Countdown to School: Pedagogical Passion, Part Three (updated with a Circe link)

Part One is here.
Part Two is here.

It's (less than) one week till school starts, and I'm still thinking about passion.  And perfectionism.  ("I do too eat breakfast," Dollygirl huffs.  'I just eat it later.")  One of the big controversies on Ontario news radio this week is a proposal that all public-school students should be measured and assessed for obesity, using the Body Mass Index.  "I've noticed," says Mr. Fixit, "that when our doctor uses the BMI, she looks mostly at the measurements chart.  Not at me."

Proponents of standardized tests (educational as well as physical) might want to chew on that one.

I'm thinking about something Dr. Fried wrote about in The Passionate Learner (see Part Two), about sometimes being satisfied with a "good enough" framework for learning.  Not that there isn't room for improvement, but just because you can't make everything or everybody perfect in every way doesn't mean that you've failed.  (Everybody goes through that. Ann Voskamp wrote a bestseller, but she's still feeling like a failure because her vegetable garden went belly-up.)  Classroom teachers are human beings. Homeschooling parents are human beings. Students, public-schooled or homeschooled, are human beings. We don't love them or respect our kids any less because they don't always say yippee about math lessons, or get all excited over a book that their forty-something mom thinks is wonderful, because they didn't click with a particular teacher or do as well as they thought they should have in a course.  But sometimes we're so worried about getting it all right that we don't notice the things that are already...all right.

What are my goals for lighting a little fire for Dollygirl this year (not just filling the pail)?  If it's not about dumping the curriculum, then how can I give her a bit more responsibility for getting from "beginner" or "don't care" in some aspects of learning to "pretty good" or "expert" or at least "I am starting to get interested in this?"  For instance, if I'm not thrilled about the fact that she doesn't voluntarily read a wider variety of books on her own, maybe it's time to ask her to make that a part of her school year.  It's not about nagging or criticizing...but it could be her personal goal as well as something I think she should be doing.

If I take some of what we're doing in Ambleside Online's Year 7, along with the Grade 7 objectives given in Rebecca Rupp's Home Learning Year by Year and even the Typical Course of Study lists that I used to map out language and math...and adding some "check where you are" levels suggested by Dr. Fried in The Passionate Learner (which appears to be out of stock on Amazon--how annoying)...I might come up with goals like this.  These are NOT, by any means, perfect or complete.  Just thought I'd warn you.

READING, WRITING, SPEAKING, LISTENING

• I read different kinds of fiction and nonfiction materials (including novels, short stories, plays, newspaper articles), both during school and on my own time. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I am getting to know some classic books I haven’t read before. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I read and enjoy different kinds of poetry, and I have memorized several poems that I like. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I listen to and participate in discussions, dramatic presentations, storytelling sessions, and oral reports. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know how to get information I need from books and online sources. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• When I get an unfamiliar book, I know how to look through it quickly to see what it’s about or if it has the information I’m looking for. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know how to find prepositions, mark off prepositional phrases, and show the other parts of a sentence. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I write often and produce a variety of types of writing such as descriptions, reports, journals, blog posts, stories, poems, and letters. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I write about people and things I care about. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I write about ideas and feelings that are important to me. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can edit and revise my own work (checking for spelling and grammar problems). ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I understand more spoken French than I used to. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert

SOCIAL STUDIES (CHRISTIAN STUDIES, CITIZENSHIP, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY)

• I know the major events in the Book of Acts, and can follow Paul’s journeys on a map. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know when and what the Dark Ages were.  ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know about the importance of religion and especially the Christian Church in the Middle Ages. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can describe life in the feudal society of the Middle Ages. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can relate my own life situation and choices to the challenges of living in the Middle Ages. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know a lot about the geography of Western Europe and England, including countries, cities, rivers, lakes and mountain ranges. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know what money is and how it works. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert

SCIENCE AND NATURAL HISTORY

• I know what science is, what it can and can’t do. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can outline the high points of scientific history. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can use the scientific method to carry out experiments, and write lab reports to explain my findings. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know about the theory of evolution, and the reasons many Christians dispute the evidence for that theory. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know the basic ideas of geology, rocks, soil and minerals. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know how various organisms (life forms) use food for growth and energy.  ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know how typical plant and animal cells are put together, and what they do. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can talk about atoms, molecules, and the periodic table of elements. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can describe some chemical changes.  ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I know many local birds, insects, trees, and other plants. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can explain environmental problems in my neighbourhood. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I help my family and my community improve our environment. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert

MATHEMATICS

• I know about prime and composite numbers. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can use the order of operations (BEDMAS).  ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can solve problems involving exponents. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can solve problems involving percents and decimals. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can add, subtract, multiply and divide with both positive and negative numbers. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can use ratios and proportions to solve mathematical and real-world problems. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can use estimation skills to solve different kinds of problems. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can collect, organize and interpret data using a range of methods (graphs, tables, charts). ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can figure out how to approach a math problem, and what strategies and tools to use in solving it. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can choose and use appropriate measures of length, area, volume, capacity, weight/mass/time, and temperature. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert

PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND FINE ARTS

• I am working on improving my personal fitness level by participating in a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I am familiar with the elements of good nutrition and personal hygiene. (I know what I should eat and how to take care of my body.) ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I listen to a range of musical pieces by well-known composers, and to multicultural musical selections. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert
• I can compare and contrast the different purposes of art and the ways in which various artists communicate their message. ¨ Beginner ¨ Sometimes ¨ Pretty Good ¨ Expert

I heard a sermon last Sunday, a typical 2013 message aimed at younger people, and at older Christians who are burned out on "church" and church vocabulary.  What does God want us to do?, asked the preacher.  Not "worship," at least, not in a ritualistic, formulaic way (I remember the prophets had a bit of an issue with that as well).  Not "serve," at least not if it's only out of fear.  The right answer was "love."  It reminded me of Micah 6:8, "do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with your God.".

And in the end...Dr. Fried talks about relationships.  Charlotte Mason talks about relationships.  This homeschooling and teaching deal is about relationships. It's not about the charts, and the check-offs, and the educational BMI's.  It's about loving our children, as they are, and letting them know that, first and overall.  When that's firm--then we do math.

Have a great school year.

(This is the end of the "Countdown" series.  We need some real-life time to get ready for EVERYBODY'S school next week.)

Update:  this link to a Circe blog post was just passed along by an Amblesider.  Hop on over and enjoy.

Countdown to School: Pedagogical Passion, Part Two

 Part One is here.

It's one week until school starts.

Charlotte Mason said that all children naturally have good appetites for learning, just as they do for eating.

Trouble is, some kids--is it just a contemporary, First-World problem?--have poor appetites for both.  Dollygirl has always been a small eater at meals.  This summer she often hasn't even bothered eating breakfast.  That might be just a tweenage/teenage thing, along the same lines as wanting to sleep late (which she doesn't do); but you see my point.  Was Charlotte Mason right or wrong about that in her own time, and if it was true then, does it hold up now?  Have our children's natural appetites, physical and intellectual, possibly changed in the last hundred years?   If the banquet is spread before them, is it still true that they will eat?  Or does there have to be some kind of extra encouragement?

I've been reading The Passionate Learner: How Teachers and Parents Can Help Children Reclaim the Joy of Discovery, by Robert L. Fried.  It's one of those recent educational books that homeschoolers, especially CM homeschoolers, would probably read with caution, if not with outright suspicion.  This guy is an associate professor of education.  He works in public schools, with teachers.  Still, he might be sort of on our side, since he wrote a book about passionate learners (and also one about passionate teachers).  My vote:  I like the book.  It's not a homeschooling book and it doesn't match what we do exactly, but I think it speaks to a lot of the questions I raised in Part One of this post, such as, how do I encourage a student to take ownership of her own learning without dumping the curriculum?

Towards the end of Dr. Fried's book, he points out that there are good schools that are very "resource-focused," and there are those that are "responsibility-focused" (where the onus is on the kids to knuckle down and do their homework); and that there are great educators who are "progressive/child centered" and those who are "traditionalist/authoritarian."  (Not to the point of being destructive, either one; he means those that take their educational philosophy and use it to teach in a productive way.)  And, although he puts himself at particular points along both of those lines, he points out that you can really have any combination of those and still be successful, still turn out passionate learners.

Recognizing that, I think, could alleviate some of the tension and dissension between different stripes of homeschoolers.  As I've said before, I have a real-life homeschooling friend who taught all her children, very successfully, using textbook methods.  I've known unschoolers who used much more structured curriculum materials than we did--but they used it in different ways (left the phonics books lying around for the kids to pick up at will).  I've seen some great homeschool grads; they weren't all CMers, just young adults who who had learned to love learning.

We might be inspired to plot Charlotte Mason on Dr. Fried's grid--was she more "child centered" or more "authoritarian?" (What she really said, I mean, not how other homeschoolers have labelled her methods.)  Was she more "resource-focused" or more "responsibility-focused?"  Or did she come out right in the middle?  Something to think about.

Anyway, back to Dr. Fried's book.  How can you not like someone who writes, "In the best of circumstances, teacher, parent, and student will share the vision of the child as a self-initiating seeker of truth and power through knowledge and skills development.  The teacher will, in most cases, take the lead in creating such a vision, but the student and parent must understand and interpret 'excellence' in ways that make sense to them."  "Quality learning requires the parent to be both patient and supportive, holding in check the voices that want to push the child toward short-term, less-authentic rewards, and keeping in one's mind a vision of the child as a lifelong learner."  "Quality learning has a lot to do with taking what's given--an assignment from the teacher--and figuring out how to make it correspond to the child's idea of a quality experience, how to find an angle on the assignment that the child can be enthusiastic about (or at least help the child not feel insulted or overwhelmed by the assignment."  (all on page 229)

Some of Dr. Fried's most interesting ideas come from the university classes he teaches in children's literature and in curriculum.  One workshop exercise he does with teachers is have them draw a pie graph of the major concepts or skills they want students to take away from a particular course--particular big ideas, ways that they relate material to their own lives, and so on.  Then he also has them graph their grading scheme for a course--15% for term tests, 10% for homework and so on.  Their conceptual goals for the course often conflict with the way the students are being marked; the ideas they say are important get less weight than things like attendance and homework.  We may or may not be grading our homeschoolers' work,  but it's still something to think about, maybe in terms of time spent instead of grades given.  If we say, just for example, that a goal in history is to see how God deals with nations and individuals, do we actually spend much time discussing that, or is it all about memorizing dates on a timeline?

What happens in the workshop, then, is that they take the two pie charts, and try to rewrite the grading-scheme chart to better reflect the important ideas of the course.  Maybe there will be a larger, self-designed project on a major person or event in a period of history, something that allows the student to ask and answer his own questions.  (Like a science fair project.)  Maybe there will be no quizzes, but there will be one short-answer test just to make sure they haven't missed the basics.  This is something that we can apply in homeschools, no matter what curriculum we're using: we definitely have the freedom to structure or restructure a course to focus on what's most important.  And then--I found this interesting--the teachers are challenged to take the major concepts they used for the first pie graph, and make them super-clear and intelligible, something that they could hand to the students (or the parents) to explain what they're supposed to be learning, and why they're learning it.

Because if you're the teacher and you don't know that yourself, you're going to be stuck with "open your books and read the next chapter," and that's not very passionate.

I'll finish up in Part Three.  

Countdown to School: Pedagogical Passion, Part One

When I think of passion in learning, I think of Cindy Rollins's Ordo Amoris blog.  "Passion" is not a recommended word to search for, generally, but if you limit the search to Cindy's blog, you get snippets such as "So that is what valor looks like but even more so that is how valor is memorialized, with passion not malaise" and "I just have a passion for literacy (reading and cultural)" and "I am passionate about the *idea* of living in a republic that followed our Constitution."  A shared passion for living and learning is definitely a good thing, and Cindy is one of its vocal and valued homeschooling proponents.

As a longtime homeschooling parent, and a pursuer of Charlotte Mason's philosophy, I would like to say that a passion for learning is something we just don't have a problem with around here.  But it wouldn't be entirely true...or at least not if  "passion for learning" equals "passion for schoolwork."  Almost-seventh-grader Dollygirl loves to read, but mostly the books of her own choosing, not the "assigned" ones.  She likes to write, but again, not so much when it's assigned work.  I've seen this pattern emerge with the older girls, too:  "out of class" time is separate from "school."   If they feel that "their time," when lessons are done, is honestly "their time," then they seem to feel that they also have to differentiate their own reading, writing and other activities from assigned "schoolwork."  I've never heard any of them (even the Apprentice) begging for more math homework.  This question of ownership--and therefore passion, or lack thereof--has been a source of frustration (on my part, it doesn't seem to bother them!) for almost two decades.  Some readaloud books have blurred the line between "this is school" and "just Mom and me reading," but in general, that's the way it works, or doesn't work.

The funny thing is that some, most even, of what we do in school...even the difficult stuff, even if it's "coerced" or at least teacher-decided, has been very successful.  The Squirrelings have enjoyed Great Expectations and Silas Marner, and I'm pretty sure that Ivanhoe will also be a successful readaloud later in the year. They are good readers, and, when they want to, they can put words together pretty well too.  (Ponytails' work in public-school English class has earned her praise and high marks, in both ninth and tenth grades.)  But I hardly ever see one of them browsing for more Dickens or George Eliot or Scott; the Apprentice did read Jane Austen on her own, but that was the exception.  Dollygirl's current personal reading consists of Harry Potter and the Cornelia Funke Inkheart books.

Some homeschoolers (or teachers) might suggest that the way to get older students to engage with learning would  be to leave the curriculum up to them.  If it's put on their plate, it comes from outside, isn't personally meaningful; if they've chosen it, they'll be interested.  I would say yes, to a point; I do give options wherever practical.  But, thinking of Charlotte Mason's quip about expecting people to make their own boots, it's even less consistent with our family's homeschool practice to let the kids decide if they're even going to wear shoes.  So to speak.

Since we follow, more or less, the Ambleside Online Curriculum, it's already pretty much decided: Year Seven follows Year Six and is followed by Year Eight.  This year is Dollygirl's Year Seven, and, within reason, I'm expecting her to take on the work that's given in that outline. Promoting engagement by completely freeing up the curriculum is not an option for us.  It's not in tune with Charlotte Mason, it's not what I'm comfortable with, and it's not even (really) what our kids expect.

So how else do we find delight, engagement, passion, without expecting too much (or too little) of 21st-century, somewhat-distracted kids, and without turning them into prigs about learning?

 ("Mr Samuel Arrow, a wonderful man who... used to get us up from our beds before dawn for a good flossing.")

More (and a book review) in Part Two.  Make sure to come back, especially if you think I'm too hard on my kids.  Because you might be right.

Countdown to School: Our choices for art and handicrafts

The bold-print text here is taken from one typical middle-school P.U.S. term--that is, Charlotte Mason's term programmes.  The notes in between are thoughts and plans for this term and maybe the rest of the year.

Drawing.
The Fesole Club Papers, by W. G. Collingwood (see current P.R.). Tree studies. Illustrations of scenes from Literature.  Paintbox with specially chosen paints and brush (P.N.E.U. Office, 5/-).

Generally for pencil drawing I like Adrian Hill's little book How to Draw.  But I know that Charlotte Mason was aiming more for watercolours here.

You can read some of the Fesole Club Papers online, starting with this lesson in how to paint a lemon.  (If you want to follow that exact lesson, you will need tubes of paint in Vandyck (Vandyke) brown, Prussian blue, burnt sienna, lemon yellow, cadmium, gamboge, raw sienna, and some kind of green.)  I think Dollygirl might find Mr. Collingwood's lesson instructive (and fun), since I am no painter myself.  She also owns a "How to Draw and Paint Enchanting Fairies" kit, which is actually much better than it sounds; it's really a short course in watercolour techniques. We found it used and need to replace a couple of the tubes of paint, but otherwise I think it might work well.  There are also some pencil and watercolour practice pages in the Klutz Artrageous Activities book.

Study, describe (and draw from memory details of) six reproductions of pictures by Corot (P.N.E.U. Office, 2/- the set). See the special notes in the Parents' Review, April, 1922. 

I was planning on doing something a little different this term for picture study, looking at a book about faith and art; but it may be better after all just to keep it simple and follow one artist.  We might even do Corot.

Work.
Do some definite house or garden work. 

Well, we don't have a "definite" plan for that, but Dollygirl usually helps out where it is needed.  I think she does want to make cinnamon rolls sometime.

Clay modelling, by Hermione Unwin (Longmans, 4/8).  

Heaton's Cardboard Modelling (Newman, 6/-): make six models. (Materials from Arnold & Son, Butterley St., Hunslet Lane, Leeds.) 

Cardboard modelling is defiinitely out, but our library has quite a few books on clay creations and using polymer clay, so that might be something we get into later in the year.  We did find a Tolkien-inspired leaf brooch tutorial online that Dollygirl likes; it's a bit involved, but I like the idea of using leaves as small clay patterns.  There's also a paper-clay leaf project on the Dick Blick website, which is kind of cool.  We also have a nearby gallery that gives group pottery classes, and our homeschool group often sets something up there during the year, so that might be one way to get in some clay time.

I think our special craft skill for the fall will be cross-stitching, since we just acquired a mini-kit to make Christmas ornaments and cards.  Maybe also a little crocheting. Scrapbooking (the budget kind) is another possibility.

Simple Garments for Children, by Synge (Longmans, 6/-). Constructive and Decorative Stitchery, by L. G. Foster (8/6): design and make a garment. 

A Dollygirl-sized garment, or for a small person?  We don't have too many nearby small people in our lives, but we do have dolls, and doll patterns.

Darn and mend garments from the wash each week: First Lessons in Darning and Mending (P.N.E.U. Office, 2d.), may be used. 

I've been thinking about that one, and we do even have a couple of books on the art of mending and fixing up clothes, but honestly, we don't get a lot of rips and holes in the laundry.  I think it's enough to teach a more general art of fixing things where possible, and Mr. Fixit (as you would figure) is pretty good at that.

Teacher will find useful What shall we make? by M. La Trobe Foster (C.M.S., 1/-). See also (unless working as Girl Guides) tests under P.U.S. Scouting (Parents' Review, May, 1920): all girls should take the First Aid (No. 10) and Housecraft (No. 7) Tests. 

Make a garment for the "Save the Children Fund"; for particulars apply to 29 Golden Square, Regent Street, W.1.

More general ideas?  I would really, really like to do something near the beginning of the year to go along with life in Roman Britain...I thought of mosaics, but a lot of them use fairly complicated materials (or are just pasting bits of paper).  Eggshells and Pink Stripey Socks to the rescue: I think this pendant project is very pretty, so we might try that.

And since Charlotte Mason doesn't require any more than that...anything else is just icing on the cinnamon rolls.

Want more CM craft thinking?  Check out Archipelago, the Ambleside Online Advisory blog.

Countdown to school: Handicrafts are not just last week, but completely yesterday; and that's a good thing

Charlotte Mason once complained that "we turn out young people sharp as needles but with no power of reflection, no intelligent interests, nothing but the aptness of the city gamin."  Gamin(e) mostly makes me think of Halle Berry's hair, but in this case it means a street urchin, a kid who hangs around the corners--an Artful Dodger.  Someone who knows the ropes, but not much else.  Like the Country Mouse and the City Mouse, the gamin is at home in only one environment, in this case a somewhat artificial one.  The "country mouse" child might have an equal amount of ignorance when visiting the city, but I think Miss Mason's idea was that the country, at least, offered something real, more worthwhile than just knowing how to get around the subway system.

"Real" handicrafts, in Parent's Union School terms, were the old-fashioned ones; the ones that often, these days, you have to go to a pioneer museum or get into Creative Anachronism (re-enactments) to see.  Many of our children, by comparison,  are more like "city mice" when it comes to these skills; because, unless we're homesteading or living somewhere outside of typical Western culture, we don't need them so much anymore.  Even knitting goes in and out of style; it's just an option, a flourish.  We might make our husband a pair of socks, but we don't need to.

But going back through the centuries, back to Mrs. Proverbs 31 who sold sashes, and the tabernacle and temple artisans, human beings have always made stuff.  They worked with metal, made pots, turned bowls, painted lions on gateways, made toys, made leather goods and baskets, decorated fabric and scrolls, carved clocks and gravestones.  They made beautiful gardens, ornamented weapons, turned earrings into golden calves and hunks of rock into lifelike human images.  If this is a time in history when there is no real motivation for most of us to create or decorate, then it must be the first time ever.  Maybe it's just a blip.  In some parts of the world, selling crafts is a means of survival. (For feminists, knitting and other crafts are an angry kind of reclaiming of womyn-style, that, so to speak, separates the girls from the boys.  But we don't have to go there.)

Is there a specifically Christian, justice-seeking, God-honouring approach to both art and crafts, that speaks honestly to our life now, rural or urban, in 2013 (because, for most of us, times have changed), but does not settle for cheap and easy?  How should we then live?  Do we all have to be Greenbeans in the Garden?


What if we have no woodshop, no parent with sewing skills, no resident artist?  No kiln?

Well, we have air-dry clay.

We have gallery and museum classes.

We have online tutorials, websites, downloaded books.

We might have church ladies who quilt, sisters who knit, uncles into reenactments.

We have Ten Thousand Villages shops, international crafts sales, multicultural clubs and festivals.

We have conservative Christian homeschool resources aimed at turning out boys who can provide and girls who can preserve.

We have Titus-Two-type online mentors who blog, and people like Edith Schaeffer who wrote a recollection of their first Depression-era apartment, including the morning glories hanging over their otherwise-dreary rooftop patio.  Dreariness is something lots of city people still "get."  Morning glories are still around.  Why not?

If we don't need to craft for ourselves (maybe we have a tiny living space, or just like things plain), we could learn...and teach our children...to knit and sew for homeless shelters or crisis centers.  Or, like Proverbs 31, we might come up with a craft-selling business (if we can find our way around all the regulations these days).  The Etsy era might be a blip too, but a lot of people are making the most of it.

Gammy hitched herself alertly to the edge of the bed and put a clawlike hand on Di's hair. "Sort of carroty but real slick. That's a pretty dress. Turn it up and show me your petticoat." Di obeyed, thankful that she had on her white petticoat with its trimming of Susan's crocheted lace. But what sort of a family was it where you were made to show your petticoat? "I always judge a girl by her petticoats," said Gammy. "Yours'll pass. Now your drawers." Di dared not refuse. She lifted her petticoat. "Humph! Lace on them too! That's extravagance. And you've never asked after John!" "How is he?" gasped Di. "How is he, says she, bold as brass. He might be dead, for all you know." ~~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Ingleside

Countdown to School: I know, handicrafts are so last week; and a vintage sewing book

It's two weeks to school, and if I were continuing the posts here "on schedule," I'd be up to "knowledge of man" by now.  But I'm still thinking about art lessons, and handicrafts, mostly for the middle school age, and how 1923 (or so) meets up with 2013.

A quick look at Charlotte Mason's outlines would give us the idea that Art was one subject, and Work (including handicrafts) was another; one "artistic," one technical.  Picture Study was sometimes separated from Drawing (which often meant watercolours), or sometimes they were lumped together.  Watercolouring was also included under nature study, and writing "beautiful mottoes" and drawing in one's Book of the Centuries went under both Sunday Occupations and General history.  Although it's not mentioned in the Programmes, I have heard that the PUS students used to act out Shakespeare plays, so things like painting scenery and designing costumes might have fallen under Literature, as would have making illustrations of scenes from books.  And, strangest of all, architectural knowledge (which is a bit of a blurry area between art and technology) is filed under General Science.

However, when it comes down to it, the lines between art and crafts were somewhat blurred, as they are in real life.  For instance, would using the inspiration of leaves and flowers to design an embroidered book cover, and then doing the work on it, count as art (the design) or craft?  Well, life is messy (somewhat like craft projects).  You either ignore the problem (it's both) or just pick one or the other.  In real life, designers who get their gorgeous needlepoint florals photographed for Victoria are, deservedly, referred to as artists.  So are artists who use quilting as a medium; they're coming at it from a different place than those who labour over thousand-dollar traditionally-patterned quilts for an MCC relief sale, but there's a blurry area in the middle where creativity meets just-stitching, where the quilters are all designing and all sewing.

You might say that Charlotte Mason's "Work" subject is what might have gone under Home Ec and Tech classes, and "Drawing" and "Picture Study" and the rest could be in the domain of the art teacher.  Again, that isn't to say that the art class can't be doing something in textiles, or that the sewing class has to make only hot-water-bottle holders, but if there needs to be a division, there it is.  You might well say, who cares?, and you could be right; those who might like to interfere with homeschool curriculum are not likely to be quibbling over art and crafts.  But if you really want to know where Charlotte was coming from on this, and why, again, physical education and handicrafts got stuck under "knowledge of the universe" rather than "knowledge of man," it's something to consider.

Anyway, here's what really interested me as an example of Charlotte's choices for handicrafts:  The Little Girl's Sewing Book, by Flora Klickmann, editor of the Girl's Own Paper. Online in full at that link; browse through it, it's not that long.  I thought that was going to be another of those step-by-painful-step educational sewing manuals that the PUS did sometimes include; but this one is different.  It's not as cutesy as the Mary Frances books; there are no talking thimbles here.  But it is written in a chatty way, and the audience is, almost exclusively, a Girl With a Doll.  It's a very well-thought-out presentation:  wouldn't Dolly like a this or a that?, here's how you can make her a bedspread, embroider her some curtains, and so on.  Dollygirl would have devoured this book if she'd been twelve years old in CM's time.  There are a few non-doll projects (like a needlepoint mat to go under Grandmother's hot-water jug--I am not making that up), but the majority are doll clothes and doll bedding.  It's not all plain sewing, either; there is a fair amount of cross-stitching, some needlepoint, and even a few miscellaneous things like hairpin lace (a kind of loose crochet).

How relevant is this to 2013, when we are not very likely to have Mother take us down to the shop to buy pink embroidery silk for our Hardanger project, and when the hot-water jug is long gone?  The twelve-year-olds like Dollygirl who are both old enough to handle these projects, and "young" enough to still like dolls, are also a vanishing species. Are we reduced to looking up "teenage crafts" online, and settling for friendship-bracelet earbud strings?

No, I don't think so.  The principles, the ideas are still relevant.  You might be able to cull some actual projects out of The Little Girl's Sewing Book, but even if you can't, I think the interest for CMers is in seeing what kind of a book was chosen, how the ideas were presented, and what sort of skill (creative and technical) was developed.  It's worthwhile to browse through the crafts shelf--juvenile and adult--at the library, and compare any really well-written, well-done books you can find with the more mediocre ones.  My girls have liked the Kids Can Press series of crafts books, including their Jumbo Book of Crafts; in fact, I think it was that book that got the Apprentice started on a longtime hobby of beadwork. Some of the Klutz books (especially the ones that come with supplies) are also very good--the Apprentice had a Klutz embroidery book, but I think it's out of print now.  You can tell that this list is still oriented towards girls, and that's mostly just because I don't have boys--but there's stuff out there for them too.

Enough said for one post--but more to come.

Countdown to School: this is not a school post

It's two weeks till school.  Crystal and Kit don't appear too concerned.

But you know it's time to take a planning break when you misplace a whole stack of index cards with scribbled art and handicraft ideas. That you had in your hand, that you were actually writing on, the same day.  That you really do not want to have to go back and re-do.  My forgetfulness might have had something to do with the giant fly that got in the house that we were chasing, and no, that wasn't a good nature study opp.  It might have been the important discussion on grocery shopping that I was having with the Apprentice while we were trying to get a bead on the fly, that put the location of those cards right out of my head.  Or maybe they just got up by themselves and walked away in protest.  I don't know.

In any case, I am going to take a break from school blogging today, maybe tomorrow too, and do some other things.

Countdown to School: Handicrafts bring General Joy in Well-Being*

"Section III: The Knowledge of the Universe:  Science and Geography; Mathematics; Physical Development and Handicrafts"   ~~ Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education

The question for today:  what are "handicrafts" doing in Charlotte Mason's "Knowledge of the Universe" section?  Shouldn't they be listed with the humanities subjects, "Knowledge of Man?"  There's little explanation given in that part of Volume 6; it comes later on, when she's discussing adult education.

"Again we know that the human hand is a wonderful and exquisite instrument to be used in a hundred movements exacting delicacy, direction and force; every such movement is a cause of joy as it leads to the pleasure of execution and the triumph of success. We begin to understand this and make some efforts to train the young in the deft handling of tools and the practice of handicrafts. Some day perhaps, we shall see apprenticeship to trades revived and good and beautiful work enforced. In so far, we are laying ourselves out to secure that each shall "live his life"; and that, not at his neighbor's expense; because, so wonderful is the economy of the world that when a man really lives his life he benefits his neighbor as well as himself; we all thrive in the well being of each."  ~~ Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education (page 328)

Those of us of the feminine persuasion live in a post-Millennial crafty age.  (I'm not saying we all participate in it, it's just one of our "zeitgeists.") Some men too, but you have to admit that the Etsy decorating-crafting-vintage world is, by and large, an aqua-coloured, ball-fringe-trimmed feminine preserve.  With a juvenile subsection made up of coloured foam and plastic google eyes.

That wasn't really what Charlotte Mason meant by handicrafts, at least not as they should be included in a child's education.  At the least, she was decidedly in favour of natural materials:  pottery, baskets, needlework, rugs, and work in wood and leather (topics from a crafting book recommended for the oldest PUS girls).  A little more towards the "green" end, or, for homeschoolers, maybe saluting the Waldorfers' love of beeswax and wool felt.

But "crafting" and "having a craft" is traditionally about even more than having fun or making something pretty, as the quote from Philosophy of Education shows.  I just finished reading Charles Kingsley's 1850 novel Alton Locke, which is about tailors, sweatshops, and bad political and economic systems.  Near the end of the book, after he's failed miserably at trying to save the world through political agitation, Alton hears about a Christian woman who, when she was widowed at a young age, set up a house for some of her "fallen sisters" and helped them sell their own work for fair prices instead of the tiny amounts they had earned by doing piecework.  A crafts co-operative, in other words.  Fair trade on a small scale.  Everybody benefits.

Which has a lot to do with the kind of community-based, small-is-beautiful economy that Wendell Berry eulogizes in his novels (Jayber Crow, Hannah Coulter) and his essays.

""When the children got old enough to quit school, if they wanted to quit, they were allowed to do as their father had done....Every one of them seemed to have a perfect faith in the education they got ouside of school, which they didn't even call 'education.' Out of school, they learned what they evidently thought they needed most to know: to keep house, to raise a garden or a crop, to care for livestock, to break a mule or shoe one, to fix a motor and almost anything else, to hunt, fish, trap, preserve a hide, hive a swarm, cook or preserve anything edible, and to take pleasure in such things. To learn things they didn't know, they asked somebody or they read books....When they need to, they do a little custom work on the side, they trade and contrive and make do, getting by and prospering both at once. It doesn't seem to bother them that while they are making crops and meat and timber, other people are making only money...."  ~~ Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter

"[Danny] would follow Burley for hours, hunting or rambling in the woods, Burley saying almost nothing, Danny nothing at all. Danny grew up with the knowledge of the old economy of the natural world that, for nothing and for pleasure, yielded in its seasons game and fish and nuts and berries and herbs and marketable pelts....you might say that Danny....gathered the woods and waters into his homelife as a robin gathers mud and straw into her nest." ~~ Hannah Coulter

Mud and straw bring us back to pottery and basket weaving.  Back to The Hidden Art of Homemaking.  Making your small world more beautiful, by using what's in your world.  Encouraging others to do the same. Politics and economics as seen in a walnut shell...or a spinning wheel.

And that's why handicrafts are part of our Knowledge of the Universe.

Related posts:

Where in the World? and an old man who made bowls
What's a Japanese curtain?
The PUS Smyrna rugs were just latch hooking
Links to old PUS handicraft books (scroll down)
Parent's Review discusses Clay Modelling
Scrapbooking, expensive hobbies, and doing it for less

*Philosophy of Education, page 329

Countdown to School: Where in the World? And an old man who made bowls.

"Section III: The Knowledge of the Universe:  Science and Geography; Mathematics; Physical Development and Handicrafts"   ~~ Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education

All week I've been posting about science questions, but geography also fits into Charlotte Mason's Knowledge of the Universe.

In the public school curriculum, it doesn't exist as a separate subject until high school.  Even in the World Book Typical Course of Study, it's in there with Social Studies.  But Charlotte Mason valued geography as an interesting study in itself.  So does Knowledge Quest, the company that currently publishes Ann Voskamp's Child's Geography books plus a new addition to the series.  So does National Geographic, and Canadian Geographic, and our friend at church, the retired head of geography at a local university.  Another geography professional we know is writing a book about the connections between the physical world and the Holy Spirit.  To all these people, geography is a central idea, not a subtopic.

If you need further encouragement to spend some time thinking about how geography is not only "the world" but also who we are in that world, you might want to print out "Ten Reasons Why Every Student Should Study Geography."

I'm still working out some of the details for this year's geography study.  The two main books Dollygirl will be reading are H.V. Morton's In Search of England, and Christina Hardyment's Heidi's Alp: One Family's Search for Storybook Europe.  I'd also like her to spend some time exploring the Canadian Geographic Kids Atlas Online.

This is my best idea for an In Search of England narration, and you could use it with other books too. Recently we were at a dollar store that sold fold-together 8 1/2 x 11 inch mailing boxes.  I bought a package of three, thinking maybe we could use them for a smaller version of the popular "pizza box projects."  I was also thinking about the "Aunty Dot and Uncle Frank" world geography book we used a few years ago, with its real envelopes and letters, and photographs of their "souvenirs."  And also the handwritten postcards that Ann suggested as narrations in Explore His Earth.  So the term project will be to make a "treasure box" of Mr. Morton's trip around England, including a map, souvenirs, sketches, and notes.

As a side note, I was reading through the first chapter of In Search of England, where the narrator first leaves London for Bucklebury, and comes across an old man who makes wooden bowls.  I wondered where  Bucklebury might be, and looked it up online.  Serendipity: there is a whole Wikipedia page and photos of George Lailey, "the last professional practitioner of the traditional craft of bowl-turning using a pole lathe."  And how did he get to be so well known?  Morton's 1927 book!

I'm not sure whether to hand that one to Dollygirl, or let her do her own exploring.  At any rate, it will be interesting to see what souvenirs Chapter One inspires for the box.

Countdown to school: How Charlotte Mason planned middle-school science

Charlotte wouldn't have done it like that.
Charlotte wouldn't be such a slave to a science textbook.
Charlotte wouldn't have every vocabulary word charted out.
Charlotte wanted  students to think like people first, scientists second or third or tenth.
 
So how is that possibly Charlotte Mason?  What did she do at the middle-school level for science? Maybe I should just hand Dollygirl the book and tell her to have at it.  Or give her a stack of colourful library books instead.  Or send her outside to play and never mind science; she's only starting seventh grade.
 
When homeschool plans get too complicated, we go back and look at the Parent's Union School Programmes.
 
I did some PUS Programme research yesterday, looking at Form III (middle school) General Science and Natural History / Botany.

Out of twenty separate term programmes, before and after Charlotte's death, more or less consecutive but with a few skips where I hadn't downloaded every one, I found that one book appeared eighteen times.  I think it's safe to say that it was the backbone of the Form III Natural History / Botany course.  The book? The Study of Plant Life, by H.C. Stopes.  Plant growth, parts of plants, types of plants, places where plants grow.  Every. Single. Term. (almost).  And if you think that covered it and that the Form IV's would move on to chemistry or something, no, they weren't off the hook: when you moved up to Form IV (around Grade 9), you got to take on Fritsch's book on plants.

What were the other big repeats for Form III?

The Fairy-Land of Science, by Arabella Buckley, 14 times
Winners in Life's Race, or, The Great Back-Boned Family, by Arabella Buckley, 13
Architecture as Shown to the Children, 10 (which isn't really a science book at all)
Our Wonderful Universe, by A. Giberne, 8
The World of Sound, by Sir William Bragg, 3
Ruskin's Ethics of the Dust,3
Geikie's Physical Geography, 3 (it was used at other times as part of the geography course)
First Year of Scientific Knowledge, by Paul Bert, 3 (this was usually a Form IV book)
Tommy Smith’s Birds, 2
A Voyage in Space, by H.H. Turner, 2
Health Reader from Form IV, an alternative book for students not going on to Form IV, I think twice.

Most terms had two books under Natural History / Botany, and two under General Science.  Nature notebooks and special nature studies (with field guides and books about personal rambles and so on) were also mentioned every term.

What topics would Charlotte Mason’s middle-school students have covered over a couple of years of science?

The Fairy-land of Science covers topics such as light, the atmosphere, the water cycle, the formation of crystals, magnets, snowflakes, ice and other precipitation, glaciers, how rivers and other bodies of water alter the land, soundwaves, how ears work, sounds in nature, the life of a primrose (basic study of plant growth), where coal comes from, and two chapters about bees and pollination.

Winners in Life’s Race is an 1882 book about the supposed God-designed evolution of different types of animals.  Sample chapters: “How the Quaint Old Fishes of Ancient Times Have Lived on Into Our Day.”  “How the Backboned Animals Pass from Water-Breathing to Air-Breathing, and Find Their Way Out Upon the Land.” “The Feathered Conquerors of the Air.” “The Large Milk-Givers Which Have Conquered the World By Strength and Intelligence.” “How the Backboned Animals Have Returned to the Water, and Large Milk-Givers Imitate the Fish.”  Illustrations include “Ideal restoration of Pierygotus, the huge extinct sea-scorpion nine feet long …”; “Reptiles of the Cretaceous Period”; “Archaeopteryx, the lizard-tailed land-bird with teeth“; “Scene in the Triassic Period, with small Marsupials Microlestes…”; “Man as he lived in caves after the Glacial Period, among animals of species many of them now extinct …”.  (A contemporary equivalent for Christian families might be a study of zoology that discusses the different beliefs about how animals got to be as they are.)

Astronomy? Sample chapters include “Heavenly Bodies,” “How to Know the Stars,” “What the Moon is Really Like,” descriptions of the various planets, distances and measurement in space, what the sun is like.

Does that mean that Charlotte's students never ever studied Newton's Laws, chemistry, or any topic that doesn't appear in this list? No, if they had come through the earlier forms, they would have read The Sciences; and if they went on, they would have gotten into Scientific Knowledge. Form III appears to be a kind of oasis between those years.

Over and over again: astronomy, plant life, a kind of heavily-evolutionary look at zoology, and the Fairy-Land book which seems to have the theme of the forces that give life, tracing the effects of light, for example, through prehistoric plant life (leading to the formation of coal). And obviously, there were no charts, no detailed schedules for the teacher to follow.  I'm thinking that classroom teachers might have found it useful to have the days planned out ahead of time, even if home teachers were more spontaneous.  Sometimes, I think, teachers were expected to do a bit more than just follow the book, for instance in this lesson from Buckley's Life and Her Children.

What does that mean for us now?  To go back to my original questions, is there something wrong with having one main book for the term, rather than bits of four?  (I'm leaving nature notebooks etc. out of the equation).

Is it more important that our kids learn "to like science," as Ruth Beechick said, and that we provide the mind-food for their delectation but that we don't worry too much about how many plates it's served on? How do we balance "permission to be serious" with not turning science and nature study into a grind? I started with questions, I'm ending with questions. What do you think?

Countdown to School: a closer look at the first science units

I like Donna Young's handy outlines for Apologia Science, and especially the vocabulary bookmarks (see "Bookmarks for Lesson Plan #2).  But I realized that, for the first few weeks, especially having an every-other-day science class, it would work better to figure out our own schedule.  So Donna Young gets the credit for the original of this plan, and Dr. Jay Wile gets the credit for  the actual content of General Science (I added the part about lab safety rules); but the rest of it is a Mama Squirrel plan.

This should take us partway into October.  "Days" refer to the first day we do science, the second day we do science, and so on (not the first day of school, second day of school).  After that, we will probably just use Donna Young's schedule for the rest of the term.

Science Outline, Weeks 1-6, using Modules 1-3 of Exploring Creation with General Science, 1st Edition.

Day	Assignments and Experiments
1	Read the beginning of the book, notes and introduction. Read handouts for lab safety (school and home). Creatively present the importance of using equipment and materials safely.  Your choice of format: comic, poster, song, drama script.  Due in two days. ***Vocabulary: Learn these terms: science, papyrus, spontaneous generation, counter-example, hypothesis, theory, scientific law, experimental variable, control, blind studies, double-blind studies, subjective/objective data; any other vocabulary listed on the bookmarks for Modules 1-3.  Use drills and games on Quizlet.com to practice vocabulary (whenever appropriate).
2	Read textbook pages 1-3, The First Inklings of Science. Read pages 4-8, True science begins to emerge. Be able to identify (briefly) significant events / people in science history.  Make a timeline to illustrate this, as you study the chapter.  You may want to just keep notes now, then set up the timeline later.  It must be done neatly, on good paper, and not just in pencil.  Illustrations or cutouts will make it more visually effective.
3	Know the acceptable format for lab reports for this class.  Carry out the simple experiments from these chapters, as practice for later lab work.  Experiment 1.1: Density in Nature. Experiment 1.2: Atomic motion
4	(Pages) 8-12 Three other notable Greek scientists 12-16 Be able to tell what happened to science during the Dark Ages. What changed this situation? Experiment 1.3: a chemical reaction
5	16-19 Science begins to pick up speed again 19-23 The Renaissance Experiment 1.4: mapping the paths of the planets (optional)
6	23-25 The Era of Newton 25-26 The Enlightenment and the industrial revolution
7	27-29 The rest of the 19th century 29-31 Modern science 31 Summing it up.   Homework: do the study questions for module 1.
8	Write test for module 1.  Completed timeline to be handed in with test.
9	Module 2: Read Introduction;  What science is not. Experiment 2.1: how weight affects speed Experiment 2.2: more about weight and speed
10	Read 40-44 : The Scientific Method.  Be able to describe the scientific method verbally or with a diagram.  What is it used for?  Why is it important?  Experiment 2.3: the broken flashlight
11	Read 45-48 Failures of the scientific method Read 49-55 The Limitations of science; Science and Christianity.  Homework: do the study questions for module 2.
12	Write test for module 2
13	Experiment 3.1: a floating egg? Experiment 3.2: which boat will move? Experiment 3.3: what does soap do to water?, part 1 Experiment 3.4: what does soap do to water, part 2
14	Complete lab reports for experiments done previously. Read pages 59-69, From Introduction; stop at “Recognizing experimental variables when they are not obvious.”  Do the “On Your Own” questions.
15	Read 70-73, Recognizing experimental variables when they are not obvious Read 73-76, Interpreting the results of experiments: study  the chart in fig. 1.1 Homework: do the study questions for module 3.
16	Write test for module 3.

Countdown to school: Grade 7 Science Plans

It's three weeks till school starts; for us, anyway.  I know some of you start school next Monday, some of you started this week, and some of you never stopped.  But we still have three weeks.

Since I had been looking at the World Book Typical Course of Study for 7th Grade Language and Math, I figured I might as well check out the Science topics as well.  I remember Mary Pride going through some of these lists, or something like them, in one of her books, and pointing out where there can be a lot of overlap and repetition between the grades, along with a few politically-correct or twaddly topics.  However, when I looked at the lists for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, and compared them with the two Apologia textbooks we have for middle school (General Science and Physical Science), I was a bit startled at how closely they lined up. General Science covers World Book topics such as microbes, algae and fungi, food for growth and energy, the cell, rocks, soil and minerals, weathering and erosion, the scientific method, and laboratory techniques (lab reports are required all through the book).  Physical Science includes chapters on climate and weather, atmosphere, electricity, and Newton's laws.   In fact, about the only major things missing would be a unit on chemistry (elements and compounds), maybe a space or astronomy unit, an oceans unit (which would be covered by The Sea Around Us if you had done Ambleside Online Year 6), and maybe some work on ecosystems, conservation, ecology and the environment.

Now obviously using the Apologia books is not the only way to cover those topics.  And when you say a textbook "covers" a topic, that can mean all kinds of things.  For instance, General Science has a chapter title that includes Paleontology, which might lead you to believe you're going to be discussing dinosaurs. Actually dinosaurs per se are mentioned about twice in the whole book.  Lots of fossils, studied in an age-of-the-earth context, but very little discussion of dinosaur life.  Just saying.  Also, the way that a Christian-based book "covers" a topic such as geology might be a little different from the way that a mainstream book handles it.  But since we do have the two books (plus some resources for the missing units), and I was planning on using them over the next two years anyway, the lists just reinforced that plan.

What I did change, while looking both at the lists and the textbooks, was the earlier plan to cover only half the General Science book this year.  Instead, we'll spend six weeks on the first three modules, which are an introduction to science history and the scientific method; skip Module 4, Simple Machines, since we've done lots of that before; and spend the rest of terms 1 and 2 on the Geology and Life Science modules, but saving most of the human-body chapters for next year.  The third term will be based on the DK Science Explorer bind-up volume we have (and other resources), using the sections on Matter and Chemistry (there's a lot of overlap in content).

Another thing I want to emphasize this year is getting out and letting Dollygirl have some fun being homeschooled.  Really.  Sometimes you just forget what's out there, or don't realize your kids have never gotten to do such and such.  Recently I downloaded Bucket List Learning, by Kimberlee Wilkes (when it was free--now it's not).  It was a reminder that sometimes you can actually cover a lot of lengthy school objectives through real-life experiences, field trips, community happenings.  In our own area, we are privileged to have an earth-sciences museum that not only provides school tours and talks, but also has a "rock garden"--not the kind you might have with flowers, but a "garden" of unusual geological specimens to walk through.  So obviously this is the year for us to make at least a couple of visits there.  Also there's a conservation area and nature centre within a short drive, that of course also offers school programs (for homeschoolers too) and places to just walk through the woods or look at pond life.  As the Bucket List book points out, once you start listing the stuff that's available (noon hour concerts! homeschool days at the museum! an archaeological site!), you can get carried away.

I'm looking forward to science...and I'm hoping that Dollygirl will get good things from this year's studies.

Countdown to school: looking at science with Ruth Beechick

It's three weeks till school starts.

I'm looking at the chapter on "Science and Health" in Ruth Beechick's You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully, Grades 4-8.  Ruth Beechick, if you're too young to remember, is one of the homeschool grandmas of "common sense learning."  She teaches a very conservative view of young-earth Creation, but even those who disagree with that may find she makes some good points in this chapter.

"This last point is the second fallacy of the 'strict textbook' thinking.  For high success we must take into account the way people learn.  The textbook style of science learning is traditional in our schools, and research is showing that as students progress through the grades they like science less and less, until after grade 12 only 10% still give 'attention' to science.  The other 90% are considered scientifically illiterate."

Ouch.

Dr. Beechick doesn't give footnotes or sources for her statistics, but I'd guess that current research (twenty years later, since she says she was writing in 1993) would probably back up the general idea of what's she's saying.

"Research into the causes has shown that students, especially in high school, perceive books and teachers as 'knowing' science and as 'answer givers.'  This progressively turns off students' own curiosity, motivation, and interest in the subject....So as teacher, you do not have to be an 'answer giver.'  That should take pressure off practically all of us, since only a few science professionals probably feel qualified to take that role."

She also makes this important point:

"Is it science that will improve the lot of mankind?  Will science literacy for all citizens lead to better decisions?....The world may need better scientists and a nation may need citizens who are scientifically literate, but far more do we need leaders and citizens in the moral and religious realms.  With that we would make better use of our science knowledge."

She refers to a project that was in progress at that time:  the NRC (National Research Council) national science education standards of 1996.  Writing in 1993, Dr. Beechick considered it "the greatest effort ever toward reaching a national consensus on what children should learn in school science."  The basic idea sounded good: get students more interested, more involved, give them more ownership over their science learning, let them design their own science experiments, let them think about the "why" of science. I do not know what she said about the NRC standards afterwards:  it turned out to be one of the "outcomes-based" educational initiatives of the '90's that left homeschoolers and other educators either scratching their heads in bewilderment or pulling their hair in frustration (Plutarch might say eating their fingers).  In other words, the same stuff happened to science teaching in the American public schools as happened to math and English.

How does knowing all that help us, or not help us?

Well, we can still take what Dr. Beechick felt was good about the move towards a more human, maybe more holistic understanding of science, even if its public-school application turned out to be a turkey.  While recognizing the limits and the dangers of worshipping science, she wanted her students to finish school at least "liking science." ("How much does he care?")  She seemed to like the idea of including the philosophy, history and sociology of science in the curriculum, along with the more facts-based material.  You can sprout beans, study volcanoes, melt and freeze things all you want in science class, but there has to be a reason behind it.

Next time I'll post about what the science plans are for the fall.  (Hint: it involved the World Book Typical Course of Study.  Another hint: it turned out to be more or less what we were already doing.)

Countdown to school: The Universe and Everything

"Section III: The Knowledge of the Universe:  Science and Geography; Mathematics; Physical Development and Handicrafts"   ~~ Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education

It's three weeks till school starts.

What do homeschool parents worry most about in finding the right kind of science curriculum?

If they're Christians, the answer might be that they want something that glorifies God; sometimes that just means they want something that gives at least some credence to creationism.

But aside from that, there's often a concern that in whatever we're doing, we might "miss something."  Or do it "wrong." The public worries of the public schools (and the media in general) include the never-ending fuss over whether children are getting enough science, the right kind of science, up-to-date science.  Tiny little kids have as many science objectives as the big ones.  The biggest guns aimed at homeschoolers (besides the religious issues) come from the high school level:  You Can't Do Lab Science.  Not at home, not without a trained teacher, not without the books and equipment, at least not without filling your kitchen with rat cages and bottles of chemicals that a ditzy homeschooler might mistake for nutmeg and vinegar.  Science, all the cute videos and chemistry kits aside, has become very much a domain of the initiated.

A sub-worry is finding an effective teaching style for our circumstances and our children.  Yes, hands-on is good, but does that mean that books are no good?  Field trips are good, if you have the places to go and can get there.  Experts, ditto.  You-tube and other videos, good to a point but can be overused.  Does it have to be planned out, formally taught, with lots of objectives, right from the start?  The Apprentice's elementary-level science curriculum was kind of osmosis-style, "relaxed homeschooling," and included a large amount of help from Ms. Frizzle; we didn't use a textbook or even a really formal plan for science until middle school.

There's always a worry, too, that if something just seems like fun...maybe it's not learning.  That can be quite true: for instance, we used to visit the Toronto Science Centre when we were kids, but I cannot tell you if we really learned much science while we were there.  The exhibits were "neat" and "cool," there was the big static ball that made people's hair stand up on end, there were anatomical models and lots of buttons to push, but our visits were really for entertainment, not education.  The same can go for what someone called "zip, pop, bang" science experiments.  Do the effects of dropping pepper in a plateful of soapy water make as much of an impression on our children as we think?  Is it really worth building a whole papier-mache volcano just to let it splurt baking soda and vinegar all over the place?

And where does "nature study" fit in?

What is the science, and why is it, that we're really trying to teach?  Maybe the "why" should direct the "what" and "how."

More in the next post.