Artist Study: Renoir

Artist study is easy. And wonderfully educational. How can so much culture be soaked up with so little time dedicated to it? 10-15 minutes a week. Now that is amazing.

And Cutlet loves art. Art is his favorite subject. I want to encourage that excitement, so when he asks to copy a work of art, I indulge him. 

Here he is working on The Clown, a portrait of Renoir's son Claude.

Fall Nature Study

As I have been out of the practice of writing for quite some time, this will be a very short-winded post.

Of late, I find myself with all sorts of thoughts running through my head, but am unable to express them adequately; however, I do wish to try (again) at recording a few thoughts and happenings of our homeschool life on these pages.

For now I hope posting a few pictures will sufficiently express where my words fail me.

And where better to start than Nature Study?

some lichen with tiny inhabitants at the base of an elm tree

moth in our porch

a slug! can you see it? we thought it was a snail looking for a shell until I read that snails are born with shells and slugs are not. The Handbook of Nature Study is a wealth of information.

some amazingly beautiful mushrooms in our yard. and huge! how do we miss these things growing?!?

sketching the mushrooms

A Simple Re-Telling

As this is our first year of schooling and using the Charlotte Mason method and Ambleside's AO1, we have gotten accustomed to the narration aspect of things we read and do. So far it has been fairly easy and without much complaint. We generally just to oral re-telling; however, my 6yo son sometimes fancies a dramatic rendition. I love that he takes to this of his own volition! Here he is re-telling Little Red Riding-Hood. 

Granted, this is not a reading that was scheduled for the week, save for the fact that it fit in well with our Spanish lesson. However, it is a good example of the spark that the Charlotte Mason approach ignites in the mind of a child.

Grandmother, wolf & Little Red Riding-Hood

This is Grandmother's House

First Grade, here we go!

So this is my first year of homeschooling a la Charlotte Mason. Cutlet is 6 and has just begun 1^st grade. We did Kindergarten last year using My Father’s World, a combination of Classical, Charlotte Mason, unit studies & traditional methods. I was glad to get my feet wet with a curriculum that was all planned out for me, although I found myself toward the middle of the year tweaking and adding and adjusting more and more. In the end, it seemed the curriculum I had bought was more of just a general guideline for me to follow. I was grateful for that; however, I also felt even more strongly that the purer form of Charlotte Mason was calling my name... so I stopped altogether.

This was mid-summer. I was beginning to get nervous about the struggle to finish the curriculum before I should be starting the next one. I had to re-think... to re-plan... to remember what my goals and philosophy of education were. And that it is all for the benefit of my children, not just to finish a curriculum package. I also must admit that the peer pressure of everyone else getting their children ready for school kept me working toward getting our school year going sometime in the fall! 

As it were, a late-summer move and early fall vacation pushed our start date back until October 2.  I wish we could have started earlier. I was ready in my heart, but my house was nowhere near in order! (And my brain just cannot function if my house is out of sorts).

So we are beginning our 2^nd week of school now. Our first week went incredibly smoothly (insert BIG surprise here…along with a sigh of relief and thanksgiving!), and we all enjoyed ourselves too! {BONUS points!}

I know many bloggers had their Week of Homeschool Schedules posted back in August. Oh, how I wish I could have participated! But, alas, life has given us a different set of circumstances. And so now, I give you... (drum roll, please!) the amazing (using your best circus announcer's voice) Bishop Bairn Academy... SCHEDULE!!!! (cheer, please!) 

TUESDAY

Old Testament (read stories from the Bible)

Spanish (my own thang! Posts on this are coming soon)

History (alternating weeks between World History & Church History)

Math (Singapore 1A)

Poetry (A Child's Garden of Verses, one or two poems every day)

Copywork

P.E.

Reading (Simply Charlotte Mason's Delightful Reading)

Geography (Paddle to the Sea)

WEDNESDAY

Artist Study (Simply Charlotte Mason's Picture Study Portfolios - currently: Giotto)

Spanish

Literature (alternating Parables from Nature and Aesop's Fables)

Math

Poetry

Copywork

P.E.

Reading

Folk Music

THURSDAY

New Testament (read stories from the Bible)

Spanish

World History

Math

Poetry

Copywork

P.E.

Reading

Handicraft (still working on some ideas here. Currently: baking!)

FRIDAY

Composer Study (classical music - currently: Debussy)

Spanish

Literature (Aesop's) alternating with Natural History (Burgess' Bird Book)

Math

Poetry

Copywork

P.E.

Reading

Art (using Drawing with Children)

SATURDAY

Nature Study

Spanish

Literature (Just So Stories) alternating with extra time for catch-up lessons

Math

Poetry

Copywork

P.E.

Reading

Music (hymns - currently: For the Beauty of the Earth)

Scripture Memory

This is one thing I wish I were better at. I remember back when I was a kid and my mom came up with a list of Bible verses we were going to memorize during one summer, but I don't remember what ever happened during the course of those school-less days... I'm the type of person who needs structure, lists and goals, and I thrive under the auspices of a coach and cheerleader to help me get the job done!

As I was perusing the Simply Charlotte Mason website, I came across the Scripture Memory System and read a few reviews. I am impressed at how it works, and I was also pleased to see that even the wee ones can start in on this right away! My ds is 4 years old, and even though we aren't officially homeschooling yet, this is something we can begin NOW and develop into a good habit (as a family even). And this will be one less new thing to introduce. I want my kids to begin to hide the Word of God in their hearts and let the work of the Holy Spirit begin to mold their hearts and minds.

We just started about 3 weeks ago. Since we were beginning again in the Jesus Storybook Bible, I decided to delve deeper into the story of Creation (see earlier post on our Creation lapbook). In addition, I figured this would be a good place to start with memorizing an easy Bible verse. So I am pleased to announce that Cutlet knows by heart:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

Now we are working on:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever

believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Last night Prince Charming & I delved into the Bible, looking for more verses to teach Cutlet as he begins mastering verse after verse. We came up with about 20 or so (for now!), including longer passages like Psalm 23.

We look forward to the upcoming days, months and years... hopefully being able to look back on these precious times with satisfaction of having accomplished what we set out to do ... and not wondering whatever happened during the course of those school-less days.

Psyched about Charlotte!

In the past several months of research about homeschooling, I've come across a variety of methods... from the extremes of unschooling to a rigidly curriculum-packed agenda. As I've gone along, I've been attracted to certain things about certain methods. I like the idea of unit studies. I like the pre-packaged ready-to-go curriculum because there is little prep time required on my part. I like literature-rich methods. I like Bible-based programs... But I have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options to choose from! During my research and reading, several times I breezed by what is known as the Charlotte Mason Method. I dismissed it after glancing at a brief summary of it due to the fact that it seemed antiquated and Victorian. So I continued reviewing other methods; however, after weeks of more study, I came back across Charlotte Mason and figured I'd best give it at least a thorough investigation in order to make a well-informed decision as to the education of my children. I had to search a few days to actually get a good grasp of what is involved. (By the way, she wrote volumes of books about her ideas!) Charlotte, born in 1842, was an English woman, a classroom & Sunday school teacher, devoted to children's education. She transformed the face of the English educational system in her day, saying that a liberal (or generous) education for ALL was her goal, no matter if they were impoverished, young, male or female. In an era when not all were considered equal, this was quite a claim!

After reading through a general description of her educational approach, I wanted a clearer understanding of what a modern-day, real-life picture of this method looked like. After a few more days of looking I came across a wonderful resource: http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/. I spent the next several days reading through this amazingly in-depth description of how Linda Fay, the blog author, implemented the CM Method in her family. I couldn't get enough of it and had to finish it all. I am now a whole-hearted fan of the Charlotte Mason way of education!  Here's a basic list of methods, each of which focuses on communicating ideas... not just facts (taken from Education Is, a free e-book downloaded from http://www.simplycharlottemason.com/):

• Living Books - reading a book written by one author with a passion for the subject and written in narrative or story form.
• Narration - asking the child to tell back in his own words what he just saw, read, or heard.
• Book of Centuries - each student adds information, sketches, and reminders into his timeline-in-a-book as he reads about historical events and people.
• Hands-on Math - an emphasis on understanding the concepts, using manipulatives, before working with the symbols on paper.
• Nature Study - spending time outside looking at God's creation, sketching and describing in a nature notebook any item of interest, then identifying and labeling it with the help of field guides.
• Copywork - practicing handwriting by carefully copying passages from living sources, like Scripture, poetry, or living books.
• Dictation - learning spelling (and reinforcing punctuation and grammar) by studying a selected sentence or passage from a living book rather than just alist of words.
• Picture Study - looking at an artist's work until you can close your eyes and see it clearly in your mind, then hiding the original work and narrating what it looks like.
• Music Study - listening to a composer's work unti lyou become familiar with his music and style of composition.

Now here is a list of subjects to be covered in a Charlotte Mason education, keeping in mind that the basic principles for ALL subjects are short lessons (10-15 minutes), habits of attention & perfect execution, and a varied order of subjects:

• History

• Geography
• Bible
• Math
• Science
• Foreign Languages
• Writing
• Spelling
• Grammar
• Art
• Music
• Literature
• Poetry

Now I have to say that what I was looking for in a homeschooling method, I have found described in Charlotte Mason, a truly generous education: unit studies, relatively little prep time required on my part (due to the use of living books), lots of good literature, child-centered, the use of the Bible and Scripture memory, nature study, cultivating good habits, plus the really wonderful incorporation of art and music studies (both of which I believe my 2 little ones have a knack for). And I can cover all this wonderful material in a handful of hours a day by doing short lessons, which will help the kids always do their best work and will keep them motivated to learn. Want to get psyched about Charlotte too? Spend some time in research starting with the Educational Aids posted on my blog!

I Spy

The kids & I enjoy taking walks in the late afternoon from time to time. Lately I've been researching more about homeschooling methods and curriculum and have started to delve more into what the Charlotte Mason method involves. I don't know if this is just another one of my whims, but I am drawn to this teaching style for a number of reasons, one of which includes the study of nature and taking nature walks. So yesterday we went walkabout here and I decided to encourage the kids to observe more of their surroundings; hence the game "I Spy". I would notice something and say, for example, "I spy some bananas." As this was the first of a series of things, I had to help them a little to look up into the trees!

Then as we went along, they (mostly my ds) started to see more things that I was seeing...
Papayas...

Kumquats...

Cherries...

And even a wild mushroom growing out of a tree trunk! (which, by the way, today is MUCH bigger than it was yesterday!)

So the kids & I had a productive outing and we look forward to our next walk through the jungle...