Before we moved to Egypt, Elisha had completed Classical Conversations' Foundations Cycle 1 and 2, and last year, she completed Cycle 3 with me here in Egypt. We enjoyed Foundations program very much, and, especially, with Elisha having a knack for memorizing, it was a right fit to meet our needs.
As we are returning back to U.S., I, without much debating, thought we are going to to join CC for Essentials. However, while exchanging emails with the director of this specific site we were going to sign up for, I felt something amiss. I was in the middle of finishing up my doctoral program for Audiology, and at the same time, we were busy packing up for intercontinental move, and I just wanted to sign up and pay for the Essentials and get over with it. However, right before I was going to send the payment, God stirred me to open the Essentials of the English Language (EEL) which is the book used for Essentials program. I purchased it over a year ago, but never opened it until then!
Skimming through the pages, I had to laugh at God's sense of humor: the material is something very familiar to me. Before I became an audiologist, I earned a master's degree in linguistics and having someone else to teach the contents of EEL to my child will be nonsense.
So, we are not going to join CC for a while, and instead of doing EEL, we will work on IEW's Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. Elisha and I just finished the first book of Fix It Grammar
series, and I believe TWSS is much more thorough than EEL.
Meanwhile, I have to come up with a plan to keep Elisha working on Foundations memory work. I might have to outsource that part by hiring a teenage mother's helper to come once a week and drill Elisha with the memory work.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Review - How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare
It has been about one and a half year since Elisha started memorizing passages from Shakespeare's plays. As of now, she memorizes 12 passages. A few months ago, Elisha had a chance to see Twelfth Night at a theater and she was quietly reciting lines along with the actors!
I majored in English during college, but my knowledge and appreciation of Shakespeare is non-existent. (I don't know how I got my degree!) So, when I decided to introduce Elisha to Shakespeare's works, I was clueless where and how to start. Analyzing and discussing literature was not an option, because, if not done in proper time and manner, that method is going to destroy joy of studying literature.
We started by getting her easy-to-read, fun books of Shakespeare's plays. Tales from Shakespeare and More Tales from Shakespeare were the first ones we introduced to Elisha. Also, we added a few audio books of Shakespeare's plays on a tablet which she listened to.
Once I noticed Elisha was enjoying the books, after much reading and research, I purchased How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig. I read first few chapters and decided to have Elisha memorize the passages presented in the book. Ken has a website where you can find recordings of all the passages read by professional actors and actresses. I let Elisha listen to them while eating or during free play times, and it takes her a few dozen times of listening to a passage to memorize it. Every weekend, along with bible verses, CJ tests her on all the Shakespeare passages she has been memorizing.
Ken's book offers details on each passage, but for now, I am not going over them with Elisha. She loves to memorize the passages with dramatization and, with that, I think we succeeded in planting 'love of Shakespeare' in her heart.
Someone once said 'What would be a better way to learn English than to study Shakespeare?', and despite the paucity of my knowledge of the great works, I do agree.
I majored in English during college, but my knowledge and appreciation of Shakespeare is non-existent. (I don't know how I got my degree!) So, when I decided to introduce Elisha to Shakespeare's works, I was clueless where and how to start. Analyzing and discussing literature was not an option, because, if not done in proper time and manner, that method is going to destroy joy of studying literature.
We started by getting her easy-to-read, fun books of Shakespeare's plays. Tales from Shakespeare and More Tales from Shakespeare were the first ones we introduced to Elisha. Also, we added a few audio books of Shakespeare's plays on a tablet which she listened to.
Once I noticed Elisha was enjoying the books, after much reading and research, I purchased How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig. I read first few chapters and decided to have Elisha memorize the passages presented in the book. Ken has a website where you can find recordings of all the passages read by professional actors and actresses. I let Elisha listen to them while eating or during free play times, and it takes her a few dozen times of listening to a passage to memorize it. Every weekend, along with bible verses, CJ tests her on all the Shakespeare passages she has been memorizing.
Ken's book offers details on each passage, but for now, I am not going over them with Elisha. She loves to memorize the passages with dramatization and, with that, I think we succeeded in planting 'love of Shakespeare' in her heart.
Someone once said 'What would be a better way to learn English than to study Shakespeare?', and despite the paucity of my knowledge of the great works, I do agree.
EXODUS
In about 2 weeks, our family will be leaving Egypt and head back to U.S. Two years flew by so fast and I am struggling to wrap up our lives here without so much emotions churning in me.
During the past two years here in Egypt, CJ passed PMP (Project Management Professional Certification), completed the last course of facilities management, and completed Air Force Staff College.
Elisha got to experience a traditional school for a year. CJ and I wanted to give Elisha a chance to see for herself what school life is like, so that, down the road, she won't have any resentment or regrets about not being given the opportunity to explore the other option. Early on during the one-year journey, Elisha decided she prefers homeschooling and she hasn't changed her mind since then. So here we are preparing to go back to homeschool.
For me, I completed the doctoral program for Audiology through University of Florida. I am still not sure how God is going to intervene to use or not to use this degree, but, regardless, I am preparing to get Texas State license for audiology. Whatever lies ahead, I don't want to have any regrets of not doing my best.
Despite all the accomplishments and wonderful experiences we have had in Egypt, the best thing we have experienced is God's protection over us. Last Summer, on the 4th of July, little Deborah had a seizure which was followed by a cardiac arrest. Thankfully, she came out of it without any damage, but I still have a hard time talking about it without my body getting tense.
Yes, it sure feels great to have this Exodus with so much gains, but in the face of that experience of almost losing my child, all those glories fade. Everyday here on earth is a miracle and I live with that realization even more so now.
During the past two years here in Egypt, CJ passed PMP (Project Management Professional Certification), completed the last course of facilities management, and completed Air Force Staff College.
Elisha got to experience a traditional school for a year. CJ and I wanted to give Elisha a chance to see for herself what school life is like, so that, down the road, she won't have any resentment or regrets about not being given the opportunity to explore the other option. Early on during the one-year journey, Elisha decided she prefers homeschooling and she hasn't changed her mind since then. So here we are preparing to go back to homeschool.
For me, I completed the doctoral program for Audiology through University of Florida. I am still not sure how God is going to intervene to use or not to use this degree, but, regardless, I am preparing to get Texas State license for audiology. Whatever lies ahead, I don't want to have any regrets of not doing my best.
Despite all the accomplishments and wonderful experiences we have had in Egypt, the best thing we have experienced is God's protection over us. Last Summer, on the 4th of July, little Deborah had a seizure which was followed by a cardiac arrest. Thankfully, she came out of it without any damage, but I still have a hard time talking about it without my body getting tense.
Yes, it sure feels great to have this Exodus with so much gains, but in the face of that experience of almost losing my child, all those glories fade. Everyday here on earth is a miracle and I live with that realization even more so now.
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