I recently received about 10 posters (birds, reptiles, caterpillars/moths, mammals, flowers) from the Canadian Wildlife Federation for free - you can donate but there was no talk of it on the phone - just in the pre-message part.Just call 1-800-563-WILD and ask for whatever complimentary posters they have available and give them your address. They're very nice!
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Posters
And this note came from Sara:
CBC Radio Programs on Play and Early Childhood
Sandy Rusby Bell sent me the following note this morning, and I'm now feeling a little badly for not having pointed out the first part to all of you much earlier. I listened to the CBC Ideas podcast of The Hurried Infant several weeks ago and was finding myself nodding in agreement through much of it. This is so applicable to those of us who believe that Charlotte Mason was on the right track regarding early childhood development, and it is thrilling to me to hear these idea being brought to the public ear. If you want to listen to the podcast instead of using the link Sandy has given (below), you will find it on iTunes. If you need help locating it there, let me know.
Our National Public Broadcaster CBC seems to have become very interested in the importance of play in the lives of children. Last week they aired an amazing two part documentary called "The Hurried Infant". Fascinating work on the brain, confirms so much of what CM said.Here Sandy gave the link to the CBC program Quirks and Quarks. The link doesn't actually pull up the broadcast, but I believe that this, too, would be available through iTunes podcasts. Sorry we didn't know about this early enough to get the info out to you before the show actually aired so you could listen to it as it was broadcast, but, I suppose, we can be thankful for the technology that allows us to listen to previously aired programs so easily.)
Today, at 12:00 on the Science show they will be discussing the importance of play. I haven't heard it yet so don't know what it will be like but I thought you might like to listen...
The SHIRE Co-op...
Note from Jennifer: I received a request to post this to the blog. Apparently the Co-ops offered here are fantastic. If you have any questions about the Co-op, you will need to direct them to Stacey Larin at the contact given at the bottom of the post. The links in this post are not active; you will have to put the web address into your browser to get to the website mentioned in the post.
The SHIRE Co-op...
...where Schooling at Home Is Real Education
The SHIRE Co-op for homeschooled students ages 9-12 will return for the 2009-2010 academic year. This year’s theme: reading, writing, and recreating Ancient History!
The SHIRE is both our home and our homeschool in beautiful Ancaster. In previous years, the SHIRE Co-op has offered a variety of courses providing students with a strong foundation on which to build their high school years. For 2009-2010, the SHIRE Co-op will offer an integrated program of three classes: ancient history, historical fiction/ literature, and writing (oh--and lunch hour!) Students will watch the Nile flood, storm the walls of Troy, and relive the rise--and fall--of Rome through excellent children’s books, textual study, and hands-on activities. A few details:
Interested in having your child join in an exciting co-op experience of academics and activity?
The SHIRE is both our home and our homeschool in beautiful Ancaster. In previous years, the SHIRE Co-op has offered a variety of courses providing students with a strong foundation on which to build their high school years. For 2009-2010, the SHIRE Co-op will offer an integrated program of three classes: ancient history, historical fiction/ literature, and writing (oh--and lunch hour!) Students will watch the Nile flood, storm the walls of Troy, and relive the rise--and fall--of Rome through excellent children’s books, textual study, and hands-on activities. A few details:
--All courses run from mid-September to early June, with holiday breaks.
--Classes will be held from 9:30-2:00--tentatively set for Fridays.
--Families are welcome to register students for one, two, or all three courses.
--Fees are $100 per student per year-long course; a sibling pays $80 per course.
--Refunds will be less 10% of the original amount per month from September onwards.
--Families are responsible to acquire all necessary books for the courses.
--Parents are asked to help out with a snack schedule and set-up/ clean-up schedule.
--All courses are taught by Shiremistress Stacey (aka Ms. Frazzle).
--Classes will be held from 9:30-2:00--tentatively set for Fridays.
--Families are welcome to register students for one, two, or all three courses.
--Fees are $100 per student per year-long course; a sibling pays $80 per course.
--Refunds will be less 10% of the original amount per month from September onwards.
--Families are responsible to acquire all necessary books for the courses.
--Parents are asked to help out with a snack schedule and set-up/ clean-up schedule.
--All courses are taught by Shiremistress Stacey (aka Ms. Frazzle).
Interested in having your child join in an exciting co-op experience of academics and activity?
You can get a glimpse of former SHIRE years at http://www.freewebs.com/shiremistress
For further information, please contact Stacey Larin at: theshire@cogeco.ca.
Come join us at the SHIRE...where Schooling at Home Is Real Education!
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
In Which Sandy Rusby Bell Gives Us Oodles of Links for Greek Myths, Fairy Tales, and Poetry
What a wonderful meeting last night. As always, the atmosphere in Karen's home was warm and welcoming. And the cake!! We have some amazing bakers in our midst.
Thank you Liz for leading the discussion about the Will. It was not an easy chapter but you explained it so well.
I promised to send out some recommended resources that relate to our practical discussion last night. Here they are.
(Note from Jennifer: All items in colour are hyperlinks that will take you to a new website. If you want to open it in a different tab and keep this blog open, right click on the link and select "Open link in new tab.")
To look more deeply at the “Instructors of Conscience” that we spoke about see Charlotte Masons 4th Volume “Ourselves”, specifically Chapters 12-15. If you don't own a copy you can find it free online here. There is also a wonderful paraphrase of the volume in Modern English here.
Greek Myths
I'm only going to mention my favourites. You can of course find more in our library. If you'd like to see what we have in our library, remember, you can scroll down the right hand side of this blog and find a link to a “Keep and Share” document with a listing of our library books.
I've included a link so you can have a look at each book.
Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff – This is my very favourite retelling of the Iliad. We have this in the WHHE library.
The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff- This continues the story describing, well, the wanderings of Odysseus!
Jim Weiss storytelling CDs: The Greek Myths and He and She Adventures in Mythology and Heroes in Mythology (which I forgot to mention last night).
The Heroes by Charles Kingsley. You can also read The Heroes free online .
Tanglewood Tales and The Wonderbook by Nathaniel Hawthorne -As I mentioned, I particularly like these books for after the student already has some familiarity with the myths. Hawthorne plays with the stories and makes some funny changes that kids love to be able to catch. Tanglewood Tales can be read free here. You can see the book and reviews here.
I don't think A Wonderbook for Girls and Boys is in the public domain yet, weird! But you can see it here.
Greek Myths by Olivia Coolidge. Woo Hoo! Last time I looked this book was out of print. It's expensive but at least it's available again.
Mythology by Edith Hamilton. This is a standard University text and is suitable for high school students. It has virtually all the “important” myths and very helpful explanations. “The Introduction to Classical Mythology” section is worth the price of the book (especially if you find it a library discard sale for a quarter as I did!).
Fairy Tales
In case you weren't convinced last night, or even if you were, please read the beautiful, beautiful blog post by Lori Lawing called “The Shout of a King”
Jim Weiss Storytelling CDs:
Best Loved Stories in Song and Dance
Fairytale Favorites in Song and Dance
Giants! A Colossal Collection of Tales and Tunes
Famously Funny!
Tell me a Story!
If you've never listened to Jim Weiss's stories, watch out, they're addictive!
I mentioned that I wrote a blog post about the moral imperative of developing imagination in our children. It is called, to my children's horror, “Naked and Blue at My Back Door”. You can read it here. (And I'd love it if you'd leave comments, hint, hint.)
Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book is the one with “Beauty and The Beast”. It can be read free here. Make sure you scroll down, when you first click on the page it looks like you can only purchase it. The Red Fairy Book is also available free here. We have some from this series in our library. I found this Wikipedia article about Lang's books very helpful:
Poetry
Remember there are two components to this: poetry reading and poetry memorization.
For Poetry Reading
I showed the “Poetry for Young People” series. You can see the the Robert Frost book here: You'll also see links to others in the series. We have several of these in our library.
We have a great selection of Poetry books in our library.
The Grammar of Poetry is wonderful for late elementary or early high school.
The Roar on the Other Side is also for late elementary or high school. It's probably best after The Grammar of Poetry.
For Poetry Memorization
I wrote a blog post on Composition for ChildLight USA. In it I discuss the importance of poetry memorization for writing skills. I refer to the article “One Myth, Two Truths” by Andrew Pudewa. Important stuff.
I recommend Pudewa's program “Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization”. It is pricey and not necessary. It has been tremendously helpful for me though. We actually do poetry memorization now. We have this in our library.
Unfortunately we ran out of time last night and we weren't able to discuss how Charlotte Mason actually did poetry memorization. It is quite different than you might expect. This article, “Memorization “Learnt without Labour” by Tina Fillmer explains it nicely. Jennifer has written well about her family's experience on her blog. Click on the 'memorization' topic on the left.
Whew, I hope I haven't missed anything!
May I just say that I came home so excited and energized last night. I am inspired by all of you incredible women. I look forward to hearing all of your insightful contributions every month. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. Every one of you is a gift.
I look forward to hearing about the High School breakout session last night. Please send us a note.
Warmly,
Sandy Rusby Bell
Thank you Liz for leading the discussion about the Will. It was not an easy chapter but you explained it so well.
I promised to send out some recommended resources that relate to our practical discussion last night. Here they are.
(Note from Jennifer: All items in colour are hyperlinks that will take you to a new website. If you want to open it in a different tab and keep this blog open, right click on the link and select "Open link in new tab.")
To look more deeply at the “Instructors of Conscience” that we spoke about see Charlotte Masons 4th Volume “Ourselves”, specifically Chapters 12-15. If you don't own a copy you can find it free online here. There is also a wonderful paraphrase of the volume in Modern English here.
Greek Myths
I'm only going to mention my favourites. You can of course find more in our library. If you'd like to see what we have in our library, remember, you can scroll down the right hand side of this blog and find a link to a “Keep and Share” document with a listing of our library books.
I've included a link so you can have a look at each book.
Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff – This is my very favourite retelling of the Iliad. We have this in the WHHE library.
The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff- This continues the story describing, well, the wanderings of Odysseus!
Jim Weiss storytelling CDs: The Greek Myths and He and She Adventures in Mythology and Heroes in Mythology (which I forgot to mention last night).
The Heroes by Charles Kingsley. You can also read The Heroes free online .
Tanglewood Tales and The Wonderbook by Nathaniel Hawthorne -As I mentioned, I particularly like these books for after the student already has some familiarity with the myths. Hawthorne plays with the stories and makes some funny changes that kids love to be able to catch. Tanglewood Tales can be read free here. You can see the book and reviews here.
I don't think A Wonderbook for Girls and Boys is in the public domain yet, weird! But you can see it here.
Greek Myths by Olivia Coolidge. Woo Hoo! Last time I looked this book was out of print. It's expensive but at least it's available again.
Mythology by Edith Hamilton. This is a standard University text and is suitable for high school students. It has virtually all the “important” myths and very helpful explanations. “The Introduction to Classical Mythology” section is worth the price of the book (especially if you find it a library discard sale for a quarter as I did!).
Fairy Tales
In case you weren't convinced last night, or even if you were, please read the beautiful, beautiful blog post by Lori Lawing called “The Shout of a King”
Jim Weiss Storytelling CDs:
Best Loved Stories in Song and Dance
Fairytale Favorites in Song and Dance
Giants! A Colossal Collection of Tales and Tunes
Famously Funny!
Tell me a Story!
If you've never listened to Jim Weiss's stories, watch out, they're addictive!
I mentioned that I wrote a blog post about the moral imperative of developing imagination in our children. It is called, to my children's horror, “Naked and Blue at My Back Door”. You can read it here. (And I'd love it if you'd leave comments, hint, hint.)
Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book is the one with “Beauty and The Beast”. It can be read free here. Make sure you scroll down, when you first click on the page it looks like you can only purchase it. The Red Fairy Book is also available free here. We have some from this series in our library. I found this Wikipedia article about Lang's books very helpful:
Poetry
Remember there are two components to this: poetry reading and poetry memorization.
For Poetry Reading
I showed the “Poetry for Young People” series. You can see the the Robert Frost book here: You'll also see links to others in the series. We have several of these in our library.
We have a great selection of Poetry books in our library.
The Grammar of Poetry is wonderful for late elementary or early high school.
The Roar on the Other Side is also for late elementary or high school. It's probably best after The Grammar of Poetry.
For Poetry Memorization
I wrote a blog post on Composition for ChildLight USA. In it I discuss the importance of poetry memorization for writing skills. I refer to the article “One Myth, Two Truths” by Andrew Pudewa. Important stuff.
I recommend Pudewa's program “Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization”. It is pricey and not necessary. It has been tremendously helpful for me though. We actually do poetry memorization now. We have this in our library.
Unfortunately we ran out of time last night and we weren't able to discuss how Charlotte Mason actually did poetry memorization. It is quite different than you might expect. This article, “Memorization “Learnt without Labour” by Tina Fillmer explains it nicely. Jennifer has written well about her family's experience on her blog. Click on the 'memorization' topic on the left.
Whew, I hope I haven't missed anything!
May I just say that I came home so excited and energized last night. I am inspired by all of you incredible women. I look forward to hearing all of your insightful contributions every month. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. Every one of you is a gift.
I look forward to hearing about the High School breakout session last night. Please send us a note.
Warmly,
Sandy Rusby Bell
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