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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Keeping Company :: October

Welcome, October!  It's a lovely time of year for Keeping, isn't it?  Still warm enough for journaling outdoors, but crisp enough in the mornings and evenings for tea and a commonplace.  The new school year also feels fresh yet familiar, and new habits have become smoother in practice but still inspiring in their novelty.  Can you tell I love autumn? :)

Starting the Discussion

I'll share a quick look at something I'm hoping to write about more soon: my own history keeping.  Here's what I've got going so far as we finish up Term 1 this week...


As you can see, these are works in progress, but I'm having fun with these simple but effective activities.  I feel like they're boosting my retention of the readings and helping me make connections -- and I'm having fun with it too!  And my Big Kids and I enjoy seeing how different our maps and charts look.  For example, here are their century-charts-in-progress at the end of Term 1:


Seeing our work side by side drives home how personal these are to the student.  They require the student to cull, organize, connect, ponder, notice.  There is no formula to make some perfect final product.  This is mind work coming through in ink.  It's inspiring to watch and even more to join in on!

This Month's Round-Up

Some bloggy favorites from September...

I always enjoy the weekly round-ups at A Peace in the Puzzle -- this time she got me with her Til We Have Faces excerpt (it's perpetually on my to-read list!) and the connection she made between Mr. Legality and Seneca.

Melanie takes their Morning Basket on the go!

Don't miss these lovely words Amy shares from her commonplace.  I've been thinking a lot about place and space -- so intangible but also so tangible.  This quote hits that balance so well.

Hurrah for another peek at Moozle's work from the ever-inspiring Carol!

And some favorites from #KeepingCompanyCM over on Instagram...

aolander - legendsandlace - msjschole - littledrops5
theycallmemommy618 - vlcjrogers - jennyp0208 - all.saints.academy

thanks33 - kaypelham - sarahjokim - theycallmemommy618
tribecham - oneripetomato - northlaurel - catieredhead

beuniqueheather - abundantsoul - athena_amidstthereeds
witheagerhands - mariasugiyopranoto - stoppingforbutterflies

And now it's your turn...

The Link-Up

Instructions:
:: For bloggers: Click on the "Add my link" button below, and it will prompt you to include the information for your post.  Once you submit it, your link will be added to the list, and others will be able to click over and read what you have shared.
:: For Instagrammers: Tag related photos with #KeepingCompanyCM to join the link-up.

Guidelines:
:: Remember to link to a specific post and not to your blog's homepage. 
:: Any posts about CM-style Keeping are welcome!  The prompt is optional.  Your post can be as simple as a photo of your commonplace book.
:: Feel free to add more than one post.  The link-up will be open for a month, so you can come back and add more if you are so inclined.
:: You can grab the button over there on the sidebar if you'd like to add it to your post or site.

As always, thanks for sharing!



7 comments:

  1. I. LOVE. your history keeping ideas, Celeste. Such an inspiration! It bears repeating that I am so very thankful you are traveling this path before me.

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  2. I, too, love seeing ALL the things you do WITH your kids! It's very inspiring! :)

    I'm still trying to figure out the BOC/timeline thing. I know you do both, but how exactly? I just watched Leah Boden (on FB?) talking about always having her BOC near her throughout the day and I love that idea! But then, I wonder if a separate timeline for each child is needed? I'm kind of thinking out loud here, so you don't necessarily have to respond.. :) I'll poke around and see what I can find!

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    1. I don't do both, actually -- I'm waiting until Year 6 for my Big Kids (and I) to start a BoC. So in Years 4 and 5 we're doing century charts and various short-term timelines (like the timeline of a person or a war), and I'm keeping those along with them. The century charts are the formal "keeping" bit and are required; any other timelines they choose to do are based on interest. Since the century chart requires both a grid-like format, a focus on culling to the most important events, and some line drawing skills, I think they're a great segue into the official BoC when we restart the history cycle in Year 6.

      My younger kids keep a simple binder timeline for Years 1-3. They still add to it when they want to in Years 4 and 5, but their emphasis moves to the century chart. (Things like composer, artist, and other persons and events beyond their history readings get added to the timelines often since they don't always belong in the same century as we're reading about.)

      Hope that makes sense. And I am having so much fun keeping these history tools! :)

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  3. I love your Century Charts, Celeste! I thought I commented on this post already! LOL But I guess not. Of all the things I miss, I miss my mind the most. ;)

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    1. I'm always wondering where mine went too! I know it's here somewhere... :)

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