Classical Homeschool Curriculum
A Homeschool Community for Classical Educators
The day was beautiful! Altogether there were 18 of us homeschoolers out on the lake fishing, canoeing, and enjoying the mild February weather that we call “winter” out here in AZ! My son was even bold enough to jump in and give it a go…it was so very funny. He got about 5 steps in – took a 1 second pause and then did a quick 180 and high tailed it back! It was still just a little bit too cold! It felt like ice water. But for some reason Read More …
The book above was a recommendation by the docent that gave us the tour and I absolutely loved it. Such an easy and delightful read. Vanished Arizona is about a New England woman who marries an army man and they are stationed out here in AZ to control the indian “problem.” This was while Arizona was a territory and the indians had been forced onto reservations, many didn’t want to go, they would hide in the mountains, etc. They could be very violent to pioneers and military alike, so the Read More …
The Sears-Kay Ruins hike was just what I was hoping for. A short hike (only 1.6 m round trip–enough that a toddler could walk it holding my hand) with lots to explore and look at and plenty of space to run wild and free. It delivered on all accounts. It was an easy 45min drive from my house in Paradise Valley. But once you got there it was felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. The city was nowhere to be seen and we really got to experience Read More …
Our 7th graders at co-op use the classical curriculum Book of the Trees from Memoria Press. As we are approaching the end of the curriculum it wants us to go out and nature journal a tree each week. This is exactly why we formed the Cardinal’s Nature Club – so we could see what we learn in science first hand. The Cave Creek Botanical Gardens is a free outdoor paved nature walk of all kinds of desert type botanicals. We saw lots of really interesting things and learned four new Read More …
Maricopa County Parks and Rec put on a great event at Lake Pleasant. A free archery lesson! The instructors were very helpful and had all the supplies and taught safety and archery skills.
In 6th grade, for science, we study birds. In our classically educating co-op we use the curriculum What’s That Bird? from Memoria Press. We learn to identify 30 of the most common birds by sight and by sound. We also learn about the anatomy of birds, how they fly, characteristics of different birds, etc. It’s a fascinating study and the children love it! To make science come alive we went to our local Audobon center (The Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center) and went a free guided bird tour. It Read More …
Here he is friends…in all his glory! The giant monstrosity of an animal! This picture really doesn’t do it justice. He was HUGE. 9 feet tall easy. They said he just kept growing. So maybe the painting above is accurate! Maybe this farmer was really proud of his giant square-like bull.
In the 4th Grade Memoria Press Curriculum, we study Astronomy, so we though this would be a perfect opportunity to get out and see first hand all that we are learning. The children used the star gazing app on my phone to find the constellations they’ve learned. They had a huge telescope to view the moon and Jupiter. The moon was absolutely incredible. I have never seen the moon so close. It looked like those clay sculptures were the sculptor has put in a ton of time and there are Read More …