CM education in the Bible?

I love it when the Bible teaches me something new. Isn't it glorious that each time we read it, God can lay something special and specific on our hearts? This weekend He reinforced the method of homeschooling that He's led me too, Charlotte Mason.

My husband teaches a college SS class at our church. On Sat. night we were reviewing the lesson and something amazing struck me. The passages are found in Mark 12:28-34. Earlier in this chapter the Sadducees and the Herodians and the Pharisees had been trying to trap Jesus by asking questions that, no matter how He answered would make some people mad enough to want Him dead. Of course, Jesus answered perfectly "and they were amazed at Him".

Verse 28 picks up with one of the scribes who had an honest question and was really wanting to know the answer. He asked Jesus "what commandment is the foremost of all?" (Mark 12:28) Jesus answered him in verses 29-31 stating that "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "

Here comes the lesson: look at verses 32-34. In these verses the scribe narrates back to Jesus exactly what He just spoke and even added in some of his own interpretation to prove that he thoroughly understood the Lord's words when he said, "...is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."


Notice Jesus' response, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Wow! Even Jesus taught this way. It struck me immediately that that was what Miss Mason says about narration. If we're able to repeat the passage, story, or lesson back and add some interpretation of our own, then we've truly mastered the content.

I am so pleased with the way in which God has guided me in our homeschool. He continues to show me daily where I need to pick up the pace, slow down, or switch all together. Daily I thank Him for this gift that he's given me, the gift of my children and the ability to teach them in His ways to the best of my knowledge.

Jill

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

Weekly Wrap-up Jan. 18-27 (o.k. so it's more like 2 weeks!)

This week is going well. We're plugging right along and the schedule seems to be one that works for us. This week in history we're learning about the middle kingdom of Egypt and the new kingdom of Egypt. We learned that Nubia was taken over by Egypt and they renamed it Kush. I remember David writing Psalms about being in Kush. I'm going to find those to add to the history lesson.

We also finished up our study on Venus and are moving onto Earth. Venus was fascinatind to us and we spent a lot of extra time camped out there. The fact that Venus rotates backwards, therefore disproving the Big Bang Theory, was very neat. Also, we learned that a day is longer than a year on Venus. And that we couldn't live there because the atmosphere is too dangerous. Sulfuric acid is on Venus instead of Oxygen and we could not breathe. Venus is also hotter than Mercury due to the fact that venus has an atmosphere that traps in the heat, whereas Mercury does not. I'm really loving the Apologia Science and the kids are getting so much out of it. This weekend we're going to get our new telescope out and look at Venus through it and try to figure out the different phases it's going through. So neat!

Ds5 is doing great on his reading. He's moved onto Bob books for a while. He still does his Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading sometimes but it's good to change things up. He loves the Bob books so that's a plus. I'm so proud of his progress. He's plugging right along in both math and reading.

Dd7 is reading more and more books. Her love for reading is really growing and right now she's reading about 3 different books at a time. Lol...she's like her Momma! She gathers them up in a group and goes to sit down and reads a few pages from each. She keeps up with them too. She can tell me more about Little House in the Big Woods than I could. She doesn't enjoy math, yet she's so good at it. We keep working on it. I guess I never really liked it either, yet it's a necessary evil.

Tomorrow Dd7 will play in a piano competition. She's loving her piano lessons and she catches on so fast. I'm proud of her progress and can't believe what she's already playing. When she gets a little free time she heads for her piano. I'll post pics of her performance soon.

Well, off to teach my angels. Bible first...

Jill

Weekly Wrap-up

Last week went amazingly well yet again. I'd love to be able to get back to our nature studies, but as of yet we just haven't found the time. That's the only thing we didn't get to last week. I can work that in once the schedule gets more routine. For now, I'm focusing on keeping us on task and moving towards completion each week.

We began our new family Bible study last week led by Daddy at nights. We're doing Genesis through Deuteronomy: Ancient Egypt by SCM. The kids are really loving this and it's even more special because Daddy's leading it. They love having Daddy teach them. He's a great Bible teacher and he's not Mommy! lol! I guess they are too used to my voice all day! ;) Dd7 is still meeting our sweet ladies from church at the library each Thursday to learn to knit. She's doing quite well, and she loves it. Of course the ladies love having her in there. She mentioned that she'd received some knitting books for Christmas and they asked her to bring them and share them next week. It's one of the more special times of the week.

Ds5 is really coming along in his reading. I'm so proud of him and his desire to stick with it, even though it's very hard to decode the words. He's a smart boy. And he's very proud that he's doing most of his work with Sissy.

This is one fact that I'm most proud of as well. Everything but math and language is done together in our school. I believe this is the main reason our school's running so much more smoothly than last year. I was splitting the kids up way too much. One of the biggest blessings in homeschooling is that my family is together. So I love having them all learning the same thing and discussing it together. The kids learn just as much from their siblings as they do from me.

Thoughts of the New Year

The worries of life sometimes get in the way of doing what you would like to do...such as updating my blog more. I don't and won't ever complain though. I may get tired, grumpy, and need to sneak away for a nice long bath every now and then but I feel blessed beyond measure that the Lord has provided a way for me to stay home with our precious angels and homeschool them.

I'm so in love with life. I love waking up in the morning cuddling with my babies, knowing that I don't have to rush out the door to get them to the school by some unGodly hour. I love the family breakfast each morning (well, minus Daddy) followed immediately by our Bible study and the rest of our school day. I love knowing that I don't really have to get dressed except for church on Wed. and Sundays. ;) I love seeing the light spark in my children's eyes when they understand a new concept or remember something we've already learned. I love the nap time that comes after a long day of teaching. I don't always get a nap but I do always have a rest time. I love the afternoons where we get ready for Daddy to come home and the kids help me make supper. I'm so blessed. Blessed beyond measure.

But most of all I love knowing that come 6 o'clock the man of my dreams is going to walk through that door and our family is complete. We've really taken the time the past couple of months to focus on our family and our family time. Our kids beg for "family nights" and the funny thing is...we have it nearly every night. Dh has just started a new family Bible study and we're having a lot of special moments with it. The kids gather at his feet and hang on his every word. Of course, this is after the wresteling, tickling, and giggling that goes on with Daddy the moment he gets home. He's their hero and the best Daddy ever. I thank God that our children have such a man to model their future husbands (for the girls) and themselves (for ds) after.

As the new semester and new year starts I pray the Lord will let us continue to grow our family into a tighter, closer bond. Most of our day is spent in His Word or work and the kids expect nothing less. God is first in our lives. He is the reason for living. He is the rock our family relies on. As the college comes back and our responsibilities with that ministry increase I pray that above all else, we are where HE wants us and no where else. I pray that our special family time remains the constant in our lives and that we are able to balance our lives with the priorities that HE wants for us.

Thank you Lord that you are a God of love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and hope. May we always be focused on You.

Happy 2010 everyone!

Jill

Weekly wrap-up - Jan 4-8

This was our first week back and our first week with the new schedule. We got EVERYTHING done this week (well, minus one day of history which we'll make up for this afternoon) for the very first time. I'm so excited about our new schedule and the time that we have for a few "extras". We start with Bible each moring, prayer, Bible verses, Books of the Bible, and the treasured "Fruit of the Spirit" song that even my 2 year old knows. The kids then illustrate their Bible story and my 5 year old son started this as well. I love seeing his little drawings and it's so neat to see the different things that each child gets through the stories. God is good!

We then move to handwriting, language arts, and spelling. We're loving our handwriting book, Handwriting Without Tears. Only Dd7 is doing this as Ds5 is doing Explode the Code. Yesterday Dd7 learned to write a formal letter through this book. It's great. For spelling we started something new this term. We will be using Spelling Wisdom from the Simply Charlotte Mason website/curriculum. This has been a favorite find of mine as it teaches spelling using phrases from classical books, Bible verses, famous quotes, etc. We're learning two things at once. LA is also new this term. I have never really done LA because I couldn't find a curriculum that I was happy with. English For the Thoughtful Child seems to be exactly what I was looking for so I'll let you know how that goes.

Math is all the same. Horizons k for Ds5 and Saxon 3 for Dd7. They're doing great with these and really excelling. I guess they take after their daddy!

After a break we come back together and do science and history together. I'm still trying to figure out the timing of these lessons but for now we're doing science one week (every day) and history one week (every day). It was too confusing for ME to try to do one on Monday and Wed. and the other on Tues and Thurs. This week was history and we learned about Ancient China and the Shang dynasty. I requested some books from the library that were listed in the "extra resources" section of SOTW and they really helped bring the history alive. That's what CM style of education and living books are all about.

There are other things that I'll add in as soon as we get used to this schedule. Mainly, picture study and music study. But those only take a few minutes a week so I'm not worried about fitting that in. When the weather is better we'll be back to our nature studies as well. But living in MS we're not used to having weather in the single digits...brrrrr....it's cold!!!

Jill

A New Semester, A New Beginning

The kids are thumbing through some picture books right now about ancient Egypt. These are books that I've been collecting over the years in preperation for our year with the Ancients. I waded through the books on my shelves (I have many, many books...it's a passion of mine) to make sure that these books won't be overlooked this year. We are officially starting (and continuing...lol!) our year in the Ancient World.

Let me explain: I love Charlotte Mason, I love classical style of education as well. I love The Well Trained Mind and I love the CM series. Wow. They're not too different, yet they're completely different at the same time. I first stumbled upon WTM a few years ago and I couldn't wait until my oldest was old enough for first grade. I had plenty of time to get my ducks in a row and waited impatiently for that 1st grade mark. We were going full steam ahead with everything that Jessie and Susan Wise Bauer said. But then Miss Mason grabbed ahold of me. I love the "gentle art of learning". I love the fact that I don't have to be at a certain spot or through a certain book by a certain time. I want my school and home full of living books that tell stories rather than spurting out facts. I love letting our school be the guide and not a book. I developed a new philosophy. I guess it's mostly CM with Classical undertones.

So for a year and a half I've been following the Ambleside Online (CM) schedule and really loving it. Yet, we were also doing Story of the World (classical) history on the side. It has just been too much for me. I never keep up and always feel bad for being behind, even though we're doing more than enough school each day. Over the break I prayed about it and I realized that I can really do both CM and classical if I work at it. I have decided to put AO on pause (although I love the books and will continue using them as extras) because I didn't like how it jumped around to different time periods in history. I wanted to focus each year on a specific time period and maybe have different books outside of that period as our free reads. I am sticking with Story of the World for now, as I like the maps and extras provided in the workbook. The kids are learning so much about Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, China, and India. I'm learning much as well. I honestly was NEVER taught this! We're all loving it! Last night I searched our library online for some of the extra books that are recommended in each chapter and we have at our library at least two of the extra reads per chapter. So I'm going to request those and add those into our weeklong study of each chapter. I feel this will take away some of the stress of following two curriculums at once and it'll get me back to where I wanted to be in the history rotations. Now, we are a litte behind since my oldest is half way through second grade but it worked out perfectly! God is good isn't he?? See, now my son is old enough to listen and participate and he's getting a lot out of the Ancients as well.

I guess what it all boils down to is do what works for your family and don't be afraid to change/tweak/abandon a curriculum if you're not happy. Our day is still slam full of living books and CM style of education (picture study, music study, nature study, etc) with some classical history added in. I think we're all going to love it. And if not...I know what to do! ;)

Jill