Others, like myself, are sort of boo-hooing about the past year but optimistic about what the future holds. On our end, the Appian Way Teaching Home here in Fayetteville, North Carolina is certainly going to go through some changes, but I'm kind of excited about what I learned NOT to do for my other children and I'm glad I'm only at the beginning of this long journey!
Having been determined to homeschool since the beginning of my first pregnancy and having devoured virtually every book on the subject, I had, even as a protestant, determined that a Classical Education was the way to go for our family. It still is-- my husband is a philosopher and thinker through and through, and both of us are HUGE on virtue and character, and the idea of teaching people to be good thinkers and moral people first, believing that learning follows. We have great admiration for the "ancient " methods and a tendency to be "heavy handed" both academically and in the realm of discipline of the mind and body. A classical curriculum seems the obvious choice. We are even more convinced of this than ever, as the Classical Method is the spiritual heritage of the Roman Catholic Church.... it IS our educational method and always has been.
Last year was the first year I "officially" began schooling my oldest, who is turning five this month. I had been given several wonderful complete sets of classical-oriented curriculae along with books, etc and determined to just go ahead and go for it.
For the first three months, I bravely stacked workbook upon workbook, rounded my kiddos (even the baby) up around the kitchen table and drilled and instructed them in all the things I felt they should be learning. At this point , I had read "The Well Trained Mind" and absorbed most of what it has to say, implementing it as I understood it alongside the complete K Seton curriculum I had been given, along with a daily adaptation of a GREAT book I was given called "First Grade Learning at Home."
We did this for about two hours a day, and it was NOTHING like I had hoped. In fact, I fought my way through the entire experience, my kids backtalking and just generally loathing the entire thing. My oldest, who had been showing an uncanny desire to read at three was now completely disinterested, I was exhausted, and the thought of one more interjection from my non-Catholic father in law as I drilled my tiny pupils in catechism because he always seems to be making toast while we are doing call and response catechism questions was making me want to tear my hair out. I was a mess. A frustrated, angry, dejected, and probably quite depressed mess.
I realized, one morning, after having fought for over an hour with my oldest to get her to write one single "B," and then watching her daddy teach her to write an entire word in the space of five minutes with seemingly no effort at all, that I needed to RELAX and HAVE FUN with this or it wasn't going to take.
(I know, I know, they say it in all the books! But I somehow missed that. Selective hearing, and all that.)
Even though I enjoy more than anything sitting down with a giant, fat reference book and analyzing the heck out of a text, and writing neat lines down a perfectly fresh, lined sheet of paper..... my kids are KIDS. All they want to do is fling mud and eat cheerios. They are in the Grammar Stage of the Trivium... not quite ready to take apart Plato yet. Hah.
Fantasy of homeschool life, meet reality.
What followed was a rather deep depression. Amidst all the other stresses we were undergoing as a family, I could see myself losing touch with my kids and what's worse, having no idea how to correct it. I wanted desperately to homeschool but as my oldest approached five and cared less and less about "doing school" I knew that I was going to have to figure something out or off to my Public School nightmare she would have to go. Terror and depression gripped me, so I turned to God and asked Him for some help.
It came to me in the funniest form. I was upstairs re-organizing stacks of willow house catalogs and decided to dump all the homeschool "stuff" I had accumulated on the shelf that I hadn't touched to make some room. As I took out coloring books and play guides, I came across a box: Saxon Phonics, for K. Inside was a brand spanking new Saxon Phonics set, and I brought it downstairs, determined to use it with my daughter. I thought to myself- "Hey, if ALL I do is teach her to read and count, have fun, and obey me this year, that's ALL that matters."
(Which, hello, is basically the premise of the Classical Method, but again... haha... somewhere in the confusion of learning "how to" homeschool, I missed that.)
Amazingly, as soon as I dropped all the "subjects" and "workbooks" and "units" and just started teaching her phonics, math, and directed play (play that taught her something according to her interests and ideas I gave her) school became AMAZING. And my other two began to be able to participate.
So fast forward a few months as I perfected this method-- here it is early March and I've been "officially" schooling for almost seven months. And I have only NOW begun to really school her, because only now have we come to a system that actually works! ALL we do is three simple programs: Saxon math, (although I'm considering a change to Math U See) Saxon Phonics, and an incredible program called "5 in a Row." (read about it here.) 5 in a Row is the beginnings of a "great books" program for little people... an in itself a complete curriculum, because it teaches science, history, geography, and fine arts all from a story the family reads together. It's perfect.
Even more amazing, as I studied the homeschool options further having put a school year under my belt and with the experience to know what to look for, I came across a method I had encountered only briefly before, a method created by a Victorian Age Englishwoman named Charlotte Mason. And what I found, in her method, was EXACTLY what I had uncovered-- a classical education with a few tweaks to make it more versatile and functional for the YOUNG mind. The more Charlotte Mason I read the more Charlotte Mason I loved, and I felt so drawn to her ideas because I had just TRIED schooling the other way for a year and I knew it just didn't work unless we implemented the very things she was recommending. I think that at the base, ANY Classical method family is already doing most of the things the CM method recommends.
There was something, though, that I found unsettling, and that prevented me (and prevents me still) from completely making the jump from a Classical Curriculum to the Charlotte Mason approach. I continue to ponder this "feeling" of concern, and I would love to know the experiences others have had both Catholic and protestant, using Charlotte Mason or avoiding it and what you might think. My concerns stem from her worldview. First, she was profoundly secular, even in her vision of Christianity (being a protestant herself) and thus she has often written in ways which set of "warning" alarms in my head as I read... often making appeals to the pride of her readers, using, quoting, and admiring historical persons with deplorable lives or pasts as far as the "Christian" character of the virtues she expounds. On the one hand, I admire this, because she has easily been able to draw what is good, right and true from even the most depraved of persons, and this is surely a very "Catholic" approach, and an example of charity in a world where it often lacks. However, I think she just seems to "miss the mark" a little when it comes to the practical application of her techniques and ideas, for example, possibly (and again, I'm not sure because I haven't seen it in practice, but--- possibly) focusing a little too much on the "Self," or on a more child-led than parent-led education, which is of great concern to me.
I am also ever wary of almost ALL things that came from the Victorian Era, and especially from England, a place and a time period which certainly lacked in every way the interior Catholic and Christian virtues necessary for a good and holy life. I am wary of her "modernizing" effect on the traditional Classical Method.... she preferred English books to Latin and Greek, whereas in our family we believe we must continue to bring these to the center of our children's lives. On the other hand, I have found her methods to be perfectly in line with the Classical Approach and very compatible. I have found them easy to "reorder" in a Catholic sense (for example, her ideas about scripture memory and bible time are PERFECT additions to a regular Catholic catechesis, in which we teach the "correct interpretation" of the Bible reading we have done.In other words, I think the Traditional Catholic "concern" I have seen in homeschool circles over Catholics using the Charlotte Mason Method is not entirely misplaced, but possibly misdirected....let the method be what it is, and accept it's good qualities, for they are many, accepting also its flaws, and perfecting on them the best way we can.
Be aware, then, of a secular and modernist mindset in her work, and look for ways to perfect her ideas so that they conform to true Christian doctrine. But by all means, I think, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater! The Charlotte Mason method seems, to me, to be an easy way to implement a Classical Curriculum for the early years. I don't really have an opinion for the later years as I'm not quite there yet, as you can see. :)
As it is now, we are using an almost ENTIRELY CM curriculum which is adapted to fit the "Trivium" guidelines, with a major emphasis on the great books. Some CM things we do each day (or that we will be doing in the next schoolyear as this schoolyear is drawing to a close.)
1. Focus on habits. Charlotte Mason believed strongly in instilling good habits and this is something we try to do daily. We initially tried to use the Proverbs "Christian Character" chart used by the Duggars, and will continue to use it this year. It is a series of proverbs based virtues and an idea for the implementation of each one.
2. Nature Walks. I avoided these like the plague last year because we live in North Carolina and it's either roasting hell-like hot or freezing cold. I recognize, though, that I have to suck it up, because my kids need it, love it, and want it.... and it's an excellent "teachable moment" I ignore every day.
3. Copywork. Again, this seems so obvious but it never occurred to me until I read it in the Charlotte Mason system: at this age, air writing, writing in rice, sand, etc, writing on poster boards, dry erase boards, and chalkboards. Tracing letters. Etc.
4. Handicrafts and Life skills. This is a department we are already strong in, but I plan on being more "serious" about it--- sewing, knitting, baking, cooking, and other forms of creative housework.
5. Art. There are so many times my kids see a painting and show interest in it and I say "yeah. that IS pretty!" and let the moment go by. The Charlotte Mason method includes Picture Studies, and I will be doing more picture studies with the kids. Ditto for music, especially classical music.
6. Poetry. We already read a lot of poetry in the "Moral Compass" book we do for bedtime stories. But I'm going to add more purposeful poetry.
7. Bible. Again, we already do a lot of Bible reading! But Charlotte Mason teaches parents wonderfully easy scripture memorization ideas, and gives lots of advice for helping children get used to hearing Bible Stories in their original form, not dumbed down. I love that!
Happy schooling, mammas!
Yes, Barbie! I have not familiarized myself with a lot of original Charlotte Mason writings--you are obviously a much faster and devoted reader than I! Most of what I know of Charlotte Mason is from "For the Children's Sake," by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, which is a summary/interpretation of her methods and which does not mention CM's condoning people who lived deplorable lives. But that would concern me too. I DID notice the secular slant, and the focus on the Self seemed off-base to me too. But like you, I find it to be an extremely useful and insightful method of teaching.
ReplyDeleteSo--are you teaching your young ones latin, greek, etc? are you having them read books in those languages? I personally can't even seem to teach my little ones German, my mother tongue! aaaah!
Also, I am jealous of all your books. Want to go browse books RIGHT. NOW. also, i LOVE 5-in-a-row. but detest having to buy all those hard-to-find books. Basically, my method is life-teaching no matter where we are. I decided in the fall to wait a year before starting "formal" homeschool with sparrow, which is probably a good thing since I had just had a baby. and people kept advising me that it was better to start later than too early. Plus the fact that I am really big on artistic development (i was an art major!) and i think it can be detrimental to artistic creativity and confidence to guide the mind into writing, symbols, etc. before the age of five. (although my daughter is so curious that it was kind of inevitable. she was interested even in the number symbols and learned them super easily, and will sit and do those cheesy Dollar-store math workbooks on her own! cringe!) The sad thing is, i also suuuuuuuuuper slacked off on reading to her this past year, when before, i would do at least 6 books a day, and we read through all of the original "little house on the prairie" series awhile back, and yes--it kept her attention! The point is, I have been home schooling her in many ways, but the difference is that I am not organized. I do little bits here, little bits there, and take opportunities as they come. the real test will be when I have to make a schedule and keep to it! aack! I LOVE teaching to read, by the way. so exciting. what method are you using?
speaking of math--oh, were we not still speaking of math?--have you checked out the MEP curriculum? i LOVE it. we have been s-l-o-w-l-y going through the beginning of that this year, too. it makes me so excited to re-learn math and is a wonderfully fun and intuitive way to learn it. It uses a lot of different parts of the brain, as in: encourages physical pattern play, incorporating the whole body: right/left motions, looking at pictures to compare height, distance, amount, etc. etc. and does NOT introduce number symbols at ALL for some time. (instead, they do a lot of "knock this number on your desk" or "clap/jump/stomp this number." here is a link:
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm
oh, I also really really love CM's emphasis on children re-telling what they just learned/heard. this is so important in order for them to learn to listen, to think critically, and to be able to form and express their own thoughts on a matter. And when they do this verbally, you can at the same time train them on proper rhetorical methods.
ok, RAMBLE! basically, i agree with you, I think CM can be incorporated into nearly any method, but the mother is obviously the most qualified person to judge how her child learns best, even if it is doing a worksheet!
Doris, we don't buy the five in a row books (unless they are like, amazing!) I'm the crazy library lady-- the one with the laundry basket full of books each week. ;)
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought of working up a book list? It would be very helpful for those of us just dipping our toes in! I am very curious by what you mean when you say more Latin and Greek rather than English.
ReplyDeleteMerci!
I recently did a post with a booklist that needs some fixing, but it's up. I will also be posting another one on my next planning day in the next month!
ReplyDeleteThe kids basically did immersion in Latin for the first six months or so before beginning to work on English reading. CLAA's Petty School Reading program is perfect for this.