The Story of Canada (times four!)

...And Other Spines to Study Canadian History in Early Elementary

I have been trying to decide on a Canadian history spine for SA(7). In a Charlotte Mason education, "spines" are often used to go through the chronology of history. These spines may be gone through slowly, over several years, and supplemented with biographies, first-hand accounts, and other living books. Spines have a little more in common with textbooks than you'd expect a Charlotte Mason homeschooler to use, but the difference is that we look for a narrative style. Above all we avoid dry summaries of fact, instead looking for ideas and details that stimulate the imagination. 

These two identically-titled books are the ones I'm considering right now.

The Story of Canada by E.L. Marsh

This popular history of Canada is well-written, full of the details that capture the imagination. It was published in 1913, so it is in the public domain and you can find the full text online. Because of its age, you may expect that you will have to discuss some terms and some matter-of-fact attitudes about First Nations that would not be deemed acceptable today. Also, it only goes so far... at the end of this book, Newfoundland is not yet a part of Canada, and the Union Jack is still its flag. However, because of Marsh's engaging writing style I think it is worth looking at when beginning your chronology of Canadian history with elementary students.

The Story of Canada by George W. Brown, Eleanor Harman, and Marsh Jeanneret

This is another history of Canada in story form, published in 1950. I quote from the Foreward:

"This book was begun in the classrooms which the authors have visited in each province of Canada, from British Columbia to Newfoundland. Frequently, teachers described with enthusiasm supplementary books--most of which were story-books--admitting their inadequacies, but pointing out how powerfully they impressed their contents upon the minds of boys and girls. The usual textbook narratives were, of course, intended to be read and remembered; stories were always read, and remembered."

Isn't that a lovely description of one of the key differences between twaddle (dry textbooks) and living books? The authors go on to explain that this book is an attempt to write history in story form while maintaining its integrity as history. While I have not begun to use this book yet, it does look like they have succeeded.


As I begin to go through Canadian history with my oldest son, I am planning to use both of these books, pre-reading and choosing the best account in areas where they overlap. I think that as I do this, both books' strengths and weaknesses will become clear and I will report back to you on this blog!

Books I've Decided Against

There are three books that I've seen recommended here and there that I have decided not to use.

The Story of Canada by Isabel Barclay

While this book is mentioned as an option on the Ambleside Online Canada page. I do not consider it a living book by any definition. Its sentences are short and choppy, and it is very short on detail that might appeal to a person's imagination. I give you a selection from the story of Jacques Cartier:

"It was a terrible winter. The snows came early and it was bitterly cold. There was hardly any food. Even the Indians starved. Jacques Cartier's men fell sick and many died. In the spring the rest sailed back to France."

Compare this to the same story in E.L. Marsh's Story of Canada:

"Cartier and his men made ready for the cold as best they could. But they did not know what Canadian winters are like, and were not prepared for so much frost and snow. The great river was soon frozen over, and the snow lay so deep that it seemed to the French that the earth could never throw off her thick white covering.

As the weeks went slowly by, and it grew no warmer, a terrible disease called scurvy broke out among them. Before they could find anything that would check it, twenty-six of their number died. One day as Cartier was walking near the river, feeling very sad and discouraged, he met an Indian who, but a short time before, had been ill. Upon Cartier's asking him how he had been cured he explained that it was by taking a medicine made from an evergreen tree called Ameda. With hope and joy Cartier hurried back to tell his men. They tried the remedy at once--in fact, they used up nearly a whole tree--and before long all were well again.

At last spring came, the warm winds began to blow, the ice melted away, and the French prepared for their homeward voyage. It was at this time that Cartier did a very wicked thing. He captured Donnacona and four other Indian chiefs, and took them against their will to France. He did this simply because he wanted to show them to the people of his country, and to have them tell the king of the wonders of the New World. They never saw their native land again, but died in a strange country and among strange people. This was the way Cartier repaid the Indians for all the kindness they had shown him during his stay with them." 

Barclay's Story of Canada just does not capture the imagination in the way a living book can, and I do not recommend it.

Great Canadian Lives: Portraits in Heroism to 1867 by Karen Ford, Janet MacLean, and Barry Wansbrough

I have to say, I love the idea of this book. From the Preface:

"This is not a book to read all at once. It is a book that might inspire you to a little organized day-dreaming, as you think about what it might be like to be Margureite de Roberval, cast away by a cruel uncle, or Muquinna, facing strangers as alien and powerful as beings from outer space."

I take delight in just reading through the table of contents. Every chapter is a time period, and every time period is filled with the stories of its people. These people are not just white and male. I see many women, many First Nations. There are stories from every area of Canada.

Sadly, however, Great Canadian Lives is not uniformly well-written. I don't know if it's because of its multiple authors, but while some of the biographies are great, others are mere lists of choppy facts. I still highly recommend it as a resource for its table of contents (imagine being able to find living books about all these people!) and for the biographies that are well-written.

My First History of Canada by Donalda Dickie

I have this book, and I think it is a good option as a Canadian history spine for the elementary grades. The reason I'm not using it is that I prefer the writing styles of E.L. Marsh and George Brown, mentioned above. One interesting thing to note about this book is that it omits the War of 1812, so if you use it you might want to cover that another way.

A Book for Later Elementary

The Story of Canada by Janet Lunn and Christopher Moore

Since I've mentioned THREE other books with this title already, I should mention this one too. This is a more contemporary account, and it looks promising. It is aimed at older children than I have right now, though, so I'll refer you to Annie Kate's review at Curriculum Choice. I anticipate using this when we reach the end of the usefulness of the vintage books I'm using, by which time my children will be a little older, and ready for it.

Searching for these books?

I have not included links for these books, as many of them are out of print and must be found used. My favourite way to search for used books right now is using BookFinder.com. It compares prices for you from sources such as Amazon, the Book Depository, Better World Books, and more. Better yet, it includes the shipping to your postal code in the price comparison, so you get a true picture of what it will cost you.

These Pictures Make Me Happy

Hello friends! I'm sorry I've been absent for a couple of weeks. We have been having internet issues. Since there doesn't seem to be an end in sight right now, I'm grabbing a moment when it seems to be working. Things might be a bit quiet around here until the problem is resolved.

We have been having a great time the last few weeks with the Art for Kids Hub. I have tried several times to go through Drawing with Children. Every school year I begin with gusto, and then my efforts peter out after a few weeks. I am not an artistic type (at least when it comes to any visual type of art). My greatest successes so far have always been in the "just do it" category... I remember one term when I put "draw something" on the daily checklist. The children didn't learn a lot about the mechanics of drawing that term, but I noticed that they started to tell some great imaginative stories with their drawings. This term my efforts are also about just doing it. We go to Art for Kids Hub once a week (yes, grabbing a moment when the internet is working...) and the boys take turns choosing a drawing to do. This week MM(3) chose a cartoon mouse. SA(7) drew it the way he was told.

JJ(5), however, made quite a production out of his.

Don't you love the individual personalities his mice seem to have? This is especially striking if you compare it to the model he followed at the Art for Kids Hub. There's just something special about that middle mouse...

I'm not sure what the little houses and candles are about. I'll have to ask him.

Math in Year 2: A Snapshot

It has been a while since I've shared what we're doing in math.

At our house, we like math. This really does not have a lot to do with me. My eldest son had an early delight in math, and I decided then that I would do what I could to feed that joy and not take it away from him. My second son loves math as well.

We began in Kindergarten with Miquon Math. Miquon Math is a strong (and inexpensive) hands-on program using Cuisenaire rods. We enjoyed it a lot, and I will be using it this summer with JJ(5) when he begins Year 1. Even though SA stopped using the rods relatively early (he seems to have an ability to see things in his head), I think it was important for him to have that hands-on foundation.

In our third term of Year 1, we switched to Singapore Math Primary Math 2A. I had just had a baby, and I needed something a little less time-consuming for me than Miquon. SA wasn't really using the rods anymore anyway. I also planned a math game or activity from Family Math or Games for Math once a week.

This year (SA's Year 2), we fell into some less than delightful habits with math. Because I never really had to teach SA anything in Singapore (it builds concepts step by step, and he followed along easily by himself), I found that it became something to check off the checklist. Usually he was done his daily exercise within ten minutes and we went on to the next thing. There was very little delight in it anymore, and I found that we weren't even having the regular, everyday conversations about math that he had always initiated.  I also lost momentum with the weekly supplementary math activities, as it was hard to find time to plan them. We probably did them only six out of twelve weeks each term. I still thought of Singapore as a solid program, and felt that the way it built the concepts step by step suited SA very well. It also gave exactly the right amount of practice for him...not too much to bore him, but enough to develop fluency. I felt like we were plodding along steadily, which is fine except that there is not a lot of joy in plodding when you could be flying! I knew he could fly, and felt I was letting him down.

This term he began grade 3 math, and I made a new plan. I was inspired by a post at the Ambleside Online forum (thanks to Kati AKA PurposefulAbegnation) to consider a three-strand approach to math. Kati recommended specific resources to teach the Truth (arithmetic, number sense), Goodness (problem solving/puzzles/patterns), and Beauty (inspiration) of mathematics. I don't necessarily divide it like that (there's a lot of overlap between truth, goodness, and beauty) and for various reasons I didn't go with her specific suggestions, but I was excited about the idea of three strands, and based my plan on it.

I should say here that this plan is quite involved, and I am NOT saying that your plan needs to be this detailed. This is one plan for one child who happens to love math, and I want to lay out a feast for his delight.

Strand 1: Arithmetic - Three 20-minute Lessons per week
Singapore Math and Dreambox.com

This is our basic, core strand to master arithmetic and develop fluency. I am continuing to use the Singapore Math workbooks. Primary Math is a mastery program. It teaches the concepts step by step, building on what has gone before. I find that a mastery program suits SA very well, as he likes to dive into concepts until he understands them. He also does not forget what he has learned before, so the periodic reviews are enough for him.

Rather than letting him plod through each exercise, I have lengthened our math lesson to twenty minutes. When he is finished with his daily Singapore exercise, whether it takes him five or fifteen minutes, he uses his remaining minutes on Dreambox Learning to develop fluency.

Dreambox learning is simply the best online math program I have seen. It is also quite pricey. I may have to go back to Khan Academy (which is free) before too long, but for the moment I am loving Dreambox. What's the difference between the two, you ask? Both teach to mastery, allowing students to move on when concepts are mastered. Khan Academy teaches using video with a teacher speaking and showing examples on the screen. Dreambox is more appealing to younger children, teaching interactively using virtual manipulatives. There is a two-week free trial at the website, but beware... you may get hooked and decide to keep paying!

Why do I use both Singapore and Dreambox and not just one or the other? I like having Singapore as the foundation of my program. I know it and trust it as a solid mastery program. At the same time, it can be a little boring day after day. I like supplementing with Dreambox because it is fun and motivating. I suppose I could use just Dreambox, but I don't feel I know it well enough yet to place that much trust in it. It is also quite expensive and I can't commit to that long-term right now. However, using Dreambox time as a supplement has become a natural motivator for SA to move quickly and cheerfully through his Singapore exercise every day.

I am planning to skip ten exercises in the Singapore workbooks as I go along in order to finish them in one year doing three exercises per week.

Strand 2: Problem Solving and Puzzles - Two 20-minute Lessons per week
MEP Math (Lesson Plans only), Family Math, Games for Math

This is real math, the kind that is fun and requires creative thinking, trial and error, and persistence. This is what I miss in programs like Singapore, and it is something SA needs. He is rarely challenged by his regular math, and it is good for him to have things to puzzle out.

I was very tempted by Beast Academy (though I must say the cartoon-ish look doesn't attract me at all). However, shipping is fairly expensive from the US to Canada, and since I'm already spending a lot on Dreambox, I decided to go with free resources and things I already have.

I looked into MEP Math when I was starting, as it is fairly popular among Ambleside Online users. At the time, I rejected it because I felt the spiral approach was not a good fit for SA, as it would not allow him to immerse himself in a topic until it is mastered. (I still think that...that's why this is not my main program.). However, the strength of this program is in its problem solving and puzzles. I also appreciate that it is easy to use and free!

I am mainly using the Lesson Plans, not necessarily the Practice Books for grade 3 (unless the lesson plan involves a problem from a practice book). The program has four 45-minute lesson plans per week. Since I am spending less than one quarter of that time on this, I am selective in the activities and problems that I think will be interesting and challenging for SA. Then we have fun figuring them out.

I also plan to pull out Family Math and Games for Math for an activity or game now and then.

Strand 3: Inspiration - One Lesson per week
Living books, Biographies, YouTube Videos

I really believe that math is the expression of the glory of God in the order He built into the universe. I want my children to see that. I want to foster a sense of wonder. I also want them to be inspired by the history of math, getting to know great ideas and inspiring people.

For this, we read books and watch videos and have conversations along the way. I added "one lesson per week" to my plan to remind myself not to forget this aspect.

Today we read The Man Who Made Time Travel by Kathryn Lasky, a wonderful biography of John Harrison. Harrison was a British clockmaker who worked almost all his life inventing clocks that would keep accurate time even at sea. This allowed sailors to calculate their longitude as they compared the time in their location with the time at home.

Last week we watched a YouTube video detailing a little bit of the history of math. Then we had some fun figuring out Roman numerals.

I just picked up a book at the library called Think of a Number by Johnny Ball. I am not terribly keen on its layout...it is one of those busy, visually overwhelming books with too many ideas on every page. However, the ideas in it are wonderful, and I think I could use it as a guide to begin to introduce quite a few "captain ideas." It is divided into four sections:
"Where do NUMBERS come from?" has history about Egyptian, Mayan and Roman, and Indian numbers.
"MAGIC Numbers" has pages on Magic squares, the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio, Pi, Pascal's triangle, and more.
"SHAPING up" is about geometry: hexaflexagons, shapes in nature, Platonic solids, and more.
"The world of MATHS" has a timeline of great mathematicians and a number of interesting ideas such as chaos and "freaky fractals."



I started implementing this plan a little over two weeks ago, and I'm very pleased with how it's going. We are doing more math than we used to (twenty minutes per day instead of five to ten minutes per day), but I feel that is appropriate for SA, given his interest in math. I feel it is more balanced with the rest of the work we do, now. We are also doing arithmetic less often (three instead of four or five days per week) in favour of more interesting and challenging problem-solving. Most importantly of all, I think, we are spending some time every week exploring ideas and meeting inspiring people from history.

Dear Canadian CM Homeschoolers,

Let's Help Each Other Find Living Books!

There is such a wealth of resources and book lists for homeschoolers using Charlotte Mason's methods. I appreciate these even more when I realize how difficult it is to start from scratch to find living books for a particular subject. I need all the help I can get to find living books on Canadian history, geography, literature, and art!

Yes, I have found little helps here and there. These are some helpful websites I've seen:

-Ambleside Online's Canada page has a number of suggestions.

- The Ambleside Online forum has a post entitled "Comparison of Canadian History Books" with excerpts from several books that could be used as "spines" for Canadian history. 

-The Simply Charlotte Mason bookfinder has quite a few pages of Canadian resources. Not all of them are living books, though. This resource will become more helpful as more people leave reviews for the books listed. 

-O Canada History is the blog of a Canadian homeschooling mom listing many Canadian history resources by time period.

-Maple Hill Academy. This is the personal blog of a Canadian Charlotte Mason homeschooler. It has not been updated very often lately, but it has several posts with her past plans for Canadian history.

-The Canadian Homeschooler has a "Canadian History Through Living Books" page. I haven't explored it yet, but it looks like it might be a great starting point for living books from different time periods in Canadian history. (post edited to add 08/03/16)

-Tea Time with Annie Kate has reviews of several Canadian books that Annie Kate has used with her family over the years. (post edited to add 08/03/16)

Still, there is a lot of trial and error in finding living books, especially when you buy online and can't actually see what you're buying beforehand. One of my early mistakes was The Story of Canada by Isabel Barclay (not to be confused with any other books with the same title). It was mentioned briefly as an overview of Canadian history for early elementary on the Ambleside Online Canada page, and I ordered it. It was written in simple, short sentences, perhaps suitable for early readers, but lacking any detail that might capture the imagination. So even with the help of recommendations from websites like the ones I mentioned above, you can end up with a book that is not suitable for reading and narration. 

I think the best way we Canadian CM homeschoolers can help each other is to share whatever wonderful living books we're finding on Canadian history, biography, geography, literature, or art. I think it's also important to share in places others will find our help. Sharing on a Facebook wall in response to a question is great for the moment, but a few days later it's hard to find again. Some places you can share that might help others for the future:

-Charlotte Mason Canada FaceBook group. Click on "Files." There are several documents, including a "Canadian History" document with an editable list of books.

-Simply Charlotte Mason bookfinder. With a basic (free) subscription, you can review books already in the bookfinder, which will really help others who are trying to sift through the many, many options listed (16 pages of books come up when you search for "Canada."). Not all of the titles included in the bookfinder are in fact living books, and it will be so helpful to the rest of us if you share even a brief review of the books you know.

With an upgraded (paid) subscription, you can also share resources publicly.

-Ambleside Online forum. If you are a member of the forum, you can add a short excerpt to the "Comparison of Canadian History Books" thread that will enable other forum members to compare different texts and decide what to buy.

-On your own blog or website. If you have a blog, please review Canadian living books and resources you have used. If you leave a link in a comment below, I'll add your links to my "CM in Canada" page so others can reference them long-term from my page.

And now over to you. What is your favourite place to go for recommendations for Canadian living books? Where would it be most helpful for you if others were to share their recommendations and reviews? Let's talk!

Highlights from Year 2, Term 2 Exams

Last week Thursday, SA(7) finished Term 2 of Ambleside Online Year 2. Since we had one day left in the week, I decided to do just a few exam questions over the rest of Thursday and Friday rather than carrying the exams over into this week.

Bible

He answered two exam questions on Bible, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. For the New Testament, I asked him to choose a parable and tell it to me. He chose the parable of the sower.

"There was a sower that sowed seeds on the path, and they got picked up by birds and the birds ate them. The ones that fell on the rocks sprang up, but then because they had no water and no roots, they withered away. The ones that fell where the weeds were got choked up. When they started growing, they got choked up by the weeds. The ones that fell on good soil were just... they didn't have any problems. They didn't get eaten by birds, they had roots and water. They just grew."

"Do you remember anything about what the parable means?" I asked.

"The seeds that fell on the rocks was one that Satan snatches the Bible. They read the Bible but it means nothing to them. The seeds that fell on the good soil are the ones that read the Bible and it meant something to them. I don't remember the ones that fell among the weeds or the ones that fell on the path."

I was very pleased with how well he remembered the parable, which we read about six weeks ago. He didn't remember Jesus' explanation very well, just some tidbits and interpretations of our discussion afterwards.

SA also recited our Bible passage for the term, Colossians 3:12-17. Normally we try to learn two or three passages per twelve-week term, but this time we had some Sunday school memory work leading up to Christmas and we only started with this in week five of the term. He began well in his recitation, but things fell apart a bit when he missed verse 16 and mixed a little of verse 15 into verse 17. He recited verse 16 when I pointed out his omission.

Picture Study

I did a picture study exam question on the spur of the moment as I was nursing the baby. "Close your eyes," I told SA, "and think about the Tom Thomson pictures we studied this term. Choose one and picture it in your mind's eye. Describe it to me, but don't tell me what it is. Then I'll see if I can figure out which one you're describing."

He willingly did this (It's the willingness that amazed me... picture study might be his least favourite thing.) and described "The West Wind" well enough for me to figure out which one he was telling me about. He started with the hills in the background (hills are very common in Tom Thomson's paintings), then described the rocks in the foreground with their reddish tint, and the wind in the sky. He didn't get around to the pine tree in the foreground until the end of his description, but I already could see the whole painting in my own mind.

"Was that your favourite painting?" I asked him.
"I don't know. I didn't know I was supposed to choose my favourite," he said.
I quickly reassured him that he didn't have to have a favourite, and the one he chose was fine. :)

Literature
I asked SA two questions about literature. One was from Pilgrim's Progress, Part Two, and one was from The Wind in the Willows.

"Tell me three things Christiana saw at the Interpreter's House."

-"The fire which was burning. On the side you could see, you could see water, but on the opposite side was oil. The water was the evil one, and the oil was the 'good one.'

-A robin with a spider in its mouth. Christiana didn't like them anymore when she knew robins ate spiders. When they are roaming, they are nice. When they are by themselves, they eat spiders.

-A tree that was rotted out in the middle, but it still grew and bore leaves. The leaves were for the devil's tinderbox." 

"Tell me your favourite part from The Wind in the Willows."

"The Barge. As he was walking, there was a barge woman, and he said he wanted to go to Toad Hall. And he asked the barge woman, 'Is Toad Hall near where you are going?' And she said, 'Yes, it is near.' He said, 'because my girls might be smashing the glass.' She said she thought they were horrible hussies. He said that he wanted to do the steering, but the barge woman told him to do that laundry that he was fond of. She saw that every moment he was getting crosser, and that he lost the soap for the fiftieth time. And then he untied the rope to the barge and mounted the horse and rode away."

History

I had time for only one exam question in history. "Tell me about the Seige of Calais." As he thought about how to answer he was frustrated to tears because all the details of all the stories we've read were blurring in his mind - he wasn't sure which details belonged with which battles. There were several King Edwards in a row and that didn't help, either. It wasn't my intention to frustrate him, so I tried to help by listing the people involved in the story:

Edward III
Governor of Calais
King Philip of France
Eustace de St Pierre and five other prominent men of Calais
Queen Philippa

Happily, he remembered which story this was when he heard Queen Philippa's name. Even so, he started somewhere in the middle of the story.

"They asked if they could be free people. And then the king said they could be free if they bring him the keys of the city and six men. And they told the king that they wanted to be free six times. They brought him the keys of the city and asked the king to let them live. Then Queen Philippa begged him not to kill them and he finally let them go without killing them and then he had a feast."

Copywork

I had SA copy "The Badger strode up the steps." His copying wasn't as neat as I know he can do it, and I made a mental note to emphasize that he must do his best work as we go forward. However, overall he has made great progress in his writing skills this term. At the beginning of the term I was having him copy my model line by line, and he was copying word by word directly beneath the model. We continued to limit our time to five minutes, but the amount of work he could do in five minutes increased from less than one to more than three lines. Towards the end of the term, I began to have him copy paragraph by paragraph. I modeled three to five lines at the top of a page, and he copied them at the bottom of the page. His neatness suffered, which I assumed was due to him copying more line by line rather than word by word. (I do want him to do that...it is what will help him exercise his visual memory and begin to learn to spell.) However, the fact that this one-line exam question was also not very neat made me think that perhaps he is getting into bad habits and I need to keep a closer eye on it.

Math

SA did his final Review for Singapore Primary Math 2B. We will begin grade 3 next term. He continues to do well with math. I rarely have to teach him anything...he simply absorbs whatever comes his way in the daily exercises. I have been considering how to spread more of a feast for him in math. I begin every term with the intention of doing math activities and games one day a week. I have wonderful resources for this, but somehow the planning involved and the little ones underfoot have meant that I did this maybe six times in the twelve-week term. Somehow I need to streamline a process, or perhaps have more of an open-and-go program that emphasizes the problem-solving/puzzling/pattern side of math. I have been thinking about supplementing his Singapore Math with Beast Academy (a big decision because it's so expensive to get here in Canada), or perhaps doing some beginning algebra with Hands-on Equations. I also continue to be periodically tempted by Right Start Math (also very expensive.). I know I have a good thing for him in Singapore Math. It progresses in a methodical way that makes sense to him. It's just that when his daily exercises usually take him about five minutes and seemingly no challenge or effort, I know I need to be doing more for him. He needs more "captain ideas" coming his way to really feed his mind and inspire him.

This week I am thinking deeply about math and history before we jump into our third term next week. I expect I'll have a post or two about those subjects before long, too.

2016 Reading Challenge Update

It has been a month and a half since I started in on Tim Challies' 2016 Reading Challenge. I spent some time in December choosing books, but my actual reading has taken a more random route so far.

When I began, I was planning to follow the "Avid Reader" plan, with 26 books. As I've been reading, though, I've been thinking that I can probably handle the "Committed Reader" plan with 52 books. I also have been choosing categories from anywhere in the challenge, and as long as they add up to 52, I'll be happy.

Here's what I've read so far, with reviews for the most significant ones, and stars to rate them:
A mystery or detective novel: Arthur & George by Julian Barnes ***
A book by a female author: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield ****
A novel set in a country that is not your own: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers ***
A novel that won the Pulitzer prize: Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener ****
A book by or about Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens *****
A book based on a true story: The Brainy Bunch by Kip and Mona Lisa Harding **

A book with the word "gospel" in the title or subtitle: The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson ****

In this book Matt Chandler spells out the gospel from two aspects: "on the ground" (personal, where we see that individual sinners are reconciled to a holy God through Christ's atoning sacrifice) and "in the air" (cosmic, where we consider God's great plan of salvation and how it affects everything). Nothing in this book is "new" ...if you know the gospel, you will have heard it all. But having this most important of themes spelled out once again will call forth a response of worship. We can never hear the gospel enough, can we? Chandler is also concerned that we do not focus on one aspect of the gospel and neglect the other, and spells out the implications if we do.

The chapter I appreciated the most was chapter 8: "Consummation." I appreciated that Chandler stepped away from speculation about the end times and focused on the point "When God finally makes all things new as he promises throughout the Scriptures, what will things look like? Where will we be?" I don't think I'd ever thought in this way about what it will be like to be in our new bodies in the new heaven and the new earth. For the first time I thought, "Yes, Jesus, I truly do long for your coming."

This book is very readable, though occasionally I was jolted by Chandler's style and sense of humour. This annoyed me a little because I felt he meant to startle --as though what he had to say was not enough to hold my attention. This is a minor quibble. This book led me to worship, and I was blessed.


A novel longer than 400 pages: Island of the World by Michael O'Brien *****

Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia. Serbia. Yugoslavia.
Croats. Chetniks. Ustashe. Partisans. Communists.
Suffering. Massacres. Labour camps.

Having read this book, I am only marginally less confused about the history of the former Yugoslavia, but then a comprehensive view of the different parties and factions involved is not its point. This is the inner life of one person, Josip, an unusually bright and spiritually perceptive boy who grows up in the midst of unimaginable suffering. As the horror of what he has gone through takes hold, he is changed. Human love and beauty make a great difference, but not an ultimate one. When he loses everything again, he finds that his own heart has become as bitter and murderous as those who have done evil to him. It seems like an inevitable cycle "--the children of Cain breeding Cain breeding Cain breeding Cain breeding Cain--". But the cycle is broken with the forgiveness and love of Christ.

This is a devoutly Roman Catholic book. I am not; I cling to the clarity and simplicity of the Reformation solas. And yet I was deeply blessed by the deeper Christian themes of this book --themes of suffering with Christ, of redemption through his sacrifice, of the continual dying to self of the Christian life, and of Christ's return. This was a moving, even heart-breaking book in many ways, but I did not weep until I came to Josip's vision as an old man of the celestial city come down from above. I thought, "Yes. Jesus will come, and He will set everything right." There is Truth here.

I have not yet mentioned Josip's poetry, which is beautiful and all the more powerful because it is paired with this story.

I hope to read this book again when I have read The Odyssey, which is referenced throughout the book. I know I missed some depth of meaning because I was not familiar with it. I will also keep it in my mind should ever God allow deep suffering to come into my life. It is a powerful, beautiful book.

A Charlotte Mason Day in the Life

Today I am joining a roundup! Learning Mama is hosting "A Day in the Life of a Classical Homeschooler." While we are not Classical in the "ages and stages" sense, we do consider ourselves to be providing a Classical education using Charlotte Mason's philosophy and methods.

I start the day shortly after 7:00 am. No need for alarm clocks at our house --our four boys always wake us up on time! As usual, SA(7) is the first one out of bed, followed by MM(3), then JJ(5). Baby AJ(1) often sleeps a little longer than the rest, but not this morning. I start the coffee, the oatmeal, and my husband's lunch.

8:00 My husband is gone to work. The boys and I are eating our oatmeal with blueberries and cantaloupe. I finish eating a little earlier than the boys, so I pull out Pilgrim's Progress and read an episode from Part 2 (Christiana's journey). Then I grab a piece of paper and a pencil and start drawing as SA(7) and JJ(5) tell me what happened in the story. Sadly, I am no artist, and the boys are soon laughing at my work. "It looks like a girl with a beaver tail," giggles SA. I, of course, am highly insulted. It was supposed to be Mercy, asking the porter why he kept that horrible dog that was always scaring the pilgrims.

By this time, everyone is done eating and we go on with our morning circle time. I read the story of Jacob's ladder from Genesis, and SA narrates. He does this Very Slowly, and with many pauses.

SA: "Isaac called Jacob, and then he said, 'Go to [long pause... I can't remember the place. Me: 'Paddan-Aram']. Take a wife from one of her brothers. [long pause. Me: 'Anything else?'] Then when Esau saw that Rebekah was not pleased with them, he went and got another person not like the ones he had." 

SA: "Jacob left, then he slept there because the sun went down. He dreamed that there was a ladder leading up to heaven and angels going up and down the ladder."

JJ(5): "And the Lord at the top of it!"

SA: "Then the Lord said, [long pause. Me: "Then the Lord said what?"}

JJ: "Can I go play outside?"
Me: "No. But you can get socks on while you wait for SA to finish narrating."

SA: "He woke up and said 'The Lord is here, and I didn't know it.' The Lord said he would bless him and multiply his offspring." (long pause)

Me: "Was there anything else? I think I remember something about a rock."

SA: "He put up the rock and he poured oil upon the rock for a pillar."

Meanwhile, JJ(5) and MM(3) have started racing dump trucks on the piano, and AJ(1) has started climbing onto the table. I try to gather them in again by asking MM what he'd like to sing. SA wants to sing "How Firm a Foundation," but MM doesn't want to. "That's OK," I say. "We'll sing what you choose first, and then we'll sing his choice. Which song would you like?" "When We Walk With the Lord." So we sing one verse of both hymns, then recite our Bible memory passage (Colossians 3:12-17). Finally, we pray.

9:00 We get started on chores, then I send the two big boys outside to play. I am busy folding laundry upstairs when I realize that SA has not gone out with JJ. He has been reading, but he has finished his book now. This is a big deal. He has been reading his first chapter book for a couple of weeks now. I record The Akimbo Adventures as the first step on his "Chapter Books" chart and shoo him out to play in the snow.


It is a beautiful day --sunny, minus 5 Celcius, and mountains of snow to play in. They use their shovels and work on digging holes to hide in when the bad guys come, and eight boats made of snow. JJ makes a cannon at the top of a snow mountain.

I wash dishes and shower and fold laundry and clean under the breakfast table. Then I nurse the baby and put him to bed.

MM decides to go out and play in the snow, too, so I help him with his snowsuit.

10:30 Everyone is back inside and wanting hot chocolate. I put on the kettle and set the table. As I finish my preparations, I ask the boys to get out some poetry books for us to read. They do.

When I arrive at the table they already have their favourites picked out. MM chooses "Box Car Racer" from Anne Isaacs' Cat Up a Tree. He chooses this every time. If for any reason he ever chooses something else, JJ chooses it. I have read this poem at least three times a week for the last three years. This time JJ chooses "I had a little nut tree" from Lavender's Blue, and SA chooses "The Telephone" by Robert Frost. This one was new to us, and everyone enjoyed the image of a flower being used as a telephone for thoughts. I also read several poems by Christina Rossetti, since she is our poetry focus this term.

Towards the end of our teatime, things fall apart. Hot chocolate is spilled, AJ wakes up, MM has an accident and wants a bath...

11:30 I rally and get the school day going. We start with a reading and narration from Trial and Triumph, a church history book. We are reading about Francis of Assisi.

SA: "I don't like this book very much."

Me: "Well, not all our school books can be our favourites. Which one is your favourite?"

SA: "I like Wind in the Willows."

Me: "We're reading Wind in the Willows today, too. Would you like to start with that instead?"

SA: "No, that's okay."

JJ: "When we're done, can you come out and build a snow fort with us?"

Me: "We'll see. I can't think about that right now."

Finally I manage to start the lesson(!) and SA narrates.

"That Francis once told a flock of birds to praise your father, who clothed you in feathers and wings. Once he said to a cricket, 'Cricket my sister, praise the Lord your God who created you."

"He said to the Lesser Brothers to go to the four corners of the earth. Maybe he was talking this place and this place and this place is what he meant by the four corners. (pointing) That he, dying at the age of 54, he said, 'Hello, sister death.'"

We are behind our regular routine so I decide to move right into the next reading, Wind in the Willows. SA narrates:

"She said that he might be fake. (long pause, "And then what?") He unfastened the tow rope and left the tow path. He saw the barge woman shouting, 'Stop, stop, stop!'" Toad didn't stop, and soon he had slowed down to a trot, then a walk. He fell asleep and then woke up with a jolt. Then he saw a gipsy smoking a pipe. He put the pipe out of his mouth."

SA:"Where's the timer?" (standing on his head. We always set the timer so we don't go overtime on our lessons.)

Me: "I have it. Now sit down beside me in 'narration posture.'"

"He said, 'one shilling for each leg.' Toad wanted three shillings for each leg. Then he said he wanted six shillings for the whole horse and as much food as he wanted for one sitting. And that's all I remember. Oh, and the food was made out of the finest hares and chicken."

By this time it is already far past noon. Normally we have two readings and our math done before lunch, but today we are going very slowly. I decide that SA can do his math while I prepare lunch. We get out his Singapore Math book. Today's exercise is only one page, something he can finish in five minutes. I set the timer for 20 minutes, telling him he can do math on the computer (We just got a free trial of DreamBox Learning) with the time he has left. 

While lunch is in the oven, I sit down and read MM(3) and JJ(5) a story. We start with The Little Engine That Could, MM's current favourite. I read it to him yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that... Thankfully, JJ picks a new book, Castles in the Sea, a nonfiction picture book by Lawrence Jackson about icebergs. It is surprisingly good, with many living ideas, not just dry facts.

1:00 We have our lunch. I read to all of them after I've finished eating. We've just started Mary Poppins. I have never read this book before, and I find it a little silly. The boys don't seem to be too impressed, either, because they wander off before I'm finished the chapter.

2:00 We all go outside. Sadly, I cannot help them with a snow fort because I am lugging a heavy one-year-old, but I admire the snow staircases and the holes they have made. After half an hour, I go in with the baby and nurse him. He eventually falls asleep.

3:00 The other boys come in from outside. JJ(5) comes to me. "What can I do?" Normally this is code for "What can you do with me?" "How about a reading lesson?" I say. He is keen, so we pull out the Alpha Phonics and do a lesson.

3:30 Almost 4:00 and SA still needs to do his copywork and one more narration. The copywork is always done in five minutes, and this narration from the Burgess Animal Book is always a short one, as he reads it on his own. We normally set the timer for seven minutes, and he comes to me and tells me about it when the timer rings. So this is no more than fifteen minutes of work, but he is not settling down to it. He is allowed to have some screen time at 4:00 if the day's lessons are done, but that is not motivating him today. He and the other boys are upstairs playing with a new radio Papa has brought home yesterday. I decide to let it be for now and get some cleaning up done while they are entertaining themselves. He finally finishes his lessons at around 4:15, then they all go and have some Minecraft screen time.

And that's the end of our school day! I rest a little, then start supper. 

Click on over for more days in the lives of Classical homeschoolers!