Our Home Learning: Rhythm and Atmosphere

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about our transition from using the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling with living books to using Oak Meadow and implementing Charlotte Mason techniques. In this change, I took a closer look at the foundations of our home learning. Two of the most basic foundations that are most essential are the rhythm of our day and week and our atmosphere.

I learned the importance of a daily rhythm early on when my oldest son at age two would ask, "Mama, what are we doing today?" every morning. The more I have read, especially when doing research on Waldorf education, I can see how a daily rhythm, as well as a weekly one, sets our children up for positive learning by providing consistency so vital to keep a relaxed environment.

One of the most effective ways we keep our weekly rhythm is to have a calendar in our "learning room." Both of my sons, ages 6 and 9, can read, so if they ever wonder what is coming up in the next few days or weeks, all they have to do is look on the wall. For our daily rhythm, I refer to my lesson planner and our days pretty much play out the same each week. If there is something special coming up, it goes on our calendar.

 

We also keep a nature table that begins with a lovely purposeful nature scene that reflects the season. During the next few weeks, it transforms into a gathering of found treasures (feathers, leaves, acorns, pebbles, and the occasional nest) from our walks in the woodlands. (My youngest son becomes so attached to his natural treasures, that now we keep some of them in seasonal boxes. As the season progresses, we clean off the nature table, pull out our seasonal box, and he mingles his beloved treasures from years past with new found fancies.)

 



 

When we have cultivated a good rhythm to our days, we are able to focus more on a purposeful atmosphere that encourages organic learning. Oak meadow fits right in to this by often allowing children to pic from a variety of activities based on their interest. Part of our atmosphere is visual, so we provide an enriching learning space which includes:

 

a big view of the world,

 

 

a place to hang their artwork and lovely pictures,

 

a good collection of living books and ones that spark creative ideas,

 

learning resources we made ourselves,

 

and quality school supplies.

 

 

Now don't get me wrong, our home has its share of clutter, electronics, plastic toys, and less-than-ideal books, but we are a constant work in progress and growth. 

 

I have also come to realize that "atmosphere" also includes the unseen, as in the way we treat each other, how we carry ourselves, and what I model for my children. Do they see me on my computer? Yes, and I am mindful that it would be best for them to see me reading or doing hand work. Again a work in progress.  Charlotte Mason, in her book Parents and Children,  put it this way, "The child breathes the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which rule their own lives." This leads me to ask myself, how am I showing my children how to love learning? Learning creative thinking. Learning how to reason. Learning enquiry and evaluation. Learning empathy. Learning social skills. 

 

In the big picture, it all comes down to being purposeful, and keeping in mind the best piece of advice I have received on parenting. It came from my older sister who said, "Remember, you are not only raising sons, you are raising future husbands and fathers." 

 

Who are you raising?



Beeswax Modelling and A Giveaway

One of the things I like most about using the Charlotte Mason method in our homeschooling, is how well it trains my sons to focus through narration.  For our narration, I read a chapter from a classic book, right now it is Treasure Island, and Aidan, who is seven, tells me back what he can remember.  When we first began narration, I would have to stop at the end of a couple of paragraphs and have him narrate because he couldn't focus long enough to tell back an entire chapter.  I find, however, that he will focus best if his hands have something to do, so we began using beeswax modelling to compliment our read-aloud time. Shortly after I read, the boys will use the colorful beeswax to model something from the book and use it to retell the story. (For Robin Hood, it was a bow and arrow, and for The Tales of Mr. Pengachoosa, it was a little hamster.)  We use it to enhance our nature study as well, shaping the beeswax into flowers, butterflies, rainbows, etc.  The children are so proud of their creations.

 

 

 

 

I learned about beeswax modelling through my research into Waldorf education, where it is often used in the lower grades to supplement main lessons. Initially, I was hesitant to spend the money on the beeswax when play-doh was so inexpensive. But after I purchased some from an area Waldorf school, we were hooked.

The beeswax is a small hard strip, but becomes pliable with the warmth of your hand and is wonderful for fine motor skills. To keep it warm you can set it in a sunny spot or in warm water. As it cools, your creation will harden, but can be remolded easily. The beeswax strips have vibrant colors, are clean to handle, and have a lovely scent - a multi-sensory medium.

 

Are you ready to try beeswax modelling?  A Toy Garden is generously offering one of my readers a 12-piece set of Stockmar Modelling Beeswax.

To enter, leave a comment telling what will be the inspiration for beewax creations in your home, and follow A Toy Garden via email or facebook. (I would be glad for you to follow How the Sun Rose, but it is not a requirement.)  On Tuesday evening, April 9th, we will pick a winner. 

Thank you all for participating.  Congratulations to, Patti, who has been notified and is looking forward to many creative times using the modeling beeswax. 

My next giveaway, also from A Toy Garden, is coming soon...

  





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Charlotte Mason Says: Copywork - Spring Poetry

One of the fundamentals of using the Charlotte Mason method for homeschooling is relying on your child's ability to absorb knowledge through observation.  This proves true especially in copywork, in which a child will observe how the letter looks as well as spelling and punctuation.  For us, copywork is essential.  The reason we pulled our son out of public schools, was to help him develop skills to cope with add (primarily inattentive) and having him meticulously copy short passages, facts or poem stanzas, has certainly helped him improve his ability to focus.  We usually do copywork three times per week.  He especially enjoys copying poems, which fits right in with our poetry / poets study.  

It is especially important to use proper printing or cursive when presenting these poems for copywork.  Like Miss Mason wrote: "Set good copies before him, and see that he imitates his model dutifully: the writing lesson being not so many lines, or 'a copy'––that is, a page of writing––but a single line which is as exactly as possible a copy of the characters set. The child may have to write several lines before he succeeds in producing this.  A certain sense of possession and delight may be added to this exercise if children are allowed to choose for transcription their favourite verse in one poem and another."

 Below, you will find some poems especially suited for spring. The Notebooking Nook offers some lovely bird notebook pages Here. Enjoy!

THE BUILDING OF THE NEST

 

They’ll come again to the apple-tree -

Robin and all the rest -

When the orchard branches are fair to see,

In the snow of the blossom drest;

And the prettiest thing in' the world will be

The building of the nest.

 

Weaving it well, so round and trim,

Hollowing it with care,

Nothing too far away for him,

Nothing for her too fair,

Hanging it safe on the topmost limb,

Their castle in the air.

Ah ! Mother-bird, you’ll have weary days

When the eggs are under your breast,

And shadow may darken the dancing rays

When the wee ones leave the nest;

But they’ll find their wings in a glad amaze,

And God will see to the rest.

So come to the trees with all your train

When the apple blossoms blow;

Through the April shimmer of sun and rain,

Go flying to and fro;

And sing to our hearts as we watch again

Your fairy building grow.

 

Margaret Sangster

 

The Wind

I saw you toss the kites on high

 

And blow the birds about the sky;
 

And all around I heard you pass,

 

Like ladies' skirts across the grass--

     O wind, a-blowing all day long,
 

     O wind, that sings so loud a song!

 

I saw the different things you did,

But always you yourself you hid.

I felt you push, I heard you call,

I could not see yourself at all--

     O wind, a-blowing all day long,

     O wind, that sings so loud a song!

 

O you that are so strong and cold,

O blower, are you young or old?

Are you a beast of field and tree,

Or just a stronger child than me?

     O wind, a-blowing all day long,

     O wind, that sings so loud a song!

 

Robert Louis Stevenson

 

 

The Year’s at the Spring

The year's at the spring,

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hill-side's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in his Heaven—

All's right with the world!

Robert Browning

 

 

Midges Dance Aboon the Burn

 

 

The midges dance aboon the burn; 

  The dews begin to fa’; 

The pairtricks down the rushy holm 

  Set up their e’ening ca’. 

Now loud and clear the blackbird’s sang        

  Rings through the briery shaw, 

While, flitting gay, the swallows play 

  Around the castle wa’. 

 

Beneath the golden gloamin’ sky 

  The mavis mends her lay;        

The redbreast pours his sweetest strains 

  To charm the lingering day; 

While weary yeldrins seem to wail 

  Their little nestlings torn, 

The merry wren, frae den to den,         

  Gaes jinking through the thorn. 

 

The roses fauld their silken leaves, 

  The foxglove shuts its bell; 

The honeysuckle and the birk 

  Spread fragrance through the dell.        

Let others crowd the giddy court 

  Of mirth and revelry, 

The simple joys that nature yields 

  Are dearer far to me.

 
Robert Tannahill

 

(This last selection may seem rather difficult for children, but we use it because Robert Tannahill is a family ancestor from Scotland 1774-1810)

Charlotte Mason Says: Handiwork (Rainbow Yarn Jars)

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we use the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling while incorporating Waldorf techniques.  Lately I have been thinking about the direction our weekly rhythm needs to go in the realm of handicraft.  Charlotte Mason encouraged educators to teach children a useful craft or skill, not simply tom make quick projects that would end up in the trash in a few weeks.  During this, my first year of homeschooling, I have found so many tempting quick crafts to supplement our lessons, and while some have turned out to be useful for other lessons or treasured seasonal decorations, many were discarded after a few weeks of hanging on the fridge. 

Charlotte Mason wanted students to learn something more meaningful than a quick craft - a  life skill.  Waldorf education hits this right on with elementary-aged children learning watercolor painting and knitting.  We are going to move in this direction by turning our handiwork time toward useful, and therefor, treasured results and then move more toward a life skill that the boys will carry with them as they grow to be men. With this in mind, I am ready to whip out the knitting needles or woodworking tools, but I pull back in mind of what Charlotte Mason says, "No work should be given to a child that he cannot execute perfectly, and then perfection should be required from him as a matter of course." and, "The points to be borne in mind in children's handicrafts are: (a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like; (b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do; (c) that slipshod work should not allowed; (d) and that, therefore, the children's work should be kept well within their compass."

 We practice this "perfection" in copywork lessons, but in handiwork, not so much.  I tend to give my boys handiwork that could take up to an hour to complete, but find that at times they become frustrated because I have not taken the time to show them how to do it properly or they grow weary of the project and their works gets sloppy.  So today we are starting a new project and I will take time to show them how to do it, although it is quite easy, but maybe not for little hands. I will also allow them several days to complete their project. And the project will be of use to our family: Yarn Jars - just what we need to organize homeschool supplies and brighten our learning space. (Inspired by Donni at The Magic Onion.)

1. Pick out colorful yarn.

2. Stick 3 vertical strips of double-sided tape down the jar about 1 inch apart

3. Wrap the yarn around and around.

4. Spend about 10 minutes a day wrapping the yarn until done. 

     Use double-sided tape to hold the the ends of the yarn on the jar.

Here are a few links to other thoughts on Charlotte Mason and Handiwork:

Handicrafts vs Arts & Crafts

Benefits of Homeschool Handicrafts

Handicraft becoming Life Skills

What are you and your children doing for useful handicraft?  I would love to know. (Feel free to leave a link to a pinterest board or blog post of your own useful crafts in the comments section.)

Main Lesson Books & Block Crayons Giveaway

  

 

In our homeschooling adventures, nature study has provided ample opportunity for my son to tap into his creative side and encourage his observation skills.  One of his favorite parts of nature study is drawing what he has observed, whether it is a butterfly, a tree, or a rainbow.  For detailed drawings he uses a small blank book that travels with us to museums and parks. However, often, he needs a larger space to draw an entire landscape or large, more pronounced aspect of nature.  For that, he uses his treasured main lesson book. 

Main lesson books are typically used in Waldorf education, but are gaining popularity in Charlotte Mason homeschool families for seasonal or nature studies.  Main lesson book can be used for every subject, and are especially useful when teaching in blocks or unit studies.

Aidan's tree drawings after a maple sugaring field trip where we
learned that sugar maples have symmetrical branches.
(Drawn with Stockmar beeswax block crayons.)

Having quality art supplies is an essential part of our homeschool plan.  My children know that they have nice supplies and therefor take better care of what they have. Our main lesson books come from Oak Meadow, are 31x24cm, and have onion skin between the pages so the crayon drawings do not rub off on to the next page. These main lesson books are such quality that we will keep them for years to come as reference guides. They will also be a treasured source of pride and a journal of our children's homeschool journey and discoveries. We currently use them for our nature studies, but next year we will use our main lesson books for creating a Book of Centuries for history lessons, and a separate one for form drawing and math lessons.

The shining rainbow shows us Seven
As it stretches down from Heaven.

For our crayons, Aidan, who is seven, uses both Stockmar Beeswax stick and block crayons, also from Oak Meadow.  When we switched from cheaper crayons to these high quality beeswax crayons, Aidan remarked about how much brighter his beeswax crayons are than the ones in a traditional coloring box. And he is right. They are truly vibrant.

He recently began using block crayons and is learning techniques that give a soft blending texture that he cannot get with stick crayons and uses the edge for sharp lines. (I am looking forward to using them myself.) For more inspiration on using block crayons visit Homeschool Mo where Maureen writes about the evolution of block crayon use in her own homeschool journey.

Block crayons are perfect for bark rubbings.

Would you like to discover the beauty of block crayons as an art medium for yourself? Oak Meadow is generously offering one reader a set of 3 Main Lesson Books and a set of Stockmar Block Crayons. 

There are two ways to enter. (You are welcome to do both.)

1.  Like Oak Meadow on facebook, where you will join over 7,000 fans who enjoy daily informative and inspiring posts. Leave a comment that you did so and tell how you or your child would use the main lesson book and block crayons.

2. Follow How the Sun Rose via GFC (found on the sidebar) or facebook and leave a comment letting me know you did so.  (I often draw inspiration form my readers, and welcome your comments on posts and fellow bloggers linking up to Creative Learning on Fridays.)

On the evening of Monday, March 11, my 4 year old son will pick a random number out of our math river rocks and I will reveal the winner.

Our next giveaway is from A Toy Garden.  It is sure to inspire creativity!

Christmas Copywork - I Heard the Bells...

I want to share quickly what we are doing for copywork right now.  We started copying and discussing the poem last Thursday.   Little did we know how appropriate it would be for events to follow.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th'unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
'There is no peace on earth, ' I said
'For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.'

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.'

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-

May you have peace, hope, and joy this Christmas season.

I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will.

In the past, I have written about our homeschool adventure and how we tend to use the Charlotte Mason method and incorporate Waldorf techniques.  One of the many things I like about the Mason method is the idea of incorporating character development into our homeschool days. After all we are shaping our children’s minds, wills, emotions, and beliefs.  One of the fundamentals to developing one's character is the student motto:

"I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will."

Ambleside Online explains the motto in this way:

I Am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country. I'm a person of great value because God made me.

 

I Can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has made me able to do everything required of me.

 

I Ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and rest so my body is ready to serve.

 

I Will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and choose what's right even if it's not what I want.

In leading my sons toward the motto, I tell them outright what my expectations are, expose them to things (art, literature, poetry, music, etc.) that will encourage noble thoughts, and teach them of real people, past and present, who have lived out I am, I can, I ought, I will.  Ultimately, my goal is that they will apply what they have observed to their own life.

 In our homeschool days, I have introduced "I am" by teaching my boys that they have a role to fulfill in both our family and the world at large, and that they are dearly loved.  We continue to work through "I can" by presenting academic and life skilsl challenges as something that they can accomplish although it may seem to take a long time and possibly be a struggle to master.  In our history lessons, we saw that people of the past, such as David and Joan of Arc, lived out "I am" and "I can" and did great things because of it.

Here is where some Waldorf ideas/techniques come in.  I also use the festivals and folk tales to encourage the boys to think about "I am" and "I can". For example, during Michaelmas, we talked about Saint George slaying the dragon.  In the story we read, Saint George and the Dragon, we saw that he did not question if it was his duty to protect Una nor did he say he could not do it.  I also try to model all four aspects in our daily life and guide the boys to do the same, usually without referring to the motto directly, but just in a "This is who God means for us to be" way.

We recently began to focus on "I Ought" and "I Will."  We began with a poem study.

How Doth the Little Busy Bee
by Isaac Watts

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labors hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labor or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.

We also read about a busy squirrel who keeps his focus on preparing for the upcoming winter although many animals invite him to distraction in one of our favorite Nancy Tafuri books:

For Aidan, who is seven years old, we are reading Robin Hood for his narration exercise, a simple telling back in his own words what he has heard.  This allows him to absorb the good deeds of Robin Hood and express in his own words what he remembers and admires in the story.  Inevitably, Aidan applies the deeds to himself and acts out the story in his play time.  Aidan is also a Wolf Cub in Boy Scouts, where there is a natural focus on the responsibility of each boy to his family and community.

It will be interesting to see how incorporating "I am, I can, I ought, I will" continues to guide our homeschool adventure. What a difference these eight words can make in our lives.