example of a lesson

Ok, I’m not sure what age/grade/year you are discussing – but let me give you an example from my Year 1, 6yo son.  Mind you – at this stage, he doesn’t do Dictation!   Narration is done from pretty much every reading we do.

So – for Science, we used the Childcraft Encyclopedia vol 4 “World and Space”.  So I read to him, periodically stopping and ask him what was discussed in the book.  I try not to ask any questions, but sometimes need to get things going…  Occasionally I’d ask him to draw something he learned.

Literature – we did various books…  We have been doing Aesop’s Fables (a couple a week) and we recently finished Charlotte’s Web.  Again, as we read, I ask him to tell me what is happening.  Sometimes he would draw what was happening.

Poetry – we read 1 poem a day (2 if he wants more) and mostly just enjoy them.  We selected one (his choice) to memorize.

Copywork – well, for now he is working on the basic alphabet.  Eventually either I or he would pick something to write out.

Geography – we did Paddle to the Sea and my son loved it.  After each reading we would look at the map. 

For most of this, it really is that simple.  Pick good books, read them, and have them narrate them.  When older, you add in dictation – whcih can be from their books, or can be from a resource like Simply Grammer or something (haven’t really looked into that yet.)   Have them draw what they learned if you want something physical to keep when they are young.

You will probably have various books going at once.   We generally had a couple of history books going, a couple of literature, a geography, a couple of science, a poetry book, etc, all at once.