Journey to Excellence

I mentioned in my last post that I plan to participate in Kris' Weekly Wrap-up each week. The problem, though, is that I typically blog several times a week as things are happening. I have thought about how mundane it will be to wrap up a week I've already posted about in detail. So, I've decided that my Weekly Wrap-up will be entitled "Weekly Wrap-up: Dawson Says" and I will have him blog about our week from his perspective. What do you think? We won't be starting school until August 18th, when my other children start public school. Our wrap-ups will begin on August 20th. Between now and then we may have some other posts, though, because we are still getting our school room together and we are slowly working on reading and watching videos about Pearl Harbor.

Being a new homeschooling mom, making connections with others is so important to me. I am pretty clueless, so reading what others are doing helps me immensely. Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers hosts a weekly Wrap-Up. I plan to participate in it every week. This week she is inviting posts about the 2010-2011 Curriculum choices. I have posted about our chosen curriculum before, but thought I would do an official post today. For Dawson's first year of homeschooling, and my first year at teaching, we have decided to stick to his strengths in our teaching and learning style and do a unit study based on his interests. Primary Curriculum: A World of Adventure , by Dorian Holt. It will have daily lessons that include Bible, Social Studies, Science, Literature, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary and Fine Arts all based on the following units ~ Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, The Middle Ages, The Renaissance and Reformation, and The Age of Exploration. I will suppl

Yesterday I asked Dawson what he would like his schoolroom to look like? He said "The 8 th Grade Center". He's having second thoughts. I know this is normal and natural. He's always gone to public school. The rest of his siblings are still going to public school. His friends are all in public school. But, it's not the best environment for him, and we both know that. I'll try again to get his opinion about what things, aesthetically, he would like in his schoolroom to make his learning environment comfortable. We'll get there.

One intention of mine in this journey with Dawson is to always incorporate some fun into what we are learning. Our first unit of study will be on Ancient Egypt. We went to Philbrook Museum and learned about the mummification process last week. So, why not watch The Mummy? It's entertaining and informative (they even discuss and show a partial mummification process in the beginning scenes). Dawson and I sat down this evening and watched The Mummy together. I love the movie. And, honestly, this was the first time I had paid attention to the educational side of it. Interesting and fun!

Today, the back end of our playroom upstairs went from this ... to this .... This is where "school" will happen in just a little over a month. We have a lot to add to the space .. shelves, bulletin and white boards, a world map, places to hang artwork, books, supplies, some personality, and a teacher and student. One step closer!!!

Our first unit in our A World of Adventure curriculum is Ancient Egypt. Our local museum, Philbrook Museum of Art has been having a special exhibit called "To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum." Yes, there were real mummies there, both human and animal. Cool! Dawson and I went today because they were having a presentation on the artifacts in the gallery exhibit. We learned some very interesting facts about mummification and ancient death rituals. It really got us jump started on our new adventure coming up, and gave us some art project ideas. This was inscribed on a bench in the gardens of the museum. We also stopped at a wonderful Christian bookstore in Tulsa so Dawson could pick out a new devotional and journal to start using when "school" starts. I let him browse through them and pick out the one he felt led to get. His morning will start with his time with the Lord. It's a discipline I want him to establish. We had such a good time t