The hearth cricket

Jemimah's Daddy, clever man that he is, recognised the author of our family Christmas read-aloud very quickly as Charles Dickens.  He has an inimitable style all of its own, doesn't he, (Dickens, that is, not my Best Beloved), florid, poetic and highly comical, and Dickens' special wit is highly evident from the very first page of The Cricket on the Hearth - A Fairy Tale of Home.

So far we've only read the first 'Chirp' of three of this novella, the third of Dickens' five Christmas books.  It is quiet, happy, peaceful, pretty and fun, the ideal Christmas read aloud, really. The story, so far, is about a Carrier, John Peerybingle, and his much younger wife, 'Dot', in the days leading up to their first wedding anniversary. Their acquaintance, the heartless Scrooge-like Mr Tackleton, is to be married himself to a younger bride, May Fielding, Dot's close friend. We're at the stage of wondering why on earth she would be marrying such a heartless man as Tackleton, but I'm sure it will all become evident soon enough.

Some of the main characters in the story so far are inanimate objects - the kettle, the cuckoo clock and that cricket on the hearth. For a cricket to live on your hearth, you need to be prosperous enough to keep your fire burning on cold English nights, and in various cultures it is a symbol of good luck and prosperity, a conscience (as it is in Pinnochio) or the spirit of a departed ancestor guarding his family. Often a cricket is considered protection for home and family, because they stop singing when anyone or anything approaches. The cricket in our read-aloud is revealed later in the book as a household fairy, but all of these other symbols of cricket-hood are evident through the book as well.

The cricket is particularly symbolic for our family, because amongst our Christmas decorations (which made their appearance yesterday), is our very own brass hearth cricket. Here he is below, see?

I am sure that as we read of this little creature we feel more kindly toward him as we think of our own little cricket sitting on our hearth.

To be honest, I am not a real cricket lover when they're in our home.  To loud, too locust-like for me.  I even squashed a cricket earlier in the day before I started reading, only to come to this:

"Bah! what's home?" cried Tackleton.  "Four walls and a ceiling! (why don't you kill that cricket; I would!  I always do.  I hate their noise).  There are four walls and a ceiling at my house.  Come to me!"
"You kill your crickets, eh?" said John.
"Scrunch 'em sir," returned the other, setting his heel heavily on the floor.

Oh dear. I am now characterised by my daughter as a Cricket Scruncher. The shame!!

The Cricket on the Hearth is one of the AO6 Free Reads.  It is also the book chosen for discussion by a group of ladies on the AO forum.  It's not too late to join in the fun there if you'd like to.  This is a link to the thread, but you'll need to be joined up first.

You can download the book for iPad or Kindle or even print a paper copy from the University of Adelaide eBook site here.

Oh, in case you're wondering, his name is Caleb.  The cricket's, I mean.

Jewish folksongs

A while ago I asked for suggestions of kid friendly Israeli/Jewish folksongs or Psalms and you all came up with some wonderful suggestions, both in the comments and by email.  Here, belatedly, is the list.  There are some great ones here.  Enjoy.



Hineh lo Yanoum

"Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."

Psalm 121:14



Hevenu Shalom Aleichem

 "We brought peace"



Hineh Ma Tov

"How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!"

Psalm 133:1

Hine mah tov
Behold how good

uMah-Nayim
and how pleasing

shevet achim gam yachad
if brothers could sit together in unity



Zum Gali Gali



And a second version of Zum Gali Gali.

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Hechalutz lema'an avodah
avodah lema'an hechalutz
Hechalutz lema'an avodah
avodah lema'an hechalutz

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Hechalutz lema'an avodah
avodah lema'an hechalutz
Hashalom lema'an ha'amin
Ha'amin lema'an hashalom

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali.

Pioneers all work as one
Work as one all pioneers
Pioneers all work as one
Work as one all pioneers

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,

Pioneers all work as one
Work as one all pioneers
Peace shall be for all the world
All the world shall be for peace

Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali,
Zum, gali-gali-gali, Zum gali-gali.



Haikvah - The Israeli National Anthem.

Kol od balēvav pənima,
Nep̄eš yəhudi homiya,
Ulp̄aʾatē mizraḥ qadima,
Ayin leṣiyon ṣoviya;

Od lo avda tiqvatēnu,
Hatiqva bat šənot alpayim,
Liyot am ḥop̄ši bəʾarṣēnu,
Ereṣ-ṣiyon virušalayim.


As long as in the heart, within,

A Jewish soul still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
An eye still gazes toward Zion.

Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.




Dayenu

(Apparently this is a Messianic version of the song. It's pretty, though!) If anyone can help with translation/transliteration, I'd love it!



Chiribim Chiribom

Chiribim chiribom
Chiribim-bom
bim-bom bim-bom-bom
Chiribim chiribom
chiribim-bom
bim-bom-bom
Chiri biri biri biri
biri biri biri biri
Chiri biri biri
biri bim-bom-bom
Chiri biri biri
biri chiri biri bom
Chiribim-bom
bim-bom-bom
bim-bom

Lomir zingen kinderlekh
a zemerl tsuzamen
A nigndl a freylekhn
mit vertelekh
vos gramen
Di mame kokht
a lokshnsup
mit kashe un
di kneydlekh
Kumt der yontev
dir in feld
mir spiln in zikh
in dreyd-lekh

Chiribim chiribom...

Amol iz indzer rebenyu
gegangen inter veygn
Mitamol heybt on tsu
plyukhen ongisn a regn
Shrayt der rebe
tsu der khmare
Her uf gisn vaser
Zenen-ale khsidim
trukn aroys
Ot der rebe iz
aroys a naser

Chiribim chiribom...

Men zugt atsind
in stetl
Khelem lebn
nor naronim
Oyb mir zaynen
shoyn klug
gevorn mir
a sheynem ponim
Di khelmer
lakhn fun di
nakht celokhes
di gazlonim
Un zogt zhe ver
es narish iz
dan zaynen mir
khakhomim

Chiribim chiribom...

Let us sing, children, a little song together,
A little melody, a happy one, with words that rhyme.
Mame cooks a noodle soup with kasha and with kneidlekh,
And when Purim comes, we’ll play dreidels

Chiribim, Chiribom . . .

Once our dear Rabbi was going down the road
All of a sudden it started to storm and the rain poured down.
Yells the Rabbi to the storm to stop this pouring water
All the Chassidim came out dry, but the Rabbi is drenched.

Chiribim, Chiribom . . .



Hava Nagila

Let us rejoice, let us rejoice
Let us rejoice and be glad
Repeat

Let us sing, let us sing
Let us sing and be glad

Awaken, awaken brethren
Awaken brethren with a cheerful heart.



Tumbalalaika

Shteyt a bokher, un er trakht (also shteyt un trakht)
Trakht un trakht a gantse nakht
Vemen tzu nemen un nisht farshemen
Vemen tzu nemen un nisht farshemen

Chorus

Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, shpil balalaika
Tumbalalaika (also Shpil balalaika), freylekh zol zayn

Meydl, meydl, kh'vil bay dir fregn,
Vos ken vaksn, vaksn on regn?
Vos ken brenen un nit oyfhern?
Vos ken benken, veynen on trern?

Narisher bokher, was darfst du fregn?
A shteyn ken vaksn, waksn on regn.
Libe ken brenen un nit oyfhern.
A harts ken benken, veynen on trern.

Vos iz hekher fun a hoyz?
Vos iz flinker fun a moyz?
Vos iz tifer fun a kval?
Vos iz biter, biterer vi gal?

A koymen iz hekher fun a hoyz.
A kats iz flinker fun a moyz.
Di toyre iz tifer fun a kval.
Der toyt iz biter, biterer vi gal.


A young lad stands, and he thinks
Thinks and thinks a whole night
Whom to take and not to shame
Whom to take and not to shame

Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, strum balalaika
Tumbalalaika, may we be happy


Girl, girl, I want to ask of you
What can grow, grow without rain?
What can burn and never end?
What can yearn, cry without tears?

Foolish lad, why do you have to ask?
A stone can grow, grow without rain
Love can burn and never end
A heart can yearn, cry without tears

What is higher than a house?
What is swifter than a mouse?
What is deeper than a well?
What is bitter, more bitter than gall
?
A chimney is higher than a house
A cat is swifter than a mouse
The Torah is deeper than a well
Death is bitter, more bitter than gall

Other suggestions in English:







Aren't there some absolutely wonderful songs here?  Thank you everyone who helped.

Have fun singing them, but beware - they're really catchy!!

Integrating the Bible with history

Last year we saw this tablet at the Melbourne Museum's terrific exhibition showcasing the wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia.  If you are cleverer than I am, and can read it, you will know that the tablet is part of a narrative of the main events of the years 605-595 BC, and tells of Nebuchadnezzar's first capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC, the deportation of Jehoiachin and his family, and the beginning of the Babylonian exile. 2 Chron 36:9,10 and 2 Kings 24:15-17

I felt quite emotional when I saw the tablet and recognised it as actual archaeological evidence for this major Biblical event.  Christians, of course, believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God, and that God himself maintains the integrity and accuracy of his word through the work of the Holy Spirit.  As such, we believe that its historical accounts are flawlessly accurate, and so it should not be surprising to find archaeological evidence confirming the events recorded in his Word, but it was pretty cool all the same.

Despite this inerrancy, it is really difficult to chronologically calibrate early Biblical history.  Some Christians use genealogies, others generations of forty years.  Still others look at the reigns of kings.  Some believe in continuous lists; others allow overlap or omissions.  Attempts, therefore, to date Moses and the Exodus, the birth of Abraham, Noah's Flood and the actual date of Creation have proved controversial.  As a consequence, in my family, we choose not to attempt to date these events when compiling Books af Centuries and timelines.  It is just too easy to make a mistake.

All such controversy over the dates of the Babylonian exile disappears, however, when you have evidence like that contained on this little stone tablet.  The exile happened in 597 BC.  It did.  It has been substantiated by archaeological evidence, and importantly, that evidence fits with the evidence contained in Scripture.  It is easy to add it to timelines with confidence (and so we did!)

We also made a decision to introduce the Bible as history during this time period into our school history, given that the history was so much easier to reconcile with Biblical events.   The credibility of Scripture is certainly a multifaceted issue, and dating the early Bible is really difficult, but the events of the exile are easier to substantiate than earlier periods.

And so this is what we did...

The events of the exile occur between Chapters XXXIII and XXXIV of H. A Guerber's The Story of the Greeks, which is read in AO6, and this year of Ancient History was the perfect chance to integrate Biblical History with our basic history spine.  During this term we read Bible as a history source, integrating the passages of Scripture where they fitted in our readings. As an introduction, we read the Bible texts of the exile during Week 16 of AO6.  (You can find a summary of our readings at the end if you want them.)

Daniel 1 tells of the taking of Daniel and other members of Judah's elite into captivity in 605 BC. 2 Chronicles 36 describes the taking of Jehoiakim in 597 BC.  Three months and ten days later the events narrated in the tablet occur, as told in 2 Chronicles 36 and 2 Kings 24. Finally, after a siege lasting about one and a half years, Jerusalem was conquered and destroyed in 596 BC.  We read in 2 Kings 25 that most of the people were taken to Babylon, along with the articles from the temple.  Only the poorest people remained.

He (Nebuchadnezzar) carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”

2 Chron 36:20-23 NIV

The decrees of Cyrus the Great allowing the people of Judah to return home, occurred in the first year of his reign.  He was later defeated and killed by Sythians, and Sythia was taken over by Darius, The Great King.  We learn about The Great King in detail in Chapter XL of The Story of the Greeks. This is the Darius mentioned in Chapter 6 of Ezra (but not the Darius the Mede of Daniel, which is why we don't read Daniel 9, because it confuses small people.), and so this is a great time to read this fascinating historical book. There are 10 Chapters of Ezra.  We read two per day during Week 17 in Term II.

Darius is killed, and succeeded by his Son, Xerxes.  We read about that in Chapter XLVII. Xerxes, otherwise known as Ahasuerus, is the husband of Hadassah...otherwise known as Esther.  We read about her in Week 18.

Xerxes, in turn, is succeeded by his son, Artaxerxes, whom we are introduced to at the end of Chapter LV. It is Artaxerxes who commissions Ezra to take charge of the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the Jewish nation, and we read that decree in Ezra 7:13-28.  Later, in Artaxerxes' 20th year, Nehemiah, his cupbearer, hears from his brother that Jerusalem remains without walls and returns to restore them.  We read the first of 13 Chapters of Nehemiah during Week 19.

The history of God’s people in the Old Testament closes at the end of the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. God’s people have returned to  their homeland. The temple has been rebuilt, and worship has been restored.  It would be 400 more years before our Saviour would come into the world, and the New Testament would begin.  And we read about that in AO6 Term III!

We found our integration of history in Term II fascinating, and we learned a great deal. Below, in summary, are the Bible passages we read.  It is my hope that some of you might find them useful too.

Week 16: The Exile: 605-597 BC

Day 1: Daniel Chapter 1
Day 2: 2 Kings 24
Day 3: 2 Chronicles36
Day 4: Jeremiah 25: 1-14
Day 5: Jeremiah 29: 1-23

Week 17: Return from Exile with Zerubbabel : 536 BC

Day 1: Ezra 1,2 (Search for interesting info in the list of names.)
Day 2: Ezra 3,4
Day 3: Ezra 5,6
Day 4: Ezra 7,8
Day 5: Ezra 9,10

Week 18: Those who remain in Persia  497 B.C to 466 BC

Day 1: Esther 1,2
Day 2: Esther 3,4
Day 3: Esther 5,6
Day 4: Esther 7,8
Day 5: Esther 9,10

Week 19: Nehemiah returns with additional exiles  444 BC

Day 1: Nehemiah 1,2
Day 2:Nehemiah 3,4
Day 3:Nehemiah 5,6:1-14
Day 4:Nehemiah 6:15-8:18
Day 5:Nehemiah 9,10

Week 20

Day 1: Nehemiah 11,12
Day 2: Nehemiah 13

Life this week

Our WiFi is playing up this week, and I am feeling grumpy.  I have two blog posts on my laptop, and I can't post them.  Not even the Personal Hotspot from my iPhone or iPad works.  My Best Beloved has been working with my sister's Best Beloved every night to get it all up and running, but so far, no joy.  Ho Hum.    It is extra hard, you know, because our printer is WiFi accessible as well, and so I can't print.  If you use MEP, you will know that that is a crisis of major proportions.  Gone are the days of pen and paper in my home, at least - we are very reliant upon technology.  Sigh, I'll see what we can accomplish in Melbourne tonight.



In other happier news, we're off to see The Australian Ballet dance La Sylphide this weekend. I did not know that this ballet was the first to have ballerinas en pointe until watching this doco. I do agree that this transforms the dancers into 'beautiful ethereal beings', though. It is one of my favourite ballets.  We have reservations first at a modern Japanese restaurant, Saké. I'm looking forward to that as well. Life is good.

Back down on earth, there have been some changes in our Peaceful Home.  Cupboard doors went back onto the bathroom cupboards while Jemimah and I were in the US.  I'm trying to post a pic, but it keeps crashing the computer, so I'll have to try that tonight in Melbourne as well.  Grrr.  A plasterer started work on the passageway as well, which is great, because the wall was looking somewhat precarious, and is now safe and straight, if somewhat dusty.  It is a pain having all the furniture stacked up in other rooms, but no pain, no gain, I guess.  The re-stumpers came yesterday.  They're the men who lift up the stumps that the house is built on to make the floors level again.  I don't know what they're called in the US, but not that, I'm told.  Anyhow, they came.  Now we don't have big gaps between walls and floor.  That is a major improvement, let me tell you!  All this is post-flood work.  Would you believe that that is almost three years ago? Yup, 'tis. It won't be long before we can paint and carpet the front half of the house.  That is so exciting!!  We won't mention the back half just yet.

In maths this week we've been working on Venn diagrams, and trying to represent four subsets of a Universal set in a diagram.  It is frustrating, because it is impossible, but really fascinating, as well.  Anyhoo, problems like that make maths interesting.  We've also read a couple of chapters of The Number Devil, since we can't print off more worksheets.  Such is life. 

In Oceanography we've been learning about the Gulf Stream, and Rivers in the Sea using The Sea Around Us, our AO6 book.  This video was interesting additional viewing this week.



Wasn't Benjamin Franklin an amazing man!  I love telling people that my daughter is studying Oceanography.  AO is so cool.

Jemimah is also studying Astronomy this term using Australian Backyard Astronomy.  She enjoyed having a bit of a browse here and here this week.  Both the links were from the website of the book, which you'll find here. We also started reading The Search for Planet X by Tony Simon.  Even though Pluto is no longer a planet, we're loving the book!!

In books this week, Jemimah is reading Huckleberry Finn, and our bedtime read aloud is The Bronze Bow.  I'm reading All that Happened at Number 26 by Aussie comedienne, Denise Scott.  It's okay, but if it weren't a bookclub book, I wouldn't have chosen it.  The Surgeon of Crowthorne, last month's book, was much more my style.  I enjoyed that one muchly - I really like Simon Winchester's writing style. I'm not sure what hubby is reading.  I'll have to ask him.  Nothing this week because of the WiFi.  That, I'm sure of.  Mumble mumble.

Most of the other stuff that happened this week happens every week.  Not that that's bad, but you probably don't want to hear about it.  Anyhoo, that's enough about me.  How has your week shaped up?  Come and have a chat!

Karalta

When I was a kid my favourite spot was up a mulberry tree. There was one branch wide enough to lie on and I could pick mulberries while I read, which is why my favourite book still has mulberry stains on it. It’s name is Karalta by Mary Grant Bruce. It was Mum’s book before I got it, and published in 1942. Books back then had soft thick paper and the illustrations looked like photos, but more beautiful. It was about an English girl evacuated to Australia who captured a Nazi spy with the help of an Aussie soldier, but mostly I think it was about ‘Karalta’, a farm near the beach. I loved ‘Karalta’ even more than the story. These days I have my own ‘Karalta’- it has a swimming hole in the creek, not a beach, and a mulberry tree. But this summer I’ll be reading down at the creek- until the wombat finds me, anyhow. Wombats like books too. They are interesting to chew.

Jackie French

A review for Melissa, who asked!

Karalta by Mary Grant Bruce is, it appears,  Jackie French's favourite book.  It is certainly exciting, and is an interesting book for youngsters to learn about WWII in Australia.

It's about Jan, and English girl, who is evacuated to a lovely beachside home called Karalta.  Jan is prepared to hate everything about Australia and its people, but that is impossible at Karalta where she meets a kindred spirit in Flisty her guardian, and welcoming friends all about her.

Jan befriends a young dispatch rider named Gerry, whom Minnie Bruce based on her son Jonathan, who served in World War II in the Australian Military Forces, and later the Second Australian Imperial Force’s 7th Division Signals Corps in the Middle East.  Through Gerry, Jan learns about Fifth Column sympathisers engaged in espionage and sabotage.  It appears that someone is telling military secrets.  In trying to solve the mystery, Jan finds herself in some pretty exciting situations!!  Of course, being a fluent German speaker helps Jan a little as well...

Minnie Bruce is criticised as being racist, conservative and class - ridden, but I love the way her strong, capable female characters manage their lives. We read Karalta as part of AO6's focus on WWII, and enjoyed it very much.  It's out of print, of course.  Try my friend Abe for copies.

AO6 Term 3 Folksongs

Remember singing this one at school, Ruby?



If anyone could help me with a couple of other kid friendly Israeli/Jewish folksongs, I'd appreciate it. A Psalm sung in Hebrew with karaoke style lyrics would be good too.

This one might be good, but I need a translation first!! Tumbalalaika, in particular is the sort of thing I am looking for!

 

In the meantime we'll be learning Hava Nagila!

Iliad reading helps!

Our decision to study the Fagles edition of The Iliad in AO6 instead of a retelling has proved a good one for us.  It is not an easy read by any means, but it is easy to see why the story has endured for so many hundreds of years, and we will be really glad to be able to say we've read it.  Besides, it's a really, really great story - it's the classic of classics, after all!

Iliad means 'a song about Ileum(Troy)', but the story is about much more than that.  It is an epic war story, and focuses on the revengeful fury of Achilles - who in fact sulks by himself for the first half of the book.  It begins in the final year of the ten year long Greek siege of Troy.  Achilles has been insulted by Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek armies, and refuses to fight for him.  The Iliad is the story  of the few weeks leading up to the devastating clash between the two greatest warriors - Achilles, son of the goddess Thetis, versus Hector, son of King Priam of Troy.

The relationship between the gods and the mortals is a recurring narrative of the story, and has been the basis of many great discussions in the past few weeks. Some years before The Iliad begins, Zeus had been asked to decide which of the three goddesses, his wife, Hera; Athena, Goddess of Wisdom; or Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty was the fairest.  Sensible husband that he was, Zeus was reluctant to decide, and when none of the other gods would either, Paris of Troy was called to Olympus to decide for them.  Paris chose Aphrodite, but only because she bribed him by promising him the most beautiful mortal woman - Helen. Helen was already married to Menelaus, the King of Sparta, but nobody cared about that...except Menelaus...and his brother, Agamemnon. The Greeks' expedition to retrieve Helen from Paris in Troy is the beginning of the Trojan War.  The two offended goddesses, Hera and Athena, are now, of course, bitter enemies of Troy.They help the Greeks.  Aphrodite and her lover, Ares, fight for Troy.  Zeus tries to stay impartial, but most often fights for Troy as well.  It's all very complicated, but terrible exciting!!

Here are are a few notes that have helped us keep everything organised.  We printed this off and stuck a copy in the front of the book.  You may find them useful as well!


Great map of places mentioned in The Iliad from here.

Alternative names for The Greeks
Greeks
Achaeans
Danaans
Argives
Hellenes

Alternative names for Troy
Troy
Ilium

Alternative names for characters
Paris = Alexander
Diomedes = Son of Tydeus = Tydides
Agamemnon and Menelaus = Sons of Atreus = Atridae (singularly they are sometimes called Atrides)
The two Ajaxes = Aeantes
Patroclus = Son of Menoetius
Nestor = Gerenian horseman
Sparta = Lacedaemon

Gods supporting the Greeks
Athena
Hera
Hermes
Hephaestus
Poseidon
Thetis - Achilles mother

Gods supporting the Trojans
Aphrodite
Apollo
Ares
Artemis
Leto
Scamander
Zeus (Claims to be neutral)

Greeks
Agamemnon, Commander of the Greek forces
Menelaus, King of Sparta, Agamemnon's brother, and husband of Helen
Helen, Wife of Menelaus, daughter of Zeus and Leda, sister of Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra, Wife of Agamemnon

Achilles, Leader of the Myrmidons, King of Phthia
Patroclus, Son of Menoetius, Achilles' friend

Nestor, Aged King of Pylos
Odysseus, King of Ithaca
Greater Ajax, Son of Telamon
Lesser Ajax, Son of Oileus
Diomedes, King of Argos, Son of Tydeus
Calchas, Chief seer of the Greeks

Trojans

Priam, Aged King of Troy
Hecuba, Priam's wife
Hector, Leader of the Trojan forces, favorite son of Priam and Hecuba
Paris Brother of Hector; abductor of Helen.

Sarpedon, King of Lycia, Son of Zeus and Laodameia
Aeneas, Son of Anchises and Aphrodite

The Sea Around Us

I didn't know that Oceanography was a science until this year. I was aware of Marine Biology - I'd dated a cute and very clever marine biologist for a few years - but the study of the oceans as part of Earth Science was new to me before this amazing book. Isn't it great the way homeschool mummies get to learn along with their students? Happy smile.

Oceanography does cover marine organisms, of course, but it also studies ocean currents, waves, plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; the chemical makeup of water, and the fluid mechanics of the sea. it covers biology, chemistry, physics, geology, physical geography and meteorology. Phew.  Pretty impressive!

AO6's scheduled book, The Sea Around Us, by Rachel Carson, is the classic marine science book. Despite having been written in 1951, more than 60 years ago, it is incredible how much of the scientific information is still current. The Deep Ocean truly is the last frontier - even in 2013. We know more about the moon that the ocean floor.

Carson's exquisite prose and eloquent writing style is inspirational. It is like reading poetry. She makes the oceans out to be magical, mysterious living organisms, and you can't help but be carried along by her enthusiasm. You know she loves what she is writing about. This may be the perfect Living Science book.  Then look at these vintage illustrations!

The Sea Around Us is unashamedly evolutionist, and the book begins with a description of the making of Earth and the emergence of life, from that worldview. We found that this first chapter provided a great jumping off point for a discussion of what many people believe, and it was good to discuss where we were in agreement, and where our views differ. Later chapters have covered the surface of the sea, the impact of climate, the mystery of the sea floor and the amazing geological structures that are so similar to those on land. Evolutionary content has not been an issue so far, but I suspect it might be later on.

Our book is the 1958 edition adapted for Young Readers by Anne Terry White. Apparently the 1991 edition contains an the additional chapter by Jeffrey Levinton that updates the oceanographic and biological information originally presented by Carson and discusses continental drift, coral reefs, the spread of the ocean floor, the deterioration of the oceans, and the mass extinction of sea life, amongst other issues. I wonder whether some Christians might find some of those topics rather controversial.

Since our book is so old, we've been turning to YouTube for our updated information. Oceanography lends itself so naturally to a visual presentation.

We trust much to pictures, lantern slides, cinematograph displays; but without labour there is no profit, and probably the pictures which remain with us are those which we have first conceived through the medium of words; pictures may help us to correct our notions, but the imagination does not work upon a visual presentation; we lay the phrases of a description on our palette and make our own pictures...

Charlotte Mason Towards A Philosophy of Education p340

This quote is often used to show Mason's disdain for the use of film. I don't think it says that. I think it says use literary methods first, but allows that pictures may help us correct our inaccurate imagination. It is absolutely impossible to imagine bioluminescence until you've seen it. Your imagination can never live up to God's amazing reality. Similarly, some of the amazing marine creatures, and even the phenomenal scale of the ocean floor. Video shows all of this beautifully.

So far were only up to Chapter 5 of this lovely book, but here are the videos we've used so far. They are just awe inspiring. The Heavens may declare the glory of God, but so, too, do his oceans.
I'll add to this post as we move through the book. Even if you're not reading along with us, the videos are worth a look as and for themselves. Amazing.

Chapter 1 - we discussed the differing views about how the world began here.

Chapter 2: The Secret Life of Plankton - Tierney Thys



Chapter 3: Fascinating TED talk. On bioluminescence. One evolutionary comment; some adult humour.



Chapter 4: Creatures of the Deep - The video we watched has been removed. This one may be okay.



Chapter 4: National Geographic's Drain the Ocean. Part one here.



Chapter 10: Ben Franklin and the Gulf Stream.

Our AO6 Science books

So we’ve been talking about science the Charlotte Mason way, and about how I’ve been trying to do it this year.  This is supposed to be the post where I explain how we’ve gone about that. Yeah.  You'll notice it's been a while coming, and that's because I have really struggled with getting it onto the page.  I know what we've done and why we've done it and how it's been received, but boy it's hard to put it into writing!

After spending another three hours grappling with the post today, in addition to many hours during the past two weeks,  I've come to the conclusion that I'm trying to include much too much in one post.  As a consequence, I'm just going to list here the books we've used and press publish. We'll see where we go from there.

First, here is the official AO list for this year 6:

• Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Robert Cwiklik - Physics
• Secrets of the Universe: Discovering the Universal Laws of Science by Paul Fleisher - Physics
• Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick - Science History / Physics
• The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson - Oceanography
• Galileo and the Magic Numbers by Sidney Rosen - Physics
• School of the Woods by William J. Long - Natural history
• It Couldn't Just Happen by Lawrence Richards - Young Earth Creationism Apologetics
• A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long - Natural history (Free read)

We moved the two William Long Books to free reads, where we may or may not get to them, and replaced them with these three books:

• Australian Backyard Naturalist by Peter Macinnis
• Australian Backyard Explorer by Peter Macinnis
• Australian Backyard Astronomy by Dr Ragbir Bhathal and Jenny Bhathal

It Couldn’t Just Happen by Lawrence O. Richards is an excellent kids' apologetics book looking at the earth’s beginning from a young earth creation perspective.  We really liked this book, but we read it back in AO4 before the science schedule was changed, so we replaced it this year with Who Made the Moon? A Father Explores How Science and Faith Agree by Sigmund Brouwer, which approaches the earth's origins from a Christian old earth creation perspective.  It has been a difficult book to read, since it challenges many of our beliefs, but if we totally ignore all scientific advances or treat them as non-Christian and false,  then we are no better than the Church in Galileo's day, are we?  We risk making Christians appear foolish.  Know what you believe.

Physics is well covered in this year, so we added in a wonderful book on the history of chemistry called The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin D. Wiker. It looks at the chemistry that lead to the modern periodic table of the elements, and it is outstanding in the way it presents the big picture of science.  Wiker covers a remarkable amount of stuff – from the alchemists and the first known elements through to phlogiston and the discovery of oxygen,  and on to the structure of the atom.  This book along with the Einstein bio gives us the knowledge to read the Brouwer book.

Finally, in third term we'll be reading a biography of AO favourite, Jean-Henri Fabre entitled The Insect Man by Eleanor Doorly.

That means our final Peaceful Day AO6 Science List  looks like this:

• Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Robert Cwiklik - Physics
• Secrets of the Universe: Discovering the Universal Laws of Science by Paul Fleisher - Physics
• Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick - Science History / Physics
• The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson - Oceanography
• Galileo and the Magic Numbers by Sidney Rosen - Physics 
• School of the Woods by William J. Long - Natural history (Free Read)
• A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long - Natural history (Free read)
• Australian Backyard Naturalist by Peter Macinnis - Australian natural history
• Australian Backyard Explorer by Peter Macinnis - Australian physical geography
• Australian Backyard Astronomy by Dr Ragbir Bhathal and Jenny Bhathal - Australian astronomy 
•  Who Made the Moon? A Father Explores How Science and Faith Agree by Sigmund Brouwer - Old Earth Creationism apologetics (Free read)
• The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin D. Wiker - Chemistry (Free read)
• The Insect Man by Eleanor Doorly - Natural history

We've done lots of other things for science too, this year - experiments using a great Lego education kit, replicating the experiments in the Fleisher book, watching videos to compliment our oceanography study.  All these need their own posts.  I also plan to review these books and explain more why we chose to use them.

At least now I have been able to tell you what we've read, and we can talk more about Living Science next time. Is there anything, in particular, that you'd like me to elucidate?

You can't believe how happy I am to get to the end of this post!!

Grammar-Land worksheets

But a child cannot dream parts of speech, and any grown-up twaddle attempting to personify such abstractions offends a small person who with all his love of play and nonsense has a serious mind.

Charlotte Mason A Philosophy of Education p210

Hey everyone, I know Miss Mason didn't like M. L. Nesbitt's Grammar-Land, but we've been really enjoying it this term.

The little story is a bit contrived - after all, it is about a courtroom of personified abstractions, but it does help illustrate the various parts of speech, and the application exercises at the end of each chapter are excellent.

We rarely use worksheets, since most of them are painful busywork, but these worksheets put together by a homeschool mum have proved to be most enjoyable.  I simply printed them out and bound them with a cover into a book.  Jemimah does an exercise each week, and they take about five minutes.

Some of you might find them useful.

You can find Grammar-Land free online.

Learning Latin the easy way

Latin is a language
As dead as dead can be.
It killed the mighty Romans
And now it’s killing me.

You will know from previous posts that if there is an easy way of approaching a subject, that’s probably the method we’ll be using in our Peaceful Home.  'Keep it Simple' is my motto.

Latin is a case in point. There are some pretty erudite homeschooling mammas out there, and some of them are teaching some rather impressive Latin.  Their kids are learning the five declensions and four conjugations while still in primary school.  They know the indicative, imperative and subjunctive, and are perfect in the pluperfect. Remarkable.

Now I know my student fairly well, and I am quite aware that she is not going to enjoy that sort of teaching.  She really isn't.  To begin with, her English grammar isn't anywhere near the level required for serious Latin study.  Possibly, neither is mine.  Okay, definitely.  Secondly, she just isn't up for the type of rote memorising that goes with that method of instruction.

To be honest, neither am I. It sort of doesn't fit with my philosophy, y'know?  It smacks of Classical homeschooling rather than CM homeschooling, I reckon.  There is a difference.  Even if I'm not quite sure what it is.

Charlotte Mason realised that studies of this type are not attractive to young children.

Of grammar, Latin and English, I shall say very little here. In the first place, grammar, being a study of words and not of things, is by no means attractive to the child, nor should he be hurried into it...Therefore, if he learns no more at this early stage than the declensions and a verb or two, it is well he should learn this much, if only to help him see what English grammar would be at when it speaks of a change in case or mood, yet shows no change in the form of a word.

Charlotte Mason Home Education p295

AO introduces English Grammar very slowly into Primary School at Grade 4 level, the same year that Latin is begun.  Over the next three years the student gradually learns the nine parts of speech and a few other things in preparation for serious grammar study in secondary school. I figure that that's the time for serious Latin study too - Secondary School.

Moods and Tenses
Bother my senses
Adverbs, Proverbs make me roar.
Irregular Verbs
My sleep disturb
They are a regular bore.

When Jemimah moves into AO7 - next year, oh my! - we will be studying Latin using the Cambridge Latin Course that her father and I both used at school.  It's a rigourous English Classical Latin programme (that is, it was published in the UK) and is highly regarded, but the main reason I'm using it is that in my memory, Latin using this course was fun. Each of the first year's lessons contained a little story about Caecilius, a banker in Pompeii, his wife Metella, Quintus their son and Cerberus the family mut. There was a list of vocab, and a little bit of grammar and culture, introduced where it is necessary to proceed.  I want my daughter to learn Latin like this too.  Caecilius and Metella are my friends.  (Pompeii is not the best place for you to be living, people. Please move!)

But enough about Cambridge Latin - we're not using that yet.

In the mean time, while Jemimah's in Primary School, we decided on Minimus Latin.  It, too, is published by Cambridge University Press, which is the reason that I first looked at it, and has a similar layout to the Cambridge books, but the real reason I chose Minimus for Jemimah is because it looked like it kept Latin simple. Simple and enjoyable.  There are two books - Minimus: Starting Latin is for kids 7-10 (We started in AO4 when Jemimah was 9) and Minimus Secondus: Moving on in Latin for 11-13 year olds.

If you were keen you could easily complete a book easily in a year - there are 12 lessons per book. We've managed to find plenty to keep us interested for what will be the three years AO4-6, though, doing Latin for two short lessons a week.

What I have loved is how many of Charlotte Mason's methods we can fit into our study using this course.  The year, in particular, as our history rotation is in ancient times, I've also loved all the overlap between Latin and our history subjects.  Education is the Science of Relations, and it has certainly not been difficult to make connections this term!

Most lessons we read a little story first, which introduces the subject and grammar for the chapter.  The stories are in picture form, so you can guess intelligently at what you're reading without having to look up every vocabulary word. The vocab lists are arranged according to the parts of speech, allowing similarities of form to be discerned more easily. After Jemimah narrates back in English - or occasionally using a few Latin sentences if she really wants to impress, we might have a bit of a closer look at the grammar and do one of the short activities to reinforce what we've learned.  The Teacher's Guide (which is critical unless you're a much better Latin Scholar than I am) contains worksheets - some of which are time-wasting busy work, and most of which are not. Sometimes there's a game to play - Jemimah loves those - or a map for CM style map work - I love those.  Sometimes there are craft activities.  We generally skip them.  Sometimes the book explores the Latin roots of English words and we orally run through a few.  Sometimes, but not too often, there's a written activity. Each lesson also contains historical information about Roman life, and often a myth as well.  This information reinforces what we are learning in our literature and history subjects just beautifully!  All so easy!

The course also contains a series of little readers.  Some weeks we read through one of those for a few days in a row until the vocabulary is learned.  Jemimah tries to narrate these in Latin after she's heard them a few times and know the story well.  These readers are a great way of reinforcing what we've studied in the lessons.



The stories in the Minimus books focus on a real life family who lived at Vindolanda in Roman Britain in 100AD.  Flavius is the fort commander, and his family includes his wife Lepidina, their three children, assorted household slaves, their cat Vibrissa - and Minimus the mouse.  We know of their existence from the famous Vindolanda writing tablets.

This term especially, I've been impressed with the number of times our history and Latin lessons have coincided.  Last week in Latin, for example, we learned about the signifier - standard bearer - the officer that carried the unit's standard into battle.  Today, we read about him in history.  Last week in history we read about Saturnalia.  That features in next week's Latin lesson.  Children can't help but catch connections like those!

Minimus is a really gentle way to learn Latin.  But learning we are.  Recently we commenced translating Latin fabulae mirabiles into English.  The good thing about fairy tales is that we all know pretty well how the story goes, but even so, I have been delighted at how much of these stories we have been able to read. (Don't you love the royal 'We'?  I learn as much as Jemimah, y'know.)

We don't learn Latin in order to honk like a goose when declining pronouns - hic haec hoc; hunc hanc hoc.  We study Latin to understand how languages work. It's logical and teaches us how to think. It will enhance our knowledge of English grammar, but it will also make the study of other languages easier as well.  When you can read Latin you can not only read fairy tales in Latin.  You can read the Classics in the original as well.  I read the Odyssey (which was actually written in Greek, not Roman, but that's what I read), but there is also Virgil, Pliny, Cicero, Lucretius and Tacitus.  Mostly, though, we study Latin because it's fun.

Brutus adsum jam forte
Caesar aderat.
Brutus sic in omnibus,
Caesar sic inat.

Three American Folksongs +1!

Our term two selections are rather fun!



Take me out to the ball game
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks
I don't care if I never get back
Cause it's root, root, root
For the home team
If they don't win it's a shame
For it's one,
Two,
Three strikes you're out
At the old ball game

All I need is just one chance
I could hit a home run
There isn't anyone else like me
Maybe I'll go down in history
And it's root, root, root
For the home team
Here comes fortune and fame
'Cause I know
That
I'll be the star
At the old
Ball
Game



In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner
And his daughter - Clementine

CHORUS:
Oh my Darling, Oh my Darling,
Oh my Darling Clementine.
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Light she was and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses
Sandals were for Clementine

Drove she ducklings to the water
Every morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter
Fell into the foaming brine.

Ruby lips above the water,

Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
But alas, I was no swimmer,
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net]
So I lost my Clementine

How I missed her! How I missed her!
How I missed my Clementine,
But I kissed her little sister,
And forgot my Clementine.

Then the miner, forty-niner,
Soon began to peak and pine,
Thought he oughter join his daughter,
Now he's with his Clementine.

In a churchyard near the canyon,
Where the myrtle doth entwine,
There grow roses and the posies,
Fertilized by Clementine.

In my dreams she still doth haunt me,
Robed in garments, soaked in brine;
THen she rises from the water
And I kiss my Clementine.



On top of Old Smokey
All covered with snow,
I lost my true lover
For courting too slow.

Now, courting is a pleasure
And parting is grief,
And a false-hearted lover
Is worse than a thief.

A thief will just rob you
And take what you have,
But a false-hearted lover
Will lead you to the grave.

And the grave will decay you
And turn you to dust;
Not one girl in a hundred
A poor boy can trust.

They'll hug you and kiss you
And tell you more lies
Than the crossties on the railroad
Or stars in the sky.

So, caome all you young maidens
And listen to me,
Never place your affection
On a green willow tree.

For the leaves they will wither,
And the roots they will die,
You'll all be forsaken
And never know why.

On top of Old Smokey
All covered with snow,
I lost my true lover
For courting too slow.



On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door.

It rolled in the garden,
And under a bush,
And then my poor meatball,
Was nothing but mush.

The mush was as tasty
As tasty could be,
And then the next summer,
It grew into a tree.

The tree was all covered,
All covered with moss,
And on it grew meatballs,
And tomato sauce.

So if you eat spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
Hold on to your meatball,
Whenever you sneeze.

AO6 Term Two French Folksongs

The first day of term

We're back into it. AO6 Term Two Week One. It's always exciting, isn't it, that first week of term with its delicious new books. Happy thrill.

This term I sat a bemused Jemimah down and told her that at the end of last term we'd reached 'today', and that since I did not possess the power of precognition and thence could see no viable way of being able to study the history of the future, we'd better jump into our Time Machine and take a quick zip back in time to the ancient past instead. She rolled her eyes at me, and wrinkled her nose, but she good naturedly played along with her daft mum and made lots of whooshes and clangs and high pitched squeals until we reached out destination of 'In the beginning'. I'm such a kid sometimes, I know, but it was fun.

We read some books - Story of the Greeks, the intro to Augustus Caesar's World. Jemimah wrote a narration. We started Nicias, our new Plutarch life and discussed whether he was a good guy or a bad guy, or possibly both? We looked up Greece and the Isthmus of Corinth and Cyprus and Sicily on the map.

Lunch outside was a highlight. It was so nice out in our back garden in the lovely autumnal sunshine that we decided to continue school outside as well, and I read aloud that introductory book of The Iliad that I've already raved over both here and on Facebook and so won't do so again, and then we played a game of Happy Latin Verb Families, which was so fun that we played over and over, sprawled there on a rug on the lawn. Actually, it was a combination of Happy Families and Go Fish, since you really can't play the former with only two people, so we added in a pool, but kept the rule of asking for a particular card. We used the cards that come in the Minimus Secondus Teachers Guide, but you could make them yourself. Each verb family contained the infinitive verb in English and Latin, a word in the first person present tense, and an English derivation. Thus we had Custodire, Custody, Custodio and To Guard, and Dormire, Dormant, Dormio and To Sleep. It was such fun. Give it a go!
 

We sang our new folksong - My Darling Clementine. Back inside, that is. I don't sing outside. We discussed the 13th Catechism Question - Did our first parents continue in the state in which they were created? We read one of Sandburg's poems - Phizzog. most silly. We did a review of line and rotational symmetry for maths.

Phizzog

This face you got,
This here phizzog you carry around,
You never picked it out for yourself
at all, at all—-did you?
This here phizzog—-somebody handed it
to you–am I right?
Somebody said, “Here’s yours, now go see
what you can do with it.”
Somebody slipped it to you and it was like
a package marked:
“No goods exchanged after being taken away”—-
This face you got.”

After a brisk walk with the dog, Jemimah settled down to make Japanese food out of Sculpey and I made Gyudon from beef and konnyaku and ginger. Yum.

How can a day this perfect ever be thought of as school?

Charlotte Mason and Walter Scott

It is hard to read Sir Walter Scott without thinking of Charlotte Mason.  It is said that she read from the Bible and the Waverley novels daily through much of her lifetime; whenever she finished reading through all 27 volumes, she simply started again from the start. I don't know where that snippet of trivia comes from, but it is written on the Ambleside Online website, and so I'm sure it must be true!

Regardless of whether she read him daily, she was certainly extremely familiar with his books. Her fourth volume, Ourselves, is peppered with illustrations from his works, and she included his books in her PNEU school programmes.  She certainly held Scott in high regard.

Many of you will be aware that I am reading Rob Roy aloud to my family - it is listed as a free read in AO6.  As I read, I find myself examining the book and wondering what it is that attracted Miss Mason.  I wonder whether she liked Scott's convoluted sentence structure, his imaginative plot development, his fascinating characters.  Did she have a fondness for Scotland?  As I struggle with Andrew Fairservice's broad Scots brogue, I wonder if she ever read his works aloud.  To an audience?  To herself?  Both my husband and I are fluent with the Scots language, but we struggle with the Auld Scots in this book, finding it closer to the Scots dialect of Robert Fergusson than Rabbie Burns.  Did Mason?

Complete collections of Scott novels were once common in erudite homes - you can still find them on Abe.  You can buy this set of 61 books bound in three quarter bound morocco for $12500.00 if you feel inclined, or this full set of all 78 Waverleys bound in full red crushed levant (whatever that may be) for $5625.00.  Nowadays, though, Scott finds himself more commonly on the 'books one no longer reads lists' here, here, here, and here.  He is no longer found on many school syllabuses/syllabi. Which makes us sorta question why we should read him today.

For us Rob Roy forms one of that series of books that pulls you, yelling and screaming, up a reading level.  It's hard, but if you concentrate, your reward is a story as exciting as any mystery novel. It's a great love story, a charming portrait of Scottish lowland life, a marvellous example of Catholicism versus Protestantism, and a thrilling adventure.  If you try really hard with this book, if you slow down and really think about what you are reading, then you will get a true and delightful reward.

The satisfying thing for me is that Rob Roy has been no more difficult for 11 year old Jemimah than for her, ahem, significantly older parents.  At periodic points throughout the story we've found ourselves having to stop and narrate an episode or two in order to grasp what has just occurred.  Sometimes it is Jemimah who has been able to explain to us what has happened; at other times I find myself having to explain to her, or my husband narrates to us both. Next year in year 7 our literature selection will be Scott's Ivanhoe.  I'm relatively confident that Jemimah will be able to handle it maybe not with ease, but without trouble.  That is really thrilling, you know.

Every year Ambleside Online lists one of these hard books - Parables of Nature, Robin Hood, Pilgrim's Progress, Unknown to History, Kidnapped, A Book of Golden Deeds, Kim.  They're all hard.  And every time, on the forum and lists, people complain about them.  Their kids don't like them.  The mums can't read them.  They don't understand them.  And they leave them out, or substitute them for something easier.  And the next year they can't understand the 'hard book' from that year either.  Well, hello?  Have you trained for it?  Have you practiced your reading? 

Okay, okay.  I've written about this before.  It's a bugbear of mine. If you're lifting weights you don't just jump in  at Olympic level - you work your way up slowly.  It's the same with reading.  You can't just jump in at the top and expect to be able to understand.

Today was the first day of AO6 Term 2.  We began Homer's The Iliad translated by Robert Fagles. It's a Uni level book, and Jemimah pronounced it 'easy to understand and narrate'.  Her words.  It is a delightful book.  And for a child raised on Shakespeare it is easy.  For a child who reads Walter Scott in her spare time, The Iliad is a doddle.  That gets me really really excited.

My daughter is not University level in lots of things.  Her handwriting is poor; her spelling abysmal.  I know, I've told you before - it's boring.  But it is also true.  One of the very best bits of homeschooling for me is that I can accelerate my daughter where she needs accelerating, and slow her down where she needs to slow.  I lay a banquet before her and she takes what she needs.  A liberal Charlotte Mason education is wonderful for meeting a child where she is and dragging her up by the bootstrings to the level above. 

And it is books like Rob Roy that do the dragging. 

Mangled Scots word by mangled Scots word.

AO6 Term 2 Schedule

Year 6 Schedule Term 2 by Jeanne

I'm suffering dreadfully from writer's block. I really am.   I have screeds of unfinished posts. I dream posts and then can't get them into print. I'm sorry, because I do miss you. A lot. I think of you all the time, my friends. I do swear that I have the best bloggy friends in the world. In cyberspace, even.

Part of the problem is trying to be something I'm not.  I keep trying to make myself write erudite Charlotte Mason posts, and I just can't do it.  So then the post seems amateurish, and I sigh and press save...or delete... and go to bed.  There are lots of great bloggers who can write this sort of stuff.  Not me.

We have been doing lots of nice things that I'd like to tell you about.  Bush walks and nature discoveries.  Our impressions of the Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures exhibition at the Melbourne Museum and our subsequent Afghan meal at a local restaurant.  I want to tell you about the map we're using for David Livingstone's journeys.  And about going to see Shakespeare's Henry IV last weekend. And what we did for Easter. And how Jemimah did in her End of Term exams. And about the lovely gift I received in the mail from Silvia. I really hope I might be able to tell you about some of these things very soon.

In the mean time, and because I think some of you will be waiting on it, here's our AO6 Term 2 Australianised schedule.  As you can see, we've dropped Beechick's Genesis book because I couldn't see how to use it in a CM way.  If any of you can help with this I'd appreciate it.  In its place I've substituted Ben Hur.  We've moved the Winston Churchill bio from Term 3 forward.  We actually began reading this in Term 1 where it fitted better with the history cycle, so we'll be finishing it up this term before beginning Ben Hur. Australian Backyard Explorer instead of School of the Woods and It Couldn't Just Happen.  We moved the former to free reads.  We've already read and loved the latter.  We're reading the full Iliad, not a retelling.  Otherwise, the term is pretty much as written.

So there.  I'll write more about our plans another time, but at least this is a start.

This writer's block is really worrying me, girls.  If there is anything that you think I might be able to write about without getting too bogged down in cleverness, can you please let me know in the comments?  I'd really appreciate that. 

I hope to be back very soon.

The Happiness Box

One the 15th of February 1942, the garrison defending Singapore fell, only a week after the invasion of Singapore by the Japanese had begun. It was, according to Winston Churchill, "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history".

Almost overnight the entire European population of this British outpost became POWs and were imprisoned. Initially the military personnel were housed in one of the three major barracks – Selarang, Roberts or Kitchener – as well as many other smaller camps. Most of the Australian personnel occupied Selarang Barracks. Civilians, including women and children, were imprisoned in Changi Gaol. It's a name that strikes fear in the hearts of Australians, isn't it, Changi, imbued with the suffering of Australian prisoners during the Second World War.

Christmas that year was particularly difficult time for the prisoners of war in Changi, especially for the children. Australian soldiers in Selarang recognised this and to boost morale decided to make the British and Australian children some toys.

Sergeant David Griffin, a solicitor from Sydney, thought he would write the children a story, and his mate, English illustrator Leslie Greener, offered to illustrate it. Together, the two men created The Happiness Box. It was a sweet little story about the creatures of Singapore - Winston the clever chi-chak, or gecko, Martin the kind-hearted monkey, and Wobbly the hard-working frog and how the friends find the secret to true happiness. Cute.

As soon as he reached home, Old Wobbly put the wooden box on the lunch table and when the others saw it they became very excited. Martin cried out, "Quick! Let's open it up and see what's inside!"

But Winston who was very clever said, "No! Do not touch it, it may be bewitched. We're very happy in our little house and we have everything we want. We do not need the thing that is in the box."

As it turns out, the children of Changi were never able to read David and Leslie's book because when the Japanese official, General Sito, read it he became convinced that must be coded message, because it was about a lizard named...Winston, and confiscated it. The Australian soldier, Major Phil Head, who was with the General took the book saying that he would destroy it, but instead, he buried in a container in the Changi grounds where it remained until Singapore was liberated on 5 September 1945.

The book returned home with Griffin and is now part of the national treasures collection in Canberra. It was finally published in 1947 and was reprinted in 1991.

When I gave The Happiness Box to Jemimah to read this term as part of our study of WWII, she thought I was a bit barmy. "It's twaddle, Mummy," she whispered. Her judgement is right. The story is twaddle, but the book isn't. The book and its story are true living history. It deserves its place in our history line-up not because of the story, but because of the story behind the story. Don't miss it.

My copy of The Happiness Box has an additional story behind it because I purchased it from Changi Gaol itself during a visit to Singapore in 1995. It was lovely being able to share my own living treasure with my daughter.

Dave Griffin went on to become Lord Mayor of Sydney. You can read about him here.

 

AO6 Term 1 plans

We're just back from a weekend away in Victoria's Spa Country at Hepburn Springs.  Daddy was there for work, but Jemimah and I found plenty of things to keep us occupied during the day. and it was nice catching up with the families of his fellow conference-goers in the evenings.  The children were treated to a fine buffet of 'yellow food' - our disparaging but amused name for chips, nuggets, battered fish and even yellow pasta carbonara and yellow coleslaw, before heading off to an evening of balloon animals and face painting amongst other delights, whilst the adults spent a pleasant evening sans kids.  Nice.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow Jemimah and I begin our last week of AO6 Term 1.  Where has the time gone?  I am well aware that those of you who choose to follow our Australianisation of the AO curriculum are going to hate me when you read this term and discover what a poor effort we have made of documenting the term's work, and so I thought I would try to write a little of what we've used this term in order for you to be able to follow on a little bit anyhow.  Sorry. 

Part of the problem is that this year is the end of AO's first cycle through world history.  Term 1 covers the period from WWII to the present day.  Next term we start at the start again with ancient Greece and Rome.  As a consequence, this term is totally unrelated to our plans for the rest of the year. I've been finalising my plans for that this past week, but it is the subject of an entirely separate post, so we won't talk too much about that now.  This post, therefore, covers only Term 1.

So without further to do, let's leap into it, shall we?  We'll begin with Language Arts.

Copywork

We have been delighted with the Downunder Copywork that we commenced last year, and have continued with that this term, finishing off Book Two and beginning Book Three using the Manuscript Cursive style.  Book Three introduces speed loops, and Jemimah really enjoys the elegant writing style.  I love the literature selections in Book Three, including selections from Amy Mack, Eve Pownall, Ion Idriess and Ethel Turner as well as poetry by C J Dennis, Lawson and the Banjo. She continues to enjoy using a cartridge fountain pen for copywork, and I am pleased with her handwriting...when she tries!

Narration

We do narration after all readings.  Twice a week, or sometimes only once when time runs away on us, she writes a narration. Jemimah enjoys doing creative narrations, and I have enjoyed reading what she comes up with.  Probably her biggest problem with written narration is deciding what to write.  She struggles with adequately summarising the information, and this is something we will work on in coming weeks.

Spelling

Spelling continues to be Jemimah's weakest subject, although she is improving.  We have taken a short break from Studied Dictation to re-learn some simple spelling rules using a cheap Australian book that I purchased from the newsagent.  It's nice to have a break from dictation because Jemimah was really beginning to dread it, but we will pick it up again next term, since the value of this practice is far broader than just spelling practice.  We've been doing a short lesson of spelling every day this term.

Grammar

This term we've been working through Barron's Painless Junior Grammar, covering the parts of speech in an enjoyable way.  Most of this grammar we do orally, with an occasional written exercise.  Jemimah is not the only one who is learning from this book.  My grammar knowledge is basically intuitive.  Grammar was practically wiped from the Aussie curriculum in the 70s, and as a consequence I never studied it formally at school, and I am enjoying this study.

Maths

We continue to use MEP with great success.  Jemimah finished MEP6a in Friday, so we move into 6b next term.  You Go Girl!!

After looking at some of the timetables used by the PNEU schools I was interested to notice that in higher forms the different branches of mathematics were divided into separate lessons during the week.  Class III, for example studied arithmetic, Euclid, mental arithmetic and Euclid repetition.  I loved the way this allowed maths to be studied in depth without flaunting Mason's philosophy of short lessons.  This led to me introducing a subject separate from MEP that we called Fractal Geometry.  I was keen to be able to introduce Jemimah to this new and exciting area of mathematics, beginning with fractal art, but also covering some basic mathematical concepts as well.  I'll save the details of this subject for a later post, save to say that our lessons creating pop-up fractals have been the highlight of this term.

Latin

After taking some time to work through the Minimus Latin Mini Books, we're back into Minimus Secondus this term.  One of the biggest bonuses of learning Latin for us has been the extra grammar study, but we really enjoy this subject.  We've interspersed the lessons with reading and Latin narration practice using the Mini Books for the Secondus course.

French

We're continuing to use Mission Monde this term with some success, but the highlight of French this term has been a twice weekly reading of The Avion my Uncle Flew by Cyrus Fisher.  This unique book was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1947, so it's a pretty good story all about planes, spies, Nazis and France, but the amazing this about the book is that it starts out in English, but ends up by the last chapter entirely in French.

The French is taught as Johnny, the protagonist, learns it - word by word on a holiday in France.  By the end Johnny, or Jean as he is called by then, writes a letter home entirely in French - and the reader can understand it.  Jemimah has found this idea particularly cool, and she has learned not only significant vocabulary, but also many useful phrases and a lot about sentence construction.  I thoroughly recommend this book if you can get hold of it at a reasonable price...which isn't the $80 asking price at Abe.

We continue to memorise Scripture in French from the d'Osterveld version as well as to learn and sing French Psalms.  Currently we're learning Psaume 132 from Chantons au Seigneur by Eglise Réformée Evangélique Presbytérienne de Nantes, a member of our denomination, The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Brittany.  We love learning to sing the metrical Psalms in French to familiar tunes.

Most terms we learn three folksongs in French, but this term we chose to learn Le Temps des Cerises in a version sung by Yves Montand.  The original song was written in 1866 by Jean-Baptiste Clément, and is associated in some way with the Paris Commune.  We follow along with the song using this book.  We've really enjoyed learning a more adult classic song after many children's chansons, and will do a similar thing next term.

We also read and narrate French classic picture books as in previous terms.

Performing Arts

We are excited to attend our first 2013 performance of the ballet next weekend with Rudolf Nureyev's version Don Quixote.  We subscribe as a family to The Australian Ballet, and absolutely adore it.  Highlights of this 2013 season include La Sylphide and Paquita, Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake and a new version of Prokofiev's Cinderella amongst others.  So beautiful.

We continued our love affair with the bard with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night performed by Ozact in the Geelong Botanic Gardens in January.  It was hilarious.  We're also subscribing to Bell Shakespeare this year and will be seeing Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 over Easter.  I'll be interested to see how Jemimah goes with a historic play.  We've been reading aloud some of the famous scenes, and I think we're ready.  Hope Falstaff is fun!!

This term we've also been watching Shakespeare Uncovered on iView.  The first three episodes have raised a number of issues, and the discussion afterwards has been excellent.  A BBC production, these docos have been really good, and we have enjoyed our weekly telly date as something a bit different.  Previewing the episodes would be good to ensure that you're okay with your kids watching these films.  So far Jemimah has been fine.

We also saw Cirque de Soleil's Ovo a couple of weeks ago.  What an amazing production!  Does this count as school?  Why ever not!

Citizenship

Plutarch's Life of Fabius using Anne White's study guide in line with the AO rotation.  Fabius is quite a likeable fella, and we felt a bit sad when he was sort of usurped by Scipio near the end of the story. Nicias next term.

Art and Picture Study

We're following the AO Picture Study rotation with Jacob van Ruisdael and Pieter de Hooch this term.  Jemimah far prefers the latter artist.  She is quite sure that van Ruisdael was depressed, and says his art leaves her feeling miserable.  We have our art pieces professionally printed onto photographic paper and store them in our Book of Masterpieces.  We love looking through its pages and reminiscing.

I've posted a couple of times about our success with ARTistic Pursuits.  This term we've been using the Elementary Grades 4-6 Books, alternating one week of drawing and one week of the colour book.  Jemimah found the all black and white book to constraining, and she much prefers the two books together.  WE do art once a week and I read to her while she creates.  Most satisfactory!

Music and Composer Study

We've dropped the ball with recorder this term.  We might pick it up again next term.  I hope so, because she was doing quite well, and I love the sound!  A friend gifted us an old electronic keyboard when they purchased a piano for Christmas, so we might try piano lessons at some stage.  We'll see how we go here.

Our composers were Elgar and Vaughan Williams using the selections recommended by AO for another year. Mostly we just listen to the works, and watch them performed on YouTube.  Jemimah listens to the Classics for Kids radio programmes as well.

Phew.  Is anyone still reading?  Is this boring?

Singing

Three folksongs from England this term.  One French folksong, three French Psalms, three Psalms.  WE sing and aim to memorise.

Handwork

We started cross-stitching, but that was put aside when Jemimah fell in love with Sculpy clay and started making pieces for dolls houses - mainly food and small articles.  I'll show you some of her pieces in a separate post, but they are quite clever.  I can't believe how incredibly detailed they are!

I guess we'll get back to cross-stitching eventually!

Science

We're loving our science line-up this term. Secrets of the Universe is an extraordinary book for primary students teaching the Universal Laws of science.  We have learned so much! Generally we take the opportunity to watch some YouTube videos about the topic each week, as well as doing some of the experiments.  We've also added in The Mystery of the Periodic Table as a free read this term, and between the two books we've had a pretty good overview of the history of both physics and chemistry.  We dropped School of the Woods in favour or the Australian Natural History book, Spotty the Bower-Bird and Other Stories.  There are twelve chapters in the book - conveniently one per week!

We also left out It Couldn't Just Happen although I think it is an excellent apologetics text, because Jemimah did it in AO4 before the science changes.  If you haven't done this book, please do.  In its place we added in Australian Backyard Naturalist and did the activities.  It was great.  I love seeing books of this quality still being published. 

We still have a few chapters left of Apologia's Exploring Creating with Anatomy by Jeannie Fulbright from last year.  We've been reading slowly through this when we've has a bit of extra time, and watching the appropriate episodes of Once Upon a Time...Life on YouTube.  I don't really think that these Apologia books qualify as 'Living', but read occasionally they are quite interesting.  The videos are just fun, but they do help cement the facts.

Some people are critical of AO's science curriculum saying that it is light on, but I can't agree.  This wonderful line-up of books combined with a casual nature walk at least once a week and some concentrated nature study once a week on a planned topic and the keeping of a nature notebook round the AO curriculum into a very comprehensive science curriculum.  As a scientist, I am more than happy with what Jemimah is learning here.  This term we've looked particularly at the cucurbits - the pumpkin, cucumber and zucchini plants growing in our kitchen garden.  They are amazing when you look at them closely, and manually pollinating has given us extra produce as a bonus!

Kitchen Garden

We continue to grow, harvest and cook on Wednesday afternoons.  This term we've not surprisingly cooked the vegies mentioned above in lots of different dishes, as well as the wonderful figs, tomatoes and basil that have been so satisfyingly prolific.  Scones, pikelets and patty cakes have also been on the menu.

PE

Classical Ballet followed by Jazz and Tap on Mondays, Basketball on Tuesdays, Swimming on Saturdays.  Yes, She's socialised.  She also won her basketball grand final.  She was very delighted, with good reason.

Faith

Jemimah continues to read from The Child's Story Bible Reader published by The Board of Christian Education in her private devotions each morning before school.  The program uses Vos' Child's Story Bible as a commentary for the story read first from the Bible.  We use the NIV.  She writes a journal as well.  I'm really happy with the way Jemimah has transitioned to doing her devotions by herself and removing them from 'school' as such.

This year we've also been reading together Starr Meade's Training Hearts, Teaching Minds,  a devotional based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism with Scripture proofs.  We've been memorising the Catechism since Jemimah was two and she's almost finished.  This book helps her to understand the meaning behind the words.  Memorising words you don't understand is pretty pointless really!  The study only takes a few minutes each morning, and we take the opportunity to cycle through some catechism Q&As at the same time.

Once every couple of weeks we have afternoon tea and read something on Practical Religion.  This term we've been finishing off Beautiful Girlhood by Mabel Hale.  It is a lovely time together.

What else?  We did an advanced CPR update as a family - highly recommended.  We read Robert Frost's poetry.  We read lots of books.  Jemimah did some horse riding and went on evening bike rides with Daddy two or three times a week.  She did a Lego robotics course, and did two weeks of intensive daily swimming.  We ate out lots.  We had fun with friends.  We spent some weekends away.

Term 1 has been a wonderful term, but then again, most AO terms are very fine.  Right now I'm excited about next term - Ben Hur, The Iliad, some Tolkien.  I can't wait until Easter is over and we can get started.  Jemimah would prefer a break though. :)

I'm sorry this has been a long and boring post.  For those of you who have suffered to the end I thank you.  I do hope it is helpful to some of you.  I'll try and review the Aussie books we've read even though we're onto a new time period.  Some years it's easy to find time to blog regularly; this year not so much.  Who knows what a new term will bring!!

Okay.  I'm finished now.  I'm going to press Publish.  Here goes...