I’m home.

Today is a work day for me, but I’ve enjoyed so much getting back into my little garden after a few days away, walking up and down my little garden paths and noticing big changes in little flowers.

My Ambleside reading this week is in Volume 6, pages 154-158. Volume 6 is titled Towards a Philosophy of Education.  You can easily print the pages from the Ambleside website and read along.  I’ve only had time to read a short amount this morning, but I loved this:

In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered: –

a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.

b) Knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e. curiosity).

c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.

I love the richness of the books we are reading using Ambleside Year 5. 

Well, I could write on, but I must get to my work desk.  That, too, brings some excitement. I have new information at my fingertips and it’s made my job easier and more of a fun challenge.  As well, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see some grammatical or scientific fact that I want to share with my chidren.

Today’s Quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill

Happy Monday. It’s good to be home.
Lynn

I think Ambleside Online Year 5 is going to be a perfect fit for us. I am so happy that I chose to go with it this year.

Even after saying she’d like to forgo Prairie Tuesdays for awhile, Miss Michaela suggested we put on some “prairie clothes” and have tea.  Apparently just a bonnet is enough to make one feel prairie-ish.

We began school on Tuesday by easing into our weekly Year 5 assigned reading. I chose three books to start with and read out loud to Michaela from each one. The first was Wild Animals I Have Known, the second was Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 5, and the third was The Story of King Arthur and His Knights.

The reading went much more quickly than I’d expected.  I know that at Michaela’s age (11) she should be doing much of the reading on her own, and she will be.  At this juncture, however, I want to get a feel for which books I think she should read on her own and which I want to read with her.  I also want her to have a sense of how long she should sit and read each day – how long it will take her.  And did I mention that I just want to read some of the books myself? 

My ”assigned” reading this week, from the CM Series Yahoo! Group I am taking part in, is Volume 6 pages 119-127 of Home Education.  In it Miss Mason shares the thought (from A. Paterson, Across the Bridges) that “reading aloud is but a poor gift compared with the practice of reading in private.”

I do not think this means that reading aloud can’t be fun or worthy (we love read-alouds), but that a child should have to put some effort into their own education.  They should train their minds to be able to read and then digest complex works of literature on their own.  It is what their minds crave, if Miss Mason is correct, and I think she is.

Michaela had Lady Earl Grey while I had green tea.  She then worked on a scarf she is knitting with a circular knitter while I read more  to us about Lobo.

The reading from Charlotte Mason’s Home Education Volume 6 pulled on me as much as any of her writing has.  I love the thought that “a well-educated man with cultivated imagination, trained judgment, wide interests…is prepared to master the intracacies of any profession; while he knows at the same time how to make use of himself, of the powers with which nature and education have endowed him for his own happiness; the delightful employment of his leisure; for the increased happiness of his neighbours and the well-being of the community; thst is, such a man is able, not only to earn his living but to live.”

If you teach a child to learn; if their minds are cultivated to enjoy learning, reading, the humanities; if their spirit has not been neglected, but rather good character has been nurtured and duty to others made important, they will excel in whatever profession they find, and enjoy life too.

I love that!  More than once yesterday we encountered life situations to which having a right response was way more important in the long run than cramming ourselves full of facts and figures. 

One such situation was that a friend had worked on Michaela’s scarf during a recent visit and had nearly ruined the project by making the stitches too tight.  Michaela almost could not proceed at all, the stitches were so tight and hard to pick up.  We abandoned reading long enough for me to make two new rows of stitches, working past the nearly-impossible row, while I spoke to Michaela about not dwelling on the natural tendency to be angry over this, but by remembering how delighted this little girl had been to sit with us and work on something domestic.  After handing the knitting back to Michaela and continuing with our reading, the reading seemed even better than before. 

One quote from these assigned CM pages I feel I have to mention, though sad and quite alarming is this: “Germany became morally bankrupt (for a season only, let us hope) not solely because of the war but as the result of an education which ignored the things of the spirit or gave these a nominal place and a poor rendering in a utilitarian syllabus.”

It feels good to do something nice for another person, to give of oneself, to nurture the spirit.

As the days progress, we will add in more books.  We have started light copywork (at this point, one quote a day from her reading with attention paid to excellent handwriting), and of course math, and will add in subjects and work until we are doing a full Year 5 schedule. 

I have set up the white board and am keeping track of new words we find in our reading, writing out the definition and keeping it up so that all the family might notice it.  So far we have:

• puissant
• bivouac
• descried
• fastidious
• despot
• loup-garou

Narration so far is going beautifully, with Michaela telling me at intervals about the stories we are reading.  This will soon be transitioned to blog entries and writing. 

Last night at bedtime one of her stuffed animals, a wolf no less, was given a new name:  Blanca, from Wild Animals I Have Known.

I will continue to post about our progress.

Have a wonderful Thursday!
Lynn

Preparation continues for the uncoming school year; however, our first official school day is still not set.  Ambleside’s Online Yahoo! group is such a rich resource, I want to follow along with them for the school year, and Term I begins in September.  That does not mean I can’t start a few days early, but for studies such as art, Plutarch, hymns, folksongs, etc., it’s nice to work as a group for information sharing purposes.

Meanwhile, the Year 5 books keep rolling in.

A few of these I had on hand already, like the “Little House” series which qualifies as free reading, but many I have been ordering at the best prices I can find on line.

One book in particular I had to think about was Bulfinch’s Age of Fable: whether or not to get this illustrated version, The Illustrated Age of Fable.  The inside cover says this:

Since it was first published in 1855, Thomas Bulfinch’s masterly collection of the myths and legends of Greece and Rome has proved so popular that even today it makes essential reading for any newcomer to mythology.

Now for the first time, Bulfinch’s stores are published with the full-color honors they deserve. For this special edition, his ninetheenth-century literary references have been replaced by paintings — 100 of the most stunning and dramatic masterpieces ever inspired by myth. The array of artists includes Michelangelo, Botticelli, Titian, Poussin, Rubens, and Burne-Jones.

Some of the paintings are disturbing in the sense that they interrupt our comfortable existence and show us pictures of tragedy, suffering, revenge and conquest. Some pictures, such as An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, I wondered about. There’s nudity, as is not uncommon in art from the time period. There’s also seduction, envy, father time and more. I must admit it’s a good lesson even for me to have a visual of how tricked one can be in the face of beauty and temptation. But is Michaela old enough for this painting?  Is anyone old enough for this painting? I won’t put it here because I don’t really want it on my blog in case some of my readers think it’s better done without.

Some of the paintings inspire me!

At any rate, I purchased the illustrated copy.  I am a very visual person and I think Michaela is the same way. The art books we already have, she will sit and look at them for hours, carrying them with her from room to room.

I like that Ambleside is broken into Terms and that the group follows some subjects together.  I noticed that in Term III we’ll be studying Monet and some specific paintings of his.  (You can see the Art Schedule on this page.)

Over the weekend, Michaela and I drove over to Barnes and Noble. I was so excited to find a book of 14 large framable Monet prints, at least two of which are included in our Term III Ambleside art study.

I love that we’ll have a large version of Women in the Garden.  This book was only $9.98 and they let me apply my teacher discount.  They have new teacher discount cards, by the way, that can also be used online!

Reading in Charlotte Mason’s original series continues with the CM Series group.  The feedback from reading with a group will be of great help I think. 

I am still getting the hang of it.  The group sent a notice that reading was in volume 6, pages 112-119, but then they sent an updated notice that reading continues in Volume I.  It was, however, good for me to read what was assigned in Volume 6!  I am finding that Charlotte Mason did not care for unit study where connections were made for the child ad nauseam.  I must admit that there have been times when we’ve been on rabbit trails before and my children had stopped running long before I had.  They were ready for a new idea.  I’ll need to be careful of this!  This is not to say that I don’t like Unit Study. I love that Ambleside offers room for free reading and biography, and we’ll be using Beyond Five In A Row for some of  this.  What I am saying is that I need to make the distinction between doing something because I’m enjoying it and doing something because it is benefitting Michaela.

Following along with the group reading is a good way to read the original CM series and not be overwhelmed.  It was easy to join the group (if you’re using Ambleside, or plan to), then print the assigned pages, and read and discuss via e-mail throughout the week.

It’s Monday, a work day, so I must run.  Happy planning!

Lynn