entering the adoption process does not give you the right to a child nor is it about growing your family.

It’s not about us.  It’s about whatever will give the most glory to God.  It’s about restoring family relationships to orphans. 

It can be about international adoption but it can also be about supporting foster care and domestic adoption in other countries, or supporting kids aging out, or relocating to another country to give a family to more orphans than you could support here, or training orphanage workers, or supporting communities to care for their own orphans, or supporting a family to keep their kids. 

It just can’t be about us.