Character Ink Class Additions for Tuesdays in Fort Wayne--Fall Semester 2013

Character Ink (formerly Training for Triumph) will be adding another day of classes in Fort Wayne if there is enough interest in the classes being offered.
 
Classes will be held for the first semester of this school year (with the potential of another set of offerings for the second semester) at First Assembly of God on Washington Center Road on Tuesdays. Please contact us quickly if you are interested in these classes. (Call Ray at 260-597-7415 or 260-450-7063. He will call you back quickly.)
 
Students will be invoiced monthly and will receive their first invoice on the first class day.
 
Note that a couple of these classes are also offered on Mondays at First Assembly, so if you would like to change to Tuesdays, contact us immediately, so we can be sure we have enough students for both days for those classes. 

 
TUESDAY Class Offerings at First Assembly
 
8:30-10:00 General Composition (a “remediation” type course for junior high and high school, though we will not call it that...it will be called General Composition). 7th through 12th grade students who have not written a lot of six paragraph plus essays and reports. We will use our Jump Start comp book for these grades, and students will move from a couple of paragraphs to many paragraphs quickly with step-by-step help. Cost is $10 per week and $32 for the book for the semester.
 
 
10:00-11:30 High School Essay/SAT Essay. We will begin with expository essays and five paragraph non-timed essays and move into all of the intricacies of writing a timed essay (whether for the SAT/ACT or for contests or college admissions). This class is for 9th through 12th graders who have already written essays, research reports, and stories in other contexts. We will use Donna and Joshua’s new 350-page book, “The SAT Essay and Other Timed Writing.” Cost is $10 per week and $32 for the book for the semester.
 
 
11:30-2:30 Junior High and High School Speech and Debate. This class is a three hour course that teaches both public speaking and debate. Students love this class and come out able to speak in many contexts with ease. It is fun, fast-paced, and filled with opportunities to speak before the group, starting out with “things you know.” This is our longest-running class. We have literally taught hundreds of kids in FW to give speeches, do research for debate, and debate. This class is for twelve year olds through seniors in high school. Cost is only $10 per week and $25 for the non-consumable book (which students in the same family may share).
 
2:30-4:00 Ancient History. This class has been extremely popular down in our learning center near Ossian as well as in our second semester Leo/Grabill classes! Taught by Joshua Reish, who tested out of his entire history degree except for two classes for which there were no test available, this class has hundreds of teaching slides that engage students in each time period and event of history. Your student will learn and love history after hearing and seeing Joshua’s love for it! This is for seventh through twelfth graders who can read at a high school level and may be counted towards one semester of World History. (The second semester of this class, though not mandatory, will be offered in Leo and Ossian during the winter.) Cost is reduced in order to build up students in our history courses in FW for the first time: $6 per week and $6/month for handouts. (No book is needed as Joshua writes all of his own materials and gives these throughout the semester.)
 
 
 
Also, please note that we have a little space in a few classes on other days/locations:
 
MONDAYS at First Assembly: 
 
CQLA Level B (11:00-1:30)
 
CQLA Level A (11:00 - 1:30)
 
Literature for high school  (12:30 - 2:00)
 
 
 
WEDNESDAYS near Ossian:  
 
CQLA Level A (12:00 - 1:30)
 
Literature for high school  (1:30-3:00)
 
High School/SAT Essay (10:30-12:00)
 
Biology (10:30 - 12:00)
 
Ancient History (3:00 - 4:30)
 
 
Monday and Wednesday registration forms and schedules are available at http://characterink.blogspot.com/2013/04/cottage-classes-fall-2013-spring-2014.html
 
 
 
 
   

What Would You Do With a Five Year Old?

I was recently asked what my "educational expectations" would be with a five year old. Now, this fall marks our thirtieth year of homeschooling. Through the years, we have ebbed and flowed with the trends of homeschooling just like all other long-term homeschoolers. However, there are some things that have always stayed the same for us:

(1) Teach obedience before starting school

(2) Put relationships above academics

(3) Put God first, then marriage, then children, then others

And many more!

My expectations for five year olds still haven't changed! If I had a sweet, wonderful, amazing five year old, this is what I would do! (Btw, four to six year olds are the greatest kids ever!)

1. Obedience. We can't expect children to do school work if they will not make their beds, brush their teeth, come when called, etc. Obedience is a pre-requisite to bookwork--always has been in our homeschool. Take it from an old mama---school is so much better with a six year old in kindergarten who obeys than it is with a five year old in kindergarten who doesn't obey.

2.  Morning routine. If our kids couldn't do a simple morning routine chart of making their beds, grooming, putting away their own toys and books, "reading" a picture Bible (or doing a Bible book and audio set), and getting completely ready for the day without a big fuss, I didn't do bookwork with them. (See number one!) I talk about morning routine charts in Raising Kids With Character (formerly Positive Parenting) here and here and here and here .

3. Chores. Once a five year old is known for first time obedience and following through on his morning routine, I add chores to his schedule. You can read more about developing chores for this age group here and here and here  and here and here .

4. Room time. I used room time from ten to fourteen months (playpen time) up through age six or seven, depending on how much the child could join us for older kids' school. The reason I list it here as an expectation for a five year old is that I believe room time has so many educational benefits, namely those of increasing a child's concentration, creativity, independence, and risk taking (all found to be important factors in studies about children who were "natural readers"--that is, they learned to read without instruction--this is important because if it helps a child become a natural reader, it can also help a child become a good reader in general). You can find out more about room time here and here and here and here,

5. Bible time. I would have the kindergarten join us for Bible time as well as having a "little kids" Bible time during the morning. I liked to put this after morning routine and chores, so we had an order that put character and faith before academics. It might work better for some to do it during story time. (I used what I called "interval Bible training," meaning that we did various Bible teachings from sun up until sun down, so that they were always being trained in Bible stories, character, doctrine, hymns, songs, etc. all the time. For instance, we would use Bible on audio during morning chores, hymns and praise music during breakfast, Bible story read alouds in the morning, more in depth Bible studies with the olders during "unit studies," Bible audios and/or videos during room time (almost always audios; I wasn't big on videos as I wanted them to "make the pictures in their minds"); Bible stories and character stories during story time, audios as they were falling asleep; Bible reading and singing at dinner; Bible stories at bedtime, etc. Find out more about what we used during this age here and here and here

6. Informal learning time. We had an adage that "we would never teach a young child anything formally that could be taught informally." Therefore, when it came to pre-reading and pre-math skills, we were extremely diligent to "teach while we are in the way with them." In other words, rhyming words, initial consonant sounds, ending consonant sounds, letter recognition, beginning math concepts (counting, recognizing numbers, less than/greater than, and much more) can all be taught informally, and we did. We also used picture books, puzzles, games, manipulatives, audios, videos, computer games, felt activities, toys, blocks....anything! I recommend building this time into a kindergarteners day--either through room time or through a learning center or table time where activities are set up for him, etc. 

7. Formal learning. We only used workbooks with our five, six, and seven year old (non-readers) when they were set on numbers one through six above--and only if the child wanted them and enjoyed them. There are colorful, wonderful kindergarten workbooks available through Timberdoodle. Here are some other formal learning tips for this age:

a. If your kindergarten student is ready to learn to read, I don't recommend using a complete kindergarten/first grade curriculum to do this. Learning to read doesn't need to take three to five years. If you get a good program, a child can learn to read in three to six months if readiness is in place. (Call to order my audio on Teaching Reading in the Homeschool for more information on reading readiness, choosing readers, and choosing a phonics program.) I recommend a couple that I have used or had friends use, but there are many good ones out there that teach reading only (i.e. not complete language arts at this level) and use a word family phonics approach combined with readers. Some of my reading program reviews are found at Raising Kids With Character for Phonics Tutor and Saxon Reading.

b. If you do want to get an entire kindergarten program, do not get a textbook-driven approach. Again, Timberdoodle has wonderful preschool and kindergarten programs with many hands on and fun activities included. 

c. Make kindergarten fun. If I had kindergarten to do over again, I would do all of the tips above and get Timberdoodle's kindergarten fun things, a colorful math program that has manipulatives (Math-U-See and/or Saxon kindergarten math are very hands on!), and Five in a Row (and choose the activities that you want to do and leave the rest). But again, I would only do that after the first six things above are met!


As for general expectations, here are some other tips:

(1) Morning routines, morning chores, sitting during reading, room time, etc., first (have I mentioned this yet?)

(2) An hour or so of time with you either in fun learning (see c. above) and/or in learning to read, preferably in the morning.

(3) Story time, room time, quiet time, book and audio sets, etc. for independent learning all built into the schedule.

(4) Interweave free time with all of the above. It is my experience that four to six year olds who are not doing "formal" more all day type of school end up being bored and restless when their days are not predictable. 

Hope this helps you with your five year old! Most of all, enjoy them! These should be some of the sweetest days of parenting! I know they were for me, and I want that for every mama out there! :)


P.S. If you have not been a reader of Positive Parenting/Character Training From the Heart, I hope you will join us over there. It is Character Training From the Heart for the blog and the FB page is still Positive Parenting 365. I talk about all aspects of Christian parenting from infancy through young adults/college age. I love parenting. Here are some general RKWC links that might pertain to your questions:

A. Toddlers and Preschoolers 
B. Reading Instruction 
C. Reviews of Materials
D. Schedules 
E. Chores

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Character Ink Updates May 1, 2013

We have a lot of announcements here at Training for Triumph, um, I mean, Character Ink! So many that I will enumerate them for you!


1. First off, our name change: As of this spring, we will be changing from Training for Triumph to Character Ink! We feel that the new name more represents what we are about--publishing materials with a character base, including our Christian parenting seminar (which is also getting a name change!).

2. Rather than having a lengthy monthly (or quarterly in the case of the last few months!) newsletter, we are changing to quick weekly updates (like this one!). These will include announcements (like our March sale is starting this week! and our next parenting seminar is in Bluffton, IN this weekend!), as well as recent articles, posts, and thoughts from our blogs and FaceBook pages.

3. Our Christian parenting seminar is also getting a name change: Raising Kids With Character (RKWC)! The blog (Positive Parenting 365) will soon get this new name, as will the upcoming book that goes along with the seminar.

RKWC is a Christian parenting seminar that starts out with the Five W's and H of Character Training, then moves into Parenting Paradigms (how what you believe about parenting affects how you parent), then into Essentials of Parenting With Character (explanations, priorities, time, commuication, and more). Then comes the fun part: character qualities, one by one, and tips and tricks on instilling these in your children. It is for parents of kids ages birth to twelve or so. (A follow up seminar is in the works--Raising Tweens and Teens With Character!) We have had several opportunities to present the seminar (and improve it!) over the past two years in our area, and we would love to bring it to your church, small group, homeschool group, etc. It is not homeschool specific, so it is a good opportunitiy for homeschoolers to serve their church in general by offering it. Give us a call for more info--and watch these weekly updates!

4. We have several avenues to reach us now:
a. Our website (free samples of our curriculum and more!): www.character-ink.com
b. Character Ink blog--just starting this to put homeschooling articles and newsletters up-- http://characterink.blogspot.com/
c. Character Ink FaceBook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/characterinkcompany
d. Raising Kids With Character blog (still old name): http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/
e. Raising Kids With Character FaceBook page (still old name): http://www.facebook.com/#!/charactertrainingfromtheheart
f. Language Lady blog--daily language arts, grammar, and writing tips for teachers, students, parents, and professionals: http://languagelady365.blogspot.com/
g. Language Lady FaceBook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/languagelady365


LIKE us, follow us....we appreciate it!

Donna Reish

P.S. All of our blog posts are linked each time on the FB pages, so if you follow the FB pages, you won't miss the blog posts, articles, updates, etc.!

Cottage Classes Fall 2013-Spring 2014 Descriptions and Registration

Below are the links to the information and registration for Character Ink's 2013-2014 Cottage Classes in the Ossian, Fort Wayne, and Leo areas. If you want to enroll, please do so soon. Remember, classes are first come –first served.

If there is a class that you would like to see offered, please contact us, and we will see if we can work it out.

Our class offerings are based on a number of things:

 

1. Offering the next class to what was offered the previous year/semester.
2. Alternating junior high/high school speech and debate with elementary/middle school speech in Leo second semester.
3. Linking a literature class with a High School Essay/SAT Essay (though both may be taken separately as well).
4. Alternating Ancient History+World History+Apologetics with US History+Government+Economics (as much as possible).

Fort Wayne Description of Classes Mondays Fall 2013-Spring 2014 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4FVVZ4tdWpgWVVkLTUyQThUa3c/edit?usp=sharing

Fort Wayne Registration Mondays Fall 2013-2014 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4FVVZ4tdWpgemJYUnZoUXd4cDQ/edit?usp=sharing

Leo Description of Classes Thursday Spring 2014

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4FVVZ4tdWpgbjdHeU1aa0JoaUk/edit?usp=sharing

Leo Registration Thursday Spring 2014 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4FVVZ4tdWpgSTZiSjJJQTB6MFE/edit?usp=sharing

Ossian Description of Classes Wednesdays Fall 2013-Spring 2014 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4FVVZ4tdWpgVUd0Nmdvc3RzMVk/edit?usp=sharing

Ossian Registration Wednesdays Fall 2013- Spring 2014

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4FVVZ4tdWpgX2tXUGhoOTZ1Z1U/edit?usp=sharing

 

From Donna's Desk February 25, 2013

We have a lot of announcements here at Training for Triumph, um, I mean, Character Ink! So many that I will enumerate them for you!


1. First off, our name change: As of this spring, we will be changing from Training for Triumph to Character Ink! We feel that the new name more represents what we are about--publishing materials with a character base, including our Christian parenting seminar (which is also getting a name change!).

2. Rather than having a lengthy monthly (or quarterly in the case of the last few months!) newsletter, we are changing to quick weekly updates (like this one!). These will include announcements (like our March sale is starting this week! and our next parenting seminar is in Bluffton, IN this weekend!), as well as recent articles, posts, and thoughts from our blogs and FaceBook pages.

3. Our March sale for CQLA is starting this weekend! Throughout the month of March, all CQLA books (all colors, all levels) will be $59 rather than the normal $79 price. Spread the word! Tell  your friends!

4. Our Christian parenting seminar is also getting a name change: Raising Kids With Character (RKWC)! The blog (Positive Parenting 365) will soon get this new name, as will the upcoming book that goes along with the seminar. RKWC is a Christian parenting seminar that starts out with the Five W's and H of Character Training, then moves into Parenting Paradigms (how what you believe about parenting affects how you parent), then into Essentials of Parenting With Character (explanations, priorities, time, commuication, and more). Then comes the fun part: character qualities, one by one, and tips and tricks on instilling these in your children. It is for parents of kids ages birth to twelve or so. (A follow up seminar is in the works--Raising Tweens and Teens With Character!) We have had several opportunities to present the seminar (and improve it!) over the past two years in our area, and we would love to bring it to your church, small group, homeschool group, etc. It is not homeschool specific, so it is a good opportunitiy for homeschoolers to serve their church in general by offering it. Give us a call for more info--and watch these weekly updates!

5. We have several avenues to reach us now:
a. Our website (free samples of our curriculum and more!):
b. Character Ink blog--just starting this to put homeschooling articles and newsletters up-- http://characterink.blogspot.com/
c. Character Ink FaceBook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/characterinkcompany
d. Raising Kids With Character blog (still old name): http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/
e. Raising Kids With Character FaceBook page (still old name): http://www.facebook.com/#!/charactertrainingfromtheheart
f. Language Lady blog--daily language arts, grammar, and writing tips for teachers, students, parents, and professionals: http://languagelady365.blogspot.com/
g. Language Lady FaceBook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/languagelady365


LIKE us, follow us....we appreciate it!

Donna Reish

P.S. All of our blog posts are linked each time on the FB pages, so if you follow the FB pages, you won't miss the blog posts, articles, updates, etc.!

We Understand