Back to the Classics 2018

I love this time of year with everyone talking about their favorite books of the year and what they're looking forward to reading for the coming year.  This year I'm going to attempt one challenge:  the Back to the Classics Challenge.  Here are my tentative picks:

1.  A 19th century classic:  Great Expectations by Dickens (1860-61)

2.  A 20th century classic:  Howard's End by Forster (1910); I am determined to read at least one book with the Close Reads podcast this year.

3.  A classic by a woman author:  Little Women by Alcott (never read!)

4.  A classic in translation:  The Cross by Undset; this is the third book of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy.  I read the first two in 2016.

5.  A children's classic:  The Jungle Book by Kipling; I have lots of options here.  We'll read aloud many children's classics throughout the year.

6.  A classic crime story, fiction or nonfiction:  The Hound of Baskervilles by Doyle

7.  A classic travel or journey narrative, fiction or nonfiction:  Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Lansing

8.  A classic with a single-word title:  Emma by Austen

9.  A classic with a color in the title:  The Woman in White by Collins

10.  A classic by an author that's new to you:  Wuthering Heights by Bronte

11.  A classic that scares you:  The Odyssey by Homer

12.  Re-read a favorite classic:  Till We Have Faces or The Great Divorce by Lewis

Happy Reading!

Food for the Mind {The Liberal Arts Tradition}

"...as the body requires wholesome food and cannot nourish itself upon any substance so the mind too requires meat after its kind."  {Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education}

 

I am slowly making my way through The Liberal Arts Tradition by Clark and Jain, and am learning so much about the Christian Classical educational tradition (say that five times fast).  Along with Andrew Kern's podcast, the pieces are beginning to come together in my mind.

I thought I would share some of the quotes I've highlighted so far.  I'm not going to provide commentary; I'll let you chew on the ideas :)

(*all emphases are added)

"Since human beings are more than just intellects...the curriculum must develop more than just intellectual virtue.  Creatures formed in God's image must be cultivated in body and soul -- mind, will, and affections."

"This full-orbed education aims at cultivating fully integrated human beings, whose bodies, hearts, and minds are formed respectively by gymnastic, music, and the liberal arts; whose relationships with God, neighbor, and community are marked by piety; whose knowledge of the world, man, and God fit harmoniously within a distinctly Christian philosophy; and whose lives are informed and governed by a theology forged from the revelation of God in Christ Jesus as it has been handed down in historic Christianity."

"Grounded in piety, Christian classical education cultivates the virtue of the student in body, heart, and mind, while nurturing a love for wisdom under the lordship of Christ."

"The foundational distinction between traditional education and modern education is that the ancients believed that education was fundamentally about shaping loves...It was an education in love.  Personal values were not simply explored or discovered on one's own but were passed down and lived out.  This required trust and commitment, and thus piety, the proper love and fear of God and man, was the critical virtue.  It aligned one's will with the family, society, and God, and expected the young pupils' desires, beliefs, and habits to be shaped over years in the process of incarnating them."

"...the metaphysical and theological beliefs passed down through the culture, church, and universities truly governed the forms and content of the curriculum as the faculties of universities sought to understand the ways of God at work in the world...Education in this manner, coupled with the grace of Christ, was not a matter of indoctrination, but about bringing each nature to its fullest potential in a living and vibrant community."

Until next time!

A little "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" wisdom

Yesterday I posted about our reading list for kindergarten and talked a little bit about reading to kids in general.  It was so appropriate because last night before bedtime we read a couple chapters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  (And we're almost done with it - only two chapters left!)

Why?

Because one of the particular chapters we read was about Mike Teavee getting transported into the television screen.  If you remember, Mike Teavee was the boy who watched TV all. day. long.

In the book, each time one of the children get sent away (because of their horrendous behavior) the oompa-loompas sing a song about him or her.  And the song they sang about Mike Teavee  - I just loved it!

I wish I could type out the whole song, but I'm afraid of any copyright police lurking around the web.  So, instead, here are a few exerpts (it's a pretty long song):

The most important thing we've learned,

So far as children are concerned,

Is never, NEVER, NEVER, let

Them near your television set - 

Or better still, just don't install

The idiotic thing at all.

...

Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,

They don't climb out the window sill,

They never fight or kick or punch,

They leave you free to cook the lunch

And wash the dishes in the sink - 

But did you ever stop to think,

To wonder just exactly what

This does to your beloved tot?

IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!

IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!

IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!

IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND

HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND

A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!

HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!

HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!

HE CANNOT THINK - HE ONLY SEES!

Then the song, from the perspective of the parent, asks what to do with the kids if the television is taken away?

We'll answer this by asking you, 

'What used the darling ones to do?

'How used they keep themselves contented

Before this monster was invented?'

Have you forgotten?  Don't you know?

We'll say it very loud and slow:

THEY...USED...TO...READ!  

...

The nursery shelves held books galore!

Books cluttered up the nursery floor!

And in the bedroom, by the bed,

More books were waiting to be read!

...

Okay, maybe I should finally take the 50 cent sticker off of Make Way for Ducklings.

Oh, books, what books they used to know,

Those children living long ago!

So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,

Go throw your TV set away,

And in its place you can install

A lovely bookshelf on the wall.

Then fill the shelves with lots of books,

Ignoring all the dirty looks,

...

Some of these books will not be read by the girls until they're much older - The Lord of the Rings and Shakespeare, for example.  But, most of these will be read in the first few years of homeschooling.  There are many, many more that I need to collect, however :)

They'll now begin to feel the need

Of having something good to read,

and once they start - oh boy, oh boy!

You watch the slowly growing joy

That fills their hearts.  They'll grow so keen

They'll wonder what they'd ever seen

In that ridiculous machine,

That nauseating, foul, unclean,

Repulsive television screen!

...

Okay, that's probably enough :)  

I have no doubt that nowadays this would also refer to an Ipad or an Xbox or whatever gadget is popular, as well as TV.

Now don't get me wrong, we own a TV (actually three) and our kids do watch it.  (We do not, however, have an Ipad or any kind of gaming system or any other new gadget.)  But, we severely limit the amount of time they watch and what they watch.  I'd say the girls watch a 30 minute show (like Curious George) maybe once or twice per week.  And on the weekends we sometimes let them watch a movie.

It's just like candy I guess - small amounts here and there won't do much damage (hopefully), as long as the good stuff is being fed at every meal, everyday. 

Although I really wouldn't mind getting rid of our TV.  Just have to convince my husband...

Our kindergarten reading list

Reading aloud is one of the most important parts of our day.  We've always read to our girls, even when they were little bitty.  And I don't plan to quit reading aloud to them even when they learn to read themselves.  There are many reasons to continue reading aloud to kids even when they're well into their teen years.

What we're reading

As far as which books we choose to read, quality is definitely more imporant than quantity.  I have spent the past several months purging our house of books that would fit under the category of "twaddle."  These books have no meat to them; they're just silly and nonsensical and are not literature.  They remind me of comedian Brian Regan's bit about the book about the clock - Page 1:  The clock.  Page 2:  Tick-tock.  Page 3:  The end.  Back cover:  18 bucks.  

Or that part in Despicable Me 2 when Gru is reading the girls a bedtime story about kittens.  "This is literature?" he asks.

Anyway, my point is that I've been much more thoughtful about the kind of books I read to the girls.  I want them to get used to reading good, quality, well-written literature so that they can appreciate it in the future (and be able to keep up with the rigorous Ambleside Online (AO) curriculum! - which is the curriculum we will be using, by the way), and so that their minds can actually feed off of it and develop meaningful and lovely ideas.

In my previous kindergarten post, I listed a schedule of read-alouds that we were following throughout the week.  Well....you know.  That kind of went out the window.  The schedule, I mean - not the actual books.  Right now there's no schedule as far as which books are read on each day.  At certain times of the day we just pick up a book, from a list of books, and read.  Then we put it back and the next day we pick up a different one.

So...finally...here's what we're reading.  Most of our reading happens at breakfast, lunch, before and/or after naptime, and before bed.  All hours of the day.  *Edited to add that we don't necessarily read at all of these times everyday - these are just the times that we will most likely read.

Bible:

The Beginner's Bible

We read one or two Bible stories each morning.  More on this in another post.

Poetry/Rhymes:
The Real Mother Goose (online here)
The Random House Book of Mother Goose
The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature - contains many poems for children
The Young Puffin Book of Verse
A Child's Own Book of Verse (online here)

We don't read from every single book each morning.  I'll choose one book each day and read a rhyme/poem or two (or seven if it's Mother Goose - they love it).

Storybooks:
The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature
Kindergarten Gems (online here)
For the Children's Hour (online here)
The Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter
The Children's Book of Virtues

Just like the poetry books, we don't read a story from every single one of these books every single day.  When it's time to read, I choose a book (or let the girls choose) and read a story.  We rotate the books throughout the week, in no particular order.

Picture Books:
Too many to list.  This link and this link provide lists of wonderful picture books.  The former link also explains a little bit about choosing quality books.  We don't read books only from these lists, but I have been more careful about choosing quality, well-written stories.

Here are some of the girls' current favorites:  anything Curious George, Bread and Jam for Frances by Russel Hoban, The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone, any of the Carl books by Alexandra Day, Madeline and others by Ludwig Bemelmans, just to name a few.

Current Chapter Books:
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Adventures of Buster Bear (online here or listen online here)

We usually read one chapter from Winnie the Pooh once per week (or every other week, it just depends).  From the others, we'll read one or two chapters once or twice per week.

There are also other books that I would love to include - I mentioned some in my other kindergarten post.  However, at this point I just haven't found the time to incorporate them regularly into our days.  Books such as Among the Meadow People and others by Clara Dillingham Pierson, Pilgrim Stories by Margaret B. Pumphrey, Fifty Famous People by James Baldwin, and The Dutch Twins and others by Lucy Fitch Perkins, are wonderful free, online books for this age.  I may read from them more after the first of the year because I may or may not be getting a Kindle for Christmas (ahem), which will make it sooooo much easier to read online books.

The last thing I have for you is a list of the chapter books on my kindergarten read-aloud list.  Of course, I may not get to all of them this year, but it gives me plenty to choose from.  Addy also listens in most of the time, although since she's only 3, I don't require her to sit there.  She can go play if she wants, but she usually stays :)  The link I provided toward the beginning of my post (about the reasons to read aloud to your kids) links to an article that talks about how children can listen at a much higher level than they can read.  So it's really good for them to listen to books that may seem too complicated for them because it builds their vocabulary and expands their minds.  Plus kids understand a lot more than we think :)

The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne - currently reading

Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Stuart Little by E.B.White - finished
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - currently reading

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

Raggedy Anne by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Andy by Johnny Gruelle

My Father's Dragon series by Ruth Stiles Gannett - finished

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Adventures of Buster Bear and others by Thornton Burgess - currently reading

Old Mother West Wind by Thornton Burgess
Milly Molly Mandy by Joyce Lankester Brisley
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others by Betty MacDonald
Tumtum and Nutmeg and others by Emily Bearn
A Bear Called Paddington and others by Michael Bond 

Happy reading!