Thoughts on Science

The CM Ideal

"that there is no part of a child's education more important than that he should lay, by his own observation, a wide basis of facts towards scientific knowledge in the future. He must live hours daily in the open air, and, as far as possible, in the country; must look and touch and listen; must be quick to note, consciously, every peculiarity of habit or structure, in beast, bird, or insect; the manner of growth and fructification of every plant. He must be accustomed to ask why––Why does the wind blow? Why does the river flow? Why is a leaf-bud sticky? And do not hurry to answer his questions for him; let him think his difficulties out so far as his small experience will carry him. Above all, when you come to the rescue, let it not be in the 'cut and dried' formula of some miserable little text-book; let him have all the insight available and you will find that on many scientific questions the child may be brought at once to the level of modern thought. " Home Education pg. 265-266

How I put the CM Ideal in Practice

I'm a big fan of science . Love, love, love it. What has worked best for me in the past with science instruction is nature study, a bit of planned literature and lots of free exploration. I keep a list of science topics that we have covered and make yearly or quarterly decisions based on topics that we still need to explore. I will pick a few books from my list and spread them out in a quarter, a year, or longer depending on the needs of my family at any given time. I try to remain flexible because my kid's interest and free reading cover many science topics quite naturally without a lot of input from me. Science kits and visual books that are available from Usborne and DK are given as presents and the kids spend hours perusing them. Science experiments are just plain fun and my kids never considered them to be schoolwork. With the older kids I switched to a textbook science course(Apologia's General Science) the year before I thought they would be ready to start Pre-Algebra-usually around age 12- so that they were starting Biology and Algebra at the same time.

A Science Book list

When referring to a favorite science text, Charlotte Mason states, "But the amazing skill of the author is shown in the fact that there is nothing scrappy and nothing hurried in the treatment of any topic, but each falls naturally and easily under the head of some principle which it elucidates. Many simple experiments are included, which the author insists shall be performed by the children themselves." Home Education pg. 267

My job is to find these types of texts.

My incomplete list of science books by age level. Some are family favorites, some are classics and some may never be read by this family. I'm sure I'm missing a few good books and this is a living list which may grow throughout the years as I find new authors and new titles.

Ages 6-9

Among the ….. People by Clara Dillingham Pierson
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess

The Burgess Seashore Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children by Jane Andrews
Parables from Nature by Margaret S. Gatty
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot
Various books from Usborne/ DK
Various science kits

Ages 9-12+
Secrets of the Woods by William J. Long
A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long
Great Inventors and Their Inventions by Frank P. Bachman
The Story of Inventions by Michael J. McHugh and Frank P. Bachman
School of the Woods by William J. Long
The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre
Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley
Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton
The Fairy-Land of Science by Arabella Buckley
It Couldn't Just Happen by Lawrence Richards
The Sea Around Us by Rachael Carson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
The Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Cousins
Albert Einstein Young Thinker by Marie Hammontree
Marie Curie’s Search for Radium by Beverly Birch and Christian Birminham
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia by Margaret Cousins
Pasteur’s Fight Against Microbes by Beverly Birch
Blood & Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides by Linda Allison
The History of Medicine by John Hudson Tiner

other books by above authors
Other scientist biographies as available
Various books from Usborne/ DK
Various science kits as available.

What every homeschool mama needs.

Homeschool teens are a wonderful thing to have in your family-they are chefs, mom's helpers, child-sitters, curriculum reviewers, teachers,and above all friends.

Last week I needed to take a trip to the clinic with a sick kiddo and while rushing home I was stressed out over what to fix the rest of the family for dinner. Big Sis' not only babysat Charlotte....she also picked up the house AND cooked dinner!

Thank you my darling daughter!

What's in a name?

The diploma came in the mail today and it is official- the name has been gold embossed- we are Mainland High School. It is beautiful and a work of art- very worthy of our son.

It does seem a tad bizarre to have a name for what we do around here.

It never occurred to me to name our homeschool. Even using the term our homeschool seems a bit strange. Sure the kids are educated at home and according to the state of Texas we are a private school but it seems weird to let it have it's own separate identity. So much of what we do is just part of life as a family....there aren't many clear demarcations between "school" and just hanging out with the kids. After all, our kitchen isn't " The Family Diner"- it's just our kitchen. Why should our homeschool be any different?

High school proved to be a bit different. I got more organized with record keeping ( not that anybody cared to look at any of that information) and we got more organized with our studies ( not that, that proved to be necessary) and we created a transcript ( that wasn't as important as I thought). The diploma represents all the extra work that we did these past 4 years in regards to paperwork and it satisifies a need for closure for family. I'm not sure if it really means anything else..... Are the kids going to stop learning just because they graduated? Of course not. Even if they were to never step foot in a college or any type of school they won't stop learning. It something we just do....like breathing.... like living.

So we shall remain unnamed until the diploma arrives for each child.

Green Hour #4

The Assignment

" The child should never be required to learn the name of anything in the nature-study work; but the name should be used so often and so naturally in his presence tha he will learn it without being conscious of the process." Handbook of Nature Study. pg.11

I am wanting to really focus on trees but we couldn't resist a trek through one of our favorite parks which is looking a bit wild from winter. The kids seemed a bit shocked at the change since the last time we visited in the fall. They have witnessed the changes in our yard but seemed to think that "butterfly garden" would remain unaltered through the winter. So, although I want to focus on trees, I also wish to visit "butterfly garden" at least monthly this year to document the changes. Sam did not want to make an entry in his nature notebook this week and I did not insist upon it. He did help me pick the pictures to add to this blog entry.

I really wish I had taken a picture of this tree and not just the contrast of the blooms against the sky. I think this is a Texas Redbud but will need to see the leaves in summer to make sure.

Firecracker Plant in the foreground and the old brush being removed for the new growth. I need to remember the picnic table so we can bring our notebooks and draw next time we visit.

A few of the specimens that I'm not sure of their names but will try to follow throughout the year.

I don't do long range planning....

.....because it just doesn't work out. Resources that are working out great this year bore me to tears the next or a new resource come along that I want to use. If you look at various curriculum publishers like Sonlight they are constantly changing. Each year a slightly different booklist, resources and format. The first Sonlight catalog I looked at had each grade in a binded book , recommended only Saxon Math and a spelling program that they no longer offer. Times change.

I did find a copy of an early attempt of my long range planning. The older kids were probably about 6 & 7 at the time. Resources that I listed as being top-notched were sub-par by the time they reached the age to use them. It is a source of humility for me. I know I spent a great deal of time on it but it was useless within a year or two. I could've spent the time with my kids instead of researching and plotting out a defunct homeschool plan.

What I found that really works is keeping a notebook that I keep a running tally of what we have done, what we could do and what we should do. I don't have tabs for those labels....it's just more of a notation. I see a resource that might be interesting- I note it in the notebook. I keep a copy of various booklist that I come across. I might print off an idea from the various email groups that I'm on. I keep a list of science topics that I want to make sure they cover. Design-A-Study's Science Scope and Guides to History are resources that I keep accessible and whenever I wonder if I'm doing enough or if they are learning enough I can pull these out and check off items that we have covered. If I see any "gaps" I can adjust my curriculum next quarter. There have been very few times I felt there were any major "gaps" that I needed to address.

This time, planning is going to be so easy. First of all, I've been there and done that. I'm no longer lured by all the newest and greatest homeschool products on the market. I have no idea how a new homeschooler in 2008 sifts through all that information and comes out with a workable plan that didn't cost them a fortune. So much of the newest and greatest products are complete marketing junk but it would be so very easy to be lured in.

Second and more importantly I know what works for my family. The perfect curriculum for me is the one I create myself. I'm not writing up detailed lesson plans- ugh! -too tedious. I have a foundation that I work with and a year ahead of time I consult my notebook and start laying out a rough framework. Each season I do a quarterly review then I work out a day to day plan 3-6 months at a time. This allows me to customize and tweak as I go along. The only times during the past 13 years that I needed to make a major change during these quarterly reviews were the times I strayed from my CM foundation. Occasionally I did have moments of insanity and let myself get lured into using a resource that claimed to be the greatest.....sigh. But no longer- I have my foundation and I will not sacrifice the present moment with my children to overly plan the future.

Kindergarten- Charlotte Mason Style

"Home the best Growing-ground for Young Children.––All the same, whatever be the advantages of Kindergarten or other schools for little children, the home schoolroom ought to be the best growing-ground for them." Home Education pg. 171




A look at a typical week in the life of a CM Kindergartner as examined by Charlotte Mason's Six Points (Home Education pgs. 178-179)






"(a) That the knowledge most valuable to the child is that which he gets with his own eyes and ears and fingers (under direction) in the open air."



Kindergarten is a continuation of all the activities that he started in our preschool program. It continues to be important that he experience the world using all of his senses in the great outdoors.






"(b) That the claims of the schoolroom should not be allowed to encroach on the child's right to long hours daily for exercise and investigation."


We spend less that 4 hours a week on the types of activities that many associate with kindergarten work. It seems like a shocking small amount of time to spend on his education doesn't it? But that 4 hours a week over a course of a year he will complete our phonics program and be reading 2nd grade level books.....although he could easily start this at age 6 if it caused stress. He will complete a math program designed for 5 yo ....although he could easily start this math program next year and cover the material faster. Five years olds are usually ready for a bit more than previous years but it is foolish to think they need to spend hours a day satisfying that desire. The trick is to find that balance that satisfies his need to learn but is not a burden.

"Again, the child in the Kindergarten is set to such tasks only as he is competent to perform, and then, whatever he has to do, he is expected to do perfectly." Home Education. pg. 181



"(c) That the child should be taken daily, if possible, to scenes––moor or meadow, park, common, or shore––where he may find new things to examine, and so add to his store of real knowledge. That the child's observation should be directed to flower or boulder, bird or tree; that, in fact, he should be employed in gathering the common information which is the basis of scientific knowledge."


His observation on this excursion.....

"This pine cone is smaller than those from my pine tree and the needles are different from my pine tree. They are similar but different, why? "

My job is to find the answers to his questions, supply the names of these trees and not make it into a lecture that spoils the fun.

"(d) That play, vigorous healthful play, is, in its turn, fully as important as lessons, as regards both bodily health and brain-power."


I cannot imagine him spending the day sitting in a classroom. I wonder how many "naughty" boys are sitting in a classroom wishing they could just run and play a bit.






"(e) That the child, though under supervision, should be left much to himself––both that he may go to work in his own way on the ideas that he receives, and also that he may be the more open to natural influences. "



If you listen to a 5 year play you will hear them reenact all the stories that you have read to them. Choose wisely.....









"(f) That the happiness of the child is the condition of his progress; that his lessons should be joyous, and that occasions of friction in the schoolroom are greatly to be deprecated."


Kindergarten is the foundation of your child's future school years. Lessons should be enjoyable and not a burden-there is nothing that cannot be learned next year if it becomes a source of conflict so structure your day so you see lots of smiles. You will be thankful you did in the years to come.




Habits-

Although not one of Charlotte Mason's Six Points, I notice that the 5th year is the year the habits that I work on with my children really become ... well...Habits. Requests that a few months ago would have resulted in a meltdown are now answered with a cheerful ," Yes, Ma'am." We still have more work to do but progress is being made...


"Education is the formation of habits." Home Education pg. 98

A Charlotte Mason Preschool

"Out-of-Door Life.––The consideration of out-of-door life, in developing a method of education, comes second in order; because my object is to show that the chief function of the child––his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life––is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavour of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects; that, in fact, the intellectual education of the young child should lie in the free exercise of perceptive power, because the first stages of mental effort are marked by the extreme activity of this power; and the wisdom of the educator is to follow the lead of Nature in the evolution of the complete human being." Home Education pg. 97-98

That pretty much sums up our preschool program. Everything covered in a typical preschool curriculum can be covered in such a natural way. I usually print this out and take a look at it every few months. There are very few items that I need to plan to cover during these years -most learning just happens informally during our day. No need for lesson plans, flashcards, or workbooks.

A typical day with Charlotte our current preschooler.....

Inside play- Lots of it! Playing house, cooking, blocks, building, trains, etc.....

"But even at this stage the habit of attention may be trained: the discarded plaything is picked up, and, with 'Pretty!' and dumb show, the mother keeps the infant's eyes fixed for fully a couple of minutes––and this is her first lesson in attention." Home Education pg. 140-141

Outside time- Lots of it!

Running, jumping, swinging, sliding, climbing, playing hide and go seek, tag, etc......

"For we are an overwrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spent in the open is a clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigour, and to the lengthening of life itself. "Home Education pg. 43

Our preferred method of learning colors, shapes and counting. This year the game is talking about her finds. Next year, I'll send her on a scavenger hunt looking for a specific color, shape, size or location.

"Who can see the most, and tell the most, about yonder hillock or brook, hedge, or copse. This is an exercise that delights children, and may be endlessly varied, carried on in the spirit of a game, and yet with the exactness and carefulness of a lesson. "Home Education pg. 46-47

A daily story that all will find interesting.

"On the whole, the children who grow up amongst their elders and are not provided with what are called children's books at all, fare the better on what they are able to glean for themselves from the literature of grown-up people. " Home Education pg. 176

A little adventure during a nature walk.

"Some children are born naturalists, with a bent inherited, perhaps, from an unknown ancestor; but every child has a natural interest in the living things about him which it is the business of his parents to encourage; for, but few children are equal to holding their own in the face of public opinion; and if they see that the things which interest them are indifferent or disgusting to you, their pleasure in them vanishes, and that chapter in the book of Nature is closed to them." Home Education pg. 59

Table time-only if you must.

Children with older siblings will naturally want to join during their lessons and want a little work of their own. I did plan a little....a very little..... project and such at this very table for my firstborn. Little tables are quite handy for playdoh and tea parties and she will have her first real school lessons at this table in a few years.....

"[A mother] must ask herself seriously, Why must the children learn at all? What should they learn? And, How should they learn it? If she take the trouble to find a definite and thoughtful answer to each of these three queries, she will be in a position to direct her children's studies; and will, at the same time, be surprised to find that three-fourths of the time and labour ordinarily spent by the child at his lessons is lost time and wasted energy." Home Education pg. 172

Pick up time!

Now is the time to really start working on the habits that will make the future years of school proceed cheerfully.

"The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children. "Home Education pg. 137