Something terrific happened yesterday as I pondered how I was going to assist in the Friday School of our co-op. A teacher opening became available for Morgan's class! I will now be teaching the 2 & 3 year olds!!! I have named the class "seedlings" because of the plant reference and how you must cherish and cultivate the plant in order for it to grow healthy and strong.
The curriculum I will be using is "Before Five in a Row", since the kindergarten class with be using the "Five in a Row" curriculum. For those of you familiar with teaching styles, the curriculum follows the "Charlotte Mason" methods of learning.
For those not familiar with Charlotte Mason, her teaching philosophy as found in Wikipedia is as such:
Mason's philosophy of education is probably best summarized by the principles given at the beginning of each book mentioned above. Two key mottos taken from those principles are "
Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and "
Education is the science of relations." She believed that children were born persons and should be respected as such; they should also be taught the Way of the Will and the Way of Reason. Her motto for students was "
I am, I can, I ought, I will."
And her teaching methods as summarized by Wikipedia:
Probably the best known of Mason's methods is her use of
living books instead of dry, factual textbooks. Living books are usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style. The size of the book does not matter nearly as much as whether it is "alive" and engaging. Textbooks are allowed if they meet that criterion. "Twaddle" refers to books or information that is dumbed down and insults the child's intelligence. Living books should be used with as many subjects as possible.
Children are expected to tell about what they have read. The narration can be oral, written or drawn and should be performed after only one reading of the material. This method requires the child to synthesize all he has read, organize it in his mind, and determine how best to communicate all that he recalls in his own words.
Mason encouraged a child's learning the
habits of attention, perfect execution, obedience, truthfulness, an even temper, neatness, kindness, order, respect, remembering, punctuality, gentleness, and cleanliness, among others. Usually, a child would work on a specific habit over a four to six week period.
Mason advocated
short lessons for younger children, growing progressively longer as the child matures.
Elementary-age children's lessons should be no longer than fifteen or twenty minutes on one particular subject before moving on to something else. In this way, the habit of full attention is encouraged and children receive a broad education filled with many varied subjects.
Charlotte used prepared dictation to teach spelling and reinforce grammar and composition skills. In prepared dictation, the child is given a sentence or passage to study until he is sure he knows all the spelling, capitalisation, and punctuation. The teacher then dictates the passage to him, one phrase at a time, watching carefully as he writes to catch any misspelled word and correct it immediately. In this way, spelling is taught within the context of great thoughts and rich language instead of static lists.
Handwriting was also taught within the context of ideas, not isolated letters repeated over an entire line or page.
For copywork, children are given a phrase, sentence, or paragraph to copy in their best handwriting. The exercise should take only a few minutes each day so as to encourage the habits of attention and perfect execution without becoming tiring.
Art is another place where living ideas are found. The great ideas of men and women of history are revealed in their works, whether paintings or writings or music. Art appreciation is taught through
Picture Study, which introduces the child to the works of a great artist one at a time, allows her to look at it undisturbed, then asks for a narration of what she has observed.
Music Appreciation is taught in much the same way, listening to the works of great composers.
In Mason's schools one afternoon each week was devoted to spending time outdoors.
For nature study, children take along a sketchpad to draw and label the different aspects of nature they observe. Regular nature study paves the way for meaningful science instruction.
Mason emphasised the importance of children's
understanding mathematical concepts before ever doing paper and pencil equations. They should be
encouraged to use manipulatives and to think through the whys and wherefores of solving word problems -- in other words, how mathematics applies to life situations.
Poetry was an integral part of daily life in Mason's schools. However, poetry is not presented in order to be analysed, criticised, and told what to think about it. Poetry, as in other subjects that introduce the child to great ideas of the past, is shared together and allowed to stand on its own,
encouraging the child to develop his own relationship with that poet and his thoughts.
Students in Mason's schools studied Shakespeare regularly, as well.
Since grammar is the study of words, not of things, Mason thought it is a difficult concept for young children to grasp. She recommended postponing the formal study of grammar until the child reached the age of ten.
Consistent practice in narration, dictation, and copywork lays the foundation for grammar study.
Mason's method of studying the Bible was simple: read it every day. She gave children credit for being able to understand passages directly from the Scriptures, and she assigned several large portions to be memorised and recited each school year.
History is considered most relevant to children through the use of living books, biographies, autobiographies, and narration. In addition, Mason's students kept a Book of Centuries that was similar to a personal time line in a notebook. They added people and events to the pages as they studied about them.
Just as history is the story of what happened to a person,
geography is the story of where he was and how his surroundings affected what happened. Geography is best taught through living books, also. Short map drills can supplement.
Since Mason lived in England, her students learned French as a second language. Consistent with her philosophy,
a foreign language is best taught in a living setting. __________________________________________________________________________________
Of course, if you are drawn to learn more about her style and how to implement it in your home/school, there are many books to choose from. Most can be found by searching under the subject "Charlotte Mason".
Now, one of the important aspects of Charlotte Mason is "living books". My class will be reading the following list of books, so if you have these at home or know someone who has them and no longer wants them... Please send them my way. I need to get ahold of all of these books, and our library is not the best for having books in stock/at all:
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by N.W. Carlstrom
The Little Rabbit by Judi Dunn
Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets
Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field
Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack
Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
We're Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
Corduroy by Don Freeman
If Jesus Came to My House by Joan Gale Thomas
Caps For Sale: A Tale of a Peddler by Esphr Slobodkina
***Classes start in October, so I have 1 month to hunt down these books***
