Working on my "plan" to start school

The boys and I will be starting homeschooling again the first of the year! Praise the Lord! \0/

If you've read here, you probably know that I had originally begun with Ambleside Online in mind. Then I discovered some of the wonderful OFE books, and started leaning toward them also. THEN I began reading several wonderful books about Charlotte Mason. I have really just dived headfirst into her teachings, and come to realize, as in a previous post, that Charlotte Mason ISN'T a curriculum. Using her methods really is "An atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life." That is actually what she said about Education, but it applies to using her method OF education also.

So here is what I have decided on so far, based on several criteria, on OFE and AO's lists, on personal preference, and on what I already own or have printed & bound:

• Bible: Hurlbut's Story of the Bible along with Calvary Chapel lessons
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• History: Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Eggleston, then probably Fifty Famous People by James Baldwin
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• Science/Natural History: The Burgess Bird Book, for starters. I also like Among the--- People books and will probably use at least one of those too.
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• Geography: The Seven Little Sisters Who Lived on the Great Round Ball that Floats in the Air by Jane Andrews (because I love it), and Home Geography by C.C. Long, plus lots of maps and I plan to purchase a globe very soon!
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• Picture Study: I haven't thought this one through yet. I'll probably buy a coffee table book of an artist or two and just use that.
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• Poetry: I have re-established my love of poetry that I had as a little girl! :) We will begin with A Child's Garden of Verses by Stevenson, because I own a beautiful, very old edition of this book (102 years old!) which has been passed down from my great grandmother, to her sister, to my grandmother, to me. (And I have always loved his poems!) After that we will probably dive into my Favorite Poems, Old and New volume.
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• Math: Math U See, along with some online things too, for supplement and fun.
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• Handwriting: Neither of my boys is ready for straight copywork yet. Both have fine motor problems. I will order Handwriting Without Tears to use with them until we get the fine motor issues under control, then I will have them use my 5Kids Copybooks. :)
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• Phonics: I have always used Teaching Reading at Home by Wanda Sanseri (the current edition is titled Spell to Write and Read). I will continue to use this, but my 6yo son really likes to go through Florence Akin's Word Mastery book, so we will use that too. We also use the McGuffey Readers, because I own a nice set of those.
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• Spelling: I've been going back and forth on this, but I think rather than continue our WISE Guide for Spelling, I will go ahead and use The Baldwin Speller, which I posted earlier today for you all to download. I will use it with Sanseri's explanations of phonics rules (the "why's" of the phonograms) but I think I want to use this as a bit gentler way of doing spelling.

As you can probably see, we are sticking to early American History this year. I agree with AO and OFE in the idea that very young children struggle with Ancient History, because of all of the false gods and worship practices covered there. They really need some foundational ideas to be able to build on, so they can process through all the other stuff. We'll cover it in a couple of years. I also want to check out the D'Aulaires biographies, because they are well-written and profusely illustrated, and my boys haven't read any of these before.

So you see I've almost made all the decisions, and I don't really have to buy much of anything. I either already own it, need to print & bind it, or I can get it at the library. I will probably order new math books, and I need to order their handwriting. Other than D1's home therapy stuff (The ALERT Program), I don't really have to spend any money right away! Hooray!

The Baldwin Speller

After wondering how, exactly, I would use the McGuffey Eclectic Speller, I came across a listing for The Baldwin Speller in the back of James Baldwin's Fifty Famous People. Surprised I'd never heard of it, I did a quick search and came up with it! The book has instructions for the teacher in the front, and the lessons are formatted to cover 12 words per week, but just 3 new words each day. Fridays are review days. There are also spelling reviews in the book. All in all it looks very straightforward, and covering six years' worth of material (grades 2-7), a nice complete volume. You can DOWNLOAD IT HERE.

I am going to print this one out and take it to the office supply to have it bound. We will be using it as of the first of the year!

Burgess Bird Book

I haven't really had much time to post, and since I'm not homeschooling the boys yet I don't really have a lot to post ABOUT, but I have been formatting books, and just finished The Burgess Bird Book. Yes, I know that I can purchase this book... but it's convenient to just print it out! I will most likely buy it. For those who don't have that option, I want to share with you! It's a PDF, with all the pictures and everything.
Click the cover to download.

*The file is 14Mb so plan accordingly
if you're on dial-up! ;)

To begin at the beginning

To begin a Charlotte Mason education, I need to begin to look at what my goals are for D1 and D2.

Skills they have:

• Ability to sit for medium periods of time, and listen.
• Good memories, when they are paying attention.
• D2 is very creative, and enjoys making up sentences and stories. D1 also enjoys this, but it is much more of an effort for him.

Beginning goals for Language Arts:

Handwriting practice, twice daily, for 5 minutes at first. D2's grip is better now but his penmanship is barely readable. Frequently it is totally UNreadable! He needs practice with this. D1's penmanship is passable, but his spacing and letter sizes are still inconsistent. He still uses capitals and lowercase letters in the wrong places sometimes also. He too needs daily practice. When they are both doing well writing for 5 minutes, I will increase the time to 10 minutes, still twice daily. Only have them practice for a length of time which they can write very well, or "perfectly", as Charlotte Mason recommended. We cannot begin any kind of a copybook (and I have created a couple of very nice ones!) until they have the basic handwriting principles down.

Spelling-- D1 will begin using Charlotte Mason's method of studied dictation for spelling. He will do most of this work orally, and copy spelling words on the whiteboard as he is able at least two days per week. D2 will not practice spelling until his reading is strong and he can read automatically without sounding out simple words.

Narration-- Both boys will begin practicing narrating back to me daily. We will begin with very short paragraphs that are descriptive in nature. I will increase the length of passages to include multiple paragraphs, and eventually a whole page and/or story or chapter. Narration should be done after each reading, in all subjects, in order for them to gain the most from the topic we are studying. Charlotte Mason believed that children internalize their learning and it becomes something easily remembered when they have narrated it. It is the key to all of the other subjects.

Reading-- Both boys need to improve their reading fluency. D2 needs to practice at least twice a day, for 5-10 minutes at a time. He would prefer to read once for 15-20 minutes, but I think we need to break it up so that he will attend better. He will read from the word lists in Akin's Word Mastery in one session, and a story in his McGuffey Primer in the other session. We will make flash cards of the Word Mastery words that he has trouble with, and he can work on those on his own. D1 will read a story in his McGuffey First Reader and narrate it back to me, to increase his comprehension. He is lacking in this area and narration will help him to improve.

Dictation-- This is probably just a far-off dream. At this point, I will be so very happy if my boys would take a short passage of text and copy it on another paper. My goal would be to give D1 dictation passages to copy down, but it is still far-off. I only list it here because it was one of Charlotte Mason's methods.

As I have been reading Catherine Levinson's books, I am gaining so much insight into how to apply Miss Mason's methods "in real life". I will post more as I come up with more ideas and goals for my kids.

A Charlotte Mason Education

Last week I ordered Catherine Levinson's books, A Charlotte Mason Education and More Charlotte Mason Education. I started reading the first one right away, and wow! It really clears up the "how to" for me. I also bought A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola and that has been really nice and meaty reading. I am really trying to immerse myself in learning as much as I can about Charlotte Mason and her methods. The more I read, the more I want to know. And the more I learn, the more I realize that my kids have missed out on something wonderful.

I know that it's not too late. I know that, the Lord willing, I will have my boys home again to homeschool. I will be able to use what I am learning, and they will be so much better off than they are right now. At this point I am still just praying my husband will change his mind and let me bring them home. This week, possibly? Starting off with a 4 day weekend would be a nice way to ease them back into being home full time, wouldn't it?

Please Lord.

Charlotte Mason isn't a curriculum

I am just beginning to realize this, as I read more about Miss Mason. She chose new books each year, for each grade. Her PNEU schools never reused curriculum! She believed in finding the very best books, using her very high standards, to continually fill her students' minds with ideas and exposure to the world. Ambleside Online was written and designed to make a Charlotte Mason education accessible to everyone. Old Fashioned Education is also a wonderful, full curriculum along similar lines, which most people also use with CM's philosophies. What is occurring to me now, though, is that I don't HAVE to use either of these. I can (and will) use a combination of their programs, so that my children's needs are met.

So how to choose? Which books to use and which to pass by? Right now my priority is cost: I can buy some used books, but I actually think I would prefer to just download the free ones and print them at home. I own some of the AO Year One books. I have printed some of the OFE Year One/Two books. I will combine some years because of my two boys (ex: choosing the OFE 2nd grade geography book to use for both of them), and piece it together that way.

What will this end up looking like? I have no idea. Presently I am still praying I can bring them home by Christmas, this time for good.

This is not memory work

"...in the act of narrating every power of his mind comes into play, ...that the whole is visualized and brought into relief in an extraordinary way; in fact, that scene or argument has become a part of his personal experience; he knows, he has read. This is not memory work." Vol. 6, p.16

This quote really struck me. How many children do you know who can tell you, nearly word for word, of a conversation or a television program or movie, which they have seen once? My 17 year old stepson is one of these kids. He can watch, read, or hear something ONE TIME, and he has it nearly committed to memory! (He's a terrible plot killer when it comes to movies I haven't seen!) But what has he done, as he is retelling me something? He is reliving it and making it a part of himself. He is bringing what he read or watched to life, as he is retelling it. This is the intention of narration: to enable the child to bring to life what it is they have heard or read, so that, after some thought and additional experiences, they may have a full understanding of it. They connect all those mental 'dots' and gain a deeper understanding.

I am not homeschooling at the moment, unless you count the education I am giving myself. I am trying to learn as much about Charlotte Mason's philosophy and style as I can, because I see what an advantage it will be for my children. And the Lord willing, I will have them back home again soon. For now, I will teach myself. I will read, and underline, and post my thoughts (or narrations, as it were) so that when the time comes I may know how to do what I know I need to do. It isn't memory work, it is a work of continual thinking and processing.