tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32973112964139493962024-02-20T07:09:58.659-08:00Education is a LifeEducation is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.comBlogger323125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-50119582095168215032022-07-21T09:59:00.000-07:002022-07-21T09:59:09.909-07:00Our Canadian History Choices in Forms 3 and Up<p><a href="https://plouffes.blogspot.com/2018/08/canadian-history-form-2-ao-year-5.html" target="_blank">It has been a while</a> since I've written about what we're doing in Canadian history. Last year I began using <i><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Canada-Peoples-History-1-CBC/dp/0771033249/" target="_blank">Canada, A People's History</a></i> by Don Gillmor, Achille Michaud & Pierre Turgeon as my "spine" for my students in grades 6 and 8. I would normally recommend it for grades 7 or 8 and up through high school, but I had a precocious student in grade 6.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakbmE9A6a-Sm6DMJ0_46pkkLibjuoFR3CCs-0bBX-DEXqgjEoSe_SPNJmaVW1RcZutCW_eYQI53jr0lalAqYsac8VOgOje6icvmiCF0XIgKcBGaKWPs-X0bZZFmB6fGW63lwX7JDO5fnXKglacBBiEQEfaWurQhl7ZKPeMy9-iWBVkipUWWYez9en/s259/Canada,%20APH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakbmE9A6a-Sm6DMJ0_46pkkLibjuoFR3CCs-0bBX-DEXqgjEoSe_SPNJmaVW1RcZutCW_eYQI53jr0lalAqYsac8VOgOje6icvmiCF0XIgKcBGaKWPs-X0bZZFmB6fGW63lwX7JDO5fnXKglacBBiEQEfaWurQhl7ZKPeMy9-iWBVkipUWWYez9en/w154-h200/Canada,%20APH.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><p>You may be familiar with <i>Canada, A People's History</i> as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBdwWOtOWMg&list=PLWppfUA5appQqv5U5SZvnYfPO23fEy1yT" target="_blank">video series</a> put out by CBC TV. I believe the books are meant as a companion to the videos, but they easily stand on their own as "living books" on Canadian history. They are well-written and incorporate many first-hand accounts into the story. They are also well-illustrated with relevant art and photographs. They are in print, and very easy to find used at thrift stores.</p><p>This past year we were studying the time period between 1650 and 1800, so we began with "The Golden Age of New France" (Volume 1, page 75) to partway through "A Question of Loyalties" (we ended at page 162). Because we have three terms of 10 weeks each, and one 30-minute period per week for Canadian history (not counting supplemental reading of biographies and historical novels), I divided those pages by 30 to get our average weekly page count. My boys worked mostly independently, reading silently and then giving a written or oral narration.</p><p>This coming school year our time period is 1800-1900, and the page count (Volume 1 p. 162-292 and Volume 2 p. 1-50) is too high for the amount of time we have for it. I decided to skip "Journey to the Sea" (p. 180-216) because my boys have already covered the material fairly thoroughly using another book for Canadian geography (<i>Five Roads to the Pacific</i> by Neta Lohnes Frazier). It may still be a little much to cover in one study period per week, so we may have to adjust as we go along.</p><p>Please note that I have not read the parts of these volumes that I haven't specifically mentioned. As always, pre-read (or at least pre-skim!). These books are idea-rich and there are many things that you may wish to discuss with your students.</p><p>About half way through last school year, we started to watch the corresponding videos on YouTube with the whole family on Fridays, and we all really enjoyed that as a recap of our studies in Canadian history. While my younger students had been using other books, they were studying the same time period in history so they found the videos relevant to their studies as well. (Please note that there are battle scenes, so they may not be suitable for sensitive children.)</p><p>Some of you may wish to know how this compares with other Canadian history spines generally used around this age. I don't have many on my shelves, but I can compare briefly with Janet Lunn and Christopher Moore's <i>The Story of Canada</i> (often used around grade 6) and Robert Bothwell's <i>The Penguin History of Canada </i>(often used in high school). </p><p>Lunn and Moore's <i><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Story-Canada-Janet-Lunn/dp/1443119547/" target="_blank">The Story of Canada</a> </i> is similar in beauty and illustration to <i>Canada: A People's History</i>. I think the reading level is very similar, but <i>CaPH </i>is considerably expanded both in length and in interest because of the first-hand accounts that are incorporated. If you have a grade 6 or 7 student that is a bit bored with <i>SoC</i>, you may find that <i>CaPH</i> will rekindle their interest. On the other hand, if you need less reading for a slower reader, <i>SoC</i> may be more suitable to your needs.</p><p>Unlike <i>CaPH</i>, Bothwell's <i><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Penguin-History-Canada-Robert-Bothwell/dp/014305032X" target="_blank">The Penguin History of Canada</a></i> is not illustrated and is not as immediately attractive as <i>CaPH</i>. The reading level of <i>PHoC</i> is higher, while still being engaging and rich in ideas. High school students who have grown up with the types of books in the Ambleside Online or the CMEC curricula will have no problem with <i>PHoC</i>. My own tentative plan for my oldest is to continue to use <i>CaPH </i>through grade 10, then switch to <i>PHoC </i>for grades 11 and 12. (I say tentative because I would like to look at the Ambleside Online recommended <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Short-History-Canada-Seventh/dp/0771060025/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=0771060025&psc=1" target="_blank"><i>Short History of Canada</i> </a>by Desmond Morton before I decide.) However, I do think <i>CaPH</i> is robust enough to use through the end of high school if you only have time for one, or if history is not your student's first love and you want to stick with a colourful, high interest option.</p><p>I would love to hear what you have chosen for Canadian History in the upper grades, so please comment!</p>Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-86057568407537473772020-09-04T19:51:00.005-07:002020-09-05T05:36:24.153-07:00Easing In<p>I feel like I should put "Easing In" into quotation marks.</p><p>This year, my oldest is in <a href="https://amblesideonline.org/curriculum.shtml" target="_blank">Ambleside Online</a> Year 7. I also have a Year 5 student, a Year 3 student, and an extremely eager Kindergartner. Add in a seven-month-old and you may begin to grasp the chaos here. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6db0wN65QS75W968nyfzlUhLe1xL7jV3fpKbDjknJP5BITkI5xVcBOzei1o4bgei2k7zSfIY3lRr1exNS-2QBa6XtTM9WNREANQqYoM4gKi1kCBl_KCu3-YVqQc9PkUSl1j4w-c2oIdg/s2048/IMG_0731%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6db0wN65QS75W968nyfzlUhLe1xL7jV3fpKbDjknJP5BITkI5xVcBOzei1o4bgei2k7zSfIY3lRr1exNS-2QBa6XtTM9WNREANQqYoM4gKi1kCBl_KCu3-YVqQc9PkUSl1j4w-c2oIdg/s320/IMG_0731%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>Planning was a special challenge this year. I had gotten into a scheduling groove over the last few years, but babies and schedules don't mix, at least not at my house. I have had to regress to a routine. Don't get me wrong, I loved my <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2013/08/schedule-or-routine.html" target="_blank">easy-going routines</a> when all my children were little. But I find it hard to get all the work done (without taking all day) now that my children are getting older.</p><p>I ended up with a loose plan, inspired by the schedules at <a href="https://pineywoodshs.blogspot.com/2014/06/organizing-our-ao-year.html?fbclid=IwAR3JvklkQcQ8m-C9RXyxu5K0sqlcJYLbxgHBIkCY5T69uCmBgbbzjh_5BTI" target="_blank">Piney Woods Homeschool</a>. I can be fairly inflexible about my plans, but this year I decided beforehand that I would keep tweaking every week until the days were going fairly smoothly. Each child has their AO schedule (order modified slightly and colour coded) plus a sheet of paper with their "Daily Independent Work" and "Work With Mama" lists. The idea is that everyone gets started on their independent work while I spend time with each one, youngest to oldest.</p><p>My Year 7's list looks like this (the colours refer to the way I've colour-coded his AO schedule):</p><p><b>Daily Independent Work (about 2 1/2 hours)</b></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Enrichment Narration</b> (purple): 15-20 min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Math</b> 30 min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>History Narration</b> (red): 30 min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Copywork</b> 10 min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Science</b> (green) 20 min (Narration OR Science Journal or Nature Journal Entry)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Piano Practice</b> 15 min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Narration</b> (blue) 20-30 min</div><div style="text-align: left;">---</div><div style="text-align: left;">All of this work should be done before doing computer time (alternate Duolingo and Typing and Coding practice)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Work with Mama (about 2 hours) </b>(I expect an increase in independence in some of these areas over the year, but for now I need to be close by, anyway. Most of this is done at the same time as his Year 5 brother, so I "kill two birds with one stone".)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Poetry</b> 10 min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Writing</b> 20-30 min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span> Written narrations each week will be done on</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span> </span><span> -New Testament</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span> </span><span> -One reading from red or blue category</span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span> </span><span> -One reading from green category</span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span> </span><span> -One current events topic from the past week</span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span> Fridays will be a fun writing exercise (Bravewriter).</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><b>Shakespeare/Plutarch/Beowulf</b> (alternating) 20 min</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><b>Dictation/Grammar</b> (alternating) 20 min</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><b>Latin/French/Grammar of Poetry</b> (alternating) 30 min</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><b>Map Drill</b> 10 minutes once per week</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><b>News and Current Events</b> story read and discussed at lunch</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">I also have a list of things they can choose to do in the afternoon, hoping to get to each item about four times per 12-week term.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Drawing Lesson</b> (YouTube or from a book)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Microscope Activity</b>, or field work from <i>Signs and Seasons</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Piano Lesson</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Composer Study</b> (YouTube)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Shakespeare Play</b> (YouTube...we watch as far as we've read that week.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Nature Journaling</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Nature Walk</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Painting Lesson</b> (YouTube or from a book)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Baking Lesson</b> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">----------</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Of course, his is the longest list. AJ(5), who also insists on his own list, has:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Poetry </b>5 min (A Child's Garden of Verses)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Miquon Math</b> 10 min (we play with Cuisenaire rods and casually talk about math concepts that come up.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Reading Time</b> 10 min (I read him a story. Pinnochio is the current one.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Learning to Read</b> 5 min (He is learning to read three-letter words. I wouldn't push if he wasn't ready, but he is. Very.)</div><div style="text-align: left;">I spend time with AJ first. This fills his love tank so he is more happy to go off and play on his own when he's done.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpPtdR6mQ2OGYgY9z4cpqwYj0xhtB-fqZcXxT-AENhiJF1pj7YOrJFcvkkSx08BYIjnhetW5gl2FmhsxW9h1lVD8cU-DrLe3W8LLeKlDjPrr9Z-GwYPkYZ-N914dhogcSdNh3ckNxcdg/s2048/IMG_0758%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpPtdR6mQ2OGYgY9z4cpqwYj0xhtB-fqZcXxT-AENhiJF1pj7YOrJFcvkkSx08BYIjnhetW5gl2FmhsxW9h1lVD8cU-DrLe3W8LLeKlDjPrr9Z-GwYPkYZ-N914dhogcSdNh3ckNxcdg/s320/IMG_0758%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I decided to "ease in" this week. I gave the boys their back to school presents on <b>Monday</b> morning (school supplies that somehow seem much more special for being wrapped up), and we started with everyone doing math plus one reading and narration. Somehow this managed to fill the whole morning, so I felt a bit of trepidation about the whole plan.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Tuesday</b> was awful. But then, Day 2 is always terrible. I tried to have everyone work through their Daily Independent Work lists. Again, this more than filled the morning, and this was WITH the baby having a wonderfully long morning nap.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Wednesday</b> morning I had to go to the doctor for some bloodwork. When I came back, everyone was working on their lists. I quietly started the "work with Mama" lists, youngest to oldest. It went really, really well! My oldest did not complete his independent list, but I was happy with what we accomplished.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thursday</b> morning I got up at 7:00 and found SA(12) doing his math. We hit it out of the park that day. Everything was done by lunch.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And then came <b>Friday</b>. It was a bit like Day 2 again. SA was extremely stressed about getting everything done...so much so that he developed some hives. (He is a conscientious ISTJ who will put a lot of pressure on himself to follow the plan as written.) I will have to keep an eye on this.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So we had two good days out of five, though every day had things to be thankful for. I'll be tweaking a bit this weekend, but not hugely yet. I have to give us all time to settle into some sort of flow first. I will make a better (slightly simpler) checklist.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I took time to count three things I was thankful for every day. Here are some of my favourites:</div><div style="text-align: left;">-MM(8) fell in love with "Big Joe Mufferaw" (a Stompin Tom Connors song scheduled on Ambleside Online's Canada page.)</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Basic Christianity by John Stott seemed to touch a chord with SA(12). This was a personal substitution I made in the curriculum when I was unable to get <i>How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig</i> for a reasonable price. I think I've made a good choice there.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Writing time went very well this week. This made me happy because I've decided that writing (written narrations, copywork, dictation) is going to be a particular focus this year. I saw some good advice as I was planning my year: "Choose one thing to do really well, and let everything else be good enough." Writing is that thing this year. Everyone had really good attitudes about it, and did really well with focusing on putting their ideas on paper without worrying too much about getting all the spelling and grammar correct. (This is a challenge we've been working on for a while, and we seem to have made a leap forward since last school year.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-88173910604107735802020-03-20T04:34:00.002-07:002020-03-20T04:34:27.307-07:00Diary Entry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Once again it has been a while since I've written here. As you can see, there is a new baby at our house. Here is JP, almost two months old, on the day before the first day of Spring. It was about two degrees Celcius, and I wasn't sure how he was going to like it. Aside from a bit of gasping when the light breeze took his breath away, he really enjoyed every moment.<br />
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I just finished having a Facebook "watch party" with my Schole group. So many organizations have been offering free online resources this week as we all practice social distancing and/or isolation. We watched one of Wes Callihan's videos from Roman Roads Media, and had a video chat afterwards. It felt good to get together, even if it was only virtually.<br />
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We've been homeschooling at half power for several months now, first because of home renovations, and then because of the new baby. I've really been feeling the value of morning time, as that has been our constant, no matter what happens. Every single day, I've been reading aloud (and requiring narration from) a rotation of books: <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, <i>The Odyssey</i>, <i>Until the Day Breaks</i> (a biography of Lilias Trotter), and <i>The Mystery of the Periodic Table. </i>Then we review hymns and Scripture memory work/recitation in our "memory binders". Then I read the Bible, and the children narrate. We've been reading through Ezra and Nehemiah, alternating with Genesis a couple days a week using Ruth Beechick's <i>Genesis: Finding Our Roots</i>. (I use this book eclectically, picking and choosing things to share with the boys, or to spark discussion.) The boys also do math, and a few readings and narrations each day. This is all I seem to have time for with a newborn. I know it's a season, and we'll come back to full power again some day soon-ish.<br />
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While PEI is encouraging almost everything to shut down to try to "flatten the curve" of the coronavirus, there hasn't been a huge change in our daily lives yet. I had already been staying home most of the time, and the half-time homeschooling is going on as it was before. I have been very tempted by all the free resources that are being made available for the families who suddenly find themselves home together. For the most part I have decided to simply stay the course. Our lives are already full, and we'd have to take something out to add something in. Also, the lovely resources all seem to involve more screen time, of which the boys have enough already. (They have 20 minutes each after 4:00 every week day, except for summertime.) One thing I am considering: introducing the boys to the opera using the <a href="https://www.metopera.org/" target="_blank">free streaming from The Metropolitan Opera House</a>. However, since I'm not familiar with opera myself I will need to research which one would be best for children. I'm also considering a fitness app which is offering two free weeks. And lastly, audible is offering an <a href="https://stories.audible.com/discovery" target="_blank">impressive array of free children's audiobooks</a>, and I will try very hard to squeeze some of those in if I can.<br />
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<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-74409937916041511672019-07-22T11:12:00.000-07:002019-07-22T14:20:01.270-07:00Time to ReflectHi, I'm back! I won't ask if you missed me. :)<br />
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It's that time of year again. Planning time. Before I really get into planning, I like to think about last year. I try to <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2016/06/keep-thankful-heart-as-you-plan.html" target="_blank">give thanks first</a> for the wonderful things. Here are things I'm most thankful for this year:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaw_SxW49vgm6TV7j0Xe9gSnCWSzdyB5FzPLV3PLRUZaxZJ7uNOUQmVtCH-A9SrmezQhv4MrejlgnI9qZF7e9GJbNqrLBEVe7YK0lk-U4ANVuTwIKqYHNnLGA-4mO4AMRSu4iei_Tw5U/s1600/IMG_2651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaw_SxW49vgm6TV7j0Xe9gSnCWSzdyB5FzPLV3PLRUZaxZJ7uNOUQmVtCH-A9SrmezQhv4MrejlgnI9qZF7e9GJbNqrLBEVe7YK0lk-U4ANVuTwIKqYHNnLGA-4mO4AMRSu4iei_Tw5U/s200/IMG_2651.JPG" width="150" /></a>1. <b>Reading Time with AJ(4)</b>. Every morning after chores, I sat down with AJ and read a picture book (usually from the <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/00bks.shtml" target="_blank">Ambleside Online Year 0 list</a>) and shared some nursery rhymes and songs. In term 3 I also started reading <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Little-Ones-God-Teachings/dp/0802851207" target="_blank">Leading Little Ones to God</a> with him, which is a book I remember enjoying when my parents read it to me when I was little! Reading Time with AJ was a way to try to fill his love and attention tank before I got really busy with the other boys' school time. I could see that it was hard for him this year as his playmate MM(6) started school and turned into a bookworm, but this special time of connection with me was a highlight of each day for both of us.<br />
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2. <b>Morning Time</b> (the lessons we do together) continued to be a strength and a joy to all of us. This year at breakfast each morning I read a rotation of literature (<i>King Arthur</i> and <i>Oliver Twist</i>) and biographies (<i>Michael Faraday</i>, <i>George Washington Carver</i>), followed by our Bible and hymn memory work, and our Bible reading and narration. We then separated for chores and some individual lessons (for the oldest) or play time (for the youngest) and came back together for poetry, picture study, or composer study; grammar; foreign language; and Canadian history. Not all of it was strong...foreign language got dropped in the third term and grammar lessons became few and far between at that point too, but...<br />
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3. <b>We were able to keep plodding on even when I was not well.</b> In January I started having heart palpitations. This led to being diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in February. At that point, symptoms I had been ignoring for months suddenly got worse until the synthroid kicked in about four to six weeks later. I felt good for a month or so (just in time to go to AO Camp Meeting!), then went through another three weeks of symptoms in May (back pain, chest pain and blue lips). This time, pregnancy was increasing the strain on my thyroid and I felt better again a few weeks after my synthroid dose was increased. Why is this in my "thankful" list? Looking back, the entire season feels like a blur as I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. BUT my two oldest boys grew in independence in a way that I otherwise would not have pushed them to, and it was good for them. The well-established daily routine continued, one day at a time. Yes, there were things that we dropped. But I'm still so grateful to be able to have the boys at home, even when circumstances are difficult. I like what we're learning together even when all the boxes are not being checked. <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2014/10/education-is-not-so-perfect-atmosphere.html" target="_blank">This imperfection is also part of "Education is an Atmosphere."</a> The way we deal with trials within the family is as much part of their education as anything else.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fcfcff; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 17.388px;">"By these things children live and we may not keep them in glass cases; if we do, they develop in succulence and softness and will not become plants of renown." (-Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education, p. 97)</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpf8EW1jo4_bCN1ZzXGOxRgPsF86TSiXy6HeYB3VxdwpbpagDiEQT4nga0yQchsDQp04nGFHvFuDqtxZyKKi40Oicu7CNrYgh3hbh3Pr8I-xlkDB-WaEWgawaJF8vLQ6NCIoeamaLdKU/s1600/IMG_2466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpf8EW1jo4_bCN1ZzXGOxRgPsF86TSiXy6HeYB3VxdwpbpagDiEQT4nga0yQchsDQp04nGFHvFuDqtxZyKKi40Oicu7CNrYgh3hbh3Pr8I-xlkDB-WaEWgawaJF8vLQ6NCIoeamaLdKU/s200/IMG_2466.JPG" width="150" /></a>4. <b>Snowboarding</b> every Friday afternoon this winter. This was a HUGE highlight! A group of homeschoolers got together for the school rate at Brookvale for skiing and snowboarding. We went as a family, and all learned to snowboard, even AJ(4). AJ and I were still on the bunny hill at the end of the winter, but everyone else moved on to more challenging hills. Having this commitment "forced" us to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine even when it was cold. We all enjoyed it so much, and it made the winter fly by much faster than it normally does.<br />
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5. <b>AO Camp Meeting</b> was a huge blessing to me this April, especially as I was feeling down about what I was not accomplishing during my weakness and fatigue. The emphasis on applying Charlotte Mason's principles "however imperfectly" blessed me, as did the emphasis on prayer. I loved it, and can't wait for the audio files to come out so I can relive it. I met so many lovely people, too...Amber, Leslie, Emily, Becca, Sheena, Gabby, and Esther, who I stayed with the night before the conference; Anne, Jeannette, Brandy, and Dawn who before had only been online acquaintances.<br />
<br />
These are the things I'm thankful for this year. I feel like #3 was the most significant, #4 was the most fun, and #5 might have the most potential (depending on how much I soak in and apply) but who can tell how they will all shake out over time?<br />
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<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-10180117198611089252019-03-02T06:56:00.000-08:002019-03-02T07:17:28.006-08:00Reading My Shelves in 2019: Literature Shelf 3My shelf for March is a bit different. There are fewer classics, and more books that were popular in the 1940's and 1950's.<br />
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On this shelf, I have read:<br />
<b>The Moonstone</b> by Wilkie Collins<br />
<b>The Silver Chalice</b> by Thomas Costain<br />
<b>I Heard the Owl Call My Name</b> by Margaret Craven<br />
<b>Beyond this Place</b> by A. J. Cronin<br />
<b>Grand Canary</b> by A. J. Cronin<br />
<br />
I have not read:<br />
<b>The Nature of the Gods</b> by Cicero<br />
I am very interested in this, as we are studying Cicero in Plutarch this term. However, I feel I would need a guide through this book, and as I'm reading some other academic works with my study group, I may not have the mental energy to take this one on.<br />
<br />
<b>The Stumbling Shepherd</b> by H.A. Cody<br />
This is a vintage Canadian book found at a thrift store. I thought it looked interesting, but I suspect it may not be particularly well-written. I will probably choose it for light reading this month and decide if it deserves a place on my shelf.<br />
<br />
<b>Heart of Darkness</b> by Joseph Conrad<br />
<b>The Secret Agent </b>by Joseph Conrad<br />
<b>The Pioneers </b>by James Fenimore Cooper<br />
<b>The Last of the Mohicans</b> by James Fenimore Cooper<br />
<br />
<b>The Black Rose</b> by Thomas Costain (his best seller, references Edward I/Roger Bacon/Kublai Khan)<br />
<b>The Chord of Steel</b> by Thomas Costain (Alexander Graham Bell/invention of the telephone)<br />
<b>The Darkness and the Dawn</b> by Thomas Costain (Atilla the Hun)<br />
<b>For My Great Folly</b> by Thomas Costain (time of James I)<br />
<b>The Moneyman</b> by Thomas Costain (time of Charles VII of France)<br />
<b>High Towers</b> by Thomas Costain (New France)<br />
<b>Ride with Me</b> by Thomas Costain (Sir Robert Wilson/Napoleon)<br />
<b>The Three Edwards</b> by Thomas Costain (Edward I, Edward II, Edward III)<br />
<b>The Tontine</b> (volume 2) by Thomas Costain<br />
I have a lot of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_B._Costain" target="_blank">Costain books</a>! As he was a historical fiction bestseller in Canada in the 40's and 50's, his books are abundant at used book sales here. I picked a lot of these up as a teenager, and may have read some of these already. I feel I need to read them again to see if they really deserve a forever place on my bookshelf. Also, some of these are mis-shelved...I had thought he wrote all historical fiction, but The Chord of Steel seems to be a biography, and High Towers a history.<br />
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<b>The Red Badge of Courage</b> by Stephen Crane<br />
<br />
<b>The Citadel</b> by A. J. Cronin<br />
<b>The Keys of the Kingdom</b> by A. J. Cronin<br />
I have more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Cronin" target="_blank">Cronin books</a> on the next shelf too... He is another bestseller from the 40's and 50's. <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Every book I read by Cronin makes me like him more. His stories are compelling page-turners, and yet they have a great deal of depth. The moral struggles his protagonists go through batter and break them, but ultimately leave them more human and more virtuous. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">What do you think I should read next? I'd love to hear your recommendations. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">I expect I will read two or three of these. I will also be reading along with my book club this month (Middlemarch), my study group (Beowulf), and my Charlotte Mason Boot Camp (random chapters from Charlotte Mason). I also have a few books in progress to finish: Eugenie Grandet (from my January shelf), The Illustrated Columcille, and The Voyage of Saint Brendan. In addition, I have several books waiting for me at the library on Hashimoto's, autoimmunity, and hypothyroidism (I was just diagnosed last month after having heart palpitations. The palpitations are gone now, thankfully.). So it will be a busy reading month!</span>Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-4317682567243980032019-02-28T18:46:00.001-08:002019-02-28T18:46:23.395-08:00Reading My Shelves: February UpdateI read six books from <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2019/02/reading-my-shelves-in-2019-literature.html" target="_blank">my February shelf</a>! It feels so good to actually read books I've been intending to read for so long.<br />
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<b>The Good Earth</b> by Pearl S. Buck<br />
One of my favourite Christmas picture books is <i>Christmas Day in the Morning</i> by Pearl S. Buck. This book is of course nothing like that one, but it was equally good. I was completely transported to the China she wrote of.<br />
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<b>My Antonia</b> by Willa Cather<br />
I loved this book. For some reason I was waiting for a tragedy to happen to Antonia in the end, I don't know why. And then it was so beautiful instead!<br />
<br />
And in light reading, Agatha Christie:<br />
<b>Death on the Nile</b><br />
<b>Dumb Witness </b><br />
<b>After the Funeral </b><br />
<b>The Mystery of the Blue Train </b><br />
...of which my favourite was The Mystery of the Blue Train. I liked the inclusion of "Miss Grey," a very likeable character who helped Poirot solve the murder.<br />
<br />
<br />
Also finished this month:<br />
<br />
<b>The Life and Writings of the Historical Saint Patrick</b> by R.P.C. Hanson<br />
The little biography at the front of this book was written by someone who obviously loved Saint Patrick, and his enthusiasm was catching. I also read most of a couple other books on Celtic saints: <i>The Illustrated Columcille</i> (on Columba) and <i>The Voyage of Saint Brendan</i>. I'll list them next month when I finish them.<br />
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<b>Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics</b> by Charles Ludwig<br />
I read this aloud to the boys, and I think they will always remember Michael Faraday. I was a bit disappointed in the writing (or maybe in the editing). I read some Charles Ludwig as a child and remember enjoying his books then. Now I see his tendency to add irrelevant information to try to make the story come alive, and it doesn't work very well. You find Michael Faraday imparting scientific knowledge to his wife around bites of toast, for example. I ended up editing some of the more annoying irrelevancies as I was reading aloud.<br />
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Audiobooks:<br />
<b>The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning</b> by Margareta Magnusson<br />
I sometimes like listening to this sort of thing as I clean. I am not in the target demographic for this book, but I thought it was lovely anyway. The narration by Juliet Stevenson was particularly soothing.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Stephen Fry Presents A Selection of Anton Chekhov's Short Stories</b><br />
You may remember that I was very interested in reading a collection of Chekhov's Short Stories that was on my February shelf. Unfortunately, that collection turned out to be a "bad" translation. It was really hard to get into and I gave up after one story. So that book is now off my shelf, and I listened to this selection to soothe my disappointment. It was well written, well translated (At least, it sounded good in English. I always love Constance Garnett.), and well narrated by Stephen Fry. All the same, I didn't love Chekhov the way I love Tolstoy, and wasn't fascinated the way I was fascinated by Dostoyevsky. Of course that's a very high bar. It's as silly to think all Russian authors are equally good as to think that all English authors are equally good. The fact that the first two Russian authors I read were so amazing still manages to colour my expectations, though.<br />
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Total finished: 9 books<br />
7 from my shelves, 2 borrowed<br />
6 Fiction, 3 Nonfiction<br />
7 Female, 2 Male Authors<br />
1 written in the last 10 years, 6 written more than 50 years ago (and 1 more than 100 years ago if I count Saint Patrick's Confession contained in <i>The Life and Writings of the Historical Saint Patrick</i>).<br />
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I'll be back soon with my March shelf. I look forward to seeing what you recommend!<br />
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<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-65209638556950415152019-02-01T02:00:00.000-08:002019-02-01T02:00:00.702-08:00Reading My Shelves in 2019: Literature Shelf 2As I settle into reading my shelves, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project. At the same time, I am really looking forward to making progress, small as it may be.<br />
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On my February Shelf, I have 8 read books and 21 unread books. (In volumes containing more than one book, I have counted each book separately.)<br />
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<b>Read</b>: (and these are all books I consider worth re-reading, otherwise I wouldn't be keeping them)<br />
<b>The Tenant of Wildfell Hall </b>by Anne Bronte<br />
<b>Jane Eyre</b> by Charlotte Bronte<br />
<b>Shirley</b> by Charlotte Bronte<br />
<b>Villette</b> by Charlotte Bronte<br />
<b>Wuthering Heights</b> by Emily Bronte<br />
<b>The Innocence of Father Brown</b> by G.K. Chesterton<br />
<b>The Man Who Was Thursday</b> by G.K. Chesterton<br />
<b>The Murder of Roger Ackroyd</b> by Agatha Christie<br />
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Unread:<br />
<b>Bridge on the River Kwai </b>by Pierre Boulle<br />
<b>Lorna Doone</b> by Blackmore<br />
<b>Prester John</b> by John Buchan<br />
<b>The Good Earth</b> by Pearl S. Buck<br />
<b>The Arabian Nights</b> - Sir Richard Burton<br />
<b>The Way of All Flesh</b> by Samuel Butler<br />
<b>The Plague</b> by Camus<br />
<b>The Outsider</b> by Camus<br />
<b>My Early Life</b> (excerpt) by Churchill<br />
<b>The Island Race</b> by Churchill<br />
<b>Call for the Dead</b> by le Carre<br />
<b>My Antonia</b> by Willa Cather<br />
<b>Don Quixote</b> by Cervantes<br />
<b>Don Quixote</b> (abridged by Susan Sheridan)<br />
<b>Don Quixote</b> (retold by Judge Parry)<br />
<b>The Riverside Chaucer</b><br />
<b>Selected Stories</b> by Anton Chekhov<br />
<b>The Mystery of the Blue Train</b> by Agatha Christie<br />
<b>Dumb Witness</b> by Agatha Christie<br />
<b>After the Funeral</b> by Agatha Christie<br />
<b>Death on the Nile</b> by Agatha Christie<br />
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Of these, I find myself particularly attracted to <i>Selected Stories</i> by Anton Chekhov, <i>Don Quixote </i>retold by Judge Parry, <i>My Antonia</i>, and <i>The Good Earth</i>. I will probably read one or two of the Agatha Christie titles when I need light reading, too. There's a lot of good reading on this shelf.<br />
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I expect that, like last month, I will only be able to get through a couple of these books. I have several additional books to read with my study group (on Saint Patrick and Saint Columba and the Brendan Voyage), and <i>Middlemarch</i> to read with my book club (though I have till the end of March for that).Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-2787309362210976192019-01-31T11:16:00.000-08:002019-01-31T11:16:34.651-08:00Reading My Shelves: January UpdateI read two and a half books from <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2019/01/reading-my-shelves-in-2019-literature.html" target="_blank">my January shelf:</a><div>
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<b>Death of a Ghost </b>by Margery Allingham</div>
<div>
-This was the first book in the <i>Crime and Mr. Campion</i> volume. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a keeper...I probably wouldn't read it again. Still, the book stays because I do want to read the other books in the volume.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The Little Minister</b> by J.M. Barrie </div>
<div>
-I loved this book so much! I would never have thought this was by the same author as Peter Pan (which I've never been able to get through yet). A sweet romance with deep insight into a particular cultural context (An Auld Licht church in a Scottish small village). I'm so glad I still have another couple of Barrie books to look forward to next time I visit this shelf.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Eugenie Grandet</b> by Balzac</div>
<div>
-I'm about halfway through this one, and I'm debating whether to drop it as I head into February. It didn't grab me the way <i>The Little Minister</i> did. I don't like dropping books, but I also don't want a book I'm only half enjoying to take away from the excitement of exploring my February shelf. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Also finished this month:</div>
<div>
<b>From other shelves:</b></div>
<div>
<b>Who Has Seen the Wind</b> by W. O. Mitchell</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Audiobooks:</b></div>
<div>
<b>Virgil Wander </b>by Leif Enger (very good, but not as wonderful as <i>Peace Like a River</i>)</div>
<div>
<b>Respectable Sins</b> by Jerry Bridges</div>
<div>
<b>Atomic Habits</b> by James Clear (So good! Will read again soon.)</div>
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<b>The Minimalist Home</b> by Joshua Becker</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Borrowed books:</b></div>
<div>
<b>Hallelujah: A Journey through Advent</b> by Cindy Rollins (loved it)</div>
<div>
<b>Miss Buncle's Book</b> by D. E. Stevenson (fun bit of fluff)</div>
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<b>Educated</b> by Tara Westover (fascinating, worth reading, still thinking about it)</div>
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<b>The Benedictine Tradition</b> edited by Laura Swan (excellent walk through church history)</div>
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<b>Saint Benedict (Dialogues book 2)</b> by Gregory the Great, trans. Myra Uhlfelder (amazing!)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Total finished: 12 books! (That's a lot for me. I set my goal for the year at 80 books.)</div>
<div>
3 from my shelves, 9 borrowed including audiobooks</div>
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7 nonfiction, 5 fiction</div>
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7 male authors, 5 female</div>
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5 written in the last 10 years (Actually, the last 2 years. This is an unusually high number for me.)</div>
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2 written more than 100 years ago. (6th century and 1891)</div>
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I'll be back tomorrow with my February shelf. I'd love it if you could help me choose what to read next!</div>
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Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-35521029166456852802019-01-09T13:32:00.000-08:002019-01-09T13:32:07.509-08:00Reading My Shelves in 2019: Literature Shelf 1Every year I say I want to read more of the books that are already on my shelves.<br />
Every year I don't read as many as I would have liked.<br />
<b>This year, I have a plan.</b><br />
<br />
I am planning to focus on one fiction shelf per month (that will be 12 of my 14 shelves in that category). I will read (or begin to read) at least one book from my focus shelf each month.<br />
<br />
<b>But first, I have to choose.</b><br />
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January's shelf has 26 books. Of those, <b>I've read 9. </b>Every one of these are books I have re-read and plan to re-read again (I don't keep them if I don't think I'll re-read them.), but that's not what this challenge is for.<br />
<br />
<b>Emma</b> - Jane Austen<br />
<b>Mansfield Park</b> - Jane Austen<br />
<b>Northanger Abbey</b> - Jane Austen<br />
<b>Pride and Prejudice</b> - Jane Austen<br />
<b>Sense and Sensibility</b> - Jane Austen<br />
<b>The Rosary</b> - Frances Barclay<br />
<b>The Broken Halo</b> - Frances Barclay<br />
<b>The Lilies of the Field</b> - William Barrett<br />
<b>Jayber Crow</b> - Wendell Berry<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>These are the books I haven't read yet:</b><br />
<br />
<b>Tales from Watership Down </b>- Richard Adams<br />
<b>Traveller</b> - Richard Adams<br />
<b>Prometheus Bound</b> - Aeschylus<br />
<b>Crime and Mr. Campion </b>- Margery Allingham (volume includes Death of a Ghost, Flowers for the Judge, and Dancers in Mourning)<br />
<b>Meditations</b> - Marcus Aurelius<br />
<b>Francis Bacon</b> (volume includes Advancement of Learning, Novum Organum, and New Atlantis)<br />
<b>The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard</b><br />
<b>Eugenie Grandet</b> - Balzac<br />
<b>The Forgetting Room</b> - Nick Bantock<br />
<b>The Golden Mean</b> - Nick Bantock<br />
<b>The Gryphon</b> - Nick Bantock<br />
<b>Alexandria </b>- Nick Bantock<br />
<b>Nod </b>- Adrian Barnes<br />
<b>The Admirable Crichton</b> - J. M. Barrie<br />
<b>The Little Minister</b> - J. M. Barrie<br />
<b>A Window in Thrums </b>- J. M. Barrie<br />
<b>The Romance of Tristan and Iseult</b> - Joseph Bedier<br />
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At the pace I'm going, I don't anticipate reading more than one or two of these this month. I'm not looking for anything really heavy right now, as I have a few heavier books scheduled with my local Schole group.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBPYS3nJTD_W1WxoO0l4BNS9BAuzu_-0OYyrbOUL6mRn4wPr8f8ZaaqRO3_dW1cC316Opu7v7Sr5BO5U827gAfTXW1uJ_fR6XTFSfM-XEbYubQyVgPJ09snwI2dsO0wy3UqmOjfNo6qQ/s1600/IMG_2386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBPYS3nJTD_W1WxoO0l4BNS9BAuzu_-0OYyrbOUL6mRn4wPr8f8ZaaqRO3_dW1cC316Opu7v7Sr5BO5U827gAfTXW1uJ_fR6XTFSfM-XEbYubQyVgPJ09snwI2dsO0wy3UqmOjfNo6qQ/s320/IMG_2386.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
I am interested in Richard Adams because my husband read Watership Down aloud to me in our first year of marriage and it's a lovely memory.<br />
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I think I'll probably pick Margery Allingham up. I've read one of her books before and her hero reminded me a bit of Lord Peter in Dorothy Sayers mysteries.<br />
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Balzac looks interesting. I've never read any of his books before.<br />
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I am attracted to J. M. Barrie's novels, but I am hesitating because I have never been able to get through his <i>Peter Pan</i>. However, these seem quite different from that, so maybe it will be okay.<br />
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I am not particularly interested in Nick Bantock or Adrian Barnes ... those are my husband's books. However, if I have time I may run through the Bantock volumes because they'll be quick reads.<br />
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<b>What do you think? Is there anything on my list that you consider a must-read?</b><br />
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<b>What would you read first?</b><br />
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<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-24265908460889185252018-10-04T18:17:00.000-07:002018-10-04T18:22:44.014-07:00Book Man<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last night just before lights out<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2017/03/poets-in-house.html" target="_blank"> JJ(8) </a>said to me, "I don't know what to read next."<br />
Of course, that's just the right sort of thing to say to a mama like me.<br />
I started to pull books off the shelf: <i>The Moffats</i>, <i>Rascal</i>, <i>The Prince and the Pauper</i>...<br />
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"I've been thinking I might like to read <i>Sherlock Holmes</i>," he said timidly.</div>
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"Of course you can. You may read any of the books on these shelves, you know," I replied.</div>
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He started to get excited.</div>
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This morning he kept finding more books he thought he might like: <i>The Indian in the Cupboard, Hans Brinker, Peter Pan.</i> </div>
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He added in some books he wanted to re-read: <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>, <i>The Phantom Tollbooth</i>, <i>Seven-Day Magic</i>.</div>
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He sorted the books, now numbering about twenty, into two piles: the thick books and the thinner books.</div>
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I started envisioning these books scattered all over the house. This worried me a little, but I didn't want to squash that enthusiasm. "You could pick four or five for now, then pick more when you finish them?" </div>
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This suggestion did not meet with his approval.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioy6T-au1Gui0Ap2b1cP0DANZUgXyNP4qNVhRgXXUOl2mL2nyrFDQqoktehM3Ya6oiKKAMNE34bi_H9Us_7N0swRhe6o_o8qmMrCoSD_tpvg9X9rxjlyEJoYZ2QKkv9SD5TPTPo41v4uo/s1600/IMG_1834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioy6T-au1Gui0Ap2b1cP0DANZUgXyNP4qNVhRgXXUOl2mL2nyrFDQqoktehM3Ya6oiKKAMNE34bi_H9Us_7N0swRhe6o_o8qmMrCoSD_tpvg9X9rxjlyEJoYZ2QKkv9SD5TPTPo41v4uo/s320/IMG_1834.JPG" width="240" /></a>He did take out a couple of books that he thought he might not want to read right now after all: <i>Mr. Popper's Penguins</i>; <i>Hey World, Here I Am!</i></div>
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Then he asked me for a basket like the one I have for my current reads. Of course, I found him one. He now has a leather stool with storage space for all those books.<br />
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He pulled the seat in front of the couch and demonstrated how he can sit on the couch, reach over and open the stool, pull out a book, close it, and use it for a foot rest as he relaxes and reads.<br />
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I heard him talking confidentially to his younger brother this evening as he went up to bed:<br />
"Hey MM, I'm a book man."<br />
<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-12141169387468275712018-10-01T10:56:00.000-07:002018-10-01T10:56:36.832-07:00Works for Us: Daily Grams<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7Nrb4eTpwcAaruufGGcpQZC2p8jCq3ZWkC13-NjZLtJpioImT0i_-Cjzy-lJ3l4NUIvnYwLNl50ZEwdDiPRwX06Avlt97zQ4MeAn_Z42rcgDD8Fi3aB4EcaXhv4ZL2E4DoJ0h5FCEJc/s1600/Daily+Grams.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7Nrb4eTpwcAaruufGGcpQZC2p8jCq3ZWkC13-NjZLtJpioImT0i_-Cjzy-lJ3l4NUIvnYwLNl50ZEwdDiPRwX06Avlt97zQ4MeAn_Z42rcgDD8Fi3aB4EcaXhv4ZL2E4DoJ0h5FCEJc/s1600/Daily+Grams.png" /></a>One of the things that's working really well for us this year (so far!) is grammar. This summer I stumbled upon a old used copy of Wanda Phillips' <i>Daily Guided Teaching and Review for 2nd and 3rd Grades</i>. That title is a mouthful, but the newer version has been renamed <a href="https://www.easygrammar.com/daily-grams---grade-3.html" target="_blank">Daily Grams</a>, and it's easy to find wherever you buy curriculum.</div>
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The book has 180 days of lessons. Each lesson has four or five parts covering capitalization, punctuation, general review (alphabetization, parts of speech, prefixes/suffixes, etc.), and sentence combining. You can see a <a href="https://www.easygrammar.com/uploads/4/1/1/2/4112002/daily_grams_grade_3_30.pdf" target="_blank">sample page</a> here. Every time there is a new concept, it is introduced with a single sentence. For example, "Capitalize a person's name" or "The subject tells who or what the sentence is about." Then that concept is reviewed regularly in the following days.</div>
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I use Daily Grams as part of our "Morning Time," the lessons we do together as a family. I write the sentences on a white board, and we spend less than five minutes together doing the lesson. </div>
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One nice thing about doing it on the white board is that I can often substitute words and sentences that connect with my children's life or school books. For example, instead of having my children capitalize "they live in austin, texas" I will have them work on "they live in charlottetown, prince edward island." Or instead of having them find the subject of "A lizard crawled away", I will have them find the subject of "The camel's hump is an ugly lump." (This is the first line of the poem we're currently learning.) Of course, if I don't have the mental energy to substitute like this, we just continue with whatever is in the book.</div>
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What I really love most about these lessons is that they fit in with my "do the little things, daily" philosophy. I could make grammar a big weekly or twice weekly lesson, but it wouldn't be nearly as fun and easy. And it is fun. The children are loving it, and they are having no problem understanding or remembering any of it. Even my Year 1 child is still doing fine with it so far (I do not require him to participate, but he's always there for the lesson.). My Year 5 child is also getting some additional grammar in his Latin program (Visual Latin).</div>
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I highly recommend Daily Grams if you want to do short grammar lessons daily together as a family. </div>
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(And no, those are not affiliate links...I am just freely sharing something that works for us!)</div>
Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-70053433744905041452018-09-15T08:50:00.001-07:002018-09-15T08:53:28.159-07:00Our First School Week 2018/2019We just finished our second week of school, but I thought I'd still share some highlights and thoughts from our first week. I am considering doing this every week...we'll see how it goes.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JJ(8)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Monday:</b></span> This term I have planned to spend some time each day sitting around the table together and drawing. Three days a week, we plan to do a drawing from the <b>Drawing Textbook</b>, two days a week, a drawing or painting in our <b>nature journals</b>. I hate to admit it, but up till now I have been a failure in the nature journal department. I think it's because of the logistics involved...either we all have to take our journals along on a nature walk, or we have to find something and take it into the house in order to draw it later. This year, I found a local PEI nature guide with easy-to-copy line drawings of local "Birds, Bush and Barnacles." I decided that we would turn our nature study around for now, pick a plant or two to study each week, draw it, and <i>then</i> see if we can find it in the woods. It's not ideal, but if it means it will actually happen, it will be better than the little we have been doing. Today was our first day doing this, and the boys all enjoyed it. SA(10) and JJ(8) broke out their watercolours and painted the bluebead lily, a very common and distinctive plant in the woods here. MM(6) and I used pencil crayons (CM does not advise pencil crayons, but by this point I am just concerned with actually doing something regularly with our nature journals!)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJje-WIXwwk6b0k7o_1-lA-18fRvS2vfCmqdU9lFGWMw3-RRuGX4Y1SvzebN9GiHIaEsiJfikzRFCBhFvQccDvgqb-9OhycVJ11w-xZajKqRwts54Qdk1Mk9VAoVDq315iE7ITtbbvwE/s1600/IMG_1729.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJje-WIXwwk6b0k7o_1-lA-18fRvS2vfCmqdU9lFGWMw3-RRuGX4Y1SvzebN9GiHIaEsiJfikzRFCBhFvQccDvgqb-9OhycVJ11w-xZajKqRwts54Qdk1Mk9VAoVDq315iE7ITtbbvwE/s400/IMG_1729.JPG" title="SA(10) Nature Journal (Bluebead Lily in spring)" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDGRrdGZP619MQeyz3dabY-3c1yWBJNHBu4bBnFoyYk2B5bn87GCrQ07qmDMHJLXrl4VUQ8eqRdZfZrg7y_1mkDr_lwmj-Gsc3Kw4jEI-pAtiMrGTo_OqNs41_bql9s8_8gW8doKO48k/s1600/IMG_1731.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDGRrdGZP619MQeyz3dabY-3c1yWBJNHBu4bBnFoyYk2B5bn87GCrQ07qmDMHJLXrl4VUQ8eqRdZfZrg7y_1mkDr_lwmj-Gsc3Kw4jEI-pAtiMrGTo_OqNs41_bql9s8_8gW8doKO48k/s400/IMG_1731.JPG" title="MM(6) Nature Journal Entry: Bluebead Lily in Fall" width="300" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Tuesday: </span></b>Today everyone was tired, and we had a late start. We stayed out late last night for the Labour Day holiday, and we're paying for it! I felt like I was dragging everyone through the day. However, I did have a highlight with SA. I asked him to walk with me around our property as he narrated from <i><b>Madam How and Lady Why</b></i> on synthesis and analysis. It was a lovely, lengthy narration that demonstrated his understanding. I was so glad I thought to take him outside and do that. Inside, I often feel rushed because I have other children I need to get to. SA is an introvert who needs to process for a minute or two before the narration starts coming out of his mouth. He does not do well when I rush him. The walking really seemed to facilitate his thought processes. I need to figure out how I can incorporate this more often (and what I might be able to do instead during our long winter!).<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wednesday:</b> </span>I was thinking today about how different it is to do Year 1 with my third child than it was with my first. It's a lot like the difference between having your first baby and having your third. Everything is a Big Deal with the first. It's hard work and a steep learning curve. But now we've had <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2016/05/embracing-routine.html" target="_blank"><b>basic learning routines</b></a> in place for years, and all I have to do is include my third child in them by requiring narration in his turn. Aside from that I just have to spend about half an hour with him one-on-one for one individual reading and narration, and alternating reading and math lessons. Then he just sits with the other boys and does his own copywork, math worksheet, and Explode the Code. Narration is easy for him, both because of his extroverted personality and because he has been hearing it from his brothers since he can remember.<br />
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">Thursday: </b>Today school was cut short just before lunch by the arrival of <b>cousins</b>, come to camp in our back yard. They came along to our first retirement home service of the season in the afternoon (My husband preaches and we all help with the singing.). Then we went thrift shopping for books. I am still afflicted by occasional headaches that began during my last week of planning...<br />
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">Friday: </b>The local annual <b>Not Back To School Picnic</b> was today, and we took a day off.<br />
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<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-8378154304523974142018-09-05T18:56:00.000-07:002018-09-05T18:56:29.147-07:00Planning WoesSchool planning was painful this year, and I mean that literally. Figuring out the schedule gave me a headache for four days in a row. This is the first time that I have acknowledged to myself that I do not enjoy school planning.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYDrXRqJpzILXRSjSaI-eQrrqcSxpK9396MzxfzVRTeySIx2KVII7qLmysP4CGZIXwvMSe7XCSJAeWe8Ak4z6C4TmY7MLJZ2cpiGcanZxQ9YSiEVcqdPl7FAyXfIpwhNI5yoRBhtSfP8/s1600/planning+woes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYDrXRqJpzILXRSjSaI-eQrrqcSxpK9396MzxfzVRTeySIx2KVII7qLmysP4CGZIXwvMSe7XCSJAeWe8Ak4z6C4TmY7MLJZ2cpiGcanZxQ9YSiEVcqdPl7FAyXfIpwhNI5yoRBhtSfP8/s400/planning+woes.jpg" width="400" /></a>This is a problem, because I really do enjoy <i>having</i> a plan. I tend to follow my plan well, and I will readily admit that one of the reasons I love homeschooling is because I feel a great sense of accomplishment every day, week, term, and year that we follow the plan and actually do as many elements of a Charlotte Mason education as I can squeeze in. I can see my children's growth as we faithfully do the little things, day after day after day.<br />
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I need to think this through now, while the memory of the pain is still fresh. Why was it so hard?What can I do to make planning less of an ordeal next year? </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Why is it so hard for me?</span></b></div>
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1. This is my first year with three students. SA(10) is starting <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/curriculum.shtml" target="_blank">Ambleside Online</a> Year 5, JJ(8) is starting Year 3, and MM(6) is starting Year 1.</div>
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2. I also have a preschooler, AJ(3), in the mix. I feel I need to spend some quality time with him at the beginning of our school time in order to make him feel loved and included and (hopefully) pre-empt any negative attention-seeking behaviour.</div>
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3. My Year 5 student is not quite independent yet. He is just beginning written narration this year. I still read with him in Shakespeare and Plutarch, and work with him on Latin and dictation. I think all these things are fairly normal, and yet I can see that my second child is already much more independent than my oldest was at his age, and I wonder if I need to push SA a little harder towards greater independence.</div>
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4. I do things in my homeschool that simplify our days and make them more joyful, but do add to the decision-making at the beginning of the year. For example, we do several lessons each day together as a family, usually a literature selection, sometimes natural history or geography, always Bible, and often Canadian history (In addition to all the obvious things we'd naturally do together, such as poetry, composer study, picture study, nature study, recitation and memory work.). This means that rather than just leaving each AO year as it is, I have to decide which of SA's readings we will do together, and also which of JJ and MM's readings I will leave out as a result so that they are not overloaded (this is the harder decision of the two). Of course, leaving the Years as they are without adapting to my family would have its own planning challenges.</div>
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5. I figure out Canadian History from scratch, since my chosen curriculum is American-based.</div>
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6. I try to do all the CM things. Again, it's the planning, not the doing, that does me in. While there are always some things I end up dropping unintentionally as the year rolls on, it always seems to be because I didn't plan that subject well enough, or didn't put it in a good place in the schedule.</div>
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7. Making playlists (for composer study, hymn review, folk song review, and poetry review) took longer than usual this year because I switched from Freegal to Itunes and needed to build them from scratch to include review for the songs we learned in the last four years. Itunes had more choice than Freegal and that resulted in greater decision fatigue. I switched because Freegal makes updates to their app three or four times a year, and almost every time I've had to remake my playlists from scratch. I'm hoping my playlists will stay where they are in Itunes. If they do, it will mean much less work for me going forward. Only the composer study playlists will have to be made up in their entirety, folk song and hymn playlists will just be added to one at a time as we learn new songs.</div>
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8. Planning requires an amount of focus that is difficult with four children around me. Every time I get into the flow, I have to switch gears and make everyone a meal, or do some laundry and basic cleaning. Also, when I am so focused on my computer screen, the children start to misbehave.</div>
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9. I am reluctant to change anything about my homeschool. I love Ambleside Online. I know there are other CM curriculum out there that do more hand-holding when it comes to planning, but I would find it very hard to break up with AO's wonderful booklists. I love doing certain things as a family. I love getting most of the homeschooling done in the morning so afternoons can be free. I'm not really willing to give any part of that up. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Does that mean I just have to accept the four-day headache as part of what it takes to homeschool the way I want to homeschool? (That's a genuine question. It's possible the answer may be yes.)</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What can I do to make planning easier next year? </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">(and always...)</span></b></div>
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1. <b>I could go over to another CM curriculum</b> that has more scheduling helps for multiple students. But see #9 above. Still, it's possible that this could be a solution. (I looked into AO for groups when it came out, but because I'd already been combining my students all along, I saw that it would take just as much work to adjust that plan for my current students as it was taking to adjust the regular plan. Also, I now have students in two forms, and in a couple of years I'll have students in three forms, which would still mean working with two to three schedules.)</div>
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2. <b>I could get a consultation somewhere</b> and talk it through with someone experienced. The thing is, I think I make beautiful plans. They cover everything I want to cover. We actually do them (imperfectly, but still faithfully and consistently). I am planning things that work for us. I don't know if following someone else's ideas or plan would work as well. So I'm not sure if this would actually help me with the headache.</div>
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3. <b>I could think through my planning process and have realistic expectations </b>for how long planning will take me. For the record, here's what it took this year:</div>
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<b>- Brainstorming: 1 week.</b> I think through the past year, what went well, what didn't. I think about CM's principles. How is our balance is when it comes to atmosphere, discipline, and life? How have I been fostering the "science of relations" in our home? I consider if there's anything new I want to incorporate into the new school year. I look at the AO booklists. I think about each child individually, their gifts and their challenges, and specific ways I'd like to help them grow this year. I look at a calendar and think about when to start and where the terms will fall. I write every thought in a notebook. I also start to read something for inspiration...one of Charlotte Mason's volumes, or something else. This summer I was reading Karen Glass's <i>Know and Tell</i>.</div>
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<b>- Book buying: 2 days</b>. I go to bookfinder.com and buy all the living books I need. I also order math curriculum. I make a chart of what I've ordered, where I've ordered it from, and when I'm expecting it to arrive. I like to have the books in hand before I start scheduling.</div>
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<b>- Morning time planning: 1-2 days.</b> This is the learning we do together. I plan for our breakfast learning routine (1 literature or other reading and narration, Bible, hymn and catechism memory work, Bible reading and narration, and prayer) and our "tea time" learning routine (poetry appreciation, poetry and folk song recitation and memory work, picture study, grammar, foreign language vocabulary review, Canadian history, drawing, nature journalling.) I modify an AO schedule and put in each of these things in the order I plan to do them in every day. For the memory work and recitation, I choose what we will do each half-term, and print off what I need for the term coming up.</div>
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<b>- Memory Binders: 1-2 days.</b> I have two memory binders for myself and each student: one for Bible, hymns, and catechism, and one for poetry, folk songs, and picture study. I print off copies of my selections for the coming term and put them in page protectors in our binders. I also upload prints of the art we will study to Staples so they can print them in colour for me and I can pick them up next time I'm in town.</div>
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<b>- Canadian history and geography planning: 2 days.</b> I look at AO's schedule for my oldest child for the range of dates covered in history for that year, and I look at my collection of spines to figure out which one(s) I want to use. I also pick supplementary biographies or other books. I read or skim everything and schedule it all out. Thankfully this is a subject we do as a family and I don't have to plan more than one year at a time.</div>
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<b>- Planning individual subjects: 1-2 days. </b>I figure out what I'm doing for foreign language, piano, drawing, handicrafts, etc. I also think about what I'll do with my preschooler while the others are busy and can't play with him.</div>
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<b>- Buying school supplies: 1 hour.</b> I usually don't need much, just some art or handicraft supplies, notebooks, pencils. </div>
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<b>- Scheduling: 1 week </b>(for three children and one preschooler). I consult PNEU schedules as input, though not as a rule for my home. I work with the AO schedules and modify them as needed for each individual child and for the things we do together as a family. </div>
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<b>- Printing: 1 day. </b>I print off copywork pages, math workbooks for one of my students, my oldest's Plutarch selection for the term.</div>
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<b>- Rearranging the school room: 1 week. </b>This year I took all the books off the shelves and put them all back again after the shelves had been anchored more securely. I think my normal time is probably more like 1 day to put last year's books away and arrange this year's books and supplies.</div>
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<b>- Playlists: 2 days. </b>Again, I expect this to take much less time in the future.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Where am I? I think I just counted over four weeks of planning!!! I honestly didn't realize it all added up to that much. I just started and kept going until I was done. Well, that was a helpful exercise...I will know for next year that it just takes that long.</i></span></div>
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4. <b>I could try to get help with the children </b>during the scheduling week. I do need to do my scheduling at home, where the books are...I can't escape to a library or anything like that. My husband did take the children out two Mondays in a row towards the end of my planning, and that was tremendously helpful. Maybe I need to let him know that I need that regularly for four or five weeks. Maybe the kids can go to Grandma's for a couple of days. Maybe there's a Vacation Bible School nearby that can give me a few hours every day for a week. (I have resisted VBS so far because I have bad memories from my childhood...but maybe there's somewhere I can trust.)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I think I'm getting somewhere with those last two points. I need to have realistic expectations, and I need help. I honestly did not know whether anything good would come out of this writing exercise when I started. Thanks for sticking with me! I'd still like to hear what works for you. Does it take you this long to plan? If it takes less, what do you leave out? Or do individual things take you less time? If you've struggled with planning in the past and have come through victorious, I would especially love to hear your story.</i></span></div>
Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-38406224937787576682018-08-23T12:41:00.001-07:002018-08-23T12:43:40.157-07:00Canadian History Form 2 (AO Year 5)This week, I've been planning Canadian History for the coming school year. Once again, I will be combining lessons for the whole family while following the time period for SA(10)'s <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/05bks.shtml" target="_blank">Ambleside Online Year 5. (1800-1914)</a>. I suppose it is past time that I could make SA do his Canadian History lessons independently, but the truth is that I'm not ready to give up doing it together as a family because we're all enjoying it too much. (If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2200RnOXPjm_eV59P0TFjfHrK2LYy0H94nMd2YbfWstcKIxwSrRTSXHSDkAhzzIoLQ7XnY-ebu0gt45adgxwX_Io8m3Ncy49jgOWRGtEvaCzTEOJ96PEntpvIWktyyXTG5tNJHBjXCw/s1600/Story+of+Canada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="357" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2200RnOXPjm_eV59P0TFjfHrK2LYy0H94nMd2YbfWstcKIxwSrRTSXHSDkAhzzIoLQ7XnY-ebu0gt45adgxwX_Io8m3Ncy49jgOWRGtEvaCzTEOJ96PEntpvIWktyyXTG5tNJHBjXCw/s320/Story+of+Canada.jpg" width="296" /></a>This year, I will have students in grades 5, 3 and 1. This plan will take the place of the American history "spine" and biographies in AO Year 5. Of course, I am always careful not to overload my younger students and will take history books out of their AO years to make room for Canadian history.<br />
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<b>I want to caution you</b> that this is my personal plan for this coming year. It has not been worked out yet. It's possible that I may decide four weeks in that I have been too ambitious, and start cutting out some of the supplemental reading. I may decide I haven't planned enough and fill it up with more <i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>. It's also possible that I may decide to excuse my Year 1 student from some of the lessons. <b>Anything could happen... use your own discretion!</b> I will try to come back to this post and tell you how it went.<br />
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<b>The Books</b></h3>
<b>"Spines"</b><br />
<i>The Story of Canada</i> by George Brown, Eleanor Harman, and Marsh Jeanneret (hereafter BHJ)<br />
<i>The Story of Canada</i> by Janet Lunn and Christopher Moore. (hereafter LM. My page numbers are from the 1992 edition.)<br />
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For more on Canadian history spines, <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-story-of-canada-times-four.html" target="_blank">see here</a>. I have been using BHJ (published in 1950) for several years now, but as we approach more modern times I am hoping to move into LM. For this year, I skimmed through both books and chose whichever readings appealed to me most for the subject. I skipped some sections of both because they overlapped with supplemental readings I was planning to do. Please keep in mind that this is a read-aloud, family plan. For an independent student, I would probably have chosen one spine to keep it less complicated.<br />
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<b>Supplemental Reading</b><br />
<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i> by Susanna Moodie (will not read entire book, may finish later as a free read)<br />
<i>Revolt in the West: The Story of the Riel Rebellion</i> by Edward McCourt<br />
<i>Canadian Yesterdays</i> by Edgar A. Collard, 2 selections: "The Apostle of Nova Scotia" (pp 84-90) and "The Lady on the Cowcatcher" (pp. 1-6)<br />
<i><a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2017/10/great-canadian-adventures-canadian.html" target="_blank">Great Canadian Adventures</a></i> by Reader's Digest (hereafter GCA), 11 Selections:<br />
"Lieutenant Worsley's Revenge" pp 346-355<br />
"A Voyage to a New Land" pp 220-235<br />
"Franklin's Last Voyage" pp 207-217<br />
"Tales of the Plains Crees" pp 99-108<br />
"Down the Roaring Fraser" pp 173-179<br />
"Overland to the Cariboo" pp 488-498<br />
"The D-dest Man that Ever Came Over the Cariboo Road" pp 523-531 (I will edit out offensive words as I read, of course)<br />
"The March West" pp 534-547<br />
"Wild and Wooly Days" pp 550-565<br />
"Van Horne Moves the Troops West" pp 368-375<br />
"The Stampeders" pp 500-512<br />
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<b>Free Reading </b>(Will likely use as bedtime reading over the course of the school year.)<br />
<i>Underground to Canada</i> by Barbara Smucker<br />
<i>George Dawson, the Little Giant</i> by Joyce Barkhouse<br />
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The Schedule</h3>
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I have spread out these readings over four days a week to give myself some margin for map and timeline work. Also, in real life I schedule a regular time slot for Canadian history and just keep picking up where I left off. This "weekly schedule" will not be a strict rule for me...I may move through it more quickly at times, or more slowly at others. If my pace consistently doesn't line up with the weeks, I will adjust (add more <i>Roughing it in the Bush</i> readings, or take away unnecessary supplemental readings) and keep moving. </div>
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Term 1</h4>
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<b>Week 1</b></div>
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"The Apostle of Nova Scotia" (<i>Canadian Yesterdays</i> pp 84-90), 2 lessons</div>
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"The War of 1812-1814" (BHJ 208-210), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson (not scheduling chapters, just picking up where I left off every time.)</div>
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<b>Week 2</b></div>
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"Lieutenant Worsley's Revenge" (GCA pp 346-355), divide into 3 lessons and do 2 this week.</div>
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"The Story of a Shawnee Chief" (BHJ 211-214), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 3</b></div>
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"At Queenston Heights" (BHJ 214-216), 1 lesson</div>
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"Lieutenant Worsley's Revenge" (GCA pp 346-355), lesson 3 of 3</div>
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"An Even Struggle" (BHJ 217-219 ...Plattsburg <b>and</b> LM 90 Sea fights...-91 ...would stay British), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 4</b></div>
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"The New Comers" (LM pp 91-96), divide into 2 lessons and do 1 this week.</div>
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"A Voyage to a New Land" (GCA pp 220-235), divide into 4 lessons and do 2 this week.</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 5</b></div>
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"The New Comers" (LM pp 91-96), lesson 2 of 2.</div>
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"A Voyage to a New Land" (GCA pp 220-235), lessons 3 and 4 of 4.</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 6</b></div>
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"The People In Between" (LM pp 122-125), 1 lesson</div>
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"The Red River Colony" (BHJ 221-227), 2 lessons</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 7</b></div>
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"The Bay's Empire" (LM 126 And the Fur... - 128), 1 lesson</div>
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"Ruling Our Law-Makers" (BHJ pp 242-243), 1 lesson</div>
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"The Little Rebel" (BHJ pp 244-249), divide into 2 lessons and do 1.</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 8</b></div>
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"The Little Rebel" (BHJ pp 244-249), lesson 2 of 2.</div>
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"The Struggle in Lower Canada" (BHJ pp 250-252), 1 lesson</div>
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"Nova Scotia's Great Leader" (BHJ pp 253-256), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 9</b></div>
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"The Cry for Reform" and "Government by the People" (BHJ 257-259), 1 lesson</div>
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"A Famous Report" (BHJ pp 260-262), 1 lesson</div>
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"Cabinet Government" (BHJ pp 262-263), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 10</b></div>
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"Lord Elgin's Decision" (BHJ pp 264-267, LM chart on p 109), 1 lesson</div>
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"Franklin's Last Voyage" (GCA 207-217), divide into 3 lessons and do 1.</div>
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"Wanderers and Artists" (LM pp 129-132)</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson </div>
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<b>Week 11</b></div>
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"Franklin's Last Voyage" (GCA 207-217), lessons 2 and 3 of 3.</div>
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"Leaders of the West" (LM pp 132-135), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 12</b></div>
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"Tales of the Plains Crees" (GCA pp 99-108), 3 lessons</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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Term 2</h4>
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<b>Week 13</b></div>
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"Mountains and Oceans" (LM 138-139), 1 lesson</div>
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"The Nootka Traders (LM 140-141), 1 lesson</div>
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"People of the Salmon" (LM 142-146), divide into 2 lessons and do 1.</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 14</b></div>
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"People of the Salmon (LM 142-146), lesson 2 of 2</div>
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"From Canada, by Land" (LM 146-151), 1 lesson</div>
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"Down the Roaring Fraser" (GCA 173-179), divide into 2 lessons and do 1</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 15</b></div>
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"Down the Roaring Fraser" (GCA 173-179), lesson 2 of 2</div>
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"The Father of BC" (LM 151-155), 1 lesson</div>
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"The Gold Fields" (LM 155-157), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 16</b></div>
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"Overland to the Cariboo" (GCA 489-498), 2 lessons</div>
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"Mountains and Oceans" (LM 158-159), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 17</b></div>
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"The D-dest Man" (GCA 523-531), 2 lessons</div>
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"Building a Dominion" (BHJ 298-302), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 18</b></div>
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"John A. MacDonald and Confederation" (BHJ 302-303), 1 lesson</div>
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"Breaking the Deadlock" (LM 165-166), 1 lesson</div>
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"The Idea of Confederation" (LM 166-169), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 19</b></div>
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"From Charlottetown to Quebec" (LM 170-171), 1 lesson</div>
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"The Battle for Confederation" (LM 171-178), 2 lessons</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 20</b></div>
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"The Law that Made a Nation" (BHJ 305-307), 1 lesson</div>
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"Dominion from Sea to Sea" (BHJ 308-314), 2 lessons</div>
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<i>Roughing it in the Bush</i>, 1 lesson (This is where I will stop doing lessons from <i>Roughing it in the Bush</i> and either switch it to a free read or put it away.)</div>
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<b>Week 21</b></div>
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"Into the West" (LM 180 The Metis... - 182), 1 lesson</div>
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"Massacre in the Cypress Hills" (LM 184) and "Scarlet and Gold" (BHJ 316-317), 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 1, 2 lessons</div>
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<b>Week 22 </b>(If desired, can choose only one of the GCA supplemental readings for the NWMP, "The March West" or "Wild and Wooly Days" and spread it over more lessons for a lighter schedule)</div>
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"The March West" (GCA 534-547), divide into 4 lessons and do 2 this week.</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 2, 2 lessons</div>
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<b>Week 23</b></div>
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"The March West" (GCA 534-547), lessons 3 and 4 of 4.</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 3, 2 lessons</div>
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<b>Week 24</b></div>
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"Wild and Wooly Days" (GCA 550-565), divide into 4 lessons and do 2 this week.</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 4, 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 5, divide into 2 lessons and do 1 this week.</div>
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<h4>
Term 3</h4>
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<b>Week 25</b></div>
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<div>
"Wild and Wooly Days" (GCA 550-565), lessons 3 and 4 of 4.</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 5, lesson 2 of 2</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 6, 1 lesson</div>
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<b>Week 26</b></div>
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"Steel of Empire" (BHJ 321-326), 2 lessons</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 7, 2 lessons</div>
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<b>Week 27</b></div>
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"Van Horne Moves the Troops West" (GCA 368-375), 2 lessons</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 8, 1 lesson</div>
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<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 9, divide into 2 lessons and do 1.</div>
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<b>Week 28</b></div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 9, lesson 2 of 2</div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapters 10 and 11, 3 lessons</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 29</b></div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapters 12 and 13, 4 lessons</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 30</b></div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapters 14, 15 and 16, 3 lessons</div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 17, divide into 2 lessons and do 1.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 31</b></div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 17, lesson 2 of 2</div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 18, 1 lesson</div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 19, divide into 2 lessons and do 1</div>
<div>
"Lady on the Cowcatcher" (Canadian Yesterdays 1-6), divide into 2 lessons and do 1</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 32</b></div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 19, lesson 2 of 2</div>
<div>
<i>Revolt in the West </i>chapter 20, 1 lesson</div>
<div>
"Lady on the Cowcatcher" (Canadian Yesterdays 1-6), lesson 2 of 2.</div>
<div>
"Sunny Ways" (LM 196-198), 1 lesson</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 33</b></div>
<div>
"Gold Fever" (LM ch 198-200), 1 lesson</div>
<div>
"The Stampeders" (GCA 500-512), 3 lessons</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 34</b></div>
<div>
"The Last Best West" (LM 200-206), 2 lessons</div>
<div>
"Isaac Barr's Fiasco" (GCA 109-119), divide into 3 lessons and do 1.</div>
<div>
"Dreams and Struggles" (LM 207-208), 1 lesson</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 35</b></div>
<div>
"A Voice for Women" (LM 208-210), 1 lesson</div>
<div>
"Isaac Barr's Fiasco" (GCA 109-119), lesson 2 of 3.</div>
<div>
"A Turn of the Century Time Trip" (LM 210-214), 2 lessons.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Week 36</b></div>
<div>
"Into the North" (LM 215-216), 1 lesson</div>
<div>
"Isaac Barr's Fiasco" (GCA 109-119), lesson 3 of 3</div>
<div>
"The Canadians and the Empire" (LM 217-219), 1 lesson</div>
<div>
"Canada in WWI" (BHJ 344-346), 1 lesson.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-23583317568116675862018-07-26T18:08:00.000-07:002018-07-27T06:09:09.525-07:00Great Stories of CanadaToday I'd like to introduce you to a whole series of living books on Canadian history!<br />
<br />
Published between 1953 and 1968, "Great Stories of Canada" are the Canadian equivalent of the popular Landmark series in the US. Sadly, they are long out of print, but you can still find them at library sales and thrift stores. I'm including lots of pictures so you can recognize them when you see them there, and snap them up!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDUPjoQTyATCWGAxjfqf1VbnqN7AK-gdRRY-oklEAPp9PjXGbQL5-F8v_qsoFfGSyrmV1S8X8YSeae9jYbCe_78aNpSKmrp2GL-Vd4JDppuRKROu_EfqTNO0UANaD5STpWO48YgWeiw8/s1600/IMG_0951.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDUPjoQTyATCWGAxjfqf1VbnqN7AK-gdRRY-oklEAPp9PjXGbQL5-F8v_qsoFfGSyrmV1S8X8YSeae9jYbCe_78aNpSKmrp2GL-Vd4JDppuRKROu_EfqTNO0UANaD5STpWO48YgWeiw8/s200/IMG_0951.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tNjGtj7hXneRNUlMAyC3-O0YZKKzK5MDjg91kGkNXGO6jCAWmSIViTFmWm-kSou9AquhQyae_tmCHDmaryKk2YzORQmkD47S1jBk1p6Q9OhvWzOUtQ1gdAwPgYqcW-5fvqMBCqwdQ7g/s1600/IMG_0952.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="The True North" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tNjGtj7hXneRNUlMAyC3-O0YZKKzK5MDjg91kGkNXGO6jCAWmSIViTFmWm-kSou9AquhQyae_tmCHDmaryKk2YzORQmkD47S1jBk1p6Q9OhvWzOUtQ1gdAwPgYqcW-5fvqMBCqwdQ7g/s200/IMG_0952.JPG" title="Great Stories of Canada" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEckyVyBbZWefk9bYd8SBSnV5XcZALA1qeDIN2-U_SpoEcPlchLxT4BGuGP67BfwCBQ-lvZBkSWJCveH0gSRvbSj430xsBKq0T0UxgmpKGueT0QRDQ1akfIW_KMaxF5t7PmOTWIUQoow/s1600/IMG_0953.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="The Bold Heart" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEckyVyBbZWefk9bYd8SBSnV5XcZALA1qeDIN2-U_SpoEcPlchLxT4BGuGP67BfwCBQ-lvZBkSWJCveH0gSRvbSj430xsBKq0T0UxgmpKGueT0QRDQ1akfIW_KMaxF5t7PmOTWIUQoow/s200/IMG_0953.JPG" title="Great Stories of Canada" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBo4Cs68D5TDMBxInN0Pg15RjhVtZbgffMM2o0KoGVgMCnErgoomsktq_ClD_IF172h_JNLdUVhBMJZm9ofJMupydnbp-DU7z160wwY15XYZ1EsKYfTknSCxF6FBmHt2B4a-R0ho4v2U/s1600/IMG_0954.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Red River Adventure" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBo4Cs68D5TDMBxInN0Pg15RjhVtZbgffMM2o0KoGVgMCnErgoomsktq_ClD_IF172h_JNLdUVhBMJZm9ofJMupydnbp-DU7z160wwY15XYZ1EsKYfTknSCxF6FBmHt2B4a-R0ho4v2U/s200/IMG_0954.JPG" title="Great Stories of Canada" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF-8PLxW69pr3ypP6NJciXgemblr1_2uIU6eEB3Bbfjm6kk-4cDV-4xj0SDirMoXhJ00kAhHIFlKl9SWufMFMpLeIsTvM4KrFGTLAuTtsZ2ACG9jO4cr4_fyezstV12j9WhRlVF0qB9w/s1600/IMG_0955.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Knights of the Air" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF-8PLxW69pr3ypP6NJciXgemblr1_2uIU6eEB3Bbfjm6kk-4cDV-4xj0SDirMoXhJ00kAhHIFlKl9SWufMFMpLeIsTvM4KrFGTLAuTtsZ2ACG9jO4cr4_fyezstV12j9WhRlVF0qB9w/s200/IMG_0955.JPG" title="Great Stories of Canada" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIqDpnDk1DsAr5qBIl61FeAqDbGAPuMvMKWX6AAW01aGTgJItOB2v3HHNInpqfbWL-Th02HMiYCfEKWTHkn4fv3JQ_rJw6PtUYv-XTVnK_TBppyNIxUAjqQa7hwPazHvgZ9eBdh3bY9M/s1600/IMG_0956.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="The First Canadian" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIqDpnDk1DsAr5qBIl61FeAqDbGAPuMvMKWX6AAW01aGTgJItOB2v3HHNInpqfbWL-Th02HMiYCfEKWTHkn4fv3JQ_rJw6PtUYv-XTVnK_TBppyNIxUAjqQa7hwPazHvgZ9eBdh3bY9M/s200/IMG_0956.JPG" title="Great Stories of Canada" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueN-hsM9SftOAIm-U-6UFWczrzBz_FLkdGx-MxJ2Ur94gLynK8xLqNwdhexSHYfNhji-A6MQGjFsiPXbpHUk9M09s4TPIC3wGlLMTwJLfWsDm696NGq7NnlvloOrEkyO5ZAXw36C9CB0/s1600/IMG_0957.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueN-hsM9SftOAIm-U-6UFWczrzBz_FLkdGx-MxJ2Ur94gLynK8xLqNwdhexSHYfNhji-A6MQGjFsiPXbpHUk9M09s4TPIC3wGlLMTwJLfWsDm696NGq7NnlvloOrEkyO5ZAXw36C9CB0/s200/IMG_0957.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa_87np6ssTjYhA82cReEgwzF0pfGCTzjjWZSFu26DeuJy1ej0AIa6ZJ5D4p7l9pUyBDha8RNtMpOPd0BGoYh2lNCp4jqjDDn-VZgNnqqyX2bNbxKJm73bAAcKpn7IqMKWGDMWJqAA-s/s1600/IMG_0958.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Revolt in the West" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa_87np6ssTjYhA82cReEgwzF0pfGCTzjjWZSFu26DeuJy1ej0AIa6ZJ5D4p7l9pUyBDha8RNtMpOPd0BGoYh2lNCp4jqjDDn-VZgNnqqyX2bNbxKJm73bAAcKpn7IqMKWGDMWJqAA-s/s200/IMG_0958.JPG" title="Great Stories of Canada" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-zhQ1CS4l1ISNwiR7XanwaxaEgp1GjS-ow6DZuuKbEeP3nuCKLrkDZ2zIjgCCmwjVUQhbkR5gqjGY02sHJkNXeLiRnuMlypf75_Z7jrWQQyiSAg7N7aE8SXnbPk0UxTszbOJ3HZ_Afc/s1600/IMG_0959.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-zhQ1CS4l1ISNwiR7XanwaxaEgp1GjS-ow6DZuuKbEeP3nuCKLrkDZ2zIjgCCmwjVUQhbkR5gqjGY02sHJkNXeLiRnuMlypf75_Z7jrWQQyiSAg7N7aE8SXnbPk0UxTszbOJ3HZ_Afc/s200/IMG_0959.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbR71OV6oDwYq4q4KH4j_NgF0tDeYAskLP-Jucdq0Lyvuz2l-rJJ-mBYeD2MuCUdB_LMABQlV1Y8v4ikgW_JsLm8JR8f-rR50ngvVYbK2McJd7PPAvUBilGsv98GyGVH68s24mmk4OAGE/s1600/IMG_0960.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbR71OV6oDwYq4q4KH4j_NgF0tDeYAskLP-Jucdq0Lyvuz2l-rJJ-mBYeD2MuCUdB_LMABQlV1Y8v4ikgW_JsLm8JR8f-rR50ngvVYbK2McJd7PPAvUBilGsv98GyGVH68s24mmk4OAGE/s200/IMG_0960.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
<br />
This past year, we read Kerry Woods' <i>The Map-Maker: The Story of David Thompson</i> from this series. We read it as a Canadian substitute for a book on Lewis and Clark in the American curriculum we follow, and it was a worthy substitute. It held the interest of all my students, from SA(9) down to MM(5), and I am confident that they will "know" David Thompson for the rest of their lives. We also made great use of the map in the front of the book for our Canadian geography lessons.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-q7xbA811q56yDs3VojWBd_fk1WMBLj-iD6ghiDrARMXlj-J2PZnRQZOlXgvzCEcf53ofuAoSKvRms6r5ZJl2D9UuqvTvY4sE2oaITYiRwsZH1lRkJqL6rNtX8QzbJ4Oep70mWTlQ-QE/s1600/IMG_0962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-q7xbA811q56yDs3VojWBd_fk1WMBLj-iD6ghiDrARMXlj-J2PZnRQZOlXgvzCEcf53ofuAoSKvRms6r5ZJl2D9UuqvTvY4sE2oaITYiRwsZH1lRkJqL6rNtX8QzbJ4Oep70mWTlQ-QE/s200/IMG_0962.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
The books in the Great Stories of Canada series are written by various authors. I have not read all of them yet, but skimming through the ones I have I am confident that the writing quality is consistently good. We did find one author, Joseph Schull, (<i>Battle for the Rock</i>, about the Battle on the Plains of Abraham) was not ideal for reading and narration in grade 3 because my student was losing track of the many characters. However, I would still recommend the book, and it would probably have worked for an older student in grades 4-6. Other authors include Pierre Berton, Thomas Raddall, Edward McCourt, and Roderick Haig-Brown.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzUl4sXIb-1zatUWbGW1LssfLM_ngerRdgCGXU2YIf11uMVZJX0GjHSYcRJ1Xq6CizuGMLWUUWibFHDnzGWWOt1DZbDeISc-ZEKGnhGP6stGY-JH7oNypAr86mN9uaEdKgkx43-BkEMA/s1600/IMG_0963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzUl4sXIb-1zatUWbGW1LssfLM_ngerRdgCGXU2YIf11uMVZJX0GjHSYcRJ1Xq6CizuGMLWUUWibFHDnzGWWOt1DZbDeISc-ZEKGnhGP6stGY-JH7oNypAr86mN9uaEdKgkx43-BkEMA/s200/IMG_0963.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
One of my favourite features of this series are the historical maps in the beginning of each book. Thus far in my experience with these books, I have found that the maps contain all the places mentioned in the story and no more, allowing children to follow along easily as they read.<br />
<br />
There are also a few illustrations, in most books one or two pen-and-ink drawings per chapter. The quality of these varies a little depending on the artist employed.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The series was originally published by MacMillan, but you may also find editions published later by The Canadiana Company with two titles per volume, like these.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTyOJVoZxkaOx8bMOdqUF1J92LO34UxKJahDF7GF6VWwZlDVkldZqyEnLVMMS3UIRxss5dYyhyphenhyphen-UHLpkCBk4ZQsPFRgxfks0S19dgOX75T2Ypb0D5Va9DeVOZXQrHAI4US20UhHr11rE/s1600/IMG_0961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Canadiana Company" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTyOJVoZxkaOx8bMOdqUF1J92LO34UxKJahDF7GF6VWwZlDVkldZqyEnLVMMS3UIRxss5dYyhyphenhyphen-UHLpkCBk4ZQsPFRgxfks0S19dgOX75T2Ypb0D5Va9DeVOZXQrHAI4US20UhHr11rE/s320/IMG_0961.JPG" title="Great Stories of Canada" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also include a list of titles and authors for your convenience. Please note that I do not endorse the contents of each individual book, as I have not read them all. Please do your own due diligence!</div>
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1. The Scarlet Force: The Making of the Mounted Police by T. Morris Longstreth</div>
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2. The Force Carries On by T. Morris Longstreth</div>
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3. Raiders of the Mohawk: The Story of Butler's Rangers by Orlo Miller</div>
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4. The Nor-Westers: The Fight for the Fur Trade by Marjorie Wilkins Campbell</div>
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5. The Golden Trail: The Story of the Klondike Rush by Pierre Berton</div>
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6. Buckskin Brigadier: The Story of the Alberta Field Force in 1885 by Edward McCourt</div>
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7. The Map-Maker: The Story of David Thompson by Kerry Wood</div>
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8. Arctic Assignment: The Story of the "St. Roch" by Sgt. F.S. Farrar, RCMP</div>
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9. Captain of the Discovery: The Story of Captain George Vancouver by Roderick Haig-Brown</div>
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10. The Bold Heart: The Story of Father Lacombe by Josephine Phelan</div>
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11. Redcoat Sailor: The Story of Sir Howard Douglas by R. S. Lambert</div>
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12. Red River Adventure: The Story of the Selkirk Settlers by J. W. Chalmers</div>
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13. The True North: The Story of Captain Joseph Bernier by T. C. Fairley and Charles E. Israel</div>
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14. The Great Chief: Maskepetoon: Warrior of the Crees by Kerry Wood</div>
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15. The Salt-Water Men: Canada's Deep-Sea Sailors by Joseph Schull</div>
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16. The Rover: The Story of a Canadian Privateer by Thomas H. Raddall</div>
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17. Revolt in the West: The Story of the Riel Rebellion by Edward McCourt</div>
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18. Knights of the Air: Canadian Aces of World War I by John Norman Harris</div>
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19. Frontenac and the Iroquois: The Fighting Governor of New France by Fred Swayze</div>
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20. Man from St. Malo: The Story of Jacques Cartier by Robert D. Ferguson</div>
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21. Battle for the Rock: The Story of Wolfe and Montcalm by Joseph Schull</div>
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22. The Queen's Cowboy: James Macleod of the Mounties by Kerry Wood</div>
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23. Fur Trader: The Story of Alexander Henry by Robert D. Ferguson</div>
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24. The First Canadian: The Story of Champlain by C. T. Ritchie</div>
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25. Adventurers from the Bay: Men of the Hudson's Bay Company by Clifford Wilson</div>
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26. Ships of the Great Days: Canada's Navy in World War II by Joseph Schull</div>
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27. Mutiny in the Bay: Henry Hudson's Last Voyage by R. S. Lambert</div>
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28. Runner of the Woods: The Story of Young Radisson by C. T. Ritchie</div>
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29. The Good Soldier: The Story of Sir Isaac Brock by D. J. Goodspeed</div>
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30. Tecumseh: The Story of the Shawnee Chief by Luella Bruce Creighton</div>
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31. The Row-Boat War: On the Great Lakes 1812-1814 by Fred Swayze</div>
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32. The Ballad of D'Arcy McGee: Rebel in Exile by Josephine Phelan</div>
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33. The Savage River: Seventy-One Days with Simon Fraser by Marjorie Wilkins Campbell</div>
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Happy hunting!<br />
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P.S. Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear how you liked specific books in the series.<br />
<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-38999188789872170462018-07-05T11:27:00.000-07:002018-07-05T11:27:40.830-07:00Year in Review: Our Book StackI love taking pictures of our book stacks for the year! It never fails to make me feel like we accomplished something good. Many of these books are from Ambleside Online <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/02bks.shtml" target="_blank">Year 2</a> and <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/04bks.shtml" target="_blank">Year 4</a>, though we did some substitutions (mostly for Canadian history and geography).<div>
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<div>
<b>The Books We Read Together</b></div>
<div>
As <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2017/07/year-in-review-our-favourite-school.html" target="_blank">last year</a>, we read a fair number of books together. We had a rotation going at breakfast, and another at teatime. I have not included the books we read at bedtime because they were not narrated and we don't think of them as "school books". Some of these books are ones we are reading over several years.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlnwUvfY4tC6T3sxx_hyphenhyphenD0EpOPCL7Eqo8hINeKJg44i3Nw_s9AwJ4AFW1_pMNpZ_WjJWnHy28f95M0t6oCV4CtLxvq0bt9V-GvRvDG80mP4YWy-BHotYFOGnA9srM08Suh2y64hTLwKo/s1600/IMG_0675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlnwUvfY4tC6T3sxx_hyphenhyphenD0EpOPCL7Eqo8hINeKJg44i3Nw_s9AwJ4AFW1_pMNpZ_WjJWnHy28f95M0t6oCV4CtLxvq0bt9V-GvRvDG80mP4YWy-BHotYFOGnA9srM08Suh2y64hTLwKo/s400/IMG_0675.JPG" width="300" /></a><b><br /></b></div>
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<b>The Little Woman </b></div>
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<b>Canadian Wonder Tales </b>(ongoing)</div>
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<b>The Blue Fairy Book </b>(ongoing)</div>
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<b>Trial and Triumph </b>(ongoing)</div>
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<b>Elementary Geography</b></div>
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<b>The Ocean of Truth</b></div>
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<b>Drummer Boy for Montcalm</b></div>
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<b>The Story of Canada </b>(Brown et al) (ongoing)</div>
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<b>Great Canadian Adventures </b>(selections. ongoing)</div>
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<b>The Story of Canada</b> (Marsh) (selections, ongoing)</div>
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<b>Famous Indians</b> (section about Joseph Brant)</div>
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<b>The Map-Maker</b></div>
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<b>Robinson Crusoe</b></div>
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<b>Kidnapped</b></div>
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<b>Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson</b> (selections)</div>
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<b>Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson</b> (selections)</div>
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<b>A Lakeland Anthology: William Wordsworth</b> (selections)</div>
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<b>Mathematicians Are People, Too</b> (selections)</div>
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<b>SA(9)'s School Books</b></div>
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Since several of the books we read together were from SA's Year 4 (Trial and Triumph, The Ocean of Truth, Robinson Crusoe, Kidnapped), his stack looks a little short! Not pictured are Plutarch and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. We read Shakespeare together with an audio production, and I read Plutarch aloud to him. SA's favourite books this year were <i>George Washington's World</i>, <i>The Map-Maker</i>, and <i>Julius Caesar</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWnxuzo26ywIDdPens-Cda4sPF9M7uWQjxc_ZI_zbfmwxdPjxrulkbGQkOCOz3h2GeDnwh5yo4dRuKc3P-W3zfnGNc2IFyALGowEaMgk-eGqMFW3oSRpcew67iV-sJ7uXBB0EI3-BHFg/s1600/IMG_0677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWnxuzo26ywIDdPens-Cda4sPF9M7uWQjxc_ZI_zbfmwxdPjxrulkbGQkOCOz3h2GeDnwh5yo4dRuKc3P-W3zfnGNc2IFyALGowEaMgk-eGqMFW3oSRpcew67iV-sJ7uXBB0EI3-BHFg/s400/IMG_0677.JPG" width="400" /></a><b>Shakespeare: MacBeth</b></div>
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<b>Shakespeare: Twelfth Night</b></div>
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<b>Shakespeare: Julius Caesar</b></div>
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<b>Plutarch: Romulus</b></div>
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<b>Plutarch: Publicola</b></div>
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<b>Madam How and Lady Why </b>(ongoing)</div>
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<b>Bullfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable </b>(ongoing)</div>
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<b>The Story-Book of Science</b></div>
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<b>George Washington's World </b>(incomplete)</div>
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<b>JJ(7)'s School Books</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigO12z0UNCtBM-8pWGG6UePKxO11Kfz2ljForF7e-EHQs2s75auLCQ05rDws8VoDIZnGL7AbMTlzJko-gxKA6WLcgJbiJtFYhHHSlFBE10j8gylmhTiYwQUOnzxYLYXfx5vbJOKwmc674/s1600/IMG_0679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigO12z0UNCtBM-8pWGG6UePKxO11Kfz2ljForF7e-EHQs2s75auLCQ05rDws8VoDIZnGL7AbMTlzJko-gxKA6WLcgJbiJtFYhHHSlFBE10j8gylmhTiYwQUOnzxYLYXfx5vbJOKwmc674/s400/IMG_0679.JPG" width="400" /></a>JJ is a very strong reader, and though I was reading some of his books aloud to him at the beginning of the year, by the end he was reading all of these on his own. You may notice that we left out several of the Year 2 books. This is because we were reading a number of books together (above) and I didn't want to overload him. JJ's favourite books this year were <i>The Little Duke</i>, <i>The Wind in the Willows</i>, and <i>The Blue Fairy Book </i>(not a Year 2 book, but I have fairy tales on constant rotation in this season of life).</div>
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<b>Stories from Shakespeare</b> (selections)</div>
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<b>The Little Duke</b></div>
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<b>The Burgess Animal Book for Children</b></div>
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<b>Understood Betsy</b></div>
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<b>Robin Hood</b> (ongoing)</div>
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<b>The Wind in the Willows</b></div>
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<b>Seabird</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqz2JDxtu4qYK931DQJh7gkNSMyv1Vc3PPLv6NHv86mze3oc0bJkYQsxvO_ecnM6jE5YCemDLXzHZyTyYfFiFgJ5p61y7MUMuq1ajILw28A9p63nykY3LVPmxY35aTI42MN46nf87g1dY/s1600/IMG_0692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqz2JDxtu4qYK931DQJh7gkNSMyv1Vc3PPLv6NHv86mze3oc0bJkYQsxvO_ecnM6jE5YCemDLXzHZyTyYfFiFgJ5p61y7MUMuq1ajILw28A9p63nykY3LVPmxY35aTI42MN46nf87g1dY/s320/IMG_0692.JPG" width="240" /></a>The books above do not reflect everything we did. We studied Dutch artists De Hooch and Van Ruisdael, early Canadian artist Thomas Davies, and French artist Jacques Louis David. We listened to music composed by Telemann and Corelli, Copland and Gershwin, and Beethoven. We read French children's books <i>La Chenille qui Fait des Trous</i>, <i>Ours Brun</i>, and <i>Trois Souris Peintres</i>. In the Bible, we studied Joshua and Judges, Mark and part of Acts. The boys also did a number of paper sloyd projects. Outside the home, they participated in a children's choir and took swimming lessons.</div>
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SA was well into grade 5 of Singapore Math (Primary Mathematics US Edition) by the end of the year. He started KISS Grammar and did well with it. We did not begin Latin this year, as I wanted him to know more grammar before beginning Visual Latin. Studied dictation also went amazingly well, and we could see definite progress from the beginning of the year to the end. He did well with learning cursive italic handwriting, but did not gain ease with it yet. We did not begin written narrations, as he was just not ready. However, I started to write down his narrations from <i>George Washington's World</i> so he could begin to get used to the feeling of having his words written down. That was hard for him, as he is a perfectionist and it would take forever for the words to come out (a problem I understand all too well!). I ended up teaching him an oral version of freewriting, which is the technique that helped me break out of that paralyzing perfectionism myself. He made progress, and the words started flowing more easily by the end of the year. </div>
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JJ completed book 2A in Singapore Math. We switched from Miquon part way through the year. He prints with ease, so he began cursive italic this year as well. </div>
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MM(5) started to learn to read, and insisted on doing math while the other boys were doing it. I printed off Year 1 of <a href="http://www.cimt.org.uk/projects/mepres/primary/index.htm#year1" target="_blank">MEP Math</a> and he completed it. I tried to have some one-on-one time with him every morning before the school day started, and we read <i>Charlotte's Web</i>, <i>Little House in the Big Woods</i>, and part of <i>Little House on the Prairie</i>. Of course, he also listened in on all the reading we did together and enjoyed the pictures, music, and Shakespeare. </div>
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Writing about all we accomplished makes me feel good, even though I dropped the ball on several things (again.). We dropped piano. Once again, we did very little in our nature notebooks after the first term. French was a failure, other than the children's books we read. We could have done more of several things: dictation, poetry, map work, timeline work. I could have written an entire post on what we missed and what we could have done better, but I'm making a choice to <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2016/06/keep-thankful-heart-as-you-plan.html" target="_blank">give thanks</a> for what we were able to accomplish. It was a good year.</div>
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Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-86595388845829550282018-06-19T04:38:00.003-07:002018-06-19T04:42:24.470-07:00Exams with FriendsIt was exam week here last week. SA(9) finished <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/04bks.shtml" target="_blank">Ambleside Online Year 4</a>, and JJ(7) finished <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/02bks.shtml" target="_blank">Year 2</a>. I was feeling very "done" by the end of the school year, and though I intended to do full <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.com/2015/11/highlights-from-year-2-term-1-exams.html#idc-container" target="_blank">exams</a> with the boys, in the end I didn't have the energy to do all of it. However, we did do something special that I think I will repeat in future exams. We had friends and family over for tea!<br />
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Charlotte Mason style exams are not high-pressure academic exercises. They are more an opportunity for the children to remember what they have learned, and to enjoy realizing how much they know. For me they are an opportunity to assess how I am doing in facilitating the "science of relations." There always seems to be at least one area that I neglect to some degree, and exams are always a gentle reminder to get back on track. On the other hand, exams are also always a reminder that no matter how poorly I may think we did in a term, the children still come out of it with Scripture, poetry, pictures and songs hidden in their hearts and a heart-warming eagerness to share all their favourite books and knowledge. </div>
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Really, an ideal opportunity to share with friends, wouldn't you say?</div>
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We had two friends come over for tea one morning, and Grandma and an uncle another morning. I wrote up some exam questions and recitation prompts on strips of paper and put them in a teacup.</div>
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As we enjoyed our tea and snacks, we all took turns pulling out the strips of paper and doing what they said.</div>
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If you'd like to try this in your family, I have some tips for you:</div>
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1. <b>Invite encouraging, supportive, loving people.</b> </h3>
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We are blessed to have family and friends who are supportive of homeschooling in general and us in particular. I know that for some of you these people can be hard to find. Don't discount the obvious. If daddy is not involved in the day-to-day homeschooling, he will probably be a great person to include in this celebration. </div>
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2. <b>Do not invite "quizzers." </b></h3>
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Sometimes the most loving, well-meaning people can none-the-less be "quizzers." You know them...whenever they meet your children they challenge their knowledge. How old are you? Can you read yet? Do you know all the provinces of Canada? How far are you in math? If you do really want to invite a quizzer, maybe you could drop a hint that your purpose is to celebrate what your children have learned, and the questions in the teacup related to this term's studies are the only ones to be asked today.</div>
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3. <b>Ask the right questions. </b></h3>
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Not all exam questions are suitable for the purpose of sharing like this. Here are some that are:</div>
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- <b>Recitations</b>. Scripture passage, hymn, catechism, folk song, poetry, and Shakespeare recitations are ideal.</div>
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- <b>Show and Tell</b>. This is a great time for your children to show drawings, nature journals, handicrafts, music they've written out, and even math, copywork and dictation notebooks.</div>
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- <b>Performance</b>. Playing a musical instrument is an obvious choice, but also think about other demonstrations of skill. If your child has learned to read, have him read something. If he is quick at mental math, try a math question. </div>
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<b>- Child's Pick. </b>Have your children choose their favourite school book of the year and tell something interesting about it. My children surprised me by both choosing their Singapore math books the first tea time. The second time I had them choose their favourite book of reading and narration. </div>
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<b>4. Limit narration questions.</b></h3>
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Questions that involve narration are fine, but don't do too many at an occasion like this. For my two oldest children (introverts who need a minute or two to process before the words start coming), these questions feel more difficult and high-pressure in a situation where we are all eagerly waiting on their every word. For more extroverted children, these questions might release a flow of words that will take a disproportionate amount of time in the context of a casual teatime. I limited myself to one narration question for each child from a book that had consistently good narrations throughout the term.</div>
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5. Move on if something isn't going well.</h3>
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Your purpose is to celebrate what your children <i>do</i> know. If, for any reason, they <i>don't</i> know, keep calm and move on to the next exam question as quickly as possible. Do not be embarrassed, do not take it personally. Do not prompt more than once or twice, or allow your guests to prompt. This will happen. For your children's sake, treat it as no big deal and carry on. A bit of humour at your own expense as the teacher can deflect the attention from your students and help them move on as well. </div>
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At our teatime exam with Grandma, I asked my boys a narration question about the great Canadian explorer David Thompson. They each said something, but I felt they could have said so much more. I started prompting ("I noticed you didn't say anything about crossing the mountains. Can you tell me more about that?"), and regret prompting more than once. I should have let it go. The boys also completely bombed a poetry recitation. I helped them a little, but in the end I let it go and moved on. Exams do expose where we have fallen short. We obviously didn't review our poetry recitations enough this term. We will do better at that next term. Moving on...</div>
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6. Don't overdo it.</h3>
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Put lots of questions in the teacup, but don't put pressure on yourself to get through them all. Keep pulling questions out for as long as it feels enjoyable for everyone, both students and guests. If you notice stress or boredom rising, end with one last song and call it a day. For us, with two students and two preschoolers, our limit was about 40 minutes. We got through about ten exam questions in that time.</div>
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7. Don't forget the little ones.</h3>
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I have an extroverted year 0 student that I knew would also like to share what he learned. Of course, he had learned all the recitations his brothers had. I also asked him to tell us about his favourite book, and to read some three-letter words. I did forget AJ(3), and didn't consider that he probably would like to do what his brothers were doing. Thankfully, one of our guests did not forget him, and asked him to tell all about our cat. He was ridiculously proud to do so. MM and AJ also took their turns pulling questions from the teacup.</div>
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I hope this gives you some ideas! We really enjoyed the exams we did with friends. I would love to hear if you try this.</div>
Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-58172283646986033492018-01-23T08:43:00.000-08:002018-01-23T08:43:08.715-08:00A Moment in Our Homeschool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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11:45 AM, and SA(9) is reading about Phaeton in Bullfinch's Mythology.</div>
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JJ(7) is writing a Thank You card for some Christmas gifts he received. He also folded the envelope.<br />
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MM(5) and AJ(3) are playing on the floor with Megabloks. AJ is not yet dressed.<br />
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This morning, we have already read and narrated from Robinson Crusoe, reviewed our hymn, Bible memory, and catechism, read the Bible and prayed, done chores (inside and outside), reviewed poetry (Emily Dickinson), sung our folk song (The Riddle Song), done picture study (Thomas Davies), read and narrated from a biography of Joseph Brant (Canadian history), and done math (multiplying decimals for SA). It's almost lunch time, and after that the boys will go out and play in the snow.</div>
<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-66953147940778235732018-01-22T11:06:00.004-08:002018-01-22T13:05:06.903-08:00My Four Most-Shared PostsThese are the posts that I personally share the most often in response to questions people ask in Charlotte Mason Facebook groups that I'm a part of.<br />
I hope you enjoy them!<br />
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<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/p/my-charlotte-mason-journal.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgPscRlFg7FBTgu4ZxVhAVD_l-chOBM53hOUfk8KMaYyhkTFgfn3KsviW4xASqeRafhrKdL4HEWHaNrzNsuhQ5BQNtKSNUE76JK_M0CP14ANL6-gUU0RlNlxikviATAsB-P1EMXJmJik/s200/My+Charlotte+Mason+Journal.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2014/04/charlotte-mason-and-preschool.html" target="_blank"><b>Charlotte Mason and Preschool Priorities 1: The Outdoor Life for the Children</b></a><br />
This post is part of a series of five posts for mothers of preschoolers. I wrote them in 2014, with my children aged five, three, and one. I had recently started to read Charlotte Mason's own writings, and was zealous to encourage every mother of preschoolers to read Charlotte Mason.<br />
Here is the series:<br />
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2014/03/my-cm-journal-why-read-charlotte-mason.html" target="_blank">Why Read Charlotte Mason as a Mother of Preschoolers?</a><br />
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2014/04/my-cm-journal-encouragement-for-mothers.html" target="_blank">Encouragement for Mothers of Preschoolers</a><br />
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2014/04/charlotte-mason-and-preschool.html" target="_blank">Charlotte Mason and Preschool Priorities 1: The Outdoor Life for the Children</a><br />
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2014/04/charlotte-mason-and-preschool_27.html" target="_blank">Charlotte Mason and Preschool Priorities 2: Habits</a><br />
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2014/05/education-is-bigger-than-you-think.html" target="_blank">Education is Bigger than You Think</a><br />
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<b><a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2014/10/education-is-not-so-perfect-atmosphere.html" target="_blank">Education is a Not-So-Perfect Atmosphere</a></b><br />
When I first started homeschooling, I struggled with trying to create a Charlotte Mason atmosphere. Understanding that the atmosphere she is talking about is one "that no one has been at pains to constitute" helped me to relax.<br />
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<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2016/01/a-timeline-that-works-for-us.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt=" A Timeline That Works for Us" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpxQrBBYeyRUN4pRUGLVnlxF5dqqpJtjV0UGRrSj4bzFqig6wlUCX0ii5J_NX6RRjOV1Uo8J1CUSJrKd5jY7sOLXftPGRS0AP0cnb20ii0oFRvk40wX-8MY9ghtutOFLbQpYk7W0aXC8/s200/Timeline.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2016/01/a-timeline-that-works-for-us.html" target="_blank"><b>A Timeline that Works for Us</b></a><br />
I still use a version of this timeline with a slight difference: I now create columns for each century to keep it a little neater. I still love this one, though, and it worked well for us in Form 1 (Grades 1-3).<br />
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<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2016/10/minimalism-for-homeschooling-book-lovers.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><br /></a>
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<b><a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2016/10/minimalism-for-homeschooling-book-lovers.html" target="_blank">Minimalism for Homeschooling Book Lovers</a></b><br />
When I say "minimalism," I mean removing the clutter of books that are not living books and do not bring you joy. I share this post a lot, and it still represents the ideal that I am constantly working towards. My husband prefers that I call it curating rather than minimizing, and I suppose that is more accurate. We have a LOT of books! What can I say? They make us happy.<br />
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<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-80030029974920802392017-12-27T18:41:00.000-08:002017-12-27T19:10:22.592-08:00Reading Goals of 2017 and 2018<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This year, I started out with <a href="https://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2017/01/2017-reading-goals.html" target="_blank">big reading plans.</a> Here's how I did with them:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>1. Learn from C.S. Lewis</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At the beginning of the year, I <a href="https://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2017/01/my-personal-cs-lewis-reading-plan.html" target="_blank">lined up all of our C.S. Lewis books in chronological order</a>. At the time, I said "I'm pretty sure I will not get through all of them this year." Well, I didn't. I got through five, and am still working through another two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Pilgrim's Regress</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1933)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Out of the Silent Planet</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1938)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Problem of Pain</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1940)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Screwtape Letters</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1942)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Perelandra</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1943)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Abolition of Man</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1943) (in progress)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">That Hideous Strength</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1945) (in progress)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now that I know my pace, I am setting a new goal of reading seven more C.S. Lewis books in 2018 in addition to finishing the ones in progress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOIDygGvsbVTaGH-Hd_aADZi7Y3FZ6bYQl_pZiE1-7YPGEerXS0TF0yTEapgf4NwhOcNOhqR9Qef9tMP3HfEwj2btt7JYjLzfL3fU4_LIMh0sbmQaTw9iDbLJZ-zMpA3J1Gx1KVi96nM/s1600/Man+Who+Was+Thursday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOIDygGvsbVTaGH-Hd_aADZi7Y3FZ6bYQl_pZiE1-7YPGEerXS0TF0yTEapgf4NwhOcNOhqR9Qef9tMP3HfEwj2btt7JYjLzfL3fU4_LIMh0sbmQaTw9iDbLJZ-zMpA3J1Gx1KVi96nM/s320/Man+Who+Was+Thursday.jpg" width="202" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Great Divorce</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1945)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">George MacDonald: An Anthology</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1946)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Miracles</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1947)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Weight of Glory</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1948)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1950)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Prince Caspian</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1951)</span><br style="background-color: #fcfcff;" /><i style="background-color: #fcfcff;">The Voyage of the Dawn Treader</i><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"> (1952)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;">2. </span><b style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Keep up with my book clubs</b><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I read some good books with my book clubs this year! With them, I finished </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iliad</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Brothers Karamazov</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Innocence of Father Brown</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Northanger Abbey</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oliver Twist</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Man Who Was Thursday</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2018, we are continuing with <i>The Odyssey </i>and reading <i>Wives and Daughters</i> by Elizabeth Gaskell. I anticipate we will read an additional four or five classics or other worthy books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;">3. </span><b style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Keep reading Charlotte Mason</b><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I finished following Brandy Vencel's study guide <i><a href="https://afterthoughtsblog.net/product/start-journey-charlotte-masons-20-principles" target="_blank">Start Here </a></i>with an online study group. It was great! Using it, I read <i>For the Children's Sake</i> and most of Charlotte Mason's Volume 6. Then, in the summer <a href="https://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2017/07/please-join-me-in-reading-school.html" target="_blank">I read through Charlotte Mason's Volume 3 again</a>: <i>School Education</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I also read Laurie Bestvater's <i>The Living Page. </i>What a great addition to any Charlotte Mason library! It is carefully researched, beautifully written, and clearly demonstrated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2018, I plan to read Charlotte Mason's Volume 2: <i>Parents and Children.</i> Also, in our local Charlotte Mason study group, we're watching the <a href="http://www.amblesideschools.com/main/video/introduction" target="_blank">video series from Ambleside Schools International </a>and reading the accompanying study guides which contain passages from Charlotte Mason's volumes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;">4. </span><b style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Pre-read at least some of next year's school books for SA.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, I did do this, but often it was the night before. In other words, I did not get very far ahead of him. At all. But still, I read some excellent books. Some of my favourites were:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Robinson Crusoe </i>(almost finished)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"MacBeth"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Romulus</i> (Plutarch)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Looking ahead into 2018, I know I need to allot a significant amount of time to pre-reading, especially considering that SA is now at an age that he will be reading most of his school books on his own. Beginning Term 2 of Year 4, I will be reading</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Twelfth Night"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Publicola</i> (Plutarch)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>George Washington's World</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Kidnapped</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The Ocean of Truth</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Madam How and Lady Why </i>(already in progress)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Age of Fable </i>(in progress)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Great Canadian Adventures</i> (in progress)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And of course, later in 2018 I will be beginning Ambleside Online Year 5 as well. By necessity, this will likely become my primary reading goal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;">5. </span><b style="background-color: #fcfcff;">Read through the ever-expanding list of books people have recommended and/or lent to me</b><span style="background-color: #fcfcff;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I didn't do very well with this in 2017. I have so much to read, I often don't prioritize books that other people want me to read. The one I did manage to finish was probably one of my least favourite books of the year (<i>Wild at Heart</i>). So I'm going to change this goal in 2018:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. <b>Read books on my own shelves that I have been wanting to read but just haven't gotten to yet.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25017.Krakatoa?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Krakatoa</a></i> (Winchester) (in progress)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2203.John_Adams?from_search=true" target="_blank">John Adams</a></i> (McCullough)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/930225.Respectable_Sins?from_search=true" target="_blank">Respectable Sins</a> </i>(Bridges)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/916948.The_Protestant_Reformation" target="_blank">The Protestant Reformation</a></i> (Hillerbrand) OR <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7169012-great-voices-of-the-reformation?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Great Voices of the Reformation</a></i> (Fosdick)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31795.The_Story_of_Philosophy?from_search=true" target="_blank"><i>The Story of Philosophy</i></a> (Durant)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/927007.The_Soul_of_Science?from_search=true" target="_blank">The Soul of Science</a></i> (Pearcey)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13800006-delighting-in-the-trinity?from_search=true" target="_blank">Delighting in the Trinity</a></i> (Reeves)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9964939-the-book-that-made-your-world?from_search=true" target="_blank">The Book That Made Your World</a></i> (Mangalwadi)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As these are all pretty hefty, I doubt I'll get through more than four or five on this list. Still, it's good to set a goal, as if I don't, I may not read any of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I know I haven't listed any light reading, and not much fiction. That's not because I won't be reading any. Those just tend to be more spontaneous choices. I will also probably be reading a fair amount of books on health this year, but I can't tell exactly what direction that will take at this point. (psoriasis, autoimmune disease, diet...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. <b>Read for the <a href="https://www.challies.com/resources/the-2018-christian-reading-challenge/" target="_blank">Challies' 2018 Reading Challenge</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is almost an afterthought for me this year...I love the idea of it, but with so much else to read I'm not sure how far I'll get. Still, I would like to check off the categories of a "Light" reader (and it's great that I can use books that I'm already reading for other goals to check off several of them.). The categories are:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A biography</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book about Christian Living</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book published in 2018</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book by an author who is no longer alive</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A novel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book for teens or young adults</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book more than 100 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book targeted at the opposite gender</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book your best friend recommends</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book with at least 400 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book of your choice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book about theology</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A book about current events</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Do you make reading plans, or do you just read whatever comes your way? I like planning for about half of my reading, and allowing the rest to be more spontaneous.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/23900493?" target="_blank">My Year in Books 2017</a> (Goodreads)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2016/12/my-top-ten-books-of-year.html" target="_blank">My Top Ten Books of 2016</a></span></div>
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Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-31509523303783533532017-12-11T08:22:00.003-08:002017-12-11T08:22:42.890-08:00Join Our "Starting the Day" Chat Tomorrow <div style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
I'm excited to announce a fun, free video chat hosted by Mystie Winckler of <a href="https://www.simplifiedorganization.com/" target="_blank">Simplified Organization</a> along with 4 other moms, including me! We're going to talk about starting the day - tips, hacks, troubleshooting, and confessions. The chat will be happening at 9 AM PST tomorrow (that's 1:00 PM if anyone is in Atlantic time with me.). You can register <a href="https://www.crowdcast.io/e/starting-the-day" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://www.crowdcast.io/e/starting-the-day" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZp8gcU3fNoGUiBeYqYx0rebI_fIhowbOygkoUKhY-_UaXjGfd17W6urFHpUjdtlY5qyBFCP4BrW571hmbeWqkRjqjb0Ppd2TEz-83Ig768O017wxciLwOAncUS9UhntmfdIO-monCm0/s640/Starting+the+Day.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<b>The participants</b>:</div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Nelleke is married to a pastor and homeschools four sons in Prince Edward Island.</li>
<li>Mystie and her husband are second-generation homeschoolers, now homeschooling their brood of 5 (ages 14-5) classically, learning to repent and rejoice every step of the way.</li>
<li>Nina + her husband raise two little menfolk on an island in the PNW for the glory of Christ alone.</li>
<li>Stefani is a Christ-following, classically homeschooling mother of three, ISTJ, and recovering perfectionist.</li>
<li>Hailey lives with her hubby and 5 children in the Southern California desert and loves to eat tacos, wear lipstick, and go hiking, in no particular order.</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">I'm not joining this chat as an expert, or because I always get my mornings right. This will be a time of sharing what works for us (and what doesn't). You can join us in the chatbox with your own questions and tips.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">If you can't make it tomorrow, <a href="https://www.crowdcast.io/e/starting-the-day" target="_blank">registrants</a> will receive the free replay link.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">I look forward to seeing you there!</span></span><br />
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Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-60266831082043719842017-10-26T13:10:00.001-07:002017-10-27T03:20:37.360-07:00Great Canadian Adventures {Canadian Living Book Review}At first glance, <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Canadian-Adventures-Readers-Association-Durnford/dp/0888500513" target="_blank">Great Canadian Adventures</a> is not a living book. Published by Reader's Digest in 1976, it is a compilation of 48 stories from the history of Canada. The editors clearly state that "we have amended some of the original texts, by rearranging and abridging the material..."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOgcKJnG-8mAP-D9GwkA4v51cs5m7SrsoAW7vLCXdVhMAWCTo-I4QGK8M75aiKdqM_m52v5-QRi542PSyozgtMfbFNHkayZ68LDemAZgmWwDVgu4Uks5OwakKsxkKPfu9prjto9FaELFQ/s1600/aaron-burden-147833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOgcKJnG-8mAP-D9GwkA4v51cs5m7SrsoAW7vLCXdVhMAWCTo-I4QGK8M75aiKdqM_m52v5-QRi542PSyozgtMfbFNHkayZ68LDemAZgmWwDVgu4Uks5OwakKsxkKPfu9prjto9FaELFQ/s320/aaron-burden-147833.jpg" width="320" /></a>However, this book gives us access to many first-hand accounts that are not available anywhere else unless you want to go hunting in archives. While some of the stories are taken from published works, these published works are ones that I desperately <i>want</i> to be introduced to as a Canadian Charlotte Mason homeschooler. Of course, this book also has multiple authors, another living book no-no. However, these are all excellent authors, including such figures as Stephen Leacock, W.O. Mitchell, Pierre Berton and Farley Mowat. This book is well-written from cover to cover, and I suspect that the editors are to be thanked for the readability of the first-hand accounts.<br />
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I am using <i>Great Canadian Adventures</i> now for my Year 4 and Year 2 students. I think it is an ideal supplement to a "spine" (chronological) text, particularly for grades 4-6 and up. Do your own due diligence before handing it to your children, though. There is violence, as you might expect, as well as some strong language.<br />
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The main obstacle for use in a Charlotte Mason homeschool is that the stories are not presented strictly chronologically. Instead, they are divided by subject (pioneers, explorers, sailors, war, etc.). I have gone through it and listed each chapter chronologically for my own use. I'll share my list below for those of you who are blessed enough to find this gem.<br />
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Like many good books, this book is out of print. I found mine at a second-hand store. You may also be able to find it through <a href="http://bookfinder.com/">bookfinder.com</a>. The ISBN is 0888500513.<br />
<br />
For more Canadian resources, check out my page <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/p/cm-in-canada.html" target="_blank">CM in Canada</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b>Great Canadian Adventures</b></h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Indexed in chronological order</b></div>
<br />
<b>11th Century</b><br />
The Quest for Vinland (p. 122)<br />
Subject: Norse settlements, Leif Eriksson<br />
Place: Present-day Newfoundland and Labrador<br />
Years: around 1000<br />
Author: Farley Mowat, condensed from <i>Westviking</i><br />
<br />
<b>17th Century</b><br />
Champlain, the Father of Canada (p. 140)<br />
Subject: Samuel de Champlain<br />
Places: Acadia, Quebec<br />
Years: 1603-1635<br />
Author: Morris Bishop<br />
<br />
Mutiny in James Bay (p. 160)<br />
Subject: Henry Hudson, Abacuk Pricket (a servant on board the <i>Discovery</i>)<br />
Places: James Bay<br />
Years: 1610-1611<br />
Author: Abacuk Pricket (eyewitness), edited by Farley Mowat<br />
<br />
Huronia’s Immortal Scoundrel (p. 17)<br />
Subject: Etienne Brule, first coureur de bois<br />
Place: New France<br />
Years: 1608-1632<br />
Author: Herbert Cranston<br />
<br />
Martyrs of the Wilderness (p. 618)<br />
Subject: French Jesuit Missionaries; Jean de Brebeuf<br />
Place: New France<br />
Years: 1626-1650<br />
Author: Francis Parkman<br />
<br />
The Epic Feud Over Acadia (p. 29)<br />
Subject: Charles and Marie de La Tour, Charles d’Aulnay, Acadia<br />
Place: both sides of the Bay of Fundy (present-day NS and NB)<br />
Year: 1645<br />
Author: Francis Parkman: adapted from <i>The Old Regime in Canada</i><br />
<br />
John Gyles’ Amazing Ordeal (p. 38)<br />
Subject: John Gyles, Conflict between New France and New England, First Nations.<br />
Place: Pemaquid (in present-day Maine), Meductic (in present-day NB)<br />
Years: 1689-1698<br />
Author: Stuart Trueman<br />
A 9-year-old Puritan boy from New England seized by the Malecites and remains with them for 9 years. Based on Gyles’ own memoirs.<br />
<br />
The Battle for Hudson Bay (p. 338)<br />
Subject: Iberville; French and English struggle for the Hudson Bay fur trade<br />
Place: Fort York, west side of Hudson Bay<br />
Year: 1697<br />
Author: Nellie M. Crouse<br />
<br />
<b>18th Century</b><br />
The Lost Treasure of <i>Le Chameau</i> (p. 513)<br />
Subject: <i>Le Chameau</i>, a ship from France, is shipwrecked with treasure<br />
Place: Atlantic Ocean, near Fortress Louisbourg<br />
Time: 1725 and 1961 (when it was discovered)<br />
Author: not mentioned. Condensed from <i>Canada Illustrated</i>.<br />
<br />
Escape from Michilimackinack (p. 58)<br />
Subject: 23-year-old Alexander Henry, Pontiac’s Conspiracy<br />
Place: British Fort Michilimackinac, between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan<br />
Year: 1763<br />
Author: Alexander Henry (first-hand account)<br />
<br />
Search for the Coppermine (p. 462)<br />
Subject: Samuel Hearne<br />
Place: Fort Prince of Wales (present-day Churchill, Manitoba); Canada’s north<br />
Year: 1769<br />
Author: Stephen Leacock (excerpted from <i>Adventurers of the Far North</i>)<br />
<br />
Ensign Prenties’ Dispatches<br />
Subject: Shipwreck on Cape Breton Island; American Revolutionary War.<br />
Place: Gulf of St. Lawrence<br />
Year: 1780<br />
Author: Walter Prentiss (first-hand account), edited by G. G. Campbell<br />
British ensign is sent with dispatches from Quebec to New York and is shipwrecked on the way.<br />
<br />
The Birchbark Brigades (p. 72)<br />
Subject: French Canadian voyageurs, The North West Company<br />
Places: from Montreal to Lake Winnipeg<br />
Years: late 1700’s to 1821<br />
Author: “the editors”<br />
Despite the fact that this account is drawn together by “editors,” it quotes extensively from several first-hand accounts.<br />
<br />
The Rover, Private Ship of War (p. 474)<br />
Subject: Privateers (Pirates) from Nova Scotia<br />
Place: The Spanish Main<br />
Year: 1800<br />
Author: Thomas H. Raddall<br />
<br />
<b>19th Century</b><br />
Down the Roaring Fraser (p. 172)<br />
Subject: Simon Fraser, North West Company, Fraser River<br />
Place: The Fraser River<br />
Year: 1808<br />
Author: Bruce Hutchinson<br />
<br />
Lieutenant Worsley’s Revenge (p. 346)<br />
Subject: The War of 1812<br />
Place: Fort Michilimackinac, between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron<br />
Year: 1814<br />
Author: C. H. J. Snider<br />
<br />
A Voyage to a New Land (p. 220)<br />
Subject: William Bell family, immigration from Scotland to Upper Canada<br />
Place: A ship on the Atlantic<br />
Year: 1817<br />
Author: William Bell (first-hand account)<br />
<br />
Winter Without End (p. 180)<br />
Subject: Sir John Ross, Captain of the first steam-powered ship used in search for the North-west passage<br />
Place: Canada’s North<br />
Year: 1829<br />
Author: Sir John Ross (extract from journal), edited by Farley Mowat<br />
<br />
Roughing it in the Bush (p. 83)<br />
Subject: Susanna Moodie<br />
Place: Upper Canada, near Cobourg; Douro Township, northeast of Peterborough<br />
Years: 1832-1837<br />
Author: Susanna Moodie, taken from <i>Roughing it in the Bush</i><br />
<br />
Franklin’s Last Voyage (p. 207)<br />
Subject: Sir John Franklin, search for the North-west Passage<br />
Place: Canadian Arctic<br />
Year: 1845<br />
Author: Fred Bosworth<br />
<br />
Overland to the Cariboo (p. 488)<br />
Subject: The Cariboo Gold Rush<br />
Place: British Columbia<br />
Year: 1862<br />
Author: Bruce Hutchison<br />
<br />
The Damnedest Man That Ever Came Over the Cariboo Road (p. 522)<br />
Subject: Judge Matthew Begbie; The Cariboo Gold Rush<br />
Place: British Columbia<br />
Years: 1858-1894<br />
Author: Bruce Hutchison<br />
<br />
The Saga of “Rudder” Churchill (p. 254)<br />
Subject: George Churchill; stamina and resourcefulness of Nova Scotia mariners<br />
Place: A ship in the Atlantic<br />
Year: 1866-1867<br />
Author: Archibald MacMechan<br />
<br />
Tales of the Plains Crees (p. 98)<br />
Subject: Chief Thunderchild, Cree life before they were forced onto reserves in the 1870's.<br />
Place: North Saskatchewan River area<br />
Year: 1867<br />
Author: Edward Ahenakew (as told by Chief Thunderchild), edited by Ruth Matheson Buck<br />
<br />
Confessions of a Secret Agent (p. 356)<br />
Subject: Second Fenian conspiracy; Henri le Caron, a spy<br />
Places: United States and Upper Canada<br />
Years: 1868-1870<br />
Author: Henri Le Caron (first-hand account)<br />
<br />
Memoirs of a Master Detective (p. 566)<br />
Subject: John Wilson Murray, detective for the province of Ontario<br />
Place: Ontario<br />
Years: 1873-1887<br />
Author: John Wilson Murray<br />
<br />
The Great Ship (p. 270)<br />
Subject: The William D. Lawrence, biggest ship in the Bluenose fleet of Canadian vessels<br />
Place: Maitland, NS<br />
Year: 1874<br />
Author: Joseph Schull<br />
<br />
Wild and Woolly Days (p. 548)<br />
Subject: Sam Steele, one of the first to join the North West Mounted Police<br />
Place: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta<br />
Years: 1873-1885<br />
Author: Samuel Benfield Steele (first-hand account)<br />
<br />
The March West (p. 532)<br />
Subject: The North West Mounted Police<br />
Place: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta<br />
Year: 1874<br />
Author: Ronald Atkin<br />
<br />
The Wreck of the Codseeker (p. 261)<br />
Subject: Shipwreck<br />
Place: East of Cape Sable, NS.<br />
Year: 1877<br />
Author: William M. Murphy (adapted)<br />
<br />
The Captain’s Boat (p. 283)<br />
Subject: Nova Scotia skipper Capt. Henry MacArthur is shipwrecked with his family and crew<br />
Place: People are from Maitland, NS. Story takes place on a ship in the Pacific Ocean<br />
Year: 1881<br />
Author: Archibald MacMechan<br />
<br />
Van Horne Moves the Troops West (p. 368)<br />
Subject: Metis rebellion; Canadian Pacific Railway<br />
Place: North of Lake Superior; Saskatchewan<br />
Year: 1885<br />
Author: Pierre Berton<br />
<br />
The Stampeders (p. 499)<br />
Subject: Klondike gold rush<br />
Place: Chilkoot Pass: Alaska/British Columbia border<br />
Year: 1897-1898<br />
Author: Pierre Berton<br />
<br />
A Tibetan Tragedy (p.644)<br />
Subject: Dr. Susie Carson Rijnhart, Canadian Christian missionary to Tibet<br />
Place: Tibet, China<br />
Year: 1898<br />
Author: Susie Carson Rijnhart<br />
<br />
<b>20th Century</b><br />
Isaac Barr’s Fiasco (p. 109)<br />
Subject: Rev. Isaac Barr, British settlement in Western Canada<br />
Place: Saskatchewan<br />
Years: 1847-1937<br />
Author: W. O. Mitchell<br />
<br />
West with Thomas Wilby on the All-Red Route (p. 664)<br />
Subject: Thomas Wilby, first man to take a car across Canada<br />
Place: Halifax to Vancouver<br />
Year: 1912<br />
Author: Hugh Durnford and Glenn Baechler<br />
<br />
Death on the Ice (p. 294)<br />
Subject: The Great Newfoundland sealing disaster<br />
Place: Newfoundland<br />
Year: 1914<br />
Author: Cassie Brown and Harold Horwood<br />
<br />
Bombardment (p. 376)<br />
Subject: WWI; in the trenches<br />
Place: France and Belgium<br />
Years: 1914-1918<br />
Author: Charles Yale Harrison<br />
Excerpt from Harrison’s novel Generals Die in Bed, based on his experience in the trenches of WWI.<br />
<br />
The Courage of Early Morning (p. 392)<br />
Subject: William Avery “Billy” Bishop, WWI Flying Ace<br />
Place: France; England; Owen Sound, Ontario<br />
Year: 1917<br />
Author: William Arthur Bishop<br />
<br />
The Mad Trapper of Rat River (p. 584)<br />
Subject: Albert Johnson, outlaw<br />
Place: Canadian Arctic<br />
Year: 1931-1932<br />
Author: Dick North<br />
<br />
Frontline Surgeon (p. 678)<br />
Subject: Norman Bethune<br />
Place: Spain<br />
Years: 1936-1939<br />
Author: Sydney Gordon and Ted Allan (with extensive quotation from Bethune’s journal)<br />
<br />
The St. Roch and the Northwest Passage<br />
Subject: Henry Larsen navigates the Northwest Passage from west to east.<br />
Place: The Canadian Arctic<br />
Year: 1940-1942<br />
Author: Henry A. Larsen<br />
<br />
‘Bonjour, tout le mond a la maison d’Alphonse’ (p. 402)<br />
Subject: WWII; Sgt. Maj. Lucien Dumais<br />
Place: France, Britain<br />
Years: 1943-1944<br />
Author: Lucien Dumais<br />
<br />
Haida, the Deadly Destroyer (p. 428)<br />
Subject: WWII; Royal Canadian Navy<br />
Place: Atlantic Ocean<br />
Year: 1944<br />
Author: William Sclater<br />
<br />
The Two Jacks (p. 444)<br />
Subject: WWII; Allied invasion; Jack Veness and Jack Fairweather from NB<br />
Place: France<br />
Year: 1944<br />
Author: Will R. Bird<br />
<br />
Through Nightmare to Freedom (p. 695)<br />
Subject: Igor Gouzenko, exposed Canadian Soviet spy network<br />
Place: Ottawa, ON<br />
Year: 1945<br />
Author: Igor Gouzenko<br />
<br />
Two Who Refused to Die (p. 716)<br />
Subject: Ralph Flores and Helen Klaben; Survival in the Canadian North after a plane crash<br />
Place: British Columbia, Yukon<br />
Year: 1963<br />
Author: Thomas Whiteside<br />
<br />
Doomsday Flight 812 (p. 600)<br />
Subject: Paul Joseph Cini; Hijacking of a DC-8 airplane<br />
Place: Calgary, then in the air<br />
Year: 1971<br />
Author: Paul King<br />
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Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-91601600707915968002017-10-23T19:26:00.000-07:002017-10-23T19:26:09.714-07:00Using Children's Books for French Language StudyAs a supplement to our <a href="http://www.theulat.com/ENGLISH.HTM" target="_blank">French curriculum</a> this term we have been reading <i>The Very Hungry Caterpillar</i> in French. I borrowed <i>La Chenille Qui Fait Des Trous</i> from the library, and we have been watching it on YouTube weekly so the children hear it read with a good accent. What's nice about this book for beginning French students is that it has a fair amount of repetition. It also includes numbers from 1-5, the days of the week, and the names of several fruit and different kinds of food.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gQvPQZs_kgE?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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The only drawback to this particular choice could have been that it is not an exact translation (The title is translated back into English as <i>The Caterpillar that Makes Holes</i>). However, the vocabulary is simple enough that we haven't found it to be a problem.<br />
<br />
It was so fun last week to hear AJ(2) on the couch with the English version of the book saying, "Look Mama! Un papillon!" He also likes pointing out "la chenille" on every page.<br />
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My choice for the second six weeks of our term was going to be <i>Georges va au Zoo</i> (Curious George Goes to the Zoo), but sadly it is not on YouTube. I'm not sure if I want to read it to the boys myself. I could do it, but my French accent is not that great. (My husband has told me that I put emphasis on all the wrong syllables, and gave me an impression of how this would sound if I did it in English. My confidence is gone!)<br />
<br />
Does anyone out there have any good ideas for other children's books I can use in this way? We really enjoyed doing this with <i>The Very Hungry Caterpillar</i>, and I'd like to keep going.<br />
<br />Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-38512044603584520862017-10-20T16:08:00.001-07:002017-10-31T17:16:14.984-07:00Enthusiasm for Year 4I love <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/04bks.shtml" target="_blank">Ambleside Online Year 4</a> more than any year so far. I was learning a lot in Years 1-3, but Year 4 is a whole new ball game. We get to read Shakespeare now, and Plutarch! <i>I </i>am learning so much, never mind SA(9). I have to stop myself from starting to discuss things in the middle of the reading.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, it's hard work, too. I have never put so much effort into pre-reading and scaffolding the readings for my student. ("Scaffolding" is removing obstacles between student and author before the reading, for example, providing definitions and showing maps. The object is for the child to form his own relationship with the author and his subject without too much talking on the teacher's part.) Strangely, while the books are making my brain work overtime, they do not seem more or less challenging to SA than to me. As Charlotte Mason says, he makes the connections "proper to him" and I make the ones proper to me, and we are both learning and growing. I think it's AMAZING that living books allow that to happen.<br />
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Almost everything is new to me. I have never read Shakespeare or Plutarch, and my only exposure to Greek Mythology (<i>Age of Fable</i>) so far has been the <i>Iliad</i>. <i>Madam How and Lady Why </i>is a very interesting way to think of science, and we're having very good discussions over it. I know that I'm talking too much in our lessons (I do try to restrain myself), but at the same time my own enthusiasm for the books is not a bad thing to be modeling. In any case, SA is liking them all. </div>
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My only problem is that I am not giving enough to SA to read independently in his lesson time. He reads <i>The Storybook of Science </i>on his own. I know I could easily hand him <i>Robinson Crusoe, </i>but I love that book! So far I can't resist sharing it with all the boys by reading aloud. I could also give him <i>Madam How and Lady Why</i>, but I feel like discussion flows more naturally when we've just read it together. Maybe I need to get over this so he can do more "digging" for himself. I know we need to work towards more independence for him or I'll drown next year, when I will have three students for the first time.<br />
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Is anyone else out there having the amazing experience of learning together with your children? Isn't it wonderful?<br />
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Linked with <a href="https://brcbanter.blogspot.ca/2017/10/mason-for-me-fall-2017.html" target="_blank">Mason for Me</a> at BRC Banter:</div>
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Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3297311296413949396.post-13796125485539549972017-08-31T01:00:00.000-07:002017-08-31T05:33:11.859-07:00Morning Time Plans, Part 2<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA0BEJ3d7_p3lJ1YjsgrUflQYz1NDZIPbPCmCYBykbNmWvaaLJwDaa2MRPzW-UQH8YIeufvs_pMb3hLxHwK_e8xptqcbPZSjbpa5jnqM_vrbBdsZ8Iyuhchc2R3cTX1C6OV5t5mC6ukKI/s1600/Morning+Time+Plans+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA0BEJ3d7_p3lJ1YjsgrUflQYz1NDZIPbPCmCYBykbNmWvaaLJwDaa2MRPzW-UQH8YIeufvs_pMb3hLxHwK_e8xptqcbPZSjbpa5jnqM_vrbBdsZ8Iyuhchc2R3cTX1C6OV5t5mC6ukKI/s320/Morning+Time+Plans+2.jpg" width="320" /></a>Our second part of <a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2017/08/morning-time-plans-part-1.html" target="_blank">morning time</a> comes after we have all done our chores and played outside. I also hope to have had some preemptive one-on-one time with the preschoolers by the time we start.<br />
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I aim to begin this at about 10:15 every morning. We will have tea or drinks and snacks while we do the first part, then clear away in time for our Canadian loop and Language loop. (The 5 and 2-year-olds will also likely run off and play once the food is done.)<br />
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To make this really clear, we are only doing one item in each "loop" per day. The memory work and recitation is all reviewed every day.<br />
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<b>TEA TIME LOOP</b> (15 min) (cycle through, one per day.)<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Poetry Appreciation: Tennyson, De La Mare<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Art Appreciation: van Ruisdael, de Hooch<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Music Appreciation: Corelli, Telemann; Sol Fa lesson: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv85FVkNMRHoXgdmndE4fSw/feed" target="_blank">Children of the Open Air</a> Level B<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mathematics Appreciation: <i>Family Math</i> and <i>Mathematicians are People Too</i><br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Poetry Appreciation: childrens’ choice (skip if we have four-day week for some reason)<br />
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<b>Memory Work/Recitation</b> (10 min)<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Folk Song: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLhzMwPwPLs" target="_blank">A Ballad of New Scotland</a>”, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUW2DXxmzYA" target="_blank">Brave Wolfe</a><span id="goog_1604492133"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1604492134"></span>”<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Poetry: SA – “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, JJ – “Seeds”, “The Mother Bird”<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>French Song: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXscSw1T1P0" target="_blank">Vous Qui Sur la Terre Habitez</a>”, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf1_B7rg0mw" target="_blank">Je Me Confie en Toi</a>"<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">S</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">hakespeare: MacBeth “Sleep no More” and/or “To-morrow,
and to-morrow, and to-morrow”</span></div>
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-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Review (one previously memorized folk song OR poem OR French Song OR Shakespeare)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>CANADIAN LOOP</b> (20 min) (cycle through, one per day, doing map/timeline work once per week)<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Canadian History: <i>The Story of Canada</i> OR <i>Great Canadian Lives</i><br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Canadian Geography (hoping to do <i>The Map-Maker: the Story of David Thompson </i>if it ever arrives in the mail!)<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Map/Timeline Work (Canadian Oxford Junior Atlas Activity Book)<br />
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<b>LANGUAGE LOOP</b> (20 min) (one per day)<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>French Lesson: Watch <a href="http://www.theulat.com/" target="_blank">The ULAT</a> lesson OR review AND read French children's book<br />
-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>English Grammar: <a href="https://www.kissgrammar.org/Ideal_Sequence/Ideal_G01.html" target="_blank">KISS Grammar Book 1</a> (First lessons include material for copywork and dictation as well.)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Notes</b></span></div>
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<b>Tea Time Loop</b></div>
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Up until the end of last year, we've read poetry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with Art Appreciation on Tuesdays and Composer Study on Thursdays. This year I'm adding in Mathematics Appreciation. I read several chapters of <i>Mathematicians are People Too </i>last year as part of our breakfast reading rotation. In past years we also used to do a fair amount of math games and activities, but I slacked off over time. This year I decided to combine the two and make them part of this special, relaxed time in our school day.</div>
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For poetry, we are following the <a href="http://amblesideonline.org/index.shtml" target="_blank">Ambleside Online</a> suggestions for Years 4 and 2. Unlike in previous years, I am giving each boy their own poems to learn for recitation. (We always learned it as a family before.)</div>
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For Art Appreciation in Term 1, I looked through the AO rotation for artists roughly in the time period we are studying in history this year (1640-1780) and found Jacob van Ruisdael and Pieter de Hooch (painters from the Dutch golden age). I like doing this, as I think it helps us immerse ourselves in a time period, but I don't go out of my way to do it (connections happen anyway!). I printed the selections suggested by AO on letter-sized paper at Staples and put them in page protectors in our individual binders. We always spend two weeks on each painting, just looking and talking about it the first week, then trying to fix it in our minds' eye and narrating the second week. I am hoping I will have enough space on my "school wall" to hang up the current picture during the weeks we are studying it. </div>
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For Composer Study, we're using the AO rotation this term. </div>
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<b>Memory Work/Recitation</b></div>
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I chose two Canadian folk songs, as they fit well with our Canadian history. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLhzMwPwPLs" target="_blank">A Ballad of New Scotland</a> is a sort of advertisement to attract people to settle in Nova Scotia in the 1700's. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUW2DXxmzYA" target="_blank">Brave Wolfe</a> is about the Battle on the Plains of Abraham. I found both of these songs in my copy of <i>Singing Our History</i> by Edith Fowke and Alan Mills. This wonderful resource is out of print, but you may find it used (check bookfinder.com for prices including shipping). I highly recommend this resource and others by Edith Fowke if you want to coordinate Canadian folk songs with your studies in Canadian history.</div>
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Last school year, I taught the boys "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdrOBDYMSUw" target="_blank">A La Claire Fontaine</a>" as our French song. Though I told them the translation at the beginning, I didn't find that it stuck well (aside from the lovely tune!). This term, I decided to turn to a French version of a psalm we already know well in English. "All People that on Earth do Dwell" is one of the boys' favourites, and that's why we will learn "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXscSw1T1P0" target="_blank">Vous Qui Sur la Terre Habitez.</a>" For the second six weeks of the term, I chose a simple hymn from Jeunesse en Mission (Youth With a Mission): "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf1_B7rg0mw" target="_blank">Je Me Confie en Toi</a>." Sometime in the future I will return to French folk songs, but for this year I will focus on easy and familiar hymns to help build their understanding.</div>
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<b>Canadian History and Geography</b></div>
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We are continuing to do Canadian history and geography together, as last year. </div>
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<b>Language Loop</b></div>
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We began using <a href="http://www.theulat.com/" target="_blank">The ULAT</a> last year for French. I was not completely satisfied with how we did with it, but as I've been thinking about it, I realize it was because I did not have a daily system for review of what we were learning. I did not want to sit in front of the screen daily for a video review. I'm going to step back a couple of lessons, and use a notebook to make a list of what we need to review each day in between our lessons. In addition, I plan to find and read French translations of a few classic childrens' books that my children already know well in English, starting with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBpHkMgWld8" target="_blank">The Very Hungry Caterpillar</a>. (I'm not sure of everything that I'll use...I have a stack reserved at the library and I'll see.)<br />
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We are also beginning English grammar and studied dictation this year. I am using <a href="https://www.kissgrammar.org/" target="_blank">KISS Grammar</a>. If you click on that link, you will discover that the website is very, very difficult to navigate and find exactly what you need. <a href="https://www.kissgrammar.org/Ideal_Sequence/Ideal_G01.html" target="_blank">Here is the page with links to each workbook</a>. I am beginning with book 1, and I will allow JJ(7) to participate with SA(9) as well, but only if he is interested. (Delayed grammar is something I don't quite see eye to eye with Charlotte Mason on...I know I was ready for grammar and loved it from the time I first encountered it in grade 2 or 3. But of course I would never push it on a child who isn't ready.) The first workbook has short passages that the teacher's guide suggests using as dictation exercises. I can kill two birds with one stone! Now I don't have to think about figuring out what to use for studied dictation with SA for the first little while, anyway.<br />
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Ambleside Online also recommends beginning Latin in Year 4. I have acquired a Latin program (<a href="https://www.compassclassroom.com/latin" target="_blank">Visual Latin</a>), but looking at it I realize that SA needs some grammar before he begins. I expect I will probably start next year, in Year 5. I am quite excited about it, though...I think both grammar and Latin will appeal to SA's logical and orderly mind.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer</span></b><br />
I'm going to offer this disclaimer again. These are my plans. There will be things that will be adjusted as we go along. There are things that will work for my family that won't work for yours. Use your own discretion. Again, I'm building on the work of previous years, and strongly advise starting small and building from there if you are just beginning.<br />
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Here are some links from previous years, when the boys were younger:<br />
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2013/09/our-very-first-poetry-teatime.html" target="_blank">Our Very First Poetry Teatime </a>(4 years ago)<br />
<a href="http://plouffes.blogspot.ca/2016/01/our-circle-time.html" target="_blank">Our Circle Time</a> (1.5 years ago)</div>
Education is a Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09630031813554150232noreply@blogger.com0