Sloyd: Warming the Intellect

No, not Slide nor Sled, even if it IS snowing at your house... apparently they got 4" in Portland!?!

Sloyd. 
Incorporating Paper Sloyd as schoolwork provides great warm-up exercises in strengthening intellectual habits all year round (I've tried it!!). Who would have thought? Paper folding! It can also be great fun and spur one on to make some cool stuff.  Read on and you'll see what I mean.

I learned about Sloyd through Charlotte Mason some time back, but never was sufficiently inspired to do more than schedule it until this summer while attending a workshop by my friend BobbyJo in Minnesota. At that time, I had recently been considering it again, though I can't remember why... maybe due to my friend Richele and its relation to Mathematics or maybe convos with yet another friend Tammy? Either way, for better or worse, I resolved to begin our adventures in Paper Folding the subsequent schoolyear (last fall).


Of course, we didn't start during the first term; that would have been So Very Drastic. :) This term however, we started at the very beginning (which is a very good place to start) in Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades. Even for the elder students who have no experience, Sloyd has it's benefits, though we must keep moving in order to keep attention and not insult pride or patience. We started with the basics as presented in this book. Working in order, we've finished the first nine projects over the last several weeks.

My littles have been especially SUPER excited about each project they can make as-is or adapt for gifts for their siblings and friends' special occasions! Two days after creating the envelope, we had a birthday! Not incidentally, that sister received more than one special note wrapped in a handmade envelope/wall hanger this year. :)


All of us have had to work into this new venue. I had to learn to be clear and careful in GIVING instructions. We have all had to work to maintain a friendly and relaxed atmosphere (struggle on, perfectionists!). The kids have had to make an effort not to get overwhelmed or frustrated while listening and concentrating in a group context with various skill levels represented. We have seen great progress in all of these after the first few projects! Yay!

Every project boasts a series of instructions to be followed including drawing lines, cutting, folding, etc. The comeliness of the final product is in direct correlation to how carefully each instruction is carried out. At every point, each step depends upon the previous step being done exactly. Students must pay attention and concentrate all the way through the verbal instructions. They must follow those same instructions thoroughly and accurately or their project will be wrong or turn out looking 'junky'. 


Here's the low down...

• A perfect product is not the immediate goal (though I would be concerned if they cared not at all, but that hasn't been a problem with mine). My main objective is that the students take care to listen, concentrate and follow instructions thoroughly and accurately. If desired, they may later redo a project that they feel turned out poorly because of lack of skill or as a result of some inadvertent mistake (see below).
• Instructions are succinct on purpose. The student has to audibly process the instructions in order to follow through. I repeat the instructions aloud twice (w/ demo for my year one student when there's any potential confusion). Ahead of time, I emphatically encourage them to *think* before asking a question. It's much easier to ask a question than to think. If they can't seem to figure it out, they may wait and watch how someone else interprets the information (though obviously, I'd rather they figure it out for themselves).
• Everyone must respect others' need for concentration and NOT talk during the process unless asking a necessary question. It's also easy to get frustrated and have an outburst upon making a mistake - great for practicing self-control. (I encourage them that this is a learning process, to look for a way to make up for their mistake, and continue if possible. See next point)
• Disallowing re-do's mid-project obliges the student to experience natural consequences (a less than stellar final result). I have given second chances once or twice in order for my littlest to not feel overwhelmedly discouraged. One difficulty is, allowing one student to 'start over' because they're not happy with their cut or have folded wrong, requires the rest of the group to wait while they catch up. Or, I have to keep track of where two different sets are in the instructions line-up. Asking them to carry on (sometimes it's easy to make amends for mistakes by adjusting the measurements of the initial project size by trimming off a mistake), finish the project and re-do it if desired AFTER they know all of the instructions, seems to have been an acceptable consequence in most cases. This might be explained ahead of time to ward off an emotional blow up mid-project.

Teacher Tips: 
Of vital importance for parents and educators → DO: Initiate & Direct, DO NOT: Control or Dominate.

Pre-work reminders...

• Make sure to have materials ready - mine are kept in a basket and collected at the end (scissors, rulers, hole punches, glue sticks, etc.).
• Have everyone clear their space of everything except scissors, ruler and a sharpened pencil.
• Remind everyone that this is a time for listening, concentrating and working quietly. "We want to be quiet so that others can do the same." 
• Remind them that you will be repeating each of the instructions several times. For that reason also, we will listen carefully and think before asking questions. We might wait and see if watching what our neighbor does will help us to understand."
• Remind everyone that this is practice. "It's okay if we make a mistake. We'll do our best and get better with practice. If we do make a mistake, we'll keep going if possible. If it's not possible to fix it, we'll keep listening and following along to all of the instructions until they are finished and we can start over."

We've been talking about this on the AO Forum, check that out here and here.

The optional topic for discussion during February for the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is: Some Unconsidered Aspects of Intellectual Training. This post is my contribution to that discussion. If you would like to participate, see this post for more information! All CM inspired posts are welcome.

Wanna Share?! 

If you do blog specifically about Paper Sloyd, please come back and link with us so we can see and learn from you!!

How examining exams can help teachers teach better

There may often be a direct correlation between exam success and the quality of the term's work. Exams ala Charlotte Mason can be a pretty good indicator of whether or not things are going well with books, methods, character, etc. Though maybe not in the way we'd be naturally inclined to think. We are primarily looking for what the student DOES know, not what they missed. Exam week should simply be an extension of term work, an opportunity for the student to remind herself (& you) of the things s/he has spent time caring to know about.

What we have perhaps failed to discover hitherto is the immense hunger for knowledge (curiosity) existing in everyone and the immeasurable power of attention with which everyone is endowed; that everyone likes knowledge best in a literary form; that the knowledge should be exceedingly various concerning many things on which the mind of man reflects; but that knowledge is acquired only by what we may call "the act of knowing," which is both encouraged and tested by narration, and which further requires the later test and record afforded by examinations."   v6, p291

Taking a closer look at how we feel about exams and reviewing the student's given answers, I suspect, we might uncover some clues as to how we as teachers could improve; in order to increase and inspire MORE opportunities for 'acts of knowing' in subsequent terms. If exams are stressful for our kids, maybe we're getting too much in the way, or pressuring them unduly. If their answers are lacking, maybe we're asking the wrong questions. Or maybe the books we're feeding them are leaving them dry as dust? Considering exams can also help us become aware of personal weak spots (ours and theirs).

In this post, I'm going to take a look at a couple areas that recent examinations have exposed in our homeschool. But first, let's look at some of the main perks, guidelines and ideals in term exams.

Boys and girls taught in this way take up ordinary school work, preparation for examinations, etc., with intelligence, zeal, and success. v3, p302

When the terminal examination is at hand so much ground has been covered that revision is out of the question; what the children have read they know, and write on any part of it with ease and fluency... v6, p7

At the end of the term an examination paper is sent out containing one or two questions on each book. v3, p273

They appear to enjoy doing this; indeed, the examinations which come at the end of each term are a pleasure; the only difficulty is that small children want to go on 'telling.' v3, p276

For it is a mistake to suppose that the greater the number of 'subjects' the greater the scholar's labour; the contrary is the case as the variety in itself affords refreshment, and the child who has written thirty or forty sheets during an examination week comes out unfagged. Not the number of subjects but the hours of work bring fatigue to the scholar; and bearing this in mind we have short hours and no evening preparation. v6, p158

It is not the best children that answer the examination questions; the general rule is that everybody takes every question. v6, p297

After the experience of over a quarter of a century in selecting the lesson books proper to children of all ages, we still make mistakes, and the next examination paper discovers the error! Children cannot answer questions set on the wrong book; and the difficulty of selection is increased by the fact that what they like in books is no more a guide than what they like in food. v6, p249

"The terminal examinations are of great importance. They are not merely and chiefly tests of knowledge but records which are likely to be permanent. There are things which every child must know, every child, for the days have gone by when 'the education befitting a gentleman' was our aim. v6, p291

So, now that we have those key things about exams in our minds, let's take as an example a few of the things that our recent exams have made me aware of in our homeschool.

Books (History, Geography, Literature, etc):
This is my kids' strong point. What they read, they know. And I love that. As long as the questions are open-ended, they can usually give me something awesome. (Over the years there have been a very few problem books, when they just don't 'care' and there was serious lack of 'book connect'. But thankfully, that wasn't the case this term. Besides, I'm usually aware of that before exam time anyway).
Teacher takeaway: I can't take credit for all our book choices. But I can take credit for choosing the way we do learning around here. I'm SO glad for Charlotte Mason's philosophy, especially her emphasis on living books, and for AO's attempt at modern day CM programmes! :)
Something we've learned from past years... one issue we have to be careful of in particular is, having two students in the same year, they share the same books. I have to be careful to give the kids their questions a solas or else give them different questions, otherwise they are bent towards comparing.

Artist study:
Not one of my kids knew the name of our artist this term. Um, that's right, nobody knew. And I am a little embarrassed about that. Poor Seurat. While everyone definitely had a favorite painting or two or three, and I did read about the artist and mention his name, somehow it completely slipped ALL of their minds.
Teacher takeaway:Frequently, but unobtrusively, incorporate artist's name, the name of painting and other interesting data into weekly picture studies.

Writing:
Several of my kids don't write their names/dates very well. Though, this is not the end of the world with an 8yo, it is practically unforgivable with a 14yo.
Teacher takeaway: After thinking, I've realized that I rarely ask for assignments where they write their names. I bet it won't take more than a week to fix this little slip.

Also, CM says this, "Children in Class III. write the whole of their examination work." (v3, p288) Yet, my y8 students did about half written and half oral answers. I suppose that's in part because we did exams this year over three days instead of an entire week, and oral work is quicker. But the other part, honest-to-goodness, is due to my extreme aversion to reading cryptic handwriting and diversified spelling (note the courteous phrasing). I can honestly hardly bear reading their written answers. This is my bad.
Teacher takeaway: This is completely lackadaisical on my part. I need to keep them writing and I need to diligently correct a portion of their weekly written work. Even if I hate it. Perhaps not tons, but a regular amount until we see marked improvement. I am failing them as a writing teacher if I don't.

Singing:
Anything musical seems to be the most happy part of all our schooling. Everyone everywhere around here likes to sing everything singable every term, be it folksongs, hymns, harmony... what have you, we like it. Fun, huh?!
Teacher takeaway: Keep up the good work! And on the dull days, sing something to cheer us all up. Make sure to stay positively encouraging in everything musical. And PLEASE get on top of piano lessons before it's too late!!

Recitation and Memorization:
We consider these two separate subjects, even though there can be overlap. All of my kids did well with their recitations considering how little they've actually been taught. They read their selections nicely with good enunciation and inflection, even if their eyes were glued to the page. It was obvious their teacher {ahem!} had failed to teach them of the importance of connecting with the audience (eye contact, body language, etc). The only memorization we do is several Bible selections a term.
Teacher takeaway: While I regularly feel we come up short on the quantity of memorized material each term, my kids are slowly improving their presentation of such. I have given very little attention to the whole read aloud/memorize, prepare and present for an audience thing each week. Next term, I'll set aside some moments to go over this each week and maybe watch some examples on youtube.

"It cannot be too often said that information is not education. You may answer an examination question about the position of the Seychelles and the Comoro Islands without having been anywise nourished by the fact of these island groups existing in such and such latitudes and longitudes; but if you follow Bullen in The Cruise of the Cachelot the names excite that little mental stir which indicates the reception of real knowledge."  v3, p169

So, we know that even with Charlotte Mason style exams, as with other types of exams, at first glance, children might come off successfully from exams without having cared deeply about the term's work. But hopefully, as we listen carefully to their answers, especially to what's between the lines, we'll sense the extent to which they really care about the knowledge they're acquiring. Troubleshooting, we may look into areas of personal habits as well as quality of material. It's the teacher's job to analyze these things, adjusting to make sure we're doing all we can to lay the feast, stay out of the way and encourage the child to take a personal interest in and responsibility for learning. Our ultimate goal being that they and we take advantage of the full life set before us.

“The question is not, -- how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education -- but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?” v3, p171

More Fisher posts on exams:
Nervous about CM-style exams? Don't be.
Our Exams {AO year 8, term 3}

Our Exams {AO year 8, term 3}

While I went ahead and printed off AO's Year 8, Term 3 exam and did follow it relatively closely, as I went along I felt the need to customize and generalize a little. And you should too. Some trouble with past exams has been rooted in this very thing - me expecting to be able to use someone else's specific exam questions and then subsequently feeling like a failure when those questions don't happen to spark my kids' remembrance.

Recently, we've been WAY more successful when relying on more general questions (often based on discussions we've had throughout the term) which allow them to share what DID stick with them, which in turn reminds them of lots of things they thought they had forgotten. This, and we didn't follow the AOy8 schedule word for word in the first place, so I didn't use all of the questions and added a few of my own.

I have two sets of students in the same AO years, and though we do exams simultaneously, they are done very individually. Only one student is present when they give their oral answers and often I vary the question so that they aren't tempted to compare or compete; this is very important!

Observe, the evil lies in the competition, not in the examination. If the old axiom be true, that the mind can know nothing but what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put by the mind itself; it is relatively true that knowledge conveyed from without must needs be tested from without. Probably, work on a given syllabus tested by a final examination is the condition of definite knowledge and steady progress. All we contend for is that the examination shall not be competitive. v2,p218

Here's what this year's Charlotte Mason styled exam ended up looking like:

Bible:
Summarize & explain one of the parables we read this term. [recorded]
Write a poem about the life of Joseph. [written]

Write from Dictation:

"Hence it happened, either that she proposed to herself as a good end what was not such in reality, or employed means which would rather produce an opposite effect, or thought them allowable when they were not at all so, from a certain vague supposition, that he who does more than his duty, may also go beyond his right; it happened that she could not see in an event what was actually there, or did see what was not there; and many other similar things, which may and do happen to all, not excepting the best; but to Donna Prassede far too often, and, not unfrequently, all at once."

pp17, chXXV, I Promessi Sposi

Composition:
Describe an episode from I Promessi Sposi. [recorded]
Summarize your favorite Milton poem you read this term. [recorded]

Grammar: (taken from Jensen's Grammar extra exercises)
Write all main verbs & identify them as V or LV. Write each noun and give its proper function: S, O, IO, OP, NSC (or PN), mod.
1. Columbus was a man of great importance in history.
2. His voyage and subsequent discovery of America have influenced all of our lives.
3. Christopher was obviously used in God's plan for this world.

History:
Give an account of the civil war between the Roundheads and Royalists. [recorded]
Tell about the "Lord Protector" or the "Merry Monarch". [recorded]
Discuss the great plague and Great Fire of 1666. [written]
What is the difference between a Whig and a Tory? [written]

Geography:
Tell everything you know about St. Peter's or Pompeii. [recorded]

Science/Natural History:
Draw a diagram of the circulation of the blood. [drawn]
Write an account of one memorable nature study you had this term in Susan Fennimore Cooper's style. [written]

Citizenship:
Considering Nicias' character, which things do you admire and which would you not imitate? [written]
Discuss two areas of life where you were most convicted about showing justice. [recorded]

Reading (in English & Spanish):
Dad selected passages. [recorded]

Maths:
Problems taken from MEP y9 lessons. [written]

Foreign Language:
In French, politely describe someone in the room. Use complete sentences. [recorded]

Picture Study:
Describe your favorite painting from this term's Picture Study. [recorded]

Recitation, Music, Folksongs & Hymns were performed and Handicrafts examined. :)

"The work is arranged on the principles which have been set forth in this volume; a wide curriculum, a considerable number of books for each child in the severnl classes, and, besides, a couple of hours' work daily, not with Books but with Things. Many of the pupils in the school have absorbed, in a way, the culture of their parents; but the children of uncultured parents take with equal readiness and comparable results to this sort of work, which is, I think, fitted, not only for the clever, but for the average and even the dull child."

CM in v3, p272

Javen's post-exam decompression plan... making a timeline. oh yeah. :)
See?! Exams make them want to do MORE school. Apparently! heheh.

More thoughts about Charlotte Mason style exams:
Nervous about CM style exams? Don't be.
AO Thoughts on Exams
Term Exam Year 11 (CM style)
CM Exam (Year 2, Term 3)

Nervous about CM-style exams? Don't be.

Way back in 1919, an enquiry was made into the methods and results of the PNEU schools... here is what the examiner had to say after witnessing Charlotte Mason style exams:

There is the answer to that examination bogey. Let the teachers and the children lay it. There is no need of other words than theirs.

An Assistant who teaches the eight-year-olds in M. writes, “Miss Mason’s Scheme is at present one of the great surprises. We did not take any examinations at the end of the Summer Term, and many sighs were uttered and great dread felt when we heard we were taking the Christmas Examination. The feelings of utter helplessness and chaos grew worse as the dreaded Monday morning came. There was no relief when the questions came, many of which were on the first lessons of the term. The teacher stood before the class and gave out the first examination, a history question on the very first story told in the last week of August.

For a moment or two there was a blank. Then one by one the children pulled themselves together, and gathered up from the backs of their memories with most wonderful results. Hardly a tiny detail was missing by the time they had finished. After the first plunge the teacher breathed, and each examination was waited for with greater and greater serenity.”

From an early enquiry into CM's theory taken in 1919.
From the Digital Archives (by searching for cmc65 or here).

This week is exam week at Fisher Academy. 
I admit to feeling pretty nervous even after the first plunge, but now on the third day, I am much more serene. You might even say, I'm quite pleased. :)  I'll have more to say about exams in another post.


More exam posts here:
AO Thoughts on Exams
Charlotte Mason and Tests
Why Do I Give Examinations?
A Charlotte Mason Examination {AOy2, term3}

Narration: A little prep goes a long way {pt.2}

“Let the boy read and he knows, that is, if he must tell again what he has read.”

Charlotte Mason, vol 6 pg 262

If it is true that, as one writer put it – we narrate and then we know – our children's comprehension of the material then, not to mention their retention of it, depends on narration. It would seem that it's of utmost importance and that we had better get it right, hadn't we?


I love this picture as an illustration for this subject. It reminds me of how we are always there to help if need be. Yet we allow the child to have the full experience in education; to come face to face with his own reality, his circumstances, himself.

"The message for our age is, Believe in mind, and let education go straight as a bolt to the mind of the pupil." 

Charlotte Mason, vol 6 pg 261

As parents/teachers, just what do we have to do with narration?

"This, of getting ideas out of them, is by no means all we must do with books. 'In all labour there is profit,' at any rate in some labour; and the labour of thought is what his book must induce in the child. He must generalise, classify, infer, judge, visualise, discriminate, labour in one way or another, with that capable mind of his, until the substance of his book is assimilated or rejected, according as he shall determine; for the determination rests with him and not with his teacher." 

Charlotte Mason, vol 3 pg 180

"We as teachers offend deeply in this matter. We think that we shall be heard for our much speaking and we repeat and enforce, explain and illustrate, not altogether because we love the sound of our own voices, but because we depreciate knowledge, we depreciate children, and we do not understand that the mind and knowledge are as the two members of a ball and socket joint, each of them irrelevant without the other." 

Charlotte Mason, vol 6 pg 258

So, the getting of ideas and the putting of them into order belongs to the child. And according to the quote above, it seems there are ways we can hinder our children.

Circumstances and books vary. Some may be starting out with very young children. Others may be coming to a Mason education midway through. Still others will be adapting to special needs in their families. Many times troubles arise, and suddenly, we think we need to take things into our own hands. In order for them to get everything (something?) out of the reading, I've got to ask them QUESTIONS. Especially, leading or probing questions to prompt their memory. Right?!
No way! Listen to what CM says,

"Given a book of literary quality suitable to their age and children will know how to deal with it without elucidation. Of course they will not be able to answer questions because questions are an impertinence which we all resent, but they will tell you the whole thing with little touches of individual personality in the narrative."

Charlotte Mason, vol 6 pg 261

"When a child is reading, he should not be teased with questions as to the meaning of what he has read, the signification of this word or that; what is annoying to older people is equally annoying to children... Direct questions on the subject-matter of what a child has read are always a mistake. Let him narrate what he has read, or some part of it. He enjoys this sort of consecutive reproduction, but abominates every question in the nature of a riddle. If there must be riddles, let it be his to ask and the teacher's to direct him the answer. Questions that lead to a side issue or to a personal view are allowable because these interest children––'What would you have done in his place?'"

Charlotte Mason, vol 1 pg 229

The only really helpful questions then, are those based on the Socratic method which tempt the listener to apply a moral or lesson to their own life.

If lotsa questions don't help, by golly, what else can we do?

Primarily, we help by giving patience, time and practice in narrations. After that, more patience, more time and more practice. And then? Still more patience, time and practice. :) You get the picture. But, Charlotte also recommends several other ways that the teacher can help without getting in the way of the reader and his mind feast. Two of these come in the way of preparation before the work of narration is done.

"The Teacher's Part.––The teacher's part is, in the firstplace, to see what is to be done, to look over the of the day in advance and see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford; and then to set such questions [see acceptable types of questions above] and such tasks as shall give full scope to his pupils' mental activity."

Charlotte Mason, vol 3 pg 181

Pre-reading Prep:
Giving an introduction to a reading is sometimes helpful if not downright necessary. Remember, that as educators, we want to stay out of the way as much as possible. The purpose of an intro would be to aid the student's understanding, in a way so as not to interrupt the reading. It is NOT a supplement to the story. It is not a teacher dictated lesson. It is only soil preparation, as it were, so that the child may listen unencumbered by things too difficult. A helpful introduction might include, explaining difficult vocabulary, noting important names and highlighting any mapwork pertinent to the reading. Books that might benefit from a quick overview include, history titles, science reads, and a few more specifically: Parables of Nature, Our Island Story, Pilgrim's Progress and Marco Polo. But as is often the case, after recalling what happened in the last chapter, an intro won't even be necessary.

"Do always prepare the passage carefully beforehand, thus making sure that all the explanations and use of background material precede the reading and narration. The teacher should never have to stop in the middle of a paragraph to explain the meaning of a word. Make sure, before you start, that the meanings are known, and write all difficult proper names on the blackboard, leaving them there throughout the lesson. Similarly any map work which may be needed should be done before the reading starts."

PR Article, We Narrate and Then we Know

Next, a simple reminder before the reading begins, that the student will be narrating when the reading is over, would not be out of place. Just quickly say, "Listen and let the words paint pictures in your imaginations. When I stop, I'm going to ask someone to tell back the story. If it is your turn to tell, you might even choose to use some of the same words from the story! Everyone should be paying close attention."

Pre-narration Prep:
Don't forget! The goal of the following tips is simply to help the teacher stay out of the way as much as possible.

1. Keeping those names of important people and places in the story written and within eyeshot can be SUPER helpful (use the same list of words/names you used as an intro to the reading). Being able to refer back to these, should help the narrative flow. This is very practical with those books you are reading aloud, but even in those early years if your child is reading some of the more difficult books alone, he/she will still benefit from an occasional intro and/or having difficult vocab and/or names written out ahead of time.

2. It also helps to have a few moments (even a half hour or so) to seriously reflect before giving a narration. Sometimes, when put directly on the spot, a student won't do well. He/she can't think of anything or perhaps their thoughts are still a little muddled and they feel frustrated having to put words to them. Maybe they've gotten hung up on an idea planted by something they heard in the story that they need time to process before having to move on to the work of narration. Giving them just a few minutes to order their thoughts with a few of the following prompts can work wonders.

Sometimes, when the reading was difficult, or we've been a bit distracted, I give my younger kids some extra prompts, "Take a minute to remember back to where we started reading. [pause] Can you remember what happened first? [pause] okay, got it? After you've thought for a minute, start as soon as you're ready." This seems to help them to put it in sequence.

3. And finally, for older children, knowing that they can jot down notes, or make lists or marks in the margins of their books, may help them to better formulate their narrations, and avoid a second reading. The students might write down their own questions that cover the reading, or enumerate a series of points made, or any other variety of activities that will help them to own the material for themselves.

“Let marginal notes be freely made, as neatly and beautifully as may be, for books should be handled with reverence. Let numbers, letters, underlining be used to help the eye and to save the needless fag of writing abstracts. Let the pupil write for himself half a dozen questions which cover the passage studied; he need not write the answers if he be taught that the mind can know nothing but what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put by the mind to itself."

But let this be a warning to us all...

"Disciplinary Devices must not come between Children and the Soul of the Book.––These few hints by no means cover the disciplinary uses of a good school-book; but let us be careful that our disciplinary devices, and our mechanical devices to secure and tabulate the substance of knowledge, do not come between the children and that which is the soul of the book, the living thought it contains.”

Charlotte Mason, vol 3 pg 181

Join me again next time in thinking how we might approach correcting narrations.

Posts in this series:
And then, like, well... and other narration woes. {pt.1}
Narration: A little prep goes a long way {pt.2}  <- -="-" are="are" b="b" here="here" you="you">
Narration: Correcting sloppy speech {pt.3}

Narration: And then, like, well... and other narration woes. {pt.1}

"To begin with, there is nothing mysterious or magical about narration. We all do it. When we have had a pleasant outing or listened to a beautiful concert or seen an exciting play, our first impulse is to tell our friends about it, and how frustrating it is if, when we get home the friends are out or watching a television programme which must not be interrupted. We tell them about it later on, but our account will not have the same vividness and spontaneity as it would have had if we had told it when it was fresh in our minds. This is an important point to remember when we come to consider the method of a narration lesson."   E.K. Manders, PR Article

During the course of the day, I talk. I tell my kids stuff. They hear me say 'so' a lot. I also connect my thoughts with 'and then', a lot. Sometimes, I use 'like' mid-sentence (I know, it's so west-coast. I am hopeful in my belief that I am overcoming this, however). I ramble and fail to connect my thoughts sometimes. All of this has shown itself clearly, in...  well, the way my kids tell stories. Oh yes. It also sometimes comes out when my kids narrate the stories I read to them.

Have you ever had this problem?

I know that at least some of you have. I am actually quite confident I am not alone in this. I am equally sure that there is hope. It is not the end of the world! With a little guidance, practice and time our kids' will improve in speech and narration... and so will we!

"Given absolute attention, and we can do much with four hundred hours a year (1,600 hours in our four years' course) but only if we go to work with a certainty that the young students crave knowledge of what we call the 'humanities,' that they read with absolute attention and that, having read, they know. They will welcome the preparation for public speaking, an effort for which everyone must qualify in these days, which the act of narration offers."  Charlotte Mason, v6p124

It is important to remember some key points about narration.

Narrating is natural. We want to tell what we think about the things we know. The kids will hear a story, and remember *some* things that stand out to them. That's what we want! We want them to remember *some* details, *some* ideas... the ones that start the wheels a turnin'! The ideas that form thoughts that become not just a name, but a picture, a person, a living idea. It will most certainly differ from child to child. And this may very well happen internally, and you may not be aware of its happening.

Let's help them (by example and other means) to tell their stories well. Over the years, I have seen some marked improvement with my kiddos by using some of the following ideas.

Helpful Hints:

Type out their narration verbatim. You could voice record it on the computer, so as not to interrupt or frustrate them by having to ask them to slow down or repeat something.

Have them listen to it, read it over, or read it aloud to them. If it's obvious, this will be enough! :)

You might ask them to count their 'and thens' (or whatever trouble word), or when typing, ask them where you should put the periods, or some such gentle way of pointing out the error.

If they don't notice their extreme run-on sentence structure, you might explain to them what a sentence is, and give examples of different ways of starting one out. Often, I remind them to start the sentence with the person or thing it is about. That makes it kinda easy. I tell them, "Instead of saying, '...and then after that, Napoleon marched his army to...', skip the 'and then and after that' and just start out with the interesting part, 'Napoleon'!"

Gentle ways of making them hear themselves are best. I'm sure you can come up with many of your own that will fit your context best. I tend to think that we probably should draw their attention to it, but not DURING the narration. Let them finish, and then correct if needed.

More things to remember:

• We teach by example. Even though it may not have occurred to us that we could be part of our children's narration problem, I think a look at some of our own habits of modeling speech would be worth our attention. Enough said. :)
• Thankfully, many problems tend to fix themselves when written narrations and grammar lessons come into play (usually around y4).
• Prepping them for narrations will help (I will talk about this in the next post).
• We correct, by helping them correct themselves (stay tuned for an upcoming post). 
• Relax, enjoy the stories, and practice.
• Take your time. For beginners, don't expect too much too soon. Narrating is a complicated skill!
  (see quote below)

::

"How injurious then is our habit of depreciating children; we water their books down and drain them of literary flavour, because we wrongly suppose that children cannot understand what we understand ourselves; what is worse, we explain and we question. A few pedagogic maxims should help us, such as, "Do not explain." "Do not question," "Let one reading of a passage suffice," "Require the pupil to relate the passage he has read." The child must read to know; his teacher's business is to see that he knows. All the acts of generalization, analysis, comparison, judgment, and so on, the mind performs for itself in the act of knowing. If we doubt this, we have only to try the effect of putting ourselves to sleep by relating silently and carefully, say, a chapter of Jane Austen or a chapter of the Bible, read once before going to bed. The degree of insight, the visualization, that comes with this sort of mental exercise is surprising."  Charlotte Mason v6, p 304

I'll be posting more of my thoughts on narration over the next week or two. So, stay tuned!  


Sometimes, we have fun. Just sometimes. ;)

Upcoming posts:
And then, like, well... and other narration woes. {pt.1}  
Narration: A little prep goes a long way {pt.2}
Narration: Correcting sloppy speech {pt.3}

Latin: What we do

Latin is a subject we do together. :)
We like learning together. 

Normally, one would begin Latin studies around Ambleside Online's Year 4. However, we didn't officially begin until AOy6 (for several reasons which I explain in another post). Up until recently, we've gone weekly through 1-3 lessons (per 20min sitting) in Getting Started with Latin (GSWL). After lesson 20 or so, we watched Visual Latin's (VL) Intro videos (free online). Honestly, VL's Dwane really brought life and meaning to our studies; the boys suddenly really WANTED to learn Latin. They like this guy who knows more than just one language and obviously finds Latin fun. I was seriously tempted to switch right away, but in the end, I think I'm glad to carry on through the end of GSWL and use the VL as an encouraging boost throughout. Once we're finished with GSWL, I'll probably use VL in conjunction with Lingua Latina (the teaching guide for using these together is free online here).

Here's what our weekly Latin lessons looked like:
1) I show the kids the new vocabulary word at the top of the page and they try to guess at its meaning. Having a good knowledge of Spanish already, this is usually a no-brainer for them. Other times, the word is new, we make a mental note of it and then get right to work using it in context of other ideas (the practice sentences).

2) I read the lesson aloud and then we alternate reading and translating with the given practice sentences like this:

3) I read the sentence aloud, Cullen reads the sentence aloud, Javen translates the sentence.

Spectat lunam. He looks at the stars.

4) Then we switch. I read aloud, Javen reads aloud, and Cullen translates.

Nauta stellas spectat.

Currently, we're doing Latin almost daily. I was noticing that we were having to spend too much time reviewing each week. Converting to shorter daily lessons should help to keep it fresh (and finish with this book sooner). This is recommended for all language study! Frequent short lessons are better than less frequent long lessons... this might just hold true for many areas of study!! :)

So for us, Latin's been relatively painless! It took some getting used to in the beginning, referring back often to the pronunciation guide in the back of the book (or one could listen to the free audio commentary provided by the author online here - my boys said this is BORING to listen to. I agree, but I think for some, teachers especially, it is probably really helpful).

Javen has started keeping his own notes of words he especially wants to remember. I like that initiative; paying careful attention does a good job of making an impression on the memory and then using the words often helps too. Eventually, if we continue deeper, a Latin notebook is definitely required as a REALLY helpful tool for keeping exercises and favorite passages in.

After lesson 60 or so, we watched Visual Latin's Lesson 1: Being Verbs (available for free online). This was awesome fun for the kids because they already were very familiar with many of the words Dwane uses, and yet they learned several words that they'd been really wanting to know (Getting Started with Latin introduces new words VERY slowly). I'll have them do the free worksheet on the day following that of watching the video.

So that 'bout sums it up. Both kids say they like Latin; personally I think they're rather proud of the fact that they are learning it. I certainly am proud of them for both learning and liking it!

Helpful links:

My kids tolerate this book:
Getting Started with Latin w/ free Audio files

An Extension of the above book:
Linney's Latin Class w/ free Lectures online based on the following classic book (available for free online): Latin for the first year

My kids ENJOY this:
Visual Latin. Try it here: 6 FREE Visual Latin Lessons!
The author recommends: Latin audio found here.
When/if I buy Visual Latin, I'm considering this Latin 1 & 2 package deal on DVD
*One of the MAIN advantages of this company is that almost all the materials are also available as downloads... perfect for oversea dwellers (like us!) and no shipping costs. :) But, I still think the DVD idea is kind of nice to keep info all in one place for back up.




More Helpful links:

Parents' Review article: Why Learn Greek and Latin?
Ambleside Online's page on Foreign Language.
English as She is Taught (through Latin).

Learning Spanish by Heart

For the most part it is assumed that we live and breathe Spanish here in Peru. And we DO speak a lot of Spanish. But just because everyone else around here speaks Spanish does not equate automatic fluency for everyone in my family. Since we spend a lot of time at home speaking and schooling in English, our kids actually still have to work somewhat at perfecting their Spanish. Can you even believe that?! I know. It doesn't seem like it would be that way. But it is.



It is oh so important for daily functioning, for relationships, for ministry, that everyone in our family learn Spanish by heart. It's part of living well in the world where God has us. It's part of being useful. And it's part of developing the Knowledge of Man that CM talks fondly about.
 
So. As most curriculums that teach Spanish are intended for English speakers that are starting out knowing very little to no Spanish at all, and almost ALL are for older students incorporating reading AND writing early on, we have had some difficulty in the past pulling together a plan for Spanish study. Some time ago, when I first heard about Gouin's method via CM's series, it didn't sink in at all. It was another thing that was going to have to wait. I read about it again some time later over at Tammy's place (She has some really great posts, my favorite is here). However, at that point in time, I still held on to the idea that my kids would simply soak in spotless Spanish by living in close proximity to Spanish speakers :) The truth is, my kids all speak okay Spanish... but, in order for my kids to speak Spanish well (and be able to use it formally someday), they still have to study. But then again the question of curriculum comes up.  

Something had to be done. 

I had given up on the idea of finding something that was going to work perfectly for all of us. Our case is just not typical. Rosetta Stone is a great program. I have it and I like it. But it's not very in line with CM's theory of EAR FIRST (that's the way young children learn fluency in language - from their parents - just by listening!). On the other hand, Rosetta Stone relies heavily on reading (and typing) text from the very first lesson. According to the nature of things and CM's theory ala Gouin, reading/writing portion of language learning doesn't come in until much later. If it were possible to take away the reading/writing element from RS (& other curriculums) and still progress through, it might be a really great option. But even then, my kids know WAY too much to start them off at the basic level, so how would I figure out where to start them??

"Address the ear, then, first of all and principally. Afterwards take as auxiliaries the eye and the hand in reading and in writing. The ear is the prime minister of the intelligence" Gouin, Art of Teaching and Studying Languages,page 139.

What I needed was a completely customizable curriculum, that could be used for multi-level and multi-agegroups!  That is a tall order, but it's filled by none other than Charlotte Mason ala Gouin! Oh yeah!

Here's one summary of the Gouin method, check it out...

"Having a child learn a short sentence that describes his own actions, or the activity in a vivid picture, can help in mastering verbs. Indeed, this is similar to methods used in teaching reading at the preschool level today. Focus on high frequency words, and stick to just one form of the verb at first. The child will learn to conjugate as he encounters the verb in different contexts.  Continue reading at Raising a bilingual child in Montreal - Montreal Parenting & Education | Examiner.com 

An example of a Gouin lesson:I walk towards the door.  "Yo camino hacia a la puerta."
I draw near to the door.  "Yo me acerco a la puerta."
I draw nearer to the door.  "Yo me acerco más y más a la puerta."
I get to the door.  "Yo llego a la puerta."
I stop at the door.  "Yo pauso antes de la puerta."
I touch the door.  "Yo toco a la puerta."
I push on the door.  "Yo empujo la puerta."
I open the door.  "Yo abro la puerta."
The door moves.  "La puerta se mueve."
The door turns on its hinges.  "La puerta se abre."
The door turns and turns.  "La puerta está abierta."
I let go of the handle. "Yo dejo de empujar la puerta."
I walk out the door.  "Yo salgo por la puerta." 

So, I'm finally seeing this in concrete reality for our homeschool. It's so easy to implement anytime, anywhere with my kiddos that I hardly need a plan! AND as my husband and I are both semi-fluent, we can both do the lessons! I'm all over delegating! ;)

When introducing our third language (soon! this year?), I plan to try to use The Easy French audio since I don't speak a lick of French and I already own the curriculum. I'll have to adapt it by attempting to use the audio without the written portion of the curriculum. This will be a different story since I know next to nothing. I will definitely need a plan. We shall see how that goes. There's SO much out there for free and we have friends who speak French! How can we go wrong?? I'll have to let you know. :)

Goals:
6 new words each day (introduced through the exercises above and then incorporated throughout the day).
2-3 Spanish audio stories/poems/fairy tales per week w/ narration.
Total immersion when at all possible (spending a minimum of an hour a day w/ friends should do the trick).
Reading aloud from the Bible in Spanish with narrations.



Resources I found helpful in my research...

Parent's Review articles on Foreign Language:
The Teaching of French
Notes of Lessons - A French Lesson
On the Teaching of Modern Languages
When and How to Teach Modern Languages
How to learn a language

From the Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Series:

Language.––In Language, by twelve, they should have a fair knowledge of English grammar, and should have read some literature. They should have more or less power in speaking and understanding French, and should be able to read a fairly easy French book; the same with German, but considerably less progress; and in Latin, they should be reading 'Fables,' if not 'Cæsar,' and perhaps 'Virgil.'  vol 3 pg 236

French should be acquired as English is, not as a grammar, but as a living speech. To train the ear to distinguish and the lips to produce the French vocables is a valuable part of the education of the senses, and one which can hardly be undertaken too soon. Again, all educated persons should be able to speak French.
v1 p300-7

CM records Goethe describing a language experience of his.

"But now it seems necessary to set forth more circumstantially and to explain how, in the midst of such events, I got hold of French, more or less easily, though I had not learned it. My inborn gifts came to my aid, so that I easily grasped the sound and ring of a language; the movements, accent, tone, and other external peculiarities. Many words were familiar from my knowledge of Latin, Italian helped still more, and in a short time I heard so much from servants and soldiers, sentries and visitors, that though I could not start a conversation, I could at least understand questions and answers." But he tells us that all this was nothing compared with the help which the theatre brought him. His grandfather had given him a free pass, and every day found him there, against the will of his father, but with the connivance of his mother. At first his entertainment consisted only in catching the accent and watching the gestures of the players. Then he found a volume of Racine at home, and hit upon the plan of learning long speeches by heart and delivering these, so far as he could, as he had heard them, though without understanding their drift.


And now he made a friend––a nice boy connected with the theatre. The two became inseparable companions, for in the dearth of boy companionship the stranger managed to understand young Goethe's French, and by aid of familiar intercourse with him 'the Boy' made progress that surprised his friend. The two haunted the theatre, and presently found their way into what served as a greenroom, where Goethe saw (hardly comprehending much) what he described as taking place in the scratch company whose doings he chronicles in Wilhem Meister. He and his friend discussed many things, and "in four weeks (I) learned more than could have been imagined; so that no one knew how I suddenly, as if by inspiration, had acquired a foreign language."


Possibly, when the entente cordiale has become acclimatised, let us say, children belonging to the two countries may come to visit each other's families, and more French may yet be learned in a month from the companionship of a nice French boy than the best master in the world would succeed in teaching in a year. The desire to communicate with each other would doubtless bring about the power.  v5 p330-31

Helpful Links:
Gouin Language Resources
I'm currently reading Francois Gouin's - Art of Teaching and Studying Languages. I'll have to report back when I'm finished. I'm finding it VERY enjoyable. :)
First Lesson in French by Gouin
Series of articles by The Easy French on CM and Gouin.
CM and Gouin - a homeschool mom's assessment
Using the Gouin Series to teach language (intro to Gouin): watch the youtube here.
Gouin exercises for teachers of older students - watch the youtube here.
An Art Lesson in Spanish on youtube.

Free Spanish Audio Online:
Cody's Cuentos (MY FAVORITE!) - FairyTales in Basic, Intermediate and Advanced (transcripts available) A great fingerplay to start with with hand motions can be found here: Dedo Pulgarcito (Hello Thumbkin)
Plaza Sesamo on youtube (Sesame Street in Spanish) - see sidebar for related videos
List of Salsa episodes - (similar to Sesame Street) - Georgia Public Broadcasting (pdf teacher helps available for every episode)

Other:
Great thread on French Lessons and Resources on the AO yahoo list, found here.
Narration... in French or Spanish, hard?! by yours truly. A post about narrating in a foreign language.

Poetry: What we do

Q: For next year, I'm debating how I'll tackle poetry . . . whether each child does it individually, or we do it as a family.

A: For the most part, at Fisher Academy, we do poetry together. I feel that most poetry is best enjoyed when read aloud and with other people (this is not a well thought out or documented stance, it's just my opinion at the moment :) I do personally enjoy reading poetry all by myself quietly, I'm just not sure my kids would feel the same way yet.

I remember as a child being both intimidated and challenged by reading poetry. Intimidated as in, I would have been mortified to have been made to read poetry aloud w/o having read it before and yet challenged because I loved poetry and wanted to do it full justice when I did read it aloud.

I teach my kids poetry, taking those things into consideration.


  random girl reading... poetry? courtesy of bjearwicke, site here

So, for the most part we share it aloud, read by me. Randomly, I will have the older kids prepare to read a medium-ish length poem aloud. I give them time to prepare ahead of time (5min or so depending on length).

I have had my kids read AO year specific poetry some on their own, but didn't follow through with my older boys very well (since we've always read aloud). I hope to do more of that with my youngers. Mostly we have always read together and I leave it up to them to seek it out when they want more. They know where the books are. :) And I'm always pleased when they do this occasionally!

We also use favorite poems as recitation for the older kids. They pick a favorite (usually one they've heard me read aloud or one they already kinda know).

I REALLY like what Brandy shared about incorporating poetry w/ the commonplace noteboook! She said: **For my Y4 student, he does this entirely on his own. He has recently begun a commonplace book, and I asked him to choose his favorite poem from each week to put in it. At the end of the term, he chooses his favorite of his favorites, and that is the poem he memorizes the next term. **

As for handling multiple years, I've done different things. I've selected a poem or two from each year to read aloud in the mornings just after Bible reading (or in the past I've read at lunchtime or tea time). I've also just gone daily through an anthology (currently this is what we're doing), reading several poems each day. Both work. I do really appreciate the AO year specific poetry selections and will be incorporating these again soon (part of the reason I was using an anthology was for convenience sake in this oh-so-busy season we're in... having it all in one book! but I look forward to going back to using the AO suggestions).

My older boys have gotten into writing their own poetry now, which is lots of fun! In y7, the Grammar of Poetry has helped prompt this some, but mostly they've taken it on themselves.

Source: google.com via amy in peru on Pinterest

Helpful Links:

There is tons of info on the AO Poetry page, it can be found here:
http://www.amblesideonline.org/Poets.shtml
Parent's Review Articles:
The Teaching of Poetry to Children
An Address on The Teaching of Poetry by the Rev Beeching
What is Poetry? by H. A. Nesbitt

The books we currently use:

The Oxford Book of Children's Verse (Oxford Books of Verse) - this is my favorite anthology used of late! Jam-packed with familiar and not-as-familiar poems for children, we have really enjoyed this one! It's got 346 pages of poetry + forward and resource material.

Random House Treasury of Year-Round Poems (Random House Poetry Treasury) - I'd recommend this book for people living in climates where there is real seasonal change. It's a cute little book, not a ton of poems, arranged seasonally by month (8-10 poems per month).

A Treasury of Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, Carl Sandberg, Walt Whitman -We've used this treasury as well as other books in the series for the poets recommended in different AO years. Find the series on individual poets here: Poetry For Young People Series


PS. Dont forget the CM carnival tomorrow!

The upcoming Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival has Poetry as it's theme, so we may have a few posts about poetry in the mix. As always there are a number of blog posts on a variety of CM related subjects, plan to join us!! If you would like to be put on the list to receive a reminder of the CM blog carnival please send an e-mail to charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com.

If you have a post to submit on poetry to be included in the post tomorrow (TUES, 3/6), please do so ASAP! You can always submit it or any other CM-related post to the upcoming carnival by e-mailing charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com at any time!



:)

Current Events: Q&A

image courtesy of lusi

Q:
I love this. I've been trying to figure out how to introduce current events to my children without overwhelming them with all the negativity in the news. They are just little kids; it seems wrong somehow to burden them with things that are too much for them to handle emotionally yet. How do you decide?

A:
@Stephanie,
I'm in the same boat. I think it's good to shelter our kids from a good deal of negativity in the world when they're very little, but at the same time, as they grow, we don't want to continue by over-incubating and in so doing make it difficult for our children to adjust to life outside any protective shell we've created for them. ;)

This is why when the kids are very young, we read fairy tales and fables (the real kind with a moral, not just the prettified versions we have nowadays via disney). They learn about the stark realities of life from story. Read more about the role of fairy tales in the education of the young, here.

As to the way I think we go about introducing our younger children to what's going on in the world, without scaring the living daylights out of them, ;) is through natural family conversation, or as CM called it, "table talk". We might choose a current article from World Magazine for example and read it aloud at the dinner table, or just discuss what's happening in the world at a family meal. When the children are small, I imagine much of this would take place between parents as children grow into the conversations. Here's how CM describes it:

"Allowing that it rests with the parents to give their children grounds for sound opinions on men and movements, books and events, when are they to get opportunity for this sort of culture? Whenever they fall into talk with, or in the presence of, their children; but especially at table––other opportunities come by chance, but this is to be relied on...

This is the opportunity to keep the young people informed upon the topics of the day,––who has made a weighty speech; who has written a book, what its merits and defects; what wars and rumours of wars are there; who has painted a good picture, and what are the characteristics of his style. The Times newspaper and a good weekly or monthly review will furnish material for talk every day in the week. The father who opens the talk need not be afraid he will have to sustain a monologue; indeed, he had better avoid prosing; and nothing is more delightful than the eager way the children toss the ball to and fro. They want to know the ins and outs of everything, recollect something which illustrates the point, and inevitably corner the thing talked about for investigation––is it "right," or "wrong," "good," or "bad"; while the parents display their tact in leading their children to form just opinions without laying down the law for them. The boys and girls are engaged with the past, both in their school-work and their home reading, and any effort to bring them abreast of the times is gratifying to them; and it has a vivifying effect on their studies."
v5p231

As for school studies, CM didn't have students reading current events (it seems) until grades 7-9.
Here's what grades 7-9 (form III & IV) were doing, quoted from here:
-Read on Tuesdays some subject in "Literature" or on the news of the week or on some historical or allegorical subject, etc. Write on Thursdays a resume.
-Verses (note metre of poems set for this term) on current events and on characters in the term's reading, upon heroic deeds, or, on autumn and winter scenes.
-Narrative poems on striking events.

Grades 10-12 (forms V & VI) did the following, quoted from vol 6 pg 194...

"Here is an example of a programme set for a term's work in these two Forms,––"A good précis; Letters to The Times on topics of the day; subjects taken from the term's work in history and literature; or notes on a picture study; dialogues between characters occurring in your literature and history studies; ballads on current events; (VI) essays on events and questions of the day; a patriotic play in verse or prose." Here are questions set for another term,––"Write a paean, rhymed or in blank verse, on the Prince of Wales's tour in the Dominions." "An essay, dated 1930, on the imagined work of the League of Nations." Form V, "Write a woeful ballad touching the condition of Ireland, or, a poem on the King's garden party to the V.C.'s." "An essay on the present condition of England, or, on President Wilson."

 The aforementioned literary assignments (patriotic play, poem, essay, woeful ballad, etc) would have been composed in response to their reading of current events on the League of Nations, Ireland, King's garden party, present condition of England or President Wilson. 



image courtesy of vlambi

In conclusion:
My current events posts are for my older boys who are studying AOy7. They read through 2-3 current events articles and document them in their narration notebooks as, "This Week in History". In the next year or so, I'll have them transition into writing more creatively about what they read of the world today and the related issues they are thinking through.

At the dinner table, we often discuss what the boys have been reading when my husband is home. This has been so much fun! In hindsight, I wish I'd done this more often, in an informal, conversational way with the kids even when they were smaller, as is mentioned above in the "table talk" quote. I'm currently aiming for at least one dinner time conversation a week with the family about current events (thursdays?). I'll bring this up very informally, and should hopefully not ever seem contrived. I've realized how easy it can be, now that I'm looking through the headlines for my boys, to pick out a weekly theme for conversation. Most often though, it usually comes about because the boys are interested in what they've just read and naturally bring it up as the hot topic at dinner time! :)

Stephanie, I hope these ideas will help you to formulate your own thoughts and plans for working with your family! :)

reflections on a Charlotte Mason education.

{Question}:

"What are your favorite aspects of AO? Why did you choose to use that as your primary curricula?"

Basically, here's the thing with Charlotte Mason/AO...
The idea is that the child is born a natural learner.  And that all the while he's living (if we don't give him reason not to) he'll delight in learning from nature, observing things around him, picking up ideas from the stories he's told and the experiences he's having and making connections between them all... that the child naturally remembers the things that interest him.  As something interests him and he begins to form a relationship with that area (with birds for instance), he'll naturally notice them in the backyard, and then identify personally with them in Burgess Bird book and file this information away for the next encounter he might have for example at a family outing to the aviary or park to feed the ducks and notice the differences between water birds and the birds he sees at the birdfeeder...etc. etc.  We can gently capitalize on these moments and help them by giving them small tidbits, more food for thought, or provide them with more experiences that add to the whole compost of ideas that's churning inside them.  These kinds of relationships are what real living education is made of... it really has no pin-point-able beginning or end - well, excepting birth and death; even then there's heaven. Who knows if we'll ever stop learning!...    :)



I think the thing that attracted me at first to Ambleside Online was the fact that a lot of the resources were available online.  Second was CM's emphasis on the natural beauty of learning itself.  That we don't have to be taught to enjoy learning... only encouraged to keep on loving it...  (with modern methods, sometimes it seems virtually impossible to maintain interest! at least that's what happened in my case and a good many others I know of!  ;)

As I began AO/CM, the thing that secured my interest was how it all flows together.  How we can and ought to integrate a lot of areas of education, that education is a life, and atmosphere in itself... I realized how important it is to give the gift of culture, the arts, living history to my kids so that they can be whole, diverse and interesting people!  :)  AO/CM encouraged everything I ideally wanted to incorporate even though initially I didn't know how to do it.  So, I dove in, learning as I went (I'm still learning!).  I fell more and more in love with 'education as a life' philosophy as I too was being enticed by all the knowledge that somehow I'd looked on as 'boring' and left by the wayside during my earlier education years.

As I've continued on with AO/CM, I've been amazed at how much my kids know!  Reading living books, narrating them back, being exposed to the arts, and nature study (observation, attention, etc), it is SERIOUSLY amazing how natural and enticing a living education really can be!  My kids really enjoy learning, and they retain a TON!  They still remember books/lessons/poetry/art from 5 years ago!  It really is shocking.  :)



{Question}:  

"I guess my question is when you read the books do you have activities that you do or implement to go along with them or is reading enough?"

Though it might seem crazy, a child doesn't really need a lot of hands-on activities to learn things or make connections when reading living books!!  :)  A drawing, an acting out, a couple of sentences written/dictated about what he's read (all actually forms of narration, retelling), in whatever way is particularly interesting to your child... all of these things are good.  Basically, the only thing required is the child in some way retell what he's just heard.  When the material is interesting, the kids amazingly remember.  :)

So, please do share with us...

What is YOUR favorite aspect of a CM education?

Would you consider posting and sharing your thoughts about this?
If you do post, please do link up below! ;)

oh my good golly... nominated?

Oh my good golly..

I was just over at the HSBApost where the Annual Homeschool blog awards happen.  I was perusing the different categories, eying my favorite blogs...  and voting... and my heart's beating fast...  and my thoughts are racing... and...




OH. MY. GOOD. GOLLY.
(there, I said it again.)




I've been nominated!



hilarious.


Now, I'm not going to ask you to vote for me (though you can if you honestly think I deserve it) because there are a number of really great blogs on the list!  Of course you could vote for one of my friends' blogs and ask one of your kids to vote for mine!  ahahahahahah!  If I asked for your vote, I would feel like I were asking you to NOT vote for some of my very favorite blogs!!  ;)    For instance.  Some of my long time friends are nominated too!

Jimmie @ Jimmie's Collage, who I've known since the good ol' days at HSB

Jeanne @ A Peaceful Day

Mama Squirrel @ Dewey's Treehouse

Barb @ Harmony Art Mom

Amy, Marshie and all the rest of the delightful people @ Heart of the Matter

And of course a good number of newer friends have been nominated too...

Go here to check them all out.

{Make sure to click on the blog's link before you click the dot to vote 

because after you vote the list vanishes 

** UPDATE: Here is a list of all this year's nominees.}

So.  I just can't believe it.  Seriously.  And all I want to say is, thank you to YOU my friends who read this blog and think it useful.  :)  I want you to know how nicely and warmly that makes me feel.  :)

there.  I'm done.

:)

First Reading Lessons in earnest

Because as Charlotte Mason says, reading is neither an art nor a science, there are not steps set in stone to do in any particular order, and no fixed starting point. A child who has been learning to recognize letters and their sounds and building basic words, has been learning to read. But we can't always put a finger on the exact point when he has officially learned to read. It's a process and it's a little bit like magic... :) and it can be beautifully relaxed and fun!



We've had a lot of fun this time around with my youngest son learning to read. Even though his reading level is quickly advancing, so much so that he's halfway through Now We Are Six on his own, we are still carrying on with reading lessons.  Some might call them phonics lessons, word-building, or spelling lessons - we bundle them all together and call them all Reading Lessons (because it's all so interwoven).



In this post, I'm going to outline some of the ideas that Charlotte talks about, and show how we've done them.

Prerequisites to Reading Lessons:

With our most recent batch of readers, the following pattern has surfaced.

• Play with letters/words - relaxed (child learns many letters by form & sound, some easy words by sight)
  
• Learn single letter phonograms (age5/6) (child learns all sounds each letter makes by itself, some easy words by sight)
  
• Practice blending building letters and words (child learns that sounds put together make familiar words, list of known words increases)
  
• Introduce multi-letter phonograms (child begins to memorize through games, the sounds of the phonograms that have more than one letter, ck, ch, oi, oy, ea, ee, etc)
  
• Start Reading Lessons...(whenever fully interested and ready, or around age 6/7)

Read a comprehensive list of skills helpful in reading readiness here.



Ideas for Reading Lessons:

For these lessons you will probably want to do a couple of things ahead of time:

• Print 2 copies of either of the following: Jesus Loves The Little Children or Jesus Loves Me. 
• (choose the song most familiar... if unfamiliar spend a week learning the song before beginning)
• Cut out 3 sets of the words.  (leave one set intact for later)
• Spread the words from the first page only (the first two lines of the song) out in a shoebox or cake pan.
• Store each poem it it's own ziploc bag.

The following lesson ideas could be broken into more than one session depending on the level of readiness of your child.  He/she may be able to handle the whole lesson in one gulp, but you don't want the lesson to go much over 15 minutes.



Idea #1:

1) Using a dry erase board (or chalk board or markers on paper), write a word from the song (in random order), 2) say the word aloud as you write it, the child looks carefully and repeats, 3) from his cut outs, the child finds all the copies of the word.  
Do the same with all the words:

Jesus   children  loves  world  little  the  all

(*hint: try to keep the song a secret until the end... 

that way the child gets all the satisfaction from the discovery himself!)

4) from the board, child reads all the words as you point to them starting from the bottom of the list... words are still in random order.  5) child arranges his cut-up words in the same order as that on the white board.  6) child randomly rearranges the words in his own way reading them aloud.  7) Finally, dictate the song to the child and have them find the words as you go.  8) From the uncut copy, let the child read from the page.  He/she will be delighted that she can now read all the words in the whole song!  Review for the next day: 9) Have the child hunt for each word from the pile of cut up words. *optional: 10) if your child is ready for writing, have them write the word from memory. 



Idea #2: (using a different song/poem) 1) Read/sing the first half of the song out loud, sweetly and with good intonation of voice.  2) Point to the words as you say them aloud. 3) When the child can see the words as it were without looking (in his mind's eye), and repeat the words without prompting even when taken in random order, let him read the lines with clear enunciation and expression. Review for the next day: 4) Have the child hunt for the words in turn from a page of clear type (perhaps the book from which the poem/song was taken?)  5) Using his letters, have the child build each word in turn from memory.
Idea #3: From a book, pointing to words you know your child has mastered, point to words and have them read them out loud.  
Idea #4: Word building.  Using the phonogram sheet (available here), have the child build words learned in previous lessons.
Idea #5: Make your own lesson!  With these same ideas, use a poem or song already familiar to the child.  Here are a few more printable lessons I made.  The poems were chosen for the words themselves as well as interest level for kids this age...

My Shadow, (excerpt) Robert Louis Stevenson

A Good Boy, (excerpt) Robert Louis Stevenson

By the end of these lessons the child will practically have the song/poem by heart, and the lesson can double as a recitation!

Helpful Links:
Download & print, First Reading Lessons in its entirety taken from CM's Volume One, here.
Parent's Review article, First Reading Lessons, by Miss E. Armitage
Parent's Review article, An Essay on the Teaching of Reading, by F.B. Lott
Parent's Review article, First Reading Lesson, by Charlotte Mason (the same as in volume one)
Some of my friend's who've blogged their CM reading lessons -
Phyllis at All Things Beautiful - here and here.
Richele at Barefoot Voyage - here.
Kathy at Piney Woods Homeschool - here.

More posts in this series:
Our Story... I'm a failure. {part one}
Our Story... Struggle no more. {part two}
Our Story... Just relax! {part three}
Learning to Read - The Scary Myth {part four}
The Two Keys to Teaching Reading {part five}
Playing a Foundation to Build on.
First Reading Lessons in Earnest.  << -- You are here. :)