Week 3 ~ Year 20 Seven Tenets of Our Homeschool

Over the last 20 years many things have changed. Curricula have come and gone; some goals and dreams for my children have shifted; and the focus of our days has sometimes been taken over by life, forcing us to set books aside for more pressing life lessons. However, there are certain tenets that have always remained. I have never truly experienced burnout in our homeschooling journey. I attribute that to a true love of teaching and the discovery of a Charlotte Mason Education in the earliest months of our homeschool journey. A Charlotte Mason education is so rich. It fills our senses with wonder and leaves our lives full. These seven features of our homeschool have never wavered throughout all these years. They have been with us daily, weekly -- or in the case of poetry teas --monthly, since the beginning of our journey.

Character Training ~ Character training is truly an element that is taught day in and day out in our home through conversations, great literature, curriculum, Bible study and example. This week we focused on the book, Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember, by John McCain. This was our small tribute to Senator McCain as we send up prayers that our country will heed his words and come back together to help all Americans live better, more peaceful lives.

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." ~ Mother Teresa

Nature Study ~ We have done formal and informal nature studies through the years. Some years I have meticulously picked nature topics and we have studied them. That is not the way we are currently doing nature study. We currently have a much more natural flow to our study. For instance, this week we went to say our final farewell to the Chihuly exhibit at the Biltmore and were stunned by the lily pads and other pond plants. Before long, I realized that we (the kids and I) were taking more pictures of the pond life than of the Chihuly glass. So we enjoyed the beautiful plantings and identified later in the week what we had seen. One book that has really stood the test of time in our homeschool is Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. This book has been a staple in our home since the very first month of our homeschool journey.

Victoria Water Lily Pad

Water Lily

Egyptian Lotus Flower

A Rich Art Program ~ Art has always been a vital and intricate part of our homeschool. We have used picture studies since the kids were old enough to sit and look at books. I love this book I just found, How to Talk to Children About Art, by Francois Barbe-Gall. I am sure it will benefit children who cross my life in the future. Besides visiting Chihuly again this week, we also had our monthly art class with Grandma. Dean also went to his weekly art class. 

The children learned the seven principles of art for visual arts and photography with Grandma. Then they went outside to take photos to portray the seven principles. These are a few of Anne's shots. After, they critiqued their photos using, the Rule of Thirds Grid to determine the photos with the best compositional layout.

Charity Work ~ It is vital to me that my children have charitable hearts and are able to put others before themselves. I believe we have achieved that goal for three out of the four (and our fourth does care, at least as far as her mental health will allow). This month we found ourselves out of homeless kits, so we made 15 more with the focus on hygiene. Usually, we are concerned with the weather, which dictates our homeless kits -- water and sunscreen in the summer, energy bars and warm socks/hats in the winter -- but our fall bags could take on a different focus since fall is one of the easier seasons to live outdoors if one must do so. Our bags are filled with soap, tooth paste and tooth brushes, combs, socks, shampoo and lotion. We will pass them out over the coming weeks as we see people in need along our city streets.

Poetry Tea ~ What isn't to love about a poetry tea? You get to eat treats, drink tea, use crystal and listen to great poetry. We studied four poems by Emily Dickinson this month. We had an animated conversation about her poem, Because I Could Not Stop for Death. 

Field Trips ~ There is no better way to experience the world than going out into the world. We love field trips and I am always on the hunt for fun and educational experiences. This week's field trips were to the Biltmore Estate and to play miniature golf with the visiting grandparents at a new course in town. 

Family Read Aloud Time ~ There is such value in sharing great literature with your children. It affects so many aspects of their lives from writing skills to an understanding of the world around them ... and so much more. As I mentioned before, we have been reading Character Is Destiny this week. We plan to start Christy by Catherine Marshal next week. This book is one of my all time favorite books and is set in the mountain hollers not far from our mountain city. I think it is timely, since we hope to visit Cades Cove this fall, which is where our adopted children's lineage stems from. 

Thanks for hanging in there for this rather long post!

Blessings, Dawn

Poetry Tea ~ Robert Frost

We celebrated Robert Frost's birthday this week with a poetry tea in his honor. We held our poetry tea at breakfast time with homemade potato pancakes, apples, cheese, nuts, raisins, and berries with cream. We also had two kinds of tea.

We concentrated on four poems for this tea -- A Girl's Garden, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, Mending Wall, and The Road Not Taken. I read each poem to the children. Well, actually, I sang  A Girl's Garden to them since I remembered performing it in high school. Then we listened to some lovely readings of the poems on YouTube.

• A Girl's Garden The kids were impressed that I still remembered all the phrasing as well as the tune of this song since I sang it so VERY LONG AGO. After all, I graduated from high school back in the Stone Age. LOL
• Stopping By Woods... This one is great to listen to with your eyes closed and write down all the sounds you here ~ sleet, snow, horse hooves....
• Road Not Taken We listened to two readings of  this poem. I like this one for the reading and this one for the photography.

We then completed a little lap book.

Blessings, Dawn

How We Do a Picture Study

A friend asked me almost a month ago how we study a picture.  I am sorry it took me so long to reply.   Here is an example using Norman Rockwell's illustration, The Discovery.  I think Norman Rockwell is an excellent first choice for picture studies, because so many of his illustrations are about children and home life.  It is easy for children to identify with the pictures.

Settle down with the kids and look at a large print of the piece of artwork you are studying. Then ask, "What do you see in this picture?"  Some responses my kids gave to this picture were ~

• "The boy looks shocked."
• "I don't like the green carpet."
• "He is making a mess."
• "He should not be in his Dad's drawer."
• "Why are there marbles (actually moth balls) on the floor?"
• "I guess he knows Santa isn't real now."

Then I would ask for more details, such as, with this illustration, whether the bedroom was on a first or second floor (stairwell off in the distance) or how they knew it was the father's dresser (pipe on top of men's dresser).  If they were having trouble getting into a study, I may ask them to describe the picture to me as if I were blind.  Sometimes, I get the most amazing information this way!


I often leave a picture up for a few days after our first look at it and then do it again.  The second time we sit down to discuss it, we often start creating stories about the picture.  My kids have some wild imaginations!  However, they tend to remember tiny details.  For example, just now, long after this picture study, my son looked over my shoulder and reminded me that I STILL have not gotten moth falls for them to smell.  LOL!


Some of my favorite resources for learning how to do a guided picture study are  listed below.


The book, Discover Great Paintings, asks great questions and pulls details out of the picture so a young child can easily see them.

Once children are more experienced in looking at art, I find The Art Fraud and The Great Art Scandal to be wonderful adventure stories to do with the kids.  Each book has about 35 famous paintings to study and has wonderful mysteries to solve.  We will be working our way through The Art Fraud for the rest of this school year.

For the older student, Great Artists Explained is a great book to learn more about picture study and artists.  I used this book when my oldest son was over  12.

I suggest finding 8x10 prints or larger of the paintings you are studying.  I am very pleased with the Rizzoli Art Series.  The prints are large and they cover many of the most famous paintings from a particular artist.  Unfortunately they are expensive on Amazon.  So I have kept an eye out for them at used books sales and homeschool stores and found them for much less. 

Blessings, Dawn

Van Gogh Unit Study

We just finished up our study of Vincent Van Gogh.  The kids really enjoyed this study and had fun with the art projects we did.  I love to gather the materials when we are doing a new study and make a display with them.  It always inspires the children.

We used the following books ~

• The First Starry Night
• Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers and Swirly Stars
• Discovering Great Artists
• Van Gogh and the Post-Impressionists for Kids
• Van Gogh and the Sunflowers
• Vincent Van Gogh and the Colors of the Wind

We did picture studies of the following paintings ~

• The Starry Night
• The Potato Eaters
• The Cafe Terrace at Night
• Harvest at La Crau
• Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries
• Portrait of Doctor Gachet (my favorite)
• Sunflowers
• Portrait of Pere Tanguy

The kids made sunflowers.  They used tempera paint and glue mixed together.  The center of the flowers is made with glue and coffee.

As well, they made a collage of their favorite things and then placed a photo of themselves in the center.  This was a fun project related to Van Gogh's "Portrait of Pere Tanguy," who was surrounded by his favorite things.

The kids also enjoyed doing a project called swirly words.  They wrote words describing themselves in swirling lines around a photo of themselves.

For narration, they each told me what they had learned and told me about their favorite Van Gogh painting.

Goldilocks ~
Van Gogh was a sad man.  He got so upset once that he cut off his own ear.  He had a brother.  Farmers used to use his paintings to cover cracks and holes in their walls.  Those paintings were ruined.  Vincent Van Gogh may have been murdered.  My favorite painting is the "Sunflowers".  It has my favorite flower and I like the bright, happy colors.

Tom Sawyer ~
I learned that he made many, many drawings.  One time he put candles on his hat to make pictures at night.  He only sold one picture in his whole life.  He painted all of the time, even during the Mistral Wind, which is a famous wind in France.  The wind blows and blows and drives some people crazy. He traveled all over France.  My two favorite paintings were "The Cafe Terrace at Night" and "Harvest at La Crau".  I love the colors in the harvest one.  It has lots of detail.  I like the cafe picture because I like the idea of eating outside at night, and Van Gogh made me feel like I could be there.


Little Red Ridinghood ~
Vincent was a painter.  He sold only one painting in his life.  Actually, his brother sold the painting for him.  His brother also took care of him.  He loved his brother with all his heart.  Van Gogh loved the colors yellow and orange.  He lived and painted all over France.  Most people did not like him because he was grumpy.  He made hundreds of pictures.  My favorite painting is the "Sunflowers," because I like flowers and it looks like a happy picture. 
Please check out other posts at learning all the time.
Blessings, Dawn

Our Monet Study

We just completed a study on Claude Monet.  He is one of my favorite artists.  The kids did Monet Puzzles, listened to several stories and books about Monet, did picture studies and watched Linnea in Monet's Garden DVD (one of their all-time favorite DVDs).

To finish off our study of Monet, we painted outside like Monet did. It was a misty day and there was not much morning light.  We talked about light and shadows.  Then we searched for the perfect spot and set up our watercolors and canvas boards.  We all tried our hand at Impressionist art.

We had a nice view of  trees on the edge of some wetlands. 

We then took a nature walk and climbed trees.  My kids love to climb trees and are often above my head. They weren't very high off the ground this time.

This next picture from the park reminds me a little bit of one of Monet's famous pictures.   Of course, this one is not a Japanesse bridge.

We fininshed our morning by sitting on our blanket and reading a picture book about Monet. I feel so blessed to be able to school my children this way.

Blessings,
Dawn

Creating Home Atmosphere

Every home has a unique atmosphere. We are all unique and have our own comforts, values, and passions.  Charlotte Mason says that up to one-third of education comes from atmosphere. Since our children are homeschooled, the atmoshere of their education is our home. I have been thinking about the atmosphere of our home and the main themes of it. Our home is loving, practical, therapeutic, adventurous, filled with ideas and encourages exploration. However, our home is also tired ... the children yawn and whine; the Mom and Dad sigh too often; the house is always in need of many repairs (she is 80 years old this year, after all); and the housekeeping is often just enough, sporadic and a bit frazzled. No one likes chores and taking pride in ones' work is an evolving process. Maybe it is just the Winter Blahs, but I feel the need for some beauty and freshness.

When it came time to put the last of the Christmas decorations and snowmen away this week (it is March after all), I decided to decorate the mantel with something the kids and I both love. I want to encourage the enjoyment of chores through sprinkling beauty around. We decided that we all love tea and books. Tea time is a favorite time around here. We decorated the mantel with the rope of flowers that lay around the table of my wedding cake many years ago, our favorite tea pots and old books. The kids had so much fun, and we created a spot of beauty into our practical home atmosphere. This led the kids and I to want to make a lovely prayer area. 

We added family photos of those who are no longer with us, a dish of rocks that my Grandma collected, a candle to remind us of those we are praying for with cancer right now (we know several people in this battle right now), and a funny note card that makes me laugh. The note card says, "I am a Quaker. In case of Emergency, please be quiet."  Like it is ever quiet around here!  So what is your home atmosphere?

Blessings,
Dawn

Thanksgiving Books...

As a bibliophile, one of the things that first attracted me to the Charlotte Mason method of teaching was the concept of filling a child's world with great books.  Often when we think of great books, we think of classic literature.  I look forward to sharing many great works of literature with my children over the years, but I do not want to overlook all of the great picture books.  There are so many books to share with my young children!  Every week brings new pleasures to look at and learn about.  This week I am doubly excited.  Not only is it Thanksgiving week and time to read all of our favorite Thanksgiving books, but we also are starting the Mayflower and the Pilgrims arrival in America in our history lessons.  I am very happy that our history lessons match up so well with the holidays this year.  Here is our list of books for this week:

Nickommoh! A Thanksgiving Celebration Jackie French Koller

The Thanksgiving Story Helen Sewell

Thanksgiving is ... Gail Gibbons

A Turkey for Thanksgiving Eve Bunting

Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest Feast Kate Waters

A Cranberry Thanksgiving Wende Devlin

If You Sailed on The Mayflower in 1620 Ann McGovern

The Pilgrims of Plimoth Marcia Sewall

To The Rim of The Map Eric Vanderhoof

Bright Night, The Story of Anne Bradstreet Nancy Wilson

On The Mayflower Kate Waters

I've got a lot of reading aloud to do!

Blessings,

Dawn

The Gentle Process of Learning Art...

We have two goals when it comes to art for our children.  The first is to have an appreciation of great art.  The second is that they will feel comfortable expressing themselves through art.  The second goal is the one I will talk about today.  This blog entry will be about how I help my youngest three express themselves through art.  They are 9, 8, and 7 now.  My children have always been offered the best art supplies we could afford (and that were safe for them to handle), even when they were tiny tots.  I think it is so important to give children art supplies that work properly and hold vivid colors.  I loathe those little boxes of crayons that are handed out in restaurants that have more wax in them then color!  If children are given inferior art supplies, they become discouraged, frustrated, and unwilling to keep expressing themselves through art. 

  

 Making fans at the Art For Life table in a doctor's waiting room.

 I am very fortunate that I was raised in an artistic family.  My father is a professional photographer and my mother holds an art degree and taught me from a very young age all the pleasures of art.  So, when it came to filling my children's art cabinet, there were many willing hands to buy supplies.  However, if money is tight, this is what I would purchase:

• 
  
  Good quality drawing paper


• 
  
  Watercolor paper


• 
  
  Watercolor pencils


• 
  
  A set of watercolor paints


• 
  
  Several types of glue and paste


• 
  
  Large box of Crayola Crayons (the more colors the better)


• 
  
  Fine tip and thick tip markers


• 
  
  Homemade play-dough


• 
  
  A set of better quality paint brushes in different sizes.  If the paint brushes are in bright, child-friendly colors, they are probably not very good.  It is better to have just a few good paint brushes than to have a whole bunch and have the bristles falling out in your art.


• 
  
  Tempura paint in the primary colors~don't forget black and white for mixing.


• 
  
  A box of clay


• 
  
  A box of Plaster of Paris

The above list is by no means exhaustive.  Of course, there are fun art kits, glitter, pipe cleaners and all manner of other fun media items in which to create.  When the kids are a bit older or one could afford it, I would add a few acrylic paints and a few stretched canvas boards to the basics list.

Movable bats made at the Art for Life table.

Many people say to have the art supplies accessible to children at all times so that they may create whenever they wish.  This does not work in our family.  With some of our children's special needs, they behave very impulsively.  If I left the supplies out for them, great quantities of art supplies would be dumped out and great messes would be made.  I would be the first to say that art can be messy, but not at all hours in my household is it necessary.  So, I try to provide free art time every week and make myself available to get out the supplies they request during their free time.

Bird made with watercolor pencils.

As the children are getting older, I seek out opportunities in the community for them to explore with art.   One of our current favorites is The Art For Life Table that is set up in the waiting room each week where my son attends speech therapy. It is staffed with volunteers (mostly college art students) to help guide the kids through a project.  They always have quality art supplies, and although it is a set project, creative embellishment is encouraged.  Another favorite out of the home art place is our local art musuem, which holds a homeschool class once a month.  Again, it is an instructor-led project but with lots of wiggle room to be creative.  In the past we have enjoyed the classes at Michael's and other art stores, but they tend to be crowded and a bit pricey when paying for multiple kids.  Home Depot and  Lowe's also provide wood building classes once a month for free, but there is very little creativity beyond the project, so I consider these classes more for fine motor skills.

Making birds at The Art Museum.

Another way to acquire art supplies is to ask for art kits when people want to know what to get for Christmas and birthdays.  We have recieved some great kits that I would not have spent so much money on for one event. Often, there are reusuable parts in these kits that can be stored away for other projects.

This mosaic project was a recent gift that all of my children loved.

I get most of my ideas for projects out of arts and crafts books.  Some of my favorites are Mudworks , Great American Artists for Kids, Storybook Art, and Best Ever Craft Book for Kids.  There are also millions of sites on the web.  One of my favorites is this one.

Creating animals with leaves.

The kids had fun with the project pictured below a while ago.  I had some large sheets of paper that were gifted to me.  About the same time, I saw a great project at Smockity Frocks.  The idea is to make a list of words that your child can read and have them make a picture with all of the words on their list added to their drawing.  This kept my kids busy for some time.

 

One of the most important things when helping your children express themselves through art is to limit criticism.  It is one thing to advise and guide, but make sure that you do not put down your child's attempts at art.  After all, artists have found many ways to depict a tree.  Now that my kids are confident with expressing themselves through art, I do occasionally insist that they show me their best effort.  This is not usually a problem with art, but sometimes attitudes get in the way of even this subject.  When this occurs, I try to respark the project by presenting it from a different angle or gently reminding the child that their best effort will make them feel better than showing Daddy poor work when he gets home.

 

 Blessings,

Dawn

Our Native American Indian Plans...

I mentioned earlier that I am striking out on my own without a curriculum in history.  I will be reading biographies, living picture and chapter books, and doing hands-on projects with the kids to bring history to life.  This is the way I taught history to my oldest, and he is a real history buff.  For some reason I strayed, but I am back.  We are moving chronologically through history and are ready to study the New World of America.  Since the Native Americans were here first and are woven throughout our history, I decided to start with a mini-unit study on them. We will be concentrating on the Indians that explorers and settlers would have met along the coasts and near the first 13 colonies. When we get to the pioneer times (next year), we will do another mini-unit study on the Indians out west.

We are very blessed to live near the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (the Cherokee who hid during the government removal of Indians in the 1830's and continue to live on their homeland to this day).  The Western Band of Cherokee who live in Oklahoma are considered a separate nation by the government. All the pictures throughout this post are from our visit to the reservation and their reenactment village of how the Cherokee lived at the end of the 1700's, shortly before the government gathered the Cherokee and marched them west to Oklahoma. A third of the Cherokee died on the way, now called the Trail of Tears. In the village, the people were demonstrating the crafts that they have practiced for 14,000 years.

Kids standing in a canoe

Over the next few weeks, we will be reading books on the Cherokee, Iroquois Nation (where my heritage is from), Powhatan (the Indians around Jamestown), Creeks, and the Lumbee/Croatoan Indians (who would have been the Indians around the lost colony of Roanoke).  All of these Indians lived near where settlers lived and were the first to to be affected by or affect the colonists.

We have already started reading books about Pocahontas and are busy separating out  more likely fact from fiction. The Disney movie is so not the truth!! Pocahontas was a Powhatan Indian.

We are going to be doing an in-depth study of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee which will include the following:

• A field trip to the Cherokee reservation (already done yesterday).


• Making a Cherokee 3-D village.


• Making a dugout canoe for Playmobile to ride in.


• Making a pot out of a ball of clay, much like we saw a woman potter doing at the Cherokee reservation.


• Doing some bead work (probably a necklace).


• Learn how to use a mini blow gun.

The children will also be entering The Festival Knowledge contest at our local Nature Center in February.  My oldest entered this Festival several times in his early teens and won top honors once.  The projects can be individual or group.  Our kids will be doing a group project.  They will be building a 3-D village complete with a dugout canoe, proper shelters, and a woodland setting.  The kids will also make a presentation board of all they have learned (like a science fair board).  They will have the opportunity to explain their project to the judges.  I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for them.  They will be learning public speaking, research, presentation skills, 3-D building and working together.

Here is a list of some of the books we will be using.

• Pocahontas By, Ingri and Edgar Parin d' Aulaire


• The Cherokee a New True Book By, Emilie U. Lepthien


• American Indian Games and Crafts By, Charles L. Blood


• If You Lived With The Cherokee By, Peter and Connie Roop


• The Iroquois By, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve


• A life in a Longhouse Village By, Bobbie Kalman


• Powhatan Indians By, Suzanne Williams


• More Than Moccasins: A Kid's Activity Guide ByLaurie Carlson


• Morning Girl By, Michael Dorris

We will also be doing several other projects that will represent other tribes besides the Cherokee.  For instance, when we study the Iroquois, we will make a corn husk doll.  I am still waiting for the More Than Moccasins book to come in so that I can finish picking out our projects.

Blessings,

Dawn