*DISCLAIMER*: The following post includes my opinions about religion. This post was not written with the intent to offend anyone. My beliefs are my own and I hope you respect them, even if you may not agree with me.
Part 2 of 3
For Part 1 click here
GEOGRAPHY
For geography this year, we are starting with the basics. I am teaching Hayz about maps; what they are, and how to use them. We have a couple of Tag software maps he got for Xmas from his Titi Lely (with the help of your gift card). One is of the world and the other of the United States.
We started with the world map. Hayzel, so far,has learned the 7 continents. We also use the internet to supplement.
Here is he taking a quiz online from this site on the names of the continents.
and one of him playing with his map..
I recently came across a Beginner Geography book from Evan-Moor which covers beginning map skills, landforms and bodies of water, and continents and oceans at an introductory level.
So I will be backtracking a bit with the help of this book before I move on.
After we are done with Intro to Geography we will continue on to a year long study of the good ol’ US of A. I found an excellent curriculum made by a fellow homeschooling mama at Confessions of a Homeschooler called Road Trip USA. I’m still gathering the material necessary for the curriculum, but I cannot wait! Hopefully we will be starting this curriculum by the beginning of Spring.
CHARACTER EDUCATION
As I stated in my previous post, we are not Christian. We are of a religion called Deism. It does not mean we do not believe in God, but it does mean we view him in a different light. So that you may understand a little bit about my belief, I’ve taken an excerpt for the wiki page on Deism that I feel summarizes our creed to it’s simplest form:
Deism, in religious philosophy, is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the natural laws of the universe. Deists typically reject supernatural events such as prophecy and miracles, tending instead to assert that a God (or "the Supreme Architect") does not alter the universe by intervening in it. This idea is also known as the clockwork universe theory, in which a God designs and builds the universe, but steps aside to let it run on its own.
With that being said, we do not teach Hayzel religion. Instead what we teach him is something called Character Education. Using the platform supported by the Josephson Institute, we are teaching Hayzel to develop good character; which includes knowing, caring about and acting upon core ethical values such as respect, responsibility, honesty, fairness and compassion. Some of you may think that good character is something you are born with. But in my opinion, I believe that being good is something that is developed over time through teaching, setting examples, learning, and practice. So Character Ed is a subject we learn here at Oakridge Academy.
There are six main Character traits that I will be teaching Hayzel over the next couple of years:
At this age I’m sticking to very basic things, so the first trait I chose to teach him to is responsibility.
I’ve started by introducing him to the word and what it means. I’ve supplemented that with videos on youtube such as
and books:
Off the top of his head he knows that responsibility is “doing what you’re supposed to do”. For him this means that every morning when he wakes up the first thing he needs to do is shut off his tv (he sleeps with the classical music channel on), pee, and feed his fish. My responsibility is to make his breakfast. Then he has a responsibility to eat, clear the table, brush his teeth, and be ready for school at 9am.
This upcoming week I will be introducing him to his new responsibility chart. I am trying to develop an “allowance” system so that he can learn the responsibility of earning and spending money wisely……. Hmmm, maybe I should teach that to myself…..
On the next post I will talk about penmanship, PE, and socialization.
May
For Part 3 click here
