Today we started summer school.

...in case you didn't notice it's 3 weeks earlier then I had planned. I think that's one of the greats parts about home school...our students are our guides. As for me- I've spent the last few months batting hands and hiding books. Then it dawned on me how utterly ridiculous that was, and I ask him if he'd like to start early. His answer was a resounding YES!

So here we are. Today.

My plan is simple (or so I hope) I am splitting one week of school into 3 Tuesday/Thursday weeks. That way we are easing in. We will still cover all the topics I wanted to cover. We will still work in a 2 1/2 to 3 hour time frame; but I will be able to take time to outline my expectations for each topic and introduce any background that needs explaining. After our sessions today I'm feeling great.

Oh yes, today right, I guess you'd like to hear about it hu?

We began our school day after everyone was finished with their breakfast- a little before 9:00. We all gathered on the couch and read the story of Jonah. I chose to start with it for a few reasons. The first being that we have a friend named Jonah; that peaked AJ's interest. The second was the "slippery fish" song. I know that seems silly but I knew it would bring Abby into the story. They both sat well through the story (Bree on the other hand...) and the following song. I chose to mix up the lyrics on Abby and had Jonah splash in on the sharks head...that was a HUGE hit. It was great to listen to AJ's naration, and see my kids eyes sparkle as they listened to the word of God.

Next we did Math. It went great! I really like the Math-U-See program. AJ loved building his Math. It's so Charlotte friendly too! Things, before symbols. Build, before writing. We had fun. While we did math Abby played with lacing frogs, and Bree snacked.

Then after a quick snack./nap break it was time to study poetry. Today we started with Robert Louis Stevenson's Bed in Summer.

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

...He could so relate! Isn't it so very wonderful and grounding to know that kids never change? I loved watching his expressions as he was listening in agreement. For poetry narrations I have decided they should be drawn. So we are starting a little binder of his poetry interpretations...LOVE IT!

Then we took our mid day break....whew.... While playing we discovered life! Both a grasshopper that let him hand feed him, and a teeny praying mantis. There was this moment while we were at the park with some good friends that he walked up to me and asked "When are we gonna go finish school mom?" ...wow... can it really be this great? was the next thought I had.

Once we came home and got the girls settled for what I hoped would be naps (prayers are coveted here) we moved on to today's Literature. We read The sword of Damocles. When we got to the middle and he heard it was hanging by a mere horse hair his eyes grew big as saucers! That was another really good narration.

I was feeling very confident in my home schooling abilities until we hit Copy work. Man, that was rough. He dug in his heals, took forever, and still turned in work that was sub par. I know that sounds awful but it's true. I was feeling discouraged, then after talking it over with Jay I remembered this is a starting point. Attention to detail, and doing his true personal best are skills they never made him hone in public school. So we are treading on new ground. It's bound to be bumpy.

AH, but redemption was just around the bend. By intelligent design we ended our "official" school day with art. I bought him a nice sketch book and good pencils. It was like a dream come true. If I would let him, I'm sure he'd be drawing still. His lesson was in foreshortening. That is when you make one part of an object appear closer then another part.

All in all I feel good. But better yet, he's excited. We are in unknown territory but....

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable - Helen Keller

....I think she knows what she's talking about, and it makes me smile to hope that Charlotte would agree.

Twaddle...

I have mix feelings about it. I guess I should first define how Charlotte defined it:

Twaddle--Inferior books without any depth of thought. They have been dumbed down supposedly to suit the child's level. They have no real merit other than possibly a moment's of entertainment, but the brain and the imagination are not exercised in reading these books.

There are some books that firmly fall into this category for me. The books I cringe at upon sight, the books with dull illustrations, watered down words, and most of all the books that talk down to me and my children. Most character books fall into this category, as well as a ton of the early readers.

I almost always choose books carefully. Avoiding those types of twaddle and instead feed my children on beautiful, exciting life enhancing books. Charlotte defined them as living.

Living Books --Books that are so engaging you don't want to put them down. Your children will beg for "just one more chapter." And you, the adult, even enjoy living books. They are classic. When the book ends, you feel sorry that there is not more. These books engage your thoughts and imagination with the vivid narrative and realistically portrayed characters.

I guess here is where my conundrum lies. Are all books this or that? With small children don't picture books have a place?

A few good examples are Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. They are our beloved friends. I could lose an afternoon with my children cuddled up giggling about the creatures they envision, or the circumstance our current main character is in. They are full of made-up words, and fanciful ideas; very twaddlish. But, most of them have deeper meaning that my children ponder, spark their imaginations, and are well written (be it with words of fancy). So are they twaddle or not?

I wonder how Charlotte would see them if she had a 21th century eye. Would she approve?

At the end of the day, I guess it doesn't matter. There are some fanciful works that will always stay on my bookshelf. Some books I keep just in case we need a good giggle to lighten the mood. Some of those very books I'm sure are twaddle- yet they help improve the quality of a bad day; so they stay. Many other trusted friends fall in the in between but our love and enjoyment of them make them keepers. True twaddle, and any other books we don't enjoy (yes, even highly suggested living books from time to time) get tossed because as Charlotte said:

The children must enjoy the book. The ideas it holds must each make that sudden, delightful impact upon their minds, must cause that intellectual stir, which mark the inception of an idea. (Vol. 3 Chapter 16 How to Use School-Books, p.178)

and

Therefore, the selection of their first lesson-books is a matter of grave importance, because it rests with these to give children the idea that knowledge is supremely attractive and that reading is delightful. Once the habit of reading his lesson-book with delight is set up in a child, his education is--not completed, but--ensured; he will go on for himself in spite of the obstructions which school too commonly throws in his way.
(Vol. 1 Part VIII--Reading for Older Children, p.229)

I'm going to take a break from all that is CM and share my finds from the CHECC curriculum sale.

I spent a measly $38.00... lets see how it adds up:

Marble run, Car bingo, Big box of craft supplies, Music flash cards, art smocks, a bug book, Stellaluna, Counting Ladybug book, Leaf collecting album The bird book, A Lanyard kit,
365 simple science experiments, 175 amazing nature experiments...

Drum roll please...

and the creme de la creme...

my Math-U-See Manipulatives! God is so good. Linda, math teacher extraordinaire, had stashed them before the doors even opened. They were the only bag there, but as God saw fit her friend didn't need them and I SO DID! I got them for half the retail price....yay!

It was so fun! The hunt, the friendly chatting; the more I'm involved in the Home Schooling community I'm so certain this is the right fit for us.

Thank you Lord for providing JUST the things you wanted us to have. You are so Good. I love you. Amen.

So last week I shared our term 1 outline. Today I'll share our working schedule. After watching the SCM all-day seminar DVD I have a better understanding of how I need to allot our time. I also have come across a schedule that Charlotte's PNEU schools grades 1-3 ran on.


I Know it's hard to read here, BUT Lessons started at 9:00 and were done by 11:30! That is just The same amount of time a good friend of mine and I thought was necessary for a child with a willing mind to learn. There is NO need to do school for 8 hours a day. The repetition gets boring and stale. A subject they loved at noon, becomes pointless to them if they are still doing it by 2:00. So by this lead I will divide our days. Because I have 2 small ones to consider mornings will not be spent on school, so much as being out doors.

Daily:
Bible- 20 min
Reading- 20-40 min (split sessions for each literature and poetry piece)
Copywork- 10 min
Math: 20 min
Drawing: 15 min.
Piano:10 min.

All other subjects divided weekly; with schedule posted on Monday so the children know what to expect, but as a rule allotted times should be:

Histories: 20 min
Science: 20 min
Geography:20 min
Grammar: 10 min. (Charlotte doesn't advocate grammar until the child is older, but coming from public school he has already been exposed to the rules, so I hope to take those abstract ideas and make them real to him)
Communication: 5 min to talk about his week long assignment.( e.g. Having my shy 7 year old introduce himself properly to everyone he meets for the next 7 days.)
Foreign language: 30 min. on the weekend with his Lola
Picture/composer study: 10 min.

...art, handiwork, and nature study will be done in our "non" school hours, because honestly that's how we spend our leisure time now.

As for the layout of this day. This is what I'm thinking.

8:30-9:30 School
9:30-12:00 free time, tot school, independent reading, ect...very flexible.
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Read aloud time, girls included.
1:00-? Girls Naps (pray for them to agree about this!), -2:00- AJ school
2:00- school day over

...like I said it's a work in progress. Right now I'm really watching the girls natural moods, rhythms, and schedules. Hopefully doing school around them this year will help ease the frustration for everyone.

But if all else fails I'll listen to Charlotte:

Let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day, out in the fields, or with a favorite book, or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures. (volume 3. pg.33)

Here we are; better yet, here I am on Tuesday keeping my word!

Today I'd like to share what we'll be using as the core of our school year. I will link up to what ever I can- I always find that SO helpful when others do it.

We will be doing 3 Terms (you're right Joan- it did sound like pregnancy! But maybe that's how it will be this year hu?) I still have to work out how a CM day looks for our family, so I don't have a day-to-day LP yet, but I do have a rough outline of our first 12 weeks. I ordered this DVD set from Simply Charlotte Mason this week and I'm excited about it. It will give Jay an opportunity to really "get" her ideas and what our school philosophy is all about. I'm also hoping it will help me visualize what day-to-day schooling will look like for our family.

We have 3 children. 1 toddler (I can't believe I just called her that!?), 1 preschooler, and 1 who will be in second grade. I was feeling very apprehensive about the age gap and trying to tackle Home Schooling, then a friend linked me to 1+1+1=1.The meaning behind her sites name is this verse: