Jimmie's Collage » Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

10 Favorite Websites for Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

Jimmie — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:45:00 +0000

This post is part of the iHomeschool Network’s 10 in 10 link up. Today’s topic is top 10 websites. I’m going to narrow that down and list ten of my favorite websites for Charlotte Mason homeschooling.

I know that when someone is starting out with CM homeschool, it is hard to weed through all the online resources to find the most helpful sites. Some are too general. Others are too abstract. Here are my top ten choices of sites that offer a perfect mix of specific and practical helps.

1. Simply Charlotte Mason

SCM has a free forum, many helpful articles, free eBooks, plus retail curriculum and helps.

2. Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

The CM carnival is run by Amy at Fisher International Academy. Her blog is a worthwhile resource in itself. But the carnival will point you to the blogs of other homeschool moms who use CM methods.

3. Barb’s Handbook of Nature Study

Barb’s nature study blog makes regular appearances in the carnival, but it truly deserves its own slot on this list. Her free resources and tips make incorporating nature study an easy and joyous task.

4. Artist Study

This comprehensive guide tells you how to do a CM styled artist study and links to hundreds of resources to aid you along that path.

5. Composer Study

This webpage is a music companion to the art page linked above. It offers an overview of how to begin CM composer study and sets you on the way with dozens of practical links and suggestions.

6. Shakespeare for Children

Most literary allusions in English literature come from just three books: the Bible, Shakespeare, and Greek mythology. CM encouraged the study of all of them, of course. Here is a guide for introducing Shakespeare to children before they have been prejudiced into thinking it’s boring or complex.

7. Main Lesson; Homeschool Commons; Heritage History

I’m cheating here to place three links together, but these are three top sources of public domain books. The eBooks at Heritage History are not free as they are at the other two, but the easy to read formatting makes them worth the small price for individual titles.

8. Ambleside Online

AO is a wealth of CM helps. Don’t let the plain Jane website fool you. The true riches are found in the content — entire schedules for each year of study, the actual text of Charlotte Mason’s Home Education, and many articles.

9. Charlotte Mason Help

Very practical articles by LindaFay, a homeschool mom who is a champion of CM principles.

10. Penny Gardner’s Charlotte Mason site

Although this site is a bit dated in its appearance, the quality of the content makes it worth squinting your eyes for. (To increase font size, hold down Ctrl and scroll the wheel on your mouse.)

Even if you’ve been a CM educator for a long while, it’s still good to review from time to time and check to see if you’ve fallen off the CM wagon. These ten sites are a perfect place to find renewed inspiration to continue your homeschool journey with Miss Mason.

This post is linked up at Angie’s Top Ten Tuesday.

If you want to join in, post a top ten post of any topic and link up there.

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Falling off the Charlotte Mason Wagon

Jimmie — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Even the most dedicated of Charlotte Mason homeschoolers sometimes find themselves falling out of line with the principles she espoused. Without frequent evaluation, it’s easy to drift off course until your homeschool doesn’t seem very CM at all. Here are signs that you’ve fallen off the Charlotte Mason wagon.

Speeding Past Narration

Let’s be honest. As valuable as narration is, it does take time. If you have found yourself habitually omitting narration (either oral or written), you may be about to fall off the CM wagon.

Narration of living books is a cornerstone of a CM education. If you leave it off, you really can’t say that you’re following the CM style.

Being Stuck Indoors

CM advised daily walks outdoors. Those daily excursions didn’t always include nature study, per se. But the idea was to get outside, breathe fresh air, and exercise the body while being at least exposed to God’s creation.

Charlotte Mason would have loved the book Last Child in the Woods. In it, Richard Louv expresses scientific proof of the value of nature in children’s lives. It is not an extra but a necessity.

When was the last time you enjoyed the outdoors? Have nature walks and nature journaling become distant memories? If so, you are in danger of falling off the CM wagon.

Overlooking Artist and Composer Study

Can you quickly name the last artist and composer you studied with your children? (If you can tell who you are currently studying, bonus points for you. You are firmly in the wagon on this one.)

If it takes some time to recall the name or it has been a few months ago, you’ve fallen off the CM wagon. Miss Mason recommended studying one artist and one composer per term, becoming intimately familiar with about 10 works of art or a handful of musical pieces.

It’s easy to let art and music slide as non-essentials when the “three Rs” are calling for attention. But wasn’t a love of the arts one of the traits that drew you to a CM education in the first place?

Neglecting Poetry and Shakespeare

Honestly evaluate how much poetry or Shakespeare you have studied in the last term. A lot? A little?

None? Oops.

Poetry and Shakespeare are challenging for many of us, but there is no need to pass on that awkward feeling to our children. Keep exposing them to beautiful rhyme and beautiful stories by following CM principles.

I admit that I have fallen off the CM wagon a time or two in my years of homeschooling. Sometimes you enter “homeschool survival mode” and just get by as best you can. But if you still believe in the philosophy of Charlotte Mason, why aren’t you following it? Can you call yourself a CM educator if you are neglecting the most basic of her principles?

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Ask Yourself these 6 Questions to Prevent Curriculum Disasters

Jimmie — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:04:00 +0000

During the spring, many of us homeschool moms start thinking of curriculum. We attend homeschool conventions and used book sales which present a myriad of choices. Sometimes it is overwhelming to make purchasing decisions: either everything looks great or nothing looks just right. Then there is the added fear of making an expensive mistake with your family’s resources. Curriculum decisions can be downright stressful.

For Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, though, there are guiding principles that aid us as we evaluate curriculum. Here are six questions to ask as you look at that tempting set at the convention or that discounted resource at the book sale.

Ideas

ASK: Does this curriculum have worthy ideas?

Charlotte Mason says

We see, then, that the children’s lessons should provide material for their mental growth, should exercise the several powers of their minds, should furnish them with fruitful ideas, and should afford them knowledge, really valuable for its own sake, accurate, and interesting, of the kind that the child may recall as a man with profit and pleasure. (Vol 1, Part V Lessons As Instruments Of Education, p.177)

A quality curriculum goes beyond mere facts to present fascinating ideas that carry over into everyday life. It should give you something to discuss at the dinner table, something to wonder about when alone, and something to spark further investigation.

The ideas should be noble and important rather than base and trivial. They should cause the mind to work rather than merely passively absorb.

Living Books & Biographies

ASK: Does this curriculum use living books?

Charlotte Mason says

The points to be borne in mind are, that he should have no book which is not a child’s classic; and that, given the right book, it must not be diluted with talk or broken up with questions, but given to the boy in fit proportions as wholesome meat for his mind, in the full trust that a child’s mind is able to deal with its proper food. (Vol. 1 Part IX.–The Art of Narrating, p.232)

Textbooks are like processed convenience food — all the hard work has already been done. The headings tell main ideas; the vocabulary words are in bold; and comprehension questions round out every chapter.

Just as processed food has little nutrition, textbooks have fewer meaty ideas than a living book. When evaluating a resource, look critically at the books. Are they classics or twaddle? Worthy or forgettable? Is the content pre-digested as if assuming a child is not smart enough to ferret out his own meaning? Or is the book full of deep ideas that require brain power to understand?

Are these books that you cannot bear part with or ones that you will sell as soon as you’re finished with them? Look for a foundation of living books in any curriculum choice.

Enjoyment

ASK: Is this curriculum delightful or does it kill interest?

Charlotte Mason says

His lessons should be joyous (Vol 1, Part V Lessons As Instruments Of Education, p.178)

The children must enjoy the book. The ideas it holds must each make that sudden, delightful impact upon their minds, must cause that intellectual stir, which mark the inception of an idea. (Vol. 3 Chapter 16 How to Use School-Books, p.178)

Charlotte Mason was not a dry, Victorian fuddy-duddy. She said that learning should be fun. Does the curriculum you are considering allow for fun or does it strangle it? A quality curriculum will still be enjoyable during 2nd semester.

Narration

ASK: Does the curriculum incorporate narration?

Charlotte Mason encouraged narration as the primary way for students to review the lessons and for teachers (parents) to assess them. Whether narration is oral or written, it is always superior to comprehension questions.

The great thing about narration is that with a few simple prompts, you can add it into any lesson or curriculum. But if the curriculum already has a foundation of narration, it will mesh nicely with a Charlotte Mason philosophy. Look for things like notebooking pages (or assignments), writing prompts, and graphic organizers.

Fill in the blank and multiple choice activities of traditional education do not make the most of narration.

Difficulty

ASK: Does this curriculum challenge without frustrating?

Difficulty is often hard to determine without trying out a material. Do your research and look for samples. Don’t be deceived by grade levels. They are very arbitrary and can offer only a most general guide for difficulty. Look for curriculum that is just right– not too hard not too easy.

Real and Hands-on

ASK: Does this curriculum utilize real experiences rather than contrived ones?

Children can see right through artificial learning experiences. Or worse, these contrived lessons are so far removed from worthy ideas that chldren don’t grasp anything of importance.

Does the curriculum offer direct observation and hands-on experiences or does it merely tell? Math and science immediately come to mind. A math program for elementary children should rely on manipulatives to teach. A science program should integrate lots of deductive reasoning based on actual observation.

But the same principles apply for the arts. A CM approved curriculum allows the child to experience the painting or symphony directly rather than merely reading about it.

Language arts lessons should always use language in context rather than in the isolation of artificial workbook exercises.

Do you have any additional questions that you ask when evaluating curriculum? I’d love it you add to the conversation in the comments.

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Charlotte Mason Carnival

Jimmie — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:32:00 +0000

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Carnival. I am pleased to have you here. I know you will enjoy the fantastic links in this week’s carnival. They are not many, but they are high quality. And isn’t that always more important?

Living Books

Domestic Serenity has some great thoughts about Building Booklists for Children. Danielle is new to the CM carnival, and I am so glad she has joined us. I got to meet her in person at BEECH. She’s an amazing woman and mom. If you like reading deep thoughts, spend some time on her lovely blog.

A post after my own heart is Barb’s Notebooking With Living Books. I always glean so much from Barb’s experienced wisdom and gentle

Nadene shares the simplicity and joy of teaching and learning through living books at Learning through Living Books.

Here’s a gem of a find: Laurke’s Pinterest boards, boards for Ambleside Online’s book recommendations at several levels.

Erin talks about Quality Literature at her Blog Seven Little Australians and Counting.

Over at North Laurel Home and School is a nice post called Experience Through Another’s Words in which the author quotes Charlotte Mason and adds her own thoughts.

Literature Related

Dewey’s Treehouse shares a post about Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch’s On the Art of Writing: The Hot Fudge of Literary Lectures.

Over at Sage Parnassus blog is a wonderful book review of Pebble in a Pool subtitled The Widening Circles of Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s Life. Does that name ring a bell? It did for me, and I was thankful that Nancy reminded me that Dorothy Canfield Fisher is the author of Understood Betsy, a wonderful living book.

My mom, daughter, and I are going to see Shakespeare this month. Do your spring field trip plans include any theater? If so, you may want to take a look at these free printables from The Notebooking Fairy. They are perfect for writing narrations after a trip to the theater.

Nature Study

Nature Study – Three Tips to a Better Experience is a very practical post from Barb, Harmony Art Mom. We all hang on her every word when it comes to Charlotte Mason education. This post is no exception.

The Gift of Nature Study is a beautifully illustrated and written post. Just a snippet, “But when you have practiced this study of nature, noticing spring is a pleasure and true joy. Spring is promise.” Be sure to read the rest.

Artist Study

Dawn at My 4 Sweetums is covering Van Gogh for artist study this term. She lists lots of resources and activity ideas. I especially like the swirly word art done in a Van Gogh style.

Until Next Time

To find out more about CM blog carnival schedule, visit Fisher Academy, the host blog.
The next carnival of Charlotte Mason Homeschool will be on April 17 at North Laurel.

The featured topic (optional) is foreign language.

For further reading see the CM Series: vol 1, p 300-307
PR Articles: Lesson in French & The Teaching of French (The ideas will be useful for whatever foreign language is studied.)

Submit posts here: charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com

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Charlotte Mason for Elementary Years

Jimmie — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:15:52 +0000

Belinda sent me an email, asking for some advice. I asked her permission to answer her in a blog post so that others could benefit as well. I think that many moms are planning for next year because I’ve gotten quite a few emails recently with these kinds of planning questions.

Hi Jimmie!

I’m been reading your blog for a few months now. I really enjoy reading it; I especially liked the 10 Days of Language Arts.

On to my questions… I have looked through your archives on your blog for this information, but really didn’t find the answer. What did you use for the elementary years with your daughter? Did you use any specific curriculum? When did you introduce artists? The reason I’m asking this is because I really like the approach you have to homeschooling. I guess I was just wondering if you would be willing to share what you did for the elementary years since your blog is focused on the middle school years.

To give you some background information, I have two children, 9 (3rd grade) and 6 (kindergarten). With my 9-year-old, I’m using The Writer’s Jungle and the ideas you shared from 10 Days of Language Arts, Life of Fred, Handwriting Without Tears, and Apologia science. I’ve been using Five in a Row with both children. My 6-year-old is working on reading and using Miquon Math Lab. Both children have silent reading time and I also read aloud every day. I’ve tried really hard to stay away from workbooks and doing a lot of worksheets, especially if it is just busy work. What else would you suggest I add? I’m starting to think about planning next year, so I would appreciate any insight you might have. I would like to stay away from buying a curriculum. I also have a tight budget.

Thank you again,

Belinda

Belinda, thank you so much for your question. It is a very humbling thing to be asked for homeschool advice. And I do hope that you keep in mind these ideas are advice. I’ll share what I did and what I recommend, but you ultimately have to make the decisions based on your convictions and your knowledge of your children.

I’m so glad you liked the 10 Days of Language Arts series. I have another 10 day series coming up in April. Stay tuned for the topic.

When Sprite was in elementary school, we used prepackaged curriculum kits from homeschool companies. I also supplemented those collections with additional books I chose based on my research. At that time we were living abroad without access to bookstores or libraries. So I really needed the convenience of buying all I needed in one fell swoop. If I had it to do over again, while living in America, I probably wouldn’t choose to spend so much money. But it was the best choice for us at the time.

Kindergarten, First and Second Grades

K-2 were our Sonlightyears.

For our science, language arts, history, art, and Bible, I used Sonlight as prescribed with the addition of hands-on extras and lapbooks.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades

Third – fifth grades were our Winter Promise years. We spent three years on American Story 1 & 2.

Like K-2, 3rd-4th grades were still based on living books with lots of lapbooks and hands-on paper crafts.

The first artist we studied was Renoir; that was in the third grade. (Before that we had used the art books included in the Sonlight curriculum. I do think that was sufficient for the grade level.)

I really didn’t know about the Charlotte Mason style of education until I began researching it in-depth when Sprite was in second grade. By third grade, I was beginning to make small changes to add in CM methods. Art was the first thing we added. And then I implemented nature study, composer study, poetry study, and Shakespeare over the course of third and fourth grades and continued with them during fifth grade.

Besides WP for history, we used the following curriculum in third and fourth grades.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature
Noeo Physics and Chemistry
Singapore Math

A big shift occurred in fourth grade when I made a shift to living math. You can read all about that at Transitioning to Living Math. In a very small nutshell, we used Singapore Math only as a reference to guide the selection of hands-on activities. Plus I added in math history lessons from livingmath.net. In fifth grade I introduced Teaching Textbooks math curriculum to our schedule. (We still use TT math and love it.)

In fifth grade, we took a short break from American History to use Beautiful Feet’s History of the Horse unit study. My daughter still fondly remembers this curriculum. It is full of living books and notebooking, all about horses — perfect for any girl.

Homeschool Advice for Belinda

As far as what you should add, I would first ask if you are wanting to take a Charlotte Mason approach? You have a great line up of resources and seem to be covering all the basics. Our lives have been enriched by adding in the CM distinctives of nature, artist, composer, poetry, and Shakespeare. And personally I think every child should have an appreciation for those five areas.

So, yes, I recommend adding in one of those five areas at a time. Chose the one you feel most comfortable with. I have lots of resources on this blog. Just look in the drop down menus at the top. Under Charlotte Mason, there are individual pages on several of these areas.

They can all be done very inexpensively with library books, public domain eBooks, and online resources.

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Using Teaching Textbooks in a Living Math Approach

Jimmie — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Sprite is using her third set of Textbooks (TT) math curriculum, and we have no intention of switching to anything else. It is really working for her (and for me). We both love that it can be done independently and that she receives immediate feedback on her answers. Because it has both auditory and visual components (besides the normal explanations in the book), it is a good match for her learning style.

When we initially switched to TT, I called myself a living math dropout. Of course, I wasn’t truly giving up on a living math approach simply by using Teaching Textbooks. And I’ve found that TT can be used as part of a living math approach.

Talk About Math

One of the dangers of TT is that you may totally give over the math instruction to the CD-roms and altogether lose contact with what is being learned. It’s easy to do; I’ve found myself in this pattern.

“Doing your math? Great!”

[Sprite does the lesson.]

“What was your score? 94? Wonderful! Now let’s do science.”

That’s not really wise for us. When I am not keeping up with the math, it’s harder for me to help her when the need arises. And I’ve found that it’s important for Sprite to verbalize what she learns. Yes, even in math you can use narration.

So at least once or twice a week, I make a point to ask specifically what her math lessons are covering. If she can’t tell me, that’s a sign of a problem. But just telling me the topic isn’t enough, either. Then I follow up with a question — “And how do you do that?” Normally these math check-ins are brief and give me reassurance that Sprite is really understanding. As a plus I can see where the lessons are headed and learn any techniques that are different from how I was taught.

Write About Math

For the most part we stick with oral narrations, but when a TT lesson results in a bad score, I like to take our talk to another level with math notebooking.

Before Sprite reworks the problems she missed, we talk about the concepts in the lesson. I ask probing questions and make her define math vocabulary terms. I help walk her through the math rules as she writes on a notebooking page. Her page may include sample problems, diagrams, and charts along with text.

The notebooking page often turns out to be a handy reference for reworking the problems she missed the first time. The effort of explaining the math in words normally corrects faulty thinking and refocuses Sprite’s attention on the key concepts.

Add on Math History Lessons

Lastly, we can add on the math history from livingmath.net. To be honest, we haven’t spent any time on our mathematicians in many months. But once we wrap up Ancient Rome, I anticipate having a bit more time to devote to math history.

At any rate, the point is that you can incorporate biographies of mathematicians into your use of Teaching Textbooks so that you have a holistic approach to math.

I know that a lot of my readers use Teaching Textbooks, too. Do you consider TT part of a living math approach? And if so, how do you make TT more living?

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Georgia O’Keeffe Artist Study

Jimmie — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:15:39 +0000

Our artist this term has been Georgia O’Keeffe. I borrowed the book Georgia O’Keeffe (Library of American Art Series) from our library. It is an oversized volume with plenty of full color art for daily picture studies.

Our artist study methods have remained the same, year after year. Sprite studies a work of art for a minute or two and then without looking at it, narrates it verbally back. Sometimes she sketches in in broad strokes on scratch paper as she explains. Other times we discuss certain aspects in detail or delve into the background of the artist or the painting. But the norm is a quick three to five minute pause for art.

O’Keeffe Sketching

Over the years, Sprite has taken many art classes, but now at 12 her drawing abilities are blossoming rapidly. She has a wonderful art teacher and a generous grandma who has contributed some quality art pencils. (Thanks, Mom!) Because she is so motivated to sketch, our O’Keeffe study was punctuated with lots of drawing sessions.

O’Keeffe’s paintings of flowers, of course, led us to study a flower in detail. We grabbed the only thing blooming in the yard — a daffodil.

In The Annotated Mona Lisa, we read why Georgia O’Keeffe drew flowers so large. [Go over to The Notebooking Fairy to read her quote and download a free printable of it.]

She sketched apples and leaves, both in the style of O’Keeffe.

To be honest, I don’t plan out these sketching activities. They just happen. Sometimes I suggest a sketch, and others times Sprite thinks of it. (I don’t force Sprite to draw if she is not inspired. ) I have learned that artist study is something that flows nicely out of our daily picture studies without much advance preparation. And our schedule is loose enough that we can take an extra thirty minutes here and there to do some sketching. Often I read our history lessons out loud while she draws.

Although I cannot focus on words when I paint or draw, Sprite seems to have no problem with it at all. Her brain is wired very differently from mine! In fact, she seems to comprehend better when she is sculpting or drawing.

O’Keeffe Notebooking

Of course, part of our O’Keeffe study included notebooking pages about her life and style of art. Find these printables at The Notebooking Fairy:

Sprite’s narrations are based on what she observed herself, what we read in The Annotated Mona Lisa, and an excellent YouTube video.

Additional Resources for O’Keeffe

Picture Books

Activity Ideas

Paint a Close-Up with Georgia O’Keefe a magnifying glass

Practical Pages Sketches in the style of Georgia O’Keefe

Georgia O’Keeffe Watercolor I especially like how this flower extends off the page.

Abstract Flowers Simple flower drawing activity.

Using an Artist for Inspiration Art for Homeschool blog shares a great reproduction activity.

Georgia O’Keefe Notebooking Page A black and white image of the artist with lines to write on.

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Art Games Charlotte Mason Would Love: Birdcage Press

Jimmie — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I grew up playing the traditional Authors and Composers card games. (Who else played those?) They were a great way to pass a rainy afternoon while learning the names of artistic masterpieces and the faces of their creators.

I’ve discovered a modern alternative of those games over at Birdcage Press. Look at these beautiful Renaissance and Impressionist art games! (Find Birdcage on Facebook here and at Twitter as @birdcagepress. Sign up for their free newsletter here.)

About the Art Games

They are card games (not board games) based on the classic Go Fish pattern. Play revolves around making sets of art, all by the same artist. A gorgeous full color book comes with the set of cards and serves as a reference for those questions that normally arise when you play a game.

The cards have a nice thick coating and rounded corners. For many of the cards, only a cropped selection from a work of art is shown on the card (the caption says detail). This cropping is obviously to keep the cards uniform in appearance while showing as much of the art as possible. The book, however, features the entire work of art so that you can find what else is missing from the thumbnail on the card. The artist’s name features prominently along the side of the card. At the bottom is a list of all of his art included in the card game. The piece that is on each card is first in the list and is in bold typeface.

Why would Charlotte Mason love these games?

they are full of art – full color reproductions of great masterpieces
the art is always titled and is grouped by artist
there is no silly twaddle or fluff; just art
the game includes a living book full of more art and history

In fact, since the book has four to six works of art by each artist, you could use these games as your artist study material for an entire year. For example, the Impressionists art book includes 32 works of art by 8 different artists — 4 works each. The Renaissance art book has 30 masterpieces by 5 artists — 6 works each. With constant review by way of the card game, your children would be intimately familiar with the art and artists in each set.

The book centers on the art and has some explanatory notes about each piece. Brief biographies of the artists are at the front of the book along with an overview of the time period and a timeline.

Sprite and I have played our games a few times outside of academics time at her request. I guess that is the true test of an educational game. If it is only played with during “school,” I don’t deem it as much of a success. When it passes the evenings and weekends test, it’s a quality product. These Birdcage games pass the test in our home. I admit, we are lovers of art. But games like this make it easier to create an environment that is supportive of art appreciation.

And you can certainly use the Birdcage Press Art Games for artist study in your homeschool. I can imagine using them for

review or assessment
introduction & overview
museum preparation
reference (especially the book)

But for now, they are just fun.

Discount Code

Birdcage Press has set up a promo code for free shipping just for homeschool parents! This code is IN12 and is good only through March 31, 2012.

Giveaway

Birdcage Press is also offering one of my readers her choice of art game — either Impressionist or Renaissance. To enter, leave a comment here, telling me which one you would prefer. Actually Birdcage has other topics besides art — history and science for example. So in your comment, you can mention something else, but I’ll only be giving away either Impressionist Art Game or Renaissance Art Game. I will choose the winner on Feb. 27, 2012.

For additional entries (leave a comment for each):

follow @birdcagepress at Twitter
tweet about this giveaway, including @birdcagepress in your tweet
pin a photo from this post at Pinterest
tweet your pin, including @birdcagepress in your tweet

Giveaway Fine Print: Must be 18 or older to enter. Must be an American resident to enter.

Disclaimer: Birdcage Press gave me two free games in exchange for my honest review. I was pretty excited because I had wanted these for a long time!

Other Giveaways

I’ve connected with a group of homeschooling bloggers who are also offering giveaways of Birdcage Press products. Be sure to visit them all and enter for the games you most want to have.

Spell Outloud — Choice of Egyptian Art Cards or Battle Cards-Military Jets
Finding Joy — Choice of Wild Cards – North American Birds or Art Ditto Game.
Mama’s Learning Corner — Renaissance Art Game
Handbook of Nature Study — Wild Cards-Backyard Birds
Harmony Art Mom — Choice of Go Fish for Art or Art Close-Up Cards
The Curriculum Choice — Art Ditto Memory Game
Hodgepodge — Go Fish for Wildlife – Sea Creatures
The Traveling Praters — Choice of Go Fish for Van Gogh and Friends or 52 Amazing Places-National Parks
Get Along Home — Choice of Wild Cards, Backyard Birds or Renaissance Art Game

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Poet Study: Maya Angelou

Jimmie — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

In the past our poetry study has been regular in timing but haphazard in selection. We worked through chapters or randomly chose poems from an anthology. But now that Sprite is in middle school (7th grade), I am moving towards the method Charlotte Mason recommended — studying one poet per term (like we study artists and composers).

Poet this term -- Maya Angelou

This term we are studying Maya Angelou.

My selection was not at all scientific. At my local public library, I went to the juvenile poetry section and found all the books they had in the Poetry for Young People series. I laid them on the table and let Sprite choose which one. She chose Maya Angelou.

She is a personal favorite of mine, and although Charlotte Mason never had the benefit of reading Ms. Angelou’s poetry, I feel sure she would approve of modern selections among our classics.

I really like the Poetry for Young People series for poet study because so much of the work has been done for me.

There are plenty of poems to get a good feel of the poet’s style.
The poems have been specially chosen both to represent the poet and also to suit children.
The book is a picture book that is beautifully illustrated.
There is a biographical article about the poet.
Each poem has a brief introductory remark that helps with understanding it.

One of the advantages of studying a modern poet is the ability to hear and see her read her poetry. I selected two such videos plus two additional biographical videos for Sprite to watch. You can access them at Maya Angelou Poetry Study.

Notebooking for Poet Study

I had Sprite use the author notebooking pages to take notes about Angelou.

I’d love to hear which poet you are currently studying or otherwise how you are incorporating poetry into your homeschool. Leave me a comment.

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Hymn Study with Then Sings My Soul

Jimmie — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:55:15 +0000

One of the things we have let slide in this past year in America is hymn study. To be honest, because we go to church several times a week, we are getting far more exposure to hymns in America than we ever did even with deliberate hymn study back in China. It just goes to show that there is no substitute for natural experiences in our children’s education. Singing The Old Rugged Cross in a group of many hundred people is a powerful experience that needs little explanation. It’s been wonderful for Sprite to become familiar with a mix of both classic hymns and modern ones in our home church.

Of course, it’s beneficial to study the hymns as expressions of poetry and theology back at home during the homeschool day. So when I had a chance to read Then Sings My Soul Book 3, I was excited to add a hymn study reference to our bookshelves. This third book in the series continues the same format — short chapters with background histories about the writers of the hymns and how they composed them.

What I love about this volume is that it features hymns of all ages from modern writers such as the Gettys and Stuart Townsend (In Christ Alone which I love) to as early as the 1600s. In between the extremes there are popular hymns, lesser known hymns, and even gospel songs by William Gaither and Andre Crouch. The eclectic mix matches the music at our own church, so this book serves as a great complement to expand on what we sing every week.

Layout -- hymn on left, narrative on right

So far we have been picking out a familiar tune from the chapters every now and then and reading about it. It’s a very informal study, but I believe in Charlotte Mason’s assurance that a little done often reaps large benefits. The book opens with a few chapters that trace the history of hymnody — Biblical hymns, ancient hymns, medieval hymns, German hymns, English hymns, and gospel and contemporary praise. At some point, I hope to cover this material with Sprite. For now we are enjoying the language and the truths of the songs and a bit of background information.

The bulk of the book is one page stories about various hymns. The left side has the music and lyrics of the featured song, just like what you would see in a hymnal. The background or narrative is on the right side. Some of the stories are more gripping than others, and many of the hymns are unknown to me (a former Methodist turned Baptist).

The one thing I do not like about this book is cosmetic. This book has rough cut paper along the side — deckle edge or feather edge, it is called. It looks as if it were torn. While I would love this look on crafts, it has no place in a modern book. It makes it impossible to thumb through the book since the pages are of varying lengths. Do the publishers think it makes the book holier to have a contrived “old” appearance? Not a fan of deckle edge on homeschool books.

Disclaimer: I recieved a copy of this book as part of the ">Booksneeze program in which I share an honest review in exchange for a free book.

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