Roman History and Latin Curricula

Ok, slightly obscure.  My son has expressed interest in all things Roman.  He wants to learn Latin, and for history this year he wants to study the ins and outs of Roman History. The beauty of homeschooling is child directed learning. However finding homeschool curricula on this has been challenging.  Here's a list of what I've found to save you some time.  I'm inspired to write a curricula...because there's nothing out there that is the way I want it to be. I don't even know where to begin, but I just might work through it.

Anyway, here are some links to curricula that I am considering until I can space the time away to write my own.

1. Heritage History: Ancient Rome: At $24.99 for a CD of the entire curricula and study guide, this is a bargain and will be a great resource.  It's definitely being purchased.
2. Roman History Pockets: These are great supplement when combined with other forms of study.  They are fun projects that my children have enjoyed in the past.  Last year it was American History, and they just loved them.
3. Literature Pockets: Greek and Roman Myths: Another great project resource.
4. Rome Unit Study: This is a free unit study you can download and print out to use as needed. Free is fabulous...isn't it?
5. If your child learns best through worksheets, then Ancient Rome Thematic Unit may be a good supplement, too.

Latin Resources:

1. Latin: First Year: I was drawn to this one because of it's quizzes and tests book. I am a secular/classical schooler, so this test booklet is super important to me. Before purchasing though, I do suggest reading the comments listed below.  It got some not so great reviews.
2. Beginning Latin for the Homeschooler looks like a strong contender for us. This has great reviews and is very basic.  It seems to me that this book may be used before you begin the first book I linked. 
3. Latin's Not So Tough is a classical curricula with pacing, tests, study guides...it seems to have it all.  It seems difficult to obtain, and I suppose you are lucky if you get your hands on one. It also seems to be geared towards younger learners.  It looks appropriate for 2nd and 3rd graders, or maybe even a gifted 1st grader.

Any resources out there that you think I should add to the list?  Just comment below and I will take a look. 

Free Homeschooling Resources

Relinquishing the Connections Academy has me nervous sometimes in making sure my kids are getting what they need from the education I will now be providing for them.  The internet is an amazing resource of free material to use for your kids so today's post will be about links.

I'm not about worksheets.  I think they sucked the life out of my kid's education.  But today, we did some school work.  There were no tears.  My son was so relieved he had time to be a kid.  What a gift.

We'll do a science experiment after lunch, and then a social studies story at bedtime.  Relief.  Joy.  These are many of the words the both of us are experiencing right now.

Anyway, off to free links.

Super Teacher Worksheets offer free worksheets.  Print them out as they are, or just browse and be inspired to write your own for your kids.


Waldorf Curriculum offers a list of free resources. I have sifted through about half of these. Some of them are heavy reading, but read it anyway! It's worth it to your kids.


The Bearth Insititute has a list of free resources and how-to videos. I know I will be checking back here frequently. For more resources, check back. I plan on openly sharing our journey. Now that we're not piled under worksheets and deadlines I am free (and so are my kids) to follow our hearts.

Connections Academy -- A Homeschooler's Review

This passed fall I enrolled my children into a free online school program at the Connections Academy.  This financially was one of our best options for charter school because...well, it's offered in my state for free.

We were very excited to get our boxes of supplies in the mail.  They shipped them quickly and neatly.  We got textbooks, workbooks, art supplies, a jump rope, and even a yoga CD for the kids to do.  I was optimistic and excited to have my kids home again.  We had missed each other tremendously the few weeks they had gone to school at the local public school.

Before I say any more about this program, I need to say this.  This is NOT a homeschool program.  This is a public school program done at home.  The work load my children had to complete each week was so much, we had a hard time keeping up each week.  My son was in their gifted program for third grade, and there were days he worked 9 hours or more and still did not complete his day's work.

I had to take attendance every day, and their teachers had to touch base with them at least once every two weeks.  If structure is what your child needs, and if they are independent workers, this program may work for you.  My children though started to hate school, they complained when it was time to do school work. Piles of worksheets had taken the fun and enjoyment out of learning.

Just this passed week, I have sent in my notice of intent to the state.  I'm pulling them out of their state funded program, and finishing the school year on my own with them.  I've been eyeing the Oak Meadow curriculum for years, and purchased my son's curricula this passed week.  He will finish out his third grade year with a slower pace.  One that enables him to look deeper on his own, and hopefully will give him a love of learning.

For my daughter, I will be trying the Christopherus curricula.  It's a heavy Waldorf inspired curricula.  Hopefully her inner spirit will shine through with creativity and joy, instead of having to do hours of worksheets every day.

I'm relieved and happy with my choices of dropping them out of the Connections Academy.  It wasn't an easy decision to come to.  In the end, I didn't want them to hate learning.  I want them to be lifelong learners.  Before I was their mother, I was a teacher...and if something isn't working as it should, it needs to be fixed.  I would love to hear if anyone has had any experiences like this, or if they've used these curricula before.

Homeschooling -- why this time?

Over the summer, I had promised my kids that if I didn't get a teaching job that I would keep them home and home school them.  Mostly because if I freelanced, my work schedule would begin at 3:00 in the afternoon and potentially go late into the evening.

With the economy being what it is, and music being cut in our schools, I didn't even land a phone call from the multitude of counties I applied for.  I was actually pretty shocked.  I'm pretty qualified, and by federal standards, I'm highly qualified to do what I applied for.  Such is life, it wasn't meant to be.  With the connections I had made in Colorado, I landed on my feet.  I found a steady source of private violin and viola students.  I even made a new website for my new growing business.   It flourished.  I'm booked up, and I'm relieved.

With my recent illness however, I decided that even though my work schedule wouldn't be ideal it would be better for the kids to attend school instead of stay home with a broken mom who needed to focus on getting healthy.  I sent them, and I regretted it.  Within weeks, I realized I missed them so much.  There were days I wouldn't see them for over 12 hours.  I'd drop them off at school at 8:15, leave so painfully close to when they'd be home at 3:15 to get to my 4:00 lesson, and teach until 7:30, drive home, and get home about 8:15 again.  Grab them from the neighbors house just to tuck them in bed so they'd have enough sleep to go to school the next day.  It was miserable.  They missed me, and I missed them.

So, I had to think of a quick solution.  In Colorado, they offer many virtual online schools.  Still considered to be public schools I thought this would be an easy option.  I checked out two. The Colorado Calvert Academy and The Colroado Connections Academy. I ended up going with the Connections Academy, and so far like I've seen other people mention it's intense. It's many assignments every day. We're getting the hang of things, and I've made a mental decision to not stress over their deadlines.

Next year, I will be pulling them out of the public school system entirely and homeschooling them myself. So this year, we'll be pulling through this curriculum, while checking out something else for next year. Lots of time to plan.

School is out...now what?

Yesterday was the last day of school for my kids, and a few weeks ago we had a discussion about how they thought the school year went.  They both said they had a good time, and met lots of interesting people.  On the flip side, I noticed how many bad words they both picked up, and the meaning of the middle finger, etc.

My son had spent a year at home with me during first grade.  We tried homeschooling, and I felt that it was a very successful year.  We stayed home for many reasons, but the biggest one was my dissatisfaction in the public schools in the county we lived in.  I've taught in public schools, and I knew the blame wasn't with the teachers.  It was higher up then that.  It was a small county with a small budget, and it wasn't flexible enough to deal with children who didn't fit in the "main stream."

So back to this discussion I had with my kids.  I asked them if they wanted to go back to the school next year, or if they wanted to study at home.  They both instantly said, HOME!  I reminded my son that it was hard at home, and it wouldn't be any easier then school, and that's when they both said the sweetest thing.  They missed me...

So, I began looking for an easy course for penmanship.  Both of them could work on their handwriting, and of course one of my biggest challenges is finding homeschooling material that isn't Christian based.  I get and respect that many people keep their kids home to allow Christ to be in their child's education, but we're not Christian, so it's difficult finding material that is "Christ free."

So I stumbled across Donna Young's Penmanship Lessons. She even has a secular one that uses George Washington's Rules of Civility instead of bible verses. This I can handle. Best of all it's free. I love free.  Free is made of win.  I like winning.

In the end, if I don't get a job teaching, it's likely I'll keep them home.  I will however need to substitute teach I think if I don't find a job.  So I"m not really sure if keeping them home will ever be an option.  The hubs doesn't make enough money to support us completely, so I have to earn money somehow.  Until then though, I can keep them busy and learning all summer long.