A Bit of Housekeeping

Barb at the Handbook of Nature Study blog invited me to contribute to this month's e-newsletter.  The focus is Nature Journals, which you know is one of my very favorite topics. :)  If you haven't downloaded it yet, go take a look!

Speaking of nature study, I've had several email requests for my Calendar of Firsts template recently, so I uploaded it to share here.  Feel free to download Our Nature Calendar for use in your own homes--especially if you're on the West Coast, since I included images that are familiar to us locals.

A few friends have asked me to share more about how we handle memory work, so I'll be getting to that soon, including an update on how our Evernote organizational plan is working.  (Hint: we still love it!)  Toward that end, though, I finally put up a Memory Work Index, inspired by Brandy (whose own index I have referred to for ideas several times!).  It's a running log of the memory work we have been doing as a family for the past three years.  You can find it along my top menu.  Feel free to reference our list and see if there are a few you might add to your own family rotation.

I'm still reading through The Living Page, but after that, I'm hoping to dive in to Charlotte Mason's Volume 6 and blog through it very slowly over the course of the year.  By the way, you can find my Read-Alongs on the right sidebar now (scroll down to the bottom).  Last year, I read through Charlotte Mason's Volume 1 and When Children Love to Learn.

Another frequent search recently: here's what my children and I used to prepare for their First Holy Communion last year.  (I have also been sharing snippets of one of my favorite religious books for children, Mother Mary Loyola's First Communion, in my Wednesdays with Words posts as we read through it this year.  Preparing for Holy Communion needn't end with the first time--it's a lifelong process.)

Any other suggestions?  I'm directing some of my nesting energy toward tidying up around here!  (Can you believe I have only eight weeks left?!)  So let me know in the comments or via email if there's anything else you'd like to see.  

First Grade in Our Home: Memory Work Round-up

Since April is National Poetry Month, I thought I would list here the poems the children have learned this year...and then I decided (following Brandy's example), why not just round-up all the memory work my two first-graders have learned this year?  So here are all the poetry, hymns, songs, and prayers for this school year.  Perhaps it will give you some ideas for your own early-elementary students?

Poetry

Vincent - The Young Dandelion (Muloch), The Owl (Tennyson), The Eagle (Tennyson), The Crocodile (Carroll), Furry Bear (Milne), Knight-in-Armor (Milne), Autumn Fires (Stevenson), My Bed is Like a Little Boat (Stevenson)

Gianna - On Easter Day (Thaxter), Between Two Hills (Sandburg), It's All I Have To Bring Today (Dickinson), What Robin Told (Cooper), Rice Pudding (Milne), The Mirror (Milne), The Morns are Meeker (Dickinson), The Gardener (Stevenson)

Hymns

Holy God We Praise Thy Name

To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King

Asperges Me

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Ave Regina Caelorum

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O Little Town of Bethelehem

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Now Thank We All Our God

O Sacred Head Surrounded

Jesus Christ is Risen Today

Ave Maria (chant)

Folk Songs

Do Re Mi

The Star-Spangled Banner

America the Beautiful

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Home on the Range

Edelweiss

Over the River and Through the Woods

God Bless America

You're a Grand Old Flag

I've Been Working on the Railroad

Battle Hymn of the Republic

O My Darlin Clementine

Prayers

Pater Noster (Our Father in Latin)

The Angelus

Benedic Domine (mealtime prayer in Latin)

St. Andrew novena prayer

Ave Maria (Hail Mary in Latin)

Queen of Heaven

Apostle's Creed

Act of Contrition

Soul of Christ

Angele Dei (Angel of God in Latin)

Other

Pledge of Allegiance

PNEU Motto, as well as this longer version from When Children Love to Learn:

I am a child of God,

I ought to do His will.

I can do what He tells me,

And by His grace, I will.

Even though we'll be finishing up Year 1 next week, we'll be continuing with our daily subjects year-round, including our few minutes of memory work each day.  So I'm hoping all this all stays put in those busy brains! ;)  

And as we end the school year and move into our "summer" break, one my my to-dos is to plan next year's memory work.  Our poems will be chosen by the children from our scheduled poets, and I'll be picking hymns from the parish hymnal, but I'm still deciding on folk songs, and I'm hoping to hit at least one psalm and one parable next year, per Miss Mason's suggestions.  Any suggestions for ones to start with?  I'd love to hear what other young children are working on!

More on Memorization - Using Evernote

As I have mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Evernote for homeschool planning.  I have a notebook for each year of school, and I keep my plans for that year (PDFs, files,  links, checklists, bookslists) all divided into notes by subject.  It makes it so easy to have all those disparate resources in one place, easily accessible and filed by topic and age.

Another way I'm using Evernote this year is for our memory work.  I read a long while back about the Simply Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System, and it seemed like a wonderful way to organize all of our memory work, not just Bible verses.  Since we would be using it for so much, I knew we would quickly outgrow an index card file, so I planned on using a binder to contain it all, with dividers marked as suggested by SCM (evens, odds, days of the week, days of the month, daily).  I had it all set up and ready to go...and then I realized how much simpler it would be to keep it all paperless.  And what better way to organize it all than in Evernote?

So I have a Memory Work "notebook," with individual notes in place of the dividers.  Within these notes are all the hymns, folk songs, poems, prayers, sayings, verses, and so on that we have learned--song lyrics,  poems, music files of the songs we own, YouTube links for the songs we don't.  Each day, I click through the notes and we recite or sing the assignments for that day.  Tomorrow's memory work, for example, will be the following:

Daily - "Hymn of the Republic," "Ave Maria" (chant version), Pledge of Allegiance, Charlotte Mason motto, Emily Dickinson's "It's All I Have to Bring Today," Carl Sandburg's "Between Two Hills," Tennyson's "The Owl"

Even - "I've Been Working on the Railroad," Tennyson's "The Eagle," Carroll's "The Crocodile"

Monday - "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

The 18th of the Month - "Asperges Me," Stevenson's "The Gardener"

This all takes about five minutes a day, usually during breakfast because the littles love singing along and listening to the "big kids" recite.  I love that it's all right there for me to just scroll through, and it's very easy to cut-and-paste the files back and forth between notes as needed.  I plan later on to include art prints and music selections from past studies, as well as our Italian songs, poems, and nursery rhymes.  The convenience and simplicity of this system is just wonderful, and I imagine using it in this way for many years to come.

Volume 1: Memorization

Miss Mason's suggestions regarding memorization here are short and simple: she advises reading a poem to the child casually (when brushing a daughter's hair, for example) once a day, and after just a few listenings, they should know it by heart and be able to recite it "quite beautifully and without hesitation."

That's exactly how it works in your homeschool, right?  No?!  ;) 

Certainly, my littles do pick up on quite a lot--my preschooler can happily recite Stevenson's "The Swan" or Milne's "Rice Pudding" (some of big sister's memory work for this year) "without hesitation" and with quite a bit of rhythm and flair.  But let's take a look at what a Form 1 (early-elementary) student would have been responsible for in one of Charlotte Mason's schools:

"A & B To recite a poem (each child may choose a different one), to learn two hymns, Psalm 111, and two suitable passages of six verses each from (a) Numbers, Chapter 22,(b) St. Matthew, chapter 25. IA, The Fairy Green, by R. Fyleman (Methuen, 1/6). IB, Recitations for Little Children, by G.H. Tuffley (1/-)."  -- from the Programme for Term 93

or from another term,

"A & B To recite a poem (each child may choose a different one), to learn two hymns, Psalm 84, and two suitable passages of 6 verses each from (a) Exodus, chapter 13, (b) St. Matthew, chapter 16. The Golden Staircase, (B) Vol. I., (A) Vol. II. (Nelson, 4d. each). The Fairy Green, by R. Fyleman (Methuen, 1/6)." -- from the Programme for Term 92

So for one term, the child is to memorize a poem, two hymns, a psalm, and several 6-verse passages from biblical and literary sources.  According to exams, they would also be memorizing several poems and songs in foreign languages.  Multiply that by three terms, and that's quite a bit of memorizing for a young child!  To meet these requirements, more than a few readings-aloud would be necessary--or at least it would for us.

So I went looking for her suggestions for how to do memorization with Form 2 and 3 children, who are memorizing a great deal more than even that each term--surely she had some advice on how to go about the more structured memory work required for that age group.  And I was surprised to find that she said nothing else on the subject in any of her volumes, as far as I could find.  (Someone please correct me if I am wrong!)

So how can we take her comments here and apply them to memory work, rather than the kind of casual memorization she is specifically referencing?  Can we take from this some main principles and use them to chart a plan for more structured work?

:: First, we must remember that it is indeed memory work--emphasis on the work.  A child's mind may seem as if it just sucks up knowledge like a sponge and wrings it back out effortlessly. Not so.  Memorization may come naturally to the child, but it is not without mental effort:

"It is possible that the disengaged mind of a child is as free to take and as strong to hold beautiful images clothed in beautiful words as was that of this lady during her convalescence. But, let me again say, every effort of the kind, however unconscious, means wear and tear of brain substance. Let the child lie fallow till he is six, and then, in this matter of memorising, as in others, attempt only a little, and let the poems the child learns be simple and within the range of his own thought and imagination." (emphasis mine)

The point is not to avoid that mental work altogether--no indeed!  Memorization is an integral part of education and, as she says, a true "treasure."

And as we can see in the PNEU programmes, when Miss Mason means "only a little," she means quite a lot by modern standards. :)  But the key here is that...

:: We must be particular about what we choose for our students to memorize--or better yet, what they choose for themselves. The purpose of memorization is to have food always available to the mind, "beautiful images clothed in beautiful words."  The purpose is NOT to cram children's minds with facts simply because they seem to be able to handle it.  Therefore, the emphasis should be on literature, Bible verses, and hymns and songs in English and foreign languages.  (And as a Catholic, I must add traditional prayers here.  Mind-food and soul-food, for sure!)  But facts without context are not what Miss Mason has in mind here.

::  In the same vein, they should not waste their time memorizing twaddle.  I'm pretty sure this goes without saying. :)  Truly, though, have you looked at most modern poetry compilations?  So it's something to keep in mind!

:: Whichever way we go about it, memory work should not be wearisome.  I think she leaves room here for a variety of methods.  But daily repetition may not be the best approach to memorizing if the child finds it drudgery.  It should be as easy and natural as possible.

:: The primary method of memorization should be visual imagination.  Now, I can think of several different ways to memorize just off the top of my head: Some learn by the sound of the poem, the rhythm.  Some see the words on the page, subconsciously taking in their form and shape, and then "read" from the text they have mentally filed away.  Some naturally visualize the descriptive scene or the events of a narrative poem.  They then go back over this mental impression when they recite.  Miss Mason seems to privilege the last means:

"The child must not try to recollect or to say the verse over to himself, but, as far as may be, present an open mind to receive an impression of interest. Half a dozen repetitions should give children possession of such poems as 'Dolly and Dick,' 'Do you ask what the birds say?' Little lamb, who made thee?' and the like. The gains of such a method of learning are, that the edge of the child's enjoyment is not taken off by weariful verse by verse repetitions, and, also, that the habit of making mental images is unconsciously formed." (emphasis mine)

Elsewhere she uses a similar description, calling upon educators judiciously "to store [students'] memories with images of delight" (Volume 2, p. 194, emphasis mine).

Visual work for a child educated in this style is nothing new; we see this same skill honed in just about every other subject: mental "picture-painting" of a landscape in nature study, recreating an art piece as part of artist study, whole-word reading lessons, and so on.  She considers this a very valuable skill and suggests it be applied to memorization as well.

So, looking at these basic principles--how can we apply them to the more rigorous schedule of memorizing that she suggests for her school-aged students?  We can make sure we choose quality pieces, primarily from literature and the Bible.  We can make sure the pieces are delightful to the child and suitable to his age.  And we can use methods that make memorization as effortless as possible, relying heavily on the child's visual memory.  Does this sound doable?  Yes, I think it does!  It may take a bit more than a few readings while brushing my daughter's hair, but we can store up plenty of "images of delight" without too much "wear and tear" at all.

Recitation in the Homeschool

So picking up from last time, how might we incorporate recitation into our days?

Again, I'm thinking here not just of memory work (which she deals with in the next section and which I do want to chat about another time), but also of reading aloud beautifully.  In many ways, there is obviously going to be some crossover in how we might practice the two.  We already do quite a bit of gentle memorization here, but the skill of elocution, the preparation of a piece to share, the interpretation of a poem or passage for a listening audience--I haven't incorporated these formally at all so far, so that's what I want to consider here.  My two oldest were early readers, so our homeschool schedule doesn't involve phonics practice or reading lessons...and because of that, I have been wondering whether they are having enough practice reading aloud.  I considered adding a "read aloud" checkbox as part of our daily work, but their reading has taken off so well that it just hasn't been a priority for me.  But I think now is a great time to throw in some elocution practice.  And what's elocution without an audience?  So this is all quite timely.

So how might recitation look in a homeschool?

:: A weekly teatime or group learning time at which family members can recite a poem or passage, either one they have memorized or one that they would simply like to read for the group.  This is reminiscent of Mr. Burrell's suggestion at the end of his article:

"Parents should put aside one hour a month (only an hour), when all the family can gather round the fire, and you can hear some of the pieces that have been learnt. Why should not the father and elder brothers take an interest in such things? Is it all to be left to the mother's taste and care? You do not know the pleasure that you give, the lessons you will learn, the lessons you may teach, the talents you foster, by a word or two of quiet discriminating praise, or by a sympathetic silence."

:: The same thing could be done with a homeschool group, maybe as a quarterly activity or as part of a park day or nature study outing.  You might even choose something appropriate for the change in seasons and do the recitations outdoors.

:: Reading quality picture books "clearly, sweetly, and convincingly" to younger siblings can be a wonderful way for an older child to practice elocution and delivery.  And toddlers can make a captivated and appreciative audience!

:: Recitations would naturally be part of end-of-term exams, and Miss Mason suggests doing these in front of fathers.  So perhaps a special end-of-term evening with Daddy that includes sharing of memorized pieces, singing of hymns and folk songs learned, and the reading of a few favorite passages from the assignments of that session.

:: A recitation can make a wonderful "gift" for a family member: perhaps the children could choose a piece to recite for grandpa's birthday or to perform at the Mother's Day luncheon you're hosting for the grandmothers.

:: Holiday recitations are very fun: a Christmas Eve performance for the extended family (this is an annual tradition for us!), an Easter morning reading, a recitation of something patriotic for President's Day or the Fourth of July...the options are endless.

:: Practice it yourself!  We mothers have lots of opportunities to model "beautiful and perfect" reading to our children, and we should take advantage of those both to be a good model for our children and for the many benefits I outlined last time.  I find reading aloud to be lots of fun, but I know not everyone does.  The Read-Aloud Handbook has lots of suggestions for those who want to improve or just want ideas for keeping things fresh.  Mr. Burrell's books seem to be wonderful resources as well.

So are you incorporating recitation in your homeschool?  Do you have other suggestions to share?  I'd love hear other ideas for how to incorporate this most educative subject into our days!

Some Thoughts on Volume 1: Recitation

"There is hardly any 'subject' so educative and so elevating as ...'The Children's Art.' All children have it in them to recite; it is an imprisoned gift waiting to be delivered, like Ariel from the pine. In this most thoughtful and methodical volume we are possessed of the fit incantations. Use them duly, and out of the woodenness of even the most commonplace child steps forth the child-artist, a delicate sprite, who shall make you laugh and make you weep." (Volume 1, p. 222-3)

Recitation is a skill that, until now, I have thought very little about.  I was surprised to come upon this section and to see her call it (using Mr. Burrell's words) "The Children's Art"!  Now I must note that Miss Mason has the tendency to speak of every subject as if it is the best, most important, most educative of all the subjects--I think it is perhaps from a genuine confidence in the broad and generous liberal arts education she promotes and how fitting she feels its mind-food truly is for a child's inborn hunger for ideas.  What we might otherwise consider "extras," she insists are essential.  But what's curious to me on reading this chapter is how rarely I hear of recitation mentioned in CM circles.  It is true that she does not devote much space to it here, but she seems to imply that is only because Mr. Burrell said all that needed to be said on that matter.  So what does he say?  What precisely do she and Mr. Burrell mean by recitation?  How is it different than memorization, narration, reading, public speaking?  How should it be taught?  And to what purpose?

Her simple definition of recitation is "the fine art of beautiful and perfect speaking," but she goes on to explain it a bit more thoroughly in this section, and, of course, enthusiastically directs us to Mr. Burrell's piece on recitation for more.  (Before I go on, I do encourage you to check out Burrell's article.  I found it charmingly exacting.  Anyone who prefaces his comments with, "I shall give lists, and I mean to be clear, even if I am wrong" has my attention!  And he ends with an ominous, "See you to it that you do not let the powers given to them go to rack and ruin through your carelessness."  Neglect recitation at your own risk! :)  Really, though, I found his explanations surprisingly helpful and his passion for his subject very engaging.)  So Miss Mason's words combined with Burrell's comments give us a good idea of how to understand and approach this subject:

:: Recitation is not memorization.  In this section, she is talking about reading aloud, not necessarily about performing a memorized passage.  Now strangely, recitation is mentioned just a handful of other times in Miss Mason's volumes (mostly in the programmes section of Volume 3), and each of those times she is specifically referring to the recitation of memorized work (poems, biblical passages, etc.).  So it is odd that she makes the distinction here.  But nevertheless, she does--and considering that Mr. Burrell's work deals very clearly with read pieces, not memorized ones, the distinction is purposeful.

:: Recitation should be natural to the child--should be being the operative term here.  Most children are born story-tellers, as any mother knows!  The earnestness, the animation, the genuine feeling that goes into the imaginative play or the spontaneous narrations of a young child demonstrates this.  Unfortunately, these natural inclinations usually do not translate to reading aloud.  But they should, if the child is trained well and if:

:: The passages selected should be suited to the child.  The ideas should be in his grasp, able to be understood and interpreted by him for his audience, so that the recitation is not a mere performance of a coached piece but a genuine interpretation of the author's meaning through a carefully considered reading.  And as always with Miss Mason, the selections should be fitting for children, but they should not be twaddle.  Both Miss Mason and Mr. Burrell include many examples of appropriate pieces, so you can see what they mean.  And whenever possible, the child should choose his own.

:: Recitation teaches us "to speak effectively in public."  Now, I don't know about you, but this reminded me of the public speaking class one often takes in college!  Thankfully, Mason and Burrell are talking about much more than that.  Yes, it's a valuable tool in all walks of life to be able to express yourself "clearly, sweetly, and convincingly," as Burrell discusses in Clear Speaking and Good Reading.  But Charlotte never encourages learning for merely utilitarian purposes--there is always something deeper.  In this case, it's that:

:: Recitation should bring pleasure to the student and to the audience.  As Burrrell argues, "It is not necessary, I hope, for me to point out the usefulness of these arts. Without them the best pieces of English writing lose half their value; the best paper read before a cultivated audience misses its aim; the best lecture is only half a lecture, and the best sermon is an opiate. With them all is changed; the light from the writer's soul is handed down from one generation to another."  The efficacy and enjoyment of words often depends on delivery.  My first thought on reading this was of a scene from Sense and Sensibility, when Marianne complains of Edward Ferrars' reading:

"Oh! mama, how spiritless, how tame was Edward's manner in reading to us last night! I felt for my sister most severely. Yet she bore it with so much composure, she seemed scarcely to notice it. I could hardly keep my seat. To hear those beautiful lines which have frequently almost driven me wild, pronounced with such impenetrable calmness, such dreadful indifference!"--

"He would certainly have done more justice to simple and elegant prose. I thought so at the time; but you would give him Cowper."

"Nay, Mamma, if he is not to be animated by Cowper!--but we must allow for difference of taste. Elinor has not my feelings, and therefore she may overlook it, and be happy with him. But it would have broke my heart, had I loved him, to hear him read with so little sensibility." (Volume 1, Chapter 3)

It is a real pleasure to hear someone read well (and as Marianne notes here, a real struggle to hear someone read poorly!).  Right now we're taking advantage of a couple audiobooks for Year 1, and it adds so much pleasure to our days to hear Cherry Jones reading Farmer Boy or Jim Weiss reading Just So Stories.  I'm sure you know just what I mean.  That wonderful marriage of good writing and good delivery can add so much to our understanding of the story.

And not only that, but the student too understands the piece in a new way: preparing for the recitation, seeing the audience's response--the whole process "foster[s] a love of literature" in the student (quoting Burrell).

So are you convinced? :)  The next step--how do we encourage this "art" in the child?  How might we incorporate this in our homeschooling?  I'm going to come back with some ideas on this next time.