Speaking of languages...

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about teaching a foreign language (lately = means over the last year or so ;) I've been studying Gouin, talking to friends and thinking a lot.



Speaking of foreign languages, we have some experience in this area, and are constantly gaining more. We all speak English for example! ;) Yep. It's true. Then there's one language (Spanish), that some years ago, was foreign, has become familiar, and now flows for us. These days, we are getting to know another couple of languages that are still, in varying degrees, foreign to us (French & Latin).

It's been fun. and hard. and fulfilling. and frustrating. all that.

Read more about our language studies here.

Based on the recommendation of a good friend, I found the link and checked out the following program and it looks really good for a basic start in Spanish. She follows a lot of the same principles that I've been reading about via Charlotte Mason, Gouin and what seems to me most natural about learning a language. She is a Spanish teacher herself and offers the help of a native Spanish speaker as well. Andrea is offering an intro price of $7 for the first 5 lessons (normal price will be $37).
Please check out:

Spanish with Andrea!

Make sure to tell her I sent you!
I don't make a commission, but I'd love to know how many of you go there because of this post! ;)


helpful quote:

"Again, it is incontestable that the ear, and not the eye, is the physical organ for apprehending a language, just as truly as it is by the mouth, and not the ear, we appropriate food." vol 1 pg 303

Economics... I should wonder.

I have a feeling this is gonna be good...


I just bought it myself.
Sale ends soon. Today?

While you're there you might check this out...

I just finished my plans for using Visual Latin this year.
We just have 2 weeks more of Getting Started with Latin.
(Latin Year 2 downloads are on sale for $25 --> $17)

:)

helpful links:
Latin: What we do.
Purchase Visual Latin.
Purchase Getting Started with Latin. Also available on Kindle!

{though I do make a buck or two if you click & purchase through my links, rest assured that I would NOT link to something I wouldn't use (or at least think worth a try) just to make a few.}

Q&A: Book Organization

Q:
"I would like to know how you organize your AO books. I've put colored stickers on the spines for year we need the books. Do you sort them more than that?"

A:
Something about books affects me. Certainly, when it comes to thinking about books AND organizing them, I get a little bit weak. A warm fuzzy kind of feeling creeps pleasantly over me. I may fall into a sort of daze. On the other hand, when there are books to buy (think childlightusa or library sale), these are the moments I dream about, I get completely befuddled and can think of nothing else 'til I can look through and buy as many as I can possibly carry (this is often severely limited by ever stricter baggage limits. such a sadness.) Scheming and rescheming about how I will arrange my books so I can look at them, is something I would like to do more often. Daily, in fact. But then again that's impractical. I do sometimes sit and gaze at my bookshelves though.

Happiness, yes. Idolatry... Lord have mercy, no.

So, when it comes to actually placing them on the bookshelves, I sort mine loosely thus:

* When at all possible, I have a bookshelf or three purely for all the books we could possibly use for school. My husband's books take up another bookshelf or two, mine another, books for lending on another, etc. the more the merrier. :) These are spread throughout the house.

* My own books go in a combination of places - they have a shelf all their own, but the ones I'm currently reading, or planning to be currently reading, or wish I could be currently reading go somewhere close to my bed. in a precarious pile. The book I am actually reading at the moment goes everywhere with me. and I really mean, everywhere.

...these are just the school books!

On the school bookshelf, then:

* by the working AO years we're in (this year there's a shelf for y3 & also for y8)
* by theme (nature study - field guides, etc.; history; languages; poetry; music; art, etc.)
* picture books & those for my blessed y0 child (on a shelf low down, easy to grab)
* free reads and other living books, alongside all other AO books from previous
years.

* I do this every. time. we. move. (and we move frequently :)

* I actually did do the whole color-stickers-w/-printed-labels elaborate scheme at one point, but have since found that i've pretty much memorized which books are where, and otherwise rely heavily on a printed booklist which has all the AO/HEO books listed (and database software, thanks dad!) .

* I do NOT however keep the books for the immediate upcoming years/terms out and accessible. those stay hidden (yep, hidden) until the week before a new year or new term begins. that way the kids are super excited to look over their new books :)

* I have been known to sort my shelves by color, which is an absolutely constant source of delight to my very eyeballs every time I walk into the room. honestly.

It's that time of year again... for homeschool planning!

It's like this every year. New books, new notebooks, new kids... well, almost. At least they act like new kids with a gleam in their eyes when they know it's getting close to a new school year.

It's fun to change things up. It's fun to start afresh. At least, we think so! :)

But in order for the new school year to actually be, and more importantly, keep being fun for me (and not a steamroller called stress that smashes over me forwards and back daily for the next thirty-six weeks), I must have a plan. I'm not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort (even if strangely enough, I am married to the personified version of the aforesaid term, who pulls most everything off gorgeously in his own way).

Planning.

It's one of my favorite things to do. And here I'm going to chat about how I went about it this year. Because if there's anything more fun than planning, it's thinking all about how you just planned and how you'll most likely plan again someday. ;)

a preview of our books... book organization post coming soon :)

This year, I'm heading into a new-to-me year with AmblesideOnline. We've used AO through all the years (even if I dabbled before that eccentrically, oh I mean eclectically). Thankfully, even after all these eight years, I can still say that I love AO! AmblesideOnline, as written by the ever faithful Advisory, has been the framework from which I have worked, learning to have confidence in myself and in following my heart by gradually applying more and more of Charlotte Mason's enduring principles in our homeschool.

Enough gush, right?
Okay.

this is the big bedroom/school room/living room of our house... 

yep, all five kids share a room, but I'm pretty sure they still don't feel too cramped. :)

So, a new year. We'll be delving into years 3 and 8, as outlined by AO. I've taught year 3 before (five years ago!), but to two different students.  Year 8's all new. 

Where to begin?
I still hold on tightly to my Homeschool Planning Day tradition as outlined here and here, but I'm going to talk about a couple more things that I did this year, that were helpful to me and hopefully will be helpful to someone else as well.

Before I got started, I read my own posts here. Super helpful. Yep. I actually write this blog for my own use! Since I'm looking back, I might as well point out that I like this particular planning post a lot. It makes me smile. Can I just say, I love my life!?

Second, I make a list of all the things I want to think about for this term. Things to add, things to improve, or things that need thinking about. I keep adding to this master list throughout the whole process. Matter of fact, I'm two weeks into the schoolyear and I'm still adding/editing! Sometimes I start out with a paper list, but I usually have to convert to the computer for ease of the copy/paste feature.

My list looks something like this (but w/ cooler fonts and lots more in between):

2 print...
2 kindle...
2 buy...
bible & devo...
math...
french...
and on and on and on for pages...

Under each subject's heading, I quickly list what I know I need to do, and then I think of more things I need to do, even the smallest details...  I put them all there, crossing off as I finish them.

Sometimes I start at the AO booklist page for the year I'm planning.
So for example, if I haven't done so before now, I download all the ebooks for the year in question (y3 & y8). I will have already ordered and received all the books for this year, sometime back around the end of the previous year (or on our latest furlough, or before our most recent guests came down bearing suitcases, whichever comes first).

Or I may start with one of the subjects, whichever strikes my fancy. Let's take nature study for instance. I go to the AO page for Nature Study, skim it for links and to pick up whatever I may have missed. I open tons of tabs and I make more notes. I go down my list of to-do's for that subject and add some to come back to, if necessary, when I get home.

Next, I pick whatever sounds most interesting. If that were Shakespeare, I'd open and keep up the AO Shakespeare page, which shows the rotation of which play/term and might have other helpful links. On my list, under Shakespeare it says: Cymbeline. Look up bbc videos on amazon streaming or use librivox audio, print scripts. While I'm looking these up, I'm reading online reviews on Cymbeline and figuring out whether or not we'll go ahead with the videos and deciding if my plan of reading the parts aloud with all the kids is appropriate. I think about Shakespeare. I download Shakespeare's Complete Works. I download Act I from librivox.org. And then I'm done. for now.

So I go on to Plutarch or Nature Study or Music or whatever else, until I get everything thought about and downloaded. Or until my time runs out. :)

The newest helpful thing that I've done this year is basically a major expansion of the list I've been talking about. Every time I opened an AO page with info on term selections, I went ahead and copy/pasted that info into my master list. Under Shakespeare I now see this:

Shakespeare
use audio from librivox.org  *downloaded
*Cymbeline
**King Lear
***Measure for Measure

Poetry looks currently looks like this:

Poetry
y3
*William Blake *downloaded
**Sara Teasdale and Hilda Conkling *downloaded
***Henry Wadsworth Longfellow *downloaded
y8
*12 Shakespeare sonnets *downloaded
Fierce Wars & Faithful Loves *purchased from amazon - priority mail...  (why do I always want to type fierce loves and faithful wars?!)
**John Donne *downloaded
***John Milton *downloaded

Under music I have the following with their lyrics all copy/pasted in (I've printed a couple copies of those pages to hand out as songbooks!):

Music
read wiki for bkgd info on folksongs & hymns
singing (harmonies and rounds)...
hymns...
folksongs for 2012-13...
folksongs for y8...
composer...

Now I know what I have yet to do to be ready this term, I know what's coming up next term, AND I can use this same document as a starting place for my next Homeschool Planning Dayt! I love planning ahead! ;)

There you have it. Aren't lists fun?!

This year with all my planning, I worked for one whole day, my official Homeschool Planning Day, at a local restaurant with free wifi. I then spent most of another whole day at home (organizing books, printing and loading up the kindle, etc) and then several hours the next couple of days until Sunday that week, tying up loose ends. Monday I felt pretty ready. And we were. Everything went great!

i love our school table.

We're two weeks into the year now, and though I'm still having to pull a couple little things together, it's been SO. much. fun. Even though the planning was grueling, and I was pretty tired, I'm ever so glad I did it all in advance. Having everything set and ready to go helps me to be able to relax and really spread the banquet each day instead of scrambling every morning (or all day long) to keep up. :)

So. I hope this helps! I know it has already been huge for me AND will come in real handy next Homeschool Planning Day! :)

CM on French

French should be acquired as English is, not as a grammar, but as a living speech. To train the ear to distinguish and the lips to produce the French vocables is a valuable part of the education of the senses, and one which can hardly be undertaken too soon.

As regards French, for instance, our difficulties are twofold––the want of a vocabulary, and a certain awkwardness in producing unfamiliar sounds. It is evident that both these hindrances should be removed in early childhood. The child should never see French words in print until he has learned to say them with as much ease and readiness as if they were English. The desire to give printed combinations of letters the sounds they would bear in English words is the real cause of our national difficulty in pronouncing French. Again, the child's vocabulary should increase steadily, say, at the rate of half a dozen words a day. Think of fifteen hundred words in a year! The child who has that number of words, and knows how to apply them, can speak French. Of course, his teacher, will take care that, in giving words, she gives idioms also, and that as he learns new words, they are put into sentences and kept in use from day to day. A note-book in which she enters the child's new words and sentences will easily enable the teacher to do this. The young child has no foolish shame about saying French words––he pronounces them as simply as if they were English.
But it is very important that he should acquire a pure accent from the first. It is not often advisable that young English children should be put into the hands of a French governess or nurse; but would it not be possible for half a dozen families, say, to engage a French lady, who would give half an hour daily to each family?

(...text in the following passage goes on about Guoin's study 

in regard to teaching language... also very interesting ;)

vol 1 pg 301-302

helpful notes:

• train the ear to distinguish sounds
• train lips to produce sounds with a pure accent
• acquire a true accent by hearing
• learn vocabulary (in context of sentences and idioms)... steadily increasing acquired words daily
• use newly learned words, phrases, sentences and idioms daily
• teacher may use a notebook to record new words and sentences
• making use of a native speaker would be the ideal

*image courtesy of gleidson sávio

Nature Study Monday: Multi-level

In application, nature study is one of those studies that evolves over time. In one sense, on the outside, nature study can look much the same with little persons as it does with bigger persons; observation, delight, being outdoors, etc. But particularly as pertains to the study, the research and record keeping aspects, results will vary greatly according to developing interest and skill. I can clearly see this variance among my own kids as there is a ten year span between oldest and youngest.

Nature journals especially will reflect the age/skill difference as should be the case. I appreciate Lindafay's recent blog post: The First Stage of Nature Journaling. She outlines practical things to think about and several aspects to concentrate on when getting started. My older kids' journal entries (including those I require of them) are very different to what my younger set choose to record in their journals. This difference is good.

To a certain extent the difference is due to the fact that I have distinct goals for each when it comes to their journals. For the younger set, the goal of nature study (and journaling) is to increase interest and nurture natural delight, as well as to teach by modeling careful observation and attention. These skills developed, the goals for the older set might be to continue to develop a habit of observing and recording nature findings in the keeping of a regular journal as well the maintaining of a potentially lifelong source of delight.

Here are a few of my ideas and current practice as pertains to nature journal entries at different levels:

Weekly (all ages, myself included):
Nature Walk - This is time spent seeing. We generally look for things we've never seen before or things that have changed since last time. Occasionally, this gets relegated to time in the backyard (definitely not our favorite) or in extreme circumstances an extended viewing from the window, but ideally not, because we ALL need our time outside in great quantities whether we realize it or not.
Sketch - includes watercolor (goal: to replicate size and color of object). Sometimes this is from some item we pick up along our walk, very rarely do we take our colors out with us... too complicated with littles, though I'd LOVE to do this more often.


Daily (AOy6+, I would love to make time daily for myself too someday soon):
Note: Daily is an ideal, it is not a hard fast rule. In reality, I think it happens about 3x/week.
2-3 sentences and/or sketch - may be a sketch or text only.
May include any of the following:
Add to Bird list*
Add to Animal list*
Add to Plant list*
Note Moon phases
Observe clouds/weather
Observe/record 5 senses
Etc.



I found this gem on the floor next to my bed.
Yep, that's right where I found him.



Hello!



If you can get over the heeby-jeebies, this bug can in fact be a source of delight. What, you don't believe me? Just look at that shiny, smooth armored covering and the legs that move in a ripple... incredible. really.



This is how big. :)

*The Bird, Animal and Plant lists are lists that are maintained on a yearly or lifelong basis. The object must be observed, identified and then listed with the date observed. The list might be kept in a notebook dedicated to the subject or on the last pages of the nature journal. It's a pretty simple matter and doesn't require much thought to begin.

Link up:
Feel free to link up your nature study posts here in the comments!
Please snag a button and include it and a link in your post if you don't mind... that way more people can find us and join us here. :)

Nature Study Monday: Insect Pests

Tarapoto is in the Rupa-Rupa (never fear, I hadn't before heard that word either until I googled 'high jungle' which is what it means here in Peru). Here in the high jungle tropics we have lots and lots of bugs! We have pretty bugs and ugly bugs. There are harmless ones and scary ones. We have bugs that flitter, scurry, buzz, bite and burrow. There are bugs inside the house and out (thankfully, mostly out). Matter of fact, when it comes to bugs, you name it, we've probably got it. :)

We've had LOTS of fun discovering the wide variety of bugs in our area simply by looking around, you can't miss them. There are so many, that I often (weekly?) see a kind of bug I've never seen before! Seriously.

Most of the bugs that live inside our house I consider pests. Ants, centipedes, mosquitoes, flies, weevils, cockroaches and woodboring beetles are all particularly pesky pests. Non-scary looking spiders are the one exception... they have a job to do, you know. Scary spiders are those with bulky limbs or that are hairy or larger than I feel is reasonable; obviously, scary is a relative term.

Though I try to control these pests with natural products, we do have to fumigate semi-regularly to ward off complete infestation, like that we are experiencing currently since we have yet to fumigate our new house for the first time!

However, while we wait to get in touch with the bug busters, we've taken the opportunity to look and study some of our houseguests. The most annoying of which at the moment is the woodboring beetle. It eats wood. It destroys wood furniture and as I've just discovered, it will eat books too!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

This of course will not do.

The only thing we have in common is that of devouring books. However, as a responsible person, I like to leave the book in as close to the original state as possible, you know, thinking of he that reads after me. I found one cursed creature that had made it halfway through 'Science in a Supermarket' and I found the corpse of one who'd died after having eaten through 'Getting Started with Latin' twice! No wonder. Urgh.

Since we caught the one red handed, we made a study of him before we killed him. Yep. I killed him. I let him starve to death on the observation plate. He was stuck on his back and could not get up. I don't even feel bad about it. So there.





Some observations:
Looks like a baby termite.
He has a brown beak.
They have antennae-like mouth parts.
Cream colored.
Six legs.
3-4mm long.
Sometimes you can hear them chomping the wood inside the bookshelf. Yuck.
They tunnel through the wood leaving behind little round sawdust bits (poop?).
The tunnels don't appear on the outside, but you have only touch the wood to feel it cave in under your fingertips.





Now to sketch him. :)
Oh yeah.

Might you have insect pests around that you could study before you eliminate them?

Link up:
Feel free to link up your nature study posts here in the comments!
Please snag a button and include it and this link in your post if you don't mind... that way more people can find us and join us here. :)

What do Plutarch and the NBA draft have in common?

Dion of Syracuse! Of course.
We're reading about this one in Plutarch...
Dion (Δίων 408–354 BC), tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, was the son of Hipparinus, and brother-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse.


Time of Dion, Dio or Deon, Tyrant of Syracuse, 367-366 and 357-353 BC
image courtesy of wildwinds.com

vs.

This one was just picked fourth in the NBA draft... Cavaliers Take Syracuse’s Dion Waiters With No. 4 Pick


image courtesy of: hoopsworld.com

Ancient meets modern.

Random connection.

:)

Composer Study: Bartok

AO's Composer for the latest term is Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Randomly, or perhaps because I thought the name sounded interesting, for our listening enjoyment and observation this week I selected his work called Bluebeard's Castle, a one-act opera with libretto written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of the composer. Who knew Béla was a common man's name?

As I read more about it, I think I may have discovered why this opera was not chosen as one of the AO listening selections for students... but still, the opera is based loosely on the Charles Perrault's folktale: Bluebeard. So we read the folktale (I edited as I went), will listen to the opera in its entirety and then will probably pursue it no further as interpretations can be morbid and strange. For more info see the wiki here.

I do not recommend studying this opera without pre-reading the folktale and giving it some prior thought as to its fitness for your family. :) It is rather morbid as fairy tales can often be. 



Illustration by Gustave Doré for Perrault's tale Bluebeard; Source: wikicommons

Bartok's music is not the most wonderfully pleasing to the ear, in my opinion... but we're going to endure for a while anyway.  I do prefer his duets for violin and piano concertos over some of the other works.

AO's composer selections for Term 3 of 2011-12:

    Bela Bartok: 

• String Quartet no. 1 in A minor
• Concerto for Orchestra (Sz. 116, BB 123)
• Mikrokosmos (especially "Boating" and "Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythym.")

    Paul Hindemith: 

• Mathis der Maler (the symphony, not the opera; "Matthias the Painter," based on painter Matthias Grunewald)
• Ludus Tonalis (solo piano)
• Kammermusik No. 5, op. 36 no. 4 'Viola Concerto'

Pets as Nature Study.

Having pets around is AWESOME for nature study without knowing. :) Trick them into it, that's right!

Cats, how nimble, how independent (for the most part), their claws, how they look after themselves; dogs how rowdy, their habits, digging, protecting, chasing, fetching... these are all things we observe about our animals without even trying.

How about fish? We put a glass bowl in the middle of our dining table, with fish, snails and water plants. It provides for a very interesting eye-catcher during meals without being obtrusive. We've learned a lot just by watching. Did you know that snails eat fish? Well, I can tell you they do. I've observed it with my very own eyes! Keeping a small aquarium is a great option for people who move around a lot.

Having living things around is SUPER for laid back nature study. You can add interest or get those thinking juices flowing by throwing out questions now and then such as, 'Why do you suppose his claws are like that?' or 'How do you suppose he moves along the side of the glass without any fins or feet?', etc. Don't give an answer. Let them wonder about it. Let them pull out a book or two if they're still wondering later.

Apart from the normal pet options, here are others we've really enjoyed:
Bird feeder
Butterfly garden
Turtles
Lizards

I'm sure you can think of others!
If you'd like to join us this nature study monday, please leave the link to your post in the comments! :) 

The Value of Home Base

Q:
With life's constant change and flux and a pulling desire to balance between school work/habits and outside opportunities to see friends & get out of the house, how do you set boundaries? How many activities do you fit in each week, while also managing the full AO curriculum?!

~Anonymous Ambler

A:
Dear Fellow Ambler,
I used to be a very able multi-tasker but I've never been able to figure out how to be out running around all day most days and still get school done! ;) Your question made me think back to when I had a very real struggle with my own priorities and my role as teacher. What follows may or may not apply to your situation, it's just what came to mind as a result of your thoughts and questions. :)

While my kids were still pretty small, I had to come to the painful realization that if we didn't commit several hours (the same time every day) to only do school, we were rarely able to accomplish everything we wanted to do (either the basics or the extras were left behind - this left us always trying to 'catch up'). Before that time, we often spent our school hours in the car, outside, sometimes we took our work on vacation, but this mobile kind of school was always when the kids were pretty young and only for short interim periods. I only had two boys in AOy1&2 in those days, and their schedule was way less demanding. I liked to be going, going, yet still, I found it exhausting! (I am still all for carefully selected outings and/or activities... but when they begin to pull the focus away from family and home life... well, that's another thing)

However, for school, I've found that the commitment of certain limited hours out of every day is a bare minimum at best. If that was all we ever did, it would not be enough to accomplish an education truly based on CM philosophy. A CM education is truly MUCH more. More delightful, more fulfilling, more comprehensive than a couple of hours a day officially 'doing school' could encompass.
Education is a life.

Time is the prime ingredient to a non-rushed, delightful education. The child needs time to be absorbed in nature, to think, to create, to be... This will not happen when rushed around from place to place. And I will risk much to say, I don't think it can happen often even at HOME with a mom always with her own agenda rushing around in the background!

This is a difficult thing. I am not speaking to anyone in particular other than myself. I have a tendency to try to do WAY too many things at once. I used to think I could get lots of other things done while my kids did school. Not true. It is NOT a waste of time to commit all of my attention to my kids while doing certain hours of school (much of which will be spent in 'masterly inactivity')... there will undoubtedly be things that come up for our kids, that if we're doing 'other things', their questions will seem an interruption to our lives. If we make ourselves fully available to them, WE will be less frustrated and THEY will be able to learn in peace and confidence before moving on to other activities.

As for which outside activities we choose, we don't have a hard fast rule.
Here's some things we consider:

• When we feel tired, overwhelmed and harried... often it's because we're trying to do too much. I've found it's easier to add one thing in at a time than to have taken on too much and then to decide where to cut back.
• We like doing as many things together as a family as possible, this automatically rules out lots of activities. One idea that I've had is to organize a youth soccer night at our house, all of us could be involved in some way with that... we shall see once we get our yard in working order.
• Many times 'school-related' activities can be made into fun family activities to which we can invite other families or friends too, ie., nature walks, concerts, art museums, historical reenactments, etc. We usually slot this type of thing in once a week at most, in an afternoon.
• For the things we do as individuals, we have it a little bit simpler here in Peru, as the options are more limited (which I consider a HUGE blessing on the one hand, and extremely frustrating on the other). I have this loose idea that one lesson a week per child would suffice whether that be musical or sport-related. With five, that adds up to something every weekday! Since we've just moved back to the jungle, I have yet to find opportunities for everyone's selected activity (or a substitute). We're currently only integrating one guitar lesson a week. We're still looking for drum, ballet and art lessons. The ideal would be that they would all be scheduled during the same time slot on one of two afternoon/evenings each week.
• If the lesson/activity can't be scheduled in the afternoon, it's next to impossible logistically. One term we had swimming lessons in the morning - but we had the first hour @8am, and all the kids went, so we started school a little later on those days.  
• Activities that are scheduled too late at night on a school night, pretty much get nixed (at least for me and my littlest). This is a personal issue as I am NOT a morning person, and if I'm wiped out it throws our whole day off. Here in Peru as many meetings/gatherings begin after 8pm. As missionaries, this takes wisdom to figure out. I do have to make some exceptions in this point. 

Overall, after years of trying different things, I personally have found I like being home best.
I'm less hurried and life is simpler. Considering our family the primary unit and home the starting place, we can easily then branch out into areas of ministry and of interest as the Lord leads.

PS.
I read this, this morning from Sally Clarkson and my heart sang...

"If a woman chooses to stay at home with her children, she has the opportunity of nursing her baby in the peacefulness of her own home, caressing her precious little one, singing sweet lullabies to comfort and please the child's deepest emotional desires. She can offer them the restfulness of long quiet naps in their own bedrooms. She has time to enrich the home environment with beautiful sights and smells- from the aromas of homemade soup bubbling on the stove to the beautiful pictures in books- and arrange outings that foster budding intellects and awaken curiosity. And she has the flexibility to change her schedule to respond to teachable moments - those times when children's natural curiosity leads them to question and learn."

The Undivided Heart (ch3), Mission of Motherhood, Sally Clarkson

Nature Study on Monday: Watercolor for the faint of heart

Today is Monday.





How convenient then that this guy scurried into our lives today... on Nature Study Monday. Woohoo!
See below for a helpful tip on how to incorporate watercolor in the nature journals a non-intimidating way.











Helpful Tips:

Has the following ever happened to you?
After spending time carefully looking at some amazing piece of Creation and after what seemed hours of painstaking concentration and sketching then erasing then sketching again, you've got a product that you're really quite satisfied with. No, you have a sketch that you love... and then you try to paint it... uh, well, let's just say, unfortunately you quickly fall out of love with your now warped, run-on colored, very wet sketch that is in your BOOK (the non-ripped out pages are slowly dwindling).

Has this ever happened to you? Well, it has happened in our house. More than once.
So, here's what I did today...

• Scan a copy of the pencil sketch from the nature journal. 
• Use a photo editing program to darken the lines by adjusting the contrast (picasa is free!). 
• Print a copy or two to practice using watercolors on, so as not to "wreck" the sketch! :) 
• Paste the printed off colored version into the nature journal, or use simply use it as a practice, getting your feet brush wet, before watercoloring in the original. :)

Though everyone does their own sketches in their own journals, afterwards, I let my littles choose if they'd like a practice in watercoloring one of my scanned sketches (they normally use a mix of pencils, colored pencils and dry brush in their own journals depending on the subject). I offered to scan/print copies of the older boys' sketches if they were a little nervous about altering theirs as well.

Attention to detail, trying to replicate the color/size EXACTLY is a super great exercise that comes from nature journaling. The littles may not have patience to dry brush their own sketches (and subsequently destroy them). After they've finished coloring their own sketches in their nature journals with colored pencil, or if they'd rather use water color and not mess up their books, I feel it's a valid exercise for them to occasionally "watercolor" a copy. I imagine that one could potentially use the Dover coloring books in this same way. :)





Would you like to join me? I'd love it if you did! Just grab the image above, post it in your post and then link up here in the comments. :)

Also linking up here:

Current Events: On the go

Once upon a time, I was starting this really cool (and time consuming) custom of posting links to online articles written about current events in history both for my AOy7 boys (and anyone else who cared to share). Since over the last insanely busy weeks (months?), I've not had time to choose articles for the "This Week in History" feature, I've reverted to using a VERY easy option for kindling ideas for entries in the boys' journals. I've recently subscribed to World Magazine Podcasts; this is not quite the same as 'reading' the newspaper or news magazine, but very much more convenient. 

Basically, the podcasts are the radio blurbs World magazine broadcasts - summaries of what's going on in the world. Ideally, these would work to simply spark an interest in something and on their own initiative they could look up an article to expand their knowledge on the subject. Until things settle down, I'm just happy that the boys listened to the weekly hour long podcast and are now writing in their journals about whichever news item struck their fancy.


World Magazine Podcasts



There are two features: The daily radio blurb, "This is News" from World Magazine and the weekly hour long program "The World and Everything in It" which covers news as well as a little bit of everything else, as the name suggests. :) The lastest episode had a literature theme for example and discussed the anniversary of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters (I did skip over some brief spots re: movies and books - gotta love that feature as opposed to listening to live radio! All things were handled appropriately, but I had my smaller kids nearby as well).

Click the links above to subscribe via rss on the World magazine website or subscribe via itunes.


Helpful Links:
Current Events: What we do
Fisher Academy Current Events posts
Current Events page @ AmblesideOnline.com

Spanish: Q&A

Q:
Rosetta Stone is out of my price range and I need a program that we can get started on in a few weeks when we start Year 8. Suggestions?

~Ambler {technical term for an anonymous AO user}

A:
Dear Ambler,
First of all, I'm going through a revolution in my foreign language learning/teaching understanding. Previously I would probably have recommended both resources you have already nixed (Rosetta Stone seems to be the most comprehensive, customizable and highest quality - which aspects are definitely reflected in the price!). The BEST option would be to meet some Spanish speakers and get involved in their lives... :) but, as this is not going to be something you can check off a list or get credit for... :) A ready-made curriculum is better for those who maybe wouldn't otherwise be able to incorporate a foreign language because of time constraints or interest level or what have you. As far as I know, Rosetta Stone remains the best in its category.

However, I am more recently again becoming a big proponent of each family putting together their own custom-made studies based on real life Spanish experiences when possible and otherwise on free resources available online (and the library when available!). I know that in your case, you may not have time to work out your own curriculum, and that's okay. There are a lot of free curricula online (see links below). Based on my study, learning audibly first, then speaking, before integrating reading and writing IS the best way and so if one has time and willingness, a custom-made plan might just be better... (see my post here for the beginnings of my research). I plan to continue my research in this area and hopefully someday have some resources of my own to share. :)

Some AO users have expressed the concern that in their experience some colleges won't accept 'Homeschool Spanish' at the high school level, this could be addressed by taking community college courses, or better yet, testing out of them!

Here are the best links I've found for higher level Spanish (or been directed to by a trustworthy source):





Helpful Links:

How to Learn Spanish online for free  (a webtour) - this webtour lists just about every online Spanish resource I've ever heard of and that one could possibly want... seriously, it's worth the 9min. to watch
OnlineFreeSpanish.com
BBC Languages: Spanish

Latin: What we do

Latin is a subject we do together. :)
We like learning together. 

Normally, one would begin Latin studies around Ambleside Online's Year 4. However, we didn't officially begin until AOy6 (for several reasons which I explain in another post). Up until recently, we've gone weekly through 1-3 lessons (per 20min sitting) in Getting Started with Latin (GSWL). After lesson 20 or so, we watched Visual Latin's (VL) Intro videos (free online). Honestly, VL's Dwane really brought life and meaning to our studies; the boys suddenly really WANTED to learn Latin. They like this guy who knows more than just one language and obviously finds Latin fun. I was seriously tempted to switch right away, but in the end, I think I'm glad to carry on through the end of GSWL and use the VL as an encouraging boost throughout. Once we're finished with GSWL, I'll probably use VL in conjunction with Lingua Latina (the teaching guide for using these together is free online here).

Here's what our weekly Latin lessons looked like:
1) I show the kids the new vocabulary word at the top of the page and they try to guess at its meaning. Having a good knowledge of Spanish already, this is usually a no-brainer for them. Other times, the word is new, we make a mental note of it and then get right to work using it in context of other ideas (the practice sentences).

2) I read the lesson aloud and then we alternate reading and translating with the given practice sentences like this:

3) I read the sentence aloud, Cullen reads the sentence aloud, Javen translates the sentence.

Spectat lunam. He looks at the stars.

4) Then we switch. I read aloud, Javen reads aloud, and Cullen translates.

Nauta stellas spectat.

Currently, we're doing Latin almost daily. I was noticing that we were having to spend too much time reviewing each week. Converting to shorter daily lessons should help to keep it fresh (and finish with this book sooner). This is recommended for all language study! Frequent short lessons are better than less frequent long lessons... this might just hold true for many areas of study!! :)

So for us, Latin's been relatively painless! It took some getting used to in the beginning, referring back often to the pronunciation guide in the back of the book (or one could listen to the free audio commentary provided by the author online here - my boys said this is BORING to listen to. I agree, but I think for some, teachers especially, it is probably really helpful).

Javen has started keeping his own notes of words he especially wants to remember. I like that initiative; paying careful attention does a good job of making an impression on the memory and then using the words often helps too. Eventually, if we continue deeper, a Latin notebook is definitely required as a REALLY helpful tool for keeping exercises and favorite passages in.

After lesson 60 or so, we watched Visual Latin's Lesson 1: Being Verbs (available for free online). This was awesome fun for the kids because they already were very familiar with many of the words Dwane uses, and yet they learned several words that they'd been really wanting to know (Getting Started with Latin introduces new words VERY slowly). I'll have them do the free worksheet on the day following that of watching the video.

So that 'bout sums it up. Both kids say they like Latin; personally I think they're rather proud of the fact that they are learning it. I certainly am proud of them for both learning and liking it!

Helpful links:

My kids tolerate this book:
Getting Started with Latin w/ free Audio files

An Extension of the above book:
Linney's Latin Class w/ free Lectures online based on the following classic book (available for free online): Latin for the first year

My kids ENJOY this:
Visual Latin. Try it here: 6 FREE Visual Latin Lessons!
The author recommends: Latin audio found here.
When/if I buy Visual Latin, I'm considering this Latin 1 & 2 package deal on DVD
*One of the MAIN advantages of this company is that almost all the materials are also available as downloads... perfect for oversea dwellers (like us!) and no shipping costs. :) But, I still think the DVD idea is kind of nice to keep info all in one place for back up.




More Helpful links:

Parents' Review article: Why Learn Greek and Latin?
Ambleside Online's page on Foreign Language.
English as She is Taught (through Latin).

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - 20 Principles {overview}

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

As always there are a variety of wonderful posts to peruse this time around. Grab a cuppa something and enjoy right now, or bookmark and come back for more inspiration throughout the week :)
Quotes are taken from this excellent PR Article: P.N.E.U. Principles As Illustrated by Teaching

"In every undertaking it is well to have an ideal end, and a scientific means for realizing that ideal."

Nancy presents: Picture Study at Church


Gina presents: Choosing Method over System

Tricia Hodges presents: Dogwood Nature Study and Chalk Pastel Sketches

Delightful Education presents: Teaching Reading, part one and part two.

"Good apparatus, clean school books, and perfect order are simply essential. Our last and greatest materials for "mind-building" are "ideas."

Catherine presents: Learning Foreign Language, part one and part two.

Alesha presents: Foreign Language

Penny presents: Florida History without a Textbook

"We believe in an "open-door policy" for our children; the larger and nobler an idea, the more fit are the children to receive it, for their hearts and minds are like a great open porch, not yet bricked up by prejudices."

The Tiger Chronicle presents: He's Still Alive


Angie presents: Poetry Surprise

Jimmie's Collage presents: Writing Formulas

"We therefore adopt a time-table calculated to give ideas and experiences in as many branches of our relationships as possible."

Barb presents: Nature Study, Living Science and Beyond

Shirley Ann presents: Intro to CM's 20 Principles

amy in peru presents: 20 Principles: {intro to an overview}

"No lesson is valuable which does not promote self-activity by making the child think, exercising its powers of narration or reproduction, or laying the ground-work for some future mental habit, making the idea given a well-spring of activity."

"No, it is the child who has to become accustomed to an idea, or led to discover a fact with as little of the teacher as a middleman, and as much "direct trading" as possible."

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Upcoming carnival: @ Delightful Education on 5/15
Topic for discussion (optional): Education is a Life!
For further reading:
* Volume 3, School Education, pgs 152–156
* Volume 6, A Philosophy of Education, pgs 104–111.
Submit posts here: charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com
To find out more about upcoming & past CM blog carnival schedule,  Click Here!

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life in the jungle.

which little monkey do you think is cuter?! :)

i love catching a glimpse of these sneaky guys...

did you notice the little fellow under the ledge of the table?