Percy meets Plutarch

J. will read from the lives of Plutarch about...

1. Theseus
2. Alcibiades
3. Pyrrus
4. Nicias
5. Alexander
6. Demosthenes
7. Demetrius
8. Dion

Hestia: goddess of the hearth and of domesticity and the family

1. Planning healthful meals
2. infant and child care
3. first aid
4. home storage
5. recreation as a family
6. home maintenance
7. the 40/60 financial plan
8. self-reliance

Hermes: great messenger of the gods

Boise State University offers web tool training through this site: https://sites.google.com/a/boisestate.edu/webfreebies/home/swila-2010-round-table

1. Blogs & wikis
2. Bookmarking
3. Book sharing
4. charts, graphs, & other visual data
5. file conversion and management & web conferencing
6. media & slides
7. newsletters
8. photo management & editing
9. social networking

Hera: goddess of women and marriage

Study 9 great women of history

1. Helen of Troy
2. Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus

3. Julia Caesaris (ca. 130 BC - 69 BC)

4. Victoria

5. Elizabeth I

6. Joan of Arc

7. Eleanor of Aquataine

8. Eleanor Roosevelt

9. Catherine the Great

 

9 women in J.'s family tree

1. Arlene Nelson
2. Olga Wilkenson
3. Elsie Talbot
4. Wilhelmina VanderWel
5. May Owens
6. Margaret Urhan
7. Julia Wood
8. Mary Smith
9. Almira Mae Anderson

Demeter: goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the seasons

1. Preparedness
2. 72 hour kit
3. storage
4. Real Food
5. worst-case scenario
6. survival skills
7. knots
8. savings
9. risk management

Athena: goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, justice

J. will study

1. Math
2. civilizations
3. architecture
4. inaugural addresses
5. landmark court cases
6. grammar
7. spelling
8. classics
9. crafts

Artemis: goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness

J. will study nine phylum of wildlife

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J. will study 9 wilderness areas, planning a vacation to each &/or making a brochure for each

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J. will study 9 types of hunting

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Ares: god of war

J. will read about the following and select one to do a more involved project.  #9 is a book J. will read.

1. The Trojan War
2. The Persian War
3. The Peliponessian War
4. The Battle of Marathon
5. The Battle of Thermopylae
6. The Battle of Salamis
7. Armour
8. Weapons
9. Sun Tzu's The Art of War

Apollo: god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; medicine, healing, and plague; music, poetry, and the arts; and more

J. will select 9 projects for each of the above topics.


For instance J. may study 9 poets or memorize 9 poems or write 9 poems (using different forms) or a combination of these for the realm of "Poetry".

• Light
• Sun
• medicine
• healing
• plague
• music
• poetry
• art
• truth

Aphrodite: Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality

J. gets to propose 9 projects, books, or benchmarks for this "realm".

Dewey #'s to search include 613.7, 646.7, and 613.9

Percy Times Nine

There are nine months to a school year (Sept. thru May).

Besides the "Big Greek Three" (which will receive three months or a trimester of attention apiece), nine "gods" were selected and then each of these was assigned nine projects related to their "realm".

These topics can be done one per month or done at whatever pace J. chooses.

A bead will be awarded for each "god" when all nine projects are completed.

In alphabetical order:
• Aphrodite
o study people skills and grooming skills
• Apollo
o study music
• Aries
o study war
• Artemis
o study sports
• Athena
o study math, logic, philosophy, language, architecture
• Demeter
o study preparedness and risk management
• Hera
o study accomplished women of the ages
• Hermes
o study communication skills
• Hestia
o study home skills

The next nine blog posts will flesh out the projects inspired by each realm.

Project Percy-- Powered by a Judeo/Christian World View

Our home follows a Judeo/Christian World View.

Therefore, I (the mom/mentor) felt that our Project Percy should be under the umbrella of the Godhead as we understand it: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. We will have daily devotionals as our foundation. We will divide the responsibility for the devotionals between the four that are living in our home.

Monday (Dad) -- current writings of church leaders

Tuesday (Mom) -- core book

Wednesday (J.) -- Youth Group "personal progress"

Thursday (T.) -- missionary readings

Friday (all) -- Sunday School assignment

September, October, November -- focus on Heavenly Father
December, January, February -- focus on Jesus Christ
March, April, May -- focus on the Holy Ghost

Rather than study the REALMS of the Big Greek Three (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades), we will focus on the POWER derived from the atmosphere, water, and the earth.

Stay tuned.

Tentative Schedules & Expectations

J. listed these expectations:
--each Saturday turn in a report of hours spent studying during the week
--each Saturday show accomplishments in Greek, Art, Music, Dance, or Battle training
--each Saturday give a 13 minute verbal report on a topic studied that week
--the last Saturday of the month turn in a paper written on topic of choice
--at the end of semester complete a written exam and an oral exam to mentor

J. created a daily schedule:

8:00-9:00 Devotional and read from "core" book
9:00-11:00 Study time
11:00-noon Greek
Noon-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:00 Music Mon./Tues. or Art Wed./Thurs.
2:00-3:00 Battle Training Mon./Tues. or Dance Wed./Thurs.
3:00-4:00 Epic Writing

J. created a weekly "Study Time" schedule:

Monday - Read stories about god or goddess of the week
Tuesday - Study the realm of the god or goddess of the week
Wednesday - Study the realm of the god or goddess of the week
Thursday - Read hero stories
Friday - Study the Early History of Western Civilization

A Classical Education

Project Percy provides a great opportunity to dive into a classical education model.

In our planning process we talked about the stages of learning as described in A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille.
Core (right/wrong, good/bad, etc.),
Love of Learning (exposure to lots of knowledge and experiences),
Practice Scholar/ Scholar (disciplined application to a specific range of subjects), and
Depth Phase (becoming an expert in one field).

More on the Classical Approach to Education can also be found at
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/

J. began by brainstorming a semester outline, beginning the week of Aug. 30. Each "god" would receive a week of attention. The brainstorm of related topics was simply the "jumping off" point.

Hades: Underworld
core of earth; burial traditions and beliefs of afterlife from various cultures and religions; cave animals and plants

Poseidon: Water
water; sea animals; ocean life; tides

Hestia: Hearth
cooking; preparedness; health/healing

Demeter: Harvest
gardening; farming; canning; herbs; types of food; nutrition

Hera: Marriage
household management; personality types;

Zeus: Universe
clouds; lightning; constellations; air; planets; flight; birds

Hephaestus: The Forge
metals & alloys; fire; inventions; smithing; leatherwork

Aphrodite: Love & Beauty
"How to win Friends & Influence People"; appearances

Aries: War
armor; weapons; battle strategy

Athena: Wisdom
philosophy; architecture; writing

Apollo: Sun & Music
the sun; chariots (transportation); music styles & instruments; horses

Artemis: The Hunter
laws; sport; methods; civilizations

Hermes: The Messenger
communication; webtools; morse code; postal history; calligraphy

Dionysus: Entertaining
parties; etiquette; hosting; dancing; performing

Mythical Creatures