Middle School Monday - Shakespeare

This is the second year of our teen book club and we've just finished a term looking at King Lear. The girls and I explored general ideas, such as iambic pentameter, and ideas specific to the play; 'storm' in King Lear, 'despair and redemption'. I'll tell you a secret though...shhh...I cheated.  All my good ideas came from here.

The Folger Library has a huge number of lesson plans for each play and I think most could be adapted to work with a smaller family group or individual child; I adapted them to use with 8 girls.

The Folger Library also has a site for younger sibs here.

Check it out!

Middle School Monday - Something to Remember

All the chapters in our read-aloud, My Contract With Henry, begin with one of Thoreau's quotes. Today's struck me as something to remember, especially in the context of educating pre-teens and teens, in the midst of their tears, moods, silences, silliness, distance, sarcasm, confusion, moments of understanding and clarity and sudden sweetness.

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.

So says Henry. Sometimes I lose that focus and become distracted, thinking about the quality of my children, their work, their approach to the world, their moods and troubles. When perhaps, to simply focus on the quality of the day - something, as a home educator I have a responsibility to do but also take great pleasure in doing and creating - should be taking precedence.

If I concentrate on the day - provide nourishing food, literature, art and music, interesting work, meaningful chores, thoughtful feedback and responses, opportunities to rest or to breath in fresh air, hugs - perhaps I can be a centre around which the children turn, the point that keeps them steady as they change and deal with change. An art indeed.

Middle School Monday - Learning about Thoreau

Our Ancient China studies fizzled this term and I know why. Instead of sticking with Charlotte Mason principles- living books, allowing the children to make their own connections - I bookmarked an impressive selection of resources and planned projects. I chose a read aloud on the basis of where it was set rather than how good it was. About the only thing that worked was a trip to the gallery to  see the Chinese Warriors. That, at least, left room for wonder and imagination.

So it's goodbye China, hello Henry! And this time, I'm doing it right.

We're reading some books. My Contract With Henry by Robin Vaupel is our new read-aloud. It's the story of a group of 9th grade outsiders who learn from each other and from the natural world around them when they are forced to work together on a Thoreau-inspired  'Experiment in Living'.

Then there's A Mind With Wings: The Story of Henry David Thoreau by Gerald and Loretta Hausman. The girls will take turns reading this Young Readers biography. Both these books were very kindly procured for us by my Dad, the inspiration for this unit in the first place!

Of course we'll be reading from Walden. Selected chapters only - there's no need to drown the girls in the pond...

Then, the lovely Robin Vaupel has kindly provided us with this.
Yes, a whole set of journal writing activities for middle-schoolers based on her own novel and on Thoreau's life and words. Oh, happy, happy me - free, organised and  meaningful ways to extend the reading we will have done. A record of learning! Of progress! And something the children will quite enjoy doing!

It seems to me that this will also be quite a good time to read some Emily Dickinson and have the girls memorise, write out or illustrate their favourite lines or poems.

The simplicity of this plan - besides being well-suited to its subject - leads to a kind of learning that is calm and has time to go deep. Unlike the dry and scattered unit that was China!

Cambridge Latin Review

Cambridge Latin is expensive. I have $100+ worth of Cambridge Latin sitting on the school shelves right now - student book, teacher's book, CD.

However, Cambridge Latin is fun. Lucy - now in 8th grade - and I are having A Good Time. Lucy has a year of Minimus behind her and has just started Cambridge Latin. Did I tell you it's good ?

What I love and adore about this program is that it focuses on reading and translating passages in Latin from the start. I suppose I'd call it immersion in the language. The emphasis on translation is supported by exercises and explanation of grammar, and Roman culture is also explored through the characters and situations in the passages; yet the practical art of interpreting and shaping language is the core of the program.

You could skip the CD if you were confident with pronunciation. I find it helpful as a guide to reading the passages aloud but perhaps as we both become more skilled we won't have such a need for it. My only quibble with CL is that we're moving through the material so quickly; there isn't a year's worth of lessons in the book. Again, perhaps as Lucy moves through the levels and meets more difficult material, the pace will slow.

It's also a secular program, which is important for us. I don't need Lucy to learn the liturgy! Mind you, I don't need her to master the classics either. What  I want is for her to be able to access the distant past through language - and Cambridge Latin seems to be our time machine of choice so far.