If only I could convince my violin playing son to learn this piece....ahhhh...heavenly.
You can watch all four movements on YouTube...they play in sequence. The second movement makes me weepy and the fourth movement is so uplifting. Both musicians are so crisp and confident...applause, applause.
Just a taste of one of the videos that will be included in my new Harmony Fine Arts Grade 2 plans.
While you are at it this weekend, I would encourage you to pop over to one of my new favorite bloggers at An Oregon Cottage. Jami shares so many wonderful frugal ideas for moms and this weekend she is holding a giveaway for a $50 gift certificate to Target for subscribing to her blog and leaving her a comment about a favorite post. What have I found that I enjoy reading on her blog? Her Tuesday Garden Party posts are right up my alley. Her tutorials are fun too.
My daughter is a girl who loves words and digging into a good dictionary, often times she pulls out my big thick reference dictionary and "gives" us a word of the day. As I was preparing to write this post I thought of some words that might describe our week's studies and I will give them to you to think about today.
History: Grateful
It is a strange thing when your child's history lessons start to overlap your lifetime. Mr. A is reading and studying events during the 1960's at this point and I have found myself recounting memories that are relevant to his work. Although I don't remember this particular event (since I would have still been a toddler), I do remember President Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. A, who was joined by Mr. B, watched this video as part of his research on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I realized that they do not understand the thinking that was so much a part of the world at that moment in time. The idea of segregation in society and schools is foreign to them. It makes me feel deeply grateful that this change in thinking could happen so drastically from my parents' generation to my children's generation.They live in a colorless world. Mr. B's friend is bi-racial and I truly believe he has never noticed it.
Chemistry: Authentic
The study of chemistry has become more than okay over the past few weeks. My struggles seem to have subsided at least for now. The change in focus from the academic side of chemistry to the delight-driven exploration of the elements gave the spark for the boys to turn around their attitude. Just that shift in focus has allowed me to slip in the Apologia modules that I think will complement their study and it has been accepted with very little grumbling. They have completed three modules and at last week's Friday meeting we had a rousing discussion about chemistry that I didn't think was going to ever happen this year. There was enthusiasm, debate, and *laughter* as we watched one of their periodic table videos together. Imagine that! It has become the authentic learning that I was chasing after.
Literature: Insight
I haven't talked much about literature lately. We are busy working on reading and discussing quite a number of books right now. I was reviewing an old post of mine that showed how we work with literary terms and realized that I have a few left in my box that need to be covered before the end of the year....guess I better pull them out to review with Mr. A. My favorite book that we are reading together is The Chosen. What a story about a world very different from our own. We are gaining insight into a different time period, culture, and point of view, partly through discussion but also due to digging deeper into themes, the conflicts between characters, and the underlying setting at the end of WW2 and the formation of Israel.
Planning: Trust
I have had a few inquiries about how I am going to shape some of our high school courses to be included on transcripts, how to count credits and define courses with titles. I will be honest and say that it is still a work in progress. Because neither one of my boys has huge aspirations to go to competitive universities, I have some freedom to let them explore perhaps more than a family that is pointing towards a more traditional college experience. Both boys have interests and desires that would take them down roads where their homeschool high school experience will be more accepted with transcripts that may be more creative or narrative. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night in a panic because their studies don't fit into neat little boxes and I wonder how it will all work out. I trust that it will.
New Tools: Relevant
Something that was introduced to me this week that has started to shape our homeschool in an ever evolving fashion, Khan Academy. Using technology and YouTube in general has enriched the opportunities for my boys to dig deeper into their own interests and to find ways to connect to material. Khan Academy is just another piece of the puzzle.
These short videos are going to enhance our study and allow my sons (and myself) to have up-to-date information, in a format that is both convenient and relevant. Sal Kahn is really good at making things understandable and I whole-heartedly thank him for his vision and his initiative. Schools without walls via the internet makes sense and I am on board, allowing my boys to take an interest, run with it, and use these videos to help spark more learning and exploring.
I am constantly reminded of how much there is out there to inspire and bring wonder to our high school studies. We don't need to sit our children down at desks with stacks of texts in order to educate them. They have a boggling amount of opportunities to learn about things that our brains can't even imagine when we sit planning with pencil and paper. The fact that there are passionate people out there like Sal Khan to partner with in our journey is an incredible privilege.
Who isn't inspired to learn more about stars, galaxies, the Hubble telescope, and astro-photography after watching a four minute video like this one?
If you are planning high school for your children, you owe it to yourself to check Khan Academy out.
This will end sort of a different variety of Weekly Wrap-Up. I hope it has got you to thinking this February Friday. I sometimes feel as if I am blazing a trail for those behind me but then I am humbled by those that are going ahead of me. So my last word of the day is humble. May we all end our day's journey feeling humbled by the gifts our loving Father has given us on this particular day.
I was the recipient of another Random Act of Kindness today in my real life.....can't tell you how much it made me smile!
I found a really inspiring page with a variety of good ideas for simple and easy Random Acts of Kindness. Click over and read some of the lists for yourself and see if you can add some kindness this week into a stranger's life.
Last week's assignment was to sketch something related to Disney. These sketches just made me *smile*. Thank you for bringing some sunshine into my week!
This week's assignment due Monday, February 28th, 2011: Sketch a birdfeeder, with or without birds.
All sketchers are welcome and there is no need to sign up. Send in your sketches in jpg format and mail them to: sketchtuesday@yahoo.com by Monday, February 28th, 2011 and I will include them in Tuesday's slideshow. Complete instructions are found by clicking the Sketch Tuesday tab at the top of my blog.
Don't forget! Heather is starting a brand new weekly meme using my Drawing With Children plans. Hop over to her Kingdom Arrows blog to read all about it. This is another opportunity to include art in your homeschool week and to share with other families.
Tapestry of Grace can be overwhelming to someone just starting out on the journey. There are ways of keeping your weeks light and custom fit to your family and its unique focus. Using notebook pages in our homeschool high school has helped our family stay on track and to keep from being buried by the possibilities offered in the Tapestry of Grace plans.
I am a firm believer in the process of real learning: read, ask questions, read some more, write about it, and then discuss it. Of course this is a learned process and I certainly never expected it from my children when they were younger but now that they are in high school I definitely expect them to be able to work this way. It makes them own their knowledge.
Over the years I have depended less and less on the Tapestry of Grace blue activity pages and charts. I realized that by having my boys use those preplanned questions, hoping for the "correct" answer, I was cheating them of being part of the process of finding out what is most important. Using notebook pages gives them a little freedom to ask themselves questions and then share in their written narration just what they discovered about their reading for the week. We meet on Fridays to discuss their week's work and I read their notebook pages to see what they are gleaning from their studies.More often than not, they surpass my expectations. If I think they have missed something important, we discuss it at that time.
Steps To Determine What Notebook Pages to Offer Each Week
At the beginning of each school year I sit down to decide which subjects we will need notebook pages for as we work through our courses. This is a step you will use even if you don't use Tapestry of Grace. Some subjects we keep notebook pages for include the following: History, Biographies, Literature/Authors/Literary Terms, Geography, Artists/Composers, Presidents, Timeline, Bible/Religions, Government. Since we do not have quizzes at all and very few tests in our high school courses, I use the notebook pages as a personalized record of each boys' work each term.
If you are trying to incorporate the two ideas (TOG and notebooking) together, I have listed below my process for choosing notebook pages on a weekly basis
If you are using Tapestry of Grace, pull out your weekly plan and first read your purple Teaching Objectives page for your level. I use a highlighter to remind myself which are the topics we will be emphasizing this week. (This is where a lot of families get overwhelmed...pick one or two things to dig into and don't try to cover everything in one year. Ideally you will cover this material at least one more time before your child graduates.)
Next, turn to the first yellow Overview page and skim through the material there and highlight any additional ideas you wish to emphasize. I look at the people and timeline lists and make sure we are going to hit the highlights.
At this point you are ready to decide on notebook pages for the week. I have all the tables of contents pages from every notebook set I own printed and filed in a binder for reference. I pull my binder out and turn to the appropriate categories. I choose one or two pages for each topic I have highlighted from my Tapestry of Grace plans.You can see my notes written with dry erase markers on the sheet protectors. I marked the week number for the pages we used from this set.
You can see this is not a complicated process if you keep it simple. Additional Notes:
If we are finishing a literature book, I make sure to print out an author biography page to complete for that book.
My boys love maps so using geography pages that go along with our history setting is a welcome topic. Sometimes we complete the page from the history time period and then do a separate page for a more modern look at the nation. (For example, Ancient Babylon and then also Iraq)
If you open your Tapestry of Grace plans and realize they cover something that you do not know anything about, turn over to the appropriate pages in the Teacher's Notes and read the information. This should give you a pretty good idea of what needs to be included in your week. (The page numbers are in the gray bar for each subject on the purple Teaching Objectives pages.)
We use notebook pages to keep written narrations from the week's reading. These notebook pages many times then become the basis for more formal writing assignment like this one on King Solomon.
Sometimes there is not a premade notebook page that fits a topic we have in mind. Most sets of notebook pages come with a blank customizable page at the end of the set. You can also purchase a set of basic notebook pages that you can add images or sketches to for a perfect fit.
If you would like to see some more of our high school notebook pages, you can click over to my Notebooking for High School page on Squidoo. You can also click the notebooking tab at the top of my blog if you want more details for many, many sets of pages we have used over the years.
Hope you found this information helpful....I wish I would have had a better system when I started using notebook pages.
My Affiliate Information for Notebook Products and Tapestry of Grace
This is the best deal in town on 1000's of notebook pages. I highly recommend purchasing a Treasury membership from NotebookingPages.com.
If you are looking for one set of pages to go with your ancient history study, this is the one I highly recommend. (It will be included in your Treasure membership if you purchase one.)
This is my favorite set of notebook pages designed for high schoolers. If you click the button, it should take you to History Scholar World History Set.
Of course it goes without saying that I have enjoyed using Tapestry of Grace over the last six years.
Last week's assignment was to sketch something that grows on a farm. Don't miss watching the slideshow...there are some wonderful entries this week and quite a variety of subjects! Thank you to all the families who are participating and helping to spread the word about Sketch Tuesday.
This week's assignment due Monday, February 21, 2011: Sketch something to do with Disney.
All sketchers are welcome and there is no need to sign up. Send in your sketches in jpg format and mail them to: sketchtuesday@yahoo.com by Monday, February 21st, 2011 and I will include them in Tuesday's slideshow. Complete instructions are found by clicking the Sketch Tuesday tab at the top of my blog.
Heather is starting a brand new weekly meme using my Drawing With Children plans. Hop over to her Kingdom Arrows blog to read all about it. This is another opportunity to include art in your homeschool week and to share with other families.
Sometimes I find it hard to spin all the plates at once.....my balance comes close to being off-center but then I realize that I need to walk away and do something to clear the thoughts and keep myself from getting overwhelmed. Over the years I have learned the warning signs and this week I was close to the tipping point.
Mr. B balances his school day with a little basketball break.
I wanted to write a quick wrap-up post to share, especially since I didn't write one last week. Here are some highlights and some photos.
Literature and writing: We finished the Iliad! This is the last time I have to cover the Iliad in my homeschooling career and I am breathing a sigh of relief. Three times through is enough for anyone in my opinion...this time was probably the most thorough coverage with Mr. B, partly because I have read it so many times but also because Mr. B loves this epic and did a great job with his notes and narration. We have two essays going right now and they are both going to be very interesting reads. Mr. A is writing about the development of the hydrogen bomb (chemistry *and* history) and Mr. B is writing about ancient Assyria and their battle tactics (idea from TOG history/writing).
Chemistry: We have hit our stride! It only took us until week 21 of the school year to find our rhythm for chemistry. Viewing this subject from the perspective of a living, breathing thing....we found ways to capture interest, develop some good questions, and then be able to write about what was learned. (Maybe we will end the year with a feeling of success after all.)
Baking: Mr. B made zucchini bread and dinner rolls for us.
Both boys have been working at odd jobs this week, saving up money for car insurance. Mr. A's welding class took a field trip to an engineering business this week and he is all jazzed to learn some computer-related design for metal fabrication. Lucky for him his older brother has some expertise in this area and I will be encouraging some further investigation into what it will take to get him some skills in this area. It is great to see some sparks of enthusiasm as he explores the real world out there.
Look at all that great stuff!
Here is where I have had my nose all week...deep into planning and writing new plans for Harmony Fine Arts Grade 2. Although it is hard work, it is also very exciting to find wonderful new resources to be used in interesting ways as part of the new plans. I am really looking forward to launching this new ebook/print version of Grade 2 which covers Gothic, Medieval, and Renaissance art.
I am off for a little hike with the family. I saw a field of mustard blooming when we were out and about this week and I want to go take some photos to share. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Wildflowers-McGurk Meadow Yosemite National Park Summer 2009
Every wildflower is different but beautiful in its own unique way. Who could pick the best or most valuable wildflower? I would hate to think of a world filled with just one species of flower to see all year round.
I have come to feel that way about people too, my children in particular. Each one is different but beautiful in their own unique way. One of the differences that I have come to embrace is the idea of learning intelligences or learning strengths. I have been actually brewing this post for weeks but Brenda at The Tie That Binds Us wrote a blog entry this week about this topic and it spurred me to finish my entry up as well.
I grew up and went to school at a time when the idea of "multiple intelligences" was not quite yet filtering into the school system and teaching methods. I was introduced to it when my children were very young by my aunt who is a retired school teacher. She sent me a book (The Everyday Genius) and it changed my whole way of thinking about how to offer learning experiences to my children.
I think I have read this book about twenty times...each time I glean a little more from the pages. It started my quest to find a more meaningful way to help my children learn and enjoy learning. I discovered a whole new way of thinking about learning and the value in determining how each of my children engaged life.
Child Number Three Shook My World
I started homeschooling feeling quite confident in my ability to teach. My oldest two children made me look pretty good as far as being a teacher. My daughter is a linguistic learner which fits a more traditional school model. She can read, narrate, and write with ease because words are her strong-point. My oldest son is a quiet intrapersonal/mathematical learner. This also fits a pretty traditional way of schooling. Then along came my third child, Mr. A. All the old tricks didn't seem to work with him no matter how hard I tried.
Mr. A started playing the trumpet at age seven which seemed young but it has proven to be a great outlet for him. We found a trumpet teacher that loved his energy and she is still playing trumpet with him ten years later.
Turns out Mr A is a Visual-Spatial Learner and since this is very different from how I learn it has been one of my biggest challenges in homeschooling. (He is also a musical learner but that is a whole other post.)
Here is a wonderful website that is devoted to the idea of this one kind of learner: Visual-Spatial Resource
A brief list of attributes of a VSP learner (complete list HERE)
Thinks in pictures and sees the big picture
Learns concepts all at once
Better at keyboarding than handwriting
Visualizes words to spell them (words misspelled will not "look right")
Better at math reasoning than computation
Generates unusual solutions to problems
These qualities and strengths make using traditional schooling methods difficult.
See the colored pencils? They are a useful tool in teaching a VSP. He also fiddles with the models there on the desk as he works on his schoolwork. I add educational posters in the work space. He also likes sitting at the window where he can watch the birds in the feeders.
A Few Examples From Our Experiences
For instance, visual-spatial learners can give you the correct answer in algebra without writing down all the steps. Writing the sequence is difficult for them since they visualize the answer and many times don't understand exactly how they got there. My son will explain his thinking and I will look at him blankly. I want him to write the steps exactly like the text outlines but he finds it near impossible to duplicate their thinking because he solves the problem correctly using his own methods.
Another example came to light last year when we were preparing for the SAT. We discovered that multiple choice tests are like riddles to this VSP child. He has a way of reasoning many answers to be correct. I can remember when he was little and he had a worksheet that asked him to number a series of pictures in the correct order (story sequence). He would agonize over the pictures and rarely get the "correct" answer but he could explain exactly why he ordered the pictures the way he did and it would make sense. He has never been happy with the idea that there is only one "correct" answer.
Writing skills came late to this particular child and it was only after we started using IEW and making key word outlines and using rubrics that this child began to bloom as a writer. He does not think in words but pictures so allowing him to doodle on the outline and in his written narrations has been a great way to tap into his thinking strengths. He also likes to use notebooking pages where he can sketch or add images to his writing. He has often told me that he cannot take notes at our Bible Study because it is hard to listen and write at the same time. He ends up making mind maps and doodles instead.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "Mom, can we go for a bike ride today?" I would be a rich mom.
Lately I have noticed that he will alternate between his reading assignments and assignments that allow him to be moving or use his spatial faculties like playing his trumpet or watching a DVD lesson. He also has begun to space out his writing assignments each week. Allowing him this freedom has made him a much better student.
How Do We Adapt Our Homeschool To A VSL?
Here are some more tips that I have found work for Mr. A in his schoolwork and learning in general.
Math is done on graph paper instead of lined paper...with room for doodles.
Writing is done with charts and outlines, graphically showing how to put the pieces together.
Liberal use of notebook pages to allow sketches and images.
Use of more visual texts when needed like Math-U-See.
Include art and music as part of the core curriculum.
Outdoor time is essential....movement and photography have helped Mr. A as he as grown into a teen.
Sketching skills emphasized and included in core courses like science and history.
Take advantage of their ability to memorize.
Include video courses for building interest in subjects like history and science.
Give opportunities for more visual-spatial courses like auto mechanics, robotics, woodworking, and painting.
Provide time and space for hobbies that fit their learning styles. Mr. A is learning to fly an airplane and he uses Flight Simulator to relax. He designs and builds RC airplanes where I see many of his skills come together.
Use colors to organize notebooks, folders, and notes.
Allow colored pencils and markers for writing narrations and spelling words.
Give lots of visual clues during the day to keep on task like a checklist or agenda.(We use Homeschool Tracker.)
If you are planning on taking major tests like the SAT, prepare them by practicing with a timer. This was an area that was difficult for my VSL. Timed tests are more difficult because they tend to lose track of time.
If you think you have a VSP learner, you may be interested in reading and then printing this document out for your planner:
One thing that has helped me be a better teacher and mentor to Mr. A is to have continuing education about his learning style. This book is the best of the best out there right now as far as I'm concerned. See if your library has it and then purchase your own copy if you think your child learns this way.Visual-Spatial Learner by Alexandra Shire Golon.
If your library has this one, I highly recommend it as well. It gave me lots of insight into how my children think and how I can better offer learning in a way that makes sense to them. A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine.
Would like to hear about my daughter for a change? I know that she is rarely the subject of a complete blog post but since she just turned 25 years old recently I have been thinking how she is an example of how we never know where our children will end up in life.
Amanda is my oldest child and my only daughter.(You all know here from her blog Hearts and Trees and her kits.) She has always been about pink and purple, hearts and flowers. She is a naturally creative girl and actually inspired many of my passions...the ones I had to learn about to make sure she was getting the skills she craved. Sewing, drawing, scrapbooking, photography, painting, a love for things Hawaiian, peacocks, bread making, quilting, cookie baking, beading....the list of things she introduced or reintroduced to our lives is really long. She is a flute player, an expert fit ball user, graphic designer, literature loving, creative person. She dresses with a flair and even at 6 feet tall she wears high heels.
So when she told us a year ago that she wanted to start working with volunteer construction as part of her Christian ministry, we were a little surprised. She has always helped her dad around the house on his various projects but she is now talking about learning trades like concrete finishing, dry wall installation, and learning to lay pavers. So, with the usual Amanda conviction and determination, she has set out to learn all she can in the construction field. She gets dirty and sore but she is happy.
I also might mention that she has learned fluent Spanish in the past three years. Self-education is an amazing thing when you see it in action.....she had motivation at this point in her life and uses it as part of her ministry.
The lesson we have learned by watching this young woman is that the 20's can indeed be a time of growing, a time of becoming someone that is useful to God and family. She is an example of someone who has found meaning and contentment in remaining single when everyone else around her is getting married. She has shown us that there is so much more learning and growing to do after high school and we don't need to cram it all into a few years during the teen years.
Proud to be her mom....or as she calls me....Little Mama.
Last week's assignment was to sketch something you find on a boat or ship. As always, there are many creative entries that reflect lots of effort. It is such a joy to open my email box and see such a great variety of sketches and sketchers.
This week's assignment due Monday, February 14th: Sketch something that grows on a farm.
All sketchers are welcome and there is no need to sign up. Send in your sketches in jpg format and mail them to: sketchtuesday@yahoo.com by Monday, February 14th, 2011 and I will include them in Tuesday's slideshow. Complete instructions are found by clicking the Sketch Tuesday tab at the top of my blog.
Instead of my usual Friday Weekly Wrap-Up, I am offering you the following post. I did intend to write a wrap-up post but somehow when I sat down to pull it together....these were the thoughts that were in my heart that I wanted to share. So I will postpone my usual Friday post and combine it with next week's entry...in the meantime, enjoy my thoughts on building good habits.
It has been pretty quiet and ordinary this week which I thrive on and so do my boys. What contributes to our smooth and easy weeks are lots of good habits....even in high school we are still working on instilling good habits. I realize my habits are under their scrutiny and if I want them to have good habits I need to set a good example.
"Railroad tracks on which a train runs is a good analogy of the relationship of habit to our lives. It's easier for a train to stay in the grooves of the track than to leap up and over the tracks to disaster. In the same way, if tracks of good habits are laid down carefully within the child, it will be easier for him to go along those tracks than to run off and endanger himself. The laying down of these tracks is serious business and directly impacts the child's future. The parent should think about which tracks will be most beneficial for the child and lay those down so that the child can go along through life with the least friction. If the tracks are smooth and easy, the child will glide along at a nice pace and never even stop to consider whether he might rather choose another path." Charlotte Mason. Volume 1, page 109
We have been working with the boys on some new habits and this week a big milestone has been reached in our household. I no longer am doing any laundry for my children. The boys have now been trained to do their own laundry and this time I noticed that they did it without being reminded and it was folded and put away before I had to even mention it to them. Smooth and easy indeed.
Habits worth having are worth all the effort. I think when our children are younger we look at the list of habits we want to instill and it can be overwhelming. Taking each habit one at a time and making it a little bit of a focus works over the long run.
"Doing a specific action over and over again forms a habit. Following a habit faithfully will make that action become second nature and difficult to shake off. Keep it up for ten years, and that habit has as much strength as ten natures, and can't be broken without major unsettling of the person." Charlotte Mason. Volume 1
Habits make things easier for our children. They have more time to put into activities they love when their chores are done without thinking, their possessions are orderly and in good repair, their clothes are clean and ready in the mornings, their schoolwork is done at the end of the day, they have had a healthy lunch and they are free to do as they wish.
"Mothers should avoid constantly hassling with their children over doing their lessons. For one thing, it's stressful for the mother! It is worth her while to make sure that her children never do a lesson that they don't put their whole heart into. This isn't as impossible as it seems. The key is to be on guard from the very beginning that children never develop the habit of not paying attention." Charlotte Mason. Volume 1
My biggest tool in this department has been Homeschool Tracker. Having a plan for each day gives the boys a beginning and ending point to their schoolwork. I know that during certain times of the day they are expected to work at their formal schoolwork and they know they need to pay attention and do their part to keep on track. The reward for them is time in the afternoons to pursue their own interests and projects. The reward for me is to see the attention and interest in their studies....going further with the assignments all on their own.
I love this collection of things on the nightstand, the pocketknife and toy airplane seem to about sum up the teen years.
"Children must be prevented from getting into a mood where they say, 'I'm so tired of math,' or 'of history.' His interest must be stimulated. There must always be something pleasant for him to learn about." Charlotte Mason. Volume 1
I struggle with this one since it is more about making a good habit on my part so the boys can do their part. I want to make things interesting for my boys so this means paying attention to their interests and trying to feed those interests. My biggest accomplishment lately is to have finally found a rhythm to our chemistry study. I can see it in their eyes now when they are telling me about their chemistry assignments. Their narrations are so much more passionate and from the heart. I was looking for a key and focusing more on the elements of the periodic table themselves and not the books has made all the difference. Wonder and awe at God's creation is what lit the fire. This is the "living book" I was looking for all this time, the Book of Creation which is available to us each everyday. (These videos are a great asset.)
"This practice of telling back sounds simplistic, but it's really a magical creative process where the person narrating 'sees' what he's talking about in his mind, clear and vivid--after reading the material just once. I keep repeating the stipulation about only one reading because--let me say it again--it's impossible to give our full attention to something we've heard before, and know we'll hear again." Charlotte Mason. Volume 1.
High school courses are filled with lots and lots of reading. My boys don't have time to spend going over and over things so careful reading of their books is necessary just to keep pace. The habit of careful reading and the ability to narrate orally or in written form their work each week is a habit I am so glad we have developed. What a joy at our Friday meetings to hear their enthusiasm for their reading! True, not all of their books are equally interesting but this habit of careful reading and narrating makes surviving a book they don't like much easier. They read it and respond and move on.
"Children taught this way are fun to be around because they're interested in so many things, and they have worthy thoughts. They have a lot to talk about, and this kind of talk can't help but have a beneficial effect on those around them--and on society. That pleasant sense of knowing about things worth knowing, and things that make life worth living, is like a delightful atmosphere." Charlotte Mason. Volume 1
This quote is in the section right after building good habits and it makes me have tears in my eyes as I read it to myself on this February morning. I realize I am living in that "delightful atmosphere".
As you all know, my homeschooling days are numbered. The sand is slipping through the hourglass and soon our family's homeschool experience will end. I try as much as possible to glean the joy from each day, not to waste a single hour by being too busy or too preoccupied with my own stuff to miss the little moments that happen right under my nose.
But even with all my deliberate intention on savoring each moment, the days pass by too fast.There is no rewind.
I was reading the latest Veritas Press newsletter (Read it here online.) and it got me to thinking. The premise of the article was that homeschoolers need to stop changing their curriculum so much. He talks about switching between curriculum and putting children in and out of public school.
Here is a small bit from the article.
"Jumping from one curriculum to another tends to leave gaps in our children's education. Generally, a curriculum has an over-arching philosophy. The curriculum takes this particular philosophical approach throughout. The philosophy of the curriculum drives the content from kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is meant to be done from beginning to end, with the hope of achieving a particular goal at the end of the road."
I have done some curriculum hopping, perhaps one might think a lot of curriculum hopping. Let's see. I have used Abeka (texts), Sonlight (literature based), Well-Trained Mind (classical), and Tapestry of Grace (classical with my own Charlotte Mason twist). For math we have used Abeka, Saxon, Math-U-See, and Teaching Textbooks. Science has included Abeka, Sonlight, and Apologia. I don't think there is a single area of our homeschooling that we have picked and stuck with one curriculum or homeschooling method.
It would have been much easier to just plod from year to year moving from one level to the next in a particular curriculum. So why didn't I do that?
Perhaps it was because in my heart I knew that if we had picked and stayed with Abeka or Sonlight or even Tapestry of Grace, our homeschooling would not have been as enriched and exciting as it has been. There seems to be no sense in sticking with any materials that are not working for your family. I know I created learning gaps but somewhere along the line I found the key to our successfully navigating those gaps.
I discovered a woman who lived over a century ago who rocked my world. Charlotte Mason really made me stop and think about all the things I was doing and teaching in a new and exciting way. She made it impossible for me to continue taking things at face value or to take the more familiar road. She gave me power and the incentive to do better than stick with a curriculum just because I might cause some "gaps".
Gaps are not to be feared anymore but to be expected.
I am not a maker of gaps or a filler of gaps. Gaps happen all on their own and I think it doesn't matter what curriculum you use because they all have gaps. I trust that God can fill the gaps.
In all fairness, here is another little snippet from his newsletter:
"I am not saying we should NEVER make any changes. But being in the habit of constantly jumping from one to another will certainly create problems, and these gaps in their learning will likely not manifest themselves until later in their education."
I say make needed changes when necessary and worry about the gaps when they "manifest" themselves. I am a firm believer in working from where you are and building on your child's strengths. I also think that in the long run, what matters the most, is that you encourage a love of learning and the making of good habits. Charlotte Mason's ideas provide help in both areas.
The books and particular curriculum plans should be tools you use to get where you want to be in your unique family. Living, breathing, meaningful books and materials that speak to your child's heart are the best way to provide the ideas that they need to nourish their education.
Ideas take precedence over curriculum.
I have shared this quote before but it keeps running through my mind as I mull over the Veritas Press Newsletter article.
"There is more than one way to get from point A to point B. Everything I've said should reiterate my point: that varied reading, and lots of it, as well as people's ideas expressed in the various forms of art, are not an optional luxury to be offered to children when we happen to think about it. It is their very bread of life. They need it regularly, and they need a lot of it. This, and more, is what I mean when I say, 'The mind feeds on ideas and therefore, children should have a generous curriculum.'"
This week's sketch assignment due Monday, February 7th, 2011: Sketch something on a ship or boat.
All sketchers are welcome and there is no need to sign up. Participate as much as possible and make sketching a weekly habit. Send in your sketches in jpg format and mail them to: sketchtuesday@yahoo.com by Monday, February 7th, 2011 and I will include them in Tuesday's slideshow. Complete instructions are found by clicking the Sketch Tuesday tab at the top of my blog.
