A Publication of Memoria Press
Summer 2021
journal
Educating Maria by Dr. Matthew Walz
My Prayer by Jatina Coburn 21 Tips for Teaching Students with Learning Challenges by Cheryl Swope
Classical Education for Children with Special Needs
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
We
often receive questions about teaching children with specific conditions classically. In this issue we focus on intellectual disability and Down syndrome, but we trust that the articles and resources herein will provide help teaching any child with learning challenges. We begin with some facts: •
An estimated 93 million children globally have special learning or medical needs.
•
One in five American households cares for a child with special needs. One in ten Americans has a family member with an intellectual disability.
•
An intellectual disability presents with an "intelligence quotient" of 70-75 and significant challenges with daily living, self-care, or communication, but children with an intellectual disability can learn, grow, and thrive with support.
•
Children with an intellectual disability often face difficulties with language acquisition, motor control, finger dexterity, postural strength, or mental stamina. Down syndrome, a chromosomal condition, often results in mild, moderate, or severe intellectual disability. Named for English physician John Langdon Down who described the condition in 1866, the preferred term "Down syndrome" uses the physician's last name with no apostrophe and no capitalization of the second word.
•
Although often perceived to be happier, more affectionate, or more jovial than other people, people with Down syndrome experience frustration, anger, shyness, stubbornness, sadness, discouragement, mischievousness, eagerness, and a desire to be loved and respected like we all do.
•
Children with Down syndrome often have low muscle tone, small stature, and medical complications, but whereas in 1960 the life expectancy of a child with Down syndrome was about ten years, today it is closer to sixty years.
•
In 2020 a young man became the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman competition.
Some of the most heartwarming m oments at homeschool conventions are when a mother comes to me after hearing about Simply Classical and asks, with tears of doubt in her eyes as if waiting to be disappointed: "What about Down syndrome? Does anyone teach from Simply Classical for a child with an intellectual disability?" I see visible relief when I tell her that yes, help exists for her child. I recently met with people from a classical Christian school who were eager to learn how to welcome and teach children with Down syndrome. When the head of school and the children's parents began to understand that this could be accomplished, joy filled our gathering. Someone led us in a prayer of earnest hope and gratitude. We were all excited about the possibilities for these families who felt they had no place to turn. When we concluded, one mother noted with awe that we had convened for the dawn of this hope on the eve of 3/21/21, the date mirroring the third copy of chromosome twenty-one that often characterizes Down syndrome. I rejoice at the growing interest among classical homeschools and schools in serving students with special needs, and hope all who teach any child in any setting reap bountiful rewards!
2
Heading Letter from Goes the Here Editor
SimplyClassical.com
SIMPLY CLASSICAL JOURNAL
Summer 2021 FEATURED ARTICLES
2 4 14
Letter from the Editor by Cheryl Swope My Prayer by Jatina Coburn 21 Tips for Teaching Students with Learning Challenges by Cheryl Swope
19 20
Book Notes by Michelle Swope Educating Maria by Dr. Matthew Walz
CURRICULUM
6 16 18 19 23
Simply Classical Curriculum Packages
Ages 2-16
Curriculum Map Cursive, Copybooks, Thankfulness Journals
Ages 4-12
Character Building
Ages 4-13
Enrichment, Language Arts
Ages 3-9
For students older than 16, contact CherylSwope@memoriapress.com for free customization.
Follow @_SimplyClassical_ on Instagram and tell us your #simplyclassicalstories!
SimplyClassical.com/Forum A free forum for all things Simply Classical.
Encouragement. Instruction. Community.
SIMPLY CLASSICAL
LEVELS 9 & 10 NOW AVAILABLE! In Knights, Knaves, & Knowledge we bring adventure, bravery, and imagination to students with special needs while teaching skillful composition alongside language, science, and music. Literature, history, and even mathematics are tied to the Middle Ages, as thematic connections are helpful for understanding and delight.
LEARN MORE ON PAGE 13! © Copyright 2021 (all rights reserved) SimplyClassical.com Publisher | Memoria Press Editors | Cheryl Swope & Martin Cothran
Managing Editor | Dayna Grant Copy Editor | Ellen R. Anderson Graphic Designers | Aileen Delgado & Jessica Osborne
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My Prayer by Jatina Coburn
4
SimplyClassical.com
I
was still in bed when the phone rang. I answered groggily but my brain snapped awake when I heard my OB-GYN on the other end. I had undergone a diagnostic amniocentesis recently and I knew I was about to hear the results. "She's definitely a sweet little girl." Pause. "And she has Down syndrome." These words shook the course of my life. Tears came. The line was quiet. I needed to say something. "Well, then I will start to pray that I will be a good mom to a girl with Down syndrome." Over the next few months that prayer was my lifeline. Too overwhelmed to put words together, I simply sobbed, "Please let me love her!" At the time, all I could see was the diagnosis. But now, I see the girl: a beautiful thirteen-yearold girl named Amy who loves animals and cooking, who considers Anne of Green Gables a friend, and who knows every song in The Sound of Music. When Amy was a baby we were told repeatedly, "She will do everything your other kids do, but she will do it at her own pace." Finding that pace was a struggle. My goal for her education has been the same as I had with my four older children: to foster a love for the good, the true, and the beautiful, with the aim of producing men and women who are both knowledgeable and virtuous. Quintilian sums this up as a "good man speaking well." Since my goal was the same as with my other children, I thought I could use the same curriculum but modify the pace. Yet even at a slower pace these were giant steps for Amy. I knew she was smart and could learn. And, convinced of her abilities, I would drive her to frustration and tears. Then, realizing I was asking too much of her, I would "wait until she's ready," which felt like standing at the bottom of a smooth wall, too tall to climb. No matter how long you stand there, it doesn't get easier unless you have a ladder. In the same way that a slow-motion video reveals details the eye cannot perceive at regular speed, there were mini-steps in the education of my typical kids that were not noticeable at a typical pace. Helping me define these mini-steps and build a "ladder" of them has been the biggest benefit of using the Simply Classical Curriculum. The pace is rigorous yet achievable. Having several multi-sensory options gives the lessons more than one opportunity to stick. This approach keeps us moving forward without frustration. We start our mornings with prayer, as both a reminder of where our strength comes from and an
Jatina Coburn has been encouraging her children to love the good, the true, and the beautiful for the last twenty-three years. She is the mother of three adult children, a high school senior who has spina bifida, and thirteen-year-old Amy, who has Down syndrome. She and her husband reside in rural Oklahoma.
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acknowledgment of our endeavor to love God with all our minds through academic study. Then we move swiftly through our recitation items. We keep it upbeat and short. On the days that speech comes slowly, she listens while I recite. This strengthens her memory without overtaxing her. The recitation is easy to personalize, so we add the catechism from her class at church. After recitation gets her brain active, we jump into reading. A firm base in phonics is important so we allow plenty of time for it. If she needs repetition there are numerous ideas in the Curriculum Manual for manipulatives, multi-modal games, and activities. Then we head outdoors. This is a welcome break for her brain and a chance to strengthen her gross motor skills. Sometimes she picks the activity, like jumping on the trampoline, and sometimes we play a suggested game or gather a nature collection. With minds fresh from the outdoors, we begin math. Since math is an abstract concept that is difficult for Amy, we were easily able to personalize this one subject and repeat an earlier level of math while keeping the other subjects at a higher level. Next comes copywork, which provides beautiful passages for Amy to write, think about, and illustrate. The earlier levels of the curriculum encouraged building a love of coloring as a calming activity. As a result, she has not only improved her fine motor skills, but she has become very artistic and enjoys doing her best work to create a keepsake. Art, music, poetry, geography, history, and nature study are offered as the "dessert" portion of the day, a chance to relax and pursue curiosity. Sometimes I save these little nuggets of beauty for the evenings, often before bedtime. Even a small taste of these elevating pursuits keeps us from getting bogged down in a mindset of only working on therapy skills. We finish schoolwork before lunch and have the afternoon free for going to the park, swimming with her Special Olympics team, grocery shopping, etc. School is no longer a frustration to cry over or get stressed about. We enjoy spending this time together and Amy is making steady progress up the ladder of learning. What a joy to be the one who gets to spend these days with her—to be the one who sees the determination as she blends sounds into words, who observes the wonder as she closely examines a spiderweb in the garden, who sits next to her during The Nutcracker, knowing she truly appreciates the music. I remember my five-word, gasping prayer, "Please let me love her!" and I am in awe at how abundantly God answered that prayer, far beyond all I could ask or imagine.
My Prayer
5
Full-Year Curriculum Packages for Students with Special Needs Visit SimplyClassical.com to obtain detailed information about each level and to take free readiness assessments.
Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVEL A PACKAGE PRICE
225
$
Readiness, Rhythm, & Rhyme Ages 2-3 (Chronological Age or Skill Level)
Curriculum Manual Only $30
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Level A Curriculum Manual Prayers for Children Jesus Is With Me Jesus Hears Me Jesus Knows Me Big Red Barn The Best Mouse Cookie Little Fur Family Bunny's Noisy Book From Head to Toe Goodnight Moon Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? • Numbers, Colors, Shapes
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Very Busy Spider Good Night, Gorilla The Tale of Peter Rabbit Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings My Very First Book of Shapes ABC: Amazing Alphabet Book Put Me in the Zoo Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb Cars and Trucks From A to Z My First Counting Book The Animals' Christmas Eve Big Dog ... Little Dog Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? A Children's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes • 1 Is One
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LEVEL B
Curriculum Manual Only $30 Consumables Only $25 Supplemental Read-Aloud Set $136 CURRICULUM MANUAL Lesson Plans for One Year
Essentials, Etiquette, & Ear Training Ages 3-4 (Chronological Age or Skill Level) CHRISTIAN STUDIES, MEMORY, & MANNERS
A Child's Garden of Bible Stories, Bible Pictures to Color, Prayer for a Child, Please and Thank You Book, Big Thoughts for Little People, How Can I Help?
RETAIL
207.64
$
PACKAGE PRICE
185
$
PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS, PHONICS, & READING Alphabet Coloring Book, My First ABC Book, Simply Classical Crafts Book One (p. 23), Alphabet Flashcards
ARITHMETIC & FINE-MOTOR
ENRICHMENT
Numbers Coloring Book, Adventures With Books, Everywhere We Go, Counting With Numbers
My First Body, Do It Carefully, My Big Animal Book, A Child's Garden of Verses, A Child's Garden of Songs CD, Back to the Garden CD, Best First Book Ever!
New to Simply Classical? You need this item from Level A. Prayers for Children $4.99
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Simply Classical Curriculum
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Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVEL C RETAIL
235.41
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Curriculum Manual Only $30 Consumables Only $85 Supplemental Read-Aloud Set $385
Animals, Alphabet, & Aesop Ages 4-5 (Chronological Age or Skill Level) CHRISTIAN STUDIES, MEMORY, & MANNERS
PACKAGE PRICE
200
$
PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS, PHONICS, & READING Alphabet Books 1-2, Classical Phonics, First Start Reading A Student, First Start Reading Teacher, Simply Classical Letters & Numbers Desk Charts (p. 18)
My ABC of Bible Verses
CURRICULUM MANUAL Lesson Plans for One Year
ARITHMETIC & FINE-MOTOR Numbers Books 1-2, Going on Eagerly, My Very Own Scissors Book (p. 23)
ENRICHMENT Animals Animals, Simply Classical Crafts Book Two (p. 23), Aesop's Fables, Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever, Finding the Answers, Hearing and Helping, Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book K, Animal Alphabet Coloring Book
New to Simply Classical? You need this item from Level A. Prayers for Children $4.99
Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVEL 1
Curriculum Manual Only $30 Consumables Only $80 Supplemental Read-Aloud Set $182 Supplemental Science & Enrichment Set $138 CURRICULUM MANUAL Lesson Plans for One Year
PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS, PHONICS, & READING
CHRISTIAN STUDIES, MEMORY, & MANNERS The Story Bible, The Creation Story for Children, Simply Classical Copybook 1 (p. 18)
New to Simply Classical? You need these items from Level C. Classical Phonics $16.95 Letters & Numbers Desk Charts $12.95 First Start Reading Teacher $17.95
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Sentences, Sums, & Stories Ages 5-6 (Chronological Age or Skill Level)
Fun in the Sun, Soft and White, Scamp and Tramp, Primary Phonics Readers Sets 1-3, Core Skills Phonics K-1, First Start Reading A-D Student Books, Phonics from A to Z
ENRICHMENT Kindergarten & First Grade Art Cards, Hailstones and Halibut Bones, A Child's Book of Poems, The Days Gone By CD, My Nature Journal (p. 18), Our World Jumbo Puzzle
RETAIL
485.16
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PACKAGE PRICE
370
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ARITHMETIC & FINE-MOTOR Rod & Staff Arithmetic 1 Student (Part 1), Teacher, Flashcards, Practice Sheets, 100 Bugs!: A Counting Book, This First Thanksgiving Day, Memoria Math Challenge Level A
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Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVEL 2 RETAIL
298.71
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PACKAGE PRICE
260
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Comprehension, Calculations, & Character Ages 6-8 (Chronological Age or Skill Level)
CURRICULUM MANUAL Lesson Plans for One Year
Curriculum Manual Only $30 Consumables Only $135 Optional Extended Literature Set $22 Supp. Literature, Science, History, & Geography Read-Aloud Set $263 Supp. Arithmetic Read-Aloud Set $49
LITERATURE, COMPOSITION, & GRAMMAR Simply Classical Writing: Book One (Read-Aloud Ed.), Simply Classical StoryTime Treasures Student and Teacher (p. 23), Little Bear, Little Bear's Visit, Blueberries for Sal, Caps for Sale, At the Farm
ARITHMETIC & FINE-MOTOR
PHONICS & SPELLING I Can Read It! Book 2, Core Skills Phonics 2-3, Phonics Flashcards, Core Skills Spelling 1, Simply Classical Spelling: Book One (p. 23)
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 1 Student (Part 2), Speed Drills, Memoria Math Challenge Level B
CURSIVE
ENRICHMENT
Cursive Practice Sheets I, New American Cursive 1 (p. 18)
Second Grade Art Cards, Animal Tales CD
CHRISTIAN STUDIES, MEMORY, & MANNERS SC Copybook 2: Manuscript (p. 18)
NEW USER ADD-ON SET $72
New to Simply Classical? You need these items from prior levels. Classical Phonics, Arithmetic 1 Teacher, Arithmetic 1 Practice Sheets, Arithmetic 1 Flashcards, A Child's Garden of Bible Stories
"I just wanted to say what a blessing this curriculum has been. I have seen such tremendous progress with my eight-year-old son. I suspect he has ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. Reading for him had been such a struggle. Now I am so much more hopeful and have such a sense of relief. His reading, printing, and spelling have improved. So for those of you debating about trying this curriculum I highly recommend it." — Elise
8
Simply Classical Curriculum
SimplyClassical.com
Curriculum Manual Only $30 Consumables Only $170 Optional American History Read-Aloud Set $283 Supplemental Arithmetic Read-Aloud Set $58 Level 3 Supplemental Science & Enrichment Set $298
Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVEL 3
Literature, Latin, & Liberty Ages 7-9 (Chronological Age or Skill Level)
LITERATURE, COMPOSITION, & GRAMMAR Simply Classical More StoryTime Treasures Student and Teacher (p. 23), Billy and Blaze, The Story About Ping, Keep the Lights Burning Abbie, Stone Soup, Wagon Wheels, Prairie School, Prairie School Student and Teacher, Simply Classical Writing: Book Two (Read-Aloud Ed.) Student and Teacher (p. 23)
CURRICULUM MANUAL Lesson Plans for One Year
RETAIL
415.10
$
PACKAGE PRICE
310
$
CURSIVE
PHONICS & SPELLING
New American Cursive 2: Famous Americans (p. 18), My Thankfulness Journal: Beginner (p. 18), New American Cursive Desk Strip
First Start Reading E Student and Teacher, Core Skills Phonics 4, Core Skills Spelling 2, Sounds of the Sea, On the Trail, Simply Classical Spelling: Book Two (p. 23)
LATIN Prima Latina Student, Teacher, and Pronunciation CD
CHRISTIAN STUDIES, MEMORY, & MANNERS Simply Classical Copybook Three: Cursive (p. 18)
ARITHMETIC & FINE-MOTOR Rod & Staff Arithmetic 2 Student Units 1-2, Teacher Units 1-2, Practice Sheets 1, and Supplemental Pack, Memoria Math Challenge Level C, Arithmetic Flashcards, Write-On / Wipe-Off Demo Clock
ENRICHMENT SC Enrichment: Level Three (p. 23), Map of the U.S. Sticker Picture Book, States & Capitals Flashcards
NEW USER ADD-ON SET $95 New to Simply Classical? You need these items from prior levels. Classical Phonics, The Story Bible, K, 1st, and 2nd Grade Art Cards, Phonics Flashcards, Core Skills Phonics 3
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Simply Classical Curriculum
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Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVEL 4 RETAIL
576.43
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PACKAGE PRICE
430
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Curriculum Manual Only $30 Consumables Only $130 Optional Level 2 Extended Literature Set $22 Optional Level 4 Extended Literature Set $27
Mammals, Multiplication, & Myths Ages 8-10 (Chronological Age or Skill Level) CURRICULUM MANUAL Lesson Plans for One Year
CURSIVE
PHONICS & SPELLING
New American Cursive 2: Famous Quotations and Scripture, My Thankfulness Journal: Beginner (p. 18), Prima Latina Copybook
Traditional Spelling I set
LITERATURE, COMPOSITION, & GRAMMAR
LATIN
Animal Folk Tales set, The Courage of Sarah Noble set, Little House in the Big Woods set, Second Grade Literature Dictionary, Core Skills Language Arts 1-2
Prima Latina DVDs, Prima Latina Flashcards
ENRICHMENT Heroes, Horses, and Harvest Moons: A Cornucopia of Best-Loved Poems, Vol. 1 CD, Don't Know Much About the 50 States, Rapunzel, Beauty & the Beast, King Midas and the Golden Touch, Cupid & Psyche, Persephone, Pegasus, The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War, Mammals Student, Mammals Teacher, The World of Mammals, What Is the Animal Kingdom?, What Is a Mammal?, My Nature Journal (p. 18), Composition & Sketchbook II, Hurrah & Hallelujah
10
ARITHMETIC
NEW USER ADD-ON SET $105
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 2 Student Units 3-4, Teacher Units 3-4, and Practice Sheets 2, Flashkids Flashcards: Multiplication and Division
New to Simply Classical? You need these items from prior levels.
Simply Classical Curriculum
Prima Latina Student, Prima Latina Teacher, Prima Latina Pronunciation CD, States & Capitals Flashcards, Map of the U.S. Sticker Picture Book, Classical Phonics, Phonics Flashcards, Rod & Staff Arithmetic 2 Supplemental Pack, Memoria Math Challenge Level C Student and Teacher, Arithmetic Flashcards, Demonstration Clock
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Simply Classical Curriculum
Curriculum Manual Only: Two-Year Standard Pace $45 Curriculum Manual Only: One-Year Accelerated Pace $30 Consumables Only $140 Grammar, Greece, & Gratitude Optional Simply Classical American History Set (for independent reading) $283 Ages 9-12 (Chronological Age or Skill Level) Levels 5 & 6 Read-Aloud Set $93
LEVELS 5 & 6
RETAIL
700.72
$
PACKAGE PRICE ARITHMETIC
CLASSICAL STUDIES
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 3 Student, Teacher, Blacklines, Speed Drills, Supplemental Worksheets, and Supplemental Worksheets Key
D'Aulaires' Greek Myths Text, Teacher, and Flashcards, Timeline Program, Courage and a Clear Mind CD
Lesson Plans: Two-Year Pace or One-Year Pace (Two-Year Pace contains extra review!)
530
$
CURRICULUM MANUAL
515 for One-Year Pace
$
LITERATURE, COMPOSITION, & GRAMMAR Core Skills Language Arts 3, English Grammar Practice Student and Teacher, Introduction to Composition Student and Teacher, English Grammar Recitation, English Grammar Recitation I Teacher, English Grammar Recitation Flashcards, Composition & Sketchbook III, Farmer Boy novel and Teacher, Charlotte's Web novel and Teacher, A Bear Called Paddington novel and Teacher, Mr. Popper's Penguins novel and Teacher, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Poetry for the Grammar Stage Student and Teacher
LATIN
CHRISTIAN STUDIES
ENRICHMENT
Latina Christiana Student, Teacher, and Pronunciation CD, Latina Christiana Review Worksheets, Latina Christiana Review Worksheets Key
Christian Studies I Teacher, Old Testament Flashcards, The Golden Children's Bible
Creating Art, Music Appreciation I, States & Capitals Student, States & Capitals Teacher, God's Protected World Student, God's Protected World Teacher
PHONICS & SPELLING
CURSIVE
Traditional Spelling II set
New American Cursive 3: Scripture and Manners, My Thankfulness Journal: Intermediate (p. 18)
NEW USER ADD-ON SET $95
New to Simply Classical? You need these items from prior levels. Demo Clock, States & Capitals Flashcards, Prima Latina/Latina Christiana Flashcards, Classical Phonics, Phonics Flashcards, Arithmetic Flashcards: Addition & Subtraction, Flashkids Multiplication and Division Flashcards
OPTIONAL: ADDITIONAL WRITING PRACTICE SET $100
Many of our studies in Levels 5 & 6 are conducted orally, as students with special needs often encounter difficulties with writing despite an ability to learn challenging content. We have assembled this set of workbooks for any student who needs or wants additional writing practice.
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Simply Classical Curriculum
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Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVELS 7 & 8 RETAIL
609.54
$
PACKAGE PRICE
440
$
425 for One-Year Pace
$
Poetry, Pleiades, & Promises Ages 11-14 (Chronological Age or Skill Level)
Curriculum Manual Only: Two-Year Standard Pace $45 Curriculum Manual Only: One-Year Accelerated Pace $30 Consumables Only $65 Levels 7 & 8 Read-Aloud Set $83
CURRICULUM MANUAL
LATIN
SPELLING
CURSIVE
Lesson Plans: Two-Year Pace or One-Year Pace (Two-Year Pace contains extra review!)
Simply Classical Latin Games & Puzzles Workbook and Key
Rod & Staff Spelling 4 Student and Teacher
Copybook Cursive II
LITERATURE, COMPOSITION, & GRAMMAR The Moffats novel and Teacher; My Side of the Mountain novel and Teacher; Homer Price novel and Teacher, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe novel and Teacher; A Promise Kept; Good King Wenceslas; Papa Panov’s Special Christmas; Poetry for the Grammar Stage Anthology; Carry On, Mr. Bowditch; Detectives in Togas; Mystery of the Roman Ransom; The Trumpet of the Swan; Rod & Staff English 4 Student, Teacher, Worksheets, and Tests
ARITHMETIC
ENRICHMENT
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 4 Student, Teacher (Parts 1-2), Tests, Speed Drills, Speed Drill Packet
Book of Astronomy Student and Teacher, Glow in the Dark Constellations; Draw 50 Animals, Geography I Text, Student, and Teacher, The United States Review Student and Teacher, Geography Flashcards, Music Appreciation CD, Story of the World, Vol. 1: Ancient Times
CLASSICAL STUDIES
CHRISTIAN
Famous Men of Rome Text, Teacher, and Flashcards
Christian Studies II Teacher
NEW USER ADD-ON SET $170
New to Simply Classical? You need these items from prior levels. Old Testament Flashcards, Golden Children’s Bible, Timeline Program, Poetry for the Grammar Stage Student and Teacher, English Grammar Recitation, English Grammar Recitation Flashcards, Music Appreciation I; Demonstration Clock; Arithmetic Flashcards; Multiplication Flashcards; Division Flashcards; Hurrah & Hallelujah
OPTIONAL: ADDITIONAL WRITING PRACTICE SET $70
Many of our studies in Levels 7 & 8 are conducted orally, as students with special needs often encounter difficulties with writing despite an ability to learn challenging content. We have assembled this set of workbooks for any student who needs or wants additional writing practice.
12
Simply Classical Curriculum
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Curriculum Manual Only: Two-Year Standard Pace $45 Curriculum Manual Only: One-Year Accelerated Pace $30 Consumables Only $145 Levels 9 & 10 Read-Aloud Set $86 Levels 9 & 10 Arithmetic Read-Aloud Set $30 Levels 9 & 10 American History Set $54 Levels 9 & 10 Extended Literature Set $44
Simply Classical Curriculum
LEVELS 9 & 10 Knights, Knaves, & Knowledge Ages 13-16 (Chronological Age or Skill Level)
SPELLING
ARITHMETIC
CURRICULUM MANUAL
Rod & Staff Spelling 5 Student and Teacher
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 5 Student, Teacher (Parts 1-2), Tests, Speed Drills
Lesson Plans: Two-Year Pace or One-Year Pace (Two-Year Pace contains extra review!)
RETAIL
899.52
$
PACKAGE PRICE
600
$
585 for One-Year Pace
$
LITERATURE, COMPOSITION, & GRAMMAR Selections from The Blue Fairy Book novel and Teacher; The Cricket in Times Square novel and Teacher; The Door in the Wall novel and Teacher, Heidi novel and Teacher; The Twenty-One Balloons novel and Teacher; The Apple and the Arrow; Marguerite Makes a Book; The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane; Classical Composition I: Fable Student, Teacher, and Instructional DVDs; Classical Composition II: Narrative Student, Teacher, and Instructional DVDs; English Grammar Recitation II Student and Teacher; Core Skills Language Arts 4-5
LATIN
ENRICHMENT
First Form Latin Text, Workbook, Teacher Manual and Key, Flashcards, Quizzes & Tests, Pronunciation CD, and Instructional DVDs, Lingua Angelica Song Book, Teacher, and CD
Geography II Text, Student, and Teacher; Geography I Review Student and Teacher; Story of the World Vol. 2; The Book of Insects Text, Student, Teacher, and Flashcards; Peterson First Guide to Insects; How to Draw Insects
Monarch Butterfly • Lepidoptera [Greek: λεπιδος + πτερα] means "scale-winged" • Cabbage butterfly, sphinx moth, monarch butterfly, brush-footed butterfly, swallowtail butterfly, luna moth • Complete metamorphosis • Characteristics: large wings and coiling mouthparts • Also includes: tiger moth, cecropia moth, skipper butterfly
CLASSICAL STUDIES
CHRISTIAN
CURSIVE
Famous Men of the Middle Ages Text, Teacher, and Flashcards
Christian Studies III Teacher
Copybook Cursive III
Honeybee • Hymenoptera [Greek: υµεν + πτερα] means "membrane-winged" • Paper wasp, yellow jacket, hornet, carpenter ant, fire ant, honeybee, bumblebee • Complete metamorphosis • Characteristics: slender waist and stingers • Also includes: saw fly, mud dauber, bulldog ant, sweat bee
NEW USER ADD-ON SET $160
New to Simply Classical? You need these items from prior levels. Golden Children’s Bible; Timeline Program; Poetry for the Grammar Stage Student and Teacher; English Grammar Recitation; English Grammar Recitation Flashcards; Demonstration Clock; Geography Flashcards; Arithmetic Flashcards; Multiplication Flashcards; Division Flashcards; Hurrah and Hallelujah
OPTIONAL: ADDITIONAL WRITING PRACTICE SET $75
Many of our studies in Levels 9 & 10 are conducted orally, as students with special needs often encounter difficulties with writing despite an ability to learn challenging content. We have assembled this set of workbooks for any student who needs or wants additional writing practice.
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Simply Classical Curriculum
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C
hildren with learning challenges will require more intentional thought and attention at home or in school. These twenty-one reminders can serve all of us no matter the educational setting.
1. BE ACTIVE Teach in short bursts, alternating between physical activities and seated activities. Low muscle tone or distracted minds can lead to fatigue. Provide movement or snack breaks to prepare students for the next activity.
2. BE BRIEF Communicate your instructions clearly and speak concisely. Shorten assignments. Work toward stepby-step accomplishments. End on success.
3. BE CONCRETE Ask Who?, What?, When?, and Where? questions with visual cues. Allow more advanced students to answer How? and Why? questions. Discuss these with manipulatives or illustrations to nudge students toward more abstract pondering.
4. BE DEMONSTRATING Use money, objects, and play-acting. Show with real apples: "Sarah has three apples. She gives two away." Role play, illustrate, or demonstrate the actions within narrative language or word problems. Assign fewer practice items if needed to allow extra time for demonstrations.
5. BE ENGAGING Link personal interests to the topic whenever possible to promote interest. Include the student's first and last names for speech articulation practice, in penmanship or sentence writing, and in story problem examples.
6. BE FOOLPROOF "One-and-done" is not to be expected with students who have an intellectual disability or other special needs. Provide repeated practice with the lesson, preferably later in the day and throughout the year.
7. BE GIVING Give of yourself. Teaching a student with challenges is a matter of love and of art. As you learn the child's needs, give tips to other caregivers, teachers, and therapists to create generous teamwork. A cohesive team will give more to the child than any Cheryl Swope is the author of Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for Any Child and Memoria Press' Simply Classical Curriculum, as well as editor of the Simply Classical Journal.
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one person could accomplish alone. Give generously also to your student, in quiet moments such as a heart-to-heart talk after social difficulties, or by a deep hand massage after extensive writing.
8. BE HEALTH-ORIENTED
15. BE OBSERVANT Notice early signs of the need to become more vigilant, more flexible, more compassionate, more matter-of-fact, or more directive. Observation and prevention can be far more effective than merely reacting.
Respect dietary, olfactory, or allergic sensitivities and difficulties with impulse control. Secure edible, poisonous, or sharp items to provide safe boundaries. Know and anticipate a student's temptations. Give space for movement and pad edges or corners of furniture. Review and update notes regarding the student's physical and medical challenges.
16. BE PERSISTENT
9. BE INCREMENTAL
17. BE QUESTIONING
Give the "big picture" but also break lessons down into small steps, whether shoe-tying or long division. Allow for mastery before introducing next steps and review mastered steps until they are integrated into the whole.
Ask the student to show or paraphrase your instructions. Pause to ask simple "repeat-back" questions during your lesson to ensure attention and understanding. Use simple recitation to accustom students to question-answer format for both pragmatic and academic language.
10. BE JUDICIOUS Give encouragement to students who need it, but avoid indulging with reward or praise for minimal effort. Expect students to rise to the standard of becoming increasingly diligent, thoughtful, and self-governing.
11. BE KIND Watch how you respond to a struggling child. The child himself—and any child overhearing—will witness how you react. When handled with kindness, such moments can encourage students to imitate gentleness.
12. BE LASTING Whether you teach one hour a week or every hour of every school day, remember the lasting impact of overcoming your own resentment, trials, and inconveniences to give a student nourishment for both body and soul.
13. BE MASTERFUL When possible, craft the day as you would a work of art. This may require periods of rising early or reflecting late. Whenever you fall short, refresh, recover, and begin again.
14. BE NEED-AWARE Provide time in your school day to teach the necessities, such as putting on and tying shoes, washing hands, eating neatly, using a napkin, speaking politely, and other daily needs. Allow a quiet area for sensory load reduction and calming as needed.
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Do not give up. Teaching takes time. For example, reading cannot be reduced to memorization of sight words, so persevere with phonics instruction and practice. Sometimes, as the child matures, lessons become easier to grasp and to integrate into reading, spelling, or writing.
18. BE REASONABLE Set expectations to expand rather than outstrip the student's capabilities. Reasonable requests respect honest struggles and engender willingness to persist in the effort.
19. BE SUPPORTIVE Consult physical and occupational therapists for seating or writing support such as a slant board, sloped desk, foot wedge, textured cushion, slate, mini whiteboard, or other physical and therapeutic aids.
20. BE TRANSITION-MINDED Assist students with transitions. Post picture schedules with clear left-to-right or top-tobottom sequences. Overview these. Use the same words "first, next, then, last" each time to impart predictable order and to promote smooth, consistent routines.
21. BE UNDAUNTED Teaching a student with special needs can be daunting but preparation eases the challenge. Over the summer, enlarge print from workbooks, design flip charts to accompany recitations, or create a wall number line for demonstrations. You are more qualified than you think. Be undaunted, if only because of your love for the student. In the words of St. John of Salisbury: "Such attachments are of great assistance to study, for pupils are glad to listen to those whom they love."
21 Tips for Teaching Students with Learning Challenges
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Christian Studies, Memory, & Manners
Level B
Arithmetic & Fine-Motor Skills
Numbers Coloring Book; Adventures With Books, Everywhere We Go; Counting With Numbers
Phonics, Reading, & Spelling
A Child's Garden of Bible Stories; Bible Pictures to Color; Prayer for a Child; Please and Thank You Book; Big Thoughts for Little People; How Can I Help?
Alphabet Coloring Book; My First ABC Book; Simply Classical Crafts: Book One (p. 23); Alphabet Flashcards
Level C
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
My ABC of Bible Verses
The Story Bible; The Creation Story for Children; Simply Classical Copybook One (p. 18)
Simply Classical Copybook: Book Two, Manuscript (p. 18)
Simply Classical Copybook: Book Three, Cursive (p. 18)
Numbers Books; Going on Eagerly; My Very Own Scissors Book (p. 23)
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 1 (Part 1); 100 Bugs!: A Counting Book; This First Thanksgiving Day; Memoria Math Challenge Level A
Alphabet Books; Classical Phonics; First Start Reading Book A; Simply Classical Letters & Numbers Desk Charts (p. 18)
Fun in the Sun; Soft and White; Scamp and Tramp; Primary Phonics Readers Sets 1-3; Core Skills Phonics K-1; First Start Reading A-D; Phonics from A-Z
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 1 (Part 2); Memoria Math Challegen Level B
I Can Read It! Book 2; Core Skills Phonics 2-3; Phonics Flashcards; Core Skills Spelling 1; Simply Classical Spelling: Book One (p. 23)
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 2 (1-2); Write-On/ Wipe-Off Demo Clock; Arithmetic Flashcards: Addition & Subtraction; Memoria Math Challenge Level C
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First Start Reading E; Core Skills Phonics 4; Core Skills Spelling 2; Sounds of the Sea; On the Trail; Simply Classical Spelling: Book Two (p. 23)
My First Body; Do It Carefully; My Big Animal Book; A Child's Garden of Verses; A Child's Garden of Songs CD; Back to the Garden CD; Best First Book Ever!
Animals Animals; Simply Classical Crafts: Book Two (p. 23); Aesop's Fables (p. 18); Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever; Finding the Answers; Hearing and Helping; Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book K; Animal Alphabet Coloring Book
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Kindergarten and First Grade Art Cards; Hailstones and Halibut Bones; A Child's Book of Poems; The Days Gone By CD; My Nature Journal (p. 18); Our World Jumbo Puzzle
Prayers for Children; Jesus Is With Me; Jesus Hears Me; Jesus Knows Me; Big Red Barn; The Best Mouse Cookie; Little Fur Family; Bunny's Noisy Book; From Head to Toe; Goodnight Moon; Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?; Numbers, Colors, Shapes; The Very Busy Spider; Good Night, Gorilla; The Tale of Peter Rabbit; Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings; My Very First Book of Shapes; ABC: Amazing Alphabet Book; Put Me in the Zoo; Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb; Cars and Trucks From A to Z; My First Counting Book; The Animals' Christmas Eve; Big Dog ... Little Dog; Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?; A Children's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes; 1 Is One
Curriculum Map
When?
Where?
Basic Question Word Visual Cues (reproducible)
Second Grade Art Cards; Animal Tales CD
Simply Classical Writing: Book One (Read-Aloud Edition); Simply Classical StoryTime Treasures Set (p. 23)
New American Cursive 1; Cursive Practice Sheets I
Simply Classical Enrichment: Level Three (p. 23); Map of the U.S. Sticker Picture Book; States & Capitals Flashcards
Simply Classical More StoryTime Treasures Set; Prairie School; Simply Classical Writing: Book Two (Read-Aloud Edition) (p. 23)
New American Cursive 2: Famous Americans; My Thankfulness Journal: Beginner (p. 18); New American Cursive Desk Strip
Latin
Cursive
Level A
16
Who?
CALENDAR
Literature, Composition, & Grammar
Enrichment
Basic Question Word Visual Cues (reproducible)
What?
Prima Latina
Use coupon code SCJ5SUMMER21 for $5 off your next order! SimplyClassical.com
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N
132 Christian Studies Flashcards (KJV)
n/
Level 4
Levels 5 & 6
Levels 7 & 8
Levels 9 & 10
Christian Studies II
Christian Studies III
Christian Studies Flashcards (KJV)
1. CREATION: Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 1
3. INCARNATION: Luke 2:7-11 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
7
2. PROPHECY: Isaiah 9:2-6 2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
3
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4
For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
5
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
4. ATONEMENT: Romans 5:8-10 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Scripture Memorization 8
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Christian Studies I; Old Testament Flashcards; The Golden Children's Bible
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 2 (Units 3-4); Flashkids Flashcards: Multiplication and Division
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 3
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 4
Rod & Staff Arithmetic 5
Traditional Spelling I
Traditional Spelling II
Rod & Staff Spelling 4
Rod & Staff Spelling 5
Mythology Read-Alouds; Don't Know Much About the 50 States; Mammals; My Nature Journal (p. 18); Composition & Sketchbook II; Heroes, Horses, and Harvest Moons CD; Hurrah & Hallelujah
Creating Art; Music Appreciation I; States & Capitals; God's Protected World
The Book of Astronomy; Glow in the Dark Constellations; Draw 50 Animals; Geography I; United States Review; Music Appreciation CD; Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times
Geography I Review; Geography II; The Book of Insects; Story of the World Vol. 2
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Animal Folk Tales; The Courage of Sarah Noble; Little House in the Big Woods; Second Grade Literature Dictionary; Core Skills Language Arts 1-2
Core Skills Language Arts 3; Introduction to Composition; English Grammar Practice; English Grammar Recitation I; Composition & Sketchbook III; Farmer Boy; Charlotte's Web; A Bear Called Paddington; Mr. Popper's Penguin's; The Best Christmas Pageant Ever; Poetry for the Grammar Stage
The Moffats; My Side of the Mountain; Homer Price; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; A Promise Kept; Good King Wenceslas; Papa Panov's Special Christmas; Carry On, Mr. Bowditch; Detectives in Togas; Mystery of the Roman Ransom; The Trumpet of the Swan; Rod & Staff English 4
The Blue Fairy Book; The Cricket in Times Square; The Door in the Wall; Heidi; Twenty-One Balloons; The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane; The Apple and the Arrow; Marguerite Makes a Book; Classical Composition I & II; English Grammar Recitation II; Core Skills Language Arts 4 & 5
New American Cursive 2: Famous Quotations and Scripture; My Thankfulness Journal: Beginner (p. 18); Prima Latina Copybook
New American Cursive 3: Scripture and Manners; My Thankfulness Journal: Intermediate (p. 18)
Copybook Cursive II
Copybook Cursive III
cont. in Level 4
cont. in Levels 7 & 8 First Form Latin; Lingua Angelica
Latina Christiana
Classical Studies
er
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D'Aulaires' Greek Myths; Timeline Program; Courage and a Clear Mind CD
Famous Men of Rome
Famous Men of the Middle Ages
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Copybooks & Cursive New American Cursive
Simple, clear, & effective!
Book 1 $22.95 Book 2 (Scripture or Famous Americans) $22.95 Book 3 (Scripture or Famous Quotes) $22.95 StartWrite CD $29.95
• • • • • • •
by Iris Hatfield Ages 6-12, chronological age or skill level
Natural right slant (easier for beginners & lefties) Illustrations/Exercises for letter connections Bound at the top for right- or left-handers Focus on accuracy and legibility Simplified classic letter forms Multi-sensory teaching methods Takes only 15 min./day
Ages 6-12, chronological age or skill level
Ages 4-11, chronological age or skill level
Beginner Journal $8.50 Intermediate Journal $8.50
$8.95
My Nature Journal
My Thankfulness Journals
by Cheryl Swope
These journals let students practice cursive writing while thinking about God's daily blessings in their lives. Each page begins "Dear Heavenly Father," and closes, "Your child," with space for the child's signature. In between is room for students to list their blessings each day. The Intermediate Journal is a smaller font size and has less tracing as students progress.
Savor small moments of wonder with your child as he learns the simple beauty of nature. Create a keepsake for your child as you witness improvement in his knowledge, attention to detail, and writing skills through the exercises. Help your child make essential connections between oral language and written language, even as you assist his ability to observe and enjoy the wonders of nature. This book can stand alone as a delightful supplement to any program.
(New American Cursive font) by Cheryl Swope
Ages 5-8, chronological age or skill level
Ages 9+, chronological age or skill level
$8.95 ea.
Aesop Copybook $8.95
Book 1, Manuscript Book 2, Manuscript or Cursive Book 3, Cursive
Aesop's Fables $14.99
Simply Classical Copybook Series:
Aesop Copybook Set $20.00
Book One, Two, and Three by Cheryl Swope Strengthen penmanship, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, fine-motor skills, and memory through the time-honored tradition of copybooks. Students learn habits of accuracy, neatness, and patience while receiving truth and comfort from Holy Scripture. Shorter selections help accommodate for writing difficulties while providing the full benefits of copybook exercises for all beginning writers.
Aesop Copybook by Cheryl Swope
Letters & Numbers Desk Charts Reinforce your teaching with desk charts formatted to accompany lessons. Bold, targeted letters assist visual discrimination.
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Penmanship
Ages 4-7, chronological age or skill level $12.95
The Aesop Copybook is a lovely companion to Aesop’s Fables. It will strengthen your student's writing and composition skills while giving the opportunity to contemplate the timeless wisdom of Aesop's fables and learn from the gentle moral instruction they provide. The simplicity of the New American Cursive style and the brevity of lessons will assist students to become stronger, more capable thinkers and writers. Teaching instructions are included.
SimplyClassical.com
Character Building Ages 4-13 Guide Books $19.95 ea. Book One Core Set $56 Book One Read-Aloud Set $100 Book Two Core Set $22 Book Two Read-Aloud Set $99 Book Three Core Set $55
Myself & Others: Lessons for Social Understanding, Habits, and Manners
Book Four Core Set $48
by Cheryl Swope These 14-week sets provide simple, standalone lessons in common courtesy, character, and compassion that often seem neglected today. With easy-to-teach instructions, each book provides 4-day lessons that can be taught in as little as 30-60 minutes per day over a single semester or summer. Myself & Others provides lessons with five components: 1) Rules – basic social rules for daily life 2) Health – essentials for hygiene, physical and mental health, and forming good habits 3) Safety – guidelines and cautions for staying safe in various circumstances 4) Manners – instruction and practice with good manners to serve others well 5) Listening – daily readings with inspiring stories for delight, moral imagination, character, and virtue To view guide samples and full book set lists, visit SimplyClassical.com.
BOOK NOTES
A Book Review by Michelle Swope “What wit! What daring! Read all about it … ahem, her, I mean!” This story is about a young miss who braves the wilderness and lives the life of a pioneer woman—cooking, cleaning, the works— while traveling west. Minding the babies and little ones doesn’t come easily, but she tries, all the while experiencing faith and hope in her God that He’ll see her to the end of her journey, a new home in the bargain. "Cast every care on the Lord and lean not on your own understanding." This brilliant book shows what pioneers did and how close, and closer still, some came to believe that God would see them through!
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
Happy tales! *This book is included in Simply Classical Curriculum Level 4.
Michelle Swope was born in 1995 with her twin brother, Michael. She enjoys reading, listening to music, and playing with her cat Silky. Despite having schizophrenia, autism, and learning disabilities, Michelle graduated from her classical homeschool in 2013 and has since written two books of fireside poetry, Through Time's Looking Glass and her most recent release, God's Harvest.
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Character Building
19
aria
Educating
by Dr. Matthew Walz
I
have long been a devotee of classical education. For over a dozen years I've been teaching at a Catholic university dedicated to liberal education. Previously I taught at a college with an integrated Great Books curriculum. For two decades I've helped conduct seminars introducing teachers to the riches of liberal education. Moreover, both my wife and I experienced the transformative power of liberal education as students ourselves, an experience that has profoundly shaped the way we raise our children. We were blessed by our education, and we have always felt obliged to ensure that our children be blessed similarly. Then came our seventh child, Maria, who has Down syndrome. Like most parents who have a child with special needs, we were thankful but also shocked at her arrival. Life became busier at first—appointments with specialists, extra medical tests, and so on. When things eventually settled down, we couldn't help deliberating—worrying?—about Maria's future. How different would she be from our other children? Could she be enriched by a classical education? Could she benefit from an education that seems so challenging, so dependent on memory and self-discipline, so deeply oriented toward an intellectual life marked by wonder and contemplation? We feared there were reasons to think not, but experience has proven otherwise—though it has not been without challenges and adjustments to our thinking. Educating Maria has enabled us to recognize more deeply both the potentiality of classical education and Maria's own potentialities as a child with Down syndrome. Classical education is sometimes maligned as elitist. Yes, in the ancient world liberal education was available chiefly to those with the free time and wealth to engage in such studies. In the Christian age, though, especially with the advent of religious life, liberal studies became more widely available to people from different social classes. And in a more democratic age like ours, especially in a society open to educational innovation and homeschooling, classical education is accessible to almost any and all who desire it, especially when technology makes resources readily available. This reveals what was always true about classical education: It is meant for any and all who are willing and able to engage in it. Classical education turns out to be very customizable—to local communities, to individual families, and even to individuals with varying cognitive abilities. Indeed, our experience with Maria has helped us see just how "participate-able" classical education is. To be sure, classical education often presents itself—and rightly so—as marked by a determinate order of studies keyed to intellectual maturation, as informed by distinctions among arts and disciplines, and as exemplified in a canon of works containing the great intellectual achievements of the past. Yet all this well-thought-out complexity, all the deep-seated wisdom found in classical education, amounts to a vast treasury with dividends that can be bestowed differently and in varying amounts to those who invest themselves in it. Classical education, therefore, now strikes my wife and me as much more like a common good than a private one, i.e., as a good that is in nowise diminished when shared and that becomes more fully itself when shared diversely by an ever-expanding variety of people, including those with special needs.
Matthew Walz, Ph.D., taught eight years at Thomas Aquinas College, and since 2008 has served as a professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Dallas. Besides Aquinas, his favorite philosophical authors include Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and Pope John Paul II. Matthew and his wife Teresa have eight children who keep them busy, but also joyful and grateful to God for His manifold gifts.
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Educating Maria
21
So far, at least, Maria's participation in classical education has been less cognitively focused than that of our other children. For the latter, classical education was illuminating and thought-provoking, even from a young age. They were intrigued and inquisitive about poems they memorized, stories they read, historical figures they encountered, natural and mathematical wonders they beheld. Maria's participation, by contrast, has been more holistic, more communal. She has been ennobled by the struggle, and we've seen capacities for self-discipline that only the beautiful rigor of classical education undertaken with others seems capable of eliciting from her. Such ennobling has also taken place in our other children, of course, and indeed the success of classical education depends on this: that all students feel thus dignified. In our other children, though, this process has been mediated more by way of the intellect, whereas in Maria it is mediated more by way of her entire self, body and soul. Her dignification has been achieved, in other words, by her being treated as an embodied person challenged to be her best self, especially in how she carries her body and voices her thoughts in the presence of others with care, politeness, and exactitude. Classical education has leavened Maria's embodied nature, thus revealing more splendidly to us the fullness of her personhood, which permeates and yet transcends her physical and cognitive disabilities. In subtle but pervasive ways, classical education gives full due to the body's essential status in our human constitution as well as its nobility as the instrument of intellectual and spiritual activities. We see this in the attention given to gymnastike, the disciplined training of the body that is the initial intimation of our rational physicality. We see it too in the attention given to intentional use of the senses, regular encounters with nature's splendors, the mathematical imagination, and vicarious experiences of individuals acting freely and unpredictably in great stories, both fictional and historical. Indeed, in opposition to most modern educational theories and trends, classical education strives deliberately not to put asunder the spirit and flesh that God mysteriously joins together in every human person. In our minds, though, Maria's experience with classical education has revealed something deeper about our embodied personhood, an aspect of it upon which all others may ultimately be predicated. At least as my wife and I have witnessed it, children with Down
syndrome incline more strongly toward bodiliness than other children do. When it comes to maturation and sociability this has its downsides; in fact, to those unaccustomed to it, this inclination may be off-putting when it manifests itself. This is why the ennobling of Maria in and through her body has proved so crucial, and we imagine this could be true of other children with Down syndrome. Now, the positive side to Maria's inclination toward bodiliness is that she lives in her body very instinctively and naturally. In so doing, she expresses something profoundly true about the human body—namely that it exists as "the substratum of the communion of persons," as John Paul II asserts. Maria deploys her body to bring people together, closer
Classical education gives full due to the body's essential status in our human constitution as well as its nobility as the instrument of intellectual and spiritual activities.
22
Educating Maria
to her and closer to each other. Maria has taught us, powerfully at times, that the deepest potentiality of the body lies in the underlying, ever-present opportunity for soul to encounter and affirm soul. The ennobling that Maria experiences through classical education enables her to tap into this potentiality more purposefully, and thus to align her body in a more dignified manner with the affectionate—and often humorous—intentions of her blossoming soul. By presuming the body's essential character and its indispensability as an instrument of higher activities, classical education contains within itself a key anthropological truth: Our bodies are made for the sake of each other, made to tie us together physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, made to draw us toward communion with one another in truth and goodness. My wife and I still have much to learn about Maria and the importance of her participation in classical education. What we've learned thus far, though, are essential truths about the bodily personhood of human beings. Indeed, in light of the technocratic and even Manichaean attitudes toward the body in which our culture is steeped, such truths ought perhaps to be highlighted and explicated as we continue to reap the fruits of the tradition of classical education. SimplyClassical.com
Enrichment Ages 3-5,
Ages 7-9,
chronological age or skill level
Ages 3-5,
chronological age or skill level
chronological age or skill level
$19.95
$9.95 ea. (Book One or Book Two)
$6.00 ea.
Scissors Books Help your child develop hand strength, fine-motor skills, and independence with one or both books in this set. In My Very First Scissors Book, the child learns to open and close his scissors to cut along thick lines which fade, grow wavy, and create shapes as the pages progress. In My Very Own Scissors Book, the activities coordinate with alphabet lessons in Simply Classical Curriculum Level C (p. 7) or may serve as a useful precursor to Simply Classical Crafts. Both books feature perforated pages and large "cutting boxes" to promote the child's success.
Simply Classical Enrichment: Level 3
Simply Classical Crafts
This guide helps you teach American history, poetry, music, art, and science through the Simply Classical Level 3 American History Read-Aloud set, maps, classical music selections, and art cards. Everything is scheduled for you weekly with thoughtful discussion questions, science activities, and topics for art and music appreciation that will enrich your year and expand your child's cultural, scientific, and general knowledge.
The creative arts are an essential part of primary school education. These activities reinforce number and letter recognition, strengthen fine-motor skills, and foster creativity and confidence. Book One contains letter crafts from Memoria Press' Jr. K Book of Crafts. Book Two contains story crafts from Memoria Press' Jr. K Book of Crafts. While the crafts in these books have been carefully chosen to promote skill growth and coordination, the most important component is delight. Enjoy each of your creations and the time spent together making them!
Language Arts Ages 6-9, chronological age or skill level
Ages 6-9, chronological age or skill level
Student $19.95 ea. Teacher $10.00
$14.95 ea.
(Book 2 only)
Simply Classical Spelling: Books 1 & 2
Simply Classical Writing: Books 1 & 2 (choose from Read-Aloud or Bible Story editions)
"What should I write? I don't know what to say." The so-called progressive approach leaves beginning writers ill-prepared for the art of writing. This series combines classical copybook, grammar rules, and composition into one carefully sequenced series of explicit instruction, so students can practice early writing skills with confidence.
This series gives your struggling writer an incremental, multi-sensory approach with an oral/aural emphasis. Each week includes targeted Word Study exercises to promote linguistic awareness, cognitive flexibility, and improved spelling skills. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Improve auditory discrimination Increase cognitive flexibility Strengthen listening skills Build spelling confidence
Ages 6-9, chronological age or skill level
Simply Classical StoryTime Treasures (Student, Teacher, Little Bear, Little Bear's Visit, Caps for Sale, & Blueberrries for Sal)
$40 each set
Simply Classical More StoryTime Treasures (Student, Teacher, Billy and Blaze, The Story About Ping, Keep the Lights Burning Abbie, & Stone Soup)
Blossoming readers need more than practice; they need to discover the riches of a good story. With simplified exercises in word study, composition, and oration, these delightful guides provide a joyful introduction to children's literature. Teach essential language arts skills as your students encounter stories of tenderness, bravery, and kindness. Created especially for struggling learners or students with special needs, these adaptations of the Memoria Press originals are each subtitled "A Guide to Reading Deeply and Writing Skillfully with a Collection of Four Stories." The Teacher Guides provide sample answers modeled in complete, well-formed sentences.
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Enrichment & Language Arts
23
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Memoria Press
10901 Shelbyville Road Louisville, KY 40243
Teacher Training & Consultation
Cheryl Swope
Tanya Charlton
Ethan Gotcher
Memoria Press works with schools all over the country to assist in understanding the vision of classical education and to help implement a cohesive classical curriculum. Cheryl Swope has joined forces with the Classical Latin School Association training team to help your school start or improve education for your struggling students and students with special needs.
SimplyCl assical.com
Michelle Tefertiller
ISBN 9781547700325
90000 >
9 781547 700325
