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This week I’m going to be conducting a contest for readers of my blogs and ezines. The prize will be a copy of Ruth Bell Graham’s book, Our Christmas Story (that’s Mrs. Billy Graham).
.This book is a wonderful resource for reminding people — both young and old alike — of the real Reason for the Season. It makes an excellent read-aloud for families during the Advent season.
.The book, Our Christmas Story, was published in 1973 and has been out-of-print for a number of years. Whenever I see copies of it at garage sales or thrift stores, I always scoop them up and give them out to friends and family.
.I was at a friend’s used bookstore, A Cup of Cold Water, in the Olympia/Lacey area this weekend and I bought both copies of Our Christmas Story that were on her shelves. I gave one copy to my youngest daughter so she’d have her own, and then decided to offer the second copy as a prize here on my blog.
.Keep in mind that the prize is a used book … it’s in “fair to good” condition and can’t be purchased new anywhere because it’s out-of-print. Here’s the question you’ll need to answer in order to be entered into the contest/drawing:
What’s your favorite tip, activity, or idea for simplifying your Christmas and holiday celebrations?
This could be something that saves time or money, something that brings to life the meaning of the holidays, a recipe, or just a simple activity that brings joy into the dark days of December.
.Rules for the Contest:
- Leave your entry in the comment section of this post.
- IMPORTANT: Please leave a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. (Don’t leave your postal mailing address in your entry!)
- Contest closes Monday, December 14th at Midnight (PST).
- All entries will be assigned a number. The winning number will be chosen using a random number generator.
- Winner will be contacted by email and asked at that time to supply a mailing address to receive their prize.
- All entries also may appear in an upcoming issue of the Simple Times eNewsletter.
I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s entries. Merry Christmas!
.~Debi
I was on the REI website yesterday and stumbled upon this interesting program called Passport to Adventure. It has a free downloadable journal for keeping track of outings and other outdoor activities, information about family-friendly hikes in the local area, some free bonus activities you can download, and if your child is age 5-12, s/he can receive a certificate of completion and a free prize.
Just thought I’d pass on the info in case anyone’s interested. Very Charlotte Mason friendly. My kids are all a bit too old now (22, 19 & 14), but we would’ve all LOVED this resource when they were younger!
The wonderful folks over at Living Books Curriculum have put together a great little Thanksgiving resource full of the Charlotte Mason-style resources we need (and love!).
Click here to download. Or click on the Thanksgiving image.
You’ll find in this free Holiday Helper pdf file materials and ideas for: Picture study, copywork, stories, and lots of links to other free online resources.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Narration is the process of telling back what has been learned or read. Narrations are usually done orally, but as the child grows older (around age 12) and his writing skills increase, the narrations can be written as well. Narration can also be accomplished creatively: painting, drawing, sculpting, play-acting, etc.
There’s great value in keeping a personal journal, encouraging reflection and descriptive writing. Record activities, thoughts and feelings, favorite sayings, personal mottoes, favorite poems, etc.
Daily copywork provides on-going practice for handwriting, spelling, grammar, etc. Keep a notebook specifically for copying noteworthy poems, prose, quotes, etc. Each day choose a paragraph, or sentence, or page (depending on the age of child). Have the child practice writing it perfectly during his copywork time. Have them look carefully at all punctuation, capital letters, etc. When the child knows the passage well, dictate the passage to the child for him to recreate the passage.
Here are a couple of ultra-easy Autumn craft ideas.
Leaf Prints:
Make your own cards or gift wrap by using nature’s bounty of freshly fallen leaves. Use poster paint for printing on paper (for cards, gift wrap, etc.), or use acrylic paint if you decide to decorate an item that needs a waterproof finish (glassware, clay pots, etc.). Brush a small amount of paint onto the underside of the leaf where the veins are more pronounced. Carefully place the leaf where you want the design printed and cover with a layer of paper towel. Gently roll a rolling pin over the top (or you can use the side of an empty bottle). Remove the paper towel and lift the leaf.
Wheat Weaving:
Soak wheat on the stalk (from craft stores or local farmers) in a tub of water for an hour or so. Holding three seed heads together, braid the stems of the wheat stalks. Curve the ends around to make an oval loop, a circle wreath, or even bend it a bit to make a heart shape. Tie with brightly colored ribbon. As the stalks dry, they’ll hold their shape. Add to your autumn decorations.
Living books are the opposite of dull, dry textbooks. The people, places and events come alive as you read a living book. The stories touch your mind and heart. They are timeless.
For a list of children’s books recommended by grade level, click on the illustration.
Catherine Levison, author of A Charlotte Mason Education, says:
“Charlotte Mason advocated avoiding twaddle and feasting children’s hearts and minds on the best literary works available. Twaddle is what parents and educators today might call ‘dumbed down’ literature. It is serving your children intellectual happy meals, rather than healthy, substantive mind- and soul-building foods.”
Miss Mason also recommended whole books rather than anthologies. Whole books are the entirety of the books the author actually wrote. If the author wrote a book, read the whole book. The opposite of this would be anthologies that include only snippets from other works—maybe a chapter from Dickens, a couple of paragraphs from Tolstoy, etc.
Nature Study has always been one of my favorite aspects of Charlotte Mason’s educational methods, and I’ve always felt that Autumn is the ideal time to start Nature Study if you haven’t done it in the past. So many easily visible changes happening. Very easy for kids to observe nature “in process.”
A while back, I put together a small online bookstore containing many of my personal choices for nature study books, materials, toys and other resources.
Feel free to stop by (and tell your homeschooling friends!):
Copyright Catherine Levison. Used with permission. All rights reserved. http://charlottemasoneducation.com
We all want to raise polite and loving children who aren’t causing our lives or home schools to be in a constant state of friction. Both adults and children tend to be creatures of habit and there is no end to the problems (or, better yet, lack of them) that arise from habit.
It’s a good thing that much of our daily activities are habitual, for example, people operate cars through the power of habit. What would it be like to have to think about the turn signal, foot brake, steering wheel and two mirrors every time we made a turn? What does this have to do with raising children and education? Everything. Much of what we do, and how we do it, is controlled by habit.
I observed the power of habit first hand when we moved the dining room clock in our house and replaced it with a picture. Because the clock had hung there for nine years everyone found themselves disoriented by the change. I don t know how many times I stood in front of the picture mystified, trying to figure out the time.
I also came face to face with the power of habit when we moved into a house that had a sink with reversed hot and cold water faucets. I thought I would grow accustomed to the reversal rather quickly — I was wrong. I would have been able to replace one habit with another if there had only been one sink in the house, however, it wasn t the only one and I admit I found myself in constant confusion when I was in front of this particular sink. I had to think instead of relying on habit.
Charlotte Mason was one educator who recognized and wrote about the power of habit and claimed that even virtues such as patience, meekness, courage, generosity and truthfulness are a matter of habit and can be trained as such. I agreed with her to a point but I did not really know this to be a fact until one time when I paid for my groceries with a hundred dollar bill. The clerk made change, then wrapped it up inside the receipt and inadvertently included my hundred dollars. No one saw this, in fact, I almost didn t look at the wad myself. At the last moment I did look in my hand and saw what had happened. My reaction came so fast even I was surprised. One of my habits is honesty and it was out of habit that I returned the money. Later, I thought about habitual morality and realized its significance.
If you find yourself always telling or asking your children the same things over and over again then this teaching on habit will benefit you. If I had the proverbial nickel for every time I told my kids to put the milk away, I’d be rich. Mason noted that when you find yourself always telling children to do the same thing, you have not trained them in the habits you wish they would perform.
The key is to identify one bad habit at a time in your child (or yourself) and then purposefully replace it with a good habit. We often make the mistake of tackling too many bad behaviors at one time. Success comes when we focus on one problem at a time. It s best to approach the child, clearly state what the bad habit is and then explain how it will affect their future.
For example, if your teenage child prefers to sleep in rather than getting up at a decent time explain to him how this can affect his employment, college grades and ability to catch the bus on time. The goal is to get him to see why he would want to make a change. Make that your first and final lecture. With a view that the child has to exert himself toward the new habit, do not interfere when it isn t necessary. Help as inconspicuously as possible.
Habits ordinarily take six to eight weeks to take shape and become permanent. Then they are habitual and will not need additional work. After the bad habit has been replaced by a good habit you can target a new habit.
For Charlotte Mason’s own words on the subject of habit formation, be sure to check out the new book, Habits: The Mother’s Secret to Success, edited by my dear friend, Deborah Taylor-Hough.
About the Author:
Catherine Levison is a long term home schooling parent with over a decade of experience. She is the mother of five children and resides in Seattle. A popular speaker to home schooling audiences throughout the USA and Canada, Levison is the author of the popular book, A Charlotte Mason Education: A How-To Manual, the sequel More Charlotte Mason Education and A Literary Education: An Annotated Book List (SourceBooks). Visit Catherine online at: http://charlottemasoneducation.com
Here are some possible paintings for Autumn art appreciation and picture study. Just click on the small photos of the artwork to open a larger version for easier viewing.
Autumn Leaves, John Millais 1855
[Excerpt] “… Millais decided to embark on a painting that was beautiful in its own right without any attempt to tell a story. His models were four young girls, all under 13 years of age, chosen for their youth and beauty. They were to be shown standing around a pile of gently smoldering autumn leaves which they had just collected from their garden. The painting, which became known as Autumn Leaves, was designed to evoke a mood and a feeling of the transience of life and beauty – all is doomed to eventual decay, even the greatest innocence and beauty is overwhelmed by the passage of time. The painting is considered to be Millais’s masterpiece. He wanted the picture to awaken the deepest religious reflections with its solemn air and restrained coloring. The work was influenced personally by Alfred Lord Tennyson, one of whose works he was illustrating at the time, in particular by his poem The Princess.”
Wheat Field Under Threatening Skies, Vincent Van Gogh 1890

[Excerpt] “Contrary to popular myth, [this] is not Van Gogh’s final work. Admittedly, it does make for a neatly wrapped interpretive gift if the painting really were Van Gogh’s final work before his suicide. The painting is, without question, turbulent and certainly conveys a sense of loneliness in the fields – a powerful image of Van Gogh as defeated and solitary artist in his final years. Furthermore, both the popular films Lust for Life and Vincent and Theo rewrite history and depict this painting as Van Gogh’s last – with more of an interest in dramatic effect than historical accuracy.”
Autumn, Mary Cassatt 1880
[Excerpt] “Today Mary Cassatt is probably best known for her portrayals of the intimate activities of urban women, including reading, knitting, and taking tea, and the subject of the mother and child, which dominated her work after about 1893. Like Degas, she appears to have repeated particular themes in order to master various techniques. Practical reasons and considerations of social decorum also may have dictated her choice of subjects, who were most often members of her own social circle engaged in familiar activities.”
The Harvesters, Pieter Bruegel the Elder
[Excerpt] “Through his remarkable sensitivity to nature’s workings, Bruegel created a watershed in the history of Western art, suppressing the religious and iconographic associations of earlier depictions of the seasons in favor of an unidealized vision of landscape. The Harvesters probably represented the months of August and September in the context of the series. It shows a ripe field of wheat that has been partially cut and stacked, while in the foreground a number of peasants pause to picnic in the relative shade of a pear tree. Work continues around them as a couple gathers wheat into bundles, three men cut stalks with scythes, and several women make their way through the corridor of a wheat field with stacks of grain over their shoulders. The vastness of the panorama across the rest of the composition reveals that Bruegel’s emphasis is not on the labors that mark the time of the year, but on the atmosphere and transformation of the landscape itself.”
Early Autumn, Montclair, George Inness 1891
[Excerpt] “In the painting Early Autumn, Montclair, the landscape appears non-specific and the centered foreground trees are spot lit even though the scene appears to be rather fuzzy. Like the Impressionists Inness was a close observer of nature and sought to express the season, weather and light conditions of the locale. But while Inness may have begun his paintings in nature, unlike the Impressionists, he completed his work in his studio relying on his memory and colored by imagination to create his luminous expressions of the spirituality of observed nature.”
SUCCESSFUL NARRATIONCopyright Sheila Carroll
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com
Narration is a simple but powerful tool of learning. Most children enjoy telling you what they know about a subject. It delights them to tell about an incident, however small it may seem to us. Charlotte Mason, a British educator from the last century, believed that this love of telling could be used as a foundation for self-education.
Narration is a natural way to demonstrate and organize information. Charlotte Mason’s idea of narration as a tool for education and assessment was far broader in intent than mere “parroting back” information. It involves really knowing the thing read.
- Beauty of expression
- Recall of material
- Increased mental facility
- A means of evaluating what is understood
The Basics of Narration
When you’re ready, sit with the child (this also works with more than one child) and say gently with a smile, “I’m going to read (give the title) one time to you. I want you to listen carefully. Then tell me in your own words all you remember of the story.”
If there is more than one child you can let one start and the other add. Or, alternately, you can have the first child narrate and then ask the second (or third), “Is there anything you would like to add?” Taking turns narrating while others listen builds the habit of attention in children.
Step One: Start Small
Start with a small, interesting paragraph when beginning narration with your child. The best time to begin is when the child is about six years old. If your child is younger than six and is narrating spontaneously, listen intently and with interest. Show your approval with smiles and nods, but don’t require it of the child.
After age six, start with simple stories of a high quality. Aesop’s Fables is the best literature to use. These contain a minimum of characters (usually only two) and a minimum of action (usually only one – two events).
As the child matures, you should be adding increasingly complex material. The progression should be from short paragraph to brief passage, single page to gradually several pages. Most children in the upper elementary grades should be able to narrate several pages if they have been given regular practice in narration.
Step Two: Choose Material That is Appropriate
In the early years, after Aesop’s Fables, I found folk tales the best subject for narration. Children are able to follow the “what happens next” and reconstruct it in their minds. Stories are stories because the images and events are linked together in some logical way. In “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, for example, there are three bowls, three chairs and three beds of graduated size. There are also three distinct parts to the story, like acts in a play. This is a logical progression that the child can understand easily. By allowing children ample opportunity to narrate back these pleasurable stories, their expressive language will grow by leaps and bounds.
Suggested age ranges and appropriate material:
- 6 – 8 years — folk tales (read no more than three to five minutes); experiences (such as a visit to Grandma’s or a field trip); events in nature (such as the flow of the seasons, the cycle of a butterfly from pupa to chrysalis to butterfly)
- 9 – 12 years — more complex folk tales; add biographies; well-written non-fiction; fiction (a rule of thumb is 10 – 15 minutes)
- 12 and up — continue as in nine to eleven years with increasingly complex literature. Begin work writing summaries (outlining first is an option), creating products as a response to the literature (play, mural, puppet, letter recommending the book)
Step Three: Listen Without Comment
This step is by far the most difficult for us as the parent/teacher. But, be silent we must. If the child suspects that you will offer “helpful questions,” then he knows he doesn’t have to do all the work himself. Don’t interrupt! Doing this is critical to your child’s budding skill. It is also part of respecting the child — expecting that he can and will do his own work. This is assuming that you have given the child material that is appropriate to his age and development.
Several years ago my daughter, Bridget, was becoming more and more resistant to narration in our homeschool. So, I did what I shouldn’t have — I made her do it. Finally, one day she wailed, “I hate narration!” I was appalled at the state of affairs. So, I did another thing I shouldn’t have — I quit requiring it of her. A whole school year went by with no narration. Really.
day.
Charlotte Mason has written that when forming a new habit to watch over the formation of it with care and consistency. This I did. Little by little, Bridget began to regain confidence and skill. Today she narrates long passages with ease, and making books of her narrations is a special pleasure.
Step Five: Use Many Forms of Narration
Be creative in your use of different forms of narration. Frequent verbal narration is to be encouraged because it builds expressive language and clear thinking. However, many children enjoy other forms of narration.
Here are a few below:
- Record narration on cassette tape, then replay it so child can hear.
- Transcribe child’s narration word for word. Read it back to the child for any additions (remember, no helping).
- Create a poster with characters and setting, then have child retell.
- Make a story streamer (cut a sheet of paper 5 by 25 inches, then fold in equal sections according to number of parts of the story. Have child draw pictures from the story in sequence — older ones can add text — then retell the story from the pictures).
- Act out part or the entire story with your child.
- Make a timeline, then retell.
- Research geography of story and have child tell about it.
- Make a diorama.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
–Sheila Carroll is founder of Living Books Curriculum, a literature rich, complete curriculum growing from the work of Charlotte Mason. This article previously appeared in Parent’s Journal, the e-newsletter of Living Books Curriculum. Visit Sheila online at: http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com
Whenever someone online links to a page on one of my blogs, I receive a notification about it in the administrative area of my blog. The other day I found that someone named “Grandmother Wren” had linked to two of my nature study articles, so I figured I’d go see what sort of blog entry prompted a nature study recommendation. Turns out, it was a posting about children spending time outdoors everyday to connect with nature.Here’s a quote:
“The National Wildlife Federation recommends that parents give their kids a ‘Green Hour’ every day, a time for interaction with the natural world. This can take place in a garden, a backyard, the park down the street, or any place that provides safe and accessible green spaces where children can learn and play.”
Copyright Sheila Carroll. Used with permission. All rights reserved. http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com
What is a living book? Charlotte Mason said a living book is one that is “well put” and “well told” (Parents and Children, p. 263).In other words, in a living book:
-
The language used powerfully and beautifully expresses the ideas of its author
-
The narrative — whether fiction or non-fiction — holds together in a compelling and memorable way.
Typically in elementary school today, the study of germs is given a few pages in a science text. Louis Pasteur and the story of his work with cows and vaccines is given a passing reference.
Instead, read Louis Pasteur: Founder of Modern Medicine to learn of Pasteur’s early research into why vats of fermented beer were turning sour (answer: microorganism had contaminated the batch), and later how three of Pasteur’s daughters died from typhoid and then, in 1865, a cholera epidemic hit Marseilles, France. It was then that Pasteur carried out a number of experiments in a hospital in the hope of finding the germ that caused this feared disease and to save the town of Marseilles.
Interested? Your children will be, too. That’s a living book.
Another way to think of living books:
When children grow up hearing the best ideas put forth in the best possible language, they model their thinking and their writing after these. Charlotte Mason felt that a parent or teacher’s chief duty was to provide living ideas as food for the child’s mind.
If we give our children “dumbed down” books or books in which the information is in bits and pieces across the page, then the ideas are no longer living but dry-as-dust facts. Living ideas are primarily found in living books, books that are “well put and well told. “
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
–Sheila Carroll is founder of Living Books Curriculum, a literature rich, complete curriculum growing from the work of Charlotte Mason. This article previously appeared in Parent’s Journal, the e-newsletter of Living Books Curriculum. Visit Sheila online at: http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com
A long-time online aquaintance of mine recently posted a series of posts on her blog about how she was able to put together an entire year’s worth of curriculum from just a couple of trips to the thrift store.
If you think homeschooling’s just too expensive to consider pursuing seriously, take a look at Mama Squirrel’s ideas.
”What I came up with isn’t necessarily a Charlotte Mason curriculum; that needs to be clear … I think it’s more like an amalgam of Sonlight Curriculum and Ruth Beechick; it’s supposed to be something that could keep you going, even if you were homeschooling for the first time.” –Mama Squirrel
I found the following quote online and thought it was good information for anyone trying to decide where to start with reading about Charlotte Mason’s methods:
“I love Catherine Levison’s books, both A Charlotte Mason Education and More Charlotte Mason Education. I bought her back issues of Charlotte Mason Communique, and I read them diligently and reread them. … I like practical, down to earth, straightforward, cut to the chase, plain, unadorned, just the facts ma’am approaches. I’m a practical, cut to the chase, ‘is that logical’ sort of person. That’s the way Levison writes — lots of practical, useful ideas, little wrapping, and none of it fluffy.”
You can read the entire posting here: http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2007/09/charlotte-mason-books.html
~Debi
by Sheila Carroll (This article appeared in the 2005 edition of The Charlotte Mason Monthly eNewsletter.) Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learning to enjoy and understand a work of art is a sweet pleasure that lasts a lifetime. However, finding affordable reproductions, especially for homeschooling families on one income, is a challenge. Charlotte Mason noted that she acquired her reproductions, postcard-size black and white engravings from a commercial source. “A friendly picture dealer supplies us with half a dozen beautiful reproductions of the work of some single artist, term by term.” (p. 215).
How to Study a Picture
Introduce the artist with a few interesting details of his life. An excellent book to aid in this is ‘Art in Story’ by Marianne Saccardi. It is out-of-print but still widely available. Then, a “few sympathetic words about his trees or his skies, his river-paths or his figures, the pictures are studied one at a time; that is, children learn, not merely to see a picture but to look at it taking in every detail. Then the picture is turned over and the children tell what they have seen (i.e. narrate)” (p. 214).
Preparing an Art Portfolio
Developing an art portfolio by time period or simply to hold all the works is a good practice. You will need a three-ring binder and “sheet protectors”. Staples sell a box of 200 (more than enough). The sheet protector is three-hole punched, so you then prepare the work of art as below and store it in a three-ring binder.
Since your child will be studying one work of art at a time, it helps to set the work off visually. Take a sheet of black or off-white construction paper and center the work of art on the page. To the back side of the construction paper add the title, the artist and the date. Then, put the whole in the plastic sheet protector.
Sources for Inexpensive (or free!) Picture Study
The Internet
Many museums have digital copies of their works online. It is permissible to download one copy for study purposes. The drawback is that a good print requires using your colored ink cartridge a good bit. The plus side is that you get a fairly good reproduction that you can print in 8 1/2 x 11 format, which permits you to see more detail. Use any search engine to find the works of the artist you want to study. A really good searchable data-base is Artcylopedia ( http://www.artcyclopedia.com ) which has online art for over 8,000 famous painters, sculptors and photographers, at art museum sites and image archives worldwide.
Dover Books
Dover Books ( http://doverpublications.com ) has many quality reproductions in the form of “art cards”. This can be small or large format prints that sell for $1.50 and $5.95 respectively. Each book contains 12 – 24 prints of one artist or study period such as Impressionism.
Remaindered Books
The bookseller Barnes and Noble regularly sells remaindered books in its “Sales Annex” online and has a special table in most stores. Remaindered books are publishers overstocks that have been dramatically reduced, often more than 80% off the list price.
Bargain Books
Bargain books are not used or damaged, but some titles are marked to indicate that they are publishers’ overstocks. An example of a bargain available not long ago was Georgia O’Keefe’s One Hundred Flowers, a stunning collection of her works with a list price of $100, which Barnes & Noble sold for $19.98.
You can order One Hundred Flowers from Amazon at this link: http://snurl.com/100flowers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sheila Carroll is founder of Living Books Curriculum, a literature rich, complete curriculum growing from the work of Charlotte Mason. This article previously appeared in Parent’s Journal, the e-newsletter of Living Books Curriculum. Visit the LBC website: http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com Be sure to sign up for the LBC newsletter, Parent’s Journal: http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com/e-newsletter.htm

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