Calvert, by Prescription Only

Ok, no more Mr. Nice Guy. I've been doing this homeschool thang too long to still be on the "eclectic" path. I mean, its been fun and all, but the thought of crossing an item off my list of stuff that keeps me up at night really appeals to me. I'm tired of sweating bullets, wondering if my kids are missing that one thing that will determine whether they go into engineering, or become "building engineers". I mean, what if writing cursive makes the difference?

So today, I made good on a promise to myself, and broke out the Calvert program that I'd "won" on eBay.

Second Grade. Lesson Manual. Lesson 1, Page 6. Turn to the Math Manual, Page 5. Locate the Red/Yellow punch cards on page 332 in the Calvert Math textbook. snore... snore... snore...

By that point a two-hour nap was really unavoidable. Each manual in the Calvert program should have a label on the front cover: "Warning! After adminstering Calvert, do not engage in any activity that requires complete alertness, such as driving a car or operating machinery." Anwyay, we finally got underway around noon. It went swimmingly, although even I was bored to tears by the end of our class, which lasted the better part of 2 hours. I've seen that glazed-over look in students' eyes before, but generally its been in a smoke-filled passageway under the varsity bleachers.

So we began to learn writing in cursive. I have fought this one tooth and nail with the headmistress. I haven't written in cursive since the "excuses from home" that I used to forge in grade school. I suppose if the Academy's students ever need to do that, then I certainly want them to be prepared.

Now if I could only find a way to make it more exciting. Hmm... What if we combined the Calvert Writing Program with some foreign language instruction. Say... German.