Hillary Harm

Thank you!

Hi Shannon! Those ages can be quite a spread when you're having a discussion! For the little two, could you start with teaching them *how* to have a discussion before you hope to have actual good discussions with them? Do you do morning time with your kids together? That would be a great time to practice your discussions. Pick something really simple to discuss that the 5 and 7 year olds would have a lot to talk about. Think about the behaviors they're displaying, and which ones need to change (talking over others, interrupting, chiming in with something completely irrelevant, silliness, etc.). Remind them of your expectations and focus on one or two changes at a time. Let the older kids know what you're doing and what the goal is, and recruit them as role models. It might help to have a tangible, physical reminder of whose turn it is to speak. Perhaps some variation of the "talking stick" to start out? A ball to (gently) toss to the next person to speak? You could also give them a sentence starter to help guide them. When they are responding to someone they have to use one of your sentence starters like, "I agree with Johnny because...." or "I disagree with Johnny because..." That gives them some boundaries. Once you feel like they have a grasp of the boundaries and expectation, you could move them toward most substantive discussions. With the older kids, I'd try to have discussions just with them; make it a little more grownup. While the younger two are playing somewhere else or resting, gather the older two somewhere quiet. I have boys, and I always try to have a food item available to help encourage the idea of gathering somewhere, having good food, and talking. Usually it's cocoa and cookies. Maybe have some soft music in the background? ("Epic soundtracks" is a great Pandora station for boys! ) If you're having them help the littles practice discussing at another time, they'll know your expectations and you can hopefully have a more productive discussion with them. I agree that with essentially 4 grade levels you can't have every subject he a Socratic discussion, or you'd never get anything accomplished. But maybe start with one that you do in pairs or together and then sprinkle others in over time? Hillary

Yes! I was wondering about that, too! I did write down the problem-solving steps, but I thought she said her bookmark had 7 steps and I only copied 6. Maybe she'll flash the bookmark again, closer to the camera, and I can pause the video to get a better look. Here are the steps I got: 1. Read the problem aloud. 2. Rewrite the question as a statement with a blank for the answer. 3. Determine if this is a part/whole problem or a comparison problem. 4. Draw your bar model. 5. Write the number sentence. 6. Put the answer in the final sentence. Hillary

In the Lesson 7 video Ms. Swartz mentions pages of word problems that we are to print out so we can work the bar modeling problems with her. Where are those pages? I cannot find them on the course site. Thank you! Hillary

How old are your children? I ask because I think that with younger children it's especially important to teach them *how* to participate in a good discussion before many good discussions can be had. There are several ways you can teach your kids to participate in a discussion, but how you approach it would depend upon their ages, right? A 12 year old will handle it differently from the 7 year old.

During my first year of public school teaching (1993) I met and worked with a teacher who had previously been at the Logos School in Moscow, ID when the school first started. She gave me a copy of Douglas Wilson's "Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning." This was my first exposure to classical education. I loved the philosophy, but could not imagine how to implement it, especially in a public school classroom. In 1999, just as I was beginning my homeschool journey with my kindergartner, I found a copy of "The Well-Trained Mind" in a Barnes and Noble. I was thrilled! This was the first book that gave me any sort of a hint how to *do* this. Over the past 20 years of homeschooling I've read and studied a lot, and my thinking and implementation has evolved. Next year I will be teaching 6th grade in a classical school. I'm nervous but excited, and have been thrilled to find ClassicalU. I've been able to review concepts and learn new ones in preparation for next fall! Hillary

In Lesson 7, Mr. Gibbs refers to an example catechism. There is a space for it on the lesson page, but no document has been uploaded. Could someone please upload one? I would love to see an example of a catechism written for a history, literature, or science class! Hillary