How about we run through the day's plan backwards? Maybe we'll even do it backwards. Except for the first thing. Or the last thing, whichever way you look at it.
At around dinner time, Dollygirl will be leaving with friends to go to a theater in another town. Her friend's father is a drama teacher, and he's directing a production of Macbeth. Dollygirl and her friend helped paint and plaster scenery a couple of weeks ago, so now they're getting to go see it put to use.
Using the book Alfred the Great, Dollygirl can choose one of "Alfred's Artifacts" to draw in her Book of Centuries. (I think she might choose this one.)
Geology Study: Start an experiment using alum to grow crystals.
Copywork from The Bronze Bow.
Read a chapter of The Bronze Bow.
Finish the last two Balance Benders in the book.
Read another section of In Search of England.
Practice Memory Work.
Read The Book of Acts together, from chapter 19.
Sing O Canada since it's Friday.
Showing posts with label Book of the Centuries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book of the Centuries. Show all posts
Friday, November 22, 2013
Friday, November 08, 2013
The Living Page, by Laurie Bestvater (Book Review)
Have you noticed that Charlotte Mason seems to be keeping unusual company these days?
Over the last few years, Miss Mason's philosophy has taken on what she herself might have called a new small-c catholicity, and it's not unusual to hear her quoted along with Wendell Berry, St. Benedict, and scientists researching brain function. Like Anne of Green Gables with her hair up and her skirts down, CM has taken on a possibly unexpected but not unbecoming seriousness. At a recent gathering in Ontario, we heard the word "homeschooling" from the speakers much less than we heard both literary language (myth, metaphor) and spiritual vocabulary (transformation, meditation, sacrament, Glory). As a community, we seem less determined now to "use" Charlotte Mason for our own purposes, and more interested in discovering and discussing the truths of her philosophy. (The fact that we can even identify a "CM community" is a milestone in itself.) Even if you haven't attended CM conferences or retreats, you might still have noticed that the general image of Charlotte Mason education is maturing, partly because there is more previously-unavailable information available, and partly because there are some tenacious individuals digging through those resources and sharing their finds.
Laurie Bestvater's recent book The Living Page, published by Underpinnings Press, reflects that different, more contemplative view of CM, and at the same time manages to be a practical resource not only for homeschooling parents, but for classroom teachers and anyone with an interest in lifetime education. It does not attempt to cover the how-to's of every school subject, and omits the already-well-known history of Charlotte Mason, her college and correspondence school. Instead, The Living Page puts the focus on the role of Mason's "paper graces," or student-kept notebooks. Using many quotations from Mason's own writings, as well as archived examples such as the nature notebooks of student teachers, Laurie Bestvater defends the idea that these notebooks are not optional or peripheral, but absolutely central to a Mason-style, living-ideas, relationship-based education. She shows how and at what ages certain activities were begun in Charlotte Mason's schools, and discusses not only specifics of the various books, but the balance and connections between them. Taken together, they form a large and vital part of a child's self-education.
Giving students choice in what to write and draw, allowing them time to contemplate and observe, may have been unusual in Mason's day; but it is no less rare and threatened in our own time, in these days of easily- reproduced fill-in pages and visual examples at our fingertips. How does this style of notebook-keeping reflect Mason's consistent rationale, her overall vision that culminates in what she called The Way of the Will? Laurie Bestvater's detailed descriptions, along with photographs of new and vintage examples, give shape to ideas that may have previously seemed too abstract or not important enough to work into an already-full curriculum. But the book goes well beyond a simple description of how to keep the Book of Centuries, the commonplace book, and the nature notebook as Charlotte Mason knew them, and becomes a plea for a more human heartbeat in children's education. If a child keeps a notebook that gives her a "sense of possession and delight," and the delight is not so much because the end product is beautiful but because it reflects her own learning," the connections she has noticed, the relationships she is creating, is that not more valuable than many worksheets that will be filed away somewhere and then discarded?
The Living Page is, especially in its final section, a manifesto for what, throughout the book, is variously referred to as being "Keepers," living fully, and knowing Glory. It echoes what Susan Schaeffer Macaulay wrote in For the Children's Sake: that Charlotte Mason, with her emphasis on the value of the person, had insights that went beyond teaching children to read and do math, that there are important truths in her work that cross the lines of sacred/secular, school/homeschool, child/adult, then/now.
Laurie Bestvater's ability to combine literary examples with personal insights, while staying true to Charlotte Mason's philosophy and practice, makes The Living Page a unique and significant contribution to CM literature. Well recommended.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of The Living Page to review, but did not receive any other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.
Over the last few years, Miss Mason's philosophy has taken on what she herself might have called a new small-c catholicity, and it's not unusual to hear her quoted along with Wendell Berry, St. Benedict, and scientists researching brain function. Like Anne of Green Gables with her hair up and her skirts down, CM has taken on a possibly unexpected but not unbecoming seriousness. At a recent gathering in Ontario, we heard the word "homeschooling" from the speakers much less than we heard both literary language (myth, metaphor) and spiritual vocabulary (transformation, meditation, sacrament, Glory). As a community, we seem less determined now to "use" Charlotte Mason for our own purposes, and more interested in discovering and discussing the truths of her philosophy. (The fact that we can even identify a "CM community" is a milestone in itself.) Even if you haven't attended CM conferences or retreats, you might still have noticed that the general image of Charlotte Mason education is maturing, partly because there is more previously-unavailable information available, and partly because there are some tenacious individuals digging through those resources and sharing their finds.
Laurie Bestvater's recent book The Living Page, published by Underpinnings Press, reflects that different, more contemplative view of CM, and at the same time manages to be a practical resource not only for homeschooling parents, but for classroom teachers and anyone with an interest in lifetime education. It does not attempt to cover the how-to's of every school subject, and omits the already-well-known history of Charlotte Mason, her college and correspondence school. Instead, The Living Page puts the focus on the role of Mason's "paper graces," or student-kept notebooks. Using many quotations from Mason's own writings, as well as archived examples such as the nature notebooks of student teachers, Laurie Bestvater defends the idea that these notebooks are not optional or peripheral, but absolutely central to a Mason-style, living-ideas, relationship-based education. She shows how and at what ages certain activities were begun in Charlotte Mason's schools, and discusses not only specifics of the various books, but the balance and connections between them. Taken together, they form a large and vital part of a child's self-education.
Giving students choice in what to write and draw, allowing them time to contemplate and observe, may have been unusual in Mason's day; but it is no less rare and threatened in our own time, in these days of easily- reproduced fill-in pages and visual examples at our fingertips. How does this style of notebook-keeping reflect Mason's consistent rationale, her overall vision that culminates in what she called The Way of the Will? Laurie Bestvater's detailed descriptions, along with photographs of new and vintage examples, give shape to ideas that may have previously seemed too abstract or not important enough to work into an already-full curriculum. But the book goes well beyond a simple description of how to keep the Book of Centuries, the commonplace book, and the nature notebook as Charlotte Mason knew them, and becomes a plea for a more human heartbeat in children's education. If a child keeps a notebook that gives her a "sense of possession and delight," and the delight is not so much because the end product is beautiful but because it reflects her own learning," the connections she has noticed, the relationships she is creating, is that not more valuable than many worksheets that will be filed away somewhere and then discarded?
The Living Page is, especially in its final section, a manifesto for what, throughout the book, is variously referred to as being "Keepers," living fully, and knowing Glory. It echoes what Susan Schaeffer Macaulay wrote in For the Children's Sake: that Charlotte Mason, with her emphasis on the value of the person, had insights that went beyond teaching children to read and do math, that there are important truths in her work that cross the lines of sacred/secular, school/homeschool, child/adult, then/now.
Laurie Bestvater's ability to combine literary examples with personal insights, while staying true to Charlotte Mason's philosophy and practice, makes The Living Page a unique and significant contribution to CM literature. Well recommended.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of The Living Page to review, but did not receive any other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.
Monday, November 04, 2013
Dollygirl's Grade Seven, Week 9: Plans for Tuesday
Geography: Another section of In Search of England, read aloud, same as yesterday.
Copywork, from In Search of England, same as yesterday.
Bible study: Book of Acts. The journey of Paul and Barnabas.
The Easy Grammar Plus: one more worksheet on past participles. (So far so good.)
Apologia General Science: discussing the issues of archaeology, age, and artifact assessment.
French: keep reviewing some previously-heard conversations, but do them in different ways. Try reading one out loud for yourself, or writing it, or covering up the French side of the page and translating from English.
Sigurd the Volsung: keep reading together.
Beat Algebra Before It Beats You: continue working on exponents.
Book of Centuries: A different century and a different image. Since you picked a 2nd-century Roman pot to draw yesterday, could you choose some pottery from another time? (I think these lamps are very interesting.)
Handicrafts And Homemaking.
Copywork, from In Search of England, same as yesterday.
Bible study: Book of Acts. The journey of Paul and Barnabas.
The Easy Grammar Plus: one more worksheet on past participles. (So far so good.)
Apologia General Science: discussing the issues of archaeology, age, and artifact assessment.
French: keep reviewing some previously-heard conversations, but do them in different ways. Try reading one out loud for yourself, or writing it, or covering up the French side of the page and translating from English.
Sigurd the Volsung: keep reading together.
Beat Algebra Before It Beats You: continue working on exponents.
Book of Centuries: A different century and a different image. Since you picked a 2nd-century Roman pot to draw yesterday, could you choose some pottery from another time? (I think these lamps are very interesting.)
Handicrafts And Homemaking.
Dollygirl's Grade Seven: We start Week 9
Plans for Monday's School:
Copywork, from the same chapter.
Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus, Lesson 8 from the Ambleside Online notes. Our question to think about: if Coriolanus was offered his "old job back" at this point (i.e. the opportunity to return to Rome), would he take it?--or would he rather stay with his new friends, the Volsces, who now say they will have no other captain?
Easy Grammar Plus: one page on past participles.
Natural History: Discussion of the idea that many nature notebooks weren't all art-based, that they often contained a larger proportion of written notes and simple observations (like Gilbert White's) about the local weather, what was ripening, what was nibbling in the garden. Read a section from A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard about mushrooms, including the Destroying Angel type (something you do not want to be eating!).
French: a short grammar lesson with Mom, then review one of the conversations in the Powerglide Ultimate Adventure.
The Sword and the Circle: begin the story of Lancelot and Elaine. Written narration.
Book of the Centuries, special daily work this week: beginning some ink drawings of "artifacts" and things from different periods, on the blank side of the century pages.
Beat Algebra Before It Beats You, by Hal Torrance.
Sewing time: Dollygirl has a special doll-outfit pattern she found online and wants to try.
Reenactment photo from The Fell Pony Museum website. (Real cool, go see.)
Geography: In Search of England, chapter 9, part 1: we read together about Hadrian's wall, and about Mr. Morton's imaginary conversation with a wet, sneezing Roman soldier from the original wall-guarding troops.Copywork, from the same chapter.
Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus, Lesson 8 from the Ambleside Online notes. Our question to think about: if Coriolanus was offered his "old job back" at this point (i.e. the opportunity to return to Rome), would he take it?--or would he rather stay with his new friends, the Volsces, who now say they will have no other captain?
Easy Grammar Plus: one page on past participles.
Natural History: Discussion of the idea that many nature notebooks weren't all art-based, that they often contained a larger proportion of written notes and simple observations (like Gilbert White's) about the local weather, what was ripening, what was nibbling in the garden. Read a section from A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard about mushrooms, including the Destroying Angel type (something you do not want to be eating!).
French: a short grammar lesson with Mom, then review one of the conversations in the Powerglide Ultimate Adventure.
The Sword and the Circle: begin the story of Lancelot and Elaine. Written narration.
Book of the Centuries, special daily work this week: beginning some ink drawings of "artifacts" and things from different periods, on the blank side of the century pages.
Beat Algebra Before It Beats You, by Hal Torrance.
Sewing time: Dollygirl has a special doll-outfit pattern she found online and wants to try.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)