It's hard to believe that our school year is almost finished for 2012-2013. Violet is completing her Junior year and Matthias is wrapping up his 9th/10th grade year. Whew!
I thought I would post what worked really well for the highschoolers and include some of their thoughts on why they love to homeschool for the highschool years.
Let's start with Math :: Violet and Matthias negotiated their way through the Math-U-See Algebra II program with flying colors. They weren't sure if they would like it in the beginning, but got their rhythm down on how to best accomplish each lesson and test and have both earned an A grade**!!
Another combined class they took was the Archaelogical Survey of the Old and New Testaments at Homeschool Connections. Super class and very interesting for them both. The final assignment consists of a research paper based on a topic of their choice. I am looking forward to reading them at the end of this week.
Violet also took advantage of the SAT prep classes through Homeschool Connections as well as the Punctuation and Grammar for Highschool. She was pleased to take the SAT two weeks ago and was grinning widely as she emerged from the testing place :)))
When inquirying which subjects or classes were favorites of Matthias, he emphatically said that his Computer technology and science courses ranked at the top, then Math, and the rest sort of equated to his "other stuff" ;) I am really pleased with how well he stayed motivated throughout his days to accomplish his goals with school as I know he really wanted to just be designing and building computers. Microsoft, look out!!
Violet really wanted to embark on a Great Books study this year (Epic of Gilgamesh, The Illiad, Antigone, The Republic and Les Miserables). And even though they were among her most challenging reading to date, she thought the were totally worthwhile and enjoyable, especially as it led us through some really good discussions together. We followed the model set forth in the Well-Trained Mind and it proved to be very straight forward. She is pleased to have completed most of her highschool work up to this point and will be able to focus on independent learning with a few core subjects left for her Senior year. (Wow, did I just type SENIOR year, yikes!!)
Here are some of Violet's thoughts on why she loves to homeschool for highschool ::
Matthias will echo much of this, but in his own words ::
Wow, couldn't have said it better myself ;) Here's wishing you a great opportunity homeschooling your highschoolers!!
If you all are interested to know what resources we used for any of the highschool subjects, please don't hesitate to inquire :) Hope you are all enjoying the end of your school year and some chill time with your families.
**Side note about grades in our homeschool. We do not emphasize grades at all in the elementary years, but for transcripts sake we do apply a letter grade for the highschoolers.
...And incredibly busy right now. I've got 3 boys in 3 different baseball programs and a newly turned 17 year old girl who is dancing up a storm. I can barely find time to think let alone post...but I know you're still out there somewhere dear friends. I do thank you for all the emails and well wishes for a happy Easter season and just checking in to see if we're okay. I appreciate it so much!!
I do hope all of you are enjoying Springtime and Joy in Our Risen Lord.
Please know that I think about all my visitors and friends of Sweetness and Light and pray for you in my daily intentions. God Bless and be back soon...
Yeah, I know, it's been a while...we've been sick like pretty much the rest of North America it seems :(
On a happier note, we did have the joyous opportunity to visit the Happiest Place on Earth at the beginning of February, it was a BLAST!!! Here are some highlights ::
We enjoyed some lovely weather and good times together, we had such a fun time playing all week long :) What have you been doing for fun lately??
We are about a week in to our Sourdough starter and I was anxious to try something besides bread with our initial batch. It was decided by the kitchen chemists that Sourdough Pancakes would be in order. Can I just say...deelish!!! I am wishing my starter was larger so we could have made a double batch ;-) The good news is, it will continue to grow and multiply so we can next time. Such an easy quick breakfast to whip up and and so yummy :)
(Here is another good site for starter ideas)
This is my starter as of this morning after I used the 2 cups for the pancakes and rebooted with 1 cup filtered water and 1 cup organic unbleached white flour.
I am hoping to have bubbles by Wednesday or sooner and then try some rolls or a small boule. Do you have any favorite Sourdough recipes you could share, I'd love to hear your experiences with Sourdough :) Have a great week!
Red Lentil and Cauliflower Stew, Organic Girl Supergreens with Balsamic Vinagrette, Homemade Bread
"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." ~ Virginia Woolf
Over the course of the past year and slowly a few years previous our family has been moving towards a more healthy lifestyle. We are only buying organic fruits and vegetables, grass fed local beef, organic or free range chicken and turkey, raw milk or organic non-homogenized milk, cream and organic butter, and raw honey. We are consuming as little processed foods as possible and I am making most of our bread, yogurt, kefir and sourdough, just to name a few. I am also dabbling in fermenting certain foods to add better nutrition to our daily meals.
These additions and changes to our meal planning and lifestyle did not occur overnight, but I have been making these changes gradually and it has thankfully saved us money in the long run as we are wasting less food, eating healthier and enjoying our meal preparation time in the kitchen as I have more real food on hand that has been lovingly prepared for my family.
Here are just a few of the books and websites that have inspired me, not in any particular order ::
Cultures for Health - Excellent site for ordering beginning starter cultures for anything you want to try. They also have some nice demo videos and recipes.
Kitchen Stewardship - Many, many good ideas on this site, she gives you ways to make changes in "baby-steps" which can be very helpful as this move towards a more healthful lifestyle can be overwhelming to many people. I just downloaded her ebook Better Than a Box for Kindle for only $ .99
Cooking Traditional Foods - This site has been around for a while and can be a bit overwhelming, but still many good ideas.
Gorgeously Green and The Gorgeously Green Diet - the first is a great guide to taking steps on being greener within all aspects of your home and environment, especially in the kitchen. The second book is similar to the first only she includes skads of really great recipes. I was pleasantly surprised with both of these as the covers can be deceiving ;)
The Healthy Kitchen - (HT: to my friend Kathy for this recommendation) written by some top guns, Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley, this one has many good recipes and excellent health and nutrition tips scattered throughout by both authors. I am going to have Violet read this one as part of her Home Ec class this term :)
Vegetarian Bible - I am always on the look out for "good" vegetarian cookbooks, not just sporting "Tofu Surprise" as their main schtick ;-) This is an excellent resource and so many great recipes. Lots to choose from in this one.
Of course, I have continually scoured my old standby Nourishing Traditions so many times, and it still proves to have some of the best reasons for eating healthier and the reasons behind the "fat makes you fat myth" ie. why it's good to eat whole dairy and butter, etc. That could prove to be a whole other post at some point, but for now, I'll leave it at that :)
What kinds of things are you doing in your kitchen to be healthier and greener, I'd love to know what has worked for you!! Off to bake a batch of our favorite Homemade Granola. Here is my standby recipe adapted over the past few years ::
Homemade Granola (Double or Triple as desired)
Melt butter or coconut oil over low heat, just until melted, add honey and vanilla. Pour into large bowl and top with all dry ingredients, mix well and pour onto a large baking sheet or roasting pan. Flatten out well to the edges and bake at 325 for 20 minutes, stir and return to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring well. If not browned to your liking, bake another 10 minutes, but be very careful not to burn, it happens fast!! We like to add our dried or fresh fruits at the table so this is the basic recipe.
Enjoy with homemade Kefir, Yogurt or your beverage of choice - organic milk, raw milk or almond milk is delicious! Add any dried or fresh fruit, a little maple syrup or raw honey or agave, what a great way to start the day - YUM!!
It was not intentional. Life has a way of taking over...Be back soon. Hope your New Year is off to a great start!! +JMJ+
Finished our 3 week run with Nutcracker. Violet takes the prize for most parts danced in a single production, hands down. She is amazing!!!
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Decorated the Tree, beautiful!!
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Been reading :: The Lady of Guadalupe, Merry Christmas Strega Nona & The Birds at Christmas by Tomie dePaola, The Tomten (LOVE) by Astrid Lindgren, The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown, Hanna's Christmas, Annika's Secret Wish (audio) The Polar Express (audio and movie - LOVE) The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey (audio), Christmas in the Stable by Astrid Lindgren, and started I Saw Three Ships by Elizabeth Goudge (LOVE).
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Been watching :: The Polar Express, Blizzard (great family movie) Ice Age 4 (pretty funny, not nearly as crude as #3, thank heavens)
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Been Baking :: Pecan Snowballs, Speculaas, Traditional Sugar Cookies
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Been Eating :: The most amazing Swedish Cardamom Bread from one of Violet's ballet friends, yummo!!!
**Recipe update :: the Carne Asada recipe I alluded to in this post was amazing, especially the second day, I highly recommend it :)
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What have you been doing in this 3rd week of Advent???
We've managed to stick pretty close to our Advent Reading Plan, with the exception of a few books that still haven't come from the library, as I ordered them last minute, so serves me right, eh? There were plenty of substitutes waiting in the wings nonetheless.
Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
The Littlest Matryoshka
Night Tree
The Miracle of Saint Nicholas by Gloria Whelan
Christmas Tapestry
Counting to Christmas
Santa Mouse
Christmas Trolls
Home for Christmas by Jan Brett (new for us this year)
Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas
Four Friends at Christmas by Tomie dePaola
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The younger boys are learning Russian and French at Memrise. Super fun site (HT: Lissa)!!
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Secret Santas have been leaving little surprises around the house for their recipients, I think some have guessed already, but it's still fun and of course we all pretend not to know ;-) The manger is quickly filling up with nice soft hay as well for Baby Jesus.
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Nutcracker has been going well, we will all be a little sad and relieved when we finish this weekend. Violet of course is our shining star on stage and has some lovely solo parts - Marzipan and Ballerina Doll, as well as being a Snow, Flower & Russian Corps, oh and she is a Maid too for one of the party scene casts - she is LOVING it!! We have all had such a good time!
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Have a yummy Carne Asada bubbling away in the crockpot today for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I hope it turns out well, haven't tried this one before. The kids are clamoring at me for their Mexican Hot Chocolate for teatime! Have a great rest of the week friends!! We're looking forward to St. Lucy's day tomorrow!! God Bless You.
Reading Our Way Through Advent has been a tradition in our home for as long as we've had preschool-age children. We especially cherish the many picture books that adorn our shelves for Advent and Christmas. Here is our list for this years Reading Our Way Through Advent in picture books. This does not include all the books we will read each day, just the picture book choices.
Please feel free to mention any favorites that you like to share with your little ones and big ones alike :)
Advent Reading
Day 1 :: We're Counting to Christmas by Nancy Tafuri
Day 2 :: Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco
Day 3 :: The Littlest Matryoshka by Corine Demas Bliss
Day 4 :: Night Tree by Eve Bunting
Day 5 :: Country Angel Christmas by Tomie dePaola
Day 6 :: The Baker's Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard
Day 7 :: This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar
Day 8 :: The Donkey's Dream by Barbara Berger
Day 9 :: Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
Day 10 :: The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden
Day 11 :: The Runaway Sleigh Ride by Astrid Lingren
Day 12 :: The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola
Day 13 :: Hannah's Christmas by Melissa Peterson Wiley
Day 14 :: A Christmas Card for Mr. McFizz by Obren Bokich
Day 15 :: An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola
Day 16 :: Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury by Jan Brett
Day 17 :: The Legend of the Pointsettia by Tomie dePaola
Day 18 :: An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco
Day 19 :: Annika's Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis
Day 20 :: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Day 21 :: The Tomten by Astrid Lingren
Day 22 :: Christmas in the Stable by Astrid Lingren
Day 23 :: The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
Day 24 :: The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett
What a lovely list of Advent picture books, we can't wait to get reading! There are so many more I could have added and it's always hard to narrow it down to one per day, but we'll be reading lots of other Advent and Christmas related stories along with our daily picture books.
We'll surely read Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lingren, we might try Jotham's Journey again this year, although it's always a toss up between that one and Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle. We'll be reading about the Saints of Advent as well, of which there are many, and doing some fun crafts, baking, and the usual Jesse Tree activities! Oh and we do love The Jesse Tree by Geraldine MacCaughrean. Ah, so many books, so little time. How to fit it all in....
Slowly and quietly as we await the birth of our dear sweet Baby Jesus!! I hope you all have a beautiful Advent season and do pop in to say hello when you get a chance! Many blessings from our family to yours.
We will be cozied up for a great Thanksgiving with family at home this year! And no Thanksgiving would be complete without including this great read aloud from one of our all-time favorite authors. Our version has a different cover, but it's still the same in text I believe.
I am so thankful for all my visitors and friends who make this site all the more Sweet!! God bless you and your families during this holiday and may we always be ever thankful for our dear Lord in Heaven and His blessed Mother who guides us to his salvation!
Happiest Thanksgiving wishes to you all. Love Meredith and family.
Having just completed our first term of 12 weeks, I decided to give end of term examinations this year vis-a-vis Charlotte Mason's methods. I have always wanted to do this, but just never seemed to manage it in practice. The theoretical is always much easier than the application, but alas we managed it and it was a delightful way to finish up our first term. The kids loved it and did very well, after all, the idea behind end of term examinations is not to find out what a child doesn't know, but exactly what they do know, it's a WIN WIN all around :)
"We will now pass to a week before the end of term. One morning an envelope marked "House of Education, Ambleside," arrives. It contains the examination questions. As soon as the day you have fixed on comes round you open the envelope and the examinations begin. They last for one week, and the subjects are not all done in one lump three hours arithmetic, two, history, or whatever it is, but in the usual time set for that subject on the time-table. Thus you might have forty-five minutes history on Wednesday and forty on Friday.
You are given one question at a time and when that is finished you are given the next. This method avoids the fatigue caused particularly in the case of younger children when the whole of the time allowed for one subject is taken at once. The examinations are not to be a burden to the children, but a pleasure. If one subject is finished before its allotted time is up then the remainder of the time may be used for another subject which the children have not had time to finish, but any questions for which there has not been time during the week may be omitted. Examinations conducted on this method cause no strain to the children. In the case of little children who cannot write, they dictate their answers, which are written down for them.Songs and repetitions are heard, and exercise books, paintings, handwork and drill are inspected by the father or outside friend, sewing by the mother, and a report of these with marks given by the parent is then sent up to Ambleside with the written examination papers." PNEU
God above all things...
Husband/Wife...
Children...
Parents...
Self...
How we must Rest in God Alone above all Things
THE DISCIPLE. Above all things and in all things rest always in the Lord, 0 my soul, for He is the everlasting rest of the Saints.
A Prayer
Grant me, most dear and loving Jesus, to rest in You above created things;(Rom.8:19) above health and beauty, above all glory and honour; above all power and dignity, above all knowledge and skill ; above all fame and praise, above all sweetness and consolation; above all hope and promise, above all merit and desire ; above all gifts and favours that You can bestow and shower upon us; above all joy and jubilation that the mind can conceive and know ; above Angels and Archangels and all the hosts of Heaven; above all things visible and invisible ; and above everything that is not Yourself, 0 my God...meditate on the rest here.
How often do we put ourselves above all things??? What do we think God will say to us upon arriving in heaven about how we have loved??? I have been pondering this recently and wanted to post it here. I enjoy reading through Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ as it really grounds me in my daily struggles to lead a holy life amidst the chaos of family life.
There is always some good food for thought in his writings...care to share how you place everyone above self and manage to keep everyday holy amongst the strains of everyday life? Would love to hear your thoughts on how you manage prayer and holiness in your every day :)
Good clicks this week ~
This is good stuff, God Bless America!! (Bye, bye American Idol)
Oh, my goodness, I've got to re-read Little Women now! I think I'm Jo....(thanks Karen & Ramona)
Here is a click that I bookmarked a while back. It's such an economical idea for Charlotte Mason art appreciation studies. Barb always has super ideas!
I am really digging all the goodness at this site, a bread bakers indulgence :)
And speaking of baking, a baker's day isn't complete without a visit to Rose Beranbaum's site, wow!! (As an aside, we used to know her step-son)...
What have you clicked and loved recently??? Have a great weekend!
**NB :: The delightful little "Sweet Clicking" Mouse is courtesy of my Matthias and his 3D Art skills, thanks sweetie!!
What new recipes have you tried lately?? I will be sharing a weekly recipe that has worked well for our family and our busy schedule. It might be something for Sunday dinner to share with family and friends, or just a simple weeknight meal for busy moms looking to feed the family something delicious and healthy.
Homemade Meatballs ~
These are our very favorite meatballs to have with spaghetti, or for yummy mouthwatering meatball sandwiches. Here is a fail-safe recipe I have used for ages from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking ::
"Meatballs and Tomatoes"
1. Trim away the bread's crust, put the milk and bread in a small saucepan, and turn on the heat to low. When the bread has soaked up all the milk, mash it to a pulp with a fork. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
2. Into a bowl put the chopped meat, onion, parsley, the egg, the tablespoon of olive oil, the grated Parmesean, and a tiny grating of nutmeg - about 1/8 teaspoon - the bread and milk mush, salt, and several grindings of the black pepper. Gently knead the mixture with your hands without squeezing it. When all the ingredients are evenly combined, shape it gently and without squeezing into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Roll the balls lightly in the bread crumbs.
3. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the meatballs in a single layer. Pour in enough vegetable oil (I have used olive oil as well) to come 1/4 inch up the sides. Turn on the heat to medium high and when the oil is hot, slip in the meatballs. Sliding them in with a spatula will avoid splasing hot oil out of the pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides, turning them carefully so they won't break up.
4. Remove from heat, tip the pan slightly and with a spoon, remove as much of the fat as floats to the surface. Return the pan to the burner over medium heat, add the chopped tomatoes with their juice, a pinch of salt, and turn the meatballs over once or twice to coat them well. Cover the pan and adjust the heat to cook at a quiet, but steady simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the oil floats free of the tomatoes. Taste and correct for salt and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time-note :: The dish can be cooked entirely in advancee and stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for several days. Reheat gently before serving.
What is your favorite method of cooking, crock-pot, oven, stovetop, microwave (gasp). I have jumpstarted my crock pot for autumn and I'm so happy. It does such a splendid job, without alot of prep or stress. Why don't I use this everyday??? Stay tuned for next time.
Thanks for sharing your recipes and answers this week :) Bon appetit!
Outside my window- It's a mild day, a little breezy, but nice and sunny.
I am hearing- Legos being built in the boys room, yes they have been resurrected after months of dormancy...does that happen at your house too?? Also the trains have come back out, most likely because I mentioned I am going to try and sell the whole lot :)
I am wearing- Black leggings, an orange ribbed knit tee and a soft grey wrap cardigan much like this one pictured in the top middle.
I am pondering- How it's possible that I have a 16 year old, a 14 year old, a 10 year old and a 7 year old....what happened to my babies???? I guess the recent birthday of a certain boy now 14 has made me a little nostalgic for those littler kid days...There's never been a nicer 14 year old boy though, I'm just sayin' ;-)
I am reading- A new novel by Jane Gardam, well it's not new, but new to me - Crusoe's Daughter. It's starting out fine...we'll see how it goes. Also perusing several bread baking books as I so enjoy the art of bread baking :)
From the kitchen- Day 2 on my three day bread that I have been doing for the past month or so. You do an easy yeast starter on day 1, add whole wheat flour and salt and oil on day two and day 3 you shape and bake. We prefer long loaves as opposed to boules. It's absolutley delish, especially toasted!! It's called Ed Behr's Country Loaf taken from one of my old standby cookbooks - The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook. Such a great book!
Living a lifestyle of learning- Listening to lots of Haydn for music study right now, mostly in the mornings as we are doing something else, but especially if we are learning about a new piece we really enjoy these radio shows from Classics for Kids.
Living the Liturgical Year- Celebrating the month of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary with as many daily/evening rosaries as we can fit. We have been so blessed by having a devotion to Our Lady in the rosary. We pray that God will continue to bless our family through this ancient devotion.
Around the house- Keeping in place our afternoon quick tidy!! This goes a long way for my sanity when it gets hectic and busy during the week. Everyone does a little something for about ten minutes or so, and voila, tidy house for the evening :)
What we are creating- Lots of watercolor pictures, seasonal drawings and photography.
A few plans for the rest of the week- Beginning to work up end of term exams as we are nearing the completion of Term 1 around the end of the month. I am looking forward to doing these as in the past we have not done any "official" exams, but I have always liked the Charlotte Mason exams, so here we go!
A picture thought I am sharing-
Our beautiful Violet after a very busy performance weekend, including her first Solo of Paquita!!
Many blessings in your week ahead!
This year I am really trying to have doing art a bigger focus in our life. It has been going pretty well so far and I thought I'd share a few things this week. These art projects were lately inspired by the wonderful ideas from Patty at Deep Space Sparkle. She has such easy to follow lessons & ideas that are readily doable with a minimum of supplies necessary for most projects. LOVE that!
A few weeks ago we were on a Blue Whale kick and thus resulted these very blue pieces :: We loosely followed the ideas for the whales in this 3 Ingredient Art plan. We chose to do a wet watercolored background rather than the tissue paper collage background, although I really like that one too. (Next time ;-)
Seamus' Blue Whale
Sean-Paul's Blue Whale (sans any background)
My blue whale, and yes it looks a bit cartoonish, I'm still a Kindergartner at heart :)
After we ventured around with the whales for a bit, we dove into a Coral Reef study that of course led to looking at scads of pictures and videos of tropical fish, coral reefs, and such. Here is some fun postcard artwork that my crew created, and are still working on casually when the inspiration arises :: These pieces were influenced by the tropical fish lessons in this set, also at Deep Space Sparkle. Rather than do another larger size watercolor, we thought postcards would be fun and different.
Sean-Paul's Fish (not a postcard)
Violet's Coral & Fish postcard
Matthias' (work in progress)
Seamus' postcard #1
Seamus' postcard #2 (in progress)
I thought these turned out really well, and gave everyone an opportunity to do some great sketching before using the watercolor paints. We used pan paints for this project, although we really like wet watercolor paints too. The postcard size was fun too as it gave them some perspective in creating smaller pieces rather than one large painting. Good stuff!!
In terms of art appreciation and picture study, our focus this term has been on Vermeer. I am using these combined art and music appreciation plans by Harmony Art Mom to include Haydn into our days as well. I know she calls this a "mini-unit", but it is truly meaty enough to glean some great art and music appreciation for several weeks up to a couple of months depending on interest. We happen to be very interested in Josef Haydn as Seamus has learned and performed all three movements of Haydn's Cello Concerto in C very adeptly and so we love to hear pretty much anything by Haydn ;-)
I hope these ideas inspire you to do some fun art with your kiddos and view and listen to some great art and music. Many blessings in your week ahead!
It's time for the 2nd Homeschool Highschool Carnival, hosted this month by Willa and Chari at Take up and Read. This month's subject is :: Writing and Composition in High School
The questions we are pondering are:
What place do you see writing have in your high schoolers education? Do you use a writing program? What approach do you use? Which ‘tools’ did you use in the younger years that helped prepare your high schooler to write and prepare them to join "the Great Conversation"?
Speaking of The Great Conversation:
The tradition of the West is embodied in the Great Conversation that began in the dawn of history and that continues to the present day. Whatever the merits of other civilizations in other respects, no civilization is like that of the West in this respect. No other civilization can claim that its defining characteristic is a dialogue of this sort. No dialogue in any other civilization can compare with that of the West in the number of great works of the mind that have contributed to this dialogue. The goal toward which Western society moves is the Civilization of the Dialogue. The spirit of Western civilization is the spirit of inquiry. Its dominant element is the Logos. Nothing is to remain undiscussed. Everybody is to speak his mind. No proposition is to be left unexamined. The exchange of ideas is held to be the path to the realization of the potentialities of the race. (exerpted from 'The Great Conversation', by Hutchins)
What place do you see writing have in your high schoolers education?
Writing definately plays a large role in our homeschool in the highschool years. We write in pretty much every subject in some form or another. Not all assignments or projects are lengthy compositions, but a few meaty writing assignments each term set the groundwork for better writing style and ease of mastery in this essential part of learning and self-education. Another form of writing or composition is oral narration which we use regularly in conjunction with written work.
Do you use a writing program?
For highschool we have relied heavily on The Little Brown Handbook, this is a very nice volume of writing instruction and information for a highschooler (or anyone for that matter). We have not used the workbook, but it could be useful for someone I am sure :) We have also used Element's of Style. Another resource that I had forgotten about, but which I was recently reminded by Charlotte Mason Help is the Guide to Grammar and Writing site, very helpful!What approach do you use?
Forms V and VI. (High School) "In these Forms some definite teaching in the art of composition is advisable, but not too much, lest the young scholars be saddled with a stilted style which may encumber them for life.” (CM Vol. 6, p. 193)
Our approach is relaxed and somewhat flexible. I have not held to any hard and fast requirements for our writing projects as I believe that if a child is willing to write and has a desire to write, they will write much and write well. Especially with my first highschooler, Violet, this has been the case. She enjoys writing and the process of it, so it comes more naturally to her than say her brother, who is an excellent writer when he puts his mind to it, it just doesn't come as naturally to him as his sister. It could also be a case of 'what's the point' for particular assignments for him. He would rather make up a comic strip or a poem about something he has read or learned about rather than write an essay. So, this is where the flexibility comes in for us, I let him, and he has produced some delightful poetry, comics and whatnot for some of his writing assignments! C'est la vie, dit moi!! And we most clearly used a Charlotte Mason approach to writing and composition which leads to the next question...
Which ‘tools’ did you use in the younger years that helped prepare your high schooler to write and prepare them to join "the Great Conversation"?
In terms of 'tools' we used lots and lots of reading good literature, reading aloud good literature, listening to good literature (you get the point) then narrating these gems orally at first, then beginning to write narrations around 9-11 depending on the child, and finally full blown essays, compositions and critical papers. Grammar forms and all areas of language arts can be learned within this framework of reading, narrating and writing. Good spelling is attained by constantly seeing correctly spelled words within literature, and Copywork and Dictation lend very well to learning proper punctuation and correct grammar use. This has been a good model for us and has carried us well into the highschool years for Writing and Composition work. We are always learning though and can't wait to see what others have to share in this realm.
Thanks for stopping by today, enjoy the rest of the carnival, there are sure to be some great posts!!
Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken is always captivating when read aloud. We enjoyed analyzing this one with Violet recently and comparing it to other of Frost's poems.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same...
Read the rest at the above link at poets.org or you can listen as well with their nice audio feature. Find other great poetry at No Water River. The full schedule for Poetry Friday can be found at the Kidlitosphere site here.