Beginning to plan again!

I'm starting to plan out the next term for our school. I have a CM planner guide from the SCM conference that I went to and it really gives great tips on how to plan your curriculum. I actually feel like I could come up with my own curriculum on my own now. Before now I've been trying to find a curriculum that's already set and making it fit my needs. I'm not sure it's been working the way I want it too.

I'm debating, now...whether to make a few more changes. See, I've been using a lot of Ambleside Online. I love the books that they suggest, however I'm not happy with the order in which they suggest them. For instance, today we read some about the Vikings, followed by Buffalo Bill. They're both great books but there's no time continuity. We took their year 1 and did it for 1 1/2 years so we're about ready to start Year 2 for AO. I've already got the books so I can't just ditch them, but I may need to come up with my own reading schedule. I'd just like for the kids to be reading chronologically as much as possible. We're also using The Story of the World book 1 so we're getting a great Ancient history lesson. Maybe I need to add in more Ancient history living books rather than the ones AO suggests.

Any suggestions?? What have you found that works in the way of history using living books?? I'd love any help you can give!

Back to School!

After a nice two week break which included a trip to grandparents and Disney World we are back and ready to begin again! Our house is still in disarray but we will attempt some sort of normalcy beginning tomorrow. I promise to conclude my Simply Charlotte Mason conference this week. I need a refresher myself! I hope everyone has had a wonderful couple of weeks and it's good to be back! God bless your upcoming homeschool week!

Jill

Characteristics of a Living Book

At the Simply Charlotte Mason that I attended earlier this month Sonya Shafer helped us to understand the characteristics of a living book. This was eye opening to me as I've always found myself wondering how to determine if a book is worthy of the children or not. Here's what she said:

1. Make the subject come alive. A living book allows the child to live in personalities that he finds in the books. A living book entices the child's emotions. It helps you form an emotion with the event. She said that if you open the book and look over a portion of it, and you want to keep reading then you've probably found a living book. It's not a book full of dates, statistics, etc. Basically, as far away from a text book as you can get.

2. Get in touch with great ideas from great men. A mind feeds on ideas. We need to feed the children's minds with good ideas, what is beautiful, noble, and bright.

3. Well-written. CM says the books must have:
-literary power
-worthy thoughts well put
-inspiring tales well told
-good simple English with a certain charm of style

4. Not childish twaddle. Twaddle is described by Miss Mason as "not diluted". Books should not talk down to the child. Look at the length of sentences. Check out the very first sentence on the first page and that should be an indicator. A lot of the "reading made easy" books are twaddle says Sonya.

5. Give the child the idea that knowledge is supremely attractive and that reading is delightful.

6. The best you can find. CM admitted for some subjects it is hard to find a good living book. Do the best you can.

7. Can they narrate it? This was a major test that CM gave as to whether a book was a living book or not.

8. Meets your personal standards. Just because a book is on a certain book list doesn't mean you have to use it. Does it have a Biblical worldview? What attitudes are endorsed? Magic or not? Note: CM used fairy tales with kids. It helps to spur on the imagination. But again, it's a personal decision.

Basically, choose your books before God- you have to answer only to Him! CM education is not child directed, but the child should enjoy the books.

I hope this helps us all to be able to discern a good living book from twaddle. I personally don't have a problem with my dd7 reading a little twaddle every now and then. I grew up loving to read and mom let me read anything I wanted. If I had to read only more difficult and tiring books I doubt I'd have the love of reading that I have now. For school and bed time we make sure we have good living books. But in spare time I'm not going to stop her from reading a little twaddle if I have approved the book first.

Well, we're leaving tomorrow for a much needed and much anticipated family vacation. The best part?? The kids don't know yet! We're going to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and then we're leaving on Friday for Disney World! I'll post a couple of pics when I return. I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!! Even those of you not in the US...let's all remember to be thankful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! We have so many blessings!!! God bless!

Jill

Simply Charlotte Mason Conference

A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to be able to attend a SCM conference by Sonya Shafer. What a sweet, precious woman who is such a wonderful resource in learning about the CM style of education. She has many different seminars, however I attended the Books &Things Seminar (which is the one I would have chosen, given the chance)!

She started out with a quote from Miss Mason herself.

"Education is the Science of Relations; that is, that a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we must train him upon physical exercises, nature, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books; for we know that our business is, not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid, as many as may be of 'Those first-born affinities, that fit our new existence to existing things' " (Preface to the Home Education series).

I love the part of the quote that stated "our business is not to teach him all about anything...". Doesn't that relieve a lot of the pressure that we, as homeschooling mothers, put on ourselves? Our role is to show them a little about a lot, in my opinion. We are to teach them how to teach themselves to become lifelong learners. Let's tickle their fancy about a lot of subjects and see what comes of it. I really liked that quote.

Sonya placed the three types of relations that we, as humans, have onto a chart:

Relation to God
Relation to Man
Relation to Universe

Then under each of those three she placed the school subjects that we study:

God: Bible
Man (past and present men): History, Literature, Morals and Economics, Citizenship,
Composition, Languages, Art
Universe (God's creation): Science, Geography, Math, Physical Development/Handicrafts

I love seeing these laid out in this way. Each subject is taught as a relation to one of the three things. I've just never thought of that in this way. This was the conclusion of her introduction (haha!). I'll post Session 1 in another post. Hope you're enjoying it!

Jill

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

Yay! It's CM blog carnival time again and I have two articles in this carnival! (I think I accidently sent two in, oops...my mistake.) But what fun to see your blog entries on someone else's site. I've really started liking this! haha! I hope you'll take a look at Richele's blog "Under the Golden Apple Tree". It's full of wonderful CM articles. And yes, I know I'm so very late in updating everyone on my wonderful CM conference. It's been a very busy time in our household and I hope to get to it soon! Meanwhile, look over the other articles on the CM blog carnival. Happy reading!

Fall Wonders- CM style!

"It would be well if all we persons in authority, parents and all who act for parents, could make up our minds that there is no sort of knowledge to be got in these early years so valuable to children as that which they get for themselves of the world they live in. Let them once get touch with Nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of pant and animal life and to care for none of these things" (Vol. 1, p. 61).

As we were waving goodbye to Daddy this morning Man-Man looked up at me with an excited grin on his face, eyes wide with anticipation. "Mommy, when can we go into the back-back and study our nature study?" The "back-back" as the kids have so named it, is the large free space that exists behind our back gate. Daddy put a gate into the fence so that we could go into the wonderful wooded area behind our house and explore all that God has for us. There is even a little creek back there.

I told Man-Man to go get his shoes on and tell his sisters we're going to do our nature study. The sleepy house was suddenly alive and jumping! In no time we were out of the doors, with Gidgi (my mom) and Lucy (our dog) in tow.

"Wow, Mom! The leaves are all gone! And our favorite hiding tree has no leaves on it either!" Man-Man was the first to notice the drastic change in our trees from two weeks ago. No longer are the beautiful yellow, red, orange, and brown leaves hanging from the trees. Instead they are piled up in a mound under the trees from which they fell. The kids love one tree in particular. It has large limbs which bend under the weight of the leaves to form a canopy of sorts. It's a club house, or secret hiding place for them. But now, it's bare and empty. We found a wonderful treasure on their tree though. Large, green, oval shaped things hung from the branches. Some of these green things were split open to reveal a pecan hanging inside. What a fun discovery! They ran around the tree finding other green capsules to open up and even began gathering the pecans they found on the ground.

I asked if they could tell which leaves used to be on the tree. There were many many different types of leaves on the ground under this tree. The wind had been working it's magic and all of the leaves were mixed up. Tink found one little lone stalk still hanging onto the special tree though. She ran and picked it, proudly proclaiming that THIS must be the leaf since it came from the tree itself. We matched it with some of the leaves on the ground.

"The child has truly a great deal to do before he is in a condition to 'believe his own eyes'; but Nature teaches so gently, so gradually, so persistently, that he is never overdone, but goes on gathering little stores of knowledge about whatever comes before him" (Vol. 1, p. 66).

Man-Man made another discovery. Over in the distance was a tree that still had many green leaves on it. As a matter of fact, though some leaves had fallen, most were still as green as ever. I picked up a leaf from our Pecan tree off of the ground and took it over to the new mystery tree. I picked a "leaf" from this tree and held the two together. We discussed the fact that this new tree was actually a pine tree and noted the differences in the leaves' shape and color. We also found other evergreen trees in our back-back and compared those leaves. Now, the children made these connections on their own. All I did was guide their discovery. How proud I was that they noticed and wanted to know more about these spiky pine needles I held in my hand.

"That the child should be taken daily, if possible, to scenes-moor or meadow, park, common, or shore-where he may find new things to examine, and so add to his store of real knowledge. That the child's observation should be directed to flower or boulder, bird or tree; that, in fact, he should be employed in gathering the common information which is the basis of scientific knowledge" (Vol. 1, p. 177).

After spending over an hour in the beautiful Fall weather we returned to the indoors to put together all that we'd discovered. Tink drew a picture of the new evergreen needles she and Man-man had discovered. She also wrote a wonderful "essay" detailing many of our facts and adventures outside. This has been one of the most surprising benefits of our Nature studies. Tink really loves to write about what she's seen or done. She writes it once and we go through it together correcting spelling and punctuation. She then recopies it onto a clean sheet to put into her nature journal. There we go...science, spelling, grammar, copywork all rolled into one!

"Of the teaching of Natural Philosophy, I will only remind the reader of what was said in an earlier chapter- that there is no part of a child's education more important than that he should lay, by his own observation, a wide basis of facts torwards scientific knowledge in the future. he must live hours in the open air, and as far as possible, in the country; must look and touch and listen; must be quick to note, consciously, ever peculiarity of habit or structure, in beast, bird, or insect; the manner of growth and fructification of every plant" (Vol. 1, p. 264).

"And this is the process the child shoudl continue for the first few years of his life. Now is the storing time which sould be spent in laying up images of things familiar" (Vol. 1, p. 66).

Jill

Simply Charlotte Mason

I had such an amazing time at the Simply Charlotte Mason conference this past weekend. Sonya Shafer was the speaker and it was wonderful to put a face to her name. I've always respected her and her work, now I was able to see and hear her. What a sweet and knowledgable lady! I have so much that I want to share, now I have to get my thoughts organized and figure out what to share first!

I want to thank my wonderful mother for first finding the conference and then driving 5 hours to attend it with me. Also, she bought all of my Christmas presents in the form of SCM books! Yay! Like I said, I have lots of resources and thoughts to share. But for now you'll have to settle for a few pictures. Until tomorrow...

Jill