The Moon-new memory work

The Moon

The moon has a face like the clock in the hall:

She shines on thieves on the garden wall,

On streets and fields and harbor quays,

And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,

The howling dog and the door of the house,

The bat that lies in the bed at noon,

All love to be out by the light of the moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day

Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;

And flowers and children close their eyes

Till up in the morning the sun shall rise.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Scripture Memory and Copywork

Scripture memory and copywork have been going together hand in hand recently in our homeschool. I have learned that sometimes it's easier to have dd7 copy something that she's already learning. The way we learn scripture is by printing off a Bible verse and placing it inside a plastic sheet in a 3 ring binder. I have certain days that I go over different verses but we always recited at least 10 verses a day. I've even noticed ds5 memorizing a lot of scripture this way, without our even asking him too. For copywork I have dd7 write parts of the poem we're currently learning (right now it's Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken) or she copies different verses from our scripture notebook. She is really getting great with her handwriting and her memorization always continues to amaze me!

Our Memorization/Recitation poem for the term!

I've been trying to find a poem, passage, or work to have dd7 work on memorizing this term. Many wonderful ladies have given their opinions and I love hearing what others are doing. A part of me wanted to let her choose which she'd learn, yet this being her first work I wanted to set a firm foundation for her. Our preacher preached a wonderful sermon this morning about being at a crossroads. Daily, in our Christian walk we have to choose which path we will take. We choose the path of the world which is wide and full of others we know. Or we choose the path of Christ which is narrow, hard, and sometimes lonely. I'm sure you can figure out where I'm headed now...here is the poem we've decided to work on this term.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet, knowing how way leads onto way

I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood

And I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Recitation/ Memory work

As I finish up my lesson plans for the first unit of school I am at a loss as to which poems or pieces of literature to have the children work on memorizing. Charlotte Mason believes that children have a much greater ability to memorize than we give them credit for. I wholeheartedly agree with her. My children began learning scripture verses last year and by the end of the first term they had each (ages 4 and 6 last year) learned 20 verses...my 6 year old even more.

The way I chose my verses from last year were by using the verses they were supposed to be learning in church. I help teach Bible Buddies at our church and at the beginning of the year there is a long list of scripture verses each child is handed. I figured, why reinvent the wheel? So my children set out to learn those verses plus many others that I loved.

This year I'm going to try the scripture memory program selected by SimplyCharlotteMason.com. It looks amazing and I found it over a year ago. However I've been waiting until now to put it into effect.

This still leaves the question as to which longer piece of work that I'd like the children to memorize this term. This would be one single work (it will more than likely differ with each child) that they would work on memorizing for the term and have a little program with parents and grandparents at the end to recite it. Public speaking is very high on my priority list as well as Miss Mason's.

Here is a tid bit that I copied from LindaFay at her blog, Higher Up and Further In.

Here is what Miss Mason recommended children of various ages learn within a twelve week term of school:

6 to 8 year olds- Recite a poem (each child may choose a different one), learn two hymns, a Psalm, and two suitable scripture passages of 6 verses each

9-11 year olds- A Psalm, and two suitable passages of about 12 verses each, two hymns, a scene from the Shakespeare play being studied this term, or, 40 lines from this term's poet such as Longfellow.

12-14 year olds- Learn two suitable passages of about 20 verses each from chapters in Bible Lessons. Two hymns, a Psalm of David. A scene from the Shakespeare play being studied this term, or 50 lines from this term's poet.

15-17 year olds- Learn two suitable passages of 20 verses each from chapters in Bible Lessons. Two hymns. Two psalms. Two poems (approx 50 lines), or, a scene from Shakespeare.

Thus, I continue to search for the passage to memorize for this term. I'll let you know what I find. I value any suggestions you may have.