Lesson Plans for Literature.....part 1

Oh someone please write my literature curriculum for me for this year!! I know My Father's World, Abeka, Bob Jones and all kinds of other boxed curricula are available for Freshman year English. I'm just not interested. I have a wonderfully thoughtful child. I want that thoughtful child to read whole books, not just excerpts. And I want to have discussions about them, not just have him answer some questions about who did what to whom and when.

So far, we have just selected classics and read them together, discussing as we go along. I know, very Charlotte Mason, right? But I realize that he's going to need a high school transcript at some point, and I should put some effort into making sure that what he's studying is somewhat well rounded. But I don't want to do any more than 9 books a school year. And he's still not done with The Hunger Games, which I anticipate he might finish this summer.

So far, my list (all on my nook) is:
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
Moby Dick - Hermann Melville
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
Tales of Space and Time - H.G. Wells
The Call of the Canyon - Zane Grey
The Dragon and the Raven - G.A. Henty
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Odyssey - Homer
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orzcy
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

I know we can read these over the course of the next four years, but also know I will be adding to this list as I go. It is probably silly of me to think that I will review all of Algebra, complete the entire Literature Curriculum, read the entire Biology book and all the other topics he has to study in the course of this summer. But I feel my thoughts on the subjects aren't complete if I just do part of my lesson plans and not all of it before we start back to school. In SIX WEEKS!

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Commerce Secretary Resigns

Although according to reports I have read (Washington Post , Reuters), commerce secretary John Bryson has not previously been diagnosed with epilepsy, he is more that quick to resign after a seizure and a car accident. I am not comfortable with the message this sends. "I have concluded that the seizure I suffered on June 9th could be a distraction from my performance as secretary and that our country would be better served by a change in leadership at the department," Bryson said.  So people are distracted by his health?  Does that affect his performance?  Does it affect his ability to do his job so much better than, say, I could? 

Although Mr. Bryson's medical conditions are certainly private, and I truly hope that these complex partial seizures his doctors diagnosed don't indicate cancer or some other degenerative issue, I think his decision not to continue his life as close to normal as possible sends a poor message to the public in general as well as the epilepsy community.  The press is always distracted by something that can get the public's attention.  Let it roll on and next week the press will be onto something more interesting commercially profitable. 

Those with epilepsy already know how hard it is to get and keep a job when you have seiures at work. Employers loose trust, peers are fearful, and the employee may find it challenging to balance health needs with work responsibilities. What do you do when it is month end and you need to work 12 hour days?  Stress and lack of proper sleep can be triggers for seizures.  Do you work what is needed or care for your body?  Personally, I see this with my father managing his diabetes and his job.  As a mother of epileptics, I have seen how school performance can be affected by seizures, what does one do when time must be taken for hospitalization, treatments, self care?

But having seizures, epilepsy, diabetes for that matter, does not change who you are and what you bring to your job.  Whether or not John Bryson was a good commerce secretary seems to be up for debate right now.  "Administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about the matter, admitted that he wasn’t as effective an advocate as they had initially hoped."   Unfortunately, what will be remembered is that some guy  had a seizure, wrecked a car and quit his job.  Really, Mr. Bryson, is that the message you want sent to the American public?  In time you might see you have a greater responsibility than averting a scandal. 

With unemployment among epileptics over 50 percent I don't see where we can afford to add to the stigma of seizure. Mr. Bryson's willingness to so easily give up on his job, possibly his career in the wake of what appears to be his fist seizure is just a cop out. And not just for him, but to the chronically ill everywhere.Mr. Bryson, I hope you are well, I hope you are supported by family and friends, and I hope you come to use what platform you do have to support and encourage others who deal with these issues every day, not just run and hide.

Learn more about me and why I care at the bio page.

Do you know your flock?

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds. Proverbs 27:23

I hadn't known how little I knew about the condition of my flock, my little P's. One was in public school, two in preschool, and I was working. Only part time, though. I was home in the afternoons, I had dinner on the table, homework is always complete. But I didn't know the condition of my flocks. I didn't even realize I didn't know them.

Picking up the girls from preschool, I would ask the preschool teachers how the girls were that day. My middle child has quite noticeable anxiety. That's not uncommon in people with epilepsy. Who wouldn't be anxious when you can't predict what your body will do next, you have lost all control? Sometimes I would have to leave work early to come pick her up her anxiety was so bad. And who would tell me the condition of my flocks? The preschool teachers. Not that they really knew, they only saw my girls four hours a day. They thought it was poor discipline, lack of self control. But then nap time, a little tv, dinner and off to bed the girls went. I didn't know the state of my flock.

I was home when my son came home from school, I kept in close contact with his teachers, he did his work, he brought his friends home, but I didn't know the state of my flock, not really. He was sad, conflicted, confused. I assumed this was normal for his age. I didn't realize I just didn't know him.

This ends the second full year of having my kids home with me for school, and I wouldn't have imagined what a change I would have seen in them. The joy they have, the peace, the kindness towards each other.... It is amazing. I count it all glory to God, who has nurtured us through the whole process. I can truly say I know the condition of my flock now. I know their moods, their skills, their weaknesses and their needs. Better yet I think they know themselves better, because they aren't comparing themselves to others, they are evaluating themselves by God's standard. That makes us all more content.

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Curriculum choices

I get asked all the time what curriculum I use. Don't you? If not, you will! We started out with a Charlotte Mason approach, especially since I was starting at middle school with my eldest. I knew he was missing big gaps of time at school, but I wasn't sure what that equated to. So off to the library we went. But after a few years of catching up, we buckled down to real curricula. I like textbooks. I loved learning and being in school. Nothing like that feeling of success when you have completed a chapter and done well on the test!

My 14 year old is finishing his Apologia Biology this year. It is supposed to be completed in one year, but I slowed down the pace, let him roll around in it, enjoy it over two years. I can't imagine doing a chapter every two weeks. The material is intense! Not to mention the next level is Chemistry, and he needs to get further in math before we get to that point. A sample chapter is available for you to look at here.

My daughter's also use the same series, but for elementary school. This year it is Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy.

That brings me back to math. We used Math Mammoth to fill in the spaces and get him caught up to middle school level. If you have a child you are pulling from public school to homeschool and you have lots of material to make up, don't worry. I really thought it would take us years to get to grade level. I made plans on how he could possibly complete high school in time, I agonized about how much to do without burning him out while still moving at a faster-than-school pace. It took us 18 months to go from fourth grade level math to pre-algebra. Don't sweat too much, momma!

Math Mammoth only takes you up to sixth grade, I think, so I had to find another publisher. I loved learning Saxon when I was in school, so it seemed the obvious fit. Saxon has a great placement test here to help you figure out where to place your student. :hiding my face: I actually use those tests to formulate teaching math to my younger two, we don't use a book. Maybe by 3rd grade we will, but right now they are just five and six, so we just sit down and practice things together. My 14 year old is using pre-algebra.

For history, we use The Story of the World. I like that all three of my kids can study this together. We start our morning that way, with history, all together, around the table in our jammies. The companion activity book has activities and books to read broken down by age, so a younger child gets coloring, map work, a game maybe, the older one has a list of other books to supplement and projects they can use to go deeper.

Literature we do on our own, from a selection of age appropriate classic books, poems and plays. I'll make another post on that when it's done. This year we are reading some Shakespeare, Alcott, Grey, Stevens, and Doyle.

For bible study, I love Bob Jones University's Bible Truths. For the younger ones, there are lots of hands on activities, and for the older ones, they really dig deep into scripture. Not that they don't already do that at AWANA's.....

Grammar we do together as well, using an old Charlotte Mason book, Simply Grammar. Apologetics and worldview we do together using the What We Believe series. Art is done together using Feed My Sheep.

Why do I care? Learn more about us at my bio page.

Little Helpers

 

During a recent trip to Marshall's the girls spotted these cute little broom and dustpan sets.  The bright colors and miniature design just sucked them in, and the "oh please, mommy" sucked me in.  I love these little sets more than I expected.

I borrow a lot from Charlotte Mason in my homeschooling and child rearing.  I read once in a book of hers that a child should be able to run the house around the age of twelve.  Although we haven't achieved that goal, I am still working towards it.  Also, since I am dealing with chronic back pain, I try to get the kids (who are closer to the floor) to do things that otherwise would have me bending over.

The girls are always working with something that ends up under foot, whether it is perler beads or cutting paper or sharpening pencils, they are always getting messes on the floor.  Add that to the dirt tracked in from the big kid, the fur from the dog and general kitchen messiness, my floor is always in need of a sweeping.  Only now, my daughters are excited to do it.  I wouldn't have thought that a 6 year old would be so excited to model mommy's housecleaning!  I encourage you to do more than giving your four year old the washcloths to fold.  Set the bar a little higher and see if your kids can jump to it!

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Last Book of the Year!

Big P and I are finishing the last literature book for this year. He has really been into civil rights and racism this year, having read the Autobiography of Malcom X, Native Son (by Richard Wright), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain) and other books one may or may not consider to be about racial prejudice. Our last book is Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. 

It occurs to me his perspective on this book is completely different from mine. After all, he is growing up in a big city where he thinks racism doesn't occur, one of his two best friends is black, Big P sees no color issues. Oh, to be that naive. He didn't grow up in the small town American south I did. He didn't see blatant racism and segregation in housing and education models, or more subtle segregation in advancement opportunities for African Americans. I wonder what he takes from To Kill a Mockingbird that I don't. I see Tom Robinson as either displaying the courageous love of Christ by helping Mayella Ewell or that he was a little slow. Of course any black man in full charge of his facilities in 1935 Alabama would not have put himself in the position Tom Robinson did without knowing he was taking a tremendous risk. But does a child raised in the 2000's see that? And Mayella, forced to lie on the stand because her only hope for herself and her little brothers and sisters is to not make dad angry. Can a 14 year old city boy appreciate that? Or does he presume Mayella could have struck out on her own and had a better life for herself.

Anyway, the discussion questions I have for him are as follows:
To Kill a Mockingbird is full of colorful characters. The noble Atticus Finch, the strong willed Dill Harris, the shy and reclusive Boo Radley. Which was your favorite character from the book and why? Provide details as to what about this characters or what this character did to endear you to him/her.
Which was your least favorite character? What did he/she do to earn that honorific?
Imagine the situation with different races. What if Atticus and the townspeople were Hispanic and Tom Robinson were Caucasian. If this story were told in this time with these characters do you think the outcome would be the same? Why or why not? What role does Tom Robinson's poverty play in the outcome if any.

To learn more about us go to my Bio Page.