Fisher Academy International ~ Teaching Home

It's official!

2012-02-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

We're expanding...

Blog Button for CM Blog Carnival, 2012

2012-02-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

We now have a fresh new face for the CM carnival in 2012! Yay!
A special thanks to everyone who voted!

This colorful eclectic collage button received 22 of 70 votes and was created by our very good friend Jimmie from Jimmie's Collage -
We're so thankful for her contribution!!

If you'd like to post this button on your blog or website, please do! We're always happy for more bloggers and readers who are interested in Charlotte's philosophy and practice to participate in the Carnival! The more the merrier! ;) Just copy and past the above html portion to do that (if you want it bigger or smaller adjust the width after pasting to your blog. :)

Helpful links:
CM Blog Carnival FAQs
Submit a post to the upcoming CM Blog Carnival
A list of past carnival posts can be found here.
2012 scheduled carnival themes

As for the winner of the $25 gift certificate redeemable at currclick.com...

drumroll, please...

Random.org's randomly sought after random sequence generator chose #11. And the eleventh commenter on the voting post was Nadene from Practical Pages! Congratulations! Thank you all for participating, I hope you all enjoy the colorful face of the CM Blog Carnival for 2012 :)

*This giveaway was sponsored by CurrClick.com who has just last month launched a new CM Discussion Group and would love for you to join them (it's online and it's free, take a look here).

Vote now for your favorite CMBC logo/button!

2012-01-31T19:58:00.000-08:00

Seriously, ladies!

In the latest Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival, we announced a potential logo/button redesign for the CMBC. A few talented ladies have submitted some pretty nice options for us to choose from!!

Take a look at all these awesome CMBC buttons! We have some homeschoolers with real design talent among us. I know it's gonna be difficult for me to decide! Make sure to cast your vote and then come and leave a comment on this post to be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to currclick.com!!

See contest details below :)

Please use the poll in my sidebar, to cast your vote!
Leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

See details below for how to be entered to win:

USE YOUR IMAGINATION

Here are the details...

HOW TO ENTER: ~~Send an e-mail with your SQUARE .jpg, .png or .gif attached to charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com by 1/31! This is only a week away!~~ (This opportunity has ended, see below for other ways to enter)
On January 31st, a poll (see sidebar) will be posted here on FisherAcademy where you can vote for your favorite from the newly submitted options, or vote to keep the old one!
HOW TO WIN: ~~Every logo/blog button submission is worth an entry to the giveaway! Anyone can play! Get your aspiring web-designer-kids to try?!~~ Earn an entry in the drawing simply by leaving a comment on this post after voting (you must vote AND leave a comment!), but note that ONLY those who leave a comment after voting will be entered in the giveaway (I don't have a way to track or get in touch with who votes, that's why you must leave a comment! :)
The giveaway is sponsored by CurrClick.com who has just this month launched a new CM Discussion Group and would love for you to join them (it's online and it's free, take a look here).
Drawing for the $25 gift certificate will take place on Monday, 2/6. Winner will be announced Tuesday, 2/7. The new logo/button will be announced in the upcoming CM blog carnival. Stay tuned! ;)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - Imagination {vol.1}

2012-01-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to welcome you to the Imagination edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival! :) While not all the posts are overtly about encouraging imagination in your children or what have you, all of them will involve using your imagination in how apply what you've learned to your situation! :) I'm very excited about this topic, and even though my month has been swamped with too much to do and for that reason I didn't get a chance to post, I've been reading and thinking and imagining all about imagination and it's important role for the learner. I'll intersperse some of my favorite quote finds with the wonderful submissions for the carnival. :)

Imagination, preparing to adorn and crown Truth.
Engraving by Benoît Louis Prévost (d. 1804)

Imagination is Inherent in Children:

"Who shall measure the range of a child's thoughts? His continual questions about God, his speculations about 'Jesus,' are they no more than idle curiosity, or are they symptoms of a God-hunger with which we are all born, and is a child able to comprehend as much of the infinite and the unseen as are his self-complacent elders? Is he 'cabined, cribbed, confined,' in our ways and does the fairy tale afford a joyful escape to regions where all things are possible? We are told that children have no imagination, that they must needs see and touch, taste and handle, in order to know. While a child's age is still counted by months, he devotes himself to learning the properties of things by touching, pulling, tearing, throwing, tasting, but as months pass into years a coup d'oeil suffices for all but new things of complicated structure. Life is a continual progress to a child. He does not go over old things in old ways; his joy is to go on."
vol 6 pg 36

:: Nancy presents Silva Rerum - Commonplacing as a Habit ::

:: Sarah presents Imagination ::

An Imagination Grows:

"Now imagination does not descend, full grown, to take possession of an empty house; like every other power of the mind, it is the merest germ of a power to begin with, and grows by what it gets; and childhood, the age of faith, is the time for its nourishing. The children should have the joy of living in far lands, in other persons, in other times––a delightful double existence; and this joy they will find, for the most part, in their story books. Their lessons, too, history and geography, should cultivate their conceptive powers. If the child do not live in the times of his history lesson, be not at home in the climes of his geography book describes, why, these lessons will fail of their purpose. But let lessons do their best, and the picture gallery of the imagination is poorly hung if the child have not found his way into the realms of fancy." v1 p153

:: Nadene presents Inspired Imagination ::

:: Barb presents Build An Imagination - Allow Time for Experiences that Lead to Thoughts ::

The Responsibility of Education:

"How do we prepare a child, again, to use the aesthetic sense with which he appears to come provided? His education should furnish him with whole galleries of mental pictures, pictures by great artists old and new;––Israels' Pancake Woman, his Children by the Sea; Millet's Feeding the Birds, First Steps, Angelus; Rembrandt's Night Watch, The Supper at Emmaus; Velasquez's Surrender of Breda,––in fact, every child should leave school with at least a couple of hundred pictures by great masters hanging permanently in the halls of his imagination, to say nothing of great buildings, sculpture, beauty of form and colour in things he see. Perhaps we might secure at least a hundred lovely landscapes too,––sunsets, cloudscapes, starlight nights. At any rate he should go forth well furnished because imagination has the property of magical expansion, the more it holds the more it will hold."
vol 6 pg 43

:: Tammy Glaser presents Fruits of Thoughts ::

:: Leah presents Love God - Love Geography! ::

:: Katey Kautz presents Eagle Migration ::

Dangers of Imagination:

"Imagination may become like that cave Ezekiel tells of wherein were all manner of unseemly and evil things; it may be a temple wherein self is glorified; it may be a chamber of horrors and dangers; but it may also be a House Beautiful. It is enough for us to remember that imagination is stored with those images supplied day by day whether by the cinema, the penny dreadful, by Homer or Shakespeare, by the great picture or the flaming 'shocker.'"
vol 6 pg 55

:: Michelle presents Curriculum Overview: School Year 2012-13 ::

:: Kelly @ The Homeschool Co-op presents Librarian's Picks - WoodsWalk & Night Science for Kids ::

:: Laura Grace Weldon presents How The “10,000 Hour” Rule Can Benefit Any Child ::

Thank you all SO much for your submissions, for reading the carnival and for leaving words of encouragement on the various posts!!

::

The upcoming CM blog carnival:
Hosted by Barb on February 7th
Theme: Nature Study
Reading Selections: "Sight-Seeing" section in volume 1, page 45-48.

Please submit your posts by no later than Monday 2/6.
You may do that here (or from the link in my sidebar).

If you would like to receive occasional reminders by e-mail regarding the CM Blog Carnival, please send an e-mail to charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com.

::

And now an exercise for our imaginations!!

Awhile back, I overheard some whisperings of discontent with our current CM Blog Carnival logo... it's outdated!... and ugly! Well, while we all differ in our aesthetic sense, and I'm not necessarily completely unhappy with it, I wouldn't be opposed to changing it either, so I thought we'd have a game and then a vote. And voting is always more fun when accompanied by a giveaway!! See details below to see how you could win a...

USE YOUR IMAGINATION

...and come up with a design for a potential new CMBC logo/blog button!

Here are the details...

HOW TO ENTER: Send an e-mail with your SQUARE .jpg, .png or .gif attached to charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com by 1/31! This is only a week away!
On January 31st, a poll will be posted here on FisherAcademy where you can then vote for your favorite from the newly submitted options, or vote to keep the old one!
HOW TO WIN: Every logo/blog button submission is worth an entry to the giveaway! Anyone can play! Get your aspiring web-designer-kids to try?! Earn another entry simply by voting, but note that only those who leave a comment after voting (on the poll post) will be entered to the giveaway (I don't have a way to track or get in touch with who votes, that's why you must leave a comment! :)
The giveaway is sponsored by CurrClick.com who has just this month launched a new CM Discussion Group and would love for you to join them (more info to come).
Stay tuned for more details to be posted on January 31st :)

Here's what the current logo/blog button looks like:

Here are some examples of what a new logo/blog button might look like:

So there you go, please send in your submissions for the upcoming blog carnival

AND your logo/blog button ideas to charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com!

Top 10 things I love about Charlotte Mason's Philosophy

2012-01-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

Here are the top 10 things I love about CM's Philosophy... today :)
I'm always learning more, so this list will undoubtedly grow, and there are surely things I've neglected to mention... maybe you can help me in the comments?
Here are my reflections from last year, and from three years ago...
Uh right, back to this year, here you go:

I love to learn and I want make it as easy as possible for my kids love learning too! Like many of you, I didn't always know the joy that comes from learning. I do vividly remember the awe I experienced outdoors when I was pretty young. But it was my experience in school to be uninspired by boring text books taught by bored teachers. It wasn't until I began researching the teaching of my own kids (even before they were born), and then actually watching them learn for themselves, that I realized again how many interesting things there are to know. Charlotte's philosophy of education is the most delightful I have encountered, not just for children, but for learners of all ages!
Books. Need I say more?
Charlotte Mason encouraged Nature study as the training ground for keen observance. The ability to focus on something for an extended amount of time, paying close attention to detail, developing knowledge based on personal experience with the diversity of plant and animal life are all invaluable to a wide and varied curriculum.
Nature Study has multi-faceted value. In our day and age, the need to be outdoors tends to be forgotten; and if not forgotten, then at best undervalued. Charlotte Mason regularly emphasized the benefit of nature study and the necessity for children to have many hours outdoors. I've found that when we spend extended periods of time outside, we tend to be drawn outside of ourselves, out of our self-absorbed existence into the enormous and incredible Creation; we gain perspective and the propensity to acknowledge God as the eternal Problem-Solver is increased.
The training in CM's way of the will has been key in turning this family around, starting with the parents. :)
Narration works.
An appreciation of the arts enriches life through our understanding of the human experience as relates to God, man, and the world around us.
Children are persons. They will learn because they must. They will learn in spite of us. We get to teach them, because God has given us the privilege. Our children are the people who will lead our future families, our churches, our nation, our world.
As persons, they are interested in the same things as we are (or as we should be interested in, if we haven't been dulled up and dumbed down!). They don't want silly stories, or kid-i-fied versions of things (they do get spoiled though don't they? generally though, they can tell the difference). They want to know about things from someone else who is interested in knowing things (through personal experience or from the wealth of authors who have written out of their own passion to know).
As children learn about all the interesting things in the world they form relationships, which as CM taught, is what all of education is – the Science of Relations. It is this science of relations that helps us to understand that people are whole beings, in a whole universe held together by One God, Who made all men and all things and Who is working. As we learn about ideas and things we are really learning how we relate to Him, the world and to others, also how all things relate to other things, because He made and sustains them all.

CM offers a short synopsis of her educational theories as practiced in homes and school for many years here.

What are your favorites?? This month's CM blog carnival has "My Favorite CM moment" as theme. Do you have a post about your favorites or another post related to using CM's methods in your school? Submit it here.

Upcoming CM Blog Carnival: January 10th

Theme: What do you like the most about CM educating?
Submit your posts here.

Happy 2012!

Homeschool Day Book - A Review.

2012-01-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a relatively inexpensive, no frills, SUPER easy-to-use program to keep track of your homeschool progress. I love to plan, but I have not found a way that I love to keep records. I do something a little different every year. I'm hoping that by high school, I'll have figured something out. The Homeschool Day Book, may just be a step in the right direction!!

Here's my honest review:
So right off I had several problems. There isn't a mac download option! My main computer is a mac, so I can foresee a follow through issue here for me as the program isn't available for the computer I use the most. But if you have a PC (at least as a backup like we do), you'll be okay.

The second minor problem I encountered was on my netbook. The default screen size or resolution is too small or something to that effect. I went ahead without making any changes and it's workable. Of course, if you have a normal size computer screen, you won't have this issue either. One of my criticisms will have to do with this.

The general idea of the program is that you enter your students, your subjects and you make an entry each day filling in the various fields for a record of who did what when. It's pretty much for keeping a homeschool-specific digital diary. It'd be best if you could see it to know what I mean. Don't worry, there's a free trial version. :)

This is where you enter your subjects :)

++ When you first get started, there's a little start up wizard where you add your students and subjects. Once you get past the wizard, it seems you can add as many students/subjects as you'd like; I have 48 so far :) I even entered individual books rather than subjects as it would be more helpful for me to check off the individual readings. In the detail box (what we did today), I can enter the specific pages covered if so desired. When adding more subjects, it would be nice if it were set up as a default action to be able to press enter after each subject so as to not have to use the mouse to press the button.

This is the main page... :)

When I'm looking at the main home page, the buttons are nearly off the page (I think this has to do with the screen size issue referenced above). But I can still get at them, even if barely. Everything else looks good, but for practicality, I'd like it if the scrolling section with the check boxes for subjects was bigger. I have a lot of individual subjects, so it'd be nice if that were bigger or at least adjustable. I might even like it if there was a sort/toggle option (a-z or z-a), or an option so that I could alphabetize the list in a vertical column rather than horizontal? Though I'd probably get used to it as it is.

++ I like that I can include all or some of my children on any given event, and each entry is fully customizable!!
++ I can make entries for past dates, or for the future. I can foresee the potential of this program being used not only as as you go (you plug in what you did on any given day), , or after the fact, but you could potentially plot out what you'd like to do for the week or term, and use it as you go along as a reference guide.

++ There is an option to print off reports which you can print off per child, per subject, per date range and you can save it as a .pdf or in excel formats! Awesome.

One feature I'd like to see is the ability to copy/paste days, or at least events, that are exactly the same.

I do like this program overall and see that it could be very helpful! I love the simplicity of it and that it has some basic features that will really be helpful: a fill-in-what-we-did-today format, with customizable printable reports. I just wish it had a mac version! Matter of fact, this same exact thing but as an app for iTouch or iPad would be absolutely amazing. I'm sure it won't be long before someone comes up with something similar, maybe the Homeschool Day Book will be the first! :)

of elephants... calendars, copywork and commonplace

2012-01-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

On the art calendar:

image courtesy of wiki commons

For poetry, copywork and commonplace notebook:

Tit for Tat: A Tale
by John Aikin

A Law there is of ancient fame,
By nature's self in every land implanted,
Lex Talionis is its Latin name;
But if an English term be wanted,
Give your next neighbour but a pat
He'll give back as good, and tell you 'tit for tat'.

This 'tit for tat', it seems, not men alone,
But elephants, for legal justice own;
In proof of this a story I shall tell ye,
Imported from the famous town of Delhi.

A mighty elephant that swelled the state
Of Aurengzebe the Great,
One day was taken by his driver
To drink and cool him in the river;
The driver on his neck was seated,
And as he rode along,
By some acquaintance in the throng,
With a ripe coconut was treated.

A coconut's a pretty fruit enough,
But guarded by a shell, both hard and tough.
The fellow tried, and tried, and tried,
Working and sweating,
Tutting and fretting,
To find out its inside,
And pick the kernel for his eating.

Strength, quite out of patience grown,
'Who'll reach me up (he cries) a stone
To break this plaguy shell?
But stay, I've here a solid bone
May do perhaps as well.'
So half in earnest, half in jest,
He banged it on the forehead of his beast.

An elephant, they say, has human feeling,
And, full as well as we, he knows
The difference between words and blows,
Between horse-play and civil dealing.
Use him but well, he'll do his best,
And serve you faithfully and truly;
But insults unprovoked he can't digest,
He studies o'er them, and repays them duly.

'To make my head an anvil (thought the creature)
Was never, certainly, the will of nature;
So, master mine, you may repent!'
Then, shaking his broad ears, away he went.
The driver took him to the water,
And thought no more about the matter;
But elephant within his memory hid it;
He felt the wrong - the other only did it.

A week or two elapsed, one market day
Again the beast and driver took their way;
Through rows of shops and booths they passed,
With eatables and trinkets stored,
Till to a gardener's stall they came at last,
Where coconuts lay piled upon the board.
'Ha!' thought the elephant, ''tis now my turn
To show this method of nut-breaking;
My friend above will like to learn,
Though at the cost of head-aching.'

Then in his curling trunk he took a heap,
And waved it o'er his neck with sudden sweep,
And on the hapless driver's sconce
He laid a blow so hard and full,
That cracked the nuts at once,
But with them cracked his skull.

Young folks, whene'er you feel inclined
To rompish sports and freedoms rough,
Bear 'tit for tat' in mind,
Nor give an elephant a cuff,
To be repaid in kind.

Quoted taken from, The Oxford Book of Children's Verse (Oxford Books of Verse)
Or can be found online here.

Mendelssohn mp3 music for $2.49

2012-01-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

Ambleside Online's scheduled composer for study this term is Mendelssohn... yay!

I found many of the selections on this mp3 album.
(It has 99 pieces for only $2.49! Sadly, it only has two Songs Without Words, but see below*)

If for some reason this link isn't product specific (I tried!), just type in 99 Mendelssohn and it should come up in the search :)

*Never fear because my compadre Naomi over at Living Charlotte Mason in California has put together a playlist which includes a good selection of aforementioned Songs Without Words on grooveshark - click here.

I'll be posting more on this subject in the weeks to come :)

to do... to day

2012-01-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

I'm more than half way through my homeschool planning day.
It's 4pm and here's what I have left to do... we shall see ;)

TO DO:

Picture study files drop off
Buy medicine
Lunch
Haircut - (jac)

P/U pictures, buy: diet coke, boxed milk

transfer...
4 print
4 mp3 players
4 kindle

details...
Handicraft
Music
Drawing lessons
Work projects

if there's time leftover...
Organize folders
Blog post

A New Day, A New Year!

2012-01-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!

It's also Charlotte Mason's birthday today. I think that'd make her 169 today :)

She was born January 1, 1842 in Bangor, Great Britain.

Random Fact:

If you were in Peru today, you'd be sure to have worn your yellow underwear to usher in the New Year, or... maybe not.

Exciting possibilities:
Maybe this is the year Jesus will come back... are you ready?

"...so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."
Hebrews 9:28

"But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. "
2 Peter 3:13-14

Current Events: Q&A

2011-12-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

image courtesy of lusi

Q:
I love this. I've been trying to figure out how to introduce current events to my children without overwhelming them with all the negativity in the news. They are just little kids; it seems wrong somehow to burden them with things that are too much for them to handle emotionally yet. How do you decide?

A:
@Stephanie,
I'm in the same boat. I think it's good to shelter our kids from a good deal of negativity in the world when they're very little, but at the same time, as they grow, we don't want to continue by over-incubating and in so doing make it difficult for our children to adjust to life outside any protective shell we've created for them. ;)

This is why when the kids are very young, we read fairy tales and fables (the real kind with a moral, not just the prettified versions we have nowadays via disney). They learn about the stark realities of life from story. Read more about the role of fairy tales in the education of the young, here.

As to the way I think we go about introducing our younger children to what's going on in the world, without scaring the living daylights out of them, ;) is through natural family conversation, or as CM called it, "table talk". We might choose a current article from World Magazine for example and read it aloud at the dinner table, or just discuss what's happening in the world at a family meal. When the children are small, I imagine much of this would take place between parents as children grow into the conversations. Here's how CM describes it:

"Allowing that it rests with the parents to give their children grounds for sound opinions on men and movements, books and events, when are they to get opportunity for this sort of culture? Whenever they fall into talk with, or in the presence of, their children; but especially at table––other opportunities come by chance, but this is to be relied on...

This is the opportunity to keep the young people informed upon the topics of the day,––who has made a weighty speech; who has written a book, what its merits and defects; what wars and rumours of wars are there; who has painted a good picture, and what are the characteristics of his style. The Times newspaper and a good weekly or monthly review will furnish material for talk every day in the week. The father who opens the talk need not be afraid he will have to sustain a monologue; indeed, he had better avoid prosing; and nothing is more delightful than the eager way the children toss the ball to and fro. They want to know the ins and outs of everything, recollect something which illustrates the point, and inevitably corner the thing talked about for investigation––is it "right," or "wrong," "good," or "bad"; while the parents display their tact in leading their children to form just opinions without laying down the law for them. The boys and girls are engaged with the past, both in their school-work and their home reading, and any effort to bring them abreast of the times is gratifying to them; and it has a vivifying effect on their studies."
v5p231

As for school studies, CM didn't have students reading current events (it seems) until grades 7-9.
Here's what grades 7-9 (form III & IV) were doing, quoted from here:
-Read on Tuesdays some subject in "Literature" or on the news of the week or on some historical or allegorical subject, etc. Write on Thursdays a resume.
-Verses (note metre of poems set for this term) on current events and on characters in the term's reading, upon heroic deeds, or, on autumn and winter scenes.
-Narrative poems on striking events.

Grades 10-12 (forms V & VI) did the following, quoted from vol 6 pg 194...

"Here is an example of a programme set for a term's work in these two Forms,––"A good précis; Letters to The Times on topics of the day; subjects taken from the term's work in history and literature; or notes on a picture study; dialogues between characters occurring in your literature and history studies; ballads on current events; (VI) essays on events and questions of the day; a patriotic play in verse or prose." Here are questions set for another term,––"Write a paean, rhymed or in blank verse, on the Prince of Wales's tour in the Dominions." "An essay, dated 1930, on the imagined work of the League of Nations." Form V, "Write a woeful ballad touching the condition of Ireland, or, a poem on the King's garden party to the V.C.'s." "An essay on the present condition of England, or, on President Wilson."

The aforementioned literary assignments (patriotic play, poem, essay, woeful ballad, etc) would have been composed in response to their reading of current events on the League of Nations, Ireland, King's garden party, present condition of England or President Wilson.

image courtesy of vlambi

In conclusion:
My current events posts are for my older boys who are studying AOy7. They read through 2-3 current events articles and document them in their narration notebooks as, "This Week in History". In the next year or so, I'll have them transition into writing more creatively about what they read of the world today and the related issues they are thinking through.

At the dinner table, we often discuss what the boys have been reading when my husband is home. This has been so much fun! In hindsight, I wish I'd done this more often, in an informal, conversational way with the kids even when they were smaller, as is mentioned above in the "table talk" quote. I'm currently aiming for at least one dinner time conversation a week with the family about current events (thursdays?). I'll bring this up very informally, and should hopefully not ever seem contrived. I've realized how easy it can be, now that I'm looking through the headlines for my boys, to pick out a weekly theme for conversation. Most often though, it usually comes about because the boys are interested in what they've just read and naturally bring it up as the hot topic at dinner time! :)

Stephanie, I hope these ideas will help you to formulate your own thoughts and plans for working with your family! :)

Current Events: 12/28

2011-12-28T15:14:00.000-08:00

In the news this week (as in other weeks), is the Stop Online Piracy Act... so have at it! ;)

Lines Drawn on Antipiracy Bills - nytimes.com **

Daily Report: Congress Considers Bills to Prevent Piracy - nytimes.com **

Explainer: understanding Sopa (animated explanation of the issue) - guardian.co.uk **

Daily Report: The Boycott Against SOPA Supporters - nytimes.com **

Piracy vs. privacy in the online world - washingtonpost.com **

Online Piracy and SOPA: Beware of Unintended Consequences - heritage.org

The news ... illustrated - world magazine's political cartoons **

Interesting thoughts on technology in 2011

2011: The year when it became the norm for the device in your pocket to be the center of your world - washingtonpost.com

Your Brain on Computers, Attached to Technology and Paying a Price - nytimes.com

Your Brain on Cellphones: Effects Present, Consequences Unknown - technewsworld.com

Your Brain on Computers, Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain - nytimes.com

How Digital Technology Has Changed the Brain, "By their 20s, young people will have spent more than 30,000 hours on the Internet and playing video games. That's not such a bad thing..." - businessweek.com

The articles are in the order I would recommend them read in. I've starred the articles my boys will actually get to choose from. :)

Christmas Greetings from Fisher Academy!

2011-12-25T18:01:00.000-08:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year!

PS. This is among our very first attempts at recording and publishing our recitations. Being eager to share something for Christmas, we didn't spend as much time as we could have. Also, I wasn't as faithful with the actual recitation lessons as I would have liked this term... we've had to forego some things as we've transitioned back to Peru and back into schooling. Besides, we must all start somewhere ;) Keep in mind, recitation is not necessarily memorization :)

Folksong: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

2011-12-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

"Mbube" (Zulu: lion) was written in the 1920s by Solomon Linda, a South African singer of Zulu origin, who worked for the Gallo Record Company as a cleaner and record packer, and who performed with a choir, The Evening Birds. According to South African journalist Rian Malan:

"Mbube" wasn't the most remarkable tune, but there was something terribly compelling about the underlying chant, a dense meshing of low male voices above which Solomon yodelled and howled for two exhilarating minutes, occasionally making it up as he went along. The third take was the great one, but it achieved immortality only in its dying seconds, when Solly took a deep breath, opened his mouth and improvised the melody that the world now associates with these words:

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.[1]

...

It went on to earn at least 15 million US dollars in royalties from covers and film licensing. Then, in the mid-nineties, it became a pop "supernova" (in the words of South African writer Rian Malan) when licensed to Walt Disney for use in the film The Lion King, its spin-off TV series and live musical, prompting a lawsuit on behalf of the impoverished descendants of Solomon Linda. [1]

Family of 'Lion Sleeps Tonight' Writer to Get Millions

::

Conveniently, this is a folksong we're already familiar with for the most part, so we won't have to spend much time on it considering we're a month behind and it's the day before the day before Christmas... though in comparison our December weather is a lot more African (as in tropical), than it would be in N.America this month! :)

This is our favorite youtube version:

Helpful links:
AO Folksongs
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - wikipedia

Current Events: 12/21

2011-12-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

I know, it's almost Christmas and we are still schooling... isn't all of life education though? Even if we weren't sticking with our reading assignments and other interesting pursuits, we'd still be learning something else, right? :) We're slowly catching up after a very strange school year. We should be pretty much on track by the end of the next term... we're hoping :)

Even so, we are very much enjoying the holiday season...

The kids taking part in the Christmas production and festivities at church!

So, without further ado, my boys, you may choose any 2-3 articles from the following categories:

North Korea leadership transition:
North Korea Leader Dies in State - bbc.com
Analysis of North Korea After Kim - cnn.com
Kim Jong-il death: 'Nature mourns' N Korea leader - bbc.com
US says Transition Smooth so far as North Korea Claims Kim Death Sparks Natural Wonders

Latest trip to space:
Multinational Crew Blasts off for Space Station
Soyuz rocket blasts off for International Space Station - bbc.com {video}
Smooth Start to Latest Space Mision

:)

Because I simply can't bear to leave this post without more holiday cheering, I leave you with this:

Our Book of Centuries: a pictoral update

2011-12-19T14:33:00.000-08:00

I wrote some two months ago about our Book of Centuries, which in a way is new to us this year, thanks to talks this past summer by the lovely Laurie Bestvater. Previously, we only kept a communal timeline notebook (the littles still add to this one), but this year my boys have been keeping their own; adding entries on a weekly sometimes daily basis.

Javen's 4th century A.D.

...a detail from one of Javen's pages

She inspired us all at the Living Education Retreat in Windom, MN to use the Book of Centuries along with a number of other books as "forms of vitality" for our children. Though I'm quite sure I don't know how one could not make one's own while the children make theirs... so of course I had to have one too :)

Here's my 20th century, shows all of our immediate family's birthdays :)

Charlotte says,

"One thing at any rate we know with certainty, that no teaching, no information becomes knowledge to any of us until the individual mind has acted upon it, translated it, transformed, absorbed it, to reappear, like our bodily food, in forms of vitality. Therefore, teaching, talk and tale, however lucid or fascinating, effect nothing until self-activity be set up; that is, self-education is the only possible education; the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of a child's nature."
v6p241

This was Cullen's sketch after a visit to a local museum. I think it is awesome!

::

I LOVE the term "form of vitality", don't you?
What does it make you think of as related to education?

::

Reflections on the Messiah for Advent

2011-12-16T15:37:00.000-08:00

We've been so enjoying our Advent readings thus far into this Christmas season. Among our readings are, Ann's book, AO Christmas poetry, and we've also been enjoying reading/listening to Handel's Messiah. All the words are taken straight from Scripture, starting with prophecy of the coming Messiah, interwoven with passages of his birth, life, death and resurrection! It's beautiful. I'd heard it before, but before now I'd never read along, so I hadn't really heard it, if you know what I mean.

As we are about halfway through (or at least halfway to Christmas – we'll be catching up, see below), I'm making a few notes of observations you and I might find helpful in the future. :)

We take turns reading the selection out loud before listening to the selection. After listening, on occasion, we'll talk about how the sound or tone or particular instruments leant to our understanding of the passage. Most days, we don't discuss, we just enjoy the music.

It would be more meaningful for everyone to be able to read along. For that purpose, I've made a handy-dandy printable so that should help (we tried using our Bibles, but it's a different version, and that seemed to throw the littles for a loop – literally. I found them not listening at all, instead they were actually throwing themselves into loops by flailing their limbs and contorting their bodies into fantastical positions).

Encourage self-expression. We take turns at director of the symphony or as the opera singers. It can make things VERY interesting. ;) Warning: this activity may lead to the aforementioned flailing limb-type activity, jumping up and down, and even cartwheels. Just sayin'.

It's better to listen to a smallish section at a time rather than attempt several sections (thanks Miss Charlotte!) This may seem fairly obvious to long-time CMers, but really, if you want to listen to several sections per day, or if you get behind and want to catch up, spread them out throughout the day rather than piling them all on top of one another. The kids might actually enjoy it that way, and you will too. And, you will avoid finding yourself frustrated that they will. not. sit. still. for. just. one. more. accompagnato. I know this can happen. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience... ;)

I hope your Christmas is bright as you bask in His Light!
:)

Some sights & sounds of Christmas

2011-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

Enjoy some Christmas cheer!

We have some Australian friends who make videos who
just happen to look and sound EXACTLY like these adorable kids!! :)

Audrey Assad and Chris Tomlin

:)

Look what came in the mail today!

2011-12-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

Hip, hip, hooray!! Our friends sent us some WORLD magazines!!

We were all super excited about the contents of this package!!As soon as I opened it up, Javen said, "OH! I LOVE those magazines!!"
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Laurio family!! :)

Little Drummer Boy... {christian teenaged boy version}

2011-12-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

This. is. awesome.

16 year old drummer boy, sings, plays, edits and produces video...
Read this first.

Sean Quigley. You are my boys' latest hero (mine too). Thank you.

"The catchy video also pays tribute to the song's message about the true spirit of Christmas. That resonated deeply with Quigley, a Christian teen who plays drums in his local church."
CTVNews.ca Staff

"I played my drum for Him, pah rum pah pah pum.

I played my best for Him, pah rum pah pah pum,

rum pah pah pum, rum pah pah pum, rum pah pah pum.

And then He smiled at me, pah rum pah pah pum

Me and my drum."

...I'm pretty sure He's still smiling, Sean. :)

Fisher Days

2011-12-09T05:10:00.000-08:00

For some time now I've arranged our school by the day of the week. Have you seen that little ditty on my sidebar? Several people have asked about that, and it's time I updated and clarified :)
Oh, here it is:

It helps me to keep my head about me to have a loose idea of what we want to accomplish each day. I divide our work into subjects, which are designated to a certain day of the week. It doesn't mean we only do these things on the specified day of the week and no other... it just helps to know that everything will, or at least potentially could get done sometime during the week if all else gets crazy and unpredictable. Does that make sense? Schedules or checklists exist to serve me, I do not exist to serve the schedule! ;)

monday - science & natural history
tuesday - literature & poetry
wednesday - biography & geography
thursday - history
friday - leftovers

Friday is left free so that anything we don't get done during the week is done that day :)

When I only had two children in any given AO year, it was VERY simple, I didn't even have to write it out, and we rarely had to look at a schedule. We got into the habit quite quickly knowing which books were read on which day.

This year, as I have four, it is a HUGE help to have the subjects divided by day... here are my thoughts about using this list in the different years:

y2: I pretty much arrange the littles' entire day, every day (they still have plenty of free playtime in which I get to practice masterly inactivity). The amount of work in this combined year (see below) doesn't reflect a normal AO year. Even though their year is combined, there are several things that I only do with one or the other that I didn't put there on the list below.

y7: The bigger kids have arranged their schedules as they see fit when it comes to which books are read on which day at whatever time of day. :) But there are still quite a few things I help them with or am in some great way still involved. Their subjects that I am needed for are arranged by day. I commit to make myself available for those subjects at some time that day (usually before lunch). If they don't take advantage on that day, it gets pushed 'til Friday, or if neither of those, will have to be based on my availability at another time (meaning it may not get done that week).

Here's an example of our days:

Click to download

Current Events: 12/7

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

A continuation of stories from previous weeks:

Occupy Protests:
People vs. Profits? - worldmag.com
Dozens arrested in Occupy D.C. protests - washingtonpost.com
Read the Occupy D.C. website... interesting to read this side - occupydc.org
70 arrested as police clear Occupy camp in San Francisco and dismantle around 100 tents - washingtonpost.com
*For older students: Are Occupy Wall Street and corporate fat cats the same? (Parents, please use discretion when watching this video) - washingtonpost.com

Newly Elected Egyptian Government:
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says it does not seek power struggle with ruling military council - washingtonpost.com
Muslim Brotherhood top winner in Egyptian election - studentnewsdaily.com

Political cartoons are an interesting way to think look at current events... many themes probably go right over the students heads?
Political Cartoons - worldmag.com

I'm interested to know what you think about using these!

A Handicrafty Christmas

2011-12-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Wanna know what we'll {hopefully} be making to give as gifts this year?!
We only have one week!! We'll be traveling again very soon.
Here are some hints... :) Close your eyes if you expect a gift from us! ;)

Source: giverslog.com via amy in peru on Pinterest	Source: alteredtoperfection.blogspot.com via amy in peru on Pinterest
Source: dulcesobremesa.blogspot.com via amy in peru on Pinterest	Source: knittybittymommy.blogspot.com via amy in peru on Pinterest
Source: bhg.com via amy in peru on Pinterest	Source: juneatnoon.com via amy in peru on Pinterest

More ideas with these patterns for simple projects:
Simple project patterns
Super simple stocking & ornament pattern
Rag Doll Pattern - (adorable, but not free)
Tissue Holder

Handicraft inspiration from my friends:

Kids Handmade Holiday: Holiday Gifts Kids Can Make - Crafty Crow

Naomi in CA shared the following via the AO yahoo group, and I asked her if I could post it here also!
She said yes. :)

Google 'tutorials' on youtube:
Soap Carving
Cat's Cradle String
Flower Pressing
Macrame
Crochet
Finger Knitting

Helpful Links:
AmblesideOnline' s Handicraft page
Keeper's of the Faith Handicraft Kits
KnittingHelp.com
Ravelry.com - an online knitting community with many free knitting and crochet patterns.
Embroidery for kids - courtesy of Katie Sahid
Handcraft ideas for a last minute pull together party - from Greta Eskridge including large colorful pom poms, healthy popsicles, cupcake decorations and personalized gift bags. So simple!
Macrame
On Wire Sculpting

Specific Projects:
No tape no staple booklets your kids can make. For making up their own picture books, copywork books, gifts for friends and family.
Dancing Deer Toy - courtesy of Common Room
Marble Run Toy - courtesy of Common Room
Woodpecker Oscillating Toy - courtesy of Common Room
Wire Crochet Basket
Colorful Tissue Paper Windows - your little ones can make

And here's a link to Naomi's blog posts on handicrafts with more ideas!
Her co-op has had a couple of REALLY cool craft shows! Check them out!

Enjoy!

Composer Study: Handel {for Christmas!}

2011-12-04T14:07:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy of wikipedia

After reading this post by Cindy Rollins over at the Circe Institute, I was truly inspired to use Handel's Messiah as part of our anticipation of Advent this year. I wouldn't mind if it became a yearly tradition either!

I'm so excited.

I downloaded the Libretto (text of the Messiah), checked to make sure I have the complete version on mp3 by comparing the Libretto with the music (many music versions are abridged I found out!!).

Tomorrow, during our Bible/devo time, I'll read from the Libretto and we'll listen to parts 1, 2 & 3 to begin. Then every weekday we'll do the same (a couple of parts) until Christmas Day, when I hope and plan to listen to the whole thing as part of our day.

Like Cindy, mentioned, some parts are smaller and so even if we miss some days (as is inevitable at this time of year!), we can make it up easily.

Download here for free, or buy Handel's Messiah on CD

For further reading:
Wiki on Handel's Messiah
An online study course (saylor.org) on Handel's Messiah - Libretto and Online listening guide + Assignment

Visual Latin {a giveaway!}

2011-12-03T07:04:00.000-08:00

Home educating magazine is having a giveaway for Visual Latin curriculum!

I've looked at the free lessons w/ my boys... we liked it. :) It's one I'd definitely want to look at further!

Enter here: http://www.wellplannedday.com/contest01.php

I actually have looked at this VERY recently, downloaded and watched the lessons. Here's what we liked:

the 4 intro and 2 first lessons are free to try on their site! (I love it when businesses express confidence in their product by giving sizable free trials - a good product will sell itself!)
there are a TON of freebies also on the site - vocab cards, worksheets, etc
the curriculum is fully downloadable!!
the videos are SHORT and INTERESTING.
the guy in the videos is nice and subtly funny.
it's evident that the guy loves languages.
he makes some little mistakes, but recovers well, which just serves to make it real.
the well organized site and professional videos are done by two homeschool families.

Holiday Reading... without books!

2011-12-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

We have been anticipating Advent during December for several years now. It has been such a wonderful way to focus our hearts on the truth behind all of Christmas!! Every day, we do just a little remembering. This is our third time using Ann's book (it's free and beautifully done & you can download and print it off wherever you are. Again and again. For example, if you are not where you thought you'd be this Christmas season, and you find you have absolutely no Christmas things, don't worry, just download and print! It never hurt anyone to have several copies!):

Source: aholyexperience.com via amy in peru on Pinterest

Every Christmas season, another of our FAVORITE traditions is reading aloud around the Christmas tree all lit up. We stay up very late at night, that is, because the stories are just SO good! Hours after bedtime, you can find us cuddling with pillows, blankies and each other in that sleepy magical aura of Christmas tree lights. And we continually poke those sleepyheads who just. can't.. keep... their.... eyes...... open....... because we want to read more and we don't want anyone to miss anything!! We read this story right off the screen until a quarter past ten tonight... about a boy whose Christmas outlook looked rather bleak (like ours might this year with no decorations or Christmas books or... if I think too long I'll remember just what all we're missing, so I'll stop now.) Of course IF we had our basket of delights (a basket full of our favorite Christmas books that normally boasts the prime spot right next to the Christmas tree every year), I would want to do this project:

Source: scrapinspired.com via amy in peru on Pinterest

A book countdown with reusable wrappings...
But as it is, we have no basket o' books, so I'll be choosing from the holiday stories listed at AO this year! How convenient.We'll probably even sing some songs from this free e-book!

And I decided to buy the book above on the kindle to splurge a little in light of our sad state of affairs in the holiday library category. We may be lacking in books, but we've lost nothing in the merrymaking category. I've heard this story is great fun. I'm looking forward to reading it next! :)
Do you have any favorite holiday stories?

Current Events: 12/1

2011-12-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

This was a difficult week to choose articles. If you'll notice the amount of links, it is not because there are so many interesting articles, but rather, I couldn't decide which would be engaging enough to focus our attention on. My goal is having a variety of opinions/sources on any given subject. I'm gonna let my boys look over the headlines this week and choose which of the three divisions they'd like to read about for their This Week in History narration.

Iran in the news:
Britain evacuates all embassy staff after Iran protesters storm compounds - cnn.com
EU imposes sanctions on Iran over embassy storming - cnn.com
Europeans stiffen sanctions on Iran after embassy attack - washingtonpost.com
Who's Blowing Up Iran? - PJ Media, Michael Ledeen
Iran Declares House Churches a Threat - crosswalk.com
News from Iran, Somalia and Slovakia - studentnewsdaily.com
Watchdog Reveals Iran's Nucular Arms Work - worldandi.com (subscription required)

Politics or Economics?: Tax Increases for the wealthy
End Welfare for the Wealthy - cnn.com
Should the Rich be Condemned? - studentnewsdaily.com
Cut the Payroll Tax - National Review Online
Congress Bickers Toward Year-end Compromise - worldmag.com
The Iron Law for Tax Cuts - powerlineblog.com

NBA: The Lockout is over
NBA teams to open facilities to players Thursday - cnn.com
The NBA is Back and so is Steve Nash - washingtonpost.com
Jordan the Player vs. Jordan the Owner, One of the many lockout storylines coming to a close

For fun:
Peru's in the news @ CNN, Student News (video)
White House Decks the Halls - washingtonpost.com (photos)

Folksong: The Ash Grove

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Because of furlough and moving, we started this school year off late, but we're not really even trying to catch up. So even though The Ash Grove is supposed to be the folksong for October according to the AO Folksong schedule, we're quite fond of doing things at our own pace. We're singing Ash Grove right now!

I put together a page for our Family Music Book and thought y'all might like to use it too. Here it is, another fine Fisher Academy printable: The Ash Grove!

Here are the chords for guitar:
Part A
G--|G--|C--|D--|G--|C--|D--|G--:||
Part B
G--|G--|Am--|D--|G--|G--|D--|D7--|
G--|G--|C--|D--|G--|C--|D--|G--||

Helpful Links:
My favorite Ash Grove link from Music-for-music-teachers.com
Youtube for sing-along (lyrics are on the screen & he sings quite slow, so it's easy to keep up!)
Lively musical rendition with bagpipes
Guitar Chords

Holiday Links... oh no!

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

So, you know how you almost get tired of Christmas music by the time Christmas actually rolls around as it has actually become the background music to all of life in the months of November/December; it's playing in every store, on every radio station, in the house, in the car, while every single person alive seems to be humming one of the tunes because they can't get them out of their heads?! Well, I have a feeling it's going to seem the same with holiday related blog posts. It's already begun. Everyone is posting about Holidays. Already. I promise to do my best not to contribute any more to the sheer inundation unless absolutely necessary. This is my one frivolous holiday post... 'kay? The following links are just some fun stuff I've seen lately (and only the beginning since we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving yet!!), and mostly because I wanted to announce the The Holiday edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!!

A Peruvian turkey
In the States you choose your turkey by going to the store that has the lowest price per pound and rummaging in the freezer section for a clean plastic covered prepared "bird" with a weight appropriate to the number of guests. It probably even comes in a bag with a handle to carry it home. In Tarapoto, you choose your turkey like this...

My parents-in-love perusing the options :)

Thanksgiving last year in the jungle w/ Micah's parents

and the Martijn and Martine family!

Featured Holiday Links!!
**On Thanksgiving in the Common Room!** This blog is A WINNER at the HSBAwards 2011!
The Holiday edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

On Simplicity:
Unwrapping the Holidays
O Christmas Tree
Serenity for Little Ones during the Holidays
Plan Your Peaceful Christmas
Simplifying the Holidays: Focus on Giving

Christ-centered Holidays:
Stuff.
Christ-centered Christmas Dialogue
3 simple practices for a peaceful advent

Food Related:
I'm taking pies to our Thanksgiving gathering. I'll use this pie crust recipe and maybe make this cheesecake?! I'll be making pumpkin pies for sure... I'm not so sure I'm brave enough to try something SO new when I don't even have an oven!! I'll be borrowing one to cook at least 2 pies!! :) hilarious.
Here are some more Thanksgiving recipes for future reference, since I'm quite sure you've already got your menu planned by now!! Don't these pumpkin pops look AWESOME!?! I'm tempted not to use any of my canned pumpkin puree for the pies and use it all for these!! Oh so tempting.

Source: onecharmingparty.com via amy in peru on Pinterest

Check out this free e-book!!

Source: comfyinthekitchen.com via amy in peru on Pinterest

Craftiness:
I am not crafty. This is the ONLY even remotely crafty thing we're doing this year.
It's an 'I'm thankful for...' paper chain! So much fun. :)

Source: silverboxcreative.com via amy in peru on Pinterest

And the winner is...

2011-11-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

I love contests.
I love giving things.
I want to do it WAY more often.
It's really pretty easy and really really fun!! ;)

So. There were 8 entries and the number drawn at random.org was #3!! The third comment was Penney Douglas'! Yay, Penney! You'll want to send me an e-mail because you've won this really fantabulous Metropolitan Museum of Art 2012 Page-a-Day Calendar to put under YOUR Christmas tree!!

Thanks to everyone for playing! :) We will have to do this again sometime!

Enjoy the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Holidays!

This Week In History: Links for 11/21

2011-11-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

My good friend Nancy wondered out loud in the comments of this post, if I knew of anywhere online where Current Events articles might be gathered on certain news headlines from varying viewpoints... I don't. There should be! Until I find one, or as I am able, I'll be posting our links as I accumulate them! :)

image courtesy of: ba1969

This week's links:
A Greek Tragedy: Ending the Entitlement Mentality - Chuck Colson
What is a tax increase? - World Magazine
Panel set to fail to cut deficit $1.2 trillion - Associated Press via yahoo
Video: Explain it to me: Super Committee @ cnn.com

Unwrapping the Holidays

2011-11-19T19:28:00.000-08:00

Traditions are like gift wrap.
Every time a couple leaves and cleaves, a new family is formed and they begin to dress up their own traditions, including those special traditions focused around the holidays. It may be difficult to create your own style if you are a family that lives close by both sets of parents, having to share time between families on holidays. Yet, living far away has it's challenges too! Matter of fact, living in another culture, a different hemisphere and far away from grandparents and other family has deeply impacted not only how our family celebrates the holidays, but how we think about them.

First of all, holidays come wrapped in all different colors and sizes in other countries. For one, in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas is during summer... and it's HOT! (just stop and think of how many North American traditions have to do with being cold outside!) Thanksgiving is hardly heard of here in Peru while I think New Years is bigger here than in the US. Easter, Mother's Day and Independence Day are quite popular in Latin America and are celebrated with much ado. Even birthdays are made special, in that the birthday girl is so lucky she gets to prepare a meal for all her visitors! (I, the Queen of October 19th, admittedly have trouble with that one!)

Now, I grew up probably similar to the majority of you, thinking that the winter holidays were all about family, turkey, eating as much as possible, Christmas trees, decorations, lights, prettily wrapped presents (and lots of them!) and having a day full of as many pleasant things as possible. Well? Isn't that what most of us thought, or maybe still think? It is certainly what commercialism would have us believe. However, as a grown up I've certainly had a Holiday or two that were not all they were wrapped up to be! How often do we realize, that many people in the world have nothing and do nothing on our “most important days of the year”. I know, it seems exaggerated, but it's true.

Somehow, our experiences have taught us that Holidays are more than all that.
But if Holidays are not all about traditions, then what?

Our families are far away, the cranberry sauce comes airmail if at all, and there's absolutely NO hope of a white Christmas... until recently, turkeys weren't to be found before the middle of December, and in the early years, unless you brought or made your own decorations, including your own artificial tree (a somewhat recent luxury), you'd be out of luck there too. So, if holiday fun is based solely on the external, we should go cry in the corner every year during the holidays. But we don't. And here's why: that would be ridiculous. Oh, that and we've realized that holidays are a lot more than just the pretty wrappings. Sure, there can be a whole lot of fun involved, and over the years we have had some really special holidays here with our 'missionary family'. But, what we find under all that gift wrap is, that certain days are special because for us they have deeper meaning.

The treasure of Thanksgiving is a whole season to give thanks to God for all He has given us. The rest is the curly ribbon on top! And sure, we want to be thankful all year round, but having one day when we can REALLY remember... this is good for us! The same goes for Christmas, we unwrap the Gift of the God who keeps His promises, His Son who will someday come again! Of course we want to remember Him every day of the year, but why not be extra doubly reminded at Christmas?! Sure, we can do all of this without a whole lot of poof and floof. But, truth be told, all of us know that a little floof here and curly ribbon there is not going to hurt anyone. :) The floof simply serves to remind us...

Notice Stove Top stuffing, the pumpkin, olives and cranberry?! My mouth is watering. Whoever sent it a couple years ago, may they be forever blessed!

So, bring on the turkey and twinkly lights and the presents or whatever floof you've got and let's remember...

GOD is very very good! :)

Giveaway... only 3 more days!

2011-11-19T16:15:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to submit your Holiday posts to the upcoming CM blog carnival...

and comment here to win a 2012 Art Calendar!

The deadline for carnival submissions is Monday @ 5pm.

Winner will be announced November 22!

{For more details see this post!}

Current Events: Our Method

2011-11-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

Did you know that 1.73 people die while 4.13 are born every. single. second? In the same fraction of time, 73 items are ordered over at amazon.com, and 50,000 e-mails are sent by yahoo alone. In an age when it is virtually impossible to stay current on what is happening, as we are constantly inundated with information available on the instant from every corner of the earth with most anything you could possibly think of being googled at any hour of the day...

How does one discern what really matters?

How do we remain current and not waste a ton of time?

Current Events. This year marks the first time I have put today's world in the hands of my older children. They've read books, they've talked with grown ups, but this is the first time they themselves will come face to face with the world as presented through the media. It isn't a safe or pretty place. In particular, because of the nature of the internet, and folly being only a mouse click away, it is vital that they not be left to their own devices or be given too much liberality when it comes to sifting through the headlines.

Dealing with Time and Developing Discernment.

With so much information at their fingertips, how are they to know what to read? Obviously, if they pick something that simply isn't important, all is not lost; discernment will come with time. There is the good, there is seemingly a lot more of the bad, there is the appropriate and an unfortunate amount of the inappropriate. Someday, they will choose. all. by. themselves. EEK! At some point in time they will probably read things I'd rather they hadn't. Can we just come to terms with that? (no, believe me, I'd rather not)

In the meantime, I will try to teach them how to go about the choosing. After all, we are in the world, even if we are not of it. An understanding of which might just be the key to developing proper discernment. :)

However, with one computer, our main concern at this point is time. And all of our news sources online as they are, we don't have a lot of time to spare :)

The time factor:

Limiting time. This is a tool that I use as a grown up ALL of the time. I commonly limit the time I have to finish a certain task. I take 30min to read in the morning. We start school at 9am, for example. It is when I do NOT limit my time that I end up wasting hours upon hours getting super side-tracked or just plain lazy. A timer with a LOUD and annoying beep is a very helpful tool for practicing self control ;)
Limiting the sources was also a big help. Limiting them even more will be even better. For now. In this way, I can use Masterly Inactivity, instead of hovering, pestering, or generally showing myself as a control freak. :)
They might also find that following a certain interest over the course of several weeks would be very interesting - discoveries made within a certain branch of Science, political issues, war and it's outworkings, a particular country in the news, etc.

The discernment factor:

I thought that narrowing the selection would be a good way to keep them from being overwhelmed with the flood of information as well as time limits (they had 2 sites to choose from). It worked alright in that regard. But even with the limited choices, how were they to discern for themselves what items were worth their time? This is a big deal. I find that for myself, sensational headlines often draw my attention much quicker than the world happenings that really are affecting history.
For now, I will be their discernment filter. I will choose for them. As we go along, I will dialogue with them about what is worthy of their time and what clearly is not. Later on, I will ask them to join me in deciding what news is pertinent for them to read. When I see a maturity and responsibility in this, I'll be happy to simply guide their choices. How long does this process take? Hah! I could foresee it being within a year's time, or several... it absolutely depends on the student!

So for now, here's what we do:

I can usually tell, from family conversation about what is happening in the world and knowing my children well, what will interest them. Based on what the news is, I've picked 4-5 articles for them to choose from (this way I can print them off!).
I like to add an article about the same event from more than one viewpoint/news source. I would love to always have a conservative print magazine (World) to compare with the more liberal media.
At some point, once we have some experience with this subject under our belts, I will graduate my kids to selecting their own articles from well-known and trusted sites. This will probably not take place until we have more than one computer between the 7 of us ;)

The links for this week:

Wall Street Protestors Decry “Gilded Age” :
Better Late Than Never :
Occupy Portland Summary : Protesters march, begin to fill Pioneer Courthouse Square :
Occupy Portland: Photo Essay :
Occupy Movement Reaches Critical Stage :

Editorial Cartoons at World Magazine :
Food Stamps Surge :

Upcoming CM carnival on Holidays?! & A Giveaway?!

2011-11-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

Okay so if you've been paying attention, you may have noticed there's been a slight change of theme... okay a dramatic change! Yep. We're changing themes for the upcoming carnival, and to celebrate, I'm going to give away your first gift of the season! *Read on.

Please join us at the upcoming CM blog carnival sharing about Holidays at Your House!
Carnival will be hosted in the Piney Woods... talk about fitting for the season!

Doesn't this little guy look festive?No, he is not included in the giveaway.

You might want to post what Charlotte Mason-y things you do during holidays... maybe you could teach us about how Charlotte Mason might have had us use our holidays. You might post about whatever holiday traditions you have in your family! If you have a favorite holiday post you'd like to direct us to... do it! It's up to you :) Seems to me that you could include Thanksgiving and/or Christmas holidays! Or any other holiday during the months of November/December for that matter! The only stipulation you must keep in mind however is, that this is a Charlotte Mason blog carnival! Which of course we all know just makes it that much better fun! ;)

Or, of course, if you just want to post what's going on in your CM world, please do.**
As always, themes are completely optional.

*Now, here's the really fun part! Submit a *Holiday-related* post to the upcoming CM blog carnival and you will be halfway to earning one entry in my drawing to win this really fantabulous Metropolitan Museum of Art 2012 Page-a-Day Calendar to put under YOUR Christmas tree!! Did you know that usually in the past these awesome calendars have already sold out at amazon by this date!? Get yours for free here! ;) In your *Holiday-related* post, mention this contest and link to this post to earn your entry in the drawing.

It's as easy as that: Submit your Holiday-related post, include a link to the contest & then leave a comment here to tell me you did it! :) Fun.

You can submit your posts here! :: http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_2378.html

Earn an extra entry by liking my page on fb (see sidebar).
Earn an extra entry if you become a brand new follower of this blog (leave separate comments for each).
In order to qualify for the extras, you have to have earned your first entry - see above.

Upcoming CM Blog Carnival :: Holidays - 11/22
Optional Reading:
CM volume: v5, p109ff :: A Happy Christmas To You!
PR articles: Holiday Amusements

You can submit your posts here! :: http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_2378.html

PS. This IS your friendly bi-weekly blog carnival reminder!
If you'd like to receive regular reminders by e-mail about the carnival, please send an e-mail to charlottemasonblogs@gmail.com. :)

**We love ALL CM-related posts EVERY carnival!! However only Holiday-related posts will qualify for the giveaway this time :)

Are you a missionary, lady?

2011-11-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

If you are a missionary, lady, have I got news for you! Another very nice missionary lady is having a giveaway just for us other missionary ladies on her blog! I hardly dare tell you for fear of a stampede, that she's going to send one of us a holiday care package with Thanksgiving AND Christmas goodies in it!! Sound too good to be true? Check out Mrs. John in Ghana's most amazing fun idea!

To work on this week...

2011-11-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

y7:

Shorter Readings

(divide up longer readings over several days – will help with concentration (read for understanding vs. to finish the reading), and will improve narrations (narrate after each section of the reading vs. trying to remember all the way back to the beginning)

Vary Activities

(read for 20-40 min; do nature study, read, or sing hymn, etc. - this will help with quality of concentration, overall brain function, as well as help each study serve as a source of variety and delight)

y2:

Get Work Done B4 Lunchtime

(alternating reading and doing, finish all school related tasks early with exception to the mommy-read books which may be read at quiet time or bedtime)

Start Bedtime Readings at 7:30pm

(if not, this just doesn't get done... everyone is too tired (including mommy ;)

Our Combined Year 1/2 with Ambleside Online!

2011-11-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

The early Pioneer father looked out into the unexplored valley below him, as (today in this blog post) you and I will be gazing over the brink of a historic year for our homeschool (as you may come to notice, we're also learning about similes today ;). As a mother hen scurries around gathering her chicks like a mad woman... oh. wait, those things might not be dissimilar enough to be a true simile... ;) and no, most days are NOT in the mad woman category, anyway. (only about every other... ;) just kidding OF COURSE)

This is the year that we have officially added Siah (7yo) into the AO rotation, and he will be doing not only y1, but y1 & y2!! Oh yeah! {high five} Well... not really both years. He'll be doing a combination of the two years in order to be able to slide up to y3 next spring with Bria. I'm very excited about that for lots of reasons. We shall see to those in this post.

Reasons for Combining:

When I contemplate having all 4 children (someday 5) in separate AO years with our travel schedule/lifestyle, I begin to shake like a whole forest of leaves... under heavy storm!
Because I combined the two older boys from the beginning, it's as normal as bread for breakfast in our house to share years.
Siah was a much earlier reader than his brothers were and will be able to read many of his books independently this year (thus justifying for me, helping him along in y3 at 7.5yo). - I do not normally recommend this. I like to have a nice young 7yo at in y1! But, I think it's going to work for us. I plan to modify when necessary.
Siah has become a very good narrator under the unofficial tutorship of his older siblings.
Bria had her y2 abruptly interrupted by a long furlough, so she's perfectly set up to do a combined year with Siah (she'll read some books from the second half of y2, that I've decided he won't have to read, while he's listening to the books she's already heard).
I can keep them together on the booklist, but at their own levels in math, copywork, dictation, etc.

Here's a sneak peek, click the link to see the whole thing.

Here's the proposed schedule, we're currently in week 4. :)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Religious Studies {vol 1}

2011-11-08T05:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the November 8, 2011 edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

blog carnival: where like-minded bloggers come together and share posts on along a common thread.
~ that's my very own definition ;)

Our common thread is also our friend and mentor, Charlotte Mason. :) There are many encouraging posts once again this time around the carnival. Please stop by the different blogs and make sure to say hello! The carnival will be taking on it's beloved rotation around the blog-o-sphere once again as several volunteers contacted me saying they'd love to host us, so I'm excited we'll be going a-visiting!! Please see the schedule page for information about the when and what of upcoming carnivals. :)

It's time again to grab that cuppa somethin' good and enjoy the rich variety and beauty in CM homes around the world! Enjoy!

A living education is...

nak presents Science Narration Journals & Walnuts Plumping

Tiger's Mum presents Degas and the ballet

Cindy West presents Fungi Study

Laura Grace Weldon presents Fun Theory

Michelle presents The Charlotte Mason Method Inspires Me

Richele McFarlin presents Teaching Shakespeare to Young Children

Jimmie presents Thirteen Ways to Reuse a Page a Day Art Calendar

Pamela Jorrick presents Art Every Day Challenge

Kelly @ The Homeschool Co-op presents Self-Control, NutureShock, Tools of the Mind & Homeschoolers

Barb-Harmony Art Mom presents Our October Bird List and Sparrow Study Using the Handbook of Nature Study

AnnieKate presents Mother Culture

{ About a year ago, several regular carnival bloggers agreed that we might add optional themes for those bloggers who would like some added inspiration on what to blog about, an idea for further CM study, and/or in order to have a place of reference for the future when looking for specific CM topics. I've really enjoyed having the topic, but have also worried that many people have perceived it as a limit to the carnival instead of an enhancement. Please know that the theme serves only as a suggestion, not in anyway a limit! }

Some religious studies:

Brandy@Afterthoughts presents Bible Lessons, CM-Style {Part I} & Bible Lessons, CM-Style (Part II)

Nadene presents Memory Verse Cards for Victory, Prayer & Purity | Practical Pages & Memorizing Scripture the Simply Charlotte Mason Way (free printables!)

Nebby presents Psalm 24

Amy Dumas presents The Closest of All Relationships

Barb presents Habit: Remembering The Thoughts Of God

The next CMBCarnival will be:

Book of Centuries/Timelines (a form of vitality) - 11/22
(to be hosted at our favorite online treehouse!!)
Suggested Reading:
CM vol.6 p169-180 & vol.4 p.36-38
Parent's Review articles: The Book of Centuries & The Teaching of Chronology

PS. Be on the look out, because we have a few giveaways planned for some of the upcoming carnivals!! ;)

It's my party and I'll vote if I want to! ;)

2011-11-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

Wow! I think it is SO fun that someone(s) nominated this blog for the Homeschool Blog Awards! Thank you :) I'm so excited about one nomination in particular: Best Homeschooling Methods... I wholeheartedly agree! A living education as advocated by Charlotte Mason herself is the BEST! Join with me and make her principles famous?!

I've made the difficult decision to vote for ~~myself~~ oh, I mean, Fisher Academy in Best Homeschooling Methods category!! (We've also been nominated for Best Nature Study, and Favorite Homeschool Mom - hah! you guys are too much! seriously. I laughed out loud on this last one. I'm flattered though :)

Here's why:

Charlotte Mason is the BEST and I want her method of delightful, living education to be famous!!
It's fun to win stuff!!
There are so many great blogs, it's probable I won't win anyway, so I might as well get one vote!! ;)

You can vote for Fisher Academy or any number of my friends' wonderful blogs here (I counted at least eight CM bloggy buddies on there, so we have a good chance of winning between us!):

You can only vote for Fisher Academy in one of the following categories...
Best Homeschooling Methods Blog
Best Nature Study, and Favorite Homeschool Mom

Have fun, and enjoy the party!! ;)

Folksong: Aiken Drum

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Van Tutt Family Singers has performed the AO Folksong for September for your viewing enjoyment! It's a little late... but I'm sure that's okay ;)

This is the modern (silly) rendering of a more traditional folksong. See the AO Folksong page for more information about this year's folksongs :)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Language Arts {vol 1}

2011-10-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the latest Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

In this edition, we'll be looking at the place of Copywork, Dictation and Composition in a CM education.

Copywork: (also known as transcription)

"The earliest practice in writing proper for children of seven or eight should be, not letter writing or dictation, but transcription, slow and beautiful work... Transcription should be an introduction to spelling. Children should be encouraged to look at the word, see a picture of it with their eyes shut, and then write from memory." v1 p239

Dictation:

"Here the object aimed at is to let the child get a correct picture of the word, and the passages to be dictated (not words without their context) are therefore carefully prepared, so that no misspelt word shall leave its impress on the brain." Mrs. Franklin

Composition: (also known as narration! v1 p248 & v6 p191)

"Oral composition is the habit of the school from the age of six to eighteen." v6 p270

Are you ready? Grab your cup of tea and spend a while with us looking at the following aspects of a Living Education...

Clara presents Does using the Charlotte Mason method of teaching writing through copywork, dictation, and narration really work?

Jennifer Mackintosh presents Wildflowers and Marbles: Considering - Charlotte Mason and Our Approach to Language Arts. *She's written a series, so make sure to look for the link w/in the post! :)

Sarah presents What Composition at This Age? posted at All That's Goood.

Queen of Carrots presents A Few Ideas for Copywork.

"The child can simultaneously with reading make up words with loose letters, and copy them so that spelling, dictation and reading can go hand in hand." Mrs. Franklin in The Home Training of Children.

Lanaya presents Perfection in Letter Formation.

Barb presents Copywork and Dictation in High School? Simply Charlotte Mason Giveaway! - She's giving away two copies!

Traci Brooks presents Composition Comes By Nature.

amy in peru presents Narration, just a part of the whole & Copywork: an assignment

We will continue a supervised copywork lesson once a week even in year 7, until I notice we've regained mastery over some laziness that has seemed to creep in once again.

Amy Dumas presents Dictation - It Really Works! posted at Ambling.

Nancy Kelly presents My Calendar of Firsts.

4sweetums presents What Tools Do You Need to Homeschool?.

Jimmie presents Q & A: Did Charlotte Mason Espouse Notebooking?.

In the picture above, the boys are copying from an electronic version of Spelling Wisdom Book 3, and here Bria's using Book 1. Her attention has improved significantly over the last 2 weeks of school! I'm so proud of her! ;)

Tricia Hodges presents Tree Reflection: A Pastels Tutorial.

Cindy West presents The Study of a Twig.

Andrea @ Mosaic Ideas presents Mosaic Ideas for All Ages.

Kelly @ The Homeschool Co-op presents What Really Makes Our Kids Happy?.

The next CMBCarnival will be:

Religious Studies - 11/8
Suggested Reading:
CM vol.3 p137ff & vol.6 p.159-169
Parent's Review article: A Boy's Religion & The Development of the Religious Instinct in the Child

Submit your posts here!

Would you like to submit related photos or art to the upcoming carnival? In keeping with the theme, I'd love to use other CMer's things, if your items are chosen, full credit will be given. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to: charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com.

Narration, just one part of the whole.

2011-10-25T06:42:00.001-07:00

Can I just say that I didn't really believe that narrating, dictation and copywork were enough to teach my kids how to write? Well, it's true. I had my serious doubts in the beginning. I admit it... until somewhat recently, I always supplemented.

Don't get me wrong, we have always narrated. We started copywork and studied dictation at the corresponding appropriate ages. But I didn't believe. I didn't really think that could possibly be all.

Well, somewhere along the road, I became a believer. Some of us must see to believe :) My boys are finally old enough, or is it that I've finally been on this living education road long enough to trust that Charlotte Mason knew what she was talking about? Whatever it is, I love her. Our home and school are SO much more enjoyable because of the influence of her thoughts and experience.

image courtesy of uffizi_c

I could say more, but time would fail me... so I'll just link to some highlights!

A quote from Elsie Kitching clearing up some misunderstandings of CM's use of Language Arts, applies in our day as well:

'I had a letter from the Headmistress of a large Secondary School the other day, in which she said, "I do not think there is any difference between our use of narration and yours, except that we have it by way of composition the next day, and you have it immediately." I could only answer that there was a very great deal of difference. Compositions may always be set on subjects, taken from the work, which have been narrated. This is not the repetition of the child's first effort of attention, but a fresh effort to use his mind in another way. The composition probably calls for a summary, or a portion of what the child has read, in depicting a character or in discussing the pros and cons of any point, with illustrations from the general reading of the week.

May I say that Miss Mason's Method is at present suffering from the prevalent idea that her Method is narration, and chiefly the narration of English. Her Method covers the whole of a child's school life, in fact the whole of his life; the habit of narration is the means by which we all make anything our own to which we give full attention.

It has been said, on the other hand, that the one effort of attention and the one narration implies that the child must never do anything a second time, which is again a very much mistaken interpretation of Miss Mason's teaching. The second time may, as I have said, come in the way of composition later on; it probably comes again in the end of term examination, and certainly, if the child is interested, frequently in after life. There are also in the upper Forms the interesting sidelights which one book or subject throws upon another, sometimes covering the same ground from another point of view.'

Helpful links:
AmblesideOnline's Language Arts Scope and Sequence
AO notes on Language Arts

We Narrate and then We Know
AO narration page
An Advisory member's narration journey.
Some helpful answers to common questions on narration.
Some Notes on Narration - a Parent's Review article

AO copywork page

One of our own copywork lessons at Fisher Academy

A dictation lesson from the Parent's Review

Nature Study at the beach!

2011-10-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

My birthday wish: Nature Study, with my watercolors, at the beach.
Yeah, really. I'm that serious. It's SO awesome!
And my wonderful family loves it too!

Not all wishes come true... but this day, all of mine did! ;)

Check out Pam's AWESOME step by step encouraging post to just 'do nature study'!

Our Year 7 with Ambleside Online!

2011-10-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

I never thought this day would come. Didn't I? Javen and Cullen are growing up. I cannot believe it. Or can I? This summer was one of marked change in them, and still more upon returning to Peru. I'm so impressed with them lately. It has been so fun to begin to share more 'grown up talk' with them over the last several months. I love it. But still, it makes me feel so old.

Ah, yes. Year 7.

This is the year that the transition becomes most noticeable, from elementary-ish school level to the higher studies. It is clearly reflected in their weekly checklist. They've got a lot of interesting things to do this year. They're excited, I'm excited; we are ALL excited.

Because I tend to think more clearly in ink or type, the plan of our first term follows. :)

This year we'll be continuing to concentrate on:
The habit of attention. Strengthening the will.

"The student may be compelled by a necessity which he recognises, or stimulated by compitition: the latter is a poor broken reed, and the former he will rightly try to escape, unless he has somehow come to regard his study as a duty--the "something which has to be done, whether it pleases anybody or nobody":--otherwise he will detest and resist atoms and molecules as strenuously as accidence and syntax, or any other subject that can be laid before him."

R. L. Leighton, Head Master, The Grammar School, Bristol

AOy7, Term 1

Gospel of John. Commentary by VanRyn, or in the absence thereof, Tasker's.

Book of Centuries will accompany and mapwork is to follow the history readings: Birth of Britain, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, King Alfred, The Brendan Voyage. We'll use an ancient map of Brittania, a map showing Britain as part of the Roman Empire, and a modern map for Brendan Voyage and for Map Drill (specifically UK).

We will be using Ourselves as our own family book club reading. We will meet weekly to discuss (preferably over tea :). I'd like to do a map of Mansoul as we go along... we'll see.

Plutarch's Lives, Poplicola - read aloud (use Anne's AO study guide). I'll probably mostly look at the study guide myself and only address things if/when they come up. With discussion questions, I hope to help them to observe in order to outline a character sketch at the end of the term. **They REALLY love Plutarch!**

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy
Current Events: Student News Daily and World Magazine's Top story. Weekly, make an entry in written narration notebook, "This Week in History."

Literature for the first term includes: Watership Down, The Once and Future King, English Literature for Boys and Girls, Age of Chivalry, Ivanhoe

All readings will continue to be narrated as in all years of a CM education. This first term of y7, I will require weekly:

1 or 2 - written narrations from their choice of readings (gently edited);
1 - science lab book entry;
1 - 'This Day in History' narration/blog post (self-edited).

In addition to these, there will be one supervised copywork, several commonplace notebook entries, and one or two studied dictations. This pretty much means they will be writing every day, maybe more than once! This is a huge jump from last year.

Poetry: Daily reading from Lord, Alfred Tennyson and/or The Timeline of English Verse.
Grammar of Poetry: one lesson/week
Grammar: one lesson/week using Our Mother Tongue.

Recitation: We'll have one (15min) lesson every couple of weeks to practice, go over pronunciation, presentation as outlined here. They'll go over their selection daily. They may choose from Last Words of Chaucer, Lady Clare, Sir Galahad, Henry V's prayer before Agincourt, or part of Locksley Hall. If they have something good that they'd much rather do, by all means I'll allow it! :)

Shakespeare: We'll first finish reading aloud Romeo & Juliet (by the boys' request) and continue with Henry V. I am encouraging them to come up with creative narrations of this reading, such as dramatized narration, comic strip, etc.

Math – Continue MEP y6 math – 1 lesson/day. In Tarapoto, finish Life of Fred Decimals - 30min/day, continue with Live of Fred Pre-Algebra.
Apologia's Physical Science – (use science lab book for narrations – spread a lesson over 2 weeks). Read this article on the necessity of keeping a science lab book.

Nature Study - This year we'll be once again shooting for almost daily entries (minimum 2/week). This will depend greatly upon how often we make time to get outside... it being seriously more difficult here in Trujillo on the fourth floor! Entries may include any of the following: sketch an object w/ watercolors, monthly tree observations, maintaining bird & plant lists, recording phases of the moon, etc. Read: Lay of the Land. Read: an article outlining Nature Journals.

Folksongs: follow AO rotation + specific to year 7, Bold Robin Hood and the Pedlar, The Three Ravens, The Outlandish Knight. Watch youtube videos here and here. Here's a post illustrating why folksongs are so valuable.
Hymns: He Leadeth Me, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind & He Hideth My Soul
(see AO hymn page for lyrics, links and midi files)

Composer Study: Mozart. All of his music can be found free online here. I have the Opal Wheeler book, which I plan to use as well as simply listening to the music whenever we think to.
Artist Study: Fragonard. We'll use this book, read this biography and look at these prints.
The Story of Painting.
Music: Guitar and Singing practice, 15min/day (would love to pay for lessons?)

Latin: Getting Started with Latin. 2-3 lessons/week.

"It follows that we must look elsewhere to find grounds for preferring one study to another, or, indeed, for requiring the young to study anything beyond those elements which have become necessaries of life for civilized mankind. The only safe ground is educational value: the worth of study as the means of suppling and strengthening the intellect, over and above that moral value which belongs to all forms of work."

R. L. Leighton, Head Master, The Grammar School, Bristol

At home, we speak English and Spanish. The kids are learning Spanish without even trying. As for lessons, we do read to them in Spanish, and they narrate back. We sing in Spanish at home and at church. Our friends speak Spanish... etc. But apart from that, we are not pushing formal lessons at this time.

French: The Easy French
(Unfortunately, this will only happen sporadically; ideally, in Trujillo, as we have native-speaking French friends here. There is even a French Club! But, seeing as this first term, we will be concentrating on regaining our routine after furlough and before traveling again, we have to postpone the more intense study of French for another term at least.) In the meantime, I'm looking forward to looking over Anne's posts on their French studies.

"The language chosen should differ widely from the mother-tongue of the student, because sharp contrasts, as of black ink on white paper, more readily fix the attention and stick in the memory. It should also be at least equal to the mother-tongue as an instrument of thought, and it should be capable of stimulating the mind of the learner by introducing him to new ideas and unfamiliar ways of looking at the world around him. Finally, as it is not to be an end in itself, but a means of awakening the intellect to a consciousness of the delicate differences and shades of meaning conveyed by slight variations of expression, it should be a language which will not be required to be employed with the glibness of every-day intercourse."

Health: We will begin with Fearfully & Wonderfully Made when we arrive back in Tarapoto (the book is there!)

Another couple of things new and exciting to this year (y7) are the Commonplace Notebook and the Book of Centuries. Read this article for the merits of starting your own Commonplace Notebook, and here for your BoC.

Work: continue with chore list.
Physical Education: Run with Mom & Dad, 3x/week. Soccer in the park with neighborhood kids, 2x/week.
Handiwork: Sand and paint tables.

Free Reads: 30min/day as a suggestion. Please plan accordingly to finish by end of year.

Notebooks:
Nature Journal
Copywork Notebook (technically, this is being phased out, soon to be replaced by Commonplace)
Written Narration Notebook - all written narrations, including 'This Week in History'
Commonplace Notebook - to take down memorable quotes, living ideas as stated by other authors.
Book of Centuries
Science lab book - pretty informal at this point.
Math Practice Book
Personal Journal (personal/spiritual, private)

Helpful Links:
This plan is based almost exclusively from the AO Year 7 recommendations: See here.
Would you like to see this plan for yourself? Download here.
I've created a handy-dandy checklist to hang on the fridge for AOy7, term 1. Download here.
Can I just say that I love how Naomi approaches scheduling?! Read about her schedule here.

Some nature study inspiration.

2011-10-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

As I have been home from church today with a sickly little, I have had some extra time for scouring the web for school stuff this Sunday. I've gotten a LOT done, but in the last hour I got a little sidetracked looking again for nature study inspiration. Here are some links I (re)discovered featuring all kinds of ideas for adding interest to being outside...

Mind you, not everything mentioned in the following links is something we would do even if we could, but nonetheless there are many ideas to choose from.

Interpret all of the following links in light of this first one, Is Your Nature Study Living or an Educational Activity?

ChildlightUSA post by Art Middlekauff on creating intimacies with nature, As For Knowing the Thing Itself.

I've found the observations in the following post to be true to my own experiences with my own nature study book, Nature Study and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain:

"Careful observation enhances the student’s brain by increasing neural pathways. First, observation vastly increases knowledge about the subject being studied. It is only through looking that students will realize red maple leaves typically have three large points, two small points, and jagged edges. Observation also trains the mind to pay attention to and realize the importance of details."

Pretty much everything you might like to know about creative ways to incorporate nature study!

This is an EXCELLENT post... 19 can-do Nature Walk Variations

Nature Study option for urban dwellers at REI?

Free watercolor tutorials for your nature study book!

Do you have any not to be missed online resources for nature study? Do share! ;)

Our Book of Centuries - the details.

2011-10-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

This summer I finally learned more about the Book of Centuries used in the CM schools (PNEU/PUS)! I've been longing to give it more study and thought for some time now. I'm so thankful for Laurie Bestvater's posts and talks on the subject. It has been so enlightening to see how Charlotte Mason unified and drew many aspects of education together using the Book of Centuries.

I wonder at how thought through the whole thing is too! Imagine how helpful to a child's mind (to MY mind and feeble memory) a book of centuries can be... it is intended that it accompany him or her throughout all areas of study. He is to draw illustrations of artifacts he sees (from museum visits, photographs, etc), fitting them into the time period in which they fit. He could plot the dates of paintings being studied in picture study. He could follow the progressive development of the bow and arrow over the ages, he can mark down the dates of monarchs, discoveries in the field of science, etc.

There are millions of ways to make a timeline and many ways to make a Book of Centuries. But the G.M. Bernau model is superior to other forms for a multitude of reasons.

Here are several advantages:

Child-drawn illustrations encourage careful observation (see images below for an example).
Seeing an entire century on a page helps the child envision larger chunks of history at a time.
Value is placed on the child since it is he who decides what facts are important enough to include.
Because the book is tailored-fit by the child himself, it is a personal, lifelong source of delight.

How to get one!:
I'd LOVE to buy a really nice book like this leather bound one: $40 @ bookofcenturies.com
However, because I didn't buy it when we were back in the US, and we really can't wait any longer (and shipping rates to Peru have always been ridiculous), I've decided to buy a nice quality notebook here and make our own. I think also that making our own will help the boys to personally invest in the project.

The Book of Centuries is different than a timeline in its various forms. We use a communal timeline in our family for the younger years. Our plan is for each child to start their own BoC in AO year 6 or 7. We've taken our pattern from the following description:
Childlightusa - The Book of Centuries Revisited, part one & part two by Laurie Bestvater.
The Book of Centuries by Bernau, a Parent's Review article

Here's how we arranged the pages:
Our notebook has 100 pages (as opposed to 96)
We left a cover page (1st sheet, front and back left blank)

[note: I've reserved multiple pages for each child's beautiful illustrations of the literal biblical 6 day account of Creation.

1 page for each day of creation, should leave sufficient room for their own creativity

(obviously this deters from the Bernau example as her first pages are reserved for the different evolutionary "ages" paleolithic, bronze age, iron age, etc.).]

2nd sheet - 1st day of Creation
backside of 2nd sheet - 2nd day of creation
3rd sheet - 3rd day
backside of 3rd sheet - 4th day
4th sheet - 5th day
backside of 4th sheet - 6th day
5th sheet - 7th day
backside of 5th sheet - blank page for illustrations, 50th century BC - 41st century BC

[Bernau's model left pages for each of the evolutionary ages - paleolithic and such, we'll exclude those]

6th sheet - lined sheet, 50th century BC - 41st century BC

Book of Centuries Notebook (Book of Centuries - 1950? by Eve Anderson? [blue cover]). search the database at the above link for this image: i3p01-p42pneu162.pdf (page 30-31)
Images of Book of Centuries on display @ Charlotte Mason Digital Collection same document: i3p01-p42pneu162.pdf (page 32)
These two illustrations show how the blank/lined pages alternated.
You can see on how the drawing from the previous blank page is seen through the lined page.

[in the Bernau example and the BoC we see in the CM Digital Collection, the sheets seemed to alternate with lined and blank sheets so that the following would be slightly different, i.e., the back side of the lined sheets would also be lined.]

backside of 6th - blank page for illustrations, 40th century BC
7th sheet - lined sheet, 40th century BC
backside of 7th - blank page for illustrations, 41st century BC
8th sheet - lined sheet, 41st century BC
backside of 8th - blank page for illustrations, 42nd century BC
9th sheet - lined sheet, 42nd century BC
backside of 9th - blank page for illustrations, 43rd century BC
10th sheet - lined sheet, 43rd century BC
etc. :)

The 2 page spread for 1st century BC is followed immediately by a 2 page spread dedicated to the life of Christ (this is another deviation from the Bernau model).
The following 2 page spread would begin the 1st century AD, followed by the 2nd century AD, continuing on through the 21st century AD.

Following the 2 page spread for the 21st century, there is another blank 2 page spread (used as cover sheet to the appendix of sorts). The appendix will include, 6 - 1000 year @ a glace pages, and pages for maps. Following the cover page, the backside of which, the 2 page spread will be reserved for 1000 year @ a glace pages (6 of them representing 6000 years of world history). These pages will be divided into 10 rows of 10 columns. Each square representing a 10 year period. I don't know yet if I will follow through with this idea, but we will leave those pages blank for now with this in mind.

The rest of the blank pages from there to the back of the book are the pages reserved for maps of the child's own choosing, perhaps illustrating country boundaries or wars or marches, etc. The opposite pages would originally have been lined (same as the rest of the book) so as to include the child's short descriptions of her hand drawn maps.

I will update as our work progresses ;)

Notes if you plan to make your own:
Buying the book ready-made would be 100x easier... just sayin'.
Spiral binding is great for lying flat, but not as durable.
The notebook should have at least 96 sheets.
I prefer blank as opposed to lined because you can always draw lines in, but for the pages reserved for illustrations, lines are not lovely.
A medium/thick paper weight is nice so as to prevent ink leaking through from page to page.

"The Book of Centuries is to history what the nature notebook is to Nature Study." Laurie Bestvater

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: The Pursuit of Knowledge {vol.1}

2011-10-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

"Like the body, the mind has its appetite, the desire for knowledge. Again, like the body, the mind is able to receive and assimilate by its powers of attention and reflection. Like the body, again, the mind rejects insipid, dry, and unsavoury food, that is to say, its pabulum should be presented in a literary form. The mind is restricted to pabulum of one kind: it is nourished upon ideas and absorbs facts only as these are connected with the living ideas upon which they hang. Children educated upon some such lines as these respond in a surprising way, developing capacity, character, countenance, initiative and a sense of responsibility. They are, in fact, even as children, good and thoughtful citizens."

CM,v6p20

The Pursuit of Knowledge

Kelly @ The Homeschool Co-op presents Keeping Curious: Retaining Our Love of Learning.

amy in peru presents Desire - Pursuit - Delight.

Sarah presents I Want to Know.

image courtesy of AMA90

Lanaya presents We Should All Be As Happy As Kings .

gina roldan presents Towards A Philosophy of Education (Desire of Knowledge - Curiosity).

Pamela Jorrick presents Loss, Mess, and Perspective.

image courtesy of shelead

Mama Squirrel presents The great wide road, the adventure we are given: a sort of manifesto.

Grace'n'Chaos presents Discovering an Ancient Queen.

"Let me try to indicate some of the advantages of the theory I am urging––It fits all ages, even the seven ages of man! It satisfies brilliant children and discovers intelligence in the dull. It secures attention, interest, concentration, without effort on the part of teacher or taught.

Children, I think, all children, so taught express themselves in forcible and fluent English and use a copious vocabulary. An unusual degree of nervous stability is attained; also, intellectual occupation seems to make for chastity in thought and life. Parents become interested in the schoolroom work, and find their children 'delightful companions.' Children shew delight in books (other than story books) and manifest a genuine love of knowledge. Teachers are relieved from much of the labour of corrections. Children taught according to this method do exceptionally well at any school. It is unnecessary to stimulate these young scholars by marks, prizes, etc."

CMv6p28

Desire - Pursuit - Delight

2011-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is, briefly, how it works:––

A child is a Person with the spiritual requirements and capabilities of a person.

Knowledge 'nourishes' the mind as food nourishes the body.

A child requires knowledge as much as he requires food.

He is furnished with the desire for Knowledge, i.e., Curiosity; with the power to apprehend Knowledge, that is, attention; with powers of mind to deal with Knowledge without aid from without––such as imagination, reflection, judgment; with innate interest in all Knowledge that he needs as a human being; with power to retain and communicate such Knowledge; and to assimilate all that is necessary to him.

He requires that in most cases Knowledge be communicated to him in literary form; and reproduces such Knowledge touched by his own personality; thus his reproduction becomes original.

The natural provision for the appropriation and assimilation of Knowledge is adequate and no stimulus is required; but some moral control is necessary to secure the act of attention; a child receives this in the certainty that he will be required to recount what he has read. Children have a right to the best we possess; therefore their lesson books should be, as far as possible, our best books.

They weary of talk, and questions bore them, so that they should be allowed to use their books for themselves; they will ask for such help as they wish for.

They require a great variety of knowledge,––about religion, the humanities, science, art; therefore, they should have a wide curriculum, with a definite amount of reading set for each short period of study.

The teacher affords direction, sympathy in studies, a vivifying word here and there, help in the making of experiments, etc., as well as the usual teaching in languages, experimental science and mathematics.

Pursued under these conditions, "Studies serve for delight," and the consciousness of daily progress is exhilarating to both teacher and children.

Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Series v6p18-19

Don't miss the upcoming CM Blog Carnival on the Pursuit of Knowledge!
If you have a CM related post to share, on or off topic, please submit it here.
As always future carnival themes are posted here.

Suggested Reading:
CM Series: Vol.6 pg.300ff
PR Article: The Open Road

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Study of History {vol1}

2011-09-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the latest edition of the charlotte mason blog carnival !

The Study of History

Images of Book of Centuries by Florence Rankin (?) on display @ Charlotte Mason Digital Collection

Nancy presents Telling the Bees by a Fighting Quaker - Plus a Book Recommendation!
AnnieKate presents Some Favorite Living History Authors
Penney Douglas presents History for History-Makers
Barb presents Weekly Wrap-Up: Better to Think or to Know?
Jenny presents A Book that Fits
Adding to The Beauty presents Artist Study ~ October 2011 ~ Sandro Botticelli
Nancy presents Singing is to the Song Thrush as Narration is to the Child
Ritsumei presents Aquarium Trip
Jay3fer presents Making a (Rosh Hashanah) Lapbook, the Charlotte Mason way!
amy in peru presents Atmosphere: Intentional Living.

Helpful Links:
The Book of Centuries Revisited by Laurie Bestvater (part one) & (part two)
History: Teaching Practically Considered
Intro to History and Citizenship

Theme for the next carnival:
the Pursuit of Knowledge

Suggested Reading:
CM Series: Vol.6 pg.300ff
PR Article: The Open Road

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the charlotte mason blog carnival HERE!.

Atmosphere: Intentional Living

2011-09-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Wildflowers gathered - August 2011, Sunriver, OR

I overheard a really important question yesterday, the answer to which is, I think, worth reminding ourselves of on a very regular basis,

"How do YOU stop and really live intentionally every day?"

After thinking it over a little more, my answer is as follows:
LeAnn... read aloud ;) heheh. seriously, I have been thinking the same thing as I may only have 5 more years with my oldest... yikes, did I just write that?! oh my.

Honestly, I don't live intentionally every day. I don't. But I do aspire to try.
I don't want to settle in to intentionally survive each day; I want to really live.

First, we must begin to consciously treasure up the moments, realizing how fleeting and how precious it is to have our children where they are RIGHT NOW. We can never ever have this moment back. Treasure the three year old jabber that oh too soon will turn to proper speech, boys spluttering constant motor sounds before they realize it's not "cool", the carefree over-accessorizing eight year old flaunting pink and pearls, tights and tutus, pigtails and braids prior to becoming fashion conscious, preteens proud in their becoming before blushing unsure of just what that really foretells.
Because really, someday they will fly, fly away.

I might cry now.

:)

Here's a couple more strategies I'm putting into practice on a regular basis:

turn. off. the. computer. (and other time-wasting devices)
breathe.
read aloud.
drop everything and go outside.
eat ice cream as often as possible.
play games instead of watching tv or movies.
remember to take pictures.
pray often.
work together on meals and cleanup.
play music.
light candles just 'cause.
make tea and drink it in kid-sized tea cups.
stay charged up... get enough sleep, read the Word, drink coffee, stay in touch w/ friends, etc.
when cranky, take a break.
practice random acts of affection.
cuddle them tight.
let go of what I can't control.

What things do the rest of you do to live intentionally?

For Reading Out Loud... {part two}

2011-09-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

For the times we don't read aloud.

[read part one here - When it's good to read aloud.]

We must always keep in mind that small children learn in so many multitudes of ways other than just listening to stories! We wouldn't want to shut them up all day inside with books. They need lots of time to process what they've heard, to play it out, or to spill outside and stomp puddles or smack mudpies and the like. We've got to give them time to digest all that they're taking in.

Then of course there are some things we simply won't read aloud. I may want to edit or skip some parts of the material unnecessary to their development at the time. Charlotte Mason actually recommended this with parts of the Old Testament. Though my husband skips nothing and my children to have survived knowing about Lot and his daughters, to my extreme relief. ;)

And soon enough, the time will come when they will be reading all on their own. We all want our children to become independent readers who LOVE to read. For example, an educational goal I have for my children, is that in the end they be able to handle whatever they are given to read (whether they tackle it straightaway or know where to find the resources to help them through). They definitely won't attain this by my reading everything to them or explaining every difficulty they come across. At some point, they must, by practice, read most if not all of their school books alone.

In those transitional days when a reader is getting ready to assume more of her school readings, it's often necessary to hand the material over gradually so as not to overwhelm. Some students while able to read, may not be able to read entirely alone (see Anne's note). Though I recommend encouraging independence, it may come slower for some than others. My 8yo daughter will be reading most of her books on her own this year, while my sons were only just transitioning into more independent reading at age 10. Everybody's different and the transition will look different for everyone. :) [for more on what this transition looks like and at what age, see vol.1 pg.230-233]

As wonderful as reading aloud is, sometimes we have less time to spare. With very young children, we do our best. We may be juggling many ages and stages simultaneously in our homes. We may suddenly realize to our dismay that overcommitted, we have so much on our plates that even the time in the car between events must needs be music-filled or silent in order to maintain sanity. However, this is a state that we cannot maintain forever. Let's face it, during some seasons it won't be possible to read aloud for enjoyment as much as we had perhaps hoped, but those books over the years that we are able to share will be remembered. In our family, through all the moves and changes I try to keep at least one book going at all times. Time spent reading aloud has definitely become one of those ties that bind us... something I never would have foreseen early on, but that now I wouldn't trade for the world.

Articles on Reading Aloud to Children:

AO discussion on Reading Aloud
Why it is So Important to Read Aloud to Your Kids
Parent Involvement and Student Achievement

Charlotte on the subject of Reading Aloud:

"Let us suppose mother and children arrived at some breezy open wherein it seemeth always afternoon. In the first place, it is not her business to entertain the little people: there should be no story-books, no telling of tales, as little talk as possible, and that to some purpose. Who thinks to amuse children with tale or talk at a circus or pantomime? And here, is there not infinitely more displayed for their delectation? " vol.1 p45

"The most common and the monstrous defect in the education of the day is that children fail to acquire the habit of reading. Knowledge is conveyed to them by lessons and talk, but the studious habit of using books as a means of interest and delight is not acquired. This habit should be begun early; so soon as the child can read at all, he should read for himself, and to himself, history, legends, fairy tales, and other suitable matter. He should be trained from the first to think that one reading of any lesson is enough to enable him to narrate what he has read, and will thus get the habit of slow, careful reading, intelligent even when it is silent, because he reads with an eye to the full meaning of every clause." vol.1 pg227

"It is a delight to older people to read aloud to children, but this should be only an occasional treat and indulgence, allowed before bedtime, for example. We must remember the natural inertness of a child's mind; give him the habit of being read to, and he will steadily shirk the labour of reading for himself; indeed, we all like to be spoon-fed with our intellectual meat, or we should read and think more for ourselves and be less eager to run after lectures." vol.1 pg228

"The power of reading with perfect attention will not be gained by the child who is allowed to moon over his lessons. For this reason, reading lessons must be short; ten minutes or a quarter of an hour of fixed attention is enough for children of the ages we have in view, and a lesson of this length will enable a child to cover two or three pages of his book. The same rule as to the length of a lesson applies to children whose lessons are read to them because they are not yet able to read for themselves." vol.1 p230

For Reading Out Loud... {part one}

2011-09-24T20:21:00.001-07:00

When it's good to read aloud.

Oh, the preciousness of sprawling out or cuddling close while savoring a family readaloud on any given cozy evening of the week! There's nothing quite like it except for perhaps the gathering one by one around the piano as a hymn is poked out; resulting in a rehearsal of four part harmony a capella... (heheh. But let's be real. The latter has NOT happened in our family to date. Folksongs, yes, but only in one voice, and hymns? ...someday, I hope to sing them in four part harmony! I'm quite sure it's simply for lack of a piano...)

What is it about reading aloud? Is it the prolonged moments of harmony, togetherness, identification in common knowledge, the fact that all the kids are QUIET? :) Whatever it is, sharing a book is sweet.

I've always read aloud to my kids. It's the very first thing that comes to my mind with the word: homeschooling. Reading aloud always seemed the most obvious way to share knowledge before the kids knew to read themselves. And the sweetest. It wasn't long however, before the questions occurred to me, how long should this tradition continue? Is it something for young children only? Is reading aloud a necessity if I hope to turn out good readers? How much is too much?

We know that setting a good parental example in literacy is a very strong influence in producing children who enjoy reading. That is, when we are seen to enjoy gaining knowledge and living ideas from books, then it is a positive influence. On the other hand, if a child only sees his mother reading magazines, romance novels or glued to the screen reading homeschool blogs {gasp!} to the detriment of relationship and responsibility, this would NOT be a good example, now, would it?

Example is important. But example isn't primarily what I'm after when we read aloud. We must of course set an example by doing our best when reading aloud. Choosing good books, using correct inflection of voice, emotion, enunciation etc, are all important things we can teach by example. But when we read aloud we are really fluffing the nest a little, enjoying life together. In our family, it's a matter of being together and sharing family joy more than instilling reading habits. For us, reading aloud is not only for acquisition of knowledge in the early years but for sharing experience.

That said, there are many ways we share experience in story while reading independently. Family members or friends can read the same book and find common experience even when years span the readings. As Wendi has said, “Discussion still occurs, shared experiences still exist – and there's the added fun of asking 'Are you at the part where...?' 'What did you think when you got to the bit where she says...?' 'Don't you wonder what would have happened if he'd known...?'”

With young children, we read aloud in order to share wonderfully beloved stories since they have yet to acquire the skills to read them on their own. Their minds are hungry for story, and yet they are still immature when it comes to reading fast enough to satisfy their appetite for knowledge. With older children, we read aloud to share wonderfully beloved stories simply because we love to share the stories. :) I hope to continue reading aloud as long as my children will listen!

[...to be continued]

A few book suggestions from the AO lists to read aloud for multiple ages
(there are of course many, many others):

C.S Lewis' Narnia series
Little House on the Prairie series
Pilgrim's Progress
Swallows and Amazons series
Little Britches series

What has your experience been with read-alouds?
Which books have been your family's favorites?

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Planning/Organization {vol1}

2011-09-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

As a new school year begins, we're trying to get all our ducks in a row!

Welcome to the Organization/Planning edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

Let's see how it's done!
If you have any planning/organization tips that you LOVE, will you please leave a comment?! Without further ado... here are the submissions for this carnival!

Nancy presents Avoid the Grooves - Shift That Paradigm.
Barb presents Charlotte Mason Keeps Me On Track.
Amanda presents Nature Study Using Calendars Ideas.

One key thing for keeping my brain is keeping a notebook!

Shirley Ann presents New Planner.
Sonya presents Do Not Sit Up Late: Three Practical Do Not’s, Part 1.
Mama Squirrel presents First few days of school...musings.Lanaya presents When the Schedule Goes Out the Window.

In my notebook I have calendar pages for an overview, monthly as well as weekly pages.

Lizzie presents School Starts Tomorrow posted at A Dusty Frame.
Sarah presents Setting Up Shop & This Years Curriculum: Phonics Rule Book.
amy in peru presents Planning around life.

Traveling as much as we do, requires a great deal of organization and planning!! :)

Posts on miscellaneous topics related to an education based on Charlotte Mason's principles.

Jay3fer presents Very interesting… thoughts on Stuart Little.
Barb presents Living Books For High School Science .
Naomi presents Hidden Even to Ourselves.
Nadene presents A Collage of "The Cradle"

Always take time to smell the roses... (preferably not skyrockets aka: skunk flowers!

Jeanne presents Folksongs in the nursery.
Chris presents Mondays with Miss Mason-Starting with "A". & Mondays with Miss Mason?C for Character.
Tricia presents Lily Pad: A Pastels Tutorial.

...or look at the micro-wonders of the world!)

Theme for the next carnival on 9/27:

The Study of History

Suggested Reading:
* CM Series: vol. 6, p169-179 and vol.1 p279-294

Click here to see a schedule of upcoming themes and topics for future carnivals.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of
the charlotte mason blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

blog carnival coming soon!

2011-09-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Lima, Peru yesterday at 4:30am and then slept a ton yesterday and I lost track of what day it was... OOPS! The carnival will be posted this evening! There are a LOT of entries! I´m excited!

:)

packing...

2011-09-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

36 hours and counting...

Finished packing 12 pieces of luggage at exactly 50lbs! ...only 2 left + carry ons! :) Yay.
Everything on my list is purchased and almost packed.
We have a family dinner tonight,
church and family lunch afterward tomorrow,
and then we leave EARLY Monday morning!

How many kids can a golf cart fit, if a golf cart can fit kids?!

2011-09-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

Micah and I both were on the front seat as well just before taking this shot!! Keep in mind every single one of us are at our all time high for weight! Yay for furlough! :) Hilarious.

I am SO excited! Sarah the Stout took our family photos today & one day you too will see her work... right here on my blog! That is if we managed to not mess up every picture! ;)

good news and bad news

2011-09-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

*For tickets purchased before August 30, 2011:
Two bags checked - No charge

For tickets purchased on or after August 30, 2011:
$30 for the second checked bag. Exceptions may apply.

Sad.

It is becoming more and more expensive to travel every day.

Thankfully, we don't have to pay for the second bag this time around. But seriously, it's ridiculous! For tourists, perhaps one bag is reasonable, but for people who live overseas this is seriously tragic.

We have a winner!

2011-09-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks for playing with me! I especially liked the words, *blessings* (would've been far more spiritual), *blue* (would've shown my artistic side - I was actually thinking lavender before I added more pictures! :) and the *POEM*...! wow. I wish I were a poet... and a naturalist... and an artist... and a... oh. ahem, sorry.

But, I'm far too simple. :) I was thinking about the wonder of *summer*... I'm just so taken with it :) To experience the cool dampness of spring and to see the trees and flowers bud and ease into warmth, and then sun... bulging blossoms, bright green bushiness and hot sunny days. Soon the nights cool and we are gladdened by the coming of fall...

oh the loveliness of seasons. :)

Here's the lovely gift Bonnie left me which typifies my experience this summer exactly:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
~ T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding, FOUR QUARTETS

So in the end, Michelle, who would have won a prize for most posts had there been one, wins the prize for reading my pictures and guessing *summer* first! :) Yay! That was fun! ;) I hope you all enjoyed the carnival and that your end of summer and beginning of fall and then winter and spring again are all glorious. :)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival {end of summer edition}

2011-08-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Are you all ready for another spin around the carnival?!

We have lots of wonderful variety seeing as this time around the theme is 'Whatever Strikes Your Fancy'. Of course you will understand how perfectly fitting then that the photo decorations will be as whatever strikes my fancy. Probably flowers, because I love taking pictures of flowers. But then again, you never can tell... :) However, the first person to come up with *the one word I was thinking* when I put the pictures together, will win a prize! I have a pile of books that I've been itching to give away...

Fun.

Nancy Kelly presents:
"Degrees of Separation" or "Your Child's Future Sanity" & Avoid the Grooves - Shift That Paradigm (We get a double dose of Nancy this time around! yay!)

Barb presents:
Back to School - Making High School Fit Your Student & Homeschool Science: Things I Would Do Differently (and double Barb too!)

Ritsumei presents Nature: Puppies N Chicks

Shannon in WV presents Narration: You Mean It’s Not Just about a Book?

Michelle presents:
When to Begin Formal Lessons & Sharing Art & What Is a Charlotte Mason Curriculum? & Are the Arts Important in Education?

(whoa! quadruple whammy!! Michelle'd win the prize for most posts if there'd been one!!)

Nikki Olivier presents A walk in the wetlands. "...falling in love with the outdoors!"

Shirley Ann Vels presents:
Appreciating Art - Appreciating Charlotte Mason's Method! & Fun, Sun, Water and a Bit of History to Boot! (yay! double Shirley!)

Lindafay presents Charlotte Mason Help: How We Organize Memory Work

Lanaya presents A Few Things I'm Learning From Miss Mason

Grace'n'Chaos presents Books & Things and Some Mother Culture

Denise presents The (Mathematical) Trouble with Pizza

Jenny presents Books & Things and Some Mother Culture.

Kathy Livingston presents Choosing Extra-Curricular Activities.

Tricia Hodges presents Lily Pad: A Pastels Tutorial.

Jeanne presents Folksongs in the nursery.

Serena presents Circle Time.

Sarah presents Setting Up Shop.

Chris McGinn presents Mondays with Miss Mason?Starting with ?A?.

At Fisher Academy Int'l, we haven't yet started school officially as we are just now really finishing up last year after our summer travels. We will be diving right into next year however, just as soon as we get to Peru (we school year round).

What are your plans? How many of you have started already? Will you start next week? Or later?

Everyone always asks, "How do you plan and organize a CM education?". So let's have a look...
The theme of the next issue of the carnival is:
Organization / Planning on 9/13/11

Suggested Reading:
PR Articles:
Concentration of Purpose in Education
Mental Equilibrium

PS. Do you have a guess for *the one word I was thinking* when I put together the pictures for this post? Leave a comment... and the first one to guess can choose a free book from my giveaway box. :)

Announcement, Announcement! A Carnival Announcement.

2011-08-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hello there! There's something new in the air! Two fun things are coming soon. Are you excited?

For one, the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival will be up tomorrow, and it's been such a little while since the last one, I'm really looking forward to it, aren't you? :) We have 'whatever strikes your fancy' as the theme this time around, so if you haven't submitted your CM post yet, do it today before it's too late :)

If you need the CM blog carnival button, go ahead and steal this one ;)

Second, it's almost fall, which means for most of you school's starting up again in full force. For our family it means we have only two weeks left until we go back to Peru! We've had a momentous summer visit, and we're so thankful for all the opportunities we've had to meet with family and friends doing lots of fun stuff. I'm sorry for not blogging it, but when there's a choice to blog life or to live life, well... right. That's where priorities come into play now, do they not? :)

Our family at the Space Needle in Seattle! Yay!

I hope y'all have had a wonderful summer and that your fall will be beautiful too (in spite of the hurricanes). In the next few months as our family adjusts to life back in South America, the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival will continue with a lineup of interesting yet hopefully challenging and practical topics. Please stay tuned for further info. If you have a blog, please consider hosting the carnival this coming year. If you are interested, send an e-mail to charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com.

Here are a few pictures I just happen to have handy of myself with a few of my friends earlier this summer @ the Childlight USA Conference... :)

My friend Bonnie

...and Leslie

...and Cindy!

Every moment matters.
Enjoy.

:)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Science of Relations {vol1}

2011-08-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

On what does Fulness of Living depend? What is education after all? An answer lies in the phrase – Education is the Science of Relations... What we are concerned with is the fact that we personally have relations with all that there is in the present, all that there has been in the past, and all that there will be in the future – with all above us and all about us – and that fulness of living, expansion, expression, and serviceableness, for each of us depend upon how far we apprehend these relationships and how many of them we lay hold of. vol.3 p.186

When we look at Education: the Science of Relations, I think many of us are either overwhelmed by the thought or else we have no idea what to make of the idea... it's an all encompassing philosophy of not so much education only, but a way of life! Building relations with a number of persons and things based on our interests and affinities is an enriching part of a CM education! Read on. :)

Science of Relations.

Lanaya presents Welcome to Your World

Shirley Ann Vels presents The Joy of Living in Far Lands...

amy in peru presents The Science of Relations.

Everything else Charlotte Mason.

Jay3fer presents Meeting the Masters: Van Gogh, Part 2

Gina presents Home Joys: Connections

Nature Study.

Nikki Olivier presents ....and finally, a Nature Club Walk!

Lynn presents Garden Science

Ann presents Birthday Picnic - Outdoor Hour Challenge #10

Narration.

Laura Grace Weldon presents Save Moments In A Memory Jar

Jimmie presents a 3-part series on Narration Basics: Expectations, From Oral to Written, Dealing with Problems

Thank you all for your submissions and comments! Keep up the good work!
Submit your blog article to the next edition of the charlotte mason blog carnival HERE.

As we are approaching the end of summer, in celebration, the next CM blog carnival (to be posted, 8/30/2011)
Theme will be: anything goes! ;)
Until next time!

amy in peru.

Scinece of Relations.

2011-08-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

My favorite gleanings from my readings on the subject:

“Education is the Science of Relations. The idea that vivifies teaching in the Parents' Union is that Education is the Science of Relations; by which phrase we mean that children come into the world with a natural 'appetency,' to use Coleridge's word, for, and affinity with all the material of knowledge; for interest in the heroic past and in the age of myths; for a desire to know about everything that moves and lives, about strange places and strange peoples; for a wsh to handle material and to make; a desire to run and ride and row and do whatever the law of gravitation permits. Therefore we do not feel it is lawful in the early days of a child's life to select certain subjects for his education to the exclusion of others; to say he shall not learn Latin, for example, or shall not learn Science; but we endeavour that he shall have relations of pleasure and intimacy established with as many as possible of the interests proper to him; not learning a slight or incomplete smattering about this or that subject, but plunging into vital knowledge, with a great field before him which in all his life he will not be able to explore. In this conception we get that 'touch of emotion' which vivifies knowledge, for it is probable that we feel only as we are brought into our proper vital relations.”
v3p224

“Children should have relations with earth and water, should run and leap, ride and swim, should establish the relation of maker to material in as many kinds as may be; should have dear and intimate relations with persons, through present intercourse, through tale or poem, picture or statue; through flint arrow-head or modern motor-car: beast and bird, herb and tree, they must have familiar acquaintance with. Other peoples and their languages must not be strange to them. Above all they should find that most intimate and highest of all Relationships, - the fulfillment of their being.
v3 p210

This is not a bewildering programme, because, in all these and more directions, children have affinities; and a human being does not fill his place in the universe without putting out tendrils of attachment in the directions proper to him. We must get rid of the notion that to learn the 'three R's' or the Latin grammar well a child should learn these and nothing else. It is as true for children as for ourselves that, the wider the range of interests, the more intelligent is the apprehension of each.”
v3p210

On what does Fulness of Living depend? What is education after all? An answer lies in the phrase – Education is the Science of Relations... What we are concerned with is the fact that we personally have relations with all that there is in the present, all that there has been in the past, and all that there will be in the future – with all above us and all about us – and that fulness of living, expansion, expression, and serviceableness, for each of us depend upon how far we apprehend these relationships and how many of them we lay hold of.
v3 p186

Every child is heir to an enormous patrimony, heir to all the ages, inheritor of all the present. The question is, what are the formalities (educational, not legal) necessary to put him in possession of that which is his? You perceive the point of view is shifted, and is no longer subjective, but objective, as regards the child.
v3 p187

Enjoy! :)

Twaddle Control

2011-07-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

Do you have a problem with junk reading in your home? Do your kids just seem to gravitate toward the fluff, when you'd rather they read the healthy stuff? How durst we keep the twaddle under control?

First of all, what is twaddle? For those of us familiar with Charlotte Mason, twaddle is a familiar term, and is basically the opposite of a living book. For those who've yet to spend time with her these might be still new or foreign ideas.

twaddle
[Noun] silly, trivial, or pretentious talk or writing
[Verb] [-dling, -dled] to talk or write in a silly or pretentious way [earlier twattle]
~ definition courtesy of Twaddlefree Bookstore

I think of twaddle as junk food in the form of books.

"That children like feeble and tedious...story books, does not at all prove that these are wholesome food; they like lollipops but cannot live upon them."
Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education, p. 117

image courtesy of MissCGlass

I cannot think of a better tactic, whether you have small children or avid readers than to maintain control from the start by screening what comes into your home. After all, you buy the groceries don't you? But what if a book shows up from a well-meaning friend or family member? When they're small, this can be pretty simple. In general, mine have hardly noticed when they've gotten a twaddly book as a gift and it "accidentally" is hidden immediately under or inside the couch (unless of course they've somehow grown an unruly fetish for Thomas the Train and it happens to be a book about him... I'm afraid you may be in it for the long haul). Before they have an opportunity to ask for it, I offer some beautiful alternative, hopefully they never even miss it! :) If yours do insist, or you have grandparents who will ask, what I've done is, tell them we'll read it once now and then we'll trade it in for another book (my selection). Yay for used book stores and garage sales!! :)

For older children, discuss the reasons you put limits on what they read. This will usually include moral as well as quality issues. Talk to them about what makes a good book... Make sure to have a wide variety of options for them, and then let them choose which books they want to read first. We use the AmblesideOnline book lists which include the yearly curriculum reads as well as a list of "Free Reading" (also required by the end of the year, but they decide priority and pace based on preference). You might formulate your own "approved book reading list" for your older child from the lower AO years booklists that your child may have missed as well as from a book like All Through the Ages or Honey for a Child's Heart. Then let them choose which books sound most interesting to them.

image courtesy of ilco

At the library, our rule for choosing books was: the books you may look at at the library are not necessarily those that we bring home with us. When my kids were smaller, I allowed them to peruse the children's section freely and gather a stack of books, which I always reserved the right to screen. I would make sure there was nothing offensive, then from what they chose, I would separate one or two that were eligible to take home. I would tell them that they could read the other books while we were in the library, but that those books would stay there. I usually had prepared a list of books that I'd check out to make sure the basket was FULL of a good variety to bring home with us. Depending on the ages of my children, my choices would usually include some picture books with beautiful illustrations to please the senses, several read alouds with beautiful use of language and an easy reader or two with interesting ideas.

If you find yourself with a house already full of junk book addicts, it may be a bit more difficult. I would recommend working on this in stages. Usually I've had limited space for books, so I buy a bunch of good books at garage sales or thrift stores and subtly weed out the undesirables to make room for the new acquisitions. If there are some twaddly favorites, I'd just wait. Let them stay on the shelf for awhile. They're not hurting anyone there. Chances are if we consistently present them with a banquet of a wide variety of enticing foods, they'll generally be satisfied with the material that tends to taste better, nourish more and last longer. If they eat a little junk food now and then, it's not really going to hurt, but it's best to subtly steer them by making suggestions toward the material that will tend to nourish their hearts and minds.

Oh and finally, set a good example. Read good books. Choose quality material for yourself based on classic literature or personal recommendation. Discuss the books you read with your children when possible and talk about what you liked about them and why they're good or why they weren't. And obviously, read good books to your children... but I guess that pretty much goes without saying ;)

Useful Links for choosing good books:

AmblesideOnline offers booklists for every year. I LOVE the selections! Do you Amble? If not, why not try it? AmblesideOnline is a great way to homeschool, and it's all right there online!! Read a definition of what makes a living book here.

All Through the Ages is an AMAZING resource! It's basically a book of great books to read at all different levels based on the time period. Each section includes a timeline, suggestions of resources for all ages, and then suggestions for the different reading levels, grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. The genres include selections of books based on specific events, culture, biography, literature from teh time period, and historical fiction. I love this book!

I personally haven't had great success yet with Simply Charlotte Mason's bookfinder, but I know others have, so give it a try, maybe you'll have better luck than I.

What do you do to control twaddle? Is it important to you?

CM Blog Carnival - Handicrafts {vol.1}

2011-06-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Handicrafts edition of

the Charlotte Mason blog carnival!

"The report and the Natural Science and Handicrafts taught by our ex-students during the past five years is most cheering and encouraging. Not one handicraft seems to have fallen through. There has not been time yet for our Leather-embossing, Repousse and Woodcarving to work their way, but Book-binding, Cardboard-Sloyd and Basket-making seem to have succeeded very well. With regard to sloyd work, the fact that it encourages children to invent and carry out models of their own speaks greatly in its favor. It is the inventive faculty in children we all wish to encourage and cultivate. The same may be said of Basket-making. Children soon begin to invent their own patterns, and if along with pretty designs we get careful and accurate work the educational value of these employments soon shows itself."
Parent's Review article, Our Work

AmblesideOnline presents Handicrafts

Serena@CastingPearls presents Adventures in Soap Making.

Barb presents Handicrafts- Appropriate and Essential for High School?, saying, "This was a really fun post to put together for the carnival. I hope that it inspires other families to make handicrafts an essential part of their homeschooling plans. Our family has definitely seen the benefits."

Nadene presents How Handicrafts and Life Skills Become Great Assets, saying, "Handicraft and life skills provide so much more than a craft or project!"

Amanda presents Why Include Handicrafts in Your Homeschool?

Angela England presents 5 Educational Activities in Your Backyard | Blissfully Domestic

Sarah presents Don't Break The Charm!

Mountaineer Country presents Living the Charlotte Mason Lifestyle.

Lanaya presents Handicraft.

Catherine presents Handicrafts.

Penney Douglas presents Kids and Crowns.

Rachael presents Handicrafts - Sewing.

amy in peru presents Handi-crafty Kids.

Naomi presents Handcraft Fair

SimpyCharlotteMason has an series of posts on Homeschool Handicrafts

Here are some Parent's Review articles I found useful:
On Some Aspects of Slojd
The Value of Art Training and Manual Work

Along with the handicrafts CM mentioned in her books and mentioned above is sloyd and admittedly, I have no idea what it is, except that it has to do with paper and wood. I haven't had time to actually read the articles I googled that I'm about to share with you, so you can research it at your own pace :)

Free books on sloyd... whatever sloyd is ;) heheh.
Sloyd
Elementary Sloyd and Whittling
Paper Sloyd: a handbook for primary grades

Enjoy!

Please, as always, if you've posted on Handicrafts and would like to share your post, please feel free to link up in the comments! :)

*Please Note: The next CM blog carnival will be in 4 weeks (7/26) - the Science of Relations.

**This concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the charlotte mason blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Nature Study (vol1)

2011-06-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival! Nature Study. Volume One.

Nature study at the Grand Canyon. Studying the panorama, observing, sketching, etc.

Nature study as a subject is one which should be approached with great reverence, for in dealing with birds, animals, flower and all other forms of natural life, we are perhaps, nearer to the Creator than in any other branch of science; for the natural world is the expression of God's personality in a form that is within the reach of all of us to comprehend in some measure. And is not the natural world one of the greatest proofs that there is a God?
The secret of having reverence in all branches of Nature Study lies in reverence for Life in any shape or form. In speaking of this reverence for Life, Miss Mason says, "Reverence for Life as a wonderful and awful gift which a ruthless child may destroy but never can restore, is a lesson of first importance to the child."
PR Article, "The Charm of Nature Study"

The reading selections for this edition are as follows:

CM series: Vol.1, pg43 - 93
PR article: How to Best Study Nature

Mountain Chickadee, LaPine, OR

Barb presents Nature Study and Summer Travels - Four Steps to Prepare

Cindy West presents June's Creation Club | Our Journey Westward

Kris Correira presents Surprising Wealth of Living Nature Books

Penney Douglas presents How to Raise a Monarch from a Caterpillar

Grey Squirrel, LaPine, OR., with the biggest, fluffiest tail. ever.

Sarah presents Discovering Spring

Lanaya presents Ladie Green Eyes

Serena@CastingPearls presents Charlotte Mason and Nature Study

amy in peru presents Using Field Guides in Nature Study

Karyn Tripp presents Read Along- The Burgess Animal Book for Children, Chapter 1

Tricia Hodges presents Backyard Bunnies

Ann presents Spring Bird Study - Outdoor Hour Challenge Spring Series #3
and Harvest Moon by Hand: Outdoor Hour Challenge Spring Series #2 Weather Observations

Grace'n'Chaos presents Ready For The Originals saying, "This is an attempt at beginning to truly understand Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education and our continued journey down that path."

Angie in GA presents I am, I ought, I can, I will; therefore I am Free!

Thank you all for your contributions! You make the carnival what it is! You're the greatest!
Please make sure to comment on posts, you never know what encouragement might mean to someone!

Our next run at the carnival will be on June 28th.

Handicrafts.

@ http://holistichomeschooler.blogspot.com

Suggested Reading:

CM Series. Volume 1, pg 316

PR Article...The Value of Art Training and Manual Work.

This concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
the charlotte mason blog carnival using our carnival submission form.
(Please submit your post before 5pm Monday, June 27th)

Using Field Guides in Nature Study

2011-06-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt overwhelmed in the face of such a giant book like Handbook of Nature Study or other field guides not knowing where exactly to begin? They have SO much interesting information! How might we go about making them useful tools in education? Well, these books can be very helpful, but not for whom you might at first think. Have you considered that as teachers we may find scheduling readings for ourselves from the Handbook of Nature Study or other field guides extremely helpful? Did you ever think using them with the children could actually be a problem? To a certain degree we must take care not to use these kinds of books heavily with our children except perhaps for identification after a rich time outside of careful observation and the child's completion of an entry in the his/her nature notebook. Here's why:

It is possible to find all the information in books we could ever want on nature study. There are books which contain every observable, and unobservable fact for that matter, the realization of which certainly might rob us and our children of the initial wonder and resulting keen observation of aspects of nature we've never seen before. Identification books ought to be used by the teacher mommy for reference preferably before the nature study/walk and by the student only afterward, according to CM.

" All men are interested in Science - At former meeting of the British Association, the President lamented that the progress of science was greatly hindered by the fact that we no longer have field naturalists - close observers of Nature as she is. A literary journal made a lamentable remark thereupon. It is all written in books, said this journal, so we have no longer any need to go to Nature herself. Now the knowledge of Nature which we get out of books is not real knowledge; **the use of books is, to help the young student to verify facts he has already seen for himself. Let us, before all things, be Nature-lovers; intimate acquaintance with every natural object within his reach is the first, and possibly, the best part of a child's education.** " Vol.2, p62

Personally, I aspire to become a nature field guide of sorts for my children, full of information, and yet able to wisely dole out precious gems in a provocative manner, or then refrain from doing so at just the right moment. :) I wish I'd grown up studying nature, or at least in close proximity to someone who had. But I didn't. I get to study now. I get out as often or more than my own children and am every bit as curious as they might be. I can't get enough of the field guides... I've got to have answers! Looking over the field guides helps 'ignorant' me to have some information in store for my wonder-full children when they have need of it. Of course on the same note, most of the time just staying out of their way is paramount!

Our Peru.

2011-06-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Yay! It was SO much fun meeting many of you this last weekend at ChildlightUSA! So much fun. Only this, I felt so much pressure from such a number of you who asked for pictures of what it is like in the jungle where we live!!

Well, that and after two months, I'm missing Peru.
If you click the picture link below you will be able to SEE a little bit of our Peru too.

Enjoy!

CM Blog Carnival on Narration is up!

2011-05-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

Oh dear. I've really up and done it now... I'm super late in announcing this Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival! You didn't get a mid-week reminder note either?! That would be totally my fault too. Will you so graciously forgive? My totally viable excuse is that we haven't had an internet connection since we left Houston two Mondays ago... and yes, there were McDonald's and Starbucks along the highways and byways, but we've had nothing but straight driving 56 of the last 120 hours! Please accept my sincere apologies. I cannot assure you that it will never happen again, but I can assure you that I hope it will never happen again! ;)

Thankfully, the blog carnival is up and running despite my failures... !

Announcing the most recent edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival:

:: Narration, vol. 1 @ Planting Little Seeds ::

...at the Grand Canyon!!

The topic for the next CM carnival is (everyone's favorite!):

Nature Study

The reading selections are as follows:

CM series: Vol.1, pg43 - 93
PR article: How to Best Study Nature

Yay! I can't wait for this edition!!! I hope you will consider posting this time around even if you normally don't! Get outside and do some nature study or consider submitting an older post on Nature Study?! Please make sure to submit your posts for the upcoming carnival by no later than 6/13 at 5pm (otherwise it will be auto-postponed until the next carnival by blogcarnival.com)

PS.
I'm sitting in McDonald's using free Wi-Fi, celebrating the eve of the final day of travels... woohoo!

a mother can narrate too.

2011-05-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Even though I haven't blogged in forever, I am still in fact dutifully educating myself for the betterment of my children's education. One of the myriad ways I do this is by reading the suggested (optional, mind you) readings for the twice monthly Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival. Yes, I actually do read them ;) and yes, I do it because I like to :)

Because we are attempting to ever so timidly begin schooling again after an insane long time, we are in need of some helpful reminders on why we do what we do. How convenient then, that the upcoming blog carnival is on Narration, one of the key ingredients to a Charlotte Mason education. As my boys are coming to the age where they are going to be taking more control of their own education, I decided that they too would benefit from a better understanding of why narration is so ~~helpful~~ necessary. So, together we read the PR article,"We Narrate and Then We Know". It was interesting as they critiqued my husband's and my varying methods with narration and pointed out where we had made mistakes along the way. They also had questions, and I shared some pointers on different tools they might use to improve their narrations.

All said, it was an encouraging discussion.

Since then I've been thinking (unlikely isn't it?), about how much information I absorb without experiencing a fantastic rate of retention. I wasn't trained this way unfortunately. But, the principles hold true for children as well as adults. I've got to get better about regularly retelling what I'm learning in order to help my brain remember it. Not only that, but Narration helps us to learn to order our thoughts. Do you ever feel like a muddle brain when you're trying to tell someone something you've read somewhere at some point and can't quite remember the details? If you know me, you know that I have this problem... a lot. Narration can help. With regular narrations, we will improve the way our minds order information and then store it, so that we have it available to share with others! yay!

So, how can a mother narrate what she's learning?

Write it:

write a narration in your journal,
in a commonplace book,
in a letter or an e-mail to a friend,
or better yet blog it.

Tell it:

to a friend over coffee,
over the phone,
or to your spouse (this will help with drastic summarizing skills as well!)

**This post is up today over at Educating Mother.

Wanna share in the discussion? Pop on over there to answer the question:

What ways are most practical for you to narrate what you're learning?

Roadtrip!

2011-04-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

We have been 'on the road' for 4 weeks now! Seriously! All seven us in a seven passenger van traveling halfway across the States and then practically from top to bottom and then back... Sound interesting?! Let me tell you... it is. ;) If you happen to be interested in what our family is up to, I've posted some summary pictures of our time in the States so far over at my other blog:

http://apilgrimsproject.blogspot.com/search/label/USA

Have a peek HERE:

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Living Books, vol.1

2011-04-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the April 19, 2011 edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival in which we discuss Living Books... the definition, the value, the delightful use of, the virtues, the... yes, I could go on. and on. If you've arrived at this carnival and you'd like to read further about what Charlotte wrote about using books, particularly of the living variety breathed into by quickening ideas as opposed to books full of dry bones of fact that become a weariness to the flesh, I've listed a few really great places that I've enjoyed reading lately:

Schoolbooks and How They Make for Education (suggested reading for this carnival)
Chapter 15 School-Books and How They Make for Education
Chapter 16 How to Use School-Books
Chapter 21 Suggestions Toward a Curriculum (For Children under Twelve)
Part II.––School-Books, Books that supply the Sustenance of Ideas

So without further ado, please welcome our participants this time around. You'd think because of the sheer volume of on-topic posts this time around that we're all a bunch of book lovers or something, d'ya think?! Enjoy!

Living Books:

Nadene presents Loving Living Books , saying, "A post devoted to my youngest child about loving Living Books."

Barb presents "For the Knowledge That is Better Than Silver or Gold" - Our Homeschool Bible Education Plans, saying, "This was a lot of fun to put together....great memories of the best living book there is."

Amber presents In Praise of Living Books.

Eve presents Reading With Boys.

Traci Brooks presents Parents Step to the Side and Let Living Books Become Your Child’s Guide.

Nancy Kelly presents I Have Found a Door.

Penney Douglas presents Great Ideas: Enjoying Life with Living Books.

Cindy West presents Charlotte Mason Series #2 - Living Books.

Elton Brooks presents Living Books-Education For a Lifetime!.

Silvia presents Got Living Books?.

Aylin presents The Vorpal Blade.

Rebekah Johnson presents What are living books?.

Denise presents Hooray for (Math) History « Let's Play Math! she shares how approaching math with living books, getting to know the mathematicians brings new life to math study!

Rachael presents A Living Bookshelf.

Mama Squirrel presents Children shouldn't read dead things. (Living Books).

Fisher Academy presents Books.

Other Interesting Topics:

First a couple of submissions meant for the last carnival edition, Education is a Life...

Mama Squirrel presents There are no guarantees...but it's still worth our time. saying, "Thoughts on this week's passage from Volume 6."

Penney Douglas presents Education is a Life.

Next a little bit of Nature Study Inspiration:

Rosemary presents Nature Study in our (tiny) back yard.

Shirley Ann Vels presents Sunshine on my Shoulders.

Ritsumei presents Baby Cardinal Food posted at Baby Steps.

And last but not least, an art lesson:

Tricia Hodges presents Three Little Chicks: A Pastels Tutorial posted at Hodgepodge, saying, "A quick little pastel tutorial on chicks for you and your peeps :)"

: :

Wow! Thank you all once again for your participation! It has been a joy to spend time with you! :)
We would love to have you come again next time. Please consider submitting a post in one of the upcoming carnivals (dates and topics can be found here). Submit your blog post using our carnival submission form.

The next carnival's theme & suggested (optional) reading are:

Art Appreciation / Picture Study

Volume 6, pgs 213-218
Parent's Review article, "On Exhibitions", part one & part two

The deadline for post submissions for this carnival is: 5pm on May 2nd, 2011

*photo credits: old books by logu & library of light by hhsara

Books.

2011-04-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Books.

Books are like doors. Books are friends. Books convey great ideas.

Books. One can never have too many good books.

: :

The importance of reading the 'right' books...
In my summation, a book must have as a minimum the following qualities to be a 'living book': The child must needs dig for his own information in books, it should not come to him predigested. “What a child digs for is his own possession.” And the sought for information ought to come from an author who cares deeply about his subject and can convey his ideas with apt skill. Then the book must be one that rouses the child's natural interest or grows his sense of the world and his own place in it, or in some way inspires a reverence for all things good.

: :

Books convey ideas. Reading a book is having a conversation, one great mind to another.

“...the choice of books, which implies the play of various able minds directly on the mind of the child, is a great part of that education which consists in the establishment of relations."
CM Series, vol 3 p66

: :

Books are friends. Not only do books fill time and fill a special place, but they actually introduce us to friends from other places, epochs, languages that we would never otherwise have had opportunity to meet.

"Perhaps the main part of a child's education should be concerned with the great human relationships, relationships of love and service, of authority and obedience, of reverence and pity and neighbourly kindness; relationships to kin and friend and neighbour, to 'cause' and country and kind, to the past and the present. History, literature, archeology, art, languages, whether ancient or modern, travel and tales of travel; all of these are in one way or other the record or the expression of persons; and we who are persons are interested in all persons, for we are all one flesh, we are all of one spirit, and whatever any of us does or suffers is interesting to the rest. If we will approach them with living thought, living books, if we will only awaken in them the sense of personal relation, there are thousands of boys and girls today capable of becoming apostles, saviours, great orientalists who will draw the East and the West together, great archeologists who will make the past alive for us and make us aware in our souls of men who lived thousands of years ago."
CM Series, Vol.p81 (read pgs81-83)

: :

Written in response to suggested reading for the CM blog carnival, Living Books vol.1: P.N.E.U. article, Schoolbooks and How They Make for Education

*photo credit: groble

CM Blog Carnival - Education is a Life

2011-04-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Um... so yeah, I'm almost two weeks late in posting this here... hahahahahah! and of course I'm just NOW realizing it looks as if there's been no carnival since March 23... a mere month ago!! oh. my. seriously, no offense Richele, my lovely! However, to those of you who are on the reminder list for the CM carnival you've already been there done that and are now working on your Living Books post, yes? Regardless of lateness, today, I'd like to announce the latest edition! Education is a Life, vol.1 at Richele's Barefoot Voyage

So, have a good read today or as time avails this weekend, and then be working on your post for the next carnival, Living Books! (deadline is Monday 4/18) The suggested reading is a lively Parents' Review article Schoolbooks and How They Make for Education by Charlotte Mason, Volume 11, 1900, pgs. 448-464 or your favorite volume of The Original Homeschooling Series.

I'm sure you would quickly tire if I were to list my extensive list of excuses in regard to a serious lack of blog entries lately... you know, totally boring stuff like, traveling from place to interesting place, the seven of us sardined into a minivan for hours every day, cushioned by every thing we need for these two months, meeting lovely new people (except of course you'd thrill to hear about me getting to meet in person someone all of you know and love, which I will absolutely have to blog about when I get a free second), yeah, all that and unpacking, repacking every 24 hours or so and then of course the watching and narrating our family ministry video for the umpteenth time... etc., etc.

I know. It's a dreadfully routine and ordinary life I live. [smirk]

One day I will actually blog about homeschooling again.

I hope.

:)

CM Blog Carnival - Education is a Discipline

2011-03-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Friends!
Many of you surely already know that the latest Charlotte Mason blog carnival {Education is a Discipline, vol.1} is up over at Simply Charlotte Mason! If not, head on over there by clicking here (for some strange reason the blog carnival site seems to be malfunctioning, not displaying the links and widgets properly. Hopefully, they'll get that fixed soon).

I'm so excited, as I'm sure many of you are, to read through all the posts. A special thanks to Sonya for doing us a great favor by hosting this time around! The topic of 'Education is a Discipline' is SO near and dear to my heart!! However, being away at the beach for a week of restful seclusion, I went and got myself so relaxed that I even forgot what day it was!! I realized I hadn't even posted for this edition! Well, it will be late in coming, but I do plan to post :)

Do enjoy the carnival and please make sure to add to the conversation by leaving comments on the various posts if you have the time. :)

The next carnival's theme & suggested (optional) reading are:

Education is a Life

Volume 3, School Education, pgs 152–156
Volume 6, A Philosophy of Education, pgs 104–111.

The deadline for post submissions for this carnival is: 5pm on April 4th, 2011
For more info about the carnival and upcoming topics see the CM blog carnival info page.

romeo and juliet

2011-03-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

This term with Ambleside Online, we'll be reading Romeo and Juliet in planes, in cars, or wherever we are (add an '+s' if you will, for the sake of the perfect rhyme).

Get your copy online for free here or here.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Education is an Atmosphere, vol.1

2011-03-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the March 8, 2011 edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog carnival!

In this edition, we'll be thinking about and taking a good look at the air we breathe in our homes.

(I know, I know, you can't actually see air. It's just that, well, you'll see...)

Here, this quote says it a lot better than I can:

“'Education is an atmosphere'” what the mind breathes. The air that we breathe is the medium that surrounds us; the atmosphere our spirits breathe is the medium that surrounds them; in short, it is our environment.”
A.T. Schofield, Esq., M.D. (Chairman, Executive Parents' National Educational Union)

So in that way, an educational atmosphere is a lot like air isn't it? It surrounds us, it's mostly intangible and yet it effects our children both inside and out.

We've had perhaps a record number of submissions this time, so let's go ahead and get right to them. Do you have your cuppa something ready? If you're anything like me, it may actually take a couple days to get all the way through, but you know, I rather like it that way, don't you? :)

(Just a wee note: because of the sheer volume of submissions, I've opted to simply list them more or less in the order they came in, I didn't even have a chance this time to read all the posts ahead, so I'll be enjoying them all right alongside the rest of ye! Don't forget to leave comments on the various posts, if you have a second!!)

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Nancy presents Plants of Renown (on the reading) and Consider posted at Sage Parnassus
saying, "I think this fits, as Mason's students were preoccupied with the furniture, and that isn't necessarily what makes for good atmosphere!

Nadene presents A Beautiful Home Atmosphere, "Reflecting on what makes a Beautiful Home Atmosphere ..."

Jennifer presents A Little February Check-up and Freshening in the Learning Spaces posted at Wildflowers and Marbles.

Richele presents Under the Golden Apple Tree: Sometimes....

Barb presents It's An Atmosphere - Charlotte Mason Ideas in Our Homeschool

Lanaya presents On Staying at Home.

MamaChi presents Life is not a series of tasks to be accomplished, "A reminder about enjoying life and not letting "doing" become more important than "be-ing""

Shirley Ann presents Education is an Atmosphere - Revisited

Melissa presents Every look of disappointment and tone of disapproval

Blossom presents Learning in any Atmosphere

Sonya presents Do Not Sit Up Late: Three Practical Do Not’s, Part 1

-- I don't know about the rest of you, but how tired I am seriously affects my atmosphere!! :S --

Kay presents Father and Son | Pelham House saying, "This post illustrates the atmosphere in which our son is educated. A few CM phrases that apply: "It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the child's level" "no artificial element" "The bracing atmosphere of truth and sincerity" "the glow of intellectual life and moral health on the faces" (pumptitude, as I put it :) An atmosphere of respect and that we value him as a whole person."

Michelle presents Our Educational Atmosphere.

Laura presents An Education within Our Atmosphere.

Jodi-Marie presents My Art Full Life: Philosophy of Education Ch. 6 Pt. 1 Education is an Atmosphere saying, "This is my own "narration" of Vol. 6 that I have been working on this year."

Rachael presents Working on an Atmosphere.

Tricia presents Automobiles and Airplanes: An Atmosphere of Learning saying, "Learning provided for us more than I've ever put together on my own as a teacher!"

Laura presents Christian Education is an Atmosphere.

Gina presents Lets Work on the Atmosphere (Education is an Atmosphere).

Erin presents Education is An Atmosphere.

Amber presents What's In Our Atmosphere?.

Dawn presents Creating Home Atmosphere....

Yours Truly :) presents Education is an Atmosphere {part one} and {part two}.

Miscellaneous interesting topics:

Naomi presents Early Blooms and Flower Clocks posted at Living Charlotte Mason in California, saying, "It's really more nature study, but what better atmosphere than the one God created for us!!"

Shirley Ann presents Walking Back Through Time... saying, "After our last living history fieldtrip, we were blessed to be able to visit some more living sites that we have read about in our Island Story! One was quite enlightening!"

Barb presents Nature Loving in February-It's For the Birds saying, "Off topic but I hope readers will enjoy my finds from the Nature Study Review. :)

Blossom presents AO and My Favorite Books (so far) saying, "This is a post on a few of our favorite books that we use with Charlotte Mason education (AO)."

Jamie presents How Effective Are Living Books?

Jennifer in MamaLand presents Ambleside Composer Fun: Free Chopin Printable Mini-Book.

Robin Phillips presents Home School and Pets: How to Use Your Animals in Your Curriculum, Part 1.

Melissa presents Bible Plus Three saying, "When moms allow themselves a respite for refreshment by exploring their own interests and passions...finding a bit of time for herself, she is positively contributing to the atmosphere of her home!".

Amanda presents Harmony Fine Arts Review.

I'm pretty sure the following is a spam post? But it's actually pretty interesting. :)

Kevin presents The History of Libraries Through the Ages.

This concludes this edition of the Charlotte Mason blog carnival! A huge thanks to everyone who submitted a post, and to all of you who read and leave comments... it's the community that's makes it so fun!

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-- click here to see the list of upcoming topics --

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The next carnival will be on March 22nd at Simply Charlotte Mason

(Submit your blog article here using our carnival submission form.)

Our topic is: Education is a Discipline

Education is an Atmosphere {part two}

2011-03-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

“...we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions.”
CM. Vol. 1, pg. 6

Just as earth's atmosphere is made up of a number of gases (mainly two), many elements go into the composition of an educational atmosphere. Many of which are present whether we like it or not. :) An educational atmosphere is composed of both persons and things. Persons include – a personal God (dynamic relationship exemplified by caregivers through regular prayer, natural mention in conversation, decision making, etc), parental example and influence (character, manners, habits), sibling relation and influence, other relationships – arbitrary (neighbors, the checker at the grocery store, playmates at the park, etc) or predetermined (nursing home facilities, extended family members, etc).

photo by: tsparks

We and the circle of people our children regularly come into contact with each compose a portion of our atmosphere so to speak. The various attitudes and habits combining to make up that mixture of air that we and our children breathe.

“We have already considered a group of half physical habits––order, regularity, neatness––which the child imbibes, so to speak, in a way. But this is not all: habits of gentleness, courtesy, kindness, candour, respect for other people, or––habits quite other than these, are inspired by the child as the very atmosphere of his home, the air he lives in and must grow by.”
CM Vol.1 pg.137

People have an incredible influence on the educational atmosphere, especially parents, in how they set the tone for learning, in particular when it comes to interpersonal relationships, but also in regard to expectations and standards of education. Is education a pleasant occupation? Is it satisfactory to put forth a minimum effort? What kind of knowledge is desirable? How do we go about acquiring that knowledge? Is there only one way to do things? How we answer these questions may be an indicator of what kind of atmosphere is present in our homes.

“How shall these indefinite ideas which manifest themselves in appetency be imparted? They are not to be given of set purpose, nor taken at set times. They are held in that thought-environment which surrounds the child as an atmosphere, which he breathes as his breath of life; and this atmosphere in which the child inspires his unconscious ideas of right living emanates from his parents. Every look of gentleness and tone of reverence, every word of kindness and act of help, passes into the thought-environment, the very atmosphere which the child breathes; he does not think of these things, may never think of them, but all his life long they excite that 'vague appetency towards something' out of which most of his actions spring. Oh, wonderful and dreadful presence of the little child in the midst!”
CM vol. 2 pg. 37

photo by: me :)

Many things influence the educational atmosphere, among which are healthy air and food, things of beauty: art, décor, music, nature, etc.; items of interest: maps, pets to play with and observe (aquarium), etc.; tools for observation: microscope, magnifying glass, binoculars, etc.; tools to create with and for expression: musical instruments, quality art supplies, woodcraft tools, sewing things, etc.

“..suppose that all this is included in our notion of 'Education is an atmosphere,' may we not sit at our ease and believe that all is well, and that the whole of education has been accomplished? No; because though we cannot live without air, neither can we live upon air, and children brought up upon 'environment' soon begin to show signs of inanition; they have little or no healthy curiosity, power of attention, or of effort; what is worse, they lose spontaneity and initiative; they expect life to drop into them like drops into a rain-tub, without effort or intention on their part.”
CM vol.3 pg.150

Atmosphere is vital.

However, atmosphere is not an end in education. It is a part of a three-fold philosophy of education and is simply one of the by-ways to impart a living education. “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”

As a part of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival community, I'll be musing over the other two parts of Charlotte Mason's three-fold philosophy in the coming weeks. Feel free to join us!

[read the first part of this post here]

Education is an Atmosphere {part one}

2011-03-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

Atmosphere, it's where we live; it's what we breathe. Without atmosphere we would be in utter darkness and cold or blasting light and extreme heat, seeing and feeling nothing or else feeling everything all too intensely, alone, and without air to breathe.

Atmosphere is vital.

photo by: NASA

Our earth's atmosphere has been optimally designed and prepared for life here on earth. God set our sphere spinning in just the right spot, with a specific slant and speed, and precisely the right mixture of gases for us to breathe. And I'm sure that back in the beginning He couldn't have been happier with His work of art.

Not only was He concerned on the grand scale however, as no detail was spared when it came to making the place suitable for us. He made it both vast and beautiful, so incredibly vast in fact, that it'd be impossible to see all the beauty in a lifetime; and all this beauty extends into the most intricate of details. Just how long did it take Him to plan it all? Eons, if He'd needed it, I'm sure. But He simply said the word... and there it all was.

Alas, if only we were able to create with a word the optimal educational 'environment' for our children! Well, now, it is possible we make it harder than it has to be... :) And yet, atmosphere has such an important influence, we ought to give some serious thought to what help we can apply in this area.

photo by: codepoet

First, why the word, 'atmosphere' instead of 'environment'? “We think of fresh air, pure, bracing, tonic,––of the definite act of breathing which must be fully accomplished; and we are incited to do more and mean more in the matter of our children's surroundings if we regard the whole as an atmosphere, than if we accept the more literal 'environment.'” CM, vol.3, pg.149

Education is an Atmosphere. But, what does that mean?

“By the saying, Education is an atmosphere, it is not meant that a child should be isolated in what maybe called a 'child environment,' especially adapted and prepared; but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to a 'child's' level.”
CM. Vol. 1, pg. 6

“'Education is an atmosphere'” what the mind breathes. The air that we breathe is the medium that surrounds us; the atmosphere our spirits breathe is the medium that surrounds them; in short, it is our environment.”
A.T. Schofield, Esq., M.D. (Chairman, Executive Parents' National Educational Union)

How can we create an atmosphere of learning without producing a 'child environment'?
In the next post I'll outline the two main components we can concentrate on improving in our homes.

“...we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions.”
CM. Vol. 1, pg. 6

[click here to read the next post]

a 12 year old boy's tribute to a CM education

2011-03-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

At sixteen days short of turning the big 13, this morning, my most dramatic son said to me, "Mom, did you read that e-mail I sent you? I think you'll laugh." He and his brother who are only 13 months apart have been playing with this online program making movies...
choose the genre, the actors, the setting, choose background music, and then type out the script. Pretty fun, huh?!

Growing impatient, "Mom, I can't wait for you to read the e-mail, I made it just for you!" Javen sang out in his most winsome tone.
Could I resist? Here's what I found in my inbox that made me laugh out loud:

It's also available HERE.

Einstein: "Hello, my hairy friend. When was the last time you looked at the dictionary?"

Harry: "What's a dictionary?"

Einstein: "Hast thou not heard of the great thing called Education, poor soul?
[begins to swing his hips, adding a most delectable spin...]

I've watched it again and again, and laughed. every. single. time... and I can't help it if I am still a little teary.

fun foto

2011-03-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

fond memories of...

happy days.
wide open spaces.

thinking about our life in the jungle.

:)

PS. I know this photo doesn't really exemplify the wide-open nature of life in the jungle, but I have plenty of pictures posted on here that do. I just particularly like this one... you may recognize the background? :)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: The things we like the most (vol1)

2011-02-22T06:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the latest edition of the CM blog carnival! This is an unusual carnival in that instead of having a theme itself, it is the kickoff for a bunch of topics! Read on for a little more info and then we'll get on with the best part, which of course is the submissions!

The polls have spoken. It's obvious that as a whole, the majority of us who took the time to vote, love Charlotte Mason!! Was there ever any doubt? ;) Of course not! The living books and nature study top the list as being very important to us as well art & music and the value of habit training. The things we love most in theory are the very same areas we need to work on in practice; following through with nature study and habit training! Also, figuring out how to teach multiple children at varying levels... but what mother doesn't struggle with that, is what I want to know! ;)

With these facts in mind, I've organized a posting schedule from the list of topics. There was an attempt made to intersperse theory with practice and we are all hoping that we'll get a variety of posts in answer to the various topics, yes?

*(remember that you can still post whatever's on your heart and then choose whether to wait until that carnival comes up, or we can always list it in the current carnival under the miscellaneous)

So, without further ado, the calendar with topics can be viewed HERE ... and you can always check back to the main Charlotte Mason blog carnival info page HERE as well.

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Welcome to the February 22, 2011 edition of the charlotte mason blog carnival!

Our favorite things (volume 1) : Books & Nature Study

BOOKS!

Michelle Smith presents A Life Better Than I Deserve - Reading Aloud . . . the Lesson Reflective
Amber presents Book Review: The Wheel on the School (And a Read Aloud Tip)
Annette Berlin presents How To Bind A Book, "Writing a story or keeping a journal in your own handmade book is strong motivator for children. Take a look at our 115 bookbinding tutorials and choose the one that best fits your student."

NATURE STUDY!

Barb presents Our Winter Tree Study: Nothing Short of a Miracle, saying, "Our winter tree study...helps us become "intimate with trees"."
Shirley Ann Vels presents A Bit of History - Charlotte Mason Style
Jimmie presents More Bird Resources for Backyard Bird Count, "Printables for bird study"
Amy @ simply necessary presents Field Guides as Living Books, saying, "Can a field guide be considered a living book? Come read and find out! What do you think?"
Amanda presents Homegrown and Beeyoutiful: The Joy of Nature Study

AND EVERYTHING ELSE!!

Nadene presents What kind of disciples does the mission demand?, "What does the Lord want me to grow in my children - in character, habits and attitude - that will equip them for His service?"
Nancy presents Sphere of Influence She talks about the far spreading influence of CM
Barb presents Building Good Habits in High School - Charlotte Mason Style, CM with older students is something MANY of us are interested in learning more about!
Jay3fer presents Charlotte Mason vs Classical, saying, "This is a long post - so she's made it a 7-page downloadable PDF, discussing CM vs Classical Education in various areas of curriculum."
Robin Phillips presents Home School Writing Kids: Three Techniques For Writing Fiction
Richele presents Math with Charlotte Mason

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So, that concludes our carnival until next time...
Submit your blog article to the next edition!

The next carnival's theme is: Education is an Atmosphere

Suggested (optional) reading:

CM series vol.6 pg 94-99
PR article, The Atmosphere of Home by M. F. Jerrold

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Oh wait, am I forgetting something?! Oh yes, we did have a drawing didn't we...
so, I suppose that means we also ought to have a winner!

Congratulations, Eve from Inchworm Chronicles! Eve is relatively new to the carnival and in her honor we'll be starting the themed carnivals off with her favorite part, 'Education is an atmosphere!"
Thank you, Eve!

Thank you all for your comments and your participation. The carnival is a cooperative effort, so thank you for what each one of you adds to the online Charlotte Mason community! I'm looking forward to getting to know many more of you!!

life in a small apartment

2011-02-20T21:19:00.000-08:00

Living in small spaces certainly has advantages. I do find it necessary to remind myself of them regularly, however :) Here's a small attempt to do that...

We set aside several hands-on project kits from Christmas that are particularly interesting to the kids, knowing that we'd have more 'inside' time than we normally had when we were in the jungle. Though having toys with myriad small parts is not necessarily conducive to small spaces (nor extremely messy ones that involve chipping away at finely packed dust particles that fly and attach themselves to every surface within a three room radius), because of these cool projects, they have grown in their interest and knowledge of several key skill areas! A living education! They've both been thrilled with their machine building & excavation kits.

Living in small spaces necessitates that the kids play cooperatively. There simply is not enough room in the apartment for each child to play independently. I've enjoyed watching their creativity. Even if there are disagreements regularly, I'd prefer that over siblings who will not play together! :)

'A place for everything and everything in its place', because if it's not, believe you me, we will certainly trip over it. Our kitchen, like our entire apartment, is very compact, but super serviceable. I give thanks every day thrice over for the blessing of this little space to live in. We get along quite well, and less space means less to keep clean. Hooray! And it makes me silly happy just to see the colors, but I'm funny like that. :)

From the fourth floor, we have a really great view of the park in front of our house, which actually in itself provides lots of viewing entertainment. We see sunsets longer than everyone else, we see the birds' business from the tops of the trees and we get a good breeze. Are you getting jealous?! ;)

I've also concentrated on making it a beautiful place to live. Not necessarily from another person's standpoint, but things that are beautiful to us, almost entirely composed of things we've found outside or in the fruit/vegetable market. well, that and books. nature and books, two of my most favoritest things in all the world. ;) So, living in small spaces is kinda nice after all.

:)

Fisher Academy International ~ Teaching Home

It's official!

Blog Button for CM Blog Carnival, 2012

Vote now for your favorite CMBC logo/button!

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - Imagination {vol.1}

Top 10 things I love about Charlotte Mason's Philosophy

Homeschool Day Book - A Review.

of elephants... calendars, copywork and commonplace

Mendelssohn mp3 music for $2.49

to do... to day

A New Day, A New Year!

Current Events: Q&A

Current Events: 12/28

Christmas Greetings from Fisher Academy!

Folksong: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Current Events: 12/21

Our Book of Centuries: a pictoral update

Reflections on the Messiah for Advent

Some sights & sounds of Christmas

Look what came in the mail today!

Little Drummer Boy... {christian teenaged boy version}

Fisher Days

Current Events: 12/7

A Handicrafty Christmas

Kids Handmade Holiday: Holiday Gifts Kids Can Make - Crafty Crow

Composer Study: Handel {for Christmas!}

Visual Latin {a giveaway!}

Holiday Reading... without books!

Current Events: 12/1

Folksong: The Ash Grove

Holiday Links... oh no!

And the winner is...

This Week In History: Links for 11/21

Unwrapping the Holidays

Giveaway... only 3 more days!

Current Events: Our Method

Upcoming CM carnival on Holidays?! & A Giveaway?!

Are you a missionary, lady?

To work on this week...

Our Combined Year 1/2 with Ambleside Online!

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Religious Studies {vol 1}

It's my party and I'll vote if I want to! ;)

Folksong: Aiken Drum

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Language Arts {vol 1}

Narration, just one part of the whole.

Nature Study at the beach!

Our Year 7 with Ambleside Online!

Some nature study inspiration.

Our Book of Centuries - the details.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: The Pursuit of Knowledge {vol.1}

The Pursuit of Knowledge

More posts on topics of interest to a Charlotte Mason education:

Desire - Pursuit - Delight

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Study of History {vol1}

Atmosphere: Intentional Living

For Reading Out Loud... {part two}

For Reading Out Loud... {part one}

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Planning/Organization {vol1}

blog carnival coming soon!

packing...

How many kids can a golf cart fit, if a golf cart can fit kids?!

good news and bad news

We have a winner!

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival {end of summer edition}

Announcement, Announcement! A Carnival Announcement.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Science of Relations {vol1}

Scinece of Relations.

Twaddle Control

CM Blog Carnival - Handicrafts {vol.1}

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Nature Study (vol1)

Using Field Guides in Nature Study

Our Peru.

CM Blog Carnival on Narration is up!

a mother can narrate too.

Roadtrip!

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Living Books, vol.1

Books.

CM Blog Carnival - Education is a Life

CM Blog Carnival - Education is a Discipline

romeo and juliet