We have a lot of new books coming out this spring! And we would love to introduce them to you in this space! And we would really love for you to click on the Projects Contained, Tables of Contents, Samples, etc., to check them out and see if they are what your homeschool needs next year to get your kids writing—and writing well.

This book uses our simplified research method: Color-Coded Research and Outlining.

This week we bring to you one of our new high school books, MC 10 II: Four Research Reports. This book has been tested with dozens of students over the past three years—and has passed our inspection with flying colors. (Okay, it passed after three years of rewrites and edits and quite literally fifty hours-plus spent by yours truly on the quotation citation portions alone!)

Here is what you need to know:

Meaningful Composition 10-II: Four Research Reports

Our MC 8 II: Junior High Research Reports, as well as projects in other junior high first semester books, all point to and lead up to this challenging high school research reports book. This book brings all research and citation elements together in four incremental projects laid out in weekly lessons.

Report I: Five or Six Agriculture Products is a two to three source ten paragraph paper that includes bibliography cards, outlining cards, Works Cited, quotation inclusion, our “Overview Source Method” of research, our “Color-Coded Research” method of merging sources, and MLA source citation for quotes.

Report II: One Agriculture Product is a three to four source project of ten to twelve paragraphs that includes bibliography cards, outlining cards, Works Cited, Major Works and Minor Works instruction, “Overview Source Method” of research, our “Color-Coded Research” for merging sources; MLA parenthetical citation for quotation inclusion; our “Section-Paragraph-Sentence Approach to Note Taking” and beginning formal outlining.

Report III: A Biography of One Who Contributed to Society is a five to six source project of sixteen to twenty total paragraphs that includes all of the above elements from Reports I and II and adds Redundancy/Synonym Brainstorming; parenthetical citation for paraphrased material; advanced content-based speech tags for quotes; cover page development; and advanced Checklist Challenge tasks.

Finally, Report IV: Topic of Choice brings all of the previous skills and techniques introduced in the first three projects in a multi-week, lengthy paper that shows your student’s research and citation skills at their best. This project utilizes six to nine sources and twenty to twenty-four information-packed paragraphs. You and your student will be extremely proud of the final products he or she has at the end of this high school book.

Read the Table of Contents for this book here.

Get a look at the projects contained in this book here.

Check out the two-week samples here.

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What Is CQLA?

Character Quality Language Arts, CQLA for short, is a language arts program that brings together all aspects of language arts (except for learning to read in lower grades and detailed, individual literature book studies in upper grades) in one place for students in grades two through twelve. It has all aspects of language arts woven throughout each weekly lesson, including copy work, vocabulary comprehension, spelling, editing, outlining, writing, grammar, usage, structural analysis, word studies, editing via checklists, dictation, and more. it is an all-in-one program that was written when author, Donna Reish, decided that each of the separate books her kids were using (spelling, vocabulary, grammar, editing, writing, etc.) should all be put into one program with all aspects of language arts flowing together instead of taught in a disjointed manner from multiple texts.

Each CQLA book is laid out the same with weekly lessons broken down by monthly character quality emphasis. Each book is a work text (which is why they are so long!) meaning that most assignments are done right in the book (except for writing reports). (All assignments are done in the book for Pre A students.)

CQLA is character and biblically-based. Scripture and biblical principles abound. All passages, topics, grammar sentences, etc., come from historical, biblical, nature, health, character, etc., materials that emphasize certain character qualities. (For example, a passage about George Washington Carver emphasizes determination; one about a sloth emphasizes laziness vs. diligence; one about Macchu Picchu emphasizes resourcefulness, etc.)

All types of writing are taught—beginning with writing from passages that we give to students each week for the first two weeks of each unit and then writing from material the student finds (or “from his heart or his head”—depending on whether it is a report, essay, or story) for the last two weeks of each unit. All writing projects utilize our Directed Writing Approach in which students are directed each step of the way in the writing process—and taught all of the pre-writing skills that are needed in order to complete that type of writing. For example, in research report writing, the student is taught ahead of time how to research, how to merge sources (via our Color-Coded Research method), how to divide up material into paragraphs, etc. In essay writing, the student is taught how to write quotations, how to use transition sentences and phrases, etc. In story writing, the student is taught via Directed Brainstorming how to develop goals, obstacles, and resolution. Nothing is left to chance—our writing lessons are not writing ideas! (Note that the same writing assignments found in CQLA are also found in our composition-only books, Meaningful Composition.)

To see samples and descriptions for each of the books, be sure to check out this page HERE!

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1. Wednesday Craigville/Ossian classes are moving to Tuesdays (just like First Semester 2014).

2. CQLA and Sciences are only offered on Mondays at First Assembly and Tuesdays near Bluffton.

3. Thursday classes will be in Leo, Indiana this semester (rather than First Assembly)–just like we always do second semester. Only one semester classes (composition, history, government, and speech/debate) will be offered at that location.

4. We added new science teachers—our daughter Kayla (who is a nurse and has four degrees in nursing, Bible, and a masters in church history, and more) will be teaching some sciences and our son Josiah (who will be in his final semester of nursing school and working as a nurse tech at a pediatrician’s office) will also be teaching some sciences (specifically Advanced Biology/Anatomy).

5. We added the first high school year of Spanish-Spanish I, which is taught by Kayla (see above) who has had four years of high school Spanish and two years of college Spanish and has spoken Spanish in various locations as a missionary nurse. (Spanish I and Spanish II will both be offered the following year, based on interest.)

6. CLEP classes will not be offered until Fall 2015 again. Watch our blog and FB pages for more information because our first offering of these was a huge success with all of the students passing all of the tests that they tried for! Some students ended up with 27 credits for college in one semester with Joshua!

7. Registration forms will be available via email and at our blog:  https://characterinkblog.com/

Joshua playing the Punctuation Game with a high school Character Quality Language Arts class

Overview Schedule All Locations click here

CI Class General Information and Class Descriptions for All Locations click here

Composition Classes—Creative Writing, General Composition, Research Reports, Story Writing, and Essays Only– for grades four through twelve (writing levels) available all four days/locations for Winter/Spring 2015

CI/TFT Class Descriptions for Fort Wayne (First Assembly), Monday— Winter/Spring 2015 click here

Ray Working on Lesson Preparations for Chemistry and Physics These (along with Anatomy and Biology) are available on Mondays (in Fort Wayne) and Tuesdays (near Ossian)

CI/TFT Class Descriptions for  Ossian/Bluffton area,  Tuesday–Winter/Spring 2015 click here

Students engage in lively discussions in many of Joshua’s classes, including literature, world history, US history, economics, government, apologetics, speech, and debate.

CI/TFT Class Descriptions for Leo area, Thursday— Winter/Spring 2015 click here

Complete Language Arts Classes Using “Character Quality Language Arts” for second through twelfth grade students at two locations (Mondays in Fort Wayne and Tuesdays near Ossian)

Thursday classes in Leo, Indiana are held second semester only! Don’t miss them!

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Do you ever wonder how a Mom can keep homeschooling for ten, twenty, or even thirty years? Or have your ever wondered if you will be able to last that long? Find out some of the secrets to long-term homeschooling from Kathie Morrissey and Donna Reish in this new ebook.

Do you struggle with any of the following? 

• Scheduling conflicts?
• Laundry problems?
• Family unity issues?
• Reading difficulties? 
• Prioritizing issues? 

Sixty Homeschooling Tips From Sixty Years will give you help in these areas and many more!

If you have found yourself wishing you had a veteran homeschooler to mentor you, or a person that you could get lots of advice from that has ‘done the stuff’ for three or six decades, look no further! Our book, Sixty Homeschooling Tips From Sixty Years, gives sixty (count ’em, sixty!) pieces of advice from two veteran homeschooling moms. 

For the homeschooling mom who is discouraged and feels like giving up, DON’T! Get advice and inspiration from two women who didn’t give up, but kept the homeschool light shining brightly in their lives for over thirty years each! 

Check out the Table of Contents here.

Go here to order!

READ WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS BOOK:

“It’s not often that you get to pick the brains of homeschool moms with 60 year of experience between them. This book allows you to do just that. Kathy and Donna’s advice is encouraging as well as inspirational. It covers the gamet from homeschooling tips to marriage advice to character training and more. I’ve been homeschooling for 12 years and I’m still finding lots of unique and specific tips that I’m looking forward to incorporating into our day. Be sure to grab a copy for yourself.”  –  Michelle Caskey

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“Even my husband was impressed with the book. We both read it and it led to several thought provoking discussions as homeschoolers, parents, and spouses. We both received valuable insight from these tips. It was great!” – Jen

I’ve read through the first 15 tips and have been affirmed, encouraged and challenged. Hearing these things from experienced home schooling moms who have both graduated students and are still schooling is great. Looking forward to the rest. -Abi Craig

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