The Reading Mother

I had a Mother who read to me,

Sagas of pirates, who scoured the sea,

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays,

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales,

Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness lent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things,

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings

Stories that stir with an upward touch,

Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be--

I had a Mother who read to me!

By: Strickland Gillilan

"Today a reader,

Tomorrow a leader."

~ Margaret Fuller ~

When I was about eight, I decided that the most wonderful thing, next to a human being, was a book. ~ Margaret Walker ~

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen ~

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. ~ Lady Mary Wortley Montagu ~

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child. ~ Mary Ellen Chase ~

A room without books is like a body without a soul. ~ Marcus T. Cicero ~

Never judge a book by its movie. ~ J. W. Eagan ~

When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be

reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books

you will be reading meanings. ~ Harold S. Geneen ~

Books are not men and yet they stay alive.

~ Stephen Vincent Benet ~

Books are not made for furniture,

but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.

~ Henry Ward Beecher ~

A book is good company.

It is full of conversation without loquacity.

It comes to your longing with full instruction,

but pursues you never. ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~

Kindergarten, Year 0 and Charlotte Mason

What to do, what to do? That is the question.
I've been reading, researching, thinking, praying and meditating about my daughter Emi and what kind of curriculum I should follow for her this next year. She is 5.5 right now and will turn 6 shortly before we start our next school year, so technically she would be Kindergarten age, but she has already completed the majority of Kindergarten requirements that a public school would teach her and has been through all of the books suggested in Year 0 on Ambleside. On the other hand I don't really feel comfortable throwing Year 1 work at her because I don't feel that she has the maturity to handle all of it. And the thought of having 2 in Year 2 and 1 in Year 1 next year with a new baby is not overly appealing.
So after much debating I think I have hit upon a curriculum that will be challenging to her but not discouraging and definitely doable for me.
I also am confident that this is what Miss Mason would have suggested as well.....wait a minute, I guess she already did!

First she has given us an entire book full of ideas (Home Education) and she also compiled a list of attainments that help bring into focus specific goals for a Kindergarten child. (You can find this list and other ideas for implementing at Ambleside under curriculum Year 0.)

And then she set out this excellent list of guidelines to help us along the way. Here is how I will be putting it into practice for Emi in our home. I will be starting her first term in a couple of weeks officially since that's when Tom and Ali will be starting Term 3 of Year 1.

I have added supplemental reading from Charlotte Mason's Home Education book for extra support, help and encouragement for anyone interested.

A FORMIDABLE LIST OF ATTAINMENTS FOR A CHILD OF SIX

1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns

Pretty basic here, I'm letting her pick out the poems and we a hymn or two everyday so we may work on being able to recite some as well.

Spread out through a year this would mean 2 poems and 2 hymns each term so nothing too overwhelming.

vol. 1, pg. 222-224

2. To recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable & a psalm

Miss Mason encourages memorizing out of the book of Mark and I have picked out Mark 4:1-9 and Psalm 1 for Emi.

vol. 1, pg. 222-224

3. To add & subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters

Emi has been learning these just from using manipulatives and such so this isn't a big deal we will just focus more on it. I will be starting her slowly in Ray's Arithmetic and she joins Ali and Tom in our Family Math games.

vol. 1, pg.253-264

4. To read - what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child

We have already begun this using a mixture of CM methods, Reading Reflex and Ruth Beechick. She is progressing well although not fast enough to suit her eagerness so I will be stepping this up to being daily work instead of sporadically.

vol. 1, pg. 199-222

5. To copy in print-hand from a book

Right now we are working on one letter at a time concentrating on producing perfect work. Later we will start with short copywork pieces. I will be using Penny Gardner's Italics Beautiful Handwriting as a guide.

vol. 1, pg. 159-160 & pg. 233-240

6. To know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows

We will continue to talk and use compass terms while out of doors, she will also be keeping a weather/nature calendar throughout the year. I will be purchasing a compass for all of the kids to experiment with and learn how to use, I was also thinking of making a wind sock together and posting on on of the fence posts.

vol. 1, pg. 74-77

7. To describe the boundaries of their own home

Pretty self-explanatory here but I'll be re-reading what Charlotte had to say about this.

vol. 1, pg. 77

8. To describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach

Make weekly trips to the aboretum, and other local nature sites and trails.

vol.1, pg. 48-50

9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early American, and 3 from early Roman history

I will be reading to her from some different history books although I haven't quite nailed down which ones but will probably be On the Shores of the Great Sea by M.B. Sygne.

vol. 1, pg. 279-295

10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views

Continue to take walks and use the approaches to increasing attentiveness that Miss Mason talks about.

vol. 1, pg. 45-48

11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them

vol. 1, pg. 51-56 & pg. 62-65

12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees

13. to know 6 birds by song, color and shape

We have been making bird lapbooks recently which has allowed each child to focus on learning more information about their favorite backyard birds. We also keep our bird feeders filled and watch and discuss the birds that come every morning. Emi is very good at picking up and imitating bird songs so I will continue to expose her to individual songs and we will be keeping an attentive ear while outside.

vol. 1, pg. 59-62 & 89-92

14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed

I'll be starting her on some plastic canvas work and then moving on to crosstitch, knitting, and hand sewing over time.

vol. 1, pg. 315-316

15. to tell three stories about their own "pets" - rabbit, dog or catThis one should be interesting considering that we have no pets right now! My husband and I have agreed that a large family in a small house living in town can do without pets, but I might have to reconsider this and see if we can come up with a compromise:) I'm thinking of ordering an ant farm kit and we might look into a fish tank.

16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences

For our family we have decided to pursue learning Spanish instead of French. I do not learn foreign languages very easily and well so that will help me to be more patient as we learn together.

We have lyric language cd & dvd in spanish and will be purchasing Rosetta Stone for all of us to use.

vol. 1, pg. 80-81 & 301-307

17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song

We will be following the Ambleside hymn list and adding in some other folk songs as well as some French or Spanish songs.

vol. 1, pg. 133 & 314-315

18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observationsWe may end up purchasing this as a kit but hopefully we will catch one this fall!

vol. 1, pg. 59-61

As you can see there is little to no book work mostly just enjoyable fun learning time with some minor direction.

You can read more about what Miss Mason thought about Kindergarten here.

Also here are some great blog posts concerning this list and Kindergarten.

Piney Woods Homeschool

Ancient Paths Homeschool

Sunflower Faith

Understanding Charlotte

Higher Up and Further In

Home-made Living

One Day at a Time....

Delighting in the Days

President's Day or Month!

I laughingly call my oldest son Tom our unit study leader because of his yearly intense focus on various subjects. Last year it was the solar system and the year before that it was something else (which I can't currently remember). Right now his focus is money and presidents, specifically Abraham Lincoln!

I believe he became interested in the presidents through observing the coins that he has been earning in his household chores by commission. And since pennies are a bit more common to see he took up an interest in Abe Lincoln. Imagine his joy then when upon looking at the February calender he realized that not only would we be observing Lincoln's birthday but that of George Washington's too. And since we had just finished reading the D'Aulaire book about George Washington and had read the D'Aulaire book about Abraham Lincoln last summer, things began to click.

So we have been riding the adventure that Tom's studies takes us on. Tomorrow we will do a few activities such as drawing a log cabin and rubbing a quarter and a penny but mostly we have been reading "living" history books about both men. I was blessed to find a book about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln that was published by Random House back in the 1950's at a local used bookstore and then have added several books from the library. And for Ali I brought home "Welcome to Kirsten's World" which is during the Lincoln years and "Welcome to Felicity's World" from the Washington years.

I have also picked up several books about presidents in general so that the kids could explore other presidents as well. I plan on pursuing this adventure as long as the interest and curiosity is alive in Tom's heart:)

All the kids enjoyed the short videos that we found at the History Channel about various presidents as well. Tom's only complaint is that we can't go to youtube or something to see "real" videos of Abraham Lincoln!

The blessing for us has been that because of Charlotte Mason's advocacy of "short lessons" we have plenty of time to engage in and learn about other interests!

Winter Outdoor Time

It is infinitely well worth of the mother's while to take some pains every day to secure, in the first place, that her children spend hours daily amongst rural and natural objects; and, in the second place, to infuse into them, or rather to cherish in them, the love of investigation. "I say it deliberately," says Kingsley, "as a student of society and of history: power will pass more and more into the hands of scientific men. They will rule, and they will act––cautiously, we may hope, and modestly, and charitably––because in learning true knowledge they will have learnt also their own ignorance, and the vastness, the complexity, the mystery of Nature. But they will also be able to rule, they will be able to act, because they have taken the trouble to learn the facts and the laws of Nature."

CM Vol. 1, pg. 71

Even though we have had our share of bone-chilling cold this winter, the moisture level has been very low. And while we haven't gotten outside nearly as much as we should have (I don't like being cold!) We have had some fun. Here's just a few pics of our outdoors time in the last couple of months.

On our way the bridge and creek









Emi and Ali getting up close







On the way up or down







Wes and Will dropping rocks







Thomas wanting to go across the crik.

Mothers and Teachers should know about Nature. - The mother cannot devote herself too much to this kind of reading, not only that she may read tit-bits to her children about matters they have come across, but that she may be able to answer their queries and direct their observations. And not only the mother, but any woman, who is likely ever

to spend an hour or two in the society of children, should make herself mistress of this sort of information; the children will adore her for knowing what they want to know, and who knows but she may give its bent for life to some young mind designed to do great things for the world. CM Vol. 1 pg.64-65

Our "find" on the way home. We cut off a small branch to research when we got home and thanks to the book "Discover Nature in Winter" we found out that this is a bagworm moth.

"Bagworm moths spend the winter as eggs in cocoonlike sacks that dangle from evergreen shrubs and trees by silken threads. Collect a few bags and open them. The cocoon of a female bagworm will hold hundreds of yellow eggs. The larvae that make the bags are not easily seen; they live in the ground, where they thrive on grass or roots."

Discover Nature in Winter pg. 137-138













We got to go trail hiking at our visit to the nearby aboretum. We didn't see a whole bunch of birds mostly because the kids were too excited to be very quiet:)

Hiking the whole 1 mile wasn't possible on this day because Will tuckered out and mom was pretty much done for too! I do need to figure out something for bathroom use though, not for the kids because they can go in the grass if necessary but for this pregnant mom's squashed bladder!

Before our hike we had a nice picnic lunch and then snacked with a friendly bee after our hike.

Meals out of Doors.––People who live in the country know the value of fresh air very well, and their children live out of doors, with intervals within for sleeping and eating. As to the latter, even country people do not make full use of their opportunities. On fine days when it is warm enough to sit out with wraps, why should not tea and breakfast, everything but a hot dinner, be served out of doors? For we are an overwrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spent in the open is a clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigour, and to the lengthening of life itself. They who know what it is to have fevered skin and throbbing brain deliciously soothed by the cool touch of the air are inclined to make a new rule of life, Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.

Besides, the gain of an hour or two in the open air, there is this to be considered: meals taken al fresco are usually joyous, and there is nothing like gladness for converting meat and drink into healthy

blood and tissue. All the time, too, the children are storing up memories of a happy childhood. Fifty years hence they will see the shadows of the boughs making patterns on the white tablecloth; and sunshine, children's laughter, hum of bees, and scent of flowers are being bottled up for after refreshment. CM Vol 1.pg.42-43

Starting out - the weather this day was in the upper 60's!

Possibilities of a Day in the Open.––I make a point, says a judicious mother, of sending my children out, weather permitting, for an hour in the winter, and two hours a day in the summer months. That is well; but it is not enough. In the first place, do not send them; if it is anyway possible, take them; for, although the children should be left much to themselves, there is a great deal to be done and a great deal to be prevented during these long hours in the open air. And long hours they should be; not two, but four, five, or six hours they should have on every tolerably fine day, from April till October. Impossible! Says an overwrought mother who sees her way to no more for her children than a daily hour or so on the pavements of the neighbouring London squares. Let me repeat, that I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them. A journey of twenty minutes by rail or omnibus, and a luncheon basket, will make a day in the country possible to most town dwellers; and if one day, why not many, even every suitable day? CM Vol. 1 pg. 44-45

Will taking a break and exploring a stump.

Intimacy with Nature makes for Personal Well-being.––But to enable them to swim with the stream is the least of the benefits this early training should confer on the children; a love of Nature, implanted so early that it will seem to them hereafter to have been born in them, will enrich their lives with pure interests, absorbing pursuits, health, and good humour. "I have seen," says the same writer, "the young man of fierce passions and uncontrollable daring expend healthily that energy which threatened daily to plunge him into recklessness, if not into sin, upon hunting out and collecting, through rock and bog, snow and tempest, every bird and egg of the neighbouring forest . . . I have seen the young London beauty, amid all the excitement and temptation of luxury and flattery, with her heart pure, and her mind occupied in a boudoir full of shells and fossils, flowers and seaweeds, keeping herself unspotted from the world, by considering the lilies of the fields of the field, how they grow." CM Vol. 1, pg. 71-72

My Favorite Charlotte Mason Resources

Here is a list of the many different resources that I go to for help, information, encouragement and guidance in implementing Charlotte Mason's educational philosophies in our homeschool.



WEBSITES & BLOGS

Ambleside Online

Higher Up and Further In Blog

Understanding Charlotte Blog

Simply Charlotte Mason

In the Sparrow's Nest Blog

Handbook of Nature Study Blog

Hearts and Trees Blog

In the Heart of my Home Blog

Penny Gardner

A Charlotte Mason Education

Dominion Family Blog




BOOKS & EBOOKS

Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss

Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner

Laying Down the Rails by Sonya Shafer

For the Children's Sake/For the Family's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

The Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason

When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

A Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola

Education is..... by Sonya Shafer FREE

Masterly Inactivity by Soyna Shafer FREE

Education the Wholehearted Child by Clay & Sally Clarkson

Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock




SCHOOL HELPS

LibriVox Recordings - Free downloadable audio books

Project Gutenberg - Free downloadable books

E-Nature - America's Wildlife Resource

Paddle-to-the-Sea with Google Earth

Outline Maps to print

Seterra - Free geography game



There are also many great yahoo groups that correspond with Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online if you are wanting to know how other women work this educational approach in their own homes I would highly recommend finding these groups on yahoo.

If you go to Ambleside Online and click on the "Introduction to Ambleside Online" you will find several resources and links available.

Also a great way to meet other CM moms and be inspired is to join the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!


Don't forget to go on over to Kim's Blog to check out other resources.

Drop in for a Visit

A "typical" day in our house.

Well, I tried to journal just one days worth of homeschooling to put here but it was one of THOSE days around here today:) So instead I'll run down the basic gist of how 70% of our days go.

To give a bit of background I have 5 children; 3 boys (Tom-7yo, Wes-4yo, Will-2yo) and 2 girls (Ali-7yo, Emi-5yo). We are using Ambleside Online as a curriculum guide and Tom and Ali are in Year 1. I posted our daily school schedule at the end of this post so you have an idea of how our day goes school wise.

My children have always been early birds but since moving them all into 1 room I have trained them to not come out (except for bathroom use) until 7 a.m. so generally that's when our day begins. I am working to instill the habit (again) of early rising in myself so have made it my goal to get up at 6 a.m. in order to have my quiet time and preparation for the day.

Our Morning Routine goes something like this:

• Everyone Dressed


• Beds Made


• Free Play til Breakfast (Emi is my breakfast helper)
  
  

After breakfast we move onto Chore Time:

• Kitchen Chores
  
  


• Room Chores-the older 4 children each have a room assigned to them to clean everyday.

By now in our morning it is about 10ish so we are ready to start our school. I gather all of the kids into the livingroom for our Morning School session. We spend the next 1-1 1/2 hours in this room moving through most of our reading assignments and other group activities. I do require that all of the children stay in this room and for our bible reading, poetry, and preschool readings the 3 non-schoolers must be seated on the couch sitting quietly, after that we move onto the schoolers reading assignments and the younger 3 are free to play quietly in the room.



Morning School Session:

• Say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag


• Sing weekly hymn and folksong assignment


• Read preschool bible story


• Read daily poetry selection


• Read Beatrix Potter story to preschoolers


• Read Bible story (OT) or New Testament passage (Tom, Ali and I are reading through Mark using their new KJV bibles. We alternate days with OT stories and NT reading.)


• Read Scripture and/or poetry memory selection


• Read daily school assignments (this one is flexible and sometimes doesn't get accomplished until later in the day.

Now this may seem like a lot of reading but there are plenty of breaks and diversions throughout and we are very flexible with the order of this list and on some days only accomplish a couple of them.

By now it's time to prepare lunch so we break up in order for me to make lunch and the kiddos to get in some more free play time. Tom is my lunch helper.

After lunch we do our kitchen chores again and then I take a bit of a break before naptime and the rest of school.

Here is what our afternoon generally looks like although not one day is exactly the same as another.

• Will down for a nap


• Quiet Time for kids (each child picks a few toys and books and goes to their assigned room for an hour of quiet, alone play) Computer or Nap time for mom.


• Disciplinary Studies - Math, Copywork, Reading Lesson, Assigned readings


• Computer Time for kids (Each child is allowed 15 mintues of computer play time)


• Read Aloud/Laundry Folding (I am still working on consistently doing this in our afternoon.)


• Quick Clean livingroom, kitchen and hallway floors

That's pretty much it for our day. Some days some of these things get bumped til after daddy gets home but on most days we finish before he comes.

Our evenings are relaxed and full of play and interaction and before bedtime I sit back down with the kids and we read a couple of chapters in our current read-aloud selection.



Thanks for stopping by for a quick and brief visit.

My school schedule was inspired by Lindafay at Higher up and Further In. Previously I had a much more complicated and detailed schedule that was similar to Sonlight's layout. I am loving how simple this format is and how easy it makes my life. I keep this in a binder along with a printout of the weekly schedule from Ambleside. We are in the last few weeks of our 2nd term so I'll be making up a new schedule soon and will be tweaking it a bit.