Hi! If you are new to my newsletter, once a week or so I send out some general resources that I’m using with my 11th-grade high school class at Classical Conversations. You might find them helpful in educating your student too! I’m a little bit behind on my postings so I will be catching those up rather quickly over the next two weeks. Here are some resources for Fall Week 12. (I don’t post something for every one of my 6 subjects each week.)
Math:
For Math/Chemistry: Now is the time to start looking at scientific calculators if you haven’t already. For math, we need them for cos/sin/tan functions and the inverse of that. For Chemistry, we need them for displaying scientific notation on really small numbers like 6 x 10^-23. If you aren’t ready to make a big purchase yet, you can still get an inexpensive one for now that has these things. I actually picked one up at Dollar Tree and it works. The keys are tiny and not easy to press though. If you have an iPhone that will turn a basic calculator into a scientific calculator, when you turn the phone sideways, like mine, then that phone calculator will work for Chemistry. Note: you can not use phones on SAT/ACT.
Philosophy:
We are learning about atheists and what they believe. Read and discuss Romans 1:18-21.
The Tilt-A-Whirl author, N. D. Wilson say atheists believe: 1. There is no God. 2. I hate him.
His 3 main points about atheists are:
1.) They aren’t really atheists because the Bible says everyone knows God exists.
2.) Can’t really have a problem with evil and also believe in the will to power/strength at the same time – this is inconsistent. If Nietzsche’s ideas are true, then the problem of evil isn’t a problem – it’s just a random world out there with evil sprinkled around. It’s not really a problem. It is inconsistent for those who believe in a random, Darwinian universe and still want to argue against the existence of God on the basis of the problem of evil.
3.) Atheism leads to death. Death of art. There is no point to existence. This is the reason so many modern atheistic artists commit suicide.
Discuss Nietzsche, the father of nihilism and the beliefs that God is dead, humans all have the will to power and Christianity has weakened man.
Shakespeare/Poetry:
Read Longfellow’s poem, “A Psalm of Life” and discuss who he was and what other poems he wrote (Song of Hiawatha, Paul Revere’s Ride, Christmas Bells). Discuss the trope called metonymy. Ask your student what it is. It concerned the word “heart” in the poem.
Read all 7 actual stanzas for “Christmas Bells” which we sing at Christmas as “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” This poem was written after Longfellow’s great grief of losing his wife to a fire and his son’s injury in the civil war. It mentions slaves and cannons, but we leave those two stanzas out at Christmas.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ I_Heard_the_Bells_on_Christmas _Day
History:
Here are some links and ideas of things to discuss with your student at home.
-Discuss the first half of the Civil War chapter – how it began, the Virginia battles and the West battles for Vicksburg.
-Discuss who “John Bull” is – basically a caricature poster for Britain’s government, like our Uncle Sam. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /John_Bull
-Discuss the election of 1860 and how a “protest” vote was a wasted vote. Sounds familiar, huh?
-Discuss the nickname for Jefferson Davis. Ask your student what it was and figure out together what it means. https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Mephistopheles
-Discuss ships in the Civil War. There are two places you can see real ships. The Hunley submarine is in Charleston, South Carolina. It was the first sub to sink an enemy ship. Ask your student what is the weird thing about the Hunley that scientists don’t have an answer for. And there are several ships and models of ships at National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, GA.
Links to info on Hunley and Navy Ships:.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ National_Civil_War_Naval_Museum_at_Port_Columbus
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/14/ travel/civil-war-submarine-hunley/
Here are a few clips to watch of historical things that happened in our chapter. Please watch these!
Election of 1860
Battle of Shiloh
Vicksburg
List of Civil War Battles
Chemistry:
Discuss what are Empirical and Molecular Formulas.
Michelle