Yes, learning is happening: A bit of a ramble...

Whew! Long time, no entry. I have no idea if anyone reads this, but if you do, my apologies for a lengthy silence. We haven't fallen off the planet. I just have not had much time to write and quite honestly, have not had much to say. We're going along apace, nothing out of the ordinary, a little spring fever here and there, lots of good reading and pressing on to the end of our school year.

I suppose the biggest "school" news is college related. Andrew's coming down to the wire on his college decision and his decision is narrowed down to two schools, Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts where two older siblings have gone, and Furman University in Greenville, SC, where, incidentally, two other family members, an aunt and an uncle, attended. Andrew had the honor of being selected as an A.J. Gordon Scholar at Gordon which means a nice scholarship and lots of perks along the way including one-on-one mentoring, opportunities for extensive interaction with visiting speakers, and more. But Furman is very appealing as well. Andrew's visit there this week for an Accepted Students Day went very well and he enjoyed his overnight on campus and French class the next morning. So, he's got two very good options. That's what makes the decision hard. We are praying with him for wisdom in the process and peace in the final decision. And we are trusting God's sovereignty.

Anyway, in our homeschooling, Matthew, Joel and I are enjoying three read-alouds together. We are making our way through What Everyone Should Know About the 20th Century, World War II for Kids, and Anne Frank: A Diary of a Young Girl. I've been perusing Ambleside Year 11 and want to read some of the speeches and original documents listed there as supplementals.

I love it when we make connections in the natural course of a day between something we've read and another event or even a radio piece. Yesterday, we read in What Everyone Should Know... about the tumultuous events of 1968 - the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the continuing protests against the Viet Nam war and more. And then when Matthew and I were in the car on our way to his play practice we heard this piece on NPR. Matthew looked over at me and said, "Hey, that's just what we read about. 1968 sure was a difficult year." I think he will remember these events so much better after hearing both our reading in the morning and the radio essay in the afternoon. Hearing, thinking, attending, hearing again, connecting, processing.

That's been happening quite a bit lately for Joel, too. His personal history reading and our reading together are dovetailing in wonderful, but unplanned ways. Lots of reinforcement!

Turning a corner, here's a quote from Anne Frank from this morning. If you have little ones that balk at eating or teens that have a hard time getting out of bed - or if you struggle in these areas or any others where self-control is needed, consider her "method":

...if I have to eat something that I simply can't stand...I put my plate in front of me, pretend that it is something delicious, look at it as little as possible, and before I know where I am, it is gone. When I get up in the morning, also a very unpleasant process, I jump out of bed thinking to myself: "You'll be back in a second," go to the window, take down the blackout, sniff at the crack of the window until I feel a bit of fresh air, and I'm awake. The bed is turned down as quickly as possible and the the temptation is removed. Do you know what Mummy calls this sort of thing? "The Art of Living"

The art of living, indeed. Charlotte Mason would call it habit training. Not giving in to our whims and laziness, to our selfish coddling and desire for personal comfort. Lately, I've been thinking that we need a bit of work on our habits around here. Not major issues, just some tweaking and bolstering where we've become a bit lax. I expect I'll use Anne Frank's words to remind us that we can practice self-control and we can do things that are unpleasant. Again, CM's motto, "I am, I can, I ought, I will" is good to remember. And these words from Shakespeare, "Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing."

Things are being won around here as we do and learn and grow. Sometimes I see that in big leaps of understanding but mostly I see it in the small flashes of insight, the nods of recognition, the realization of connection, and the smiles of remembrance of a thing heard or thought about. We just press on consistently day by day. Or not...yes, we do get off track at times, but there is a track to get back on and that makes all the difference. And you know what? Amazingly, at the culmination of years of schooling like this, our young man is awarded a leadership scholarship and wooed by an academic award. And sometimes...often...as we went along, I wondered, "Are we doing enough?" As wonderful and gratifying as the awards may be, however, I am far more delighted that this young man has a strong foundation for life, He is a thinker and has specific goals and passions and he is eager to learn more. How did our schooling contribute?

I will be thinking and reading and writing more about some of these issues as I prepare for the annual Charlotte Mason conference at Gardner Webb University in June. I am going to speak this year (you can't see my knees knocking, thank goodness!). My talk is entitled, "Learning to Fledge: Masterly Inactivity in the High School Years." It's going to be a lot about relationships and how as a family we have lived out many of CM's ideas through the high school years, preparing at this point four young people to fledge. I feel a little intimidated by all the more "educational" topics. My talk will be quite personal. But I think it will fit well with the theme of the conference, "From Rewards to Relationship."

And on that note, since I have an evening before me with no one else at home and since my goal for the evening was to read a bit and work on my talk, it's time to stop blogging. Thanks for reading the ramble. I'd love to know who reads this so if you'd care to leave a comment, I'd be grateful.

Another dissection

Thomas arrived home on Thursday and told us about his experiences in his second semester Biology class. He's been doing dissections! He'd done a fetal pig and when I told him that I had a preserved one that Matthew and I were going to dissect, he offered to help Matthew with it. I am not one to turn down such an offer. So, on Friday afternoon, Matthew and Thomas set up on the back porch with dissecting tray, scalpels, scissors, and probes and got to know the insides of the fetal pig, which they named Walter.

Back porch bio-lab

There are a couple of reasons I was delighted about Thomas' offer. One is that it is very gratifying to see your son really get excited about a subject and begin to think seriously about pursuing it in his studies. It is confirmation that somewhere along the way, a love of learning kicked in and a bent toward a particular subject matter began to flourish. This is particularly delightful for me because I was a Biology major in college and love the more macro side of biology ecology, anatomy and physiology, botany and more. Thomas seems to be tending in this direction as he considers an Environmental Studies major. And this, even as he struggles along with a less than stellar professor this semester. He's not crazy about the professor and the way he presents the material, but he's loving the subject matter and gets excited in discussions about the material and labs with classmates.

The second reason I was pleased with his offer is that I got to stand back and watch two of my boys working together - one leading and explaining, the other following instructions. Those of you who know Thomas may see a happy-go-lucky, fun-loving, rambunctious, sometimes loud kind of guy. Not a serious bone in his body, you might think. But I know better. And I was encouraged to see him guiding Matthew through the dissection with confidence.

This was one of those treasured moments for a homeschool mom who, like all homeschool moms, wonders if what she is doing is enough or right or making any kind of lasting impression.

From yesterday's reading, prompting thoughts on nature study....

"Oh, that I had never heard of Niagara till I beheld it! Blessed were the wanderers of old, who heard its deep roar, sounding through the woods, as the summons to an unknown wonder, and approached its awful brink in all the freshness of native feeling.

"Gradually, and after much contemplation, I came to know, by my own feelings, that Niagara is indeed a wonder of the world, and not the less wonderful, because time and thought must be employed in comprehending it. Casting aside all preconceived notions, and preparation to be dire-struck or delighted, the beholder must stand beside it in the simplicity of his heart, suffering the mighty scene to work its own impression."

“There were intervals when I was conscious of nothing but the great river, rolling calmly into the abyss, rather descending than precipitating itself, and acquiring tenfold majesty from its unhurried motion. It came like the march of Destiny. It was not taken by surprise, but seemed to have anticipated in all its course through the broad lakes, that it must pour their collected waters down this height. The perfect foam of the river, after its descent, and the ever-varying shapes of mist, rising up, to become clouds in the sky, would be the very picture of confusion, were it merely transient, like the rage of a tempest. But when the beholder has stood awhile, and perceives no lull in the storm, and considers that the vapor and the foam are as everlasting as the rocks which produce them, all this turmoil assumes a sort of calmness. It soothes, while it awes the mind.”

"My steps were slow, and I paused long at every turn of the descent, as one lingers and pauses, who discerns a brighter and and brightening excellence in what he must soon behold no more. The solitude of the old wilderness now reigned over the whole vicinity of the falls. My enjoyment became the more rapturous, because no poet shared it - nor wretch, devoid of poetry, profaned it; but the spot, so famous through the world, was all my own."

Beautiful nature writing by Nathaniel Hawthorne from Tales and Sketches. We read the whole essay yesterday and I was struck by the beauty and truth in this piece. Can you imagine, as he does, being someone who saw Niagara Falls for the first time without knowing it was even there, without ever having heard of it, seen a picture, or read a description. Imagine!

And a few thoughts, with thanks to Mr. Hawthorne, about nature study. Cast aside preconceived notions and observe in the "simplicity of your heart" allowing the scene before you to work its own impression on you. Become a beholder, contemplate, employ time and thought in the comprehending of the scene. Pause and linger allowing the spot, famous or commonplace, to become your own.

Dissection

I just have to say that I do love dissections. Yesterday, in preparation for Joel's CC class today and for a biology lab for Matthew, we dissected a sheep heart. It was fascinating and fun...yes, fun. Tracing out the major veins and arteries that lead to and from the heart, refreshing my understanding of pulmonary and systemic circulation, finding the four chambers and seeing the thicker muscle wall on the left side of the heart where the blood passes before being pumped all over the body, seeing the "heart strings" as they are called, the tiny white chordae tendinae that connect the papillary muscles that control the opening and closing of heart valves to the thin membranous valves themselves and more. I can't wait to lead a group of four students through their dissections today. It is rich discovery learning. I hope I can ease a couple that I know are squeamish over their discomfort and into fascination this afternoon.

"Wise and purposeful letting alone"

Charlotte Mason said,

"We ought to do so much for our children, and are able to do so much for them, that we begin to think everything rests with us and that we should never intermit for a moment our conscious action on the young minds and hearts about us. Our endeavours become fussy and restless. We are too much with our children, 'late and soon.' We try to dominate them too much, even when we fail to govern, and we are unable to perceive that wise and purposeful letting alone is the best part of education."

fussy - worrying over trivial things, overly concerned about minor details, choosy, easily upset, requiring excessive attention to detail

restless - constantly moving, unable to be still, seeking a change because of discontent, worrying

Definitions help to give form to what CM was saying in the quote above. I am thinking much these days on the concept of masterly inactivity as it relates to homeschooled high schoolers. I want to define what it means in this phase of homeschooling. As our children have matured intellectually and morally we have certainly let them alone in an intentional way. Such letting alone has engendered creativity and initiative on their parts. It has also fostered a sweetness in our relationships that would be lacking if we were the fussy, restless, hovering types.

But I know that my letting alone has not always been wise and purposeful. Certainly I have stepped back at times out of frustration, confusion, ignorance, or weariness. I am working these days to evaluate my level of involvement and consider the question, "When do I step in and when step back?"

Yes, I have already gone through high school with three, almost four, homeschoolers. But the two still at home deserve my continuing thoughtfulness and I am quite sure I have room, as a homeschooling mother, to grow in wisdom.

Today in school

It's a quiet day of working away at our books. Here's a bit of what we are up to so far this morning....

We looked at different types of pollen grains under the microscope.

We graded a French vocabulary exam. Ouch for one person. Going from English to French is harder than French to English.

I wrote a short quiz on photosynthesis which M has to take later. He's studying for the Biology SAT Subject test. Better to take it this year while it's fresh in his mind.

We read aloud from All Quiet on the Western Front, The Yanks are Coming: The United States in the First World War, and The Roots of Endurance. From that last book, we are reading about William Wilberforce. We read early this morning, right after breakfast since we didn't have our normal family reading/devotional time since Andrew had to work.

The gnome worked on math outside again. Might be the last day he can do that this week since rain is predicted later today and tomorrow.

Everyone worked away on their own with math, history reading, science, and J did his geography work, mapping Asia and reviewing capitals. J also writes a narration each day on his history reading. I am so behind in reading his narrations. He types at least a full page a day, remembering and processing what he has read in The Story of the World, Volume 4. I am very pleased with the way his writing seems to be developing so naturally through these written narrations.

J is loving his current book, Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred Taylor. He says it's sad, though. It is the sequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

TO DO
I need to work ahead and scope out a reading schedule for the next American Lit. book that I'll do with M and his cousin. We're going to read Red Badge of Courage together. After that, no more war novels for the rest of the spring.

I've also got to do my reading on the heart and prepare to lead a group of students in a dissection of a sheep's heart a week from tomorrow at CC. Should be fun. I have a sheep's heart sitting upstairs on my dresser (sort of gross looking) and we'll dissect it next week so I can get more familiar with it myself and have a sample for the students to look at before they begin to cut!

On a picture study and storms

Originally on Ebenezer Stories, 5/9/2007

One of the things we do in our little Charlotte Mason homeschool co-op is study the work of famous artists. This year we have focused on American artists. We spent the fall getting to know Winslow Homer. This spring we have learned about Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and Gilbert Stuart. We recently started learning about the Hudson River School. Our first Hudson River artist was Thomas Cole. Last week we looked at his painting, The Oxbow. While reading a little about Cole later, I came across this quote, which he wrote in his journal the year before he painted The Oxbow,

"I would not live where tempests never come, for they bring beauty in their train."

I thought about this quote for awhile in light of some things that have been going on in my life. I remembered these words, "And clouds arise and tempests blow by order from Thy throne," from the hymn "I Sing the Mighty Power of God." I was reminded once again that God can use anything, including a homeschool lesson planned long before my own storm, to remind me of the truth of His indwelling presence and work in my life.

Thank you God for sending the storms. Your voice is in the thunder, your power in the lightning, your cleansing in the downpour. It's true...I would not want to live without the storms you send...storms which reveal ingrained sin, discontent, idolatry, and fear in my life. Thank you for the beauty of Christ and the forgiveness He purchased for me, for restoration and sanctification. Thank you, indeed, that the storms subside, leaving Your beauty in their train.