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The Hope Chest with Virginia Knowles
March 2010
#13-2: Whole Books, Whole Hearts
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Dear friends,
Welcome to the March 2010 Hope Chest e-magazine! This issue is packed full with goodies I've been collecting for the past few months, so fix yourself a tall glass of lemonade or a steaming mug of hot cocoa (depending on how cold it still is where you live) and enjoy! It's not just for home schooling families, but for anyone who loves life and children. Feel free to forward it to your friends.
Quick tip: There are dozens of web links in this e-mail. In order not to break the flow of your reading one thing, my recommendation is that you find a link that interests you, right click and open it in a new tab. Then, you can read each thing in turn without losing your place. This is what I do when I surf the web!
In this issue, you will find:
- What's New in the Knowles Family?
- What is the Charlotte Mason Approach to Education?
- What We're Doing for School Next Year (A Big Switch!)
- Review of Read for the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families by Sarah Clarkson
- Review of Dancing With My Father: How God Leads into a Life of Grace and Joy by Sally Clarkson
- Charlotte Mason and the Dignity of the Child
- Charlotte Mason Web Sites
- What's New on My Blogs?
But first, a quote to set the mood:
"You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” G.K. Chesterton
So I say grace as I write these words, that they may be a blessing to you!
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What's New in the Knowles Family?
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In a nutshell:
- My oldest daughter Mary and her husband Ryan are expecting their first baby, Jacob, on Mary's 23rd birthday, June 24. I can't wait to be a Grandma!
- Julia (21 next month), has been recovering from a case of mono. Yawn! She's sure been sleepy, but she's feeling almost back to normal and stays just as busy as ever.
- Rachel (19), Naomi (9) and Ben (7) all had birthdays in a one week period last month. Naomi and Ben had a space alien birthday party, with cupcakes, decorations, and games like "Pin the Eyeball on the Alien" lovingly crafted by Lydia, who is wildly creative.
- Joanna (17) spent spring break week in Daytona Beach with 15 Japanese exchange students and learned a lot about Buddhism as she in turn told them about her Christian faith. She will also have two of her nature photographs printed in Valencia College's annual Phoenix magazine, which is a huge honor since only 30 photographs were selected out of a few hundred submissions.
- Lydia (15) just bought another gerbil, Eddie. I hope he lasts longer than his three predecessors. Right now he is hiding under a cabinet in the living room. Oh, he's back in custody now, with Lydia telling him, "You are so grounded! You are not having another field trip for a very long time!"
- My husband Thad & Andrew (12) went camping with friends last weekend, including orienteering at Moss Park. I stayed home with the other kids and cleaned out our bedroom closet! 🙂
- Micah (10) has been taking art classes at church, as well as taking lots of bird pictures, many of which you can see here: Nature Study: It's For the Birds! (The bird photo and drawing below are Micah's.)
- Melody (4) has been learning to read and write a little. You might like this cute story, Melody and Bab, which also has a picture of her with her Daddy.
- Our church had a 25th anniversary picnic the next day. My favorite part of the church service that morning was the Cardboard Testimonies.
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What is the Charlotte Mason Approach to Education?
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Miss Charlotte Mason was a late 19th / early 20th century leader in British education. Her Parents National Educators Union schools, in homes and villages around that country, championed natural learning methods, high quality literature, the fine arts, orderly home atmosphere, healthy outdoor time, and the dignity of the child. Her methods, outlined in the six volume Original Home Schooling series, have made a comeback in modern home schooling circles where they are also known as “living books” or “life experiences” education. Mind you, I haven’t yet been able to plow through all of her own writings, but I do appreciate the books and magazine articles I have read about them. If I had to choose one approach to home schooling, this would be it! For language we use dictation, copy work and narration; choose interesting “whole books” written by authors with a passion for their subjects; and teach children to read with a commonsense blend of phonics and sight words. There are so many other ways we have used Charlotte Mason to appreciate art and nature, but to list them would start another whole chapter! My favorite book on this is The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola.
Quick Tips for Using the Best Facets of Charlotte Mason
♥ Choose interesting “living books” and biographies for reading aloud or independent study.
♥ Keep lessons short and varied so that the mind does not become dull.
♥ Assess comprehension by oral or written narration (the student tells what he has learned).
♥ Use the methods of dictation and copying to practice grammar, handwriting and spelling.
♥ Go on nature walks and draw what you see.
♥ Allow plenty of time for unstructured outdoor play.
♥ Study fine art and listen to excellent music, focusing on one artist or composer at a time.
The brief article above is excerpted from my first book, which you can read on-line or download here: The Real Life Home School Mom. (In the summertime I will print more regular copies, but I don't have any in stock right now.)
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What We're Doing for School Next Year (The Big Switch!)
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I'd like to share a story about how God has provided guidance to me about home schooling in recent months. We've been part of a weekly academic home school co-op for the past four years. The teachers there send home enough assignments to last the rest of the week. Our Mondays there have always been very "happy days" for me. I love the other ladies and the kids, and I love teaching the middle school English class with great literature. I've been glad that other teachers have done such a good job teaching their classes, especially the upper level math and science that I am clueless about. However, I have sensed during this time a certain amount of frustration over not getting to choose all of the resources my own children use and not having as much control over their schedules. Until now, this trade-off has been worth it to me, but in the past three or four months, God has renewed in me a strong desires to return to the Charlotte Mason method and unit studies approach that we used with our older daughters for so many years. How did he do this? There have been many ways!
First, over the years I had been trying to set aside a time every day to read aloud to my kids from great literature. My kids look forward to this and beg me for it, but I kept feeling guilty that I was cutting into the time they needed to complete their homework assignments from co-op. I started resenting that they had to fill in worksheets and workbooks instead of reading wonderful books with me! We have hundreds of terrific books on our shelves, but no one had the time to read them anymore. I was also getting tired of grading paperwork, checking off assignment folders, and packing backpacks. It seems like that has consumed our entire weekends lately.
Then in a random web search about something else, I stumbled on the blog of a young lady named Sarah Clarkson. Sarah is the daughter of Sally Clarkson, the author of Dancing with My Father [see review below]. It was Sally and Clay Clarkson's book, The Wholehearted Child (now titled Educating the Wholehearted Child and due for an expanded 3rd edition this spring!) that had taught us so much about Charlotte Mason and unit study education in our early years. They had raised their daughter in a book-loving home, and now she has written her own lovely book Read for the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families. I was captivated by her passionate plea to return to great books as the foundation of education.
Then, as God would have it, I was teaching two workshops at Books & Beyond, an annual home school literature seminar in Orlando. I had the opportunity to attend other sessions on literature by Bob Farewell, Linda Werner of Circle Christian School, and Shirley Solis of Lifetime Books & Gifts and found myself drooling over the possibilities.
I also recalled how many times my husband Thad had lamented that I was spending more time preparing elaborate lessons for my English class at co-op than I was in directly teaching my own kids. I realized that in many ways I had abdicated my privilege as my children's primary teacher. I was merely overseeing them doing homework -- which meant a lot of nagging -- rather than actually teaching them! Also, we were not learning together as a family. Everything felt so fragmented and disjointed. So I started evaluating my options. I realized that I could make other arrangements for my older children to get math and science through dual enrollment and Florida Virtual School. And I started hatching a plan of taking a year off from co-op. I started asking trusted friends for advice about whether I was crazy to make this switch. They all said, "GO FOR IT!"
My goal is to spend the mornings reading aloud from the Bible and great literature. We will be covering American history next year, and I want to accomplish this primarily through picture books, historical fiction and biographies, as well as using textbooks for references. We have dozens and dozens of books about American history already on our shelves, so I will also assign them related independent reading at their own level. We will weave in art, music and poetry from whatever time period we are studying, such as reading "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" poem by Longfellow when we study the Revolutionary War, or listening to folk music related to pioneer times. We will also cover various science topics using Jeannie Fulbright's Exploring Creation series supplemented with other books and a family membership (only $125) to the Orlando Science Center.
After their reading time, they will do oral or written narrations, telling back in their own words what they have learned from their books that morning. This is a classic Charlotte Mason method for language arts. It trains them to recall important details and to write well. Everyone will be doing basically the same thing at the same time in the same room, so it will be easier to keep track of them. We will be learning many things together, which will build family unity. I will be able to explain things to them as we go along. After lunch, they will do their math. There is an incentive with this because the sooner they get their math done, the sooner they can have free time to do their own projects and explorations around the house and yard.
I think this plan will free up our schedule to enjoy learning together. Not to mention that we want time to enjoy my new grandbaby when he comes to visit us one afternoon each week! As far as an annual schedule, I plan to do school for six weeks and then take one week off starting in mid-July. That will make good use of summer, which is often wasted, and it will also give me periodic time to plan for teaching the next historical period and to get my house clean.
So that's our plan right now. I'm sure we'll tweak it more over the next few months. My point is that this guidance unfolded over a period of months -- from asking God for wisdom, listening to my husband Thad's concerns, observing each of my children, looking back over our experiences, reading books, going to workshops, evaluating our opportunities in light of our goals. God was faithful to show us what to do, and I'm so excited to get started with it that I can't wait for this school year to be over and the next one to begin! He has clearly confirmed what to do, even though it takes a step of faith for me to go out on my own again.
This article was excerpted from my speaking notes for Amazing Grace for Home School Moms. The audio version is embellished with lots of ad libbed extra details, so be sure to listen to it, but this at least gave you the gist of what we plan to do for school this year.
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Read for the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families
Book by Sarah Clarkson, Review by Virginia Knowles
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Bunny trails, even the cyber kind, can lead to serendipitous discoveries, and that is certainly the case with how I found a wonderful book that is reshaping my home education path.
Late last year, I happened to be reading a theology blog that linked to a music video, which in turn linked to a writer’s forum, which fortuitously deposited me onto Sarah Clarkson’s blog. Her name is no mystery to me, though. What jumped out to me is that she is a Clarkson, twentysomething eldest daughter of Clay and Sally, whose 1995 book The Wholehearted Child (later renamed Educating the Wholehearted Child), laid an early foundation for Charlotte Mason style education in our home. Now Sarah, who was nurtured in a literature-loving environment, has penned her own contribution to the cause. She was kind enough to send me a review copy, along with a sweet note, and I devoured it in January. It’s been doing its work on me ever since, pointing me back from whence I came, back to whole literature education. But that is another story for another time.
Let me talk about the book. Bare fact: 384 pages of sheer delight. With her own warm-hearted, imagination-sparking vignettes from her family’s experience, Sarah sets first sets forth a passionate and poetic plea for us to teach our children with an abundance of well-written books. She suggests several ideas for making reading accessible and attractive to children, such as filling book baskets for each one or reading aloud while they sketch. She also presents solid research on literacy. For example, did you know that 15-24 year old spend only 7-10 minutes a day on voluntary reading, but 2 1/2 hours per day watching TV? How did this habit start? In childhood! This is more alarming when Sarah reports on studies which show that TV viewing causes the logical left side of the brain to go into a state of passivity, while at the same time stimulating the the emotional, less rational, less discerning right side of the brain. So, "The child is indiscriminately receptive to whatever image or idea is presented, inhibited not only in his discernement of the truth or error of the idea, but also in the basic skill of rational comprehension." However, when we read, our full minds are engaged, "resulting in a brain trained to interact with ideas and a mind able to comprehend, choosing what it will accept or reject as true." (Thanks, Mom and Dad for pulling the plug on our TV for six years when I was a kid, and for always taking us to the library and bookstores!)
Then, so as not to leave us floundering about what to read, Sarah lays out a feast of titles, authors, and engaging descriptions in the categories of picture books, Golden Age classics, children’s fiction, fairy tales & fantasy, history & biography, spiritual reading, poetry, and music/art/nature. Throw in several appendices, such as Caldecott Medalists, and you have a veritable treasure chest. Many of these books have been favorites in my own family as well as in my English classroom at the Providence co-op. However, she listed scores of titles I had never heard of before. So, armed with a list of her recommended picture books, I raided our public library and came home with a rich stash. Our favorite new find is Jill Barklem’s cheerful
Brambly Hedge series, of which we’ve read at least five or six. To give you a flavor of Sarah’s book descriptions, here is part of what she says about Brambly Hedge: "After months of studying the customs and traditions of English country life, Barklem set out to craft a series of children’s books filled with the hominess she found. The Brambly Hedge series chronicles the colorful days of a cheerful community of mice who love a good feast, an adventurous foray, and the charming company of their families." Sarah wrote more about this series here: Book Review of Brambly Hedge
And, a sweet childhood recollection from Sarah: It might be my earliest memory. I am curled in the crook of my mother’s arm in the evening. Bedtime lurks just around the corner, but for now, the two of us are nestled in the worn cushions of the old brown couch with a battered storybook open between us. My mom is reading, her voice charmingly expressive as she smoothes the glossy pages for me to see. I am entranced. The rhythm of the simple words combines with the whimsical paintings to captivate my little soul. I gaze at it all in bright-eyed wonder until I am compelled to surrender to my bedtime hour. I am only pacified by the knowledge that is will all begin again the next evening. Over twenty years have come and gone since that night, but the memory came rushing back the other day when I stumbled across the very storybook that had so delighted me as a child. I felt that I was meeting an old friend whose soul was part of my own, and I sat down to renew our acquaintance.
This reminds me of the time my family moved to San Carlos, California when I was at the end of second grade. When I first walked into the classroom, nervous to be the new kid, the teacher, Mrs. McMillan had all of the children gathered in a circle for reading time. The book? I could never forget Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey, another featured author in Read for the Heart. I checked out Blueberries for Sal from the library recently, read it to the kindergartners in our home school co-op, and enjoyed it as much as ever. The book is 15 years older than I am, with monotone ink illustrations, but it is timeless. And it was woven into my memory by a book-loving teacher. I also remember my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Mueller, reading aloud to us every day. One book that stands out is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, of which Sarah remarks in RFTH, "I challenge anyone to read this book without tears."
So you’ve figured out by now that I highly recommend Read for the Heart. It’s a beautiful book, list price of $17, very professionally published by Apologia/Wholeheart. You can find it on the WholeHeart web site, on the Apologia web site, or at CBD (where you can see inside the book).
I can’t resist one last quote from Read for the Heart. Sarah slips in inspiring quotes at the beginning of each chapter, and this is from the one on Music, Art and Nature: “A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” Johann Wilhelm von Goethe
Indeed!
Read for the heart!
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Dancing With My Father: How God Leads into a Life of Grace and Joy
Book by Sally Clarkson, Review by Virginia Knowles
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It is just what I needed right then! I especially appreciated the fact that Sally, who has been in Christian ministry for over 30 years, candidly shares her own sense of disillusionment and discouragement, and then her path back to joy in a less-than-perfect world. This is not a "mid-life" book per se, but it sure hit that spot for me. I guess we all need to know we aren't alone, that others share our struggles and feelings. I love a good story, and Sally weaves a lots of them from her own life into her encouragement for all of us.
While Poland was still under Communist rule, Sally and her friend Gwen enrolled as students at Jagiellonian University so they could, as missionaries-in-disguise, proclaim the joy and hope of Jesus to people under dreary oppression. Their hearts filled with excitement and satisfaction about their strategic kingdom work, and marveled at how God miraculously came through for them during the challenges of surreptitious gospel ministry. Decades later, on a visit back to Poland, Sally realized that in many ways she had lost that joy, adventure, and innocent expectation of a child. And she determined to get it back, not by conjuring up fake feelings, but by nurturing an intimate, joyful relationship with our Heavenly Father as he lovingly leads her (and each of us) through the twists and turns of life. Using the extended metaphor of dancing, as well as the exuberance of King David, she shares this journey to joy, and exhorts each of us to celebrate, listen, trust, and follow our Father. Often, this means we have to let go of things which hinder us from wholehearted living.
"One of the greatest obstacles was my response to disappointments, frustration, and the day-to-day interruptions of life. As I evaluated these things in light of my commitment to walk in joy, I could see that, in reality, God had used many of my difficulties to create in me a deeper, more compassionate heart, I could see that the hand of God had faithfully met me at my need and somehow sustained me instead of letting me go under. I also realized that he had used these challenges to loosen my grip on the worldly, temporal things I had previously looked to for security and stability and instead compelled me to rely on him and seek eternal answers."
"Here was my picture of Joy: David, having faithfully waited through years of anguish, danger, and humility, never losthis true focus on his ultimate Source of joy, his God, who had been with David every day, through every circumstance. And with his heart focused on the Source of his joy, David could leap and dance "before the LORD with all his might" (2 Samuel 6:14). I believe that David saw in God great freedom -- that his God created pleasure, color, beauty, food, love, sound, taste, and deep happiness. David was not tied up in knots of religion and rules, pretense and performance. Instead, he enjoyed and delighted in the God whom he knew to be his close friend and Lord. His dancing was a genuine expressions of what he felt in his heart for his most beloved and intimate companion. Where had he learned this? Out in the field, alone and free to ponder and live before God without pretense, being in nature withthe stars and storms, seasons and changes. He'd been daily alone, living in the beauty of a world that displayed God's glory and handiwork. He'd spend many hours writing music about it, thinking about the Great Designer, and singing to an audience of one." [Virginia's note: It sounds like King David would have liked Charlotte Mason!]
At the end of each chapter, you will find a short prayer and several insightful discussion questions. Scriptures and short inspirational quotes are interspersed within the pages. Two of my favorites:
"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” C.S. Lewis
"God's voice speaking peace is the sweetest music an ear can hear." Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Be sure to check out Sally's blog, I Take Joy. I get it delivered automatically via Google Reader. I was so relieved to read her post, Balancing life is oversold!, as I prepared to go out of town to speak earlier this month.
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Charlotte Mason and the Dignity of the Child
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I spoke from my heart about this in my presentation for Mardy Freeman's home school support group in Gainesville, Florida this month. You can hear the Amazing Grace for Home School Moms audios or read a short portion of the segment Tender Compassion for Mothers.
Here is just a snippet of it: "Tenderness is a special character quality for mothers, but it comes from God. He leads us with gentleness so that we can lead our children with gentleness. Isaiah 40:11 says, "He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 also talks about the gentleness of motherhood when is says, "As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." And so our children become dear to us, and we are delighted to share our own lives with them -- but only as we are filled with God's tender compassion for us. As we live in the lavish love of God, we can learn to listen and respond to our children, rather than react at them. We don't need to be tyrannical dictators anymore. We don't need to feel like we must dominate our children, to use our own self-effort to make them holy, as if we expect a bunch of outward rules to change their inward hearts. Josh McDowell once said, "Rules without relationships reap rebellion." We've all seen the tragic results of teens and young adults who have walked away from their family and their faith because life was all about legalistic rules, without any warmth or grace. GRACE! Our own grace toward them will lovingly point them to Jesus, the source of God's grace." Be sure to read or listen to the rest of this!
I have also compiled several quotes about children in a blog post called Children: Life's Greatest Treasure. Here is one by Mary Howitt: "God sends children for another purpose than merely to keep up the race - to enlarge our hearts; and to make us unselfish and full of kindly sympathies and affection; to give our souls higher aims; to call out all our faculties to extended enterprise and exertion and to bring round our firesides bright faces, happy smiles, and loving, tender hearts. My soul blesses the great Father, every day, that he has gladdened the earth with little children."
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Charlotte Mason Web Sites
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Here is a collection of several popular web sites that teach about various aspects of the Charlotte Mason approach to education. Please note that I do not endorse everything on each site.
I recommend that if you see a link that interests you, either in this Charlotte Mason section or the next one on my blog links, that you right click and open in a new tab. That way you can read each one in turn without losing track of the others.
- Charlotte Mason Research & Supply with Karen Andreola www.charlottemason.com/ (I'm not sure if this site has been updated recently since it doesn't list Karen's newest book, but there is still a lot of great stuff there.)
- Ambleside On-line -- free curriculum, booklists, schedules, including free on-line texts, plus CM's original series in modern English paraphrase http://www.amblesideonline.org/
- Charlotte Mason Education with Catherine Levinson http://www.charlottemasoneducation.com/
The following is not a Charlotte Mason site, but since music was part of her approach, you might be interested in Christian DVD's that teach guitar with worship songs.
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What's New on My Blogs?
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In the past couple of months, I've written several blog posts...
Here are some I haven't yet mentioned in this issue:
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A Legacy of Books What will our kids remember about their education when they grow up?
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Here are several more which I have already mentioned either in this issue or in a recent e-mail:
I guess that's enough for one issue!
May God bless you with abundant joy and peace! Go dance!
Virginia Knowles
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Bunny trails, even the cyber kind, can lead to serendipitous discoveries, and that is certainly the case with how I found a wonderful book that is reshaping my home education path.