Charlotte Mason Homeschooling, Part 3: Enrichment Studies

This is part 3 of my Charlotte Mason Homeschooling blog series. Click below to read the other parts!

Day 1: The Early Years
Day 2: Multiple Ages
Day 3: Enrichment Studies

When I first started really researching the Charlotte Mason method, Enrichment Studies were my biggest doubts. After all, I don't know much about famous artists and composers and poets. I never learned that in public school. How could I teach my kids this if I didn't know anything about it? Sure, I had heard the names before - Michelangelo, Monet, Mozart, Dickenson - but I had no real knowledge.

I decided just to dive in with living books and learn alongside my children. And you know what? It's been wonderful. The kids love when I'm reading a book aloud, and I exclaim, "I never knew that!" They think it's funny that even Mom learns things everyday.

My tips for teaching Enrichment Studies:

• Living books! I know, that's no surprise! But living books are the best way to learn things. Here are some of our favorite living books for artist, poet, and composer studies:

 

• Cycle {or loop} through the enrichment studies! Study a great artist for two weeks, then a famous composer for two weeks, and then the poems and life a classic poet for two weeks. If you do this for 36 weeks, you will study 6 famous artists, 6 famous composers, and 6 famous poets! Seeing the big picture helps me.
• Study paintings! Simply Charlotte Mason sells these artist portfolios for around $16, with 8 full color copies of paintings by famous artists. Have your children look at them, describe how it makes them feel, and try to replicate the painting.
• Listen to classical music! Play some Mozart or Beethoven quietly while your child is working on a handicraft. Listen to classical music in the car.
• Read classical poetry! Get a few books with some great poems by Emily Dickenson, Lewis Carrol, or Robert Stevenson. Read one poem every day for a week. Have your child memorize a few lines or an entire poem! Talk about the style of poetry, point out the rhyming {and non-rhyming} words, and try to write your own poetry.
• Start small - a chapter a day from a living biography, five minutes of picture study, ten minutes of listening to classical music, or reading a poem once daily will have a big impact!
• Involve everyone! Even your youngest children will enjoy listening to poetry. I know my two little boys love rhymes and poems!
• Have a poetry and tea time! If your kids don't like tea, have poetry and snacks! Fancy cookies, finger sandwiches, and sparkling lemonade will make poetry time special.
• Display famous art pieces around your home! If you can't afford a painting, buy a poster and frame it! You could even buy a postcard and frame it or hang it on your refrigerator. {This is a tip I need to do!}
• Learn the hymns that are sung at your church! My kids love "Holy, Holy, Holy", "The Doxology", "Amazing Grace", and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". Learn the stories behind the songs - who wrote them, why, and when.

I hope these simple tips have given you motivation to start Enrichment Studies in your homeschool! And I hope you have enjoyed my 3-part series on Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Tips!

Don't forget to visit other participating Crew members for some more great tips for homeschool parents!

Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine

Jennifer @ A Peace of Mind

Jennifer @ Faithful Homestead

Joelle @ homeschooling for His Glory

Joesette @ Learning Curve

Kari @ Random Acts of Boyhood

Katie @ Katie's Daily Life

Kemi @ Homemaking Organized

Kim @ Homestead Acres

Kylie @ Our Worldwide Classroom

Week in Review {March 7-11}

We completed our third week of homeschool in North Carolina this week! The weather has been much nicer, so we have been outside quite a bit and {found and} visited the park several times.

Family Learning:
In history this week, we read about Jacob and Esau, Gilgamesh, and the Assyrians. The kids made notebook pages, did copy-work, and filled out their maps. We also talked about the 12 sons of Jacob and what their names mean. We are still *loving* BiblioPlan!

We started artist study this week, journeying more into Charlotte Mason's methods. We are reading about Claude Monet in these two books:

            

We are also doing copy-work with some of Monet's quotes from Homeschool Copywork {a crew review coming soon!}

We reviewed memory work- Matthew 6:5-15, the books of the Bible, continents and oceans. I hope to add a little more memory work to our Morning Meeting, including poetry!

I started reading "Grammar-Land" to Mercie and Eli. It's a living grammar! I was excited to find it for $5.99 on Amazon. The story goes through the Parts-of-Speech as they stand before Judge Grammar and defend their words. It's a cute story. I am having Mercie and Eli keep a spiral notebook with drawing and notes to help them.

Mikaela - 7th grade
Mikaela has been working in Principals of Mathematics for the past few months. This is a really solid pre-algebra math program that is Biblically based. It explains why we will need math in real life and uses real life scenarios for the math problems. She started Apologia's Writers in Residence this week {another review item} which will take the place of her grammar. In science, she has been reading through "It Couldn't Just Happen" and working in her Fun-Schooling Journal. She is always telling me interesting facts that she's learned. I love when my kids love what they are learning. She finished reading "Door in the Wall" and the literature guide from Memoria Press this week. This was a really good book! It was one she wasn't sure she would like, but ended up loving!

Eli - 5th grade
Eli has been reading through Life of Fred: Fractions, and is nearly finished. He will be using A+ Interactive Math {yet another review item} in a few weeks to review and solidify his knowledge of fractions and decimals. He has been reading "Robin Hood" and using a literature guide from Memoria Press. He is really enjoying the book!

Mercie - 2nd grade
Mercie has been reviewing Times Tales, a video that uses stories to teach the multiplication tables. She has already memorized Part 1, so next week, we will begin Part 2! She also completes a page in Singapore math each day. This week, she worked on counting and writing money. She also works in her cursive workbook and spelling journal each day.

Silas - Kindergarten
Silas has been learning how to write and read 2 digit numbers in Math U See. We are also learning to count by 10's, and he can count to 100 with help from me. He is also doing pretty well with Logic of English's Foundations A. He gets to play games and move around while learning phonograms, so that's always a good thing. He has copy-work each day from Homeschool Copywork - a simple phrase, such as "A is for Airplane" with a picture to color.

Life Skills & Handicrafts:

I hope to add this to each week in review! Some handicrafts we did this week were making these cool penny spinners, creating a mosaic with sticky shapes {Silas and Titus}, starting a needlepoint project {Mercie}, cooking lasagna {Mikaela}, making paracord bracelets {Eli}, and working on a stop-motion video {Eli and Mikaela}. The kids also did their chores, which include folding and putting away clothes and towels, washing dishes, cleaning up toys and making their beds.  

 

Habit Training:

We have been working on the habits of perfect execution and thoroughness. The kids are doing much better at writing neatly and organizing their notebook pages. I do have to remind them, but they have really started doing their best work. It shows in their school work!

 

Nature Study:

We haven't been doing formal nature since arriving in North Carolina. We plan to begin again next week. We did go to the park several times and look at the different trees there. We looked for birds, but there is a strange absence of them here! The kids ripped up some weeds and examined the roots, even finding the tap roots on some. We looked at clouds, watched it rain, and observed the wind. Hmm, I guess we did more nature study than I realized!

 

And...I won a giveaway this week! I was so excited, because I had forgotten that I had even entered. I won these wonderful living books:

Ordinary People Change the World by Brad Meltzer

 

I love adding beautiful living books to our ever-growing library!

 

How was your week?

 

 

 

 



Junior High Junction: Charlotte Mason for Middle School?

As I venture into Charlotte Mason homeschooling, the big question I keep asking myself is:

When I first started reading about Charlotte Mason, her methods seemed geared toward elementary-aged children. However, the more I study, the more I find that her methods work well for all ages - elementary, middle school, high school, and even young adults! After all, we should never stop learning.

So how do I plan to use the Charlotte Mason method for my middle school aged children? I am going to share five ways we are using the Charlotte Mason method this week, and hopefully a few more next week.

Charlotte Mason stresses the importance of short lessons - short lessons build the habit of attention. When your child is giving their full attention to a lesson, they retain much more information. The recommended time per lesson for grades 4-6 is 20-30 minutes and for grades 7-9, it increases to 30-45 minutes.

I am not going to set a timer, although that is a great idea for younger children. Generally, Mikaela's lessons take around 20 to 30 minutes, with math stretching to maybe 45 minutes a day, but I will do what is necessary for her lessons to stay within the recommended time frames.

Copy-work is generally thought of for younger children, but I believe it is a very good way to teach grammar, spelling, and penmanship. Copy-work will be taken from our history curriculum or artist study, and she will do it two days a week.

Dictation is a little different from copy-work - the child studies a passage, noting the correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. The parent then dictates the passage, phrase by phrase, while the child correctly writes it. Mikaela will use dictation once or twice a week, taking passages from living books we will be reading.

Mikaela will drop her formal grammar program from daily to three times weekly.

Living books are books written in a narrative or conversational style. These books are very different from textbooks, which spit out facts and information. Living books teach by telling a story. You can select living books for every subject. An example of a few living books for middle school:

Mikaela will be reading many living books as opposed to textbooks for history, science, and geography.

You are never too old for nature study! We spend a lot of time outdoors, but I am going to make nature study a formal subject once or twice a week. This means we will either go on a nature walk, do some bird-watching, or use our sketchbooks to draw insects, or plants, or clouds. I will expect Mikaela to do further reading on whatever topic we are examining. An hour a week of formal nature study is what I am aiming for.

Handicrafts differ from arts and crafts. Handicrafts require a skill to be learned and produces projects that are useful. Mikaela already enjoys baking and cooking, so I am going to let her have time in the kitchen each week, alone, to explore recipes. A few of the handicrafts we will be learning are sewing, crocheting {she already knows the basics}, embroidery, calligraphy, jewelry making, paper beads, and working with felt. My list of handicrafts is ever-growing! I plan to have Mikaela spend a half hour to an hour in the afternoon or evening working on her handicraft.

I hope this list has helped you! I plan to share some more ideas next week on how to homeschool middle school the Charlotte Mason way!

An InLinkz Link-up

Stained Glass for Kids: Charlotte Mason Handicrafts

Charlotte Mason encouraged children to learn handicrafts. A handicraft differs from a craft in this way: a handicraft is something useful, and a craft is something you will probably throw away after it hangs on the fridge for a week. A handicraft is a skill your child {or you} will learn. As I was searching for handicrafts my children to work on this week, I came across a stained glass project that looked relatively easy. This is a project that will hang in our windows for a long time; this is a skill my children can learn and perfect as they get older.

Supplies needed:

8x10 picture frame
white glue
clear glue
black acrylic paint
assorted acrylic paints
clear spray enamel
hot glue
ribbon or chain to hang the frame
printed black-and-white stained glass pattern {we used stained glass coloring sheets}


Step One: Choose your pattern. We did a quick Google search for "stained glass coloring pictures". Print off the pattern you like - remember, simple is better for this project.

Step Two: Empty out a small amount of the white glue. Add a few drops of black acrylic paint and mix well. We used a craft stick to mix ours.

Step Three: Line up your pattern under the glass from the picture frame. {Take glass out of frame.} Using the now-black glue, trace your pattern. Go slowly! Add a border if there isn't one on your pattern.

Step Four: Let it dry overnight.

Step Five: Mix the clear glue with the colored acrylic paints; I used almost equal parts.

Step Six: Paint your glass!

Step Seven: After it is completely dry, spray with clear enamel.

Step Eight: Hot glue the glass into the frame. You will not put the back on the frame.

Step Nine: Hot glue ribbon or chain to the back of the frame. Hang in a window!!

I hope to feature many more handicrafts in the following months!

Click the banner below to read even more handicrafts and get some ideas for your children or yourself!


 

 

Blogging Through the Alphabet: R is for Returning

Wow! We are on Week 18 on Blogging Through the Alphabet! I can't believe I have kept it up this long, but there's no way I'll quit now! We are on the letter "R" this week, and I kept thinking of the word returning.

We will be returning to a family-integrated, Charlotte Mason style of homeschool. When we first started homeschooling some 8 years ago, I used many Charlotte Mason concepts without even realizing it. I had no idea there were different methods of homeschooling; I just did what worked for our family. We read the Bible, did copy-work from the verses we read, and found spelling words in our library books. We drew and colored pictures from our living science books and made lap-books and played games. We spent a lot of time outside enjoying nature. We used real coins to learn how to count money and real objects to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I gave them writing prompts to finish a story in their journals. And it worked - beautifully.

Somewhere along the way, I became consumed with shiny new curriculum catalogs and perusing curriculum websites and blogs. I had the "grass is greener" mindset when it came to homeschool curriculum. I always wanted to try something new, something shiny, something exciting. When it became dull or boring, I tried something else.

And now I'm returning to what works for us - what feels right for our family. Slowly, I'm introducing Charlotte Mason's methods into home. I'm not doing it all at once, for fear that we will burn out quickly.

I'm not buying much shiny, new curriculum - it's not necessary for the way we will homeschool. {Notice I said much - I did buy a history curriculum for the entire family to use.} We will be using books - real, living books - for spelling, copy-work, and grammar. We will use Notebooking instead of worksheets. We will be implementing more nature study and nature walks. We will be admiring beautiful art and wonderful music from many famous artists and composers. We will be learning handicrafts and trades that will be useful in life - cooking, baking, sewing, woodworking, gardening, pottery, painting, bead-making, and more. We will listen to poetry and memorize scriptures and enjoy our learning. Gentle homeschooling has been on my heart for a long time, and everything about Charlotte Mason's methods embrace this idea.

We are returning to a slow and steady homeschool.

Linking up with Blogging Through the Alphabet:

 

Haste Makes Mistakes: Charlotte Mason's Habit Training

In my efforts to lean more toward a Charlotte Mason lifestyle {I hesitate to use "Charlotte Mason homeschool", because CM is so much more than just school-it is a way of life}, I am beginning what Charlotte called habit training. The definition is pretty self-explanatory, but in a nutshell - your child's character is more important than their academics.

Charlotte Mason suggests working on one habit at a time, and I fully agree. If I start insisting my children learn ten different habits at once, they will be overwhelmed, and so will I!

We were reading in Proverbs 19 last night, and I read this verse aloud:

 

 

I explained the importance of taking the time to do our best work, without working so slowly that we can't get anything done. Some of my children have developed the bad habit of completing their work hastily, thus making many mistakes. Therefore, this is the first habit we are working on: perfect execution and thoroughness.

 

 

 

Here are the specific things we will be training:

• making sure our work is done correctly the first time
• taking our time to spell words correctly
• making sure the correct words are capitalized
• using correct punctuation
• not rushing through our notebook pages
• coloring our maps neatly
• labeling our maps neatly
• using sharp pencils and colored pencils
• double-checking that our math equations are written correctly before solving them
• checking {and correcting} our answers immediately
• listening to directions carefully
• slowing down!

We will work on this habit for around 3 weeks, or until we have all developed it perfectly.



What are some habits your children need training in?