Dominion Family

Yesterday I finished Norms and Nobility. I came away knowing I would be rereading this book again and again. Unfortunately, my thoughts are all tumbling over each other but I will make a few observations.

1. It was refreshing to read a book that discussed “Classical Education” which did not deteriorate into those overworn categories: grammar, logic, rhetoric.

2. I could never have written the book, but David Hicks says in 158 pages what I have come to believe about the soul of education.

3. This book has finally bridged the gap for me in my understanding of Christian education and classical education.

4. A Charlotte Mason education does more to meet the standards David describes than the typical WTM-type of structure.

5. Deputy-Headmistress is right: buy the book. The first few chapters are slow in laying the ground work but by the time you get to the end of the book it all comes together beautifully.

QUOTES:

Pg 130, ” Ecuation as paideia is not preparation for life, for college, or for work; it is our inherited means of living fully in the present, while we grow in wisdom and in grace, in conscience and in style, entering gradually into “the good life.”

pg 129, : The teacher’s true competence is not in his mastery of a subject, but in his ability to provoke the right questions….” Let’s hear it for homeschool moms !!

pg 127, ” Before he is 18, no one has time to do more than a few things well; therefore, better to teach a few subjects thoroughly than to force a child to be a mediocrity in many subjects, destroying his standards, obscuring the nature of mastery, and concealing the measure of his ignorance.” Ah, there is the rub. Those of you who conquer this monster will be the winners.

I would love to blog through each chapter of the book just to get my bearings straight but I won’t.

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Once again, if you are looking for homeschool recordkeeping software, look no further. The Gentile family has once again made terrific updates free to those who have purchased the Plus version. They are available daily on the discussion group, too. It just doesn’t get any better. I have been given 2 free major updates since my one-time purchase 2 years ago.

Homeschool Tracker by TGHomeSoft

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It seems rather lame for me to talk of our nature studies over the years when I am looking out the window at high winds and driving rain and looking on the internet at the devastation of a natural disaster. At times like these I wonder why every Christian isn’t a Calvinist. Truly nature is an act of God.

The way we have approached nature study has been highly influenced by my original reading of Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Education Series some 15
years ago. I have never satisfactorily achieved what Charlotte describes which is why you may benefit from hearing what we have actually achieved.

My older boys all had nature notebooks that I bought from Greenleaf Press. When they finished one I would buy another. Timothy, Nicholas, James and Nathaniel had at times varying degrees a attractive nature drawings. Nicholas and Nathaniel are both talented artists. Because we were never successfully able to draw from specimens and we never got the hang of watercolors, per Charlotte’s suggestion, we would work from nature guidebooks.

During our morning time, when we reached the point that I was reading our “fun” book, the children would get out their nature notebooks and Berol pencils and draw. Our notebooks never reached the level of beauty that I have seen accomplished by some “girls” I know but some of the drawings were very nicely done. The real key, I believe, to a nice nature notebook, is time. I have found lately when I set aside “time” for nature drawing we feel rushed and our drawings look rushed but when the children draw while I read there is a sense of leisure about it. I am not sure why.

I am not entirely happy with our new nature notebooks which I bought from a Waldorf school. They seem more temporary and my younger children do not seem to have mature drawing skills. They are still constantly trying to draw houses against my instructions to draw nature. They will draw a garden and put a house by it instead of say an Audubon-type drawing. Speaking of which, Nicholas once drew this turkey to perfection. We frequently used Audobon’s Bird’s of America for model pictures. Our schooling has become too rushed for me to really help them correct this. This week I will be revamping our schedule to a more relaxed lifestyle in order to facilitate better drawings, perhaps adding in more read aloud time. Stephen Meader has a wonderful book that takes place in the NJ pine barrens, with Audubon’s Bird’s of America as part of the plot. Can you tell I have forgotten the name of the book ?

As I mentioned, we do take nature walks to point out flowers/wildflowers/herbs which I used to be quite an expert at, while my dh is an true expert on birds. Having been greatly influenced by British authors I truly regret that we have not yet got a handle on identifying trees. For some reason my brain cannot remember from one day to the next what certain trees are called. I personally feel knowing the names of trees is far more valuable information than many scientific facts we try to cram into children. While we do collect wildflowers for vases and some specimens that present themselves, our nature walks are generally informal ways to get the children to become aware of their surroundings. Then even their play time is filled with awareness. I believe firmly in letting children spend many hours out-of-doors, as Charlotte would say.

Finally, we have found joy in reading many books that enhance our knowledge of nature. This morning we just finished reading aloud Sam Campbell’s How’s Inky. While I didn’t enjoy the book from the beginning, it did grow on me and I think it was a great little nature volume. Perhaps in the next few days I can assemble a list of nature titles we have used.

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Many years ago when I got my very first email address, I was invited to join a private email list for moms trying educate classically without wallowing in the mud. It was a small list run by none other than Carla of Joys in the Journey. After a year or so I ended up getting pregnant and dropping out of the internet and email world for a while. Funny thing is that during the last year, I have begun to run into those girls again on the internet. Birds of a feather flock together !!

One of my old friends was Ann V of Holy Experience. Ann has recently written A Child’s Geography. I was privileged to be among the test group for the book and I am happy to report it is a great book written in conversational style just like its predecessor by VM Hillyer. I am reading a little bit to the children each day during our Morning Time and they are thoroughly enjoying it. Ann has packed the book with all kinds of extras like narration prompts, activities, notebook ideas and further reading suggestions. Those of you who read Ann’s blog won’t be surprised to find that, unlike the Hillyer, Ann’s book is thoroughly Christ-centered. It is also beautifully illustrated and formatted. The good news is that Ann’s book is only $10.00 and comes in 2 downloads. Ann thinks this is a lot of money to ask but I think it is a steal.

Remember a great way to bind home printed books is using an oversized stapler. Just staple the pages together adding a cover if one isn’t provided (Ann’s book has a lovely cover but you can print it in card stock for a sturdier book) and cover the binding with duct tape. These books take a lot of abuse and you can change font sizes when formatting depending on the age of your child.

Ann’s book is being promoted by Jeannie Fulbright which doesn’t surprise me since it is very much along the same lines as Jeannie’s childrens science books of which we are doing Botany this year. It says a lot that I am using Jeannie’s book since I usually avoid science textbooks in the elementary years.

(Sorry if this is disjointed. I am busy getting my 2 teenagers ready for a weekend work trip to Mississippi)

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Here is a guick/quick game to enjoy this Saturday morning.

I found it while researching why I want to spell dilemma as dilemna. We have discussed this here before and apparently I am the only one except on Amazon there are several books with the word dilemna in the title and you can Google the word either way and get lots of hits. What you can’t do is find it in a dictionary. Weird, and a very accurate use of the word weird for once!!

I am now searching archaic spelling sites but in the meantime here is a educational game for Mom and kids or children, if you prefer them to baby goats.

Hardspell

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Not to fear, even though I have finished I’ll Take My Stand I will still be blogging about agrarian philosophy.

To go with my ponderings I have been listening to a few unique resources. I just ordered 3 Plain Talk Recordings from Cumberland Books. Tonight I had a great evening listening to Christina Fuller tell her story to Rick Saenz. Christina’s story is so fresh and inspired she almost convinced me to buy a cow. I am looking forward to the rest of the Plain Talk selections.

I have also tried to keep up with The Ridgewood Boys daily podcasts. It has turned into a special weekday treat. Since I was reading about Rick’s and Chris’s early attempts at playing and singing several years ago, I am shocked they are so talented.

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I have a new toy: Audio web casts!

First up:Librivox

It is a free audio book site. Currently I am listening to a file with 7 versions of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 23. The possibilities are endless. Poetry is uniquely suited to this sort of reading but they have lots of books, too, including one of my personal favorites Psmith in the City by P G Wodehouse.

I also listened to George Grant’s February 5th Sunday School class. George is such a smart guy!!
I love the way George has kept his message focused over the years.

Check out the King’s Meadow Podcasts.

And while playing Web Sudoku, I caught up on some Ridgewood Boys podcasts.

Finally, the other day I found some old Rushdoony audio files on my computer. He was teaching American History. I only got to listen for 15 minutes but I came away smarter than when I started. Oh, to find more time. I don’t have the nerve to tell you what he was speaking about.

I really don’t have much focused internet time but I feel far more productive when I am listening to great ideas.

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I’ve been in the car more lately and since I can’t read while driving I usually listen to the radio, unless I have a new Plain Talk CD.

Sometimes when all the country songs sound corny, all the pop songs too familiar, all the classical stations out of range, and Sean Hannity is on, I turn to NPR. ( I don’t do Christian stations.)

NPR for all its self-consciousness is not great radio. Still even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. Today I heard a insightful essay on NPR about pace. If you are feeling frenzied, if you are wondering if your plans for next year are overblown, take a minute to listen to Phil Powers speak about the art of the rest step. This essay is perfect fodder for the end of the year sprint to the finish and even better grist as we plan our next year’s journey.

And by the way, when NPR asks for money as they did several times today, I shout at my radio that I already gave them quite a bit of money this year through my income taxes. Whiny children should be punished not rewarded.

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Laura needs help finding out which editions of used Saxon math to buy. Also what support materials does she need. I don’t know anything about pre-54 Saxon. For Saxon 54 and up I use the homeschool editions with answer keys and test packet. These are both white booklets. My Saxon 54 has a 1990 copyright. Any info would be appreciated.

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I coulda been a Luddite. In another time and another place I could have been happy without all this technology. I love, love, love, not having a television. I sometimes want to cry when the phone rings. I don’t want to venture too many steps from my own door and I wish my children would all live near me forever.

But over the years there have been a few things I missed watching on the tube. I missed watching the Olympics and I missed all those great BBC shows. Now from my computer I can do almost everything I ever wanted to do. I can watch almost any BBC series ever made. I can watch all those PBS shows, you know the only shows on American television that anyone will ever admit to watching.

How many times have you had this conversations?:

Person 1: “We don’t have a TV.”
Person 2: ” We only watch public television.”

That isn’t even a joke since I have heard it millions of times.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I can download Season 5 of 24 from iTunes before it ever hits the DVD store.

I can watch 24; then I can watch other people watch 24; then I can watch other people watch other people watch 24, all from my computer.

Right now!

It is going to be a long day.

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