Morning Nature Walk

This is our 2nd week of AOy3. While last week we just did an impromptu pull-over-the-car-by-the-side-of-the-road-to-grab-a-pretty-sample-of-a-plant nature focus, I wanted to make sure this week we had a good amount of leisure time to take a hike and see what we could see. The kids really enjoy going on hikes, and as we live in such a beautiful part of Texas with lots of nature just outside, I really have been needing to schedule this time into our week. Otherwise, as history has shown me, we just don't make it a habit! 

This morning we took a walk on a trail and ended up taking some time to identify and study more closely a couple of the numerous species of oak trees here. We identified the post oak - Quercus stelatta - with a good look at the leaf shape (a Greek cross), acorn and tree trunk (very short).

at the post oak

post oak leaf (Greek cross) and acorn

We also enjoyed admiring the Texas Red Oak (or Buckley's oak) - Quercus buckleyi - which is a beautiful crimson red right now! Its acorn is darker and larger than the post oak's.

Texas Red Oak

red oak leaf and acorn

The kids chose the Texas Red Oak to add to their nature notebooks today. They enjoy doing the leaf rubbings as well.

I kept seeing a small tree that was unknown to me before, so I attempted to identify it once home. As it turns out, this is a shrub called the Willow baccharis - Baccharis salicina - a native plant to California. It is not a welcome plant here evidently because it seems to be like our ash juniper, which sucks a lot of moisture and nutrients out of the soil. It also is poisonous to wildlife and livestock, so provides very little value there. Apparently there have even been studies done in our county as to how to best control this pesky shrub!

Willow baccharis

AOy2, Term 3 ~ EXAM

We have reached the end of another AO year! 

Although I am still working on "fitting it all in", I am making progress. And so is my son Royal, now age 8. And that is the important thing to focus on.

Following are this term's EXAM topics. I have taken many from the Ambleside Online Exam form. I tweaked a few phrasings, and then fleshed out the exam even more with additional ideas gleaned from this wonderful source!

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Bible

1.   What did Joseph tell his father and brothers about his dreams? (Gen 37)

2. How did Joseph make himself known to his brothers in Egypt? Tell the whole story. (Gen 42-44)

3. Tell the story of the Ten Bridesmaids OR about when Jesus returns and all the nations are gathered before Him. (Matt 25)

4. Tell about one of the events from right before Jesus’ death. (Matt 26-27)

Penmanship

       Copy:

“For the sun it is merry and bright” (Robin Hood)

1.    Print

2.   Cursive as much as you remember the letter formations.

History

1. Tell about the Princes in the Tower (OIS, Ch 59: Richard III and Little King Edward and his brother)

2. What do you know about the Hundred Years War? (CHOW, Ch 57)

3. Talk about Columbus OR Joan of Arc.

Tales

1. Tell what you know about Vanity Fair OR Doubting Castle. (Pilgrim’s Progress)

2. Tell your favorite story from Robin Hood.

Geography

1. Describe a Pacific Island/Hawaii (Seabird, Ch 12 or 20) OR describe China (Seabird, Ch 21)

2. Gather props to demonstrate what causes the change of day and night.

       What are the four seasons?

   Explain how we get the four seasons also using your props.

Natural History and General Sciences

1. Describe from memory something you drew in your Nature notebook and tell everything you know about it.

2. Name some big and little cat cousins OR some of Buster Bear’s cousins. (Burgess Animal Book, Ch 30 or 33)

3. Talk about some of the wild animals we saw above the tree line going up Pike’s Peak.

Reading Skill

       Read this passage in your clearest voice.

Free Reads

       Which was your favorite book, Farmer Boy or Heidi?

       Draw a scene from either of these books and tell me about it.

Arithmetic

1. Add 405 + 142. (547)

2. Subtract 378 – 63. (315)

3. Count by 2s to 20.

4. County by 3s to 30.

5. There are 6 chairs in each row. How many chairs are there in 3 rows? (18)

Spanish

1. Recite the poem: Soy un árbol.

2. Sing: Juan 3:16

3. Answer:

   ¿Qué día es hoy?

   ¿Qué es la fecha?

   ¿En cuál estación estamos? (invierno, primavera, verano, otoño)

   ¿De qué color es …? (use colored item cards and point to random ones)

4. Mercado:

(set up a small market and have student be the salesclerk; teacher or other student is the client; salesclerk must greet client and speak about everything he can in his market)

Picture Study

1. Describe your favorite picture you studied of this term’s artist, Mary Cassatt.

2. Describe your favorite painting from yesterday’s visit to the Kimbell Art Museum.

Bible Recitation

1. Say as much of James 1 as you have memorized.

2. John 5:24

Singing

1. Sing your favorite folksong from this term (I’ll Tell My Ma OR Billy Boy)

2. Sing your favorite hymn from this term (I Love to Tell the Story OR O Worship the King)

Handicrafts

1. Tidy your room and closet for inspection.

2. Do your best floor and table duty cleanings.

Composer Study

Talk about the sounds of either Mark O’Connor OR Igor Stravinsky and why you liked his compositions or not.

Art

1. What are the primary colors?

2. Draw a simple example of coloring with line, using horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

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Here are a few samples of written/drawn responses:

Copywork in print, then in cursive. I had Royal do the cursive letters as best he could from memory. I told him to just print the ones he could not recall the formation of.
Below this are three math problems. Apparently he had trouble with the last one, which is ok. This was still fairly new material.

A scene from Farmer Boy. Father comes down when the children have awoken in the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Day. Almanzo is so excited about his knife and hat.

A simple example of coloring with line.

Exam time is always enlightening for me. I like to be reminded of things I am doing well in, along with those things I still have need for improvement.

One area I need to focus more on still is Nature Study. Granted we have done more this last term than in previous terms combined (!), but it is still nothing I organize. It is more "on-the-fly" and hoping for the best, as far as finding something to observe or study. Fortunately, nature has presented itself in a timely manner for our weekly scheduled study. I would still like to be more intentional with this aspect of our school though.

Two fails for me, if you will, are:

1. poetry memorization

2. physical education

Poetry is something we read and enjoy; however, I have not encouraged or implemented the memorization of pieces.

Physical education is also something that is not "official". The kids run and play outside, but nothing is organized. Should it be, though?

Moral Teaching: a Personal Testimony

But I don't want to!

image from: planetpov.com

How many times have we said this growing up? And now, as mothers, how many times shall we hear it again? 

Not long ago, in my young adult life, I said this over and over again to the urging of my mother to get my teaching degree. Then after college I wandered aimlessly about for a couple of years with no real purpose on this earth but to seek my own pleasure and find my own way.

I returned home after a few months out of the country...lost, confused and spiritually barren. What was I doing? Where was I going? Why was God absent?

Then after a series of circumstances, the main one being that I began to relinquish my own desires for what the Lord might have for me, I began to draw nigh to the Lord and seek His will over mine. 

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. -James 4:7-8

After this (and getting married), I needed to find a job...no, a career, to support my husband through Seminary. Well guess what? I felt the holy nudge to interview for a junior high Spanish teaching position. During the interview, for the first time in my life I had the overwhelmingly clear sensation ... like a peace wash over me ... that this is what God wanted me to do. I was offered the job without having any teaching certificate on the condition I would work towards and acquire it during the following 3 years. 

I accepted.

I tell this very condensed version of my life story only to give a living example of "But I don't want to!" ... followed by several years of living in confusion and spiritual torment ... to "But I ought to...and I will." I finally came to the place where I was tired of being selfish and decided to let God prove Himself to be all He said He is. And I would obey and follow Him, as I ought. If I say with my mouth that He is my Lord, then I owe it to Him to show that I believe it by following and serving Him in obedience.

'Ought' is part of the verb 'to owe,' and that which we owe is a personal debt to a Lawgiver and Ruler. -Vol 3, p 126

Was I forced to accept the teaching position? Of course not. But had I disobeyed (or ignored) God's urging Spirit, I would not have experienced first-hand His power working through me during the following 5 years of teaching...nor would I have been as prepared for the next steps of obedience that would come after this.

Even the divine authority does not compel. It indicates the way and protects the wayfarer, and strengthens and directs self-compelling power. It permits a man to make free choice of obedience rather than compels him to obey. -Vol 3, pp 127-128

So what wisdom can we impart to our precious children from our own experiences of choosing "ought" over "want" and willing ourselves to submit to our Higher Authority? Or maybe the opposite: choosing "want" over "ought" and falling into the dregs of stubbornness and selfishness? I can testify that it brings many an opportunity to share with my children in both instances! 

So when I hear, "But I don't want to!" when I ask my daughter to clean the table or my son to pick up toys, I remind them that it is their duty... that I still have to do things I do not feel like doing, but must (like wash the dishes and change dirty diapers)... that they also must learn to do things that are right and necessary even if they don't feel like it ...

because this is just the beginning of learning to obey the Lord.

Horns and Antlers

Recently our family had the opportunity to enjoy a wildlife tour near our home. Besides the thrill of seeing so many non-native animals to Texas (many of them from Africa and India) as we drove through the 1800-acre park, we were able to learn so many interesting things about these animals.

One little tidbit that stood out to me was the explanation of the difference between horns and antlers.

Which is which?

On the left is the horn. On the right is the antler.

I was so intrigued at being able to hold and feel these in my own hands and get a good look at the cross-section. The horn felt just like a piece of sanded wood. It was dense, with the outer coating like the fine bark of a tree. The antler was more like what I would expect, being also visibly porous: bony. However, they are both bone!

Take a look at this quick video for a super-simplified (and somewhat entertaining) explanation:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM7WJpVDi8E

Some basic differences are...

HORNS:

• Bone core with keratin coating
• If broken, will not grow back (permanent)
• Never branched

Gemsbok

ANTLERS:

• Begin as cartilage, then through ossification turn to bone
• Shed and grow back yearly (not permanent)
• Branched

Fallow Deer

For more in-depth information and scientific reading, visit here. I found this very helpful ... and it has pictures! (always a plus)

Gecko: A Quick Study!

Mediterranean house gecko

Hubby spotted this little guy on a family nature walk recently.

Apparently, there are two species of introduced house geckos in Texas. This is one of them. The Mediterranean house gecko (or Turkish gecko), Hemidactylus turcicus, and the Common house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus. Supposedly these little guys are nocturnal, but this sighting was in mid-afternoon. And the introduction of this particular gecko probably happened as a result of being stowed away on ships coming from Europe.

How amazing to see the shedding in process and get to explain this bit of science to our little academians :-)

It kept trying to hide from us, but once in this position with his head nestled in the shale, he kept still and we were even able to pet him!

Reflections of our First AO Exam

Yes, we just finished Term ONE. I feel very tired when I think about TWENTY-FOUR more weeks of this year's work, while some of you are well into your second (even third!) term.

HOWEVER!

I am so thankful we can do school at our own pace and on our own schedule.

During the last couple of weeks of Term 1, I began to ponder the benefits of giving an exam. (I didn't do exams in AOy1). As I had read in other blogs about the good things (and ugly things) that can be revealed as a result of testing, I figured I'd best take the plunge now before I get either a) too cocky about my child's education, or b) too worried that I am making a horrible mess of it.

I needed to know! ... And I also wanted Royal to begin getting acquainted with the idea that this whole school-thing isn't just here today and gone tomorrow...that what he is learning is important enough to really know and remember for a lifetime.

So I just nabbed the AO exam sample for Year 2 and used it word-for-word. And I am so thankful for this resource. I feel like it should be called Ambleside's Exam-Writing for Dummies. It was concise, yet very telling of what my young learner knows. I have to say I was extremely impressed with his memory!

On the morning of testing, I recalled how others had said they recorded their students to listen to again later (and type up answers), so I quickly decided to see if there was an app for recording. And I found one that was FREE with excellent reviews, aptly named Voice Recorder. It's great too because I can just record the different sections of the exam at different times, then put them all into one folder, which I named AOy2 Term 1 Exam. I can also transfer these files to my laptop's hard drive to keep for posterity's sake :-)

All-in-all, my entire first-time exam proctoring was a satisfying experience ... and quite a relief as well. Apparently, Royal is being educated. 

And I am not teaching him anything!

No one knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him; therefore, there is no education but self-education, and as soon as a young child begins his education he does so as a student. -Vol 6, p.26

AOy2, Term 1 Artist Study: Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

 As we read through Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists, we learned that Renoir and Monet were quite good friends and painted a lot together. They actually worked together, along with a handful of others, to invent impressionism, where they would use quick brush strokes and would incorporate the natural light in the out-of-doors. Although this style of painting was not well-received at first, obviously it has become widely regarded as one of the most enjoyable genres of painting. 

We focused on several weeks of picture study, looking at and getting familiar with a few selected prints, the heart of our artist study. I agree with, and am always amazed at, Miss Mason's wisdom in her method of teaching...a short, focused time of study proves most fruitful in education. And in studying art, we should do just that: study the art! 

We recognise that the power of appreciating art and of producing to some extent an interpretation of what one sees is as universal as intelligence, imagination, nay speech, the power of producing words. But there must be knowledge...of what has been produced; that is, children should learn pictures ... by reading, not books, but pictures themselves. -Vol 6, p. 214

We tried free-hand drawing...

watercolors... 

drawing markers...

and map pencils to color in the famous work: Luncheon of the Boating Party.

And isn't it always interesting to discover, of the feast we present to our young learners, what little morsels they take away and enjoy for themselves the most? Royal, on his Term 1 Exam, after being asked to describe his favorite painting from the past 12 weeks, answered with this:

The Clown

He described it quite simply with the description of color; however, he also noted the boy's expression because we had read a little of the story behind this painting. He latched onto the fact that Claude (this young boy who is Renoir's son), was not in a happy mood because his dad was making him wear this hideous clown costume!

As in a worthy book we leave the author to tell his own tale, so do we trust a picture to tell its tale through the medium the artist gave it. -Vol 6, p.216

Can Reason be Unreasonable?

As some of you also may have tuned in to the debate on the origins of the world between Ken Ham and Bill Nye online the other night, you may be aware of hundreds upon hundreds of responses in favor of (or opposed to) one man or the other. And regardless of your personal opinions of either one, you will most likely find yourself in the Ham camp or the Nye camp.

With this atmosphere in place, I read through the first portion of Charlotte Mason's School Education (Chapter XI, Volume 3): Some Unconsidered Aspects of Intellectual Training. 

So I venture to ponder the power of reasoning...

Wouldn't you suppose that, as scientists, both Ham and Nye have a very powerful reasoning capacity? Isn't that a lot of what science is? The ability to study, observe, deduce...reason. 

And wouldn't you suppose that this power is a conscious effort put forth?

Wouldn't you also suppose that much of this power is a gift put into hours and hours of practice?

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Miss Mason proposes that this power is actually quite limited in nature and function.

We all know how often we go to bed with a difficult question to settle. We say we will sleep upon it, and, in the morning, behold, the whole question has worked itself into shape: we see all its bearings and know just how to act.

Children should be taught to know that much of our reasoning and so-called thinking is involuntary, --is as much a natural function as is the circulation of our blood, and that this very fact points to the limitations of reason. -Vol 3, p. 115

And regarding the apparent and marked ability of those we label as "gifted", Mason merely states that these people have employed and practiced intellectual habits.

They make a man able to do that which he desires to do with his mental powers. -Vol 3, p. 118

The habits in question are acquired through training and are not bestowed as a gift. Genius itself...is an infinite capacity for taking pains. -Vol 3, p. 119

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I do agree that scientists such as Ham and Nye have a great power to reason and think things through. But are any of their reasoned viewpoints unreasonable?

I read in Volume 3, p. 116 the reasoning power, acting in a more or less mechanical and involuntary manner, does not necessarily work towards the morally right conclusion. 

Couldn't this also be true regarding arriving at the scientifically or ethically or spiritually right conclusion?

All that reason does for us is to prove, logically, any idea we choose to entertain. 

We all know that, entertain a notion that a servant is dishonest, that a friend is false, that a dress is unbecoming, and some power within us, unconsciously to us, sets to work to collect evidence and bring irrefragable proof of the position we have chosen to take up.

How necessary then that a child should be instructed to understand the limitations of his own reason, so that he will not confound logical demonstration with eternal truth.

Vol 3, p. 116

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Could your reasoned conclusions of any particular point be unreasonable?

How do we know if they are? 

And how do we change, if so?

I propose we look to the One Who has no limitations and Who never changes.
Let's take a peek through His lens. 

Form I: Would you like Shakespeare with that?

Romeo and Juliet before Father Lawrence, by Karl Ludwig Friedrich Becker

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Shakespeare in elementary?

I never thought that such high-quality literature would be suitable to read to a child. And I, like many others from centuries past to the present-day, apparently have been spoon-feeding our children a watered-down, uninspiring version of the freshest, purest nectar available.

And it's just ok. Because we didn't know any different.

We have...put into the children's hands lesson-books with pretty pictures and easy talk, almost as good as story-books; but we do not see that, after all, we are but giving the same little pills of knowledge in the form of a weak and copious diluent. -Vol 1, p.176

But now we do know different. And different is so much richer and tastier!

Taking into account that ideas are for the mind as nutritious food is for the body, why wouldn't we offer a great array of these to our knowledge-hungry children? 

This process of feeding goes on with peculiar avidity in childhood, and the growth of an idea in the child is proportionably rapid. -Vol 1, p. 174

One of the ways to provide for our children's appetites for knowledge is through the brilliant mind of Shakespeare.

And just how do we put this into action with the lofty and incomprehensible talk that a 6-, 7- or 8-year-old ... oh, heck, even a 40-year-old! ... must presume is being babbled out in the original manuscripts of this English fellow from ages past?

By the way, I just love that my young ones are getting exposed to the storylines of Shakespeare's works at this stage in life. And I just love that I am getting a better grasp on them. Because not only are my children's minds hungry for knowledge, my mind is as well. I love this about homeschooling (as a student myself) under Charlotte Mason's inspired thoughts and writings!

So through Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare to Tales from Shakespeare, our minds together are getting a bounty of delicious aliment. 

And it is so satisfying!