Spring 09 Picture Update - just checking in

Basically this is so you know we haven't fallen off the other side of the planet, and to let you catch up with the Kitkat so you're not totally shocked at how tall and lovely (prejudiced much?) she has grown since you saw her last....

Easter Sunday and a fresh start...

'Fireproof' and 'The Love Dare'. Either you've watched the movie, cried, resolved to make a difference in your marriage, and, probably, bought the book...or you have no idea what I'm talking about. For the latter reader, go over to http://bhpublishinggroup.com/lovedare/ and find out. The book (and movie in which it stars) offers forty days of ways to change yourself and your marriage with faith-based, Christ-based challenges to alter your behaviour, and to make love a choice rather than a fickle feeling. Thousands of couples, supposedly, have already been enriched by, blessed by, or turned their marriages around because of this book, even those separated or on the brink of divorce. For the former reader, let me just say that I bought 'The Love Dare', it came in last weekend, and I chose to start it today.

Except that I have already 'done' many of the 'dares' or marriage challenges over far more than the last forty days. In fact, it was at the end of last year that I came to the realization that my marriage was in emotional tatters and as a first step chose to silence my negative, critical tongue - a choice that happens to be Day One of the Love Dare, a book I didn't know existed at the time. Oh yes, it takes two to build a marriage as well as to tear it down, but the only person's actions I can change are my own, so let's start there, shall we? Scanning through the journal entries (over at http://lovedare.bhpublishinggroup.com) which many brave men and women taking this challenge have made public, I see that my problems and my reactions are far from unique... but also that the suggestions and dares the book offers are equally so.

Since confessing myself before the Lord, counsellors, and my husband those five months ago, I have done a number of these actions spontaneously for my husband, whether the requirement to ask what he would change about my behaviour, the random considerate present, the listening ear, the affectionate touch, the gift of time, the focusing on his good qualities.... the walls are as thick and icy as ever.

Friends and family, I know you are already praying for us, over here across the seas. Let me ask specifically for these needs: - keep my heart soft towards him and my tongue bridled - soften his heart towards me and our daughter - reinstill joy and remove depression - help him learn to trust and to offer forgiveness(...perhaps someday to ask mine in turn?) I can do nothing to change or help him, no matter how many books I read or actions I do; only God can restore and enrich our damaged relationship.

Pray for all three of us! We love and miss you...

the Bard

Some Pictures, Being Worth a few Thousand Words, for your Delectation

More pictures, huh? Well, it seems that I haven't cleared out my cell phone's cache for a good long time, so perhaps I'd better choose a few favorites from the last massive download and post them here for your enjoyment.

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Katherine with our old-fashioned watering can, in our garden. Just after we planted our lettuce, spring onions, spinach, and acorn squash, we had a cold snap. I think the germinating lettuce has bitten the biscuit, but the tougher spinach survived - there are little sprouts poking through the soil already.



Homeschooling: A picnic in 'the quarry' - we had our lunch outdoors during a geology lesson, discovering quartz and mica among other 'treasures'.



Kath posing in front of one of her favorite paintings at the Klimt exhibition we were lucky enough to catch in Seoul this spring. We created a great lapbook on Klimt later, with our favorite selections and plenty of gold accents... visit Lapbook Lessons, here, to see it: http://lapbooklessons.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=27cmhh10i5j63



Il-Sun and Choon-Dae took us to an excellent Chinese restaurant for Bryan's birthday last December; here he is being served with the piece-de-resistance, a whole octopus all to himself. He was kind enough to let Kath and me nibble a couple of tentacles, though!



Homeschooling sometimes involves chocolate pudding.



Last autumn one of Il-Sun's dogs had puppies. Here's Katherine, with a priceless expression on her face, part delight and part apprehension. (Just last week the same dog had another litter - Kath was far more confident showing them off to our friends this time, snuggling them blissfully under her chin, and then nonchalantly handing them back into their nest...)

A Digital Scrapbook Page Celebrating Sisters

...specifically celebrating my relationship with MY special sister, who takes time she probably doesn't have to dig through my library, buy me S&V popcorn shake, pick up dollar store craft stuff, pack the Cheez Whiz so it doesn't break, and then send it all halfway around the world... this one is for you, Liese! XXXOOO

Comprehensive Curriculum for Homeschool

COMPREHENSIVE CURRICULUM UNITS

for the Alembyc Academy

designed by and copyrighted to Judy Alkema, 2009,

as a cyclical and holistic program of homestudy

for her daughter Katherine

1. ART

   1. Fine Art

      1. Appreciating/Perception – exposure to wide variety of artists, styles, and cultures

      2. Reacting – responding to various forms of art intuitively / emotionally

      3. Critiquing – responding to various forms of art analytically / logically

      4. Creating – making original art in a variety of media and styles

   2. Applied Art

      1. Art Elements

         1. Line – thick, thin, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved, zigzag

         2. Shape - geometric, organic

         3. Color

            • Gamut – range, harmonies, restrictions

            • Properties: hue, value, intensity

            • Color schemes: monochromatic, analogous, complementary, warm/cool

            • additive/subtractive, reflective/transmitted

         4. Texture - soft, rough, smooth, gritty

         5. Space - real/implied, positive/negative

         6. Form - 3-D shapes creating depth

      2. Principles of Design

         1. Balance – symmetry, asymmetry, formal, informal

         2. Variety – difference in uses of elements

         3. Harmony – repetition of elements

         4. Emphasis – creating a focal point

         5. Proportion – relationship of elements to each other

         6. Pattern – repetition of elements to create a surface effect

         7. Rhythm – repetition of elements to create movement or activity

         8. Unity – a cohesive oneness or consistency in the finished piece

         9. Contrast – elements standing out against each other

   3. Art Appreciation & History

      1. Painters

         1. da Vinci

         2. Van Gogh

         3. Matisse

         4. Renoir

         5. Monet

         6. Klimt (on exhibition now in Seoul!)

         7. Rembrandt

         8. Picasso

         9. Modigliani / Rubens / El Greco / Holbein / Bruegel as resources warrant

      2. Sculptors

         1. Praxiteles

         2. Michelangelo

         3. Degas

         4. Henry Moore

         5. Alexander Calder

         6. Isamu Noguchi

         7. Rodin

      3. Photographers

         1. Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre – father of photography

         2. Ansel Adams – landscapes

         3. Alfred Eisenstaedt - photojournalism

         4. Richard Avedon – portraits (American)

         5. Yousuf Karsh – portraits (Canadian)

         6. Eastman & Kodak

         7. Digital

      4. Other Media

         1. Pottery / Ceramics

         2. Metalwork

         3. Mosaics, Inlay, Geometric Designs

         4. Collage and Paperwork

2. ETHICS (vid pg 1751 in the NIV Serendipity Bible for events and verses)

   1. Faith

      1. Ministries of Jesus

      2. Miracles of Jesus

      3. Experiences of Jesus

      4. Lessons of Jesus

      5. Parables of Jesus

      6. Healings of Jesus

   2. Religion

      1. Christianity

      2. Buddhism (Chinese, Tibetan)

      3. Islam

      4. Hinduism

      5. Animism/Shamanism/Anthropomorphism

         1. Korean Muism

         2. Japanese Shinto

         3. African

         4. Australian Dreamtime

         5. Native North American

         6. Native South American

      6. Ancient Religions & Mythologies

         1. Sumerian

         2. Egyptian

         3. Greek

         4. Roman

         5. Norse

         6. Celtic

         7. Aztec

      7. Paganism & Wicca

   3. Morality

      1. The Golden Rule – examine its history throughout cultures

      2. Love is the greatest of these

      3. The Fruit of the Spirit

         1. Love

         2. Joy

         3. Peace

         4. Patience

         5. Kindness

         6. Goodness

         7. Faithfulness

         8. Gentleness

         9. Self-control

      4. The Ten Commandments

         1. the shalt-nots

         2. the shalts

   4. Manners

      1. All arising from the Golden Rule

      2. JOY

         1. Jesus

         2. Others

         3. Yourself

      3. Chivalry

      4. Do's and Don'ts of a Princess

      5. Cross-cultural Rules and Codes

3. HISTORY – (vid. Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of the World, three volumes)

   n.b.-A, B, C concurrently presented, with alternatives and suppositions as necessary

   1. Prehistoric

      1. 'Evolutionary Theory'

      2. Dinosaurs – main types and aprox. 'epochs'

      3. 'Stone Age'

      4. Bronze Age

      5. Iron Age

   2. Biblical History

      1. Creation – the Seven Days

      2. Creation & Fall / Adamic

      3. Noah & the Flood

      4. Abraham & His Sons (Gen 12 – 50's patriarchal socio-cultural milieu fits well within the context of the Middle Bronze Age – c. 1950 – 1550 B.C., according to the NIV Serendipity Bible)

      5. Jacob the Trickster & Sons

      6. Joseph, Steward of Egypt

      7. Moses & the Exodus (possibly 1300 – 1250 B.C.)

      8. The Ten Commandments and the Tabernacle

      9. The Promised Land & Jericho – Joshua (c 1250 B.C.)

      10. The Time of the Judges: Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Ruth ( c. 1000 – 700 B.C.), Samuel

      11. David: Shepherd, Warrior, King (1050 B.C. Saul annointed - )

      12. Solomon the Wise & the Temple ( - 930 B.C. Solomon's death)

      13. Prophets: Elijah & Elisha ( 700 – 560 B.C.?)

      14. The Fall of Jerusalem, the Exile, & the Rebuilding – Ezra & Nehemiah (586 - 432 B.C.)

      15. Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, and Darius (605 – 530 B.C.)

      16. Esther & Xerxes (486-465 B.C.)

      17. The Maccabees & Herod ( 167 – 20 B.C.)

      18. The Birth of Jesus (0 – actually probably 3 or 4 B.C.)

      19. Jesus's Ministry

      20. Jesus's Parables

      21. The Passion Week

      22. Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost

      23. The Early Church – Peter, John, Philip

      24. Saul Becomes Paul

      25. Paul's Missionary Journeys

      26. The Revelation of John & the Holy City

   3. Timeline

      1. Ancient History

         1. Ancient Egyptian

         2. Ancient Greek / Roman

         3. Dark Ages

         4. Celtic

         5. Norse

      2. Asian History

         1. Chinese

         2. Japanese

         3. Korean

      3. Medieval

      4. Renaissance

      5. Elizabethan / Shakespearean

      6. Age of Reason / Enlightenment

      7. Age of Exploration

      8. The Romantics

      9. The Americas

      10. Industrialization

      11. Colonialism

      12. The Pioneers

      13. War and Conflict

          1. WWI

          2. WWII

          3. The Korean War

          4. The Cold War

      14. Post-Modernism

      15. The Age of Information

4. HOMESKILLS

   1. Planning & Organization

      1. Break it Down – eat the elephant one bite at a time

      2. A Place for Everything - and everything in its place

         1. put items where they are used

         2. group items ergonomically

         3. one step to put something away / 'touch it once'

         4. put it back when you're done with it

      3. Work before Play – 'debrief' /unpack as soon as you get home

      4. Tidy Daily – keep on top of the 'mess'

      5. Sorting – the four essential categories

         1. Keep

         2. Store

         3. Recycle

         4. Toss

      6. Control Clutter

      7. Periodically Take Stock / Purge

      8. Emergencies and Survivalism

         1. Kits/ packs for various needs

            • entertainment knapsack

            • car breakdown

            • stuck overnight away from home

            • loss of power

         2. Vital documents – keep secure and accessible

         3. Ready money or negotiable items

   2. Cleanliness

      1. Laundry – sorting, washing, storing

         1. Sort and wash by colour: Lights, Darks, Brights

         2. Store by kind: shirts, pants, skirts, etc.

         3. Store by season: warm weather / cold weather

      2. Sewing – buttons, hems, darning, making over

      3. Dishes – choosing, washing, storing

         1. types of dishware & cutlery

         2. clear, scrape, stack, wash, rinse, dry

         3. racks, stacks, hooks, shelving, etc.

      4. Cleaning – the specific needs of the various living/working areas

         1. Living area

         2. Kitchen/Dining

         3. Bath

         4. Bedrooms

         5. Exteriors

      5. Monthly / Seasonal / Yearly Tasks – basic home maintenance

      6. Ecological Impact & Responsibilities

         1. Cleansers

            • Commercial Cleansers – ingredients, effects, eventual results

            • Soda & Vinegar– ingredients, effects, eventual results

            • Bleach, Hydrogen Peroxide, Ammonia

            • Shampoo, Dish Soap, Detergent – the pros and cons

            • Elbow Grease and other old-fashioned remedies

         2. Lighting

         3. Materials to be cleaned

         4. Materials to clean with

         5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – as essential here as elsewhere

   3. Home Décor & Design

      1. Form Follows Function

      2. “Have nothing you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” - Ruskin

      3. Colour Theory & Pyschology of Colour

      4. Flow & Balance

      5. Atmosphere / 'Feng Shui' / home spirit

      6. Historical Styles and Modes

         1. Medieval

            • Early / Low

            • Late / High

         2. Gothic

            • Tudor

            • Elizabethan

            • Jacobean

         3. Renaissance

         4. Baroque & Rococo

         5. Colonial

         6. Regency

         7. Georgian

         8. Victorian

         9. Arts & Crafts / Aesthetics / Morris

         10. Art Nouveau

         11. Art Deco

         12. 'Modern'

   4. Money & Budgeting

      1. Give / Save / Spend formula

         1. Give – 10 % tithing, plus gifts, presents, special ministries

         2. Save – put money away for future needs

         3. Spend – record and budget what you buy

      2. Budgeting – categories and determining percentages

      3. Bills & 'Credit'

      4. Principles of Banking, Accounting, Interest

   5. Nutrition & Cooking

      1. Food Pyramid

      2. Menus & Planning – balance, economy, health, appreciation & enjoyment

      3. Contrast – texture, colour, taste – appeal to senses, importance of presentation

      4. Shopping – freshness, local, seasonal, thrift, labels, nutrient content, etc.

      5. Preparing

         1. utensils, tools & small appliances

         2. preparation skills and associated verbs (bake, chop, stir, grill, season, etc.)

         3. cooking theory – basic (al)chemical reactions

         4. hygiene, storage, sanitation

      6. Serving – a point, plating, garnishes, table settings, decor

      7. Preserving & Storing

   6. Gardening, Plants & Herbs

      1. Food Plants – Fruits & Vegetables

      2. Herbs & Spices

      3. Flowers

      4. Houseplants

      5. General Gardening, Planning & Plant Interactions

5. LANGUAGE

   1. Linguistics – developing facility with language

   2. Second Languages – Korean, Chinese, Latin, Spanish

6. MATH

   1. Arithmetic / Operations

      1. Addition

      2. Subtraction

      3. Multiplication

      4. Division

      5. Decimals

   2. Number Theory

      1. Counting, Place Value, Fractions and Graphs

      2. Probability & Statistics

   3. Measurement

      1. Money

      2. Time

      3. Dimensions

      4. Weight and Volume

   4. Geometry

      1. Lines

      2. Angles

      3. Dimensions x, y, z

      4. 2-D & 3-D shapes

      5. Equations & Rules

   5. Variables & Pre-Algebra

7. MUSIC (vid Music Education in the Christian Home, by Mary Ann Froehlich)

   1. Instrumental Performance

      1. Keyboard (piano, electronic, melodeon, etc.)

      2. Wind (recorder, bamboo flute, ocarina)

      3. Percussion (drum, castanets, Korean instruments)

   2. Vocal Performance

      1. Listen, Memorize, Sing Melodies

      2. Listen, Memorize, Sing Harmonies

      3. Improvise and Play

   3. Appreciation & History

      1. Western Music

         1. Medieval

            • Gregorian Chant

            • Trouvere Songs

            • Madrigals

         2. Renaissance

            • Dufay & des Pres

            • John Dowland

            • Thomas Tallis

         3. Baroque

            • Buxtehude

            • Purcell

            • Vivaldi

            • Bach

            • Handel

            • Pachebel

         4. Classic

            • Haydn

            • Mozart

            • Beethoven

         5. Romantic

            • Schubert

            • Schumann

            • Brahms

         6. Operas

            • Verdi, Bizet, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Grieg

         7. Post-Romantic

            • Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff

         8. 20^th Century

            • Prokofiev, Holst, Britten, Gershwin, Copland, Stravinsky

      2. Other Cultures & Styles

         1. Asian

         2. Indian

         3. African

         4. Australian

         5. Native North American

         6. Native South American

   4. Theory & Sightreading

      1. Rhythm

      2. Do-Re-Mi

      3. Keyboard Octave

      4. Clef & Musical Notation

      5. Sightreading

   5. Dance

      1. Creative Movement & Improvisation

      2. Learned Patterns, Steps and Styles

         1. Waltz

         2. Hip-hop

         3. Swing

         4. Ballet

         5. and so on!

8. PHYSICAL EDUCATION

   1. Health

      1. Maintaining Health

      2. Care during Illness

      3. First Aid for Injury

   2. Anatomy & Physiology

      1. Skeletal System

      2. Organs & Gastrointestinal System

      3. Muscular System

      4. Nervous System

      5. Circulatory / Respiratory System

      6. Functions of the various systems

   3. Sexuality

      1. Reproductive systems

      2. Functions and cycles thereof

         1. Menses / Courses

         2. Intercourse

         3. Contraception / Conception

         4. Pregnancy

         5. Birth

      3. Psychology / Human Sexuality

      4. Morality, Relationships, and Family Values

   4. Athletics (to be expanded)

      1. Solo Sports

      2. Team Sports

      3. Martial Arts

      4. Exercise & Fitness

9. READING

   1. Comprehension

      1. Decoding – Phonics

      2. Dolch Sight Words

      3. Roots, Suffixes, Prefixes, Common Endings

      4. Contractions

      5. =>

   2. Vocabulary

      1. Build new words in context

      2. Record, repeat, and practice new vocabulary

      3. Link to etymology – Latinate, AS, OE, etc.

      4. Create neural net of language

      5. Emphasise precision and accuracy in use of language

   3. Literature

      1. Read & Appreciate – anything and everything, as and when able to process!

      2. Memorize & Recite

      3. Analyze / Techniques

         1. The 5 Ws

         2. Plot, Characters, Setting

         3. Comprehension

         4. antonyms, synonyms, homophones and homographs

         5. Story Development

         6. Narrative P.O.V.

         7. Conflict & Resolution

         8. Theme and Main Ideas

         9. idioms, analogies, literal, figurative

      4. Create & Enjoy (see Writing)

   4. Poetry

      1. Listen & Appreciate

         1. Types - ballads, sonnets, lyric poems, limericks, haiku, etc.

         2. Styles – romantic, humorous, satirical, elegaic, declamatory, etc.

      2. Memorize & Recite – see above!

      3. Analyze / Techniques

         1. rhyme

         2. rhythm

         3. scansion

         4. alliteration

         5. simile / metaphor

         6. onomatopoeia

         7. personification / anthropomorphisation

      4. Create & Enjoy (see Writing)

   5. Drama

      1. Watch & Appreciate

         1. Movies, Theatre, Musicals, Opera

         2. Presentations, Orators, Politicians, etc.

         3. Puppetry, Shadow Plays, Mask Drama, other cultural traditions

      2. Improvise / Summarize

      3. Analyze / Techniques

         1. Types: tragedy, comedy, farce, etc.

         2. Techniques: satire, soliloquy, aside, stage direction, and other conventions

      4. Create & Perform

         1. Short Plays

         2. Improv

         3. Reports & Presentations

         4. Teaching Information

         5. Recounting / Retelling a Narrative

   6. Non-Fiction (see History, Society, Science, etc)

      1. Histories

      2. Biographies & Autobiographies

      3. Science

      4. Social Science

      5. News - online, magazine, newspaper

   7. Analytics & Metacognition

      1. Study Skills – various techniques (SQ3R, 4R, etc.)

      2. Organize Information - overviews, outlines, summaries, and precis

      3. Identify sources of information and their reliability

         1. Print: dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, almanac, encyclopedia

         2. Transient Print: newspapers, magazines

         3. Electronic Media: search engines and their interaction with the Net

      4. Critical Thinking

         1. analyze information for P.O.V. , bias, depth, opinion, fallacies & worldview

         2. examine advertising, posters, other forms of propaganda & manipulation

      5. Giving & Receiving Critique, Editing, & Revision

10. SCIENCE

    1. Life Sciences

       1. Biology

       2. Botany

       3. Zoology

    2. Physical Sciences

       1. States of matter

       2. Electricity

       3. Magnetism

       4. Chemistry

       5. Physics

       6. Thermodynamics

       7. Laws

    3. Earth/Space Sciences

       1. Astronomy

       2. Geology

       3. Weather

11. SOCIETY

    1. Sociology

    2. Anthropology

    3. Geography

       1. Continents

       2. Countries

       3. Cities

12. WRITING

    1. Creative Writing

       1. Stories

       2. Poems

       3. Dramas

       4. Letters (personal correspondence)

       5. Journals

       6. Psalms, Praise & Prayers

       7. Freeform (developing style and 'voice')

       8. Emails, IM, & Chat (casual contemporary)

    2. Task Writing

       1. Vocabulary Words & Definitions

       2. Paragraph Summaries

       3. Minibooks / Lapbooks

       4. Reports

       5. News Articles

       6. Essays

       7. Letters (business correspondence)

       8. Notetaking (dictation, summary, lectures, choose salient points, etc.)

    3. Spelling & Vocabulary

    4. Grammar

       1. Parts of Speech - Nouns, verbs, adjectives

       2. Past Tense – Regular and Irregular

       3. Future, Conditional, Predictions

       4. Capitalization

       5. Punctuation

       6. Sentence Types

          1. Declarative

          2. Interrogative

          3. Imperative

          4. Exclamatory

       7. More Parts of Speech – Adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, pronouns

    5. Penmanship

       1. Printing – Zaner-Bloser letterforms

       2. Cursive – shape, size, slant, spacing

       3. Calligraphic – learn and recognize various historical/cultural letterforms

       4. Fonts – recognize and name some of the most significant/popular typefaces

    6. Keyboarding

       1. Typing skills

       2. Wordprocessing commands and functions

       3. General computer terminology and iconography

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

This curriculum was designed and developed by Judy Alkema, with thanks to:

“Home Learning Year by Year – how to design a homeschool curriculum from preschool through high school”, Rebecca Rupp, 2000, Three Rivers Press

“Music Education in the Christian Home”, Dr. Mary Ann Froehlich, 1990, Wolgemuth & Hyatt

The Serendipity Bible, NIV 10^th Anniversary Edition, 1996, Zondervan Publishing

Tapestry of Grace, Supplementary Links for History, at www.tapestryofgrace.com

World Timelines, at http://www.fincher.org/History/WorldAD.shtml

Teaching Homeskills, at http://intentionalparents.com

Inspirations drawn from Charlotte Mason, John Holt's unschooling concepts, my mother Laura Miller, the Trivium and Quadrivium, the 'holistic' concept, the Reformed Christian worldview, and more...

NOTA BENE: You MAY NOT republish, repost, or publicize this curriculum without full credit to Judy Alkema as given above. You MAY NOT alter, change, or omit any part of this curriculum if you do republish or repost it. You MAY print and use this curriculum for your own private homeschooling use if you contact Judy Alkema by posting a response to this post or by emailing her at masterbard (at) poetic (dot) com and notifying her.