So far in my 'Around the World with FIAR' series we have covered the Polar Regions and South America. For the next few weeks I will be teaching the little ones all about the continent of Asia. I have, as usual, used a lot of leyway as to where I am placing each of the…
Month: January 2017
Precious Moments
My eldest daughter sat me down last week telling me she had two questions to ask me. The first was 'where were the precious moments posts?' and the second was 'when was I going to start writing them again?' I hadn't realised they had meant so much to her. Time is getting away from me…
Victorian Composers {1820-1830}
The Romantic Period, a time in history where composers wished to reduce their listeners to tears and melt their hearts, ran from around 1825 to 1900. So this week I chose to study the Victorian composers of this time. To be honest, this was a tough week for me to plan. I am so very…
How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World
How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World is a perfect introduction to the continents of the world, which is what A, B and I hope to finish by September. This was a quick study to familiarise the girls with the way the world is laid out, giving some of its history and…
Upside Down Drawing {Learning the Art Basics}
Lil and I are currently doing art together for an hour each day. She is completing her Level Two qualification (Equivalent to a GCSE). And I am doing all the exercises and learning along side her but I won't be submitting my work for marking. It's fast becoming one of my favourite times of the…
Jane Austin {1810-1820}
The 1810s were a busy time with George III officially being recognised as insane; the United States Congress declaring war on Britain; the Great (financial) Panic of 1819; Queen Victoria's birth and the Napoleonic wars coming to an end. As you can see, a whole heap of important events occurred during the early 19th century,…
Electoral Apocalypses {review}
A few months ago I was approached by the folks at The Well Trained Mind to review Electoral Apocalypses Episode 1 and Episode 2. The Well Trained Mind is a company which produce the very excellent Story of the World, a complete classical history curriculum. The Electoral Apocalypses supplement and complement their lessons on American history…
How to Hold a Jane Austen Tea Party
As part of our Jane Austen learning, the girls decided to hold a Georgian tea party, Jane Austen style. I am so blessed by older girls who want to make the little ones' childhood as magical as their's was. They pretty much organised this entirely by themselves....and A8 and B5 were beside themselves with excitement!…
Nineteenth Century World History: 1800-1810 {Transatlantic Slave Trade and its Abolition}
There was a whole heap of interesting stuff going on in the early 1800's. Great Britain was indeed great and steaming forth as leaders in the industrial revolution (steaming? Geddit?!); the East India company is growing, increasing Britain's influence over the world; Napoleon becomes known as an invincible leader; Morphine is isolated, making opium a lot…
Follow the Drinking Gourd {FIAR}
My older three have been deep in study learning about slavery and its abolition. I thought it might be quite nice to teach one topic all together so chose a couple of the Five in a Row picture books which have the theme of slavery running through them: Follow the Drinking Gourd and Who Owns the…
Who Owns the Sun {FIAR}
As part of our slavery mini unit, I thought I would take the little ones through two Five in a Row selections: Follow the Drinking Gourd and Who Owns the Sun? For both we will be following the FIAR suggestions for study, but in addition to those I will be focusing our studies on one…
Goals for the Next Six Weeks
Thomas (Age 15) Maths - Conquer maths - Complete Linear Functions II Quadratic Equations Simultaneous Equations Loci Linear Equalities Chemistry Thomas has covered everything on the IGCSE Chemistry syllabus, so it is revision from here on out: Book to take IGCSE in the summer SAM learning - go over entire syllabus again to source any…
Project Based Learning: Endangered Animals – Tigers
Last summer I was wracking my brains to try to find a project that would hold A8's attention for longer than about five minutes. As she really does enjoy anything linked to nature I decided to go with an animal project. I wanted it to be a meaningful project so that she could feel that…
Word for the Year: Self-Control
Whilst I was on holiday in Northern Ireland I spent a long time in prayer and meditation over 2017. What direction we would take our children's school in; things we needed to focus on; things we needed to drop; blogging goals; relationship goals.....you name it, I pondered it. My one main goal, which does not…