Wednesday, May 17, 2017

A School Year Kept

As a look back on our school year, I want to share a bit of our formal keeping from this past year.

My Year 5 students kept three special notebooks in addition to their nature journals (which I share photos of every so often anyway and won't include here): their History Notebook, their Science Notebook, and their Prose and Poetry Notebook.

In my post on our School Plans for this year, I detailed the way we would be using these books -- frequency, purpose, format, and so on.  (Here are my write-ups for Year 5 and Form I.)  So I'll share a short description here, but for more information, head over there.  And then if you have further questions, ask away!

From my Year 5 Students

Their history notebooks contain their written narrations for the year in that subject (both for This Country of Ours and their historical biography in Term 3), as well as mapwork, lists, charts, and other keeping they chose to do.

The first half of the photos belong to Vincent and the second to Gianna.  As you can see, they have very different styles and their individual strengths and interests shine through in their notebooks, which is why Charlotte Mason-style notebooking is different than other more cookie-cutter, static forms.

(By the way, the pictures below feature the EcoQua notebooks I bought for our Year 5 keeping. We love them and will definitely be using them in the future.)


















Their science notebooks were simpler, holding only their weekly written narration for that subject:



Their Prose and Poetry Notebooks, which are basically a precursor to a commonplace book, are below. They wrote in this notebook in lieu of copywork for ten minutes weekly.  They were able to choose their selection.  Interestingly, both chose to include large amounts of Hiawatha, which we read in Term 2.  But the rest was a mish-mash of poetry, famous speeches, bits from Kim and Shakespeare, and more.


All three of these notebooks will continue into next year.  The History Notebook will be used in Term 1 before we move into a proper Book of Centuries with the new history rotation in Term 2.  Their Science and Prose and Poetry Notebooks are about half-full and will continue to hold their work for those subjects.

From my Form I students

Cate in Year 2 and Xavier in Year 1 had simple keeping on their weekly schedule: an entry in their binder timeline and on their current map.





They also had the option of making animal cards to go along with the Burgess Animal Book, which they opted to do just about every week, and that they did independently.  At the end of the year, we made those into a little book for each of them.



And from me!

I kept a few things alongside my Year 5 kids this year: a world map, a United States map, and a century chart. These were very educative to work on -- and also quite fun!



I also always keep one commonplace book dedicated to school readings, and Year 5 featured very prominently in that this year -- Halliburton, Kipling, Dickens, Helen Keller, John Muir...




In addition to these examples above and to our individual nature journals, we keep two collections as a family: a Calendar of Firsts and a Family Poetry Notebook.  They are both housed in the same binder.

We began keeping our Calendar of Firsts back in 2013, so this is our fourth year of data!



And our poetry notebook are all of the poems each child has learned, illustrated and added to the pile.  We began that when Gianna and Vincent were in kindergarten and have dozens and dozens of poems included now.


That is a look at our year on paper!

45 comments:

  1. How many pages are in the EcoQua notebooks? I like how they lay flat!

    These are all so lovely!!!! :) I like the idea of illustrating the poem & keeping it. Maybe this year we will actually attempt a BOC- I'm not sure why I find this so scary but I certainly do!

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    1. There are 40 sheets per notebook (and you can use them front and back, so...). One of the things I like about this kind of notebook versus a spiral one is that they can do two-page spreads, which they did for large maps and century charts. The staple-bound is also much sturdier than I expected and the paper is nice and thick. They also have lined, dot, and graph paper options. I'm really pleased with them!

      We will be starting our BoCs next year and I'm looking forward to it!

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  2. Sigh. Just soooooooo lovely. I'm quitting homeschooling and coming to live with you so I can do school all over again. You won't mind another student, right?! Ha. ;)

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    1. I think your kids might mind, but we'd love to have you! LOL

      Thankful for your inspiration and example in keeping, Amy!

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    2. How does the century chart work?

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    3. Here's a link with more information about century charts: https://charlottemasonpoetry.org/how-to-make-a-history-chart/

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  3. What a beautiful way to document all that you learned this year! I love the Burgess animal cards idea. I'm going to file that one away for when the time comes!

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    1. Thanks, Leah! This was a new idea with this set of kids (my older two didn't make cards), and it was a fun addition. They really enjoyed it, and I liked that it required them to draw the animals rather than coloring in a pre-printed page because it required more careful observation. It was a win-win really for kids who already enjoy drawing.

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  4. I cannot believe how neat your kids handwriting is, even the younger ones! Love these examples (AND your notebooks too!) and have really inspired me to dive in and implement some things with my kids. Will you keep these notebooks forever? They are so lovely I know I couldn't bear to throw them out, but you have more kids than I so I wonder will you keep all their notebooks through all 12 years of school? Also, in your post about exams, you mentioned your son would be finishing up his map (Civil war maybe?) - does that mean for exams you don't require a new map drawn, but just the finished map within his notebook? Thanks in advance!

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    1. Yes, these notebooks are probably the only work apart from exams that I will keep of theirs from this school year. :)

      I had on their exam list for the last term to finish up their maps -- adding titles and any other information/drawings they wanted to add before they were counted as "completed." That refers to the maps I showed above, the ones in their history notebook.

      Sometimes I have them label and annotate a similar map from memory during exam time -- like they did with the United States map on our exams for Terms 1 and 2 of this year, where they charted the journey of Lewis and Clark and of Jessie Benton Fremont. For those, I usually provide a blank map and have them write information onto it rather than starting something from scratch.

      We also do map drills, and I did have a question on our exam in Term 3 that tested this: they had to label a map of Canada, which is what they have been memorizing this year.

      Hope that helps!

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  5. Lovely notebooks. How did you have your kids draw their maps? Do they have maps to trace or are they learning to freehand maps? They look so great, I would love to know how you had them do them.

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    1. For the big ones in their history notebooks, we blew up blank maps (world and US) to stretch across two pages, and then they traced it. We also did a smaller one of the Eastern States for their Civil War keeping. They then worked on labeling those throughout the whole year. I'm hoping to incorporate some freehand maps next year because they have expressed interest. But tracing a map or even just filling in a blank one (like I did for mine!) is perfectly fine and works really well for yearlong keeping! :)

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    2. Is the paper in these notebooks thin enough to see through for tracing? Did you cut the enlarged map in half and put the left half under the left page and right half the right?

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    3. It's much thicker than tracing paper, but if I make my photocopy clear and dark, we have been able to trace through it. And yes, I cut it in half, just like you said!

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    4. So, this is a really basic question, but how did you blow up the maps to be big enough for two-page spreads? I just have a basic printer - is this something I need to do at a copy shop? This seems like it should be easy to do, but I'm getting stuck!

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    5. I print a map on one page, cut it in half, then blow up each side at about 120% on my copier to make two pages, each with half of the map on it. I hope that makes sense!

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  6. I want to know about the maps as well. I was thinking of having my kids learn to draw maps.

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  7. I found this post to be incredibly helpful. THANK YOU for taking the time to include the photos and so much commentary. Knowing "how much" is always a delicate balance, especially as it pertains to writing and keeping, and it is encouraging to see how other families pace and record progress. We are not new to homeschooling or to living books (we are wrapping up our 18th year!), but now with my youngest I am finally giving way to an entirely CM approach to our schooling. It is lovely to find inspiration here.

    Also, I have searched in stores for something exactly like the notebooks you have referenced and have been unable to find them. I hesitated until now to order online because I really wanted to FEEL them....weight of paper, stability of spine, etc. before randomly selecting and ordering. So, thanks for including that little recommendation. I am going to order a few!

    Lastly, I love your century chart and maps. I love any ONE thing that we re-visit, again and again, because I truly believe familiarity breeds mastery. Mastery is not the goal necessarily in creating such a record, but it can hardly be avoided when we take care to follow through over time. I also think it instills a discipline in our kids. I have abandoned far too many projects, curriculums, assignments, etc. over the years......staying true to something like a Century chart or map is a practice in habit forming!

    Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Brooke, I am so glad this has been helpful to you. Even with methods I feel comfortable and familiar with, I always appreciate reading about fresh ways of running things that I might not have considered -- as well as inspiration and solidarity. So I totally understand what you are saying about seeing that delicate balance take shape in other homes and getting ideas for your own. I love that about the online CM community!

      I too haven't really seen notebooks like this in store, so I had to just try them and see how we liked them! Thankfully we do and now have a go-to resource for these kinds of things. (Dick Blick also carries them and sometimes runs specials, by the way!)

      Yes, mastery really does build through, like you said, these long-term keeping habits. Little by little, week by week. They are both a joy and a discipline and the fruits are many!

      Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments!

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  8. Thank you for doing this sort of post, Celeste, I know it's probably time-consuming to put together, but it's so helpful! Do your children have some other spot where they keep daily work (like copywork, dictation, written narrations, etc), or did you just train them to do their very neatest work in these notebooks? We've used spirals to handle everything for the past couple of years, and I think that might have encouraged my older kids to be sloppy. I'm wondering if the nicer paper and an exhortation to make these books worth preserving might help...

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    1. I just followed your link and found the answer to my question about where the narrations go! Thank you! :)

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    2. Hi Catherine,

      Their written narrations are in these (they did one in history and one in science weekly this year), but most of their copywork and dictation are on looseleaf paper in their binders and are not "kept." Their Prose and Poetry Notebook does house some of their copywork -- they write in these once weekly instead of on copywork paper.

      I do think having nice notebooks with specific expectations encourages care for one's work. Not only are quality materials easier to use, but they also instill an extra level of responsibility. I know that's the case for me as an adult ;) and I have found it to be true for my kids also! :)

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  9. These are so lovely, Celeste, and as others have said so helpful and inspiring too! So, each child keeps three notebooks as well as nature journal too? Do you keep them just for this year and then purchase separate ones for next year to keep them separate? They really are cute little notebooks and seem to work well too! This may help my boys who fight me on doing written narration to do it this way instead. As always, thanks for the inspiration! I would love to quit homeschooling and come live with you so I can do school all over again :)

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    1. For my Year 5 kids, yes, three notebooks plus their nature journal. (Well, and they have their reading log too, which is just ongoing and not year-specific.) They will continue in their science and P+P notebooks next year -- those probably only fill about half way. For their history notebooks, they will continue through Term 1 of Year 6 (so one term of next year), which is when we start the new history rotation, and then they'll start a new one. So it will end up being a 4-term notebook, just the way I happened to set it up. But it really just depends how many pages you use and such -- you could stretch these to last two years each or start new every year. Hope that helps!

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  10. I've been meaning to add in a comment of my own. First, THANK YOU for all of your keeping inspiration! I have almost completed 1 year of my own CM Education! I am always looking through your blog or IG for keeping, reading or other CM ideas! :) So I do have to as now about how you all studied Kim by Rudyard Kipling and what exactly did the keeping look like? Were the maps free handed or did was a outline used? (If so, where from? I can't seem too find a decent outline to print.). Kim was my first *official* CM book with very very basic narrations! (My narrations have somewhat improved since then!). I am hoping to re read Kim at the end of this summer and embark on an entire India study as well. I'd love to hear how you kept up with Kim! Narrations? Mapwork? any other resources? Thank you, and God bless you!

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    1. Hi Frannie Ruth! I printed a blank outline map of India, added in the rivers, mountainous areas, railroad, and Grand Trunk Road (since they come up in the reading), and then just tracked Kim's route, adding in cities as I went. We just did the map and oral narrations for that book.

      (By the way, I got your email -- I am just behind in emails right now. I'll try to get back to you this weekend! :))

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  11. Celeste, how did you encourage your kids to do so much in their notebooks. I can imagine handing my boys a notebook for keeping and finding just a quote or mini narration. Also, did they trace their maps or how did they get those in their notebooks? So enjoy your blog!!

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    1. Well, just seeing the comment above mine about tracing maps. Guess I should read all the comments before asking a question!

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    2. Ashlea, these count as their written narrations for the week, so I suggest about a page per narration, which can be a combination of writing, sketching, notes and lists, whatever they like. :)

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  12. This post was such a delight to read! Isn't it neat how your two oldest are so different? I love how their personalities shine through in their keeping! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. It really is a joy to see their personality bloom on these pages -- and one of the delightfully distinctive features of Mason-style keeping! :)

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  13. Celeste, is the history notebook divided into sections for each book they are reading, or do they just add an entry for each completed reading, no matter the history book it came from? Are historical biographies included in this notebook? I hope the fist question made sense!

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    1. Their only written narrations in history this year were from This Country of Ours -- Abraham Lincoln's World was narrated orally. So this notebook basically had a section for maps and other charts, then a long stretch of TCOO written narrations, and then a section toward the end where they did written narrations for their chosen biography (in Term 3 only). I let them set it up how they wanted to and that is how they worked it out. Hope that makes sense! :)

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  14. Your kids do such beautiful work! I just love the fun fonts for the maps. Gives it a fun touch!
    Quick questions... Is there a site you like to use to print your maps? And did I read on one of your posts that you make your own century chart 1x1" squares--must be on larger paper that you cut out? It all looks so nice! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. I usually just google "outline map" and the region I'm looking for and scan through. Occasionally I have traced my own if I can't find one I like to make a blank outline for my kids to use.

      Yes, my kids' charts have 1x1 squares, just to give them a little extra space. They cut them from larger paper (like easel paper), then fold them in half to tape into their notebooks over a two-page spread (since they are bigger than a page). Hope that makes sense!

      Thanks for the kind comments, Jenny!

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    2. ahh... great idea! Google images is the best! Thanks, Celeste!

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  15. What pen do you find works best with the EcoQua notebooks? We are using them for history this year, and I'd like to find something that won't bleed through the pages.

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    1. Hi Donna! My kids use their Frixion erasable pens pretty much all the time -- they like being able to erase.
      http://amzn.to/2vJWgID

      They don't bleed through, but they do show through a bit. Our Prismacolor illustration markers show through less, but they're not erasable, so... :)
      http://amzn.to/2wR5BhD

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    2. Thank you. It is nice to have a bit of help now and again. I ordered the Eco notebooks after seeing your post. Have a lovely day.
      Donna, from Texas

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  16. This is just so beautiful... I keep coming back to this and a few other pages of yours. I was wondering if you, with so many kids with their own unique personalities, have any advice for encouraging kids who struggle with perfectionism. My oldest wants to draw but he wants it to look perfect on his first try... and if it isn't, he scribbles it all out then tears up the page and gets pretty grumpy. Having a mom who is naturally pretty good at art doesn't help, as he sees the results of decades of practice and thinks I haven't struggled and worked hard. Anyway, are any of your kids like this? What do you do?

    Jessica (idahomeliving on Instagram)

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    1. Hi Jessica! I have a couple here so far who are perfectionists, and it is a real trial to work through. I could relate to them because I am a recovering perfectionist myself. ;) I remember being scared to try new things as a child if I wasn't 100% sure I could do it perfectly. It can be debilitating, and it definitely closed me off to joys in life I have since picked up as a more mature and well-rounded adult. :)

      Specifically to your question about when they're working alongside you and not pleased with their work because it isn't at the level yours is (I can relate to this!), a couple things that have worked for me:

      First, I try not to draw the exact same thing that they do. So if they choose a flower, I'll choose a leaf. It smoothes the way just a bit when there aren't those side-by-side comparisons to manage.

      Second, while we're working, I model mistake-correcting and a good attitude. This only goes so far, I realize, but it has helped over the long-term--I am now seeing my oldest daughter FAR less worried about her work and far more able to handle "mistakes" than she was a few years ago. Part of that is maturity, of course, but she often has a dialogue with herself there at the table that sounds VERY similar to what I used to model for her. I suggested quite a few strategies to fix things she wasn't pleased with, things I use myself: John Muir Laws talks about turning a drawing into a diagram, for example, when he's not pleased with something. That has worked really well for me. There are also really good suggestions in Mona Brooks' Drawing with Children -- she has a whole section on correcting mistakes in creative ways, letting it all be part of the process.

      Third, drawing instruction has been really good for my perfectionists. They have big plans in their minds and need the skills to reach them. Practice is what makes the biggest difference, but there are also techniques to representational drawing that can be great scaffolding for things like nature journaling and other keeping. Plenty of opportunities for working with the media outside of when they're trying to actually represent a real thing -- no-stress, low-pressure, creative kinds of practice times, built into your day like school, where they are simply mixing colors, practicing brushstrokes, and then drawing with how-to-draw books and such...these kinds of blocks in your day/week can be tremendously helpful for supporting perfectionist students with the skills they need to feel confident.

      Those are just some of the things that have helped us get over this very real hurdle. CM puts an emphasis on "perfect execution," and our kids have no problem holding themselves to a high standard! Instead, they need to know how much is too much, when it's okay to make mistakes and work with them creatively, and how to be properly, lovingly supported toward their goals.

      I hope that helps a little!

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  17. Were are the note books from or home made we had something simular but in a binder

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    1. Hi there! We use these blank EcoQua notebooks for almost all of our keeping assignments (including those pictured here) and love them: https://amzn.to/2zc9umK

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