Comments for Janice Campbell

Comment on Winter Poems by Stevenson, Emerson, and Hardy by Abe Mayfield

Abe Mayfield — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:20:53 +0000

Beautiful poems…..i can almost feel the cold and snow on my face if I think with my eyes closed. Thank you for them.

Comment on Poems for Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Amy Lowell by Janice Campbell

Janice Campbell — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:03:05 +0000

Thank you, Eva! I’ll be sure to visit your blog to learn more about the award.

I love lilacs too, but we seem to be just a bit too warm and damp for them to do well, so I always hope to find them abloom in someone else’s garden. They mark one of my favorite times of year.

Comment on Writing Programs I Like by Janice Campbell

Janice Campbell — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:00:29 +0000

I understand about receiving input from mom– it can be a challenge! There are some excellent writing classes offered through classical schools such as Memoria Press (http://www.memoriapress.com/onlineschool/), Circe Institute (http://www.losttoolsofwriting.com/), and http://www.pottersschool.org/. I’m sure there others as well, and there may even be a local co-op in your area that has something useful.

At minimum, The Elegant Essay is a good guide and could probably be worked through by the student with an outside evaluator. I know there are several people who evaluate, including Connie Schenkelberg, a retired teacher and homeschool mom and the author of Grammar Made Easy and Spelling Made Easy. If you’d like her contact information, please let me know.

I hope you find something that fits!

Comment on Writing Programs I Like by Sharon Nelson

Sharon Nelson — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:04:01 +0000

I just read this post as I’m searching for a writing curriculum for my current 9th grader. Writing is not one of her strongest areas and I’m looking for something that she could use independently with little guidance from me (she rather work on her own). I also homeschool my 2nd and 7th grader as well as work p/t from home which is why my time is so crunched. I wish I could devote more time with them, but it is what it is. I was thinking about signing her up for an online class where she can get input from someone other than “mom.” She has a difficult time receiving from me. Any recommendations? Thank you!!

Comment on Poems for Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Amy Lowell by Eva

Eva — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:44:20 +0000

Hello Janice,

What lovely poems, especially the one about the lilac! We have a long lilac hedge right outside out bedroom. It smells so lovely in spring.

I awarded you the “Versatile Blogger Award.” To find out about the rules of this award you need to visit my blog.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Comment on Homeschool Conventions Made Easy by educator

educator — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:30:57 +0000

Very good advice. I also tell people to wait until the last day to make purchases, so you have room to change your mind if need be.

Comment on How to Hold a Pen or Pencil by Kate

Kate — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 05:04:10 +0000

Thanks so much for this instructional post. I’m 22 years old and I never learned how to properly hold a pen or write my letters so I’m having to learn now. (I can write but my penmanship is horrible and I found that after writing for a little while I have pains in my fingers, wrist, and shoulder.) In case you’re wondering, it turns out I tend to pull all my fingers into a fist (with lots of pressure) and I use three fingers on the pen while resting it on a fourth!

I hope in the future people will learn from the mistakes of the past! If you teach children to write correctly the first time, they won’t need to re-learn at age 22!

Comment on Wintery Mix: The Carnival of Homeschooling by Melanie

Melanie — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:24:48 +0000

I’m new to blog carnivals. I love how you summarized all the posts! I look forward to participating in a carnival soon.

Comment on How I Chose Great Books for Excellence in Literature by Janice Campbell

Janice Campbell — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:54:57 +0000

Dear Stacey,
Excellence in Literature is being used by many co-ops and private schools. Many teachers choose to assign a different context area to each student and have them come together to share their research as a basis for discussion. I’ve heard other ideas too, and eventually hope to compile them in a few posts on the EIL site for others to use.

Each book covers a complete year of study in nine four-week units. With the required reading and writing, there is definitely four or more hours of weekly independent work to complete. There are no snippets– I believe in reading the whole work in order to fully understand it. For Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, though, you may choose to have students read the entire work or just the tales listed.

I hope you and your students have a wonderful year together. Enjoy!

Comment on How I Chose Great Books for Excellence in Literature by Stacey

Stacey — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:19:24 +0000

I am considering teaching a high school credit course in British Literature to our co-op. I am currently teaching All Things Fun and Fascinating to elementary students.
I recognize this particular curriculum is self-guided… but do you feel it could be used to generate class discussion? Does it include the reading of complete books, or is it geared towards snippets?
The class will run the complete year on a weekly basis, and would need to have an additional 4 hours of weekly homework. Is this enough for a complete year, or would it be more of a semester course?
Thanks for your insight and willingness to share!