Higher Up and Further In

Kids LearnOutLoud.com Free Audio & Video [del.icio.us]

2012-01-27T18:26:40-08:00

Free Shakespeare Plays on Audio [del.icio.us]

2012-01-27T18:16:48-08:00

All That's Goood: Imagination [del.icio.us]

2012-01-24T19:58:34-08:00

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - Imagination {vol.1} [del.icio.us]

2012-01-24T19:29:50-08:00

Special Sale on The Great Courses [del.icio.us]

2012-01-22T09:59:04-08:00

Charlotte Mason, Total Depravity, and the Divine Image [del.icio.us]

2012-01-20T19:40:37-08:00

John Branyan - The Three Little Pigs - YouTube [del.icio.us]

2012-01-19T09:10:48-08:00

"One Good Thing" by Jillee: How To Clean Your Bathroom Like A Pro! [del.icio.us]

2012-01-17T08:59:01-08:00

Believing in Tim Tebow - ESPN [del.icio.us]

2012-01-17T08:21:30-08:00

Towards a Defense of Charlotte Mason : Circe Institute [del.icio.us]

2012-01-11T10:19:00-08:00

Introducing CharlotteMasonHelp.com

2009-07-28T21:52:00.003-05:00

Hello Again. I've been enjoying the summer and trying to stay cool. My inbox is full as I have not answered any emails all month. If you have commented or written to me, please be patient and I'll eventually get to each one.

As many of you know, I have written a lot of articles on this blog about the Charlotte Mason method. I realize that it can be difficult for new readers to find them so I have a new website that is devoted to Charlotte Mason help articles and our curriculum. It is located at http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/ . I hope this new site will be of help to those of you who are interested in Miss Mason's philosophy and methods of education.

Some of you have showed your appreciation by ordering from my bookstore and amazon link. I am deeply grateful for your thoughtfulness. Warm hugs to you.

It is time for me to say goodbye to the blogging world for now. It has been a joy to serve you in this small way. Thank you for all the encouraging words so many of you have sprinkled throughout this blog. You are the ones who let me know that someone was reading and was blessed.

I don't plan to remove HIGHER UP AND FURTHER IN blog, so you can still browse the archives if you wish. Most of the homeschooling posts will be available over at the new site as well.

NOTE: Links to files may be out of date. Files can now be found at: http://www.scribd.com/lindafay

Warmly!

Blogger Issues and Baby Chicks

2009-07-05T14:17:00.007-05:00

2nd Update:Blogger still has not fixed this problem. I understand that this problem does not occur with Firefox browsers. You can download the free browser from here if you wish.

UPDATE: I noticed today that this issue has still not been fixed. Many people are having this problem with blogspot blogs. I hope blogger fixes it soon.

I am aware that some of you who use Internet Explorer as your browser have not been able to access our curriculum and archives for several weeks now. This is a blogger.com issue but I believe it has been fixed. Please let me know if you are still having troubles viewing previous articles.

Now, I am going back to my garden and the new baby chicks that are hatching this week. Adorable!

I'm in the Garden

2009-06-09T12:27:00.004-05:00

Lindafay is taking a break from blogging for the next month or so. She will not be answering emails or posting. Have a great summer everyone!

one step at a time...

What I do when I'm not blogging...

2009-05-29T06:27:00.003-05:00

Spring is such a busy time for us on our farm we decided to stop schooling for the season and start again in the summer when it is too hot to go outside in the middle of the day here in Texas.

Our garden is in and trying to survive the torrential rains of May. We had 14 inches of rain in three weeks.

We ordered more chicks through the mail. I ordered leghorns. These don't look like leghorns to me.

The two roosters are in solitary confinement because of wife abuse. Our little ladies need time to heal from those nasty, nasty fellows.

I spend a lot of time trying to keep all our birds alive and happy. I have a thing for birds. They stink, make messes everywhere, carry lice and die if you look the other way. But I still like them. They have to be completely closed up at night so wild animals don't get them, but the geese peck the ducks and the chickens peck the chicks so we have to keep them all separated.

The daily fresh eggs are worth the work.

My newest venture is ducks... Daisy and Daffy.

And geese. So far they are very sweet. I hope they stay that way.

Our goats dropped so many kids this spring I have lost count. All together we have 54 so far. They keep the weeds and thorns down on our 37 acres. We will eventually sell some for their meat.

One night during a hard rain, a nanny got stranded with her triplets on an island that was quickly shrinking from the rising waters. We found her just in time and rescued the little family. Our neighbors weren't so fortunate and lost all their goats in a flash flood.

This kid's mother had mastitis so we had to feed her every two hours around the clock. The children LOVE the goats. Our visitors usually want to raise goats when they see ours. What they don't see are the times when we have to trim each hoof-all 250 of them, deworm them, delouse them, demite them, pull off ticks the size of grapes, give them antibiotics for various diseases and occasionally watch newborns die for no apparent reason.

By the way, I made yogurt and feta cheese this spring. It came out well but our milk goat went dry so I'll have to wait awhile before I can make some more.

Our cows gave us two more calves and we bought a milk cow at the local auction. She is still a very young heifer. If our bull does his job, we will have milk next year.

One of our young bulls broke its leg a few months back so we killed and butchered the entire thing ourselves. It took a week but the freezer is full of grass fed hormone free beef. It is good, too. My husband comes from a ranching family and my own family hunted and butchered a moose or bear every year when I was a child, so we are not totally new to this sort of thing.

I spend about two or three hours outside every day weeding the garden and flower beds, mowing, taking care of the animals, refilling the bird feeders or taking care of fences. When I'm indoors I find myself looking outside the windows constantly. It is so beautiful in the spring.

I also like to fish : ) We've had several fish fries already. Our pond has a lot of bass and perch.

Due to the heavy rains, the pond almost washed our road out.

We often have visitors. When they come, we give them a hoe and keep on with life. My kids usually commandeer them into being in one of their latest films. Here they are filming a scene from Robin Hood. One day while at the river, they saw an alligator gar go swimming by and grabbed it.

Our friends came from Illinois and introduced us to the wonderful movie SECOND HAND LIONS. The following morning we found our husbands sitting on the front porch with guns and tea looking just like Hub and Garth.

On our last evening together, the children put on a ball for the adults. Wonderful!

Well, that's just a small slice of what's been going on in my life recently on the farm. If you have a blog where you share your farm adventures, please let me know so I can stop by and visit.

The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - Fullness of Living

2009-05-26T06:00:00.009-05:00

Welcome to the May 26, 2009 edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival where parents and educators from all around the globe share how they are implementing Charlotte Mason's timeless ideas in their homeschools and classrooms.

I will be sharing some comments from Miss Mason and from those who knew her personally. I think you will find further insight into this amazing woman's life and her educational ideas. All quotes are taken from In Memoriam.

"As we think of Miss Mason's long and beautiful life spent in ceaseless happy toil "for the children's sake" we ask ourselves what it was she strove to win for them, why it was that she was always happy no matter how weary. Was it a method of education all summed up in one word, narration? Was it the use of books? Was it love of Nature? Was it the power of self-expression in words, in material, in music? Was it happiness? Was it goodness? Was it worldly success? One may say that the good which Miss Mason sought included all these, but it went beyond, it reached out till it became fullness of living."

Jimmie presents Vermeer Artist Study posted at One Child Policy Homeschool

Keri presents Poetry posted at Sunny.

Yours Truly presents Ask and it shall be given unto You after twelve years of teaching the Charlotte Mason way...

"I think if anyone asked me what I liked best about Scale How I should say the fact that all of us love birds and butterflies, insects, and flowers and that our museum is a "perfect disgrace"--we have not a single stuffed bird or snake, no lovely collections of butterflies and insects, no pressed flowers or birds' nests or eggs, only a few rocks, minerals, and fossils. For the rest we spend the afternoons with, and not hunting, catching and collecting birds, beasts, and flowers."

Molly Evert presents Resources for Birding with Children posted at Counter-cultural School

Jamie presents Nature Study: Butterflies! posted at Rose Cottage

Martha presents Frogs, Frogs and more Frogs posted at Sunrise to Sunset

"At the back of all Miss Mason's teaching, was a philosophy of life based on an intense conviction of the personal relationship of every individual soul with God--a relationship that was the basis of all joy in living. One realized the power and joy of knowledge--the knowledge that is enshrined in all great literature, art and music, the knowledge of living creatures, of the goodness of sky and sea, of wind and cloud and all the "green things upon the earth." an ex student

Amanda Christina presents Tint and Shade Paint Project Video Tutorial posted at Hearts and Trees, saying, "I put together a really fun video tutorial focusing on painting tints and shades. This is an easy project for children of all ages."

"Out of doors the students learn to look and to watch they they may know creatures and plants by sight as they know friends; to recognise the birds by their song, flight, feathers and nesting places, and their time of arrival and departure; to observe the flowering seasons of all trees and herbs and the ripening of common spore-bearing plants such as horsetails and large liverworts; to note the reappearance of butterflies and dragonflies, stone,--caddi,--and mayflies, and to know some of their eggs and larvæ. Each one records in her own Nature Note Book that which has interested her, and takes home something to paint. The effort of attention during the time given to painting the twig, flower or fruit, chrysalis, shell or egg, fixes its form and colour in the memory. " Drury

Barb presents Nature Study in Ripples posted at Handbook of Nature Study, saying, "Where I attempt to explain my thinking about how nature study starts close to home and you build upon that knowledge and apply it to other habitats."

Brenda Sain presents Insect Collecting posted at The Tie That Binds Us.

"In Miss Mason's philosophy, every child is a personality endowed with infinite possibilities, and to her vision--the true vision of the seer--the trail of the "clouds of glory" is ever visible even when the shades of the prison-house seem darkest."

Anna Migeon presents Dinner Table Pharisees and Born-Again Vegetable Lovers posted at French kids don't get fat, saying, "In education, as in religion, it is the motive that counts," writes educational reformer Charlotte Mason in A Philosophy of Education. Motive is equally important in eating."

"Schools in general send forth scholars who have learnt 'how to learn'; (they rarely show that they have learned this art!) We send out scholars who have learned and do know and find knowledge so delightful that it becomes a pursuit and source of happiness for a lifetime." CM

Amy Smith presents Our Homeschooling Curriculum: First Grade posted at Kids Love Learning.

Molly Evert presents My Audio School: Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare posted at My Audio School

"We have resorted to the play way quite unnecessarily, and made things easy far too long. The children rejoice in the hard work if you will let them do it." Golding

Jessica presents Utilizing Yahoo Groups for your CM Homeschool posted at Established Work.

"It is a pity," says Miss Mason, "that we like our music as our pictures and our poetry mixed, so that there are few opportunities of going through as a listener a course of the works of a single composer . . . Let young people study as far as possible under one master until they have received some of this teaching and know its style."

Alecat presents May's composer focus: Prokofiev posted at Serenades and Solace, saying, "This year we're focusing on a composer every month...Hopefully others can also enjoy the material I've collated, as well as being inspired to look for some themselves."

"The children had their opportunity, and they rose to it, as Miss. Mason knew they would. ..."Given a book of literary quality suitable to their age, and children will know how to deal with it without elucidation." And what was suitable was to be by no means easy, for Miss Mason asked much of them. It was her way. The books are hard. But the more she asked, the more the children gave. And,though they never saw her, there were thousands who loved her, because she understood them and knew what they wanted. "

Pauline presents Nature Bloggin' #6 and My Vincent Van Gogh posted at Ordinary Days

ChristyH presents Reading and Remembering posted at The Secret Lies with Charlotte.........

"Without knowledge Reason carries a man into the wilderness and Rebellion joins company...Fundamental knowledge is the knowledge of God and while we are ignorant of that principal knowledge, Science, Nature, Literature and History, all remain dumb."CM

Lindafay presents HEO Year 7- A Schedule that Fits it all in and Still Leaves time For Masterly Inactivity right here at Higher Up and Further In.

Barb presents Organizing Literature: High School Level, saying, I am trying to record our high school experiences for those that are coming behind me."

"It is not yet the time to measure up her whole achievement. The full harvest is not yet. But there is enough to justify the confidence that posterity will see in her a great reformer, who led the children of the nation out of a barren wilderness into a rich inheritance. The old bidding prayers of our homes of learning rise to our lips. The children of many generations will thank God for Charlotte Mason and her work." H.W. Household

That concludes this edition. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you leave today inspired to keep climbing higher up and further in as you seek new ways to teach your children to live their lives to the fullest!

one step at a time...

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival using this carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

HEO Year 7- A Schedule that Fits it All In and Still Leaves Time for Masterly Inactivity

2009-05-25T19:02:00.006-05:00

In a previous post I discussed the books we used in Year 7 from Ambleside's House of Education and tried to simplify it for newcomers. Today, I am going to share how I fit all those wonderful books in without burning out my teens and myself. I will give a brief overview, then explain the weekly schedule and the daily checklist. As I've mentioned before, 'efficiency' is one of my favorite words. I want it simple, doable and I don't want to spend a lot of time on record keeping. I am also ~~miserly~~ frugal and refuse to spend money on fancy systems that I am just going to have to tweak anyway.

A Brief Overview
Children in the upper years of the Ambleside schools spent more time on lessons than the elementary aged children. The bulk of lessons were finished in the morning hours before lunch, but they continued awhile in the afternoons reading some literature, going on nature walks, doing handicrafts and practicing an instrument. They also went to school on Saturday mornings, by the way. Plus, they were learning more languages than we do. Don't faint now, but 3 and 4 languages were studied at 12 and 13 years of age, Europe being a multilingual area of many nations. My children spent most of their childhood in Asia and so learned a foreign language while young, but most folks don't have such opportunities. So you will probably be working on just one or two languages in year 7.

My 7th year students work on lessons for approximately 4 hours every morning and have an hour of reading right after lunch and chores. Many subjects get accomplished because I trained the kids with timers when they were younger to move from one subject right onto the next with out delay. I also keep the lessons short. They know that I have given them enough time to get it done in the morning hours, but if they waste time, they have to use their afternoon free time to finish the day's work. Otherwise, no heavy schoolwork is scheduled in the afternoons. Math and Science have to be finished in the morning while their brains are fresh. The rest of the afternoon they are free to follow their own interests until I snag them for an hour of outside work in the cool evenings on our farm.

The Weekly Term Schedule
At the beginning of every term I look over the books that will be used during the next 12 wks and type them into a 12 column chart. I divide up the readings evenly over the term and plug in the chapters on the chart. AO has already done some of the work on the website although it is not in chart form. Here is a sample schedule that one of my daughters used while a year 7 student. It shows her the week's work. My daughters keep their term schedules on personal clipboards and refer to them constantly. It is never allowed to leave the clipboard. I haven't been able to store a copy in google docs without it corrupting the format so if you want a blank template, you can download one from the HEO Yahoo group in the files section.

The Daily Checklist
She also has a Daily Checklist that tells her exactly what to do each day. I fill this in for her at the beginning of each term as well but I don't put any page numbers on it since they are already on the term schedule. It takes about 30 minutes to fill out 12 weeks because the days are 'generic'. Here is a sample checklist for year 7 and here is a blank template. She keeps her Daily Checklist on top of her Weekly Term Schedule and checks off the box for each item she finishes so we both know what she completed each day. This helps her keep track of everything she is supposed to do. I know and she knows at any given time if she hasn't completed an assignment.

Even though each schedule is tailored for each child's individuality, the form is the same every year so they don't get confused and we don't waste time trying to learn a new system. They have learned how to follow their own schedule since they began reading their own books at 9 years of age, so they know what is expected of them. This puts them in charge of their education so they will learn to get knowledge for themselves in years to come rather than relying on an 'all knowing' teacher (this is an integral part of Miss Mason's philosophy). I guide and keep track of their progress, make sure they are getting it all done, listen to narrations and have discussions with them daily.

If you still have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section. I'll try to clarify anything that was unclear.

one step at a time...

Ask and It Will Be Given to You

2009-05-25T17:50:00.010-05:00

I've been using Charlotte Mason's methods for twelve years now. I've enjoyed every step of the way. My children love knowledge for the joy it brings them. I had no idea it could be this easy, that it would be this rewarding and produce children so enjoyable to be with, who feel at home with the aged, the learned, as well as the young and the ignorant. In some areas of knowledge they have dug deep and found rich veins of gold, in other areas they have just found a pearl or two. But the treasure is varied and lies in many rooms.

Music, art, animals, nature, politics, literature, poetry, equations, Rome, Iceland, Ireland, the moors, the sea, metropolises, machinery,the universe, the past, the poor, royalty, Heaven and earth...you name it, they have dipped their hands in the chest and pulled out something of value as they have explored truth and beauty in the world around them.

Miss Mason said this would happen. Frankly, I wasn't sure. How could I produce children better than myself? My education was mediocre at best. Some of those books sure looked difficult, but I didn't need to worry. My children love to learn and are developing magnanimous spirits slowly but surely. I asked for grace from Heaven and it was freely given through the wisdom of Miss Mason. If I can do this, anyone can do it. I honestly believe that. God is far more interested in our children's well being, character and influence on this earth than we are, even though we love them so... If we ask for bread He will not give us a stone.

one step at a time...

Next Charlotte Mason Carnival will be HERE.

2009-05-22T10:40:00.005-05:00

I will be hosting the next Charlotte Mason Carnival (this Tuesday). If you would like to share how you have been implementing CM's ideas in your home or school, we'd love to take a peek.

"Carnival topics center around CM educational philosophy and the practical application of Miss Mason's works. Please limit your submissions to topics that are relevant to a CM homeschooling experience. Topics might include narration, nature study, dictation, living books, CM schedules, poetry, Shakespeare, Mother Culture, CM quotes, slow reading of books, habit training as outlined in the CM volumes, character training, or other various topics that would help a homeschooling CM method using family."

The Importance of the Teaching of History

2009-05-12T07:50:00.001-05:00

"By dismissing the past or by giving it only cursory textbook treatment, modern education produces students whom T.S. Eliot called "provincials of time." These students regard the past with ignorant condescension, assuming that all its scant benefits, through some mysterious process of progressive evolution, have been retained, while its evils have for the most part been shed away. They are infected with the fever of progress, supposing that the mere passage of time acts like a great threshing machine, discarding the chaff and preserving the wheat. Whatever kernels of truth this world ever possessed are somewhere in the loaf now being proffered by science. Nor, in this condition, can the young stomach the medicine of the past, with its stern warnings and meticulous instructions for human improvement printed on the label. In a school predicated only upon science, the student can be nothing more than what he is. That, to be sure, can be developed- and human development results from yielding to certain inner patterns of truth (to which only the psychiatrist is privy), not from imposing the crushing obligations of a historical dogma or of an Ideal Type. The student is not asked to bear any responsibility for a past from which he is intellectually and existentially cut off."

David Hicks
Norms and Nobility

Complete Elementary Curriculum Book list

2009-05-04T06:31:00.000-05:00

My friend Christie, recently gave me a wonderful gift of her time. I am passing it on to you. Here is a link to a complete list of all the books in our curriculum from kindergarten to year six. She has arranged them in order by year. Thank you, Christie!

one step at a time...

HEO Year 7 Breakdown, Book by Book

2009-04-30T06:10:00.014-05:00

"The upper years of Ambleside (HEO) overwhelm me. I don't know where to begin. Can you break it down for us showing how you use it?"

Well, I can tell you how we implement it but there is certainly more than one way to do this. I realize that some folks just like it all laid out for them so maybe this plan will be of help. For others, it may give you some ideas from which you can pick and choose.

Also, if you haven't always used Miss Mason's methods along with good classic, unabridged literature, then you may not want to use all of our book choices for your students. I wrote 'optional' beside the books that I think you could skip if necessary. Your students will enjoy these books much, much more if they have some previous background with some specific literature. I consider the following books prerequisites to year 7:

An Island Story by Henrietta Marshall
OR A Child's History of England by Dickens
Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle
Stories of Beowulf told to the Children by Marshall
Tanglewood Tales by Nathanial Hawthorne
or The Heroes by Kingsley
Tales of Troy by Andrew Lang
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
An Anthology of good poetry.

Now, if you want to begin your students with year 7 and they have had basically NO previous experience with Charlotte Mason's methods-maybe you homeschooled from a traditional boxed curriculum or your child is coming from public school, then I highly recommend taking a year to do Amblesides pre year 7 booklist. It is excellent. I think every child should be familiar with the literature on this list.

I will post comments beside particular books explaining how we used them.

If you see 'download,' then go to the Ambleside site to download the document mentioned.

Students should be mostly self learning at this stage. They have a weekly schedule and daily checklist that they follow. I read aloud just a few of the books (mentioned below) and at the end of each day I ask for some oral narrations. On Fridays, I check all written narrations and math and science notebooks. I also make sure everything was completed on the daily checklist. It is not a time consuming, complicated process. I do some prep work at the beginning of each term to make sure all the necessary resources are on hand when needed.

Year 7 Booklist

* ** ***asterisks represent term numbers

Time Period studied: Middle Ages, 800- 1400 (Alfred, King Arthur, Joan of Arc)

BIBLE
My students chose a book of the Bible to read each term and applied the principles learned from Kay Arthur's book below. However, we began with an easy, short book from the New Testament.

Apologetics/Devotionals
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula (record in Century book)
*How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur (take notes in a Bible journal)
**More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell (take notes in a Bible journal)
*** The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (take notes in a Bible journal)

HISTORY
Continue to keep a Century book or begin one if you haven't done so yet. Book of Centuries clip art source for this time period in historyhttp://www.cidadevirtual.pt/poge/kings/index.html

The Birth of Britain by Winston Churchill (I read the first two chapters then turn it over to my students. They write weekly a 1/2 to 1 pg written narration. If your students are not familiar with British History, then they shouldn't use this book. I recommend Charles Dicken's Child's History of England. An Island Story can be used but it is a bit childish)

* Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People - Selections. (download, optional, oral narrations)

* William of Malmesbury's account of the Battle of Hastings (download , optional )

** The Magna Carta (download)

*** In Freedom's Cause by G.A. Henty

*** History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea by William Tyre (download, optional)

*** The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (preview this book first, creative narrations in letter form. After reading Tey's mystery novel, a story that makes one question the validity of the accusations against King Richard III as being a child murderer, my daughter perused a site dedicated to the study and restoration of King Richard's character. http://www.r3.org/intro.html )

BIOGRAPHIES
* The Life of King Alfred by Asser, selected passages (download, oral narrations)

** *** Joan of Arc by Mark Twain, (oral narrations)

GEOGRAPHY
* ** The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin (drawn narrations)

*** How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger
The last term my students learned about the modern geography and place names of Great Britain using this book. It takes you on a trip across Great Britain with a family who attempts to locate the settings of popular classic children's literature. This lovely website is devoted to helping your child learn the geography of their travels. http://www.storybookengland.com/index.php

Randolph Caldecott was mentioned in the book, but my daughter did not have any connections with him so we read his biography together and looked at some samples of his illustrative art work for children's books at this site to spark her interest. http://www.randolphcaldecott.org.uk/index.htm

We also used these sites for the King Arthur chapters:
http://www.thisisnorthcornwall.co.uk/king_arthur.html http://www.castlewales.com/listings.html

*copy the maps from the chapters read in Churchill's Birth of Britain
here's a blank outline map:http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxuk.htm

** learn the countries of Europe using Seterra Geography game
(it is free here )

here's a map to print
http://eduplace.com/ss/maps/europe.html

***Do map drills of Modern England from Seterra geography game

add completed maps to Century book

GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
* Whatever Happened to Penny Candy by Richard Maybury (summarize the main points of each chapter. This is a good discussion book)

CITIZENSHIP
Ourselves by Charlotte Mason, approximately 22 pages per term. (Mom reads aloud, discuss together and outline)

Plutarch's Lives - follow the schedule posted at Ambleside Online. (creative narrations)

CURRENT EVENTS
http://studentnewsdaily.com/ (read daily, oral narrate, read the bias article on Wed; on Friday, write short paragraph summary of the most important event of the week. We don't answer the questions provided)

LITERATURE
Shakespeare - Continue with Ambleside Online Rotation. (Try to watch the play. See this post. )

The Once and Future King by T. H. White
(Mom reads aloud and discusses book together. Preview this book. I used these book notes to help begin discussions with my student about the qualities of good govt. vs bad govt. http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/the_once_and_future_king/7.html
I also read Wendy C. cautions about unsuitable parts in the book for children located at the AO/HEO website under year 7.)

Here's a wonderful resource. It provides audio commentary about themes behind important classics. My student listened and enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, Huckleberry Finn, Watership Down and a few others.http://www.thegreatbooks.com/resources

The History of English Literature for Girls and Boys by H.E. Marshall ch 1-31. (written narrations)

The Age of Chivalry by Thomas Bulfinch (oral narrations. Here's an article about the importance of studying King Arthur. http://www.worldview.org/blog/?p=190 )

* Watership Down by Richard Adams. (oral narrations)

* ** Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (oral narrations, watch the 6 hour movie version when the book is completed)

** *** A Taste of Chaucer by Anne Malcolmson (written narrations. I read this article about the importance of studying Chaucer for myself
http://www.kingsmeadow.com/2007/04/chaucers-classic.html
and this one gave background info
http://www.missionstclare.com/english/people/oct25.html

POETRY
* Beowulf -by Rebsamen, (discuss alliteration first, read the first six wks.)

Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight by Marie Boroff or J.R. Tolkien (be sure to read the preface)

** Alfred, Lord Tennyson, especially Idylls of the King (Get a good book of his poems or download from online. Listen to Alfred Lord Tennyson recite aloud the well known poem he wrote- The Charge of the Light Brigade.
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=1569 )

*** John Keats, especially The Eve of St. Agnes (I printed out portions of the biography as well as his most popular poems and put them in a binder for my student to read.
http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry.html )

GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION
Finish Easy Grammar Plus if you have not already done so.

The Grammar of Poetry by Matt Whitling. complete one lesson per week.

Writing Strands 4-one lesson per week

RECITATION
Scripture suggestions for memorization * Psalm 45, ** Psalm 46, and *** Psalm 51
(But if my student is eager to choose her own passage, I let her. It must be lengthy.)

Shakespeare (memorize selected passages from the play we are studying, all terms.)

Poetry - (memorize a lengthy poem or portion of the poem by that term's poet, all terms. Let the student choose.)

COPYWORK/TRANSCRIPTION
Begin a Commonplace book. (The student records quotes and passages from their schoolbooks that they particularly enjoy or think are worthy of remembering in their neatest handwriting.)

MATH
Year 7 is generally considered pre algebra. Basically, it is a review year of previous learned concepts and a catch up year for us if we are behind in anything.

SCIENCE
Apologia General Science by Dr. Jay Wile.
(see this post on how to organize the student notebook)

NATURE STUDY
Continue nature journals weekly together focusing on one aspect of nature every six weeks and I schedule at least one other day for the student to take a nature walk on her own and record her observations and thoughts.

* Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp (encourage your students to try out Sharp's style in their nature journals.)

** *** The Life of the Spider by Henri Fabre. (written narrations. This web page shows each one mentioned in the book.http://www.benjaminbruce.us/spider/ )

LOGIC
How To Read a Book by both Mortimer J. Ader And Chares Van Doren. (Mom reads aloud. Discuss and outline together; only part 1 this year. )

DRAWING AND ART
The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson - chapters 1-3 this year. (Add to Century book)

Continue Artist study

Artistic Pursuits by Brenda Ellis (Alternate the drawing and painting books doing one lesson per week)

MUSIC
Continue Composer studies.

Learn an instrument.

Singing:
Hymns: Learn a hymn or two each term.
http://cyberhymnal.com/ or http://songsandhymns.org/

Folksongs: f
found free at http://contemplator.com/ (Work on each song about 4 weeks.)
* The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood; The Three Ravens; and The Outlandish Knight.
** When The King Enjoys His Own Again; Farewell to Lochaber; Battle of Otterburn.
*** Go No More a Rushing; Greensleeves; Scarbourough Fair.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
We don't study Latin in depth, just English from the Roots up. You could begin this if you haven't done so yet. Your students should also become familiar with at least two other languages, beginning one now, if they haven't done so and beginning another in Year 9.

(I don't spend a lot of money on language programs. Generally, I find interactive DVDs at used book stores and I let my children choose at least one of the languages they will learn. I have a daughter learning Spanish, one learning Arabic, and another learning German. Two of them speak Turkish fluently. I give them a dictionary and a Bible in the target language as well. )

HEALTH/P.E.
Learn First aid. (Here's a helpful page:
http://www.emergencycontacts.com/download.php?Id=45&Field=File&Force=Y http://health.howstuffworks.com/cpr2.htm )

Aerobic exercise three days a week, stretching exercise twice a week.
(my daughter works on her heart rate and a one mile course; we do Pilates together for stretching and toning)

FREE READING
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
The White Mountains; City of Gold and Lead; and Pool of Fire by John Christopher
Legends of Charlemagne by Thomas Bulfinch
The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall
Rolf and The Viking Bow by French
The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett (this book has Buddhist ideas; I recommend reading it with your student and discussing the author's world view together)
The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
Hereward, the Last of the English by Charles Kingsley or Hereward the Wake
The Knight's Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott
Penrod and Sam by Booth Tarkington
Feats on the Fiord by Harriet Martineau

Next time we'll look at how to break it all down into a weekly, then daily schedule.

one step at a time...

Our Easter Garden

2009-04-09T20:48:00.005-05:00

We are preparing for Easter this year by making a replica of the tomb in a garden. It is the centerpiece of our dining table. We've carved a caterpillar from soap and tomorrow night (Good Friday) we will close the tomb. This lovely idea came from Ann's blog and we're so grateful for the inspiration.

Rennet

2009-04-02T17:05:00.003-05:00

I miss feta cheese. My children are pining away for it. We ate it daily while living in Turkey but the price was much more affordable over there. So, I've decided to make it. Can anyone tell me if 6.50 for 2 oz of liquid rennet is a good price? Do you have any inexpensive online sources that I may not know about? Is liquid better than tablets? Vegetable better than animal?

Thanks,

Garage Sale Find

2009-03-30T09:54:00.004-05:00

While living in Turkey, I used to suffer from garage sale envy when I heard about other people's great finds. (Second hand sales are not part of that culture) So it is with great pride today that I show you what I found the other day at a local garage sale-Pinkie and Blue Boy for ten dollars a piece. They are very large with beautiful gold frames and now adorn the dining room wall, making our home look much classier than the folks that live here actually are.

Cultural Literacy Quiz

2009-03-28T14:36:00.003-05:00

My 16 year old daughter is having a cultural literacy quiz over at her blog. Why don't you hop on over and see how well you do, or send your kiddos over.

http://beyond-the-loneliest-star.blogspot.com/2009/03/cultural-literacy-contest-and-goats.html

Spring has Sprung!

2009-03-26T10:42:00.002-05:00

This was our pond one week ago.

This was our pond yesterday.

Spring has Sprung!

Making Books with Children

2009-03-24T15:42:00.003-05:00

"I'm curious about the books your children have made. Would you mind elaborating a bit on how you went about making them and what their content was? Any info. you would like to share on your little books would be so great! "

Making books with your children is an excellent way to increase their reading, drawing, writing and organizational skills while having fun. Most of the time, our books are very simple and don't require much of my time, but occasionally we spend more time on a book together. Whatever the case, our children are extremely proud of their creations and eagerly 'read' them to anyone who will listen.

There are four types of books we have repeatedly made throughout the years. I call them Label books, Pattern books, Narration books and Storybook Spin off books. Here's a brief look at each one.

Label Books
This type of book is most appropriate for preschoolers or children who are just beginning to read and write. They write simply one word on each page by copying a large model on a dry erase board.

For example, suppose we just read a book about bugs. Together we decide what color of construction paper we want our book to be and I write a very simple title on the dry erase board. My child copies it in pencil. I trace over it with a marker. BUG BOOK. Then we brainstorm together what bugs we want to place in our book. If he wants a ladybug on one page. He draws it on his page and colors it. I write LADYBUG on the board and he copies it below the picture. Then we do the same thing with a different bug on the next page. I use half sheets of paper or else we end up with a tiny drawing in the center of large white background. I gather the pages together and punch two holes through them and tie it all together with yarn or twine. Sometimes we just staple them. There are times when we have made fancier sewn bindings, but we usually save those for older children.

You can make label books for just about anything your children are interested in- cars, counting books, shape books, animals, friends, flowers, favorite places, etc... These books can by made on the spur of the moment and they are usually factual.

You really should walk your children through the first one. Eventually, my kids began to make label books on their own. I just provided the materials on a table. Sometimes I pre-bound them, but usually, they preferred to do this themselves. We then displayed the book proudly on the bookshelf with all the other 'real' books, remembering to write the author's name on the front.

Occasionally, I make the entire book into the shape of the book theme. Once we made a circle book and drew things that were in the shape of a circle on each page and labeled them. So I made every page including the cover into a large circle. We've made house shaped books and caterpillars too. The possibilities are endless.

Pattern books
The purpose of pattern books is to help emergent readers with word recognition by using patterns in language. Bill Martin Jr.'s book Brown Bear, Brown Bear is an excellent example of this. Each page has predictable language, rhythm and rhyme that children enjoy, along with engaging pictures.

Brown bear, brown bear What do you see?

I see a red bird looking at me.

Red bird, red bird what do you see?

I see a yellow duck looking at me.

It continues on with several different animals.

After I read this book to my child, I suggest we make up our own Brown Bear book but choose a different title and characters.

So, our book may read.... Little Girl, little girl. What do you see? I see a baby looking at me...Baby, baby. What do you see? I see a ...

My child would dictate to me what he wanted on each page and I would copy it down. Usually, children don't write well at this age and I want to keep it enjoyable, so I transcribe all of it or most of the words in clear print and leave a blank line for him write just a word.

This link should take you to some good, predictable books. We have used several on this list.

Narration books
These books can be made with children of all ages. You read aloud a story and your children simply tell it back in their own language. You record their words, divide the language up into pages and illustrate it. We did this with some fairy tales and they were a big hit with the children. When we read The Three Little Pigs, I drew a simple, round pig face to be the cover of the book and cut out the circle pages. My seven year old wrote a short sentence on each page. My four year old dictated to me. They both illustrated their books and we glued straw and toothpicks on for houses.

Narration books are perfect for children who have a deep interest in a particular subject. When my oldest daughter was nine years of age, horses were the love of her life. She enjoyed Marguerite Henry's Album of Horses immensely. Later, we gave her a horse encyclopedia and she read it from cover to cover. I suggested she make her own book for children who may not be able to read a whole encyclopedia. I showed her how to make a table of contents, a dedication page and suggested she add drawings, poetry and how to articles, etc... Her excitement grew and the project took almost an entire year to finish. She was so happy with it and it still stands proudly on our science and nature shelf.

Story Spin offs
These are my favorite kind of books. We made a few when the children were very young but I have found that children between the ages of 8 and 10 particularly like these and do amazingly well with the idea. Mom reads aloud a story, but this time the children do not narrate. They change the story altogether, only keeping a few key elements. In this way, the story truly becomes their own, but they have a source of inspiration. Children shouldn't be expected to write creatively without an inspiring idea.

For example, several years ago we read Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. My kids decided to change Harold's name to their names and make their own adventures. They changed the crayon color as well but kept the idea that they had to draw each scene before it could happen, just like Harold did. We also decided to make the entire story on the computer using computer graphics. I typed their dictations. We worked awhile on this one so I laminated the covers.

When I read the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder aloud, the girls became so inspired that they began writing out their own pioneer stories. One of my daughters made a six book series when she was seven years old. When she grew tired of writing, I typed it for her.

These are just a few ideas to help get your creative juices flowing.

Some Tips:

Do not use pre-made book pages. It stifles creativity and wastes money. Besides, kids need to feel that they authored the book completely.
Keep it simple. The more children you have, the less time you will have to do this. So don't worry about making fancy books. Kids don't care about this as much as you do.
Keep it neat and organized. I always expect their best effort.
Suggest, suggest, suggest. Give them ideas to help them get started but don't insist on them.
Make sure they finish what they started. My daughter's horse book, as much as she loved it, would never have been completed if I didn't require her to finish.
Teach the children to write the author and illustrator's name on the book cover.
Teach them to make a title page.
Longer, non fiction books should have a table of contents and page numbers.
Teach them to make a dedication page-often to the grandparents, and then when they visit read it to them. What pleasure this brings!!
When explaining how to make a book and its parts, make sure you have the original in front of you.
Occasionally, use interesting materials -glitter, stickers, lace, rubbings, jewels.
Use various mediums for illustrations- crayons, paint, pastels, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, markers.
Type some books for the kids, but make sure they are writing too.
Bind it in various ways-masking tape, yarn, sew it, staple it, metal rings, use premade binders for large books. Don't go out and buy a binding machine. Just use what you have.
When they tire of it, stop immediately.
Keep it FUN.

Perhaps, the greatest benefit of making books with my children throughout the years is that it has given them the confidence they need to realize that they too, can author books. It doesn't take someone with special talent, just passion, practice and perseverance. Now that most of my children are older they continue to write books in their free time. They fill book journals with story ideas and 'good lines' that come to their heads. My younger children see this and copy them. They take turns typing the next chapter of the books they are each writing-books I never assigned. They revise and revise and revise but slowly are becoming excellent writers through a process that brings them great pleasure. I don't give them writing exercises, but allow them the freedom to choose. Excellent literature and a writer's handbook or two are the key elements of our writing program. Children need to be emotionally involved with their subject matter in order to write well. I've never found a writing program yet that doesn't rob them of this, so I don't use one. There is no drudgery in this writing process.

A SLIDE SHOW OF SOME OF OUR BOOKS

one step at a time...

PS. I dedicate this article to Marcia, who waited patiently over a year for it : )

Waking the Poet Within

2009-03-20T06:10:00.000-05:00

A point which I should like to bring before the reader is the peculiar part which poetry plays in making us aware of this thought of the ages, including our own. Every age, every epoch, has its poetic aspect, its quintessence, as it were, and happy the people who have a Shakespeare, a Dante, a Milton, a Burns, to gather up and preserve its meaning as a world possession.

Charlotte Mason

As a young adult, I did not enjoy poetry and could not understand those who did. What was all the hullabaloo about, anyway? How could poetry thrill one's soul? I have vague memories of school lessons introducing haiku and cinquain. I thought them most boring and endured this part of my English classes. Then I met my husband-to-be. He loved poetry and could sit for long periods reading Chesterton's 'The Ballad of the White Horse', quote Elizabeth Browning, Emily Dickinson, Kipling and several others; he would write lovely, stirring poems whenever inspired. I began to feel that I had missed out on something beautiful in my youth. His enthusiasm captured me and I started reading poetry for enjoyment, gradually developing a sincere appreciation for this art form. I learned that poetry has the power to capture a particular emotion, inspiring heroism, faith and beauty. When my children came along, I was determined to give them a better introduction to poetry, but was a little intimidated too. How does one teach 'form' and 'meter' and all those other technical sounding words while keeping the child's interest?

Miss Mason came to my rescue. Just as she thought nature should be enjoyed before analyzing it, she suggested that children should learn to enjoy poetry by simply hearing it before being required to study it and pick it apart. Later, AFTER the heart is awakened to the rhythm and beauty of words, the mechanics of poetry can be studied in greater detail. This made perfect sense to me. Perhaps all those schoolish exercises had sucked the life out of it for me. I never had time to just enjoy poetry as I had done with a good story book. I determined to try this with my children. Oh! I can't rave enough about our success in using this method. We have become a poetry loving family. The results are far better than I ever envisioned. And yet, what we do is so simple!

IN OUR HOME
Just as we study only ONE artist and ONE composer over several weeks, we study only ONE poet per term. In this way, the child develops a love for that poet and is often able to recognize his or her style. Once they can do this, they like to try to write poems, all the while copying the style of the particular poet they now feel is an old friend. My children listen to poetry read aloud from the time they are four or five years old so that it becomes as natural to them as eating and drinking. No twaddle whatsoever is tolerated; with so many great poets, there is no time to waste on the mediocre. By the time they are nine or ten years old, the appreciation is deeply ingrained and they are able to strike out on their own with a poet for the term. I continue to read poetry to the younger children while the older ones enjoy reading from "their poet" on their own for the most part. They love this feeling of ownership.

When I introduce a poet, I give just a wee bit of background about his life or tell an interesting tidbit (no one cares to hear a long biography at this time) and then I set aside five minutes a day to read just one of his poems aloud to the children. That's all I do. No assignments, no deep discussions; we simply enjoy his poetry. If the poem is long, it is broken up over several days. Usually on Fridays each child chooses to reread his favorite poem read that week. I do not teach about the structure of poetry until my children are older.

After several years of this type of poetry study (which actually involves no study at all), I hand a copy of Matthew Whitling's The Grammar of Poetry to them and do the first lesson or two together. After that, they are again, on their own, learning about the structure of poetry, analyzing it more deeply. By this time, they are ready for such a study and enjoy it immensely. It clarifies several ideas for them. At the same time, they continue to study certain poets, never completely dropping the daily poetry reading.

All my children love poetry and have filled several poetry journals with their own creations. (I give a small, pretty, blank poetry journal to each child around the age of 8-something large can be intimidating.) They have memorized many, many poems for the sheer enjoyment of it. Poetry is a vital part of our family life, now.

If you are beginning poetry study with older children who have yet to develop an appreciation for it, it is of utmost importance that you begin by choosing a poet that appeals to your child's age and interest. The ladies at Ambleside have put together a wonderful list of poets with age-appropriate poems. You can simply download the poet of your choice with his collection of poems, print them out and read aloud. Older boys tend to appreciate Kipling and Longfellow. Younger children often enjoy Stevenson. Young ladies may like Dickinson or Teasdale.

Poetry reveals to us the loveliness of nature, brings back the freshness of youthful feelings, reviews the relish of simple pleasures, keeps unquenched the enthusiasm which warmed the springtime of our being, refines youthful love, strengthens our interest in human mature, by vivid delineations of its tenderest and softest feelings, and through the brightness of its prophetic visions, helps faith to lay hold on the future life.

William E. Channing

one step at a time...

original post: Feb 07

Children Don't Need to Be Taught to Think

2009-03-18T06:20:00.000-05:00

"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built upon the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think. Whereas, if the child is left to himself, he will think more and better, if less showily. Let him go and come freely, let him touch real things and combine his impressions for himself, instead of sitting indoors at a little round table, while a sweet-voiced teacher suggests that he build a stone wall with his wooden blocks, or make a rainbow out of strips of coloured paper, or plant straw trees in bead flower-pots. Such teaching fills the mind with artificial associations that must be got rid of, before the child can develop independent ideas out of actual experience." --
Anne Sullivan

one step at a time...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T09:32:00.003-05:00

Saint Patrick's Vision:

"I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us." De Paor

History Dates for our Timeline: Year 2

2009-03-09T14:35:00.002-05:00

I've had several people ask me how I arrange our timeline cards and what do I determine to be the most important events, so I am posting the sheet that I refer to as I read Hillyer's Child's History of the World aloud. This is what we do your Year 2 of our curriculum.

WORLD HISTORY TIMELINE

Orange= Israel
Purple= Europe
Pink = Rome
Black = Other

SECOND YEAR STUDENTS:

Term 1
Julius Caesar 50 BC
Augustus Caesar 30 BC
Birth of Jesus Christ 4 BC
Paul the Apostle AD 60
Nero (persecutes Christians) AD 60
Titus (destroys Jerusalem) AD 70
Pompeii destroyed AD 80
Marcus Aurelius (Stoics) AD 170
Commodus AD 180
Constantine AD 300
Fall of Rome (Barbarians) AD 470
Dark Ages Begin (Justinian) AD 500
Monks (Benedictine) AD 600

Term 2
Mohammed AD 620
Battle of Tours AD 730
Charlemagne AD 800
Alfred the Great AD 900
Vikings Discover N.America AD 1000
William the Conqueror AD 1060
Crusades AD 1100
Richard the Lionhearted AD 1100

Term 3
Gothic Cathedrals AD 1200
Mongol Invaders AD 1200
Magna Charta AD 1200
Marco Polo AD 1300
Ibn Battuta AD 1330
100 yrs War AD 1350
Black Plague AD 1350
Joan of Arc AD 1420
Gutenberg AD 1440
Columbus AD 1490
Vasco De Gama AD 1450
Spanish Conquistadors AD 1500
Balboa AD 1510
Magellan AD 1510

one step at a time...

Housecleaning the Easy Way

2009-03-05T06:30:00.001-06:00

My mother taught me to keep my house clean, mostly by her example but she didn't have a method. She just did what needed to be done. As a child it seemed to me that she cleaned all the time. When I got married, I kept the house clean but it became increasingly more difficult as the children came along. I found myself stressing out over the messes and cleaning much of the time. About five years ago I finally found a way to keep it all together without spending enormous amounts of time doing so. If you have found your miracle method, then skip this post. For those who are still searching, here's what the children and I do.

-On a sheet of paper I listed the most basic jobs that we could do to clean up the house within a 30 minute time period. These jobs would only be the most necessary ones. (It helped me to imagine what we quickly do whenever we hear that unexpected guests are coming in an hour.)

- Then I took several sheets of paper and wrote down the name of each room of the house at the top of each.

-I went through each room and wrote down on those sheets detailed lists of every single thing that needed to be done to keep each room clean. EVERYTHING.

-On Mondays and Fridays the kids and I spend 30 minutes all together after lunch doing the basic housecleaning from the first list.

-On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, we spend up to 30 minutes working on a couple of the rooms doing detailed cleaning. We don't clean the rooms completely, just work through the list as much as we can for 20 minutes. (So maybe we just clean baseboards and fans that day) The following week we go on to a different set of rooms in the house.

That's all there is to it. Flylady calls this 'Blessing the home.' I love that. This plan is basically her ideas in a nutshell. It is so simple and easy. I never have to do 'Spring cleaning' any more because a few days out of the week we slowly plug away at maintaining those jobs that we wouldn't ordinarily do. The kids like having something different to do each day and that it follows Miss Mason's advice about keeping things short and sweet.

If this isn't clear enough for you I will give an example of a general house cleaning list and one of our detailed room cleaning lists.

General Cleaning list
1. Vacuum
2. Mop
3. Dust
4. Empty trash cans
5. Change sheets on a bed
6. Water plants

Kitchen: Detailed cleaning list
1. empty refg/clean thoroughly
2. clean table and chairs
3. clean oven
4. wash canister/knick-knacks
5. clean out a drawer
6. wipe fingerprints off walls, doors
7. wash a window
8. clean fans
9. scrub down cabinet fronts (only a few at a time)
10. clean out a cupboard
11. clean under sink
12. clean an appliance
13. scrub floor by hand
14. dust cobwebs from ceiling

one step at a time...

How to Get Children to Appreciate Great Art OR Mamas, Throw Out the Lessons!

2009-03-02T06:17:00.002-06:00

When you first begin picture study with your children, you want to capture their interest right away so that this area of a 'wide and liberal education' becomes dear to their hearts. Some artists' paintings simply aren't as engaging as others. Be very careful in deciding upon the first artists' works. Think about your child's age, gender and interests. When my two older girls were very young, we began with Renoir and Mary Cassatt. I chose a few of Renoir's most well known paintings, but I also hand picked some more obscure ones that I knew would particularly appeal to my daughters at the time. They loved beautiful children, vibrant colors, girls in dresses, music and sisterhood.

When my other two children came along, my daughter and son were quite the adventurers. Sweet children in passive settings held no interest for them so I chose Rubens' Biblical pictures and N.C Wyeth's classic adventure tales .

Now that their interest in art was captured, the following year I felt more free in introducing other artists, always being careful to include a few pictures that would capture their fancy.

Ambleside has a wonderful selection of artists and their pictures. Typically, I use their suggestions as our base but I follow an order that pertains to my own children's interests and ages. I also visit artrenewal.com to find even more paintings from the artists suggested- paintings that didn't make the AO cut but I know will excite a particular child of mine. At the end of the term, I show my kids some more pictures from the artist we studied that term. These are the ones that we didn't get to but I thought they might like. Together, we download their favorites and put them on a flash disc, take it to Walmart and have each printed for about a quarter each. Then the children get to add them to their personal artist albums.

My sixteen year old has been keeping an artist album for ten years now. She can recognize and tell you the names of approximately 180 works of art and their artists. She cherishes her album and has fond memories of particular paintings, is very opinionated about her favorite and worst artists and what makes a great work of art. She can often determine the author of a painting by noting the style, technique and color scheme. While I think those accomplishments are noteworthy, I am mostly pleased at the simple fact that she CARES. This will give her pleasure for many years to come, broaden her relationships with others and help to reveal another area to worship the Author of all creativity and beauty.

I can't think of a better way to learn to appreciate art. (Thanks to Miss Mason)

Mamas, throw out the lessons.

Picture Study in Our Home

What Makes a Masterpiece?

one step at a time...

Narration Thoughts from a High Schooler

2009-02-28T06:39:00.000-06:00

How long have you been narrating from your schoolbooks?

Since I was six years old, so I guess that would be about ten years.

What are your fondest narration memories?

I liked creative narrations, especially role playing and debating Plutarch. I also liked it when I got to make really hard narration questions and see if I could trip up my mother. I liked it when my mom pulled out the red and blue beads and put them behind her back-the anticipation of finding out who would narrate. I liked setting up my playmobil people and narrating the story. During my middle school years I particularly liked making creative narrations by writing letters and newspaper articles and obituaries and so on. Sometimes I spent too much time on them because they were so much fun but now that I am older, I really desire to just know the subject matter well, so I prefer to type out straight narratives. They seem to be the best way for me to remember what I have read.

Do you prefer narrating from your school books or answering comprehension questions?

I definitely prefer to narrate. I may not know the specific answer that whoever posed the question is looking for but I often know so much about the subject that I don't feel it is very fair to ask such narrow questions without finding out what I really know. Plus, filling in the blanks doesn't make me exert myself. It doesn't teach writing skills or give real knowledge but narration does all of this in a short period of time. So actually it condenses the time I have to spend on those skills. And narration leaves room for creativity. I get to decide how I want to frame it, if I want to sound like the author, be flowry or just get to the point. I get to choose my own words to express what I've learned. I like that better than answering a narrow question that only has one answer. In the past, I've read a few books that required I fill in the blanks to specific questions at the end of the reading but I don't remember much about them now. The books that have made the most impact in my life are those that I wrote about or talked about with others.

Do you like to narrate now?

Sometimes I'm in the mood to narrate and sometimes I'm not but I've learned that if I can't frame it in my own words, I honestly don't know the material, so I exert myself. I didn't always have this discipline and my mother used to insist that I narrate whether I felt like it or not. At times, I would balk and say, "I already know this. I'll remember it." Now that I'm older I can look back and see that the books that I didn't narrate from are the books I don't remember as well. This bothers me and it also motivates me to narrate, especially from the books that I really want to remember. So I guess what I'm trying to say is even though I don't always like to narrate, I am motivated to do it.

Did you enjoy narration when you were younger?

Yes and No. I liked to narrate creatively from the narration jar and I didn't mind oral narration, but when I first began to write my narrations down on paper, I really didn't like it. I did it because I was supposed to, but I remember writing really large so that I would fill up the page sooner. It gradually became easier for me. But as I've said before, now that I am older I am sooo glad I learned to narrate because the benefits are wonderful. My kids will narrate. Ha ha.

Thanks for taking the time to share with us your narration thoughts.

You are welcome.

one step at a time...

Year 9 Exams- Term 1

2009-02-26T12:43:00.009-06:00

Here are the recent examination questions I composed for my daughter.
She used term 1 of this book list and this daily schedule. Her favorite book was Les Miserables. Her least favorite was Ethics of the Dust.

I post this to give possible ideas for other HEO users of Year 9.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Type or write your answers. Record your music and recitations on the computer and send to me via email.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Spelling, composition and grammar will be taken into account. Essays should have an intro, supporting paragraphs and a conclusion. Be detailed, but concise. The more proper nouns and dates you use, the better your grade. :) *Remember, no fluff.

BIBLE/APOLOGETICS
Acts and Commentary
What were the six spiritual qualities in the early Church in Acts?

Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers
According to Sayers, "Every work of creation is threefold, an earthly trinity to match the heavenly." Explain this statement.

HISTORY
Age of Revolutions by Churchill
Explain the War of the Spanish Succession

How did the Duke of Marlborough influence Queen Anne?

History of the American People by Johnson
You have been accused of witchcraft by someone who dislikes you. Knowing the character of Cotton Mather, write an appeal to him.

Why did Colonial rule fail in America?

Turn in your Century Book.

GOVERNMENT
Are you Liberal, Conservative or Confused? By Maybury
Explain Mr. Maybury's political persuasion.

What are the pros and cons of this viewpoint?

BIOGRAPHY
Founding Father by Brookhiser
Explain the ways in which Washington kept the American military obedient to him and to Congress
OR
Show how he helped to bring about a transformation of the American government, from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution, without a second revolution.

What do you admire about this man? Explain.

LITERATURE
Gulliver's Travels by Swift
Write a letter to a publishing company as though you are Jonathan Swift describing your just-completed manuscript "Gulliver's Travels."

Tale of a Tub by Swift
Who do each of the three brothers represent?

What is the author trying to communicate through this parody?

Les Miserables by Hugo
Write a poem about a situation or character in this book using the style of a poet you have studied this term.

CITIZENSHIP
Essay on Man by Pope
Explain the form and purpose of this work.

Turn in your Commonplace Book.

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason
Tell about three of Love's Lords in waiting.

GEOGRAPHY
The Royal Road to Romance by Richard Halliburton
List five places Halliburton described.

Tell about two of them in detail.

MUSIC APPRECIATION/POETRY
Opera: The Barber of Seville.
Write a poetic narration about this opera using Pope's style (heroic couplet).

SINGING
Sing two folk songs and a hymn.

CURRENT EVENTS
StudentNewsDaily.com
What do you believe were the two most important events in the news this term? Explain.

PICTURE STUDY
Describe in detail a work from Norman Rockwell and from Gauguin.
Compare and contrast their styles.

DRAWING
Turn in your drawing portfolio.

MUSIC
Play a song that you learned this term on the guitar and another on the piano.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Turkish
Recite your Scripture passage in Turkish.

What books did you read in Turkish this term?

German
Turn in all your German test scores.

RECITATION
Recite your Psalm, NT passage and poem.

LOGIC
How to Read a Book by Adler
How should you mark up a book?

SCIENCE
Apologia Biology by Wile
Turn in your notebook with tests.

The Microbe Hunters
Write an obituary for Antonie Leeuwenhoek.

HEALTH
The Schwarzbein Principle
Why does fat not make you fat?

According to the author what is the real cause of cancer?

NATURE STUDY
Ethics of the Dust by Ruskin
Write a book review.

What are the author's views on the value of mythology?

Turn in your nature journal.

Describe the creek bed, the landscape and what plants and animals one may find there while on a walk.

MATH
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 by Sabouri
Turn in your notebook and tests

one step at a time...