Stop What You're Doing

. . . and go right now to your local library and get this book:

It is fantastic! This book, full of very fun onomatopoeia and plot surprises, was written by the author of other classics I'm sure you know: Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings.

You'll love it!

Hymn Study

Each month, we choose a new hymn for our hymn study. I find a youtube video of the song with lyrics and we play it three times each week. We usually have all learned it by the end of the month and we enjoy singing together each morning after breakfast.

ALL of us sing it, whether we know the words or not. Case in point:

(Note: For the first 30 seconds, Julia is watching all of us who were trying to coach her to do her thing. But then she takes off, much to our delight!)

Enjoy!

Our Homeschool Day in Pictures

Our homeschool day starts with breakfast. I wake up (around 7:30) and eat breakfast before the kids wake up, so I can make this time productive. I wake up any sleepy heads at 8am. That's when our day begins. While they're eating their oatmeal (or whatever Kyle made for us), I read our Bible study. I read a Psalm, a Proverb, and whatever verse Pastor Jesse preached on the last Sunday. By this time, everyone's finishing up eating. Then we go over our memory verse a few times. Finally, we practice whatever poem we're working on.

After breakfast, I plop down in a kitchen chair to supervise table chores. I just sit there, but I am accomplishing much. The children stay on task when I'm present.

Maya and Isaac don't get easily distracted, but everyone else does. ;)

Maya will one day be sorry she didn't take the sponge rollers out of her hair when I asked her to. I tried to warn her. {giggle}

Daniel and Lydia are still responsible for the dishwasher, but now they are responsible for the silverware too. (I always make them wash their hands first. ;) )

Ok, now back to school. A lot of this happens simultaneously, so pay attention:

Round one:

Isaac has the least amount to do on this day, so he helps Daniel and Lydia with their 2 pages of phonics worksheets. (Get Ready for the Code.) Julia-the-Funky-Headed supervises, but doesn't help at all. She never helps anyone come to think of it.

While Daniel and Lydia are doing their phonics, I'm supervising Elena and Chloe's Latin lesson. (Maya and Isaac used to do this, but they kept mispronouncing the words, so I decided to have them wait. Reading and writing first, right?)

While Elena and Chloe are doing Latin, Maya is upstairs reading along to Robinson Crusoe while the audiobook plays. Her comprehension is very good, but her phonics is coming along very slowly. I decided not to hold her back from good literature.

Round two:

Maya is still listening to her audiobook; Elena and Chloe have finished Latin. Elena is now in my room doing long division. She cannot handle any distractions at all during math, but I figured out she also gets lonely being banished to my room, so I work out a time when I can sit with her.

While I'm supervising Elena's math, Lydia and Daniel start on their chores.

While Lydia and Daniel are doing their chores and then getting dressed for the day, Isaac is doing copywork. He is a perfectionist, but as a boy, he hates handwriting, so this takes him awhile.

While Isaac is doing his copywork at the table, Chloe's doing her math drill. She's currently taking a break from multiplication until she gets all her facts down.

Round three:

Elena has finished her math quickly, since I'm there and she's not distracted. So now, she reads Mother Goose to Daniel and Lydia. Each of the big kids get a day to read to the littles. We're taking our time working through Ambleside Year 0.

While Elena's reading to the littles, Chloe is doing her reading. She loves biographies, so I picked up a bunch of Christian Heroes for Young Readers. She loves these.

Elena has chosen Elsie Dinsmore, and Isaac has chosen The Frog and Toad Treasury. (But they're not reading right now.)

Isaac and Maya are taking turns doing math drills and getting dressed for the day.

Lydia and Daniel are now done with their school for the day. They're now upstairs playing while Elena does her copywork.

Ok, now the rotations part of our school day is over.

Daniel and Lydia are playing upstairs or outside, and I've just put Julia down for her nap. It's now about 11am. I gather the four big kids and we do our history and/or science readings. (Maya was taking the picture.)

We're wrapping up medieval history, and I'm reading The Whipping Boy. The kids are loving this book! After reading this for about 20 minutes, I'll switch to a picture book (currently Peter the Great) or nature study (currently Christian Liberty Nature Reader book 4).

They narrate back to me what they remember of the story after I read and we'll stop after each place I read about and I'll have them point it out on the map, i.e. "Peter the Great visited Venice. . . (Do ya'll remember where Venice is? Right, Italy. Isaac, show us where Italy is.)"

If you have a big map handy, it literally takes seconds to teach geography.

Later that night, around the dinner table, I'll ask: Who can tell Daddy what happened to Prince Horace and the Whipping Boy today?

Because they're creating a relationship with the book, they'll be able to tell you about Prince Horace a year from now. They haven't just memorized the dates and names in medieval history, they've actually learned it.

After reading time, we take a break and all have a snack.

Now it's about 11:45. I help Isaac with his phonics lesson (he does a lesson out of ". . .100 Easy Lessons", then he reads a chapter out of a Phonics Pathway reader.)

While he's reading to me, Maya is starting to prepare lunch and Elena is doing her reading upstairs. Chloe is getting dressed for the day.

When I'm ready to help Maya with her phonics lesson (She does the same thing he does), Isaac goes to get everyone else, so they can begin setting the table for lunch.

Lunch happens when all the school is done. Usually by 12:30.

Teaching Children to Love Reading - School Age

When children get to school age, there's a temptation to ask them lots of questions about the book they're reading. DON'T DO IT! School teachers ask kids: Who's the main character? What was the setting? etc ad nauseum because they have no idea if little Miranda actually read the book or not. They have to ask these questions to make sure the child is actually reading the book assigned. That said, it does kill the love of reading.

You are home with your child, watching them walk up the stairs reading the book, watching them bury their nose in the book while they eat their snack, etc. You know they are reading it. Don't kill their love of reading by making them analyze the book. Let them develop a relationship with the book. This is how you teach your child to love reading.

What is a Living Book?

I haven't blogged about Charlotte Mason in a long time. For those who don't know what I'm talking about: living books are one of the main things that set a CM education apart. Living books are the opposite of dry textbooks.

When Susan Macaulay (daughter of Francis and Edith Schaeffer, author of For the Children's Sake) was asked: "How do you define a living book?" she answered:

Oh, that's easy! That's one where they say: "One more chapter, Mommy, one more chapter!" That's a living book!

I think she nailed it. And no sweeter words have ever been heard by a homeschool mom. :)

Teaching Children to Love Reading - Babies & Toddlers

This is the start of a short & simple series I hope you'll enjoy. Raising children who love to learn is my academic goal for our homeschool. Notice I didn't say it was one of my academic goals. It is the academic goal for my children. If they love to learn, they can learn anything they want to learn. And loving to read develops a love of learning so we'll start there.

Babies and toddlers love rhythmic books, so we start with Mother Goose. Mother Goose rhymes have no plot, no story, so climax. They just rhyme. Rhyming teaches littles to love language.

There are gobs of Mother Goose treasuries to choose from, so pick the one with the illustrations you love.

Board books are another great way to teach littles to love books. It doesn't matter that they are chewing it more than looking at it. They're enjoying a book and that's the point.

Reason to Homeschool the Charlotte Mason Way #42

Reading all that classic literature develops one's grammar, vocabulary, spelling skills,

and in this case, a love of words! Maya has been asking for a thesaurus every since we told her what it was a couple weeks ago. When I brought this home for her, she poured over it for almost an hour, looking up everything she could think of and then impressing us with her new words.
As I said.
Maya wants to know why "thesaurus" isn't in the thesaurus, since it's such a hard word for her to say. Any ideas?

Handwriting - Quality not Quantity

Handwriting can make kids cry. I think Charlotte knew this. She said it would be better to have a single line of perfect As, than a whole page of progressively sloppy ones.
We only do handwriting for a few minutes each day. Copywork is how it's done. They can pick a line from a favorite hymn, poem, or book and copy it. At their current ages, 1-2 lines is all it takes. For Isaac (because he's a boy and all boys hate writing), one little line is plenty. Elena, on the other hand (because she's a firstborn and a girl) will copy a whole paragraph just because she wants to and will write it all in cursive because having a page of "pretty words" is her goal.
Once a week, I have them write a letter to a grandparent or friend. (I tend to have them write most often to those who I know will write them back. Kyle reminds me that they write letters to be a blessing, but I just love seeing the joy on their little faces when they get mail!) They dictate to me what they want to write, I type it out in letter format, and they copy it. Four sentences max! The next day, I'll have them copy the addresses on the envelope. (Isaac would just kill me if I asked him to do it all in one day!)

Short Lessons

One of the key distinguishing features in the CM approach to education is her focus on short lessons. We cover a lot of subjects each week, but each subject is given 5-20 minutes each. For instance, poetry and copywork only take 5 minutes/day. For math, I set the timer for 15-20 minutes, depending on the topic and we stop whether a page is completed or not. Literature is the one subject where we may spend more time. We listen to audio CDs in the car, or we snuggle on the couch while I read a story we all love. But if possible, I always always stop with a cliffhanger. Better to have them begging for more than asking me to stop!

The purpose of short lessons is to develop the habit of attention. They learn to give full and focused attention to a task because there is no time to dawdle. Although the children very much enjoy what they are learning, it is a challenging education. Challenging, because of the material presented, not because they are made to sit for an hour of it. Short lessons has given my children a love of learning. It isn't drudgery and it is never boring. And it's so impressive the amount of detail they can retain when I only read for 10 minutes.

Charlotte Mason Q&A

"What is the point of literature-based education?"

Textbooks are written by many authors who each know a little bit about the subject their writing about. Living books are written by one author who is passionate about their topic. For instance, Thornton Burgess was a veterinarian. He wrote many living books, which are basically field guides to specific animals (The Burgess Bird Book, The Burgess Animal Book) but in narrated format. They read like a story, but while my kid is entertained by the sweet story, they are learning what the bird looks like, what he eats, where he lives, who his enemies are, and what he does when pursued by an enemy. I love that!
Rather than reading a couple pages about the holocaust in a history textbook, they will read The Von Trapp Family Singers, Number the Stars, and The Hiding Place. Each gives a different perspective (Austria, Poland, Germany) and it's interesting, not boring, because it's a story. I so wish I could have learned history this way! I hated history in school because I never got the point. It was just names and places and dates with no meaning. I see the passion and understanding that Pedro has for that time period because he learned it through literature.

Charlotte Mason Q&A

I'd like to thank my friend, Jody, for asking me her sincere questions about Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy.

"What is the point of CM approach?"

To create a love of learning in the child.

"Does it truly take 6 hours of outdoor time a day to love the Creator?"

No, I definitely don't think 6 hours is required to love the Creator of the nature we're studying. And while I think she was being quite idealistic in even recommending that much time, I don't think her point was that quantity of outdoor time = more understanding, more love, or more academic knowledge.
However, having said that I take that recommendation (to spend that much time outdoors) with a grain of salt, I do find much value in nature study. The point of nature study is to learn science in a real, concrete way. Not reading in a textbook about botony, zoology, or astrology, but seeing and touching and experiencing science in nature. Nature study is how science is done in the elementary years.

"What is the point of all that narration?! "

First of all, narration isn't meant for every single subject and it is accomplished in many differerent ways (telling the story back, acting out the play, drawing the animal I'm reading about, etc.) Each child (at this age) spends about 5-10 minutes total narrating each day. Narration is composition, learned orally before it is learned in writing. Children learn to express their ideas orally first by telling back what they have learned. Then later, when they need to learn how to write an essay, they only have to write out what they have already learned to express and organize. In schools, children have to learn to write out their thoughts before they even know how to organize them. CM figured out that it works better the other way around. I think that's genius.

Outside Time

Last night at book club, the topic was nature study. Charlotte Mason was a big believer in the value of being outdoors. Here's what she says:

A mother may brag, 'I make sure to send my children outside, weather permitting,for an hour every day in the winter and two hours in the summer.' That's a good start, but it's not enough. They should be long days spent outside--not two, but four or even six hours on every tolerable day from April til October. Long hours in fresh air is the ideal for children. It may not be practical for every family, but when mothers understand the good that a measure can do, they will often work miracles to provide it.

- taken from Home Education (Modern English version) by Charlotte Mason

I'm curious: How much time do you spend outdoors with your children?

My Preschool Reading List, Part 2

Read-Alouds for Four-Year-Olds

Whistle for Willie (and others by Ezra Jack Keats)
Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel
Burt Down, Deep Water Man
Time of Wonder
Lentil
A New Coat for Anna
When We Were Very Young
Chester the Worldly Pig
The Giving Tree
Gregory's Shadow
Little Toot
Raggedy Ann Stories
Raggedy Andy Stories
The Ugly Duckling
The Taxi That Hurried
Tootle
The Little Train (and others by Lois Lenski)
A Pair of Red Clogs
The Gingerbread Boy (and others by Paul Galdone)
Babushka's Doll
The Bee Tree (and others by Patricia Polacco)
Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny
Miss Fannie's Hat
The Trellis and the Seed
The Story of Ping
The Rag Coat
God's Wisdom for Little Girls
God's Wisdom for Little Boys

These are our favorites, please comment with your own family favorites.

My Preschool Reading List, Part 1

Read-Alouds For Three-Year-Olds

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (and others by Eric Carle)
Millions of Cats
Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler
Owl Babies
Stranger in the Woods
Lost in the Woods
Corduroy
A Pocket for Corduroy
Swimmy
Harry the Dirty Dog (and other Harry books)
Little Book of Poems
Billy's Picture
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Home for a Bunny
Katy No-Pocket
Kitty's New Doll
McDufff Moves In (and other McDuff books)
Pretzel
Polite Elephant
The Saggy, Baggy Elephant
The Shy Little Kitten
books by Tomie dePaola
Catch Me and Kiss Me and Say It Again
Margaret Wise Brown favorites:
Goodnight Moon
The Big Red Barn
The Color Kittens
Little Fur Family

These are favorites of ours, taken from Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online. Please comment with your additional favorites!

My Kindergarten Reading List

The Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne and Ernest H. Shepard

All Beatrix Potter books
The Little House by Virginia Burton
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Ox-Cart Man by Barbara Cooney
Stone Soup and other folk tale retellings by Marcia Brown
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman

Brer Rabbit books by Joel Chandler Harris
Poems and Prayers for the Very Young by Martha Alexander
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
A good collection including classic stories and folktales such as The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Aesop's Fables
Mother Goose collection
Poems for Young Children compiled by Caroline Royds
The Oxford Book of Children's Verse edited by Peter Opie

The Church Mice and others in this series by Graham Oakley.

Hiawatha by Longfellow, illustrated by Susan Jeffers

Paul Revere's Ride by Longfellow, illustrated by Ted Rand

My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Ted Rand

Picture books depicting Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, such as The Elephant's Child

Roxaboxen by Barbara Cooney

The Tale of Three Trees illustrated by Angela Elwell Hunt

Wynken, Blynken and Nod illustrated by either Susan Jeffers or Barbara Cooney

Taken from Ambleside Online.

Many Worthy Books

We owe it to every child to put him in communication with great minds that he may get at great thoughts; … and the only vital method of education appears to be that children should read worthy books, many worthy books.

-Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education

This is one of my favorite quotes of Charlotte Mason because it sums up my own philosophy of education, which of course, I stole from her.
At my CM Book Club last week, one of the ladies was asking how you develop vocabulary and grammar, since those subjects are not directly taught in the elementary years of a Charlotte Mason education. They are taught indirectly through great literature. The most effective way to develop excellent vocabulary and grammar is by reading quality books. Many worthy books, Miss Mason would say.
When I am reading to the children, I don't stop to explain what words mean. We don't interrupt a great story to pull out the dictionary. I just keep reading. Think about it: when you talk, talk, talk to your little toddler, you don't stop to explain what a word means. You know that your chubby 1 year old doesn't know the meaning of yesterday or soon or maybe. But they figure it out. You just keep talking and they will start to use those words long before they really understand them fully.
A year ago, Maya was explaining something that happened to her in Liberia and she used the word "vexed". She used it correctly, but it really threw me off and I asked her what that meant. She said: "Um, it's like confused and angry." Um, yes, Maya that's exactly what it means. (She had heard it four or five times in Pilgrim's Progress.)
Isaac, who couldn't speak a lick of proper English at the time of adoption, because Liberian English is much better described as Creole than English, has started correcting his own grammar as he speaks. And not because he's slaving through a huge grammar workbook. He isn't. He just hears excellent grammar all day every day. (Through the literature; I don't claim to have perfect grammar. lol)
This type of thing happens all the time. And all because we simply read many worthy books.

Easiest Geography Ever

I used to be really concerned about geography. It was an important subject to me as I didn't retain much that I learned in school.
Here's what I do: When we're reading a book about artist John Singer Sargent, and it says he was born in Florence, I tell them that's in Italy and have one of the kids point out Italy on the map, telling them it's shaped like a boot and north of Africa (which they know very well). When we're reading Marco Polo and I say that he traveled to the area of China just north of India, I have a kid point out India on the map and another to point out that area of China. Easy shmeasy! And even the 3 yo's can now point out: the US, Africa, England, India, China, and Australia. (and several others, but didn't want to bore you.)