Parents, the Domestic Shrine and the Life of the Soul

In general, children taught by their own parents do not suffer so much from these misrepresentations of God, as those who have been left with servants and ignorant teachers, themselves warped by a wrong early training. Fathers and mothers must have within themselves too much intuition of the Fatherhood of God not to give another tone to their teaching, and probably it is from fathers and mothers, as they are in themselves symbols of God's almighty power and unmeasured love, that the first ideas of Him can best reach the minds of little children.
But it is rare that circumstances admit the continuance of this best instruction. For one reason or another children pass on to other teachers and, except for what can be given directly by the clergy, must depend on them for further religious instruction.   From The Education of Catholic GIrls, by Sr Janet Erskine Stuart

Interesting to compare with Charlotte Mason in Home Education

Again, what child has not heard from his nurse this, delivered with much energy, 'God does not love you, you naughty boy! He will send you to the bad place!' And these two thoughts of God, as an exactor and a punisher, make up, often enough, all the idea the poor child gets of his Father in heaven. What fruit can come of this but aversion, the turning away of the child from the face of his Father? What if, instead, were given to him the thought well expressed in the words, "The all-forgiving gentleness of God"? 

These are but two of many deterrent thoughts of God commonly presented to the tender soul; and the mother, who realises that the heart of her child may be irrevocabley turned against God by the ideas of Him imbibed in the nursery, will feel the necessity for grave and careful thought, and definite resolve, as to what teaching her child shall receive on this momentous subject. She will most likely forbid any mention of the Divine Name to the children, except by their parents, explaining at the same time that she does so because she cares so much that her children should get none but right thoughts on this great matter. It is better that children should receive a few vital ideas that their souls may grow than a great deal of indefinite teaching.

Janet Erskine Stuart goes on to say:

 We speak as we believe, there is an accent of sincerity that carries conviction if we speak of God as we believe, and if we believe truly, we shall speak of Him largely, trustfully, and happily, whether in the dogmas of our faith, or as we find His traces and glorious attributes in the world around us, as we consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, or as we track with reverent and unprecipitate following the line of His providential government in the history of the world.
The need of right thoughts of God is also deeply felt on the side of our relations to Him, and that especially in our democratic times when sovereignty is losing its meaning. There are free and easy ideas of God, as if man might criticize and question and call Him to account, and have his say on the doings of the Creator. It is not explanation or apology that answer these, but a right thought of God makes them impossible, and this right thought can only be given if we have it ourselves. The Fatherhood of God and the Sovereignty of God are foundations of belief which complete one another, and bear up all the superstructure of a child's understanding of Christian life.
To be well grounded in the elements of faith, and to have been so taught that the practice of religion has become the atmosphere of a happy life, to have the habit of sanctifying daily duties, joys, and trials by the thought of God, and a firm resolve that nothing shall be allowed to draw the soul away from Him, such is, broadly speaking, the aim we may set before ourselves for the end of the years of childhood, after which must follow the more difficult years of the training of youth. 

 And here is more from Charlotte Mason

How to select these few quickening thoughts of the infinite God? The selection is not so difficult to make as would appear at first sight. In the first place, we must teach that which we know, know by the life of the soul, not with any mere knowledge of the mind. Now, of the vast mass of the doctrines and the precepts of religion, we shall find that there are only a few vital truths that we have so taken into our being that we live upon them––this person, these; that person, those; some of us, not more than a single one. One or more, these are the truths we must teach the children, because these will come straight out of our hearts with the enthusiasm of conviction which rarely fails to carry its own idea into the spiritual life of another. ... Let the parent who only knows one thing from above teach his child that one; more will come to him by the time the child is ready for more.

I guess with these hints (both authors give a few more specifics within the chapters I have linked to), it is easy to see why parents have such a key role.

Charlotte Mason said:

I once peeped in at an open cottage door in a moorland village, and saw a little child in its nightgown kneeling in its mother's lap and saying its evening prayer. The spot has ever since remained to me a sort of shrine. Charlotte Mason, First Approaches to God

Paddy's Birthday

Today my youngest child Paddy is eleven!   When I took these pictures yesterday, he was completely and totally oblivious to me until the last one (then he gave me permission to photograph his Last Day of Being Ten, so these aren't stealth attack photos).   The book is Percy Wynn.

“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.” 

C.S. Lewis

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” 

Charles William Eliot

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” ― 

Stephen King, On Writing

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.”

 ― Fran Lebowitz

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

More quotes about reading at Goodreads.     Fun!

THE TRAGEDY OF ANTARCTICA

Originally posted on my old blog, Our Hearts Haven in 2011........

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Inspired by Shakespeare, my wee fella, aged 9, and his "best friend", Clairemarie, newly 10.......are planning to "write" a book of tragedies.  Each tragedy is to be one page only.  Below you will find their first story.  They spent the most of two days WRITING this story instead of PLAYING.  Clairemarie did the typing and Malachy did much of the leading of the story, so I have heard.  I also was told that they had disagreements over the number of "shots" heard.......and that they finally compromised.  I want to get it out here, as is, because they are noticing "errors" and are wanting to fix them.  I love it the way it is and I always want to remember it this way.

When you read this, I want you to read it as written, following where the punctuation, or lack of, leads.  :)   It is quote enjoyable that way!


In addition.....do notice the amazing plotline, the vocabulary, the sweet love of family.  I am really proud of these two little homeschooled kids, taking such an initiative at such a young age.  Please understand the violence is related to hearing stories of adventure, like Treasure Island, or what have you.  They imitate what they hear.

The next story will follow soon, written entirely by my little man.  In the meantime, I give you the first time in publication (without the authors' awareness)........

 

THE TRAGEDY OF ANTARCTICA

 

BY

MALACHY BRYAN & CLAIREMARIE GAZAVE


There once was a wealthy family who was blessed with three children. The first was Matthew the second was Kay and the third was Helena. The first was twelve the second eleven and the third was nine. One day the three children went on there daily horse ride by themselves as they always did. On there way home they heard gun shots then they heard screaming and voices crying out help!!! they rode back to the house to see if everything was alright but all they found was dead bodies and the ruins of there house then suddenly they felt a tight grasp on there necks some strange people had knocked them out . Next thing they new they were in a sell with two people staring at them one said I will get these three! the children did not know what he meant next they were taken to the strange peoples house they were richer then the three children used to be next they were locked up in a room with twenty other slaves then one of the people who bought them came in and said get to work! the children saw there chance and raised out of the room with five other slaves but just then the children heard gun shots they saw a slave fall to the ground but they did not stop running they could hear the gun shots getting louder and louder but they would not dare to look back finally they were out of the house then they spotted a little boat nearby they quickly jumped in just then they heard gun shots and one of the slaves dropped dead then they heard more gun shots and one of the slaves fell into the water dead .it was getting darker and darker as they floated out to sea it was almost midnight when one of them spotted a ship nearby finally they were right next to the ship when they heard a voice calling out do you children need help? Matthew answered yes we are completely lost can you tell us were the nearest island is? the man said why don’t you come aboard and I will tell you so the three children with the two slaves came out of the little boat and on to the ship then the man told them were the nearest island was he said that the ship was headed there too just then they heard lightning then thunder then the waves started to get taller and taller and then the man who was also the captain yelled there’s a storm then another person yelled look out captain a wave the captain was to late to dodge he was swept off his feet by a wave as the rest of the crew and the two slaves, the three children jumped off the ship before the wave hit they swam to a little ice burg the ice burg was only five by four feet ,they decided that they would have to live there since there was no way to get out of the strange place . one morning Matthew and Helena woke up to find there brothers dead body next to them Helena started to cry Matthew said we will have to find a way to live without Kay the next day Helena and Matthew went fishing sadly without Kay as Matthew was fishing he heard a scream it was Helena she had fallen into the water Matthew was to late to save her Helena had drown he had lost his two siblings which were the most important things to him. The next morning when Matthew was fishing the ice burg started to crack Matthew saw Kay who was frozen stuck to the ice burg sink down into the sea Matthew started to sink as well his last words were at least I will be with my brother and sister and that ends the TRAGEDY OF ANTARCTICA.

Autumnal Blessings,

                           Chari

PS.  There are other stories, written in that next year.........I really do want to publish them here.....

 

Aidan's Turn

Now for Aidan!   I wrote about Paddy yesterday.    Go here for Aidan's story.

Bad photo I tried to salvage.  

 .

My 2013 plans for Aidan are here.  They haven't changed too much, except that there are a few things we put aside for a time, and I added Memoria Press readers and number books.   I thought he would prefer a reader that he could write in, and indeed it has worked out well.   After we finish the MP readers I think I will copy out bits of whatever readers we use next so that he can write.     The interaction makes all the difference in the world.   Funny that I spent so much time cutting down on writing-work with my older set and with Aidan I'm looking for ways to maximize it.

School with Aidan is very simple.    He has a box of workbooks of various sorts.   The main two are the Memoria Press ones, and then there are a lot of Kumon workbooks, ranging from mazes to cutting-out to folding to dot-to-dot, as well as some math and phonics topics.   He loves to color so it's good that MP has coloring pages dotted throughout the books.

Aidan is actually well past kindergarten level in his cognition, but my thought when planning out his school was that he learns best from writing, which I already mentioned, and he likes things he can do on his own, and also, I want to see where he is in his academics and what he is missing.  Sometimes I'm astonished by what he does know and other times I am surprised but what he doesn't know.    He finds these books comfortable to do and I have noticed progress in understanding and confidence.

The rest of the day he does all kinds of things like work on chores around the house (usually volunteered), work on his Mario Kart scrapbook, draw cars, look through books, make up jokes .... he is a great guy who rarely shows reluctance to try anything.

I let Aidan write in crayon.   I think the stronger input he gets from the colors and boldness of the crayon makes up for .... well, using crayon.   It also forces him to use a good tripod grip.   This was something his OT taught me.   I will phase to pencil eventually.  

  Just this year he has made great improvement in neatness of writing, but he goes in cycles.  Some days he goes all over the page, so this is another reason why I think the easy level of the work is good for him.    

Memoria Press has a Kindergarten enrichment program and a Literature program that looks pretty nice.  Many of the books I already have.   I haven't yet gotten organized enough to try reading some of these to Aidan.   It's difficult with him because though his cognitive level may be younger, he is in many ways a young teenager.   He wants to do adult things as much as possible.   He craves work to do around the house.  Whatever we are doing.    But he is very concrete, so he doesn't particularly enjoy sitting listening to a fairy tale or something like that.

What I've been doing recently is to use Memoria Press's Core Recitation for Kindergarten and expanding on some of the ideas using Enchanted Learning and pictures and the like.    For example, Memoria has the Kindergarteners memorize the planets of the solar system, which Aidan has always been interested in.   So I can get printables at Enchanted Learning (I have a membership) and then he can color and write about the solar system..    I think this approach will allow me to use a modified Memoria Press with him at least for a while -- I don't know for how long, but Aidan will be with us for the foreseeable future, and there is no reason why he has to graduate when he is 18.   I find it hard to imagine that milestone, yet it is only 4 years away!   

"Anything Works If The Teacher Works"

Here is the original title for this post:  Advice for History 2013-14......or Just About Anything.....

Edelfelt, Albert - Boys Playing at the Beach

 

 .....because I am looking for advice on how to proceed with history this year.....for my 6th grader, an 11 year old boy.....

.....but after Willa's post, I changed it.......because once I started writing this post.....I realized the title did not actually represent the content anymore.

And, I am well aware that the quote in the post title refers to "the student will learn anything if the teacher will 'work' to bring to the student or bring the student to the learning opportunities"........I cannot help but think of it as a pun. 

A PUN  because THIS teacher IS working.  Working a full-time job.  Which interferes with my ability to homeschool.....with my ability to bring to my student his learning.....with my enjoyment or even my ability to care that I must educate this little man. I seriously forget that we homeschool.  Yeah, really.

So, the details.....

Work perspective:

Some of you may have figured out that I am currently working a full-time job.  An RN, I work five twelve hour shifts out of every 14 days in a stressful rural Obstetrics department.  Most my shifts are not less than 13 hours.  Sometimes more.  I am usually wiped out the next day.....especially if there are two shifts in a row (headache, mild nausea and serious concentration issues...and a very strong desire to be left alone.......because everything and everyone is over-stimulating).  And then...there is the rest of life to attend to on the days off......So, not many days out of 14, but that makes me feel ill a possible 5 out of 14 which means that for about 10 out of 14 days, I am not available to my student.

Homeschooling perspective:

Some of you may have noticed that I have begun calling my current homeschooling philosophy:  NON-schooling.  Most of my days' off I actually forget that I am supposed to be homeschooling my little man. Poor guy got some schooling done last year....but barely.

I spent some time this time last year trying to figure out how best to educate him in this situation.  I looked at each subject........made some great notes in a post that I never finished or published (but did a few days ago.......) .....and tried to think outside of the box to figure out how best to make it all work, even if I was not there.

I typically have a loose plan.....literature-based......unschooling by default.  :)

The successes:

Language Arts:  He attends his sister's writing workshop which covers so much non-reading LA, that he is waaaaaay covered.  He is natural writer and story-teller......he loves this class and does not mind the work.  I am so blessed.

Science:  I contracted with a friend to take him once a week for a day.  They did chemistry lessons and experiments.  The rest of the day was a "play day", but you know in a homeschooling household, that often just means unschooling.  ;)

Signing him up for Lego Robotics this year.

Piano:  He takes piano lessons.  Speaks for itself.

Physical education:  He does well on all of his sports teams and only has a small amount of time off in between.


That's it.  Almost everything else was a failure.  You can read about the details in post linked above. There may be some redundancy in this post.......sorry about that.  Just trying to have complete thoughts.  Well, as best as I can.  ;)


Part-way through last year, I was reevaluating.....well, that happens at least weekly.........and even though he was capable of doing the Math-U-See on his own, he was moving waaaaaay toooooo slow, especially for the little math-brain that he is.  I was encouraged to try Teaching Textbooks......but I did not want him in front of a screen more than he already was......nor was I willing to invest in a new program considering he was the only one left at home.  I finally gave in......and my friend found him a copy of the one he needed.  It worked well those last few months.  So, that was a partial-success.

Another partial-success was that I realized I could give him his American history through Great Courses Lectures.  I then just wrote little quizzes for him from the info in the booklet........just one a month, to turn in as a learning sample to our charter school.  I would have liked to have had more discussion with him.....but he has a good memory, so I am sure he got something out of them. So, that could be an option.......

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So, I am praying that I can spend more time being INTENTIONAL with my boy. I am praying that it is easier this year than last because I have graduated my senior AND I am sending her away. ;)

AND.....I am hoping that my sophomore in the Independent Study Program at the local high school ---so he can play sports---will be more independent with his schooling. He was quite independent by the end of the year last year........I told him he has to be.....so I can concentrate my efforts on his little brother......

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Boy Reading
Thomas Pollock Anshutz (1851 – 1912)

 

 

I really hate that I have to expect my 11 year old to homeschool himself.  It is not very fair, to him.  But, it is our reality.  And I guess I could console myself that lots of homeschoolers do this every day when they use certain programs for their kids......with parental guidance, of course. 


I have a few.......

Obstacles:

Or, maybe issues.....or major considerations.....

• My little man is not yet a fast reader.

• My homeschooling has always been literature-based. I am an unschooler by default, but we do provide some plans.....and take up rabbit trails whenever needed or desired.

I cannot assign him lots of reading; I am not around to do most of the read-alouds.  I need to work around these two things. And still be satisfied.  Is that possible????

I don't want to give up my literature-based education.

• I work and it wears my body and brain out. Too tired to read aloud, or even cuddle, much less teach. 

• I have a lot of Mondays off........he does not.  He has two classes and always sports every Monday.  (Since I originally wrote this....one of his classes has been changed to Thursday morning so I will probably change his piano to another day as well.....he may have free Monday mornings and early afternoons for the first time in his life  :) .....and me, too!  Strange concept!)

I need to take these into consideration when I make my plans.


Other items of consideration:

He loves art and is good at it.

He loves playing on the computer.  I do not like him even looking at it.  ;)

I need to give him a checklist that works.

I want him to read/hear good literature.

I probably will not buy anything new......I need to use the resources I have available to me already, or borrowed, or free.

We have already listened to two or three of The Story of the World sets on CD.

(I just started peeking around Simply Charlotte Mason for something.....I might find simple inspiration there.....)

+ = + = + = + 

"Mrs. Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren" -1888
by Mary Cassatt



Bottom-line:  Does anyone have any recommendations:

• of what time period to study for history
• of what resources to use, specific ideas welcome
• for any other ideas about our year, for any subjects or......

I welcome any thoughts that you might have after reading through this........


Summer Blessings & Prayers for YOUR school planning,


                                                                                        Chari         

Planning for my 2012 5th Grader: Theme...Must.Read.Aloud

Nope.  That is NOT a typo........I mean for it to say 2012 in that title...because I wrote it last summer.........but I might as well adapt it for 2013-14.........since most of it was a bust. :/


The post below was originally written in late August 2012.  I was planning my youngest's school year 2012-13......and these were the plans which arose.......

I never did post these.  I still had more fine tuning to do.......and then I just never got back to do that.  But, I did get all of the resources into their respective baskets.....so we trodded (did you know that is not really a word????  trotted, then) ahead.  I am posting these here today.......because I have another blog post to publish......and it will make more sense and be more useful if these plans go public. (....though after fine-tuning this post and adding the purple italics may cause me to change the focus of the other post......)

In parenthesis, and in this color, are the up-to-date comments about how the year went in each subject.....and how I expect to utilize them for this upcoming school year.

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     I love my little man.  He is only ten now (eleven now) .....but I know my time with him is going to go fast.  According to my predictions, I only have eight more years left to homeschool him......which sadly translates to only eight years of homeschooling for my home-education career.  Unless, he decides he only needs three years of high school........in which case that number gets reduced to a brief seven years. As I recently posted on Facebook:  Hear that sound?  It is the sound of my heart breaking.  So sad that there is an actual end in sight........(....and if he follows in his older brother's footsteps and attends the Independent Study Program at the local high school to play sports......I only have three years left.  Hopefully, he will stay home for his schooling......)

     But, it is not yet here.  And I need to make the next 7-8 years good for him.  Last year really did feel like a bust.  Oh, we got some math done.....but not as much as he was capable of.  We learned a lot about WWI and WWII.......but not as far as we should have got.  We never reached the Korean or Vietnam Wars.  The art study was brief.  He finally read his first chapter book.....but the fluency still has not clicked.  And, there were not enough read-alouds.  Thanks to his sister adding him to an IEW writing workshop she was leading, we found that he is a prolific and capable writer, in spite of his slow fluency in the reading department.  He probably has a gift of putting pen to paper.  I suppose if I add in to this list his sports accomplishments last year (we call that education, of course)....he improved and excelled in basketball, learned excellent team leadership skills with soccer, and had an amazing year pitching in his baseball league and the All-Stars.



     As I go through the school resources left out and about on the shelves on the boys' rooms for last year's Great School Plan, I will use this space to write my thoughts related to planning for this boy for this new school year. That starts, like, next week, right?  Supposedly.  ;)

     I am also trying to keep in mind that one of the reasons last year was a bit of a bust was because I was working more hours in order to make up for the decrease in income after my husband was laid off.  Since I will definitely be working at least the same amount of hours this year, I must find a way to plan for him to work independently on the days when I cannot be there or when I feel ill.

Keep in mind that most of this is done in a Charlotte Mason style.......or in a strewing kind of unschooly way.......whatever that means.  :)  This is just a guide.  It gives me a place to start.....but most rabbit trails are followed.  The resources are rich enough to give him a well-rounded year.....even if we only do about half of it.  Of course, all of it is literature-based.  Because that is my style. :)



Religion:

A major goal is to give him the resources to complete his First Holy Communion Notebook or scrapbook.  I made a comprehensive plan for him, but never followed through and now his FHC is many years past.  But........he loves scrapbooking, and now that he is older, he will be more independent doing it. So that part will make it easier for me to leave him to his own devices........

I plan to give him the lessons I had planned to go with it......with lots of picture books.  He will grow closer to his faith and create memories and connections while doing a hands-on project......something he thrives on.  I am excited about this.  It will also include using the New Catholic Picture Bible as well.  Nice thing about this project?  It is already gathered in one box with all of the supplies......and the lesson plans.  Please pray this finally works out. (Pleeeeease pray!) He will be too old for it, eventually. 

I might have him read through the appropriate book of Living My Religion series........but we should have enough if the above works out.

(August 2, 2013 comment:  BUST. 

For this next year, I will try yet again.  I looked at the Living My Religion series and picked out Book 6 for him.  He will need to be preparing for his Confirmation and it looks like a good fit for that. I will also use the booklet Preparation for Confirmation According to the Baltimore Catechism because it is what our priest would like him to have memorized for the sacrament. I think that putting the Notebook together will help him to spiritually prepare for confirmation.  I may have to call it a Confirmation Notebook now. :) )


History:

     When I viewed my stack of wonderful picture books on the Revolutionary War time period, I realized that I had never read them to Malachy. In looking back at his homeschooling, I came to see that this kid has had two seasons of ancient history and two seasons of medieval history and two seasons of WWI & WWII.  Yikes.  That is what happens when we follow the high schoolers in their history.

     So, I am going to start with the French and Indian War....and go to the Revolutionary War.....along with anything in between and around.......and that will probably be all we get to.....if we have the same experience my other kids did......loving this time period so much and enjoying all of the rich resources that we could never stop.  :) Know anyone else who has spent a year on the French and Indian War?  Three years on the Revolutionary War period??  Yeah, we really did.  Those are some of my kids favorite years of homeschooling.

I am still trying to decide if there is going to be a spine.....maybe a Genevieve Foster book....or perhaps Father Furlong's sweet little text.

     For the French and Indian War, I am definitely going to use Albert Marrin's book, Struggle for a Continent:  The French and Indian Wars.  This was the first book of his that we had ever read.  And we loved it.  All of us have read several other of his history books.....and we are never disappointed.  He takes his historical research and turns them into great stories, pleasing both this mom and her kids.

     I will also have him listen to the audio version of Madeleine Takes Command, another family favorite read aloud.

     In addition to me reading most of his history aloud to him, I will have him read simple biographies of Americans of those time.......starting with Dan Morgan: Boy of the Wilderness, I think........and also see what American Saints of that time I can throw in as well.  I am thinking Father Marquette, Father Jogues, St. Kateri......

I have a nice "My State Book"......I could have him work on that independently with some books on California so he can have some easy practice doing research.  Not sure yet about this......might be too much.

(August 2, 2013 comment:  BUST........I tried the Foster Book...but it sort of made me crazy....too little info and too many pieces of little info.  We only read about 25 pages of Marrin book. History is a hard subject for a full-time working mama who wants it literature-based for someone who cannot read a lot on his own.  This issue is the inspiration for that other post I am working on.  I need some ideas and help.......

Oh!  Another partial-success was that I realized I could give him his American history through Great Courses Lectures.  I then just wrote little quizzes for him from the info in the booklet.  I would have liked to have had more discussion with him.....but he has a good memory, so I am sure he got something out of them. So, that could be an option for this school year.......


As for this next year, I am not sure what to do.  I could just continue down the path I set above.......And now I think he is old enough to do the My State Book research on his own......I was tempted by my excellent library on Lewis and Clark history.....maybe I should just pick out a few BIG historical things that occurred and give a big focus on those, rather than an huge overview?  I hope to get his Book of Centuries updated and ready for him to use independently.)

Geography:

He loves this kind of stuff......so I should try to find something that he can do that is somewhat independent.  I will probably do something similar to what Simply Charlotte Mason recommends....  We did it a bit this last year (oh!  another pro for last year!) and it went well when we did it.  I will begin with Canada and the United States so it goes with his history.

I will read this book to him:  Maps:  Getting From Here to There by Harvey Weiss.

We had started the Holling C. Holling geography unit a couple of years ago, starting with Paddle-to-the-sea.....the Beautiful Feet Unit.  I might delve into that, too.......I have some of their beautiful maps to use.

(August 2, 2013 comment:  mostly BUST........we did do the Simply CM geography drill for a few weeks....and I utilized another workbook as well, that was mildly successful. 

 For this year, I should just plan to do the same.........)

Maths:

He will move forward to finish up all of the Math-U-See books he has left:  A few lessons of Delta, and then Epsilon and Zeta.  We might not finish all of them.....but it will be our aim. I think he might get to meet with my older kids' math tutor once in a while for some inspiration.  He likes her. 
I hope it will keep him on track more this year.

Since he will finish with the MUS books before he will probably be ready for Jacob's Algebra, after talking with my math tutor friend, I have decided to just have him work through the MUS pre-algebra book...to keep him in practice.....but that is for next year...and I am concentrating on this year......

I found a copy of G is for Googol:  A Math Alphabet Book by David M. Schwartz.....so I will read through that slowly.....over a few weeks or months.

And any other math literature that comes along....like our favorites such as Sir Cumference and the Knights of the Round Table......and the others in that series.

(August 2, 2013 comment:  BUST.......he could, but wasn't motivated to move fast without some prodding.  I finally gave in to try Teaching Textbooks 6........that worked well for about 6 weeks in the spring till we went out of town....and he has not touched it since. I never did read anything math lit. 

For this year, I will resume with the Teaching Textbooks 6.....since he is so independent with it.....and he likes it well enough.  Our Educational Facilitator with our charter school was thinking of having a Math Workshop with some kids his age, working with "real life" math.  She is a Math Major.  I sure hope she follows through with that idea.  I just sent her a text.....to remind and  encourage her.)

Science:

     I am a little unsure about what I want to do.......

    I took a look at some of those Creation Science books by Apologia.....but they did not feel right for right now.  Maybe next year......

     I think I am too tired and busy to create unit studies........like in the old days.....

     So....at this moment, I think I will take a look at doing the Beautiful Feet's A History of Science.  Not sure I will have enough time to do all of the read aloud required......but I might give it a try.

     Nature study is simply a given in this family.  Hopefully the smoke that has choked up all of the month of August will finally pass away so we can get back to the  out of doors.  We have been housebound for entirely too long.

      I hope to set him up with a nature sketchbook.......he loves to draw......and perhaps when I am unable to be with him, he can reproduce those drawings for me.

Take a look at.......
Zingy Science
Khan Academy

(August 2, 2013 comment:  BUST........mostly.  Finally in the spring, I began reading the Beautiful Feet books to him.....which he enjoyed.  And here it is, August 2013 now.....and it is smoky yet  again. It has been so long since we have had a summer without smoke......that I cannot even remember when that last summer was......maybe 2007?  While I never inspired him to use a Nature Notebook or draw from nature, he certainly got lots of quality time in nature.  That is one area I can usually keep alive around here. ;)

The other way that I was able to salvage some science was to have him go one day a week to my friend's home to do organized chemistry with her daughter.  That was definitely NOT a bust!

I looked at the Khan Academy......and I cannot figure out how I am supposed to utilize it.  Anyone have any advice???

For this year, my friend has agreed to take him again this year.  I think I will continue with the Beautiful Feet science as best I can.......and keep on hanging out in Nature, of course.  And I have like 20 science experiment kits that someone ought to be using..... :/ )

Language Arts:

Reading: 

This kid will be such a lover of literature.....if I can just get him fluent.  He had all of those early reading signs at age four.......and yet still has not fallen in love with reading at age ten (eleven).  It makes no sense.  So, this year, I want to read to him like crazy.....and keep him reading something......till he takes off.  He will, right????

I might make a shelf for him of easy chapter books.

Encyclopedia Brown.....have him read these aloud to me.......till he just wants to dive in on his own.

I need to try to remember to offer him some of the sports stories written by Matt Christopher.  I had a few already....and just picked up three more for free at the library.

(August 2, 2013 comment:  mostly BUST.....he is still not picking up books on his own.......but his fluency has improved, thanks be to God!  I did read aloud to him......just not enough.  We never tried the Encyclopedia brown books......I still might. I did get him to read a few Gary Paulsen books....but I really want him to get lost in books....sheesh.  Oh!  I was able to get a Kindle for him to use.......just to see if that would help.  Not much.

For this year, just keep on reading.....I will have him read aloud to me as I can remember.......and to keep him reading something, always.)

Literature:

     I am going to start the year with Amazons and Swallows by Arthur Ransome.....one of those great classics I missed as a child.  My oldest did not care for it....but two of  my others loved them. Thanks to the generosity of a friend (Hi, there, Helen!), I have the entire series.  I am hoping that we do fall in love with them.......that series should keep us busy the whole year.  This will be only the second time I have read a book just with him as an audience.  I realized this summer that I have to do that now.......I do not have all of the kids available at the same time for our family reads anymore......maybe because they went and grew up on me???  :(

      I will have one family read aloud.....with the three youngest kids (10, 15, 17).  We started The Hobbit this summer.  My two youngest have never heard it read aloud nor have they read it. I want them to have the family-read-aloud memory of  Tolkien's books. And the oldest of the youngest, the 17 year old, says she wants to sit in as well.  We all want to be ready for the movie that is coming out in December......and now I see it will be three whole movies!  How cool is that!?  They cannot leave much out with three movies!

     I will continue to expose him to Shakespeare through the two books: 

            

(August 2, 2013 comment:  This was not a total BUST........we are over halfway through both books, a year later.......sigh.  As for the movie........I am quite angry with them for messing so much of it up. Grrrrrr.  We ended up with an amazing and unexpected World-Class Shakespeare experience last spring.  There will hopefully be more plays for us to see through the end of October.

For this year, the two books mentioned will be our read-alouds. And we will squeeze some Shakespeare stories in there.  We must!)

Writing: 

     This is pretty easy to plan.  IEW, or Institute for Excellence in Writing, is our preferred method of teaching writing.......the one homeschool program I have tweaked the least for our use.  The best part:  my oldest daughter is a very fine writing teacher and will continue to teach Malachy in one of her writing workshops.  I am so blessed. Bonus:  she teaches lots of poetry and grammar and lots of other LA stuff, as well.

(August 2, 2013 comment:  NOT a BUST at all.  Anne was wonderful and Malachy progressed so very well.  I just went through his writings from last year......a very prolific little writer.  And he thrived on the poetry she shared.

For this year, we will continue with the same plan.  My daughter will be able to continue teaching at least one more year......while she works on her graduate degree and teaching certification. More poetry and continue to work through the Continuation Program B.  Did I mention that I was blessed???? So is Malachy.  :) )

Picture Books:  Willa and I are creating a challenge for this......

(August 2, 2013 comment:  BUST?  We were consistent for a few months........we meant to be stay consistent.  Maybe we need a sign on our bathroom mirrors to remind us? :)

For this year.......Willa and I will have to discuss this possibility.)

Latin:

Phooey!  I had forgotten that I was going to start him in the Latina Primera? this year......but Vicki over at Creating With Wisdom reminded me.....

(August 2, 2013 comment:  partial BUST.  We did get through five lessons.  It was easy for him.

For this year, we should review and get going.  I can give him lessons and he can use the workbook the rest of the week.)


Art:

      Malachy has natural artistic talent.  I always try to keep him exposed to all art stuffs, just in case he makes it a permanent part of his life in some way. Not sure where it will go...but I want him to have a chance to practice all of the skills.......he is generally good at drawing, creating, crafts, painting........etc.

     Having been a lover of art from way back when I was young, I have collected many resources for all-things-art-related.  I just need to decide what to use for him...and then follow through.  For once.

His artsy sister has recently returned home from her year away in Austria....so while she is studying art at the local Junior College, I am hoping there will be some trickle-down teaching from her, to him.

I have an old set of six videos from Calvert School, Discovering Art. I will probably use this until they are done.  I like that they model skills and share art history as well in an ongoing story.....even if they are a bit goofy and over-acted.  The information is sound.

I also have a book I want to read through with him called:  How to Be an Artist:  the Fun of Drawing.......it is just a quick self-published book that I came across.  I like how it seems to give the perspective of what an artist sees when he or she looks at things.

I will provide a blank sketch diary and just assign him to use it on those days when I am not home...in any way he wants.  Some of my kids would be intimidated or put off by this....but not Malachy.  Or his artsy sister.  :)

I just came across my copy of Storybook Art:  Hands-on Art For Children in the Styles of 100 Great Picture Book Illustrators by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Jean Potter.  I may combine this with our Picture Book Challenge. 


Hailstones and Halibut Bones for sure.  Ah.  turns out I will not have to do this one myself.....my oldest daughter Anne, who is teaching his IEW Writing Workshop, wants to do this for his class......off the hook!  This is good...but I am a bit sad........I was looking forward to sharing it with him.  This book needs its own post.  Perhaps I can wait till Anne teaches with it and create the post then.  I love this book and I want all to enjoy it as well.  Excellent poetry and art possibilities!


 (August 2, 2013 comment:  BUST.  Yep. Like all of it.  I did create a Pinterest board for online art lessons and loaded it with watercolor lessons so that he and I could work together.  We got as far as watching a lesson late one night....inspired. Of course he did do art on his own.  Oh!  We did get to take him to an awesome Art Walk in the town south on his 11th birthday.  Very cool.  Loads of fun.

For this year, I would like try to accomplish the above, plus watercolor lessons together, local Art Walks when we can make it......at least one in Ashland, Oregon......and some artist studies.  I have TONS of art and art history resources.  I really need to tap into those for this kid.  My four older kids got lots of artist study.......I want him to get the chance. )


Cooking:

     He has a great interest in food preparation.  Thinks he might want to be a chef someday.......so, I think I will encourage him to choose one recipe a week to try.  I wonder if he will do mostly desserts.  He is quite partial to making pies.  :)

(August 2, 2013 comment:  This was only NOT a BUST.....because he loves to cook.  He made at least five or more different kinds of pies........and some of them up to five different times. Of course, I never did tell him to try something once a week......maybe I will this year.

Once a week may be too much between all his sports, etc.......and I want him to find cooking relaxing and enjoyable.......so I will aim for 1-4 times a month, at his preference.  I think he cooks more in the fall and winter anyway.......)

><><><><><><

      Not sure what subjects will get covered, but I have made arrangements that once a week he will go to my friend's home to "do school" with her daughter who is about 18 months younger.  They are good playmates and she could use a peer for some schooly stuff, like doing science labs.

((August 2, 2013 comment:  NOT a BUST.  But only because I was not responsible for it.  Sigh.  Like I said above, under science, they did chemistry lessons and experiments.

For this year, we will repeat this......)


Using this platform, of blogging, as I sit here and plan, has been so helpful in exciting me about the new school year.  Finally some positive school spirit.  :)

(August 2, 2013 comment:  TOTAL BUST......I was only excited for a moment.  But rereading this post and reevaluating the ideas...is almost inspiring.  And it is only the fourth day in August!!! Yay, me!)


I have told my boy that based on our current crazy and hectic schedule, that he will need to be flexible enough to do schooly stuff whenever I call him to it:  day or not, weekday or weeknight.

(Definitely will need to do that again.....but better this year.)

WOW.  This is quite a project.  Hope I can get at least half of it done!  So, I am now off to get started!

(August 2, 2013 comment:  BUST.  Yep.  TOTAL.  I doubt we even got 25% of it done.)

<>++++++++++++++<><><>+++++++++++++<>

And so, all of that above, not in purple italics, was written about this time last year.  I guess I will probably just keep the same general plan because it was a pretty good one in the first place.  ;)  Definitely ambitious.

I am wondering if it will help if I put his subjects in their own bins instead just one for all subjects......to help me not feel so overwhelmed.

Wow, I am actually going to post my plans for the school year.......before it even starts.  Haha.....only because I had written my plans last year, but never posted.


Smoky Summer Blessings,

                                           Chari

Edited to Add, on August 23rd, 2013:  Really?  I forgot Music!  We have weekly piano lessons with a Classically-trained teacher........he is our sixth homeschool student to take lessons.......and she thinks he may well be our most musical.  It is his 5th or 6th year.....I can't remember. We also need composer studies......

Keyboarding.  He needs it.  Especially with all of the writing he does for his writing workshop.

Paddy -- Mostly Memoria Press for Year 5

You may notice a theme here with Paddy's curriculum choices.

• Simple -- check
• Structured -- check
• Memoria Press -- mostly check

I haven't bought curriculum for several years before this year, and Memoria Press has really grown since the day when I acquired my comb-bound first edition of Latina Christiana I, like, around the time Paddy was born?     They have all kinds of things now, as you all probably know.  

I was looking for resources that were simple to use, nice in layout, and formative (covering the fundamentals thoroughly and with a mastery rather than grade-level type orientation).    MP turned into pretty much my One-Stop Shopping Center for 5th grade for this year, with a few exceptions.  

Christian Studies I 
 
Quite a substantive look into Bible History, with maps and memory verses and more. 

Famous Men of the Middle Ages

We started Famous Men of the Middle Ages last year and are halfway through, so I am trying to finish during this summer so we can start US History some time in the fall.

New American Cursive

This program is designed for first graders, but I wanted to start from the beginning.   All my kids are late writers.

Greek Myths

Paddy has loved D'Aulaire for years now (our first copy of the book fell to pieces) but the guide will let us go through it more slowly and thoroughly. 

Farmer Boy

Memoria Press recommends various books per grade and Farmer Boy is recommended for third grade, but I am not too concerned about that.   Paddy is all over the map with books, which is totally appropriate for a 5th grader.    I think this is a good year to share this story, which I listened to Cindy Rollins discuss in a podcast recently. 

I got the study guide so we could use it for discussions. 

English Grammar Recitation and Composition

This Recitation book is sort of a catechism of English grammar.  I like it because of the simplicity of the Question/Answer format.    I find that my kids easily grasp "how to's" of grammar exercises but then don't retain the concepts, so this resource lets me focus on what is the most important part -- remembering the definitions and so on.  Once those are locked it, it's very simple to practice the concepts on any sample sentence (the resource does include some simple exercises, which we do orally). 

Writing with Ease Workbook 3

Paddy needs to get where he is writing more fluently, so I decided to get this Peace Hill Press resource.  It's geared towards 3rd graders, but the story excerpts are good, and I don't want to move ahead too fast since he is not a fluent writer yet. 

First Form Latin.  

I like this Latin program and it reminds me of the way I started Latin in junior high myself (whereas I did not particularly care for Latina Christiana and mostly used it just to memorize vocabulary and paradigms with my kids).   At first sight it looked too steep for my 10 year old.  However, I think we'll be able to do it, though we may not go as fast as an older student might. 

Math:

I am using two resources for Math for Paddy.

One is Ray's New Practical Arithmetic (free download at Google Books)  I have this teacher's manual by Ruth Beechick,  It has tests and some suggestions on how to use the Ray's series. 

Then we have the Life of Fred Elementary Series. 

LOVE these.    Last year, we read Life of Fred:  Fractions and Decimals.   During the summer, we went all the way back to Life of Fred:  Apples and are now on Farming.      It was well worth going back to the beginning (though expensive, I admit) because though the core math was easy, it introduced concepts like set theory that even the high schoolers around here don't necessarily know all there is to know about.

The rule is that Paddy can't read ahead on his own, but when we've finished reading a Life of Fred together, it's open season on the completed book.  So my math-hating boy has a stack of Fred books on his bedstand. 

Credo I Believe

This was one of my very first homeschool books.  We got the whole series when our church went to the Benziger workbook series instead of this Ignatius set.

I must admit I haven't found the perfect catechism book yet, but these ones are classy and non-twaddly.   But the main reason I decided to go with it this year was the excellent downloadable resources at the Ignatius site. 

Last but not least --
Classically Catholic Memory Alpha

and Timeline Cards.

I have a few supplemental resources that I may bring out as time provides, but right now, I feel like I will be fortunate even to get through the core ones.     You may notice that I don't have anything listed for geography or science.    That is because I want to see how the other things go first, and in a pinch, the Science and Geography categories in Classically Catholic Memory, along with a few library books, would suffice for fifth grade. 

An Ongoing Squirrel Study

 Paddy and I decided that the bulk of his science this year would be a study of various animals, with occasional excursions into physical science as topics came up.      He is at the age where he loves little living things.     While we read about all kinds of animals as interest dictates, he is absorbing ideas about habitat, classification, defenses, seasonal adaptations, and other basic principles of elementary biology.     This is how his siblings built up a foundation for college-level science which included not just organized information but also delight in observation and respect for living things and their way. 

Since we live in the National Forest in the California mountains, squirrels are a constant factor in our lives.   This winter, we were putting out squirrel food for our two Douglas foster-squirrels, because they were late babies, and since their mother was evidently no longer around, we were afraid that they would not have enough stored food available for the winter.

So we put out seeds all through the winter, and over time have attracted quite a crew of various squirrel species -- the large and reserved Grey Squirrel, the small sharp Douglas or chickaree, and recently, a ground squirrel, who fills his cheek pockets to an immense capacity, and then disappears for a few minutes and reappears again to repeat the process.   That squirrel owes us.  I picture his pantry stuffed with all kinds of good things. 

A ground squirrel imitating a vacuum cleaner

As we watch our feeder and its frequenters, we are also studying squirrels in casual bits and pieces.   We borrow all the picture books we can find on the topic from the library.  And I made a couple of notebook/mini-book pages which Paddy and I browse through every once in a while.

Resources:

• Squirrel Unit and Lapbook at Homeschool Share (that's where we got most of the pictures you see on the pages, and most of the mini-books).
• Various readings at Main Lesson (we read The Flying Squirrel, and Mr Red Squirrel Comes to the Forest from Among the Forest People)
• Various books from the library (I didn't keep a list unfortunately). 
• Quite a few of the illustrations and descriptions came from a PDF file which unfortunately I didn't save the link to, but it was similar to this Cornell leaflet (pdf).
• Jimmie Lanley's Squirrel Nature Study hub.  
•  I also printed out this article for Paddy's notebook -- Shadow Tails It has cute illustrations and appealing text, and Paddy learned a lot.  He even did a quiz narration where he asked me questions taken from the book. 
• Thornton Burgess and Beatrix Potter both have charming squirrel stories but Paddy has already read and reread these.  If you haven't, though, check out Adventure of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, and the squirrel section of Burgess's Animal Book, which introduces a bit of taxonomy.  

Our Notebook Pages:

Page 1:  

 Squirrel Classification, a narration Paddy dictated, "Terrific Tails" (from HomeschoolShare)

Page 1

Part of Paddy's narration (I used pictures from notebook pages at HomeschoolShare)

This is a narration Paddy dictated

Page 2:  Types of Squirrels

Descriptions and illustrations of various squirrel types, and a Venn diagram from HomeschoolShare that we haven't filled out yet. 

Page 2

Grey Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Flying Squirrel

Thought you might like seeing a glimpse of a fun part of our homeschooling, since all the posts recently have been on sort of heavy topics!

Links to more squirrel unit studies/lapbooks

• Chipmunk and Squirrel Nature Study at Hodgepodge
• Animal Mini-Study -- Squirrels at Eclectic Education 
• Squirrel Outdoor Project at Handbook of Nature Study

• There is a copybook sampler (pdf) from Classical Writing which contains some activity pages and copywork for Squirrel Nutkin. 

One of the flying squirrel juveniles that make themselves at home in our house almost every spring

A Vintage Resource: Mary's Grammar

It is February, and I still haven't pulled together Paddy's Plan for Grade 4 yet, but it doesn't seem to matter too much since we are buzzing along pretty well anyway.    Perhaps this is basically how I DO plan, simply collect a bunch of books during the summer and then grab a new one here and there when the old one runs out.

Anyway, I thought I would mention a resource I found that Paddy is enjoying very much, so much that he does one of those mythical homeschool-child things and says, "Can we do Grammar now?"

It is called: 

Mary's Grammar, interspersed with stories, and intended for the use of children, by Mrs Marcet.

Doesn't that sound promising already?  I found it when I was browsing through Google Books with the search term "pictorial grammar".

It starts with a little girl crying over her grammar lesson, and her mother helping her out by making the terminology easier and related to real life.    It covers all the parts of speech, in Part I on an overview level, and then a little deeper in part II.     We have just finished reading about Articles.

It is definitely old-fashioned in style, and I wasn't sure if Paddy would be interested in an 8 year old girl as a protagonist, but it doesn't seem to bother him, as he gets into the questions and conversation.  

While I am on the subject I wanted to mention that there are some free worksheets available for Grammar-Land. This is a resource used by some Charlotte Mason type homeschoolers, though Mary's Grammar seems to suit Paddy and me better right now.    We like to shut the book (rather, shut my ereader) and then follow up with our own oral lesson in the same style as the book. 

HT Jimmie at The Notebooking Fairy, and check out her post, Top Ten Books to Notebook

As for searching for "pictorial grammar"?   I found these two resources:

Steill's Pictorial Grammar for Children
The Pictorial Grammar by Alfred Crowquill

They both have those Cruikshank type illustrations, sort of Victorian- humorous.

 I also found this geography book, by a different author apparently, but meant to be a companion to Mary's Grammar.   

Mary's Geography
Questions on Mary's Geography

Finally, another "Mary" book by the author of Mary's Geography.

Mary's everyday book of useful and miscellaneous knowledge
Questions on Mary's everyday book

This book is basically about all the things that were around a 19th century child, explanations of where they are from, how they are made, etc.

'Felting is a property possessed by all soft and thick wool, and causes it,when thoroughly wet and tightly pressed, to stick firmly together. It is thus that hats are made: the wool being felted and pressed into a mould. Cloth, too, is first spun and woven, and then felted, the felting causing it to contract and become thick and strong. All cloths and flannels are woven of a pure white, and then dyed the required colour.

I doubt if we will read this one, because everyday things two centuries ago aren't the same as everyday things now, but it looks fun to browse through.