A-Ha Moment

We have read much about exposing our children to living books. If you are like me you have probably googled the term "living books" and perused book lists for guidance. If you are like me you may have even had emails or conversations with Charlotte Mason mentors looking for living books.

In our school-house we have been making the transition from traditional school philosphy to one of living ideas like Mason's ideas. There are days when I feel like I have it all under control and then there are days when I am just hanging on for dear life. Both scenerios present great learning opportunities. After all we learn from our mistakes. There are seasons in our school-house when I am uncertain why Mason taught the way she did and it is not until I have one of those a-ha moments that it all comes togther. Last week, I had such an a-ha moment and thought I would share.

For a while now we have been reading living books for history and for literature. We have enjoyed them but I will confess I have wondered how my children were going to make connections or if they were going to make connections. I have seen glimpses of it but I don't think I ever experienced it quite the way I did while with my sisters in Savannah for our FSO Weekend. I dubbed the acronym FSO...Fun Sisters Only.

Mercer House

For a few months we had been planning a little trip to Savannah for my sisters and I and (for the first time) my now 18 year old daughter. My sisters and I decided that we would read the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil prior to the trip. While the book focuses on an alleged murder in the Mercer House, the author spends quite a bit of time allowing you to get acquainted with the people and the history of Savannah. Stories of Sherman's march towards Savannah and the music of Johnny Mercer are just a few of tales he told. I can remember reading one afternoon and feeling like I truly knew the layout of Savannah. He wrote of the beautiful squares and I could envision magnificent trees sprawled throughout the squares. I was craving the slow southern lifestyle of Savannah and began to look forward to our trip. We had chosen a bed and breakfast across the street from the Mercer House. Three sisters from three states were about to converge upon this neighborhood.

We met on Sunday and started our weekend with lunch on the patio. After a brief rest from our road trip we headed out to explore the historic district. Our first stop was the Mercher House and so began my living history moment. I recalled in the book that the owner of the home, an antique dealer, hung a flag over his balcony to annoy a movie crew that was disturbing the peace of his street. As we walked around the outside we tried to determine which balcony this occured from.

We crossed the street and found ourselves wandering through the first square. Again, we recalled a scene from the book and tried to imagine how it played out. We continued walking towards the riverfront not really sure what we wanted to do but enjoying the conversation and the scenery. At one point we saw a horse and carriage and decided this would be a great way to acquaint ourselves with the city and enjoy the atmosphere of old Savannah. We climbed in and began to listen as the guide narrated her way through town. This is where I had my a-ha moment. As she shared the stories of Savannah, I realized that I had heard bits and pieces of them from our book. I listened intently and asked questions and found my mind wandering as we continued. I had built a relationship with this city before I had even seen it. I was acquainted with its history.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. THIS is what Mason spoke of when she said to read living books. THIS is what she referred to when she spoke of building relationships with history. THIS is what education should feel like. I was not labored by the trip or bored as we spent time there. I didn't feel like reading the book or even walking through the historic homes were a chore. I remembered the history of Savannah because I was enjoying the journey. I even came home and voluntarily created two narrations.This being one of the two! My challenge is to take this new understanding and implement it further in our own studies here at home.

Century Chart...

At the beginning of the school year, I wrote about a new way we were going to do our timelines this school year. We were going to try our hand at Miss Beale's Century Chart. You can read more about that HERE. We spent the year working through Tapestry of Grace Year 4 and put it all down in our Century Chart.

So I thought I would share my thoughts. My first attempts were quite challenging because art and I have never truly gotten along but I persevered and began my  first few entries. LOL We also decided to keep a key of our pictures on the page across from the chart. This helped us as we reviewed. I am not sure if there were any true "rules" to this so we may have taken some liberties. For example to illustrate the Red Scare I colored the block with a red colored pencil and wrote the word scare over top. Yes I know very imaginative but I warned you that art and I did not mesh. :-) I also chose NOT to tell the kids what to put in their charts. This is their own personal view history and my job is to be nothing more than a guide. I did not want to intrude on this. As we conclude this year, we will be including a summary of the century underneath.

I can't wait to include this in our history next year as we return to TOG Year 1. We will be studying more than one century so it will be a bit more fast-paced. Using the century chart this year was a great way to introduce the concept and prepare for more. At this time, my vision is to purchase a sketch book and put in the century blocks before we start the school year. This will give us time to walk through the century and choose what we would like to put down.

Century Chart example

20th Century Diner Project...

After some impromptu presentations of our 20th Century Diner History projects, I decided to put it all together in a little movie. Hope you enjoy!

Century Chart

Curse you Charlotte Mason! It is evening time and the house is quiet so I have decided to work on my Century Chart. Yes, I am doing one as well! However there should be a disclaimer when venturing in to the wonderful world of CM. You should have some sense of artistic ability!

AHHHH

Is it cheating if I have a friend draw for me? Maybe I can just cut and paste in some pictures? LOL I am at the point where I am only desiring to add items to my chart that I think I can actually draw. Now I know what you are thinking, doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of the project? But really, have you seen me draw?

So here are the more positive notes I can relate to you...I can now verbally describe the Wright Brothers airplane as I have now studied various pictures trying to draw some facsimile of it for about 20 minutes only to decide that maybe they aren't as important as I originally thought. haha

In all seriousness, this is a great tool to reinforce what you are learning. Careful observation and reviewing the dates allows the student to personally own the information. Another thought I have is that I am having to chose what I want to put on my chart which means that I am owning more than what I put down.

Instead of sharing the artistically-challenged Century chart. I thought I'd post some of the more talented ones.

Personal Century Chart

Notice each one is unique

The child's personality is displayed

Add caption

Tweet

The 50 States...

This year our family decided to participate in a mini co-op of sorts but also to participate in a larger more structured co-op. In each co-op you, as the parent, are asked to teach a subject. I chose my favorite subject...history! For the elementary aged class I wanted to spend time exploring the 50 states. I spent most of the summer searching the Internet for great projects that would work in a co-op setting and that would be somewhat simple to teach. There were some great ideas like creating a 50 states book using postcards from the different states, creating lapbooks, and notebooking.

One of my biggest challenges was deciding exactly how much I would spend on each state. We would need to cover about 2 states per week and I wanted it to be engaging. I really liked the lapbook idea and found a great blog article on one but I was concerned about the prep time. If I weren't already doing so much this wold have been my first choice.

So I continued my search. I have decided to take the kids on a family trip using Our 50 States as inspiration. The illustrations inside are a treat and so we will be following this family as they travel across our great land.













I also picked up a wonderful treasure called The Little Geography of the United States. This book covers the different geographical areas of the United States. I plan to use this book as we introduce the different regions. My final book I wanted to use is called The Children's Book of America. This book is filled with tales of the United States and songs like America the Beautiful.












Now I had my inspiration pieces for the class. I also have a puzzle of the United States that we can play with throughout the year. I decided to make a basic template with areas to draw the State Bird, State Flower and paste in the State Flag. My hope is that as we travel with Annie, Ben, and Alex and create our notebooks our imaginations will take us to each place. I am still navigating these waters and am hoping that more inspiration **hint hint** will come to me. But for now we are packing our bags and heading on a year-long trip around the United States.

Tweet

The 20th Century...

Yesterday, I spoke of Miss Beale's century chart and how we are going to use this to help us study the 20th century. Today was part one of the venture.

For my high schooler, we decided to use an 11x14 drawing pad. We came to know Charlotte Mason later in her homeschool education so this was the better choice for where we are at.

I began by showing her my feeble attempt at one as we discussed the definition of a century. Did I mention that I am artistically-challenged? I started with my own personal life in the 20th century. I felt like this would be the best place to start history...with their own personal story.

Since she is older, I decided she could make the grid and that by doing so this would help her understand the chart. So with pencils and ruler in hand she (and others in her co op) began designing the first grid.

This week's assignment is to begin filling in their life on the century chart. I am excited to see just how unique each one of them will be. We have four girls participating in this mini-co op. Can't wait to share them with you.

20th Century Chart

This summer I attended our local Charlotte Mason mini conference which recapped several wonderful sessions given during the Childlight conference earlier. One of the recaps was in regards to paper trails...the art of Mason's notebooks.

We have dabbled in a variety of notebooks here. Some more successful than others but my older children still struggled with the idea of keeping a notebook for history. Then I learned about Miss Beale's Century Chart and was intrigued. So this month I have been reading and creating my own.

The premise of a century chart is a 10 x 10 grid that represents one century. The example below shows a chart of the 16th century and the key that goes with it.

Examples of Miss Beale's Century Chart


Key to the 16th Century Chart



As you can see each block is not crammed full of information but rather the child selects what is important to him. Another thing that intrigues me is that not every block is filled up. Investigating further I read that the children might have a science century chart as shown below.


This year we are doing TOG Year 4 which looks at the 20th Century so what better way to help my children understand the century than to ask them to build their own century chart. In my next post I will show you how I chose to do this with my three learning levels: 3rd grade; 8th grade; and 12th grade.

Tweet

Awards & National Recognition for TOG again!

TAPESTRY OF GRACE

Lampstand Press received the following Excellence in Education (EE) Awards by The Old Schoolhouse magazine.

• History curricula: 2nd place


• Literature curricula: 2nd place


• Writing curricula: 3rd place


• Best Overall Company: 3rd place


• Best Unit Study: 3rd place


• Best Classical Resource: 2nd place


• Friendliest: 3rd place


• Most Unique: 3rd place

Click here to read the entire article from The Old Schoolhouse magazine or use this link http://lampstandbookshelf.com/connect/jrox.php?uid=shelley17_1_eaid_6.

Musings

Last week I packed up our bags and traveled to Port Canaveral, Florida. With excitement, my husband and I boarded our first cruise ship. Travelling by ship made my mind spin. As I looked out on to the horizon I began wondering this view is what caused many men to believe the earth was flat. After all the sea seemed to seamlessly join the sky in a variety of blue colors. Did Columbus and his men ever become tired of looking at the beauty of the ocean? Were they mesmerized by the sight of trees far off as they grew tired of their sea legs? One afternoon we saw several ships, both cruise liners and tankers, and again my mind traveled back in time pondering a scene of war. Is this what it looked like to look out into the sea and see your enemy on the far horizon? Sitting on the deck, waiting for the sun to set the dark blue ocean reminded me of wrinkled skin. As the sun sank further toward the ocean, I pondered the many explorers who braved the unknown in search of adventure, profit, and curiosity. I have found a new love for the sea and a deeper appreciation for HIStory!

In His Own Words...

This year my second grader and I are building a history notebook. In case it is unclear I am a HUGE lover of history. It is an unquenchable thirst and I hope I am able to pass along some of that to my children. One of our greatest challenges here is teaching elementary, middle, and high school to the best of my ability. Following the unit approach with Tapestry of Grace has been a great blessing but there are times I feel overwhelmed with trying to teach all three levels. In the decision making process I decided to follow the read-alouds for my youngest and read living books on the history topics. We bought a black sketch book and after our history readings, I write his narrations on the portion read. He adds pictures to the page after we are done. Sometimes we do a "picture study" and then reproduce it in our book and other times we simple cut and paste in to his book. I have also added maps to help reinforce the geography portion. In the end, he has a beautiful volume of history that I know I will treasure greatly because it is in his own words.

How Firm a Foundation

This year my youngest will be in second grade. It seems like yesterday that he was playing cards on the floor while we had our read-aloud time. I am not a firm believer in pushing our young ones but rather allowing them the opportunity to explore. As a result his education is the most pure. I am very blessed...from preschool to Sunday School he has been shown a living education.

The Foundation of Reading
From the very beginning he was exposed to true phonics. He simply sat on the sidelines, played games, and on occasion expressed a true interest. Still waiting for him to provide the pace, I read aloud great literature. Usually his literature was a living book that went along with TOG. We used magnetic letter, sandpaper letters, etc. to reinforce phonics. Then one day he came to me and said he wanted to learn to read. That night I discovered that he knew how to use his phonics to sound out words and shortly after that we began the Pathways Primer reader called First Steps. Along with reading, I continued to teach phonics by using Spell to Write & Read.

Exploring
Last year we made timeline cards to go along with our history readings. Again, I chose living books to accompany our TOG reading list and worked at a comfortable pace. I used the Avery postcard sheets to create the timeline cards. On the front side we found an image of the story and on the back I wrote a few sentences to help us (mostly myself) remember what the story was about. This year we are making a history book. Sometimes we cut and paste a picture and I write down his narration or he may chose to do a picture study of an image and then recreate it in his book.

Each year I am reminded that my desire is to install a strong foundation and a love for learning. We can stray from this basic truth but we wind up right back at the heart of the matter.

Future Guardians

"A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing...than...communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?" George Washington

For me this goes right to the core of my philosophy of education. This week I have listened to the second installment of the webinar, "The Making of America." Our focus this week was on the divine science of politics. I continue to be in awe as I study the roots of our great nation. God's hand truly was in the making of America. We looked in great detail at the Old Testament and how our Founding Fathers modeled the Constitution after God's word. We touched on Israel's desire to be like other nations asking for a king. We continued our study by looking at the Anglo-Saxon form of government and its influence on our Founding Fathers. And finally we looked at the natural laws of economics. Simply put...the freedom to try; the freedom to buy; the freedom to sell; and the freedom to fail.

Ironically, I decided to take this webinar to better prepare myself for teaching American Government this year. Yet I find that the basic virtue and truth of our Founding Fathers is convicting and deserves to be a part of our educational diet. Washington called future generations "guardians of the liberties of the country." What better way to serve as that guardian than to be educated in truth and the principles that began this nation.

The Freedom Trail

I am a firm believer in continuing education...not just for your children but for yourself as well. In the spirit of that, I have recently signed up for a FREE (love those!) webinar on The Making of America. It is a series put on monthly that takes the listener through an interactive journey of the Founding Fathers. This week's lesson was on the principles of freedom.

I am reminded that all too often we call ourselves educated and knowledgeable without truly studying our own nation's history. Our schools have neglected teaching the sense of responsiblity and providence that our Founding Fathers carried. We gloss over the extensive wisdom each one had. Our own lawmakes do not truly understand the limits of their authority because we have allowed education to become a formula...something we can track with numbers and charts. If we are truly created as individuals then how can we all be measured by the same standards. Not every child reads at age five but that does not mean he will never read. Not every child will be able to do Calculus but this does not mean that they will not be successful adults. We have become lazy in our duty to education and to our own freedoms.

I am passionate about education. I believe it is one of the core foundations to a strong nation as well as a strong individual. This year we will be studying the Constitution as well as continuing on to the time of Roosevelt. I am excited to study and share this journey with my children