I've been homeschooling now for 18 years. Right from the beginning I was influenced by Charlotte Mason. The third book I read on homeschooling was Karen Andreola's A Charlotte Mason Companion. (The First was Nancy Wallace's Better Than School and the second was Laura Berquist's Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum). I was utterly charmed by Andreola's interpretation of Charlotte Mason, all those lovely Victorian illustrations; it just seemed so cozy and gentle. One of the first things I ever did on line was join the Catholic Charlotte Mason yahoo list which was an immeasurable source of wisdom, ideas and camaraderie for me. I still know people on line because of that group. It has now become 4real, which unfortunately I have had computer glitches with ever since it started. I get can on but then something will happen that will prevent me from posting and I'll let it go for years. So I have not had that source of encouragement for a while.
Anyway, there are many, many things about Charlotte Mason's approach and philosophy of education which I really appreciate, but as I look back, I think I incorporated precious little of it in my homeschool. At least not in any consistent way. The things I was most successful with:
1. The idea that education is 'a life, a discipline, an atmosphere.' I think I did best with the life and the atmosphere; the discipline part was harder to be consistent at (due to my own lack of discipline!)
2. Read alouds - this really was a core of our homeschooling. We read aloud lots and lots and lots!
3. Copywork - copy work helped my terrible at handwriting/dyslexic/dysgraphic kids a lot. I am completely sold on its wonderful ability to train and transmit knowledge. Even at our most unschooly, we did try to do copy work at least a couple times a week, usually more.
4. Short lessons - perfect for all our short attention spans!
5. Oral narrations - sometimes done formally and most times done informally.
But that's it! Things I never could get the swing of:
1. Studied dictation - we did this for a short while but I never could get into the habit. I regret this because I do think this would have helped enormously.
2. Speaking of habits - we have terrible ones! Total failure in the forming good habits category!
3. So many read alouds at a time. If you read Mater Amabilis or Ambleside on line or lists that the PNEU had for all the different books going at the same time, we just never could handle that many. Inevitably one or two would get dropped or forgotten. We could handle three or four at a time but even this was at the outer reaches of our capacities. I could read one at breakfast, one at lunch and then alternate on other days and then have a good book for bedtime, but that was our limit. We did not care for books being broken up into such small chunks and read so slowly; too piecemeal and frustrating for us.
4. Written narrations - this totally tanked at our house. The year I decided to do Mater Amabilis just like Charlotte Mason would, I made Josh (he was the guinea pig for this) write out narrations for his history. He hated it! He developed a writer's block that he struggles mightily with to this day. One hope we have is that his experience at Christendom will free him from this burden. My other kids were much more unschooled in writing with occasional projects or focused units on writing - they have fared much better. Becky seems to have done fine with a couple years of IEW while in the Prima II Aquinas Learning and now, currently, using Lost Tools of Writing in the Schola Alta. I think the idea of learning to write in a group helps my kids for some reason.
5. Nature study - I tried to do nature notebooks and planned nature study so many times and it always ended in frustration. We did impromtu nature study but it wasn't combined with drawing and we never developed those beautiful nature notebooks that I always dreamed about.
6. Composer/Artist study - again we learned much better from impromptu stuff than from planned, even though I tried over and over again to get into a rhythm with this. The best way we've done this is with Aquinas Learning.
7. Languages - we did so many stops and starts over the years, trying to get a language under our belt. Alas, we never did have any success. Latin is the one language we've managed to cling to and that is mostly because we had a great Latin teacher that we took classes from.
8. Memorization/recitation - again, we were much more successful when this was not planned and just plain done for the love of poetry.
So most of Charlotte Mason was too schooly for us. We needed outside influences to keep us steady, like Aquinas Learning, or in our earlier days the TORCH co-op we belonged to for eight years. In between those years though, when we were on our own with no back up external force to keep us on track, we just couldn't keep up. It just seems like my style of homeschooling is a little bit of rhythm (like set read aloud times, math lessons when kids are older via a tutor, and copy work. But that was usually all the structure I could muster on my own. Then I needed outside commitments to channel our learning, like a co-op, or individual classes such as Latin, science, etc. Everything else was just unschooled.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Place in the Woods - Book 57
Helen Hoover was a popular writer back in the 1960s. This book, Place in the Woods, tells the story of what motivated that writing career. She and her husband had lived through the Depression and World War II and had good careers in the city of Chicago. Helen Hoover was a metallurgist by trade, but both she and her husband dreamed about getting away from it all. I think this books takes place in 1954 or so. At first they were just going to buy a cabin in the woods as a vacation retreat, but this grew into a decision to leave the rat race and make a permanent change. They were in their mid-forties and they figured if they wanted to this, now was the time, before they got older. It took a lot of courage. And their first year in the wilderness was filled with so much bad luck and many hardships, but they muddled through just barely and discovered they really did love nature and simplicity, in spite of everything.
Hoover had a love and way with animals. At one point they were really struggling for money and she decided to try to write an article for a nature magazine. It was published and that started her writing in earnest. Her husband is a lovely pencil sketch artist and he developed his own stationery and became an illustrator.
Even though the Hoovers moved way out to the very edge of an area in Minnesota on Lake Superior that had some rustic cabins and a lodge for summer tourists, they kept meeting people. It seemed there would just be a lot of random knocks at their door at all times of the day. They made good friends with the keepers of the lodge three miles away. Of course for long periods of time they were pretty isolated too. Many of the mishaps that happen to them are harrowing! This book had me gasping and thinking what next? They just seemed to have one catastrophe after another. Helen Hoover is a very straightforward writer. She doesn't put on any airs. She'll tell you how hard it was, how tired they got and how much they were sore and ached, but they also achieved a hard won contentment. They loved devoting their time to fixing up their cabin(s), watching and interacting with the animal life around them, and just being together, nice and cozy, reading and sewing by the fire on snowy winter nights.
A very pleasant read! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Hoover had a love and way with animals. At one point they were really struggling for money and she decided to try to write an article for a nature magazine. It was published and that started her writing in earnest. Her husband is a lovely pencil sketch artist and he developed his own stationery and became an illustrator.
Even though the Hoovers moved way out to the very edge of an area in Minnesota on Lake Superior that had some rustic cabins and a lodge for summer tourists, they kept meeting people. It seemed there would just be a lot of random knocks at their door at all times of the day. They made good friends with the keepers of the lodge three miles away. Of course for long periods of time they were pretty isolated too. Many of the mishaps that happen to them are harrowing! This book had me gasping and thinking what next? They just seemed to have one catastrophe after another. Helen Hoover is a very straightforward writer. She doesn't put on any airs. She'll tell you how hard it was, how tired they got and how much they were sore and ached, but they also achieved a hard won contentment. They loved devoting their time to fixing up their cabin(s), watching and interacting with the animal life around them, and just being together, nice and cozy, reading and sewing by the fire on snowy winter nights.
A very pleasant read! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Boys to Men - Book 56
Nope this isn't about the boy band from a decade ago, the full title is: Boys to Men; the Transforming Power of Virtue by Tim Gray and Curtis Martin. I first got this audio version of the book way back when my now 21 year son was about 13. I heard about it via Mater Amabilis. Since both Kathryn and Michele (creators of Mater Amabilis) have excellent taste in books and are really knowledgeable Catholics, I bought it for my son to listen to. He really enjoyed it. Then my now 18 year old listened to it when he was about 13. Alas, I forgot about it, when Sean reached the same age. Plus Sean just doesn't do audio books the way the other two did. So he missed out. But the other day (meaning a month ago?), I was cleaning through some old stacks of forgotten audiobooks and pulled this one out. I was kind of ashamed of myself for never having listened to it even though I had handed it on to two of my offspring, so I stuck it in the car and have been listening off and on for a few weeks.
This book is good. It is really good. I highly recommend it for young teens and up. It does talk a bit frankly about s@x but in such a great way. It is aimed at men so the examples and such are obviously meant for that audience, but it still has enormous value to, well, anybody. Because basically it is a book on how to live virtuously in this world. It sites many scripture passages, and many references to the Catholic catechism as well as quotes from saints and people like Aristotle. It is very clear, very well laid out, thorough, and completely accessible. It makes you think and it makes sense. I think it would be great for a teen study group.
In fact, I think I am going to encourage Sean to listen to it, even if audio books aren't really his thing.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
This book is good. It is really good. I highly recommend it for young teens and up. It does talk a bit frankly about s@x but in such a great way. It is aimed at men so the examples and such are obviously meant for that audience, but it still has enormous value to, well, anybody. Because basically it is a book on how to live virtuously in this world. It sites many scripture passages, and many references to the Catholic catechism as well as quotes from saints and people like Aristotle. It is very clear, very well laid out, thorough, and completely accessible. It makes you think and it makes sense. I think it would be great for a teen study group.
In fact, I think I am going to encourage Sean to listen to it, even if audio books aren't really his thing.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Mystery a Month Reading Challenge for 2014
I've decided to start one of my own little challenges for 2014. For all I know, I've subconsciously gotten this idea from somewhere else. But I thought it would be fun to try to read a mystery a month in 2014. I've already got a tentative list for the first six months. And then I've got ideas rolling around in my head for other possibilities. If you want to join in the challenge, please do! I don't know how to do the Mr. Linky thing and anyway I am afraid it would be like giving a party and no one showing! So I won't try to be so proud as to make this an official thing, but if anyone out there wants to join in, that would be wonderful! Of course, you can choose your own mysteries to read, you don't have to read the ones I have listed here.
January:
The Name of the Rose - I remember starting to read this decades ago when it first came out, but I remember not getting into it. But I'd like to try again. It seems to have stood the test of time, in that it is frequently listed as one the best 100 mysteries, right up near the top of the list. And we're studying the Middle Ages in history so it would be appropriate that way.
February:
The Hound of the Baskervilles - I know I've seen the movie(s) and I think I've heard it retold by Jim Weiss but I don't think I've actually read it. Or if I did it was ages and ages ago and might bear rereading. I am not a big Sherlock Holmes buff, mostly because I don't like Holmes in the books. To me, he comes off better on screen. But I have read several short stories in the series. So I think I'll try reading this book; the only full length novel, I believe, about Holmes.
March:
The Moonstone - I read The Woman in White several years ago and just loved it. Ever since I've been wanting to read The Moonstone and just never have gotten around to it. Looking forward to this one!
April:
The Viaduct Murder - This is by Father Ronald Knox. I'm a little frustrated by this. Amazon says it is on kindle but I can't find it in the kindle store. I think it is out of print, so I might have to get this used.
May:
Father Dowling Mysteries Series by Dr. Ralph McInerny. Dr. McInerny was a great Catholic theologian who passed away very recently. The silly TV series that aired backed in the 1980s was based on these. They seem rather hard to get now.
June:
The Quiet American or Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I love Greene. I haven't read either of these. Both of these are listed in the top 100 mystery novels.
Some other ideas - I'd like read something by John Le Carre. I remember Alec Guinness playing the main character in the British TV series based on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I also don't think I've read all of Georgette Heyer's mysteries. She only wrote three or four (I think). I know I've read two of them. I really need to read more of Agatha Christie. I've barely scratched the surface of her wealth of stories. I also wouldn't mind reading more of Mary Rinehart Roberts books, especially, The Bat. And I read The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey but ever since then I have been thinking about reading her other well known book, Brat Ferrar. And finally, I've always wanted to read that gothic novel mentioned in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, the one she was trying to spoof, The Mysteries of Udolpho.
Wow, it was easy to come up with this, I wonder how I'll fare during the year though. We'll see.
January:
The Name of the Rose - I remember starting to read this decades ago when it first came out, but I remember not getting into it. But I'd like to try again. It seems to have stood the test of time, in that it is frequently listed as one the best 100 mysteries, right up near the top of the list. And we're studying the Middle Ages in history so it would be appropriate that way.
February:
The Hound of the Baskervilles - I know I've seen the movie(s) and I think I've heard it retold by Jim Weiss but I don't think I've actually read it. Or if I did it was ages and ages ago and might bear rereading. I am not a big Sherlock Holmes buff, mostly because I don't like Holmes in the books. To me, he comes off better on screen. But I have read several short stories in the series. So I think I'll try reading this book; the only full length novel, I believe, about Holmes.
March:
The Moonstone - I read The Woman in White several years ago and just loved it. Ever since I've been wanting to read The Moonstone and just never have gotten around to it. Looking forward to this one!
April:
The Viaduct Murder - This is by Father Ronald Knox. I'm a little frustrated by this. Amazon says it is on kindle but I can't find it in the kindle store. I think it is out of print, so I might have to get this used.
May:
Father Dowling Mysteries Series by Dr. Ralph McInerny. Dr. McInerny was a great Catholic theologian who passed away very recently. The silly TV series that aired backed in the 1980s was based on these. They seem rather hard to get now.
June:
The Quiet American or Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I love Greene. I haven't read either of these. Both of these are listed in the top 100 mystery novels.
Some other ideas - I'd like read something by John Le Carre. I remember Alec Guinness playing the main character in the British TV series based on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I also don't think I've read all of Georgette Heyer's mysteries. She only wrote three or four (I think). I know I've read two of them. I really need to read more of Agatha Christie. I've barely scratched the surface of her wealth of stories. I also wouldn't mind reading more of Mary Rinehart Roberts books, especially, The Bat. And I read The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey but ever since then I have been thinking about reading her other well known book, Brat Ferrar. And finally, I've always wanted to read that gothic novel mentioned in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, the one she was trying to spoof, The Mysteries of Udolpho.
Wow, it was easy to come up with this, I wonder how I'll fare during the year though. We'll see.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
The Red House Mystery - Book 55
Did you know A. A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh, wrote a mystery novel? He did and it is called The Red House Mystery. It has been in my to-be-read pile for a long time but I finally got around to reading it. I think this book marks the end of my latest spate of quick, light reads. It is Advent now and I intend to do more serious reading in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity.
This struck me as a very enjoyable, veddy British mystery set at an estate known as the Red House, owned by Mark Ablett, a rich, self-important philanthropist. The amateur sleuth is Anthony Gillingham. Anthony just happens to arrive at the Red House minutes after a shot has been heard. He helps Cayley, the secretary to Mark, break into the office where Robert, Mark's brother has been shot through the forehead. And Mark has disappeared. . . Anthony plays Sherlock to his friend Bill's Watson. In fact the two young gentleman do pretend to be Holmes and Watson while they try to figure out what happened. The mystery is very clever and very detailed.
The only thing I found a little jarring in this book was the very simple dialogue between the two main characters. They were always laughing and saying 'what fun!' as they went on their merry way trying to figure out who the murderer is. To me it just seemed like bad writing or maybe Milne was trying to be droll, but I found it a bit off putting.
But on the whole, I enjoyed the story very much and am glad I have read it.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
This struck me as a very enjoyable, veddy British mystery set at an estate known as the Red House, owned by Mark Ablett, a rich, self-important philanthropist. The amateur sleuth is Anthony Gillingham. Anthony just happens to arrive at the Red House minutes after a shot has been heard. He helps Cayley, the secretary to Mark, break into the office where Robert, Mark's brother has been shot through the forehead. And Mark has disappeared. . . Anthony plays Sherlock to his friend Bill's Watson. In fact the two young gentleman do pretend to be Holmes and Watson while they try to figure out what happened. The mystery is very clever and very detailed.
The only thing I found a little jarring in this book was the very simple dialogue between the two main characters. They were always laughing and saying 'what fun!' as they went on their merry way trying to figure out who the murderer is. To me it just seemed like bad writing or maybe Milne was trying to be droll, but I found it a bit off putting.
But on the whole, I enjoyed the story very much and am glad I have read it.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
The Unofficial Suitor - Book 54
Well, I enjoyed reading Three Lords for Lady Anne, so I immediately downloaded another book by Charlotte Louise Dolan. Alas, I fear our love affair has come to an end rather quickly. Perhaps this is unfair but this book really disappointed me. It started out with such promise; I was really intrigued, the whole theme of the book was to compare slavery (white slavery and the slave trade that provided African slaves to the British plantations in the Caribbean) to women having to marry for money. And women having to marry for money gets compared to prostitution too. So it could have really been an interesting analysis very cleverly done. But it wound up being stupid because for some reason the author felt compelled to have all her characters wind up in sappy (almost revoltingly so) love relationships where they get married about 5 minutes after they meet (only a slight exaggeration there). It was dumb and it ruined the whole effect, I thought.
Anyway, a quick plot summary: Lady Cassiopeia, or Cassie for short, has been living in dire poverty in Cornwall since her half-brother, who owns the property, prefers to gamble away his money in London. Finally there is nothing more to sell so he decides to give Cassie in marriage to the highest bidder. Cassie has grown up a free spirit who has had to get by on her own wiles, with the help of another half-brother, this time an illegitimate one, who is as kind as her other brother is cruel. So Cassie gets brought to London to be put on the marriage market to some rich nobility who is willing to pay off her brother's debts. She hates it. On the way to London though she meets a mysterious man, one who terrifies her in a way she can't understand (it's physical chemistry but she has no way of understanding that). This man begins to court her, but 1) he's not a gentleman, merely a rich man, and 2) she's set against him for the aforementioned reasons. The plot twists and turns and has funny moments and sometimes it seems like it is going to say something deeper about freedom and slavery, but it just doesn't. Instead it becomes a silly mishmash. I ended the book and then kind of tossed my kindle away in disgust.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Anyway, a quick plot summary: Lady Cassiopeia, or Cassie for short, has been living in dire poverty in Cornwall since her half-brother, who owns the property, prefers to gamble away his money in London. Finally there is nothing more to sell so he decides to give Cassie in marriage to the highest bidder. Cassie has grown up a free spirit who has had to get by on her own wiles, with the help of another half-brother, this time an illegitimate one, who is as kind as her other brother is cruel. So Cassie gets brought to London to be put on the marriage market to some rich nobility who is willing to pay off her brother's debts. She hates it. On the way to London though she meets a mysterious man, one who terrifies her in a way she can't understand (it's physical chemistry but she has no way of understanding that). This man begins to court her, but 1) he's not a gentleman, merely a rich man, and 2) she's set against him for the aforementioned reasons. The plot twists and turns and has funny moments and sometimes it seems like it is going to say something deeper about freedom and slavery, but it just doesn't. Instead it becomes a silly mishmash. I ended the book and then kind of tossed my kindle away in disgust.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Three Lords for Lady Anne - Book 53
I succumbed to the overwhelmed feeling I get at this time every year, first Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I just don't do holidays well. So I had heard about this other regency romance novelist in the style of Georgette Heyer, and I thought I'd check her out. I needed something to escape into and reading about the Napoleonic Wars in the last book got me in the regency mood. Anyway, I downloaded this particular book because it had 5 stars with 20 reviews.
I don't know anything about the author Charlotte Louise Dolan. I really kept comparing her to Georgette Heyer, but I am guessing she is a more contemporary writer than Heyer. She's a little blunter about sex than Heyer, but still doesn't resort to anything graphic. She's got that romantic/comic style that Heyer is so good at. The plot didn't quite make sense to me at points, but then I fear sometimes Heyer's plots are a bit weak as well. Heyer's writing just seems more substantial, but this book was a very enjoyable romp.
Lady Gloriana is a poor relation of some gentry. She is living with some shallow, brown-nosing social climbers, when she is rescued by a master meddler, Lady Leticia. She goes to live with her aunt who schools her in how to be an independent woman even in this age where women's freedoms are severely curtailed by law and convention. For some reason she uses an alias, Anne Hemsworth and becomes a governess. She winds up taking a position as a governess to twin boys, who have been long neglected by their relations and guardian. However,the guardian, Bronson Roebuck, Lord Leathem, is a handsome, kindly if restless man, and means well. He apparently suspects the twins' uncle who is supposed to watch over them while he, Lord Bronson, goes traveling the world, of embezzling or something. . . The two romantic leads build up very bad impressions of each other before they ever meet. So when they do finally meet, sparks fly. The whole convoluted plot resolves itself in a charming way. Trying to sum up the plot here, I realized how complicated it is and how some of the loose ends didn't quite make sense. This is the type of book you really shouldn't think too deeply about, I fear. But it was an entertaining romance and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Just what the doctor ordered!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
I don't know anything about the author Charlotte Louise Dolan. I really kept comparing her to Georgette Heyer, but I am guessing she is a more contemporary writer than Heyer. She's a little blunter about sex than Heyer, but still doesn't resort to anything graphic. She's got that romantic/comic style that Heyer is so good at. The plot didn't quite make sense to me at points, but then I fear sometimes Heyer's plots are a bit weak as well. Heyer's writing just seems more substantial, but this book was a very enjoyable romp.
Lady Gloriana is a poor relation of some gentry. She is living with some shallow, brown-nosing social climbers, when she is rescued by a master meddler, Lady Leticia. She goes to live with her aunt who schools her in how to be an independent woman even in this age where women's freedoms are severely curtailed by law and convention. For some reason she uses an alias, Anne Hemsworth and becomes a governess. She winds up taking a position as a governess to twin boys, who have been long neglected by their relations and guardian. However,the guardian, Bronson Roebuck, Lord Leathem, is a handsome, kindly if restless man, and means well. He apparently suspects the twins' uncle who is supposed to watch over them while he, Lord Bronson, goes traveling the world, of embezzling or something. . . The two romantic leads build up very bad impressions of each other before they ever meet. So when they do finally meet, sparks fly. The whole convoluted plot resolves itself in a charming way. Trying to sum up the plot here, I realized how complicated it is and how some of the loose ends didn't quite make sense. This is the type of book you really shouldn't think too deeply about, I fear. But it was an entertaining romance and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Just what the doctor ordered!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
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