Field Trip: Baltimore

We visited cousins near Baltimore last week, which means that we're playing catch-up this week. But Dagfari had a great time with his homeschooled cousins Jorunn and Godfred (we had to put them through the Viking Name Generator too). We visited a wildlife center and hiked in a state park, and then toured the National Aquarium in Baltimore (we're in the Australia exhibit in picture). D had plenty of time to play stuffed animal football and swordfight with G (J is way too mature and civilized for this sort of thing!). J and G's parents were very gracious hosts, especially considering that they had to make a fast trip to Michigan the next weekend.

Having seen what J & G's mom has to go through with Maryland homeschool regulations, I am very appreciative of NC's minimalist oversight. I would be in trouble if I had to keep a portfolio and fake an organized curriculum!

We stopped in Charlottesville on the way home and spent too much time and money in bookstores there. Heartwood Books, one of my favorite used bookstores, is still in business and remarkably unchanged from my days as a grad student at UVA. Dagfari has added UVA to his list of potential colleges (along with WFU, HPU, William and Mary, and UNC-CH).

Back on the home front, D is enjoying is art class at the Sawtooth Center, acting out the plot of Beowulf with Playmobil, and finishing up an essay on The Book of Three. Oh, and agonizing over his choice of Halloween costume, which is still up in the air at this writing! Stay tuned for more information.

SGS Fall Catalog

Last week Dagfari decided we should make a course catalog for Stratford Grammar School. With a few notable exceptions, the classes are of his design.

Here's what we came up with:

Stratford Grammar School
Fall 2007 course list

Art
Drawing and Painting 101. Students will learn basic techniques of drawing and painting and will also do special projects. Offsite location: Sawtooth Center.

Nature Photography 102. Students will learn basic techniques of nature photography with a digital camera. Includes field trips.

Computer Science
Keyboarding 101. Introduction to basic keyboarding. By the end of the class, student should be able to type with all ten fingers.

Web Page Design. Create a personal web page using Dreamweaver.

English
English Lit 101. Survey of literature in English, beginning with Beowulf and other Anglo-Saxon poetry, through Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Student will be expected to do daily reading assignments and write weekly short essays.

Modern Children’s Literature. Student will read and discuss a series of modern works of literature for children.

Foreign Languages
Intermediate Albanian. Continuation of Introductory Albanian, taught by native speaker. Student will learn the basics of oral and written Albanian and experience Albanian culture.

Introductory Latin. Introduction to classical Latin language and grammar.

History
World History 101. History of the world from prehistoric times until whenever. Student will write and produce a documentary.

Barbarian Europe. Study of indigenous European peoples from prehistory through the fall of the Roman Empire.

Home Economics
Cooking 101. Introduction to basic cooking techniques. Student will learn to make green and fruit salads, scrambled eggs, and a variety of sandwiches.

Mathematics
Mathematics 4A. Continuation of Mathematics 3B. Student will learn and practice a variety of mathematical concepts, while whining and protesting loudly. Student will be expected to have mastered multiplication tables 1-11 by the end of the class.

Architecture 101. Student will practice building structures with Legos.

Music
Music Appreciation. Student will listen to a music from a variety of classical composers and discuss the historical influences and qualities of each.

Piano Lessons 101. Student will begin study of piano.

Philosophy and Religion
World Mythologies. 2 semester course. Historical survey of mythology and its influence on human thought. Student will begin research on topic of choice, on which he will write a term paper during the spring semester

Physical Education
Bicycling. Weekly biking trips, including field trip to New River Trail in Virginia.

Swimming. Recreational swimming at Wake Forest pool.

Psychology
Introduction to Cognitive Science. Study of how humans develop thought processes and acquire language. (Course dependent on instructor’s ability to brush up on Noam Chomsky, Stephen Pinker, et al. May have to be postponed until Spring semester.)

Science
Animal Husbandry. Student will learn about animal care and behavior through interaction with guinea pigs and cats. Occasional dogsitting also involved.

Robotics 101. Student will build mechanical stuff with Legos and other kits.

Darwin and Evolution. Study of life and work of Charles Darwin, including the impact of evolutionary theory on modern thought. Probably a 2 semester course.

Theater
Introduction to Theater. Students will learn basic acting and playbuilding techniques. Offsite locations: High Point Regional Theater, Little Theater of Winston-Salem.

Shakespeare in Performance. Student will study Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, and will make a field trip to see a performance at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Staunton, Va.

Writing and Rhetoric
Creative Writing 201. Continuation of Golden Paper Clip Award series. Student will work on weekly story or chapter of creative writing of choice.

Fall Happenings

I've fallen behind on blogging-- and on most other things, for that matter. This is typical of September, which tends to be quite busy for those of us in academia. By October, things have usually settled down into a routine.

This seems to be true of our homeschooling venture too. Our kid-minders are all working out well, and various classes are underway. Dagfari goes to work with ProfDad on Tuesdays and Thursdays, even though his homeschool drama class in High Point was canceled due to lack of enrollment. He's going to a class on Saturday mornings now, which he likes for the most part, even though they're not doing Shakespeare. Art class starts this Thursday afternoon. And on Fridays D is with his Albanian "Nona", learning unusual language skills (I'm told he has an excellent Albanian accent!).

Dagfari is still loving the homeschool thing and doesn't miss school a bit. We've been very unstructured for the past few weeks (mostly out of necessity), which D has enjoyed. He has learned to ride the spiffy new bike that he got for his birthday in April. And he's gotten into Lego in a big way, which is a new thing for him. He's also made progress in his typing tutorial , taken lots of pictures of the guinea pigs, and finished the new Spiderwick book. D has actually requested that we get a bit more structured in our study of literature, mythology, and history, so we're working on that. Karen Armstrong's A Short History of Myth is proving to be right up his alley, so we're using that as a jumping-off point.

We've also had time for some not-so-educational activities, like the Dixie Classic Fair! The guys liked the funhouse, as you can see.

We met up with the secular homeschoolers group again last Friday afternoon. There are a bunch of boys ages 8-11, and Dagfari had a good time. The only problem is that D appears to be the only 9-year-old boy in the universe who has no interest in video games. This was an issue at school too. Maybe somewhere out there is another boy who can't partake in a discussion of Halo 3?