Substituting Aussie books in AO1

I thought that today we might have a chat about substituting books. The post is for Grace, who asked for it, and for Melissa, Tara, Becci , Agnes, Belinda, Kathleen and LouLou, who got excited about the idea. Grab that coffee, girls, and let's talk books.

Okay, firstly, I've spoken about substituting books before. That post is here, but Ambleside Online is written for Americans living in America, not Aussies living in Australia, and part of the curriculum just isn't relevant for those of us living over here. A certain amount of substitution has to take place, and this is what I want to chat about.

Set?

I'm going to start today by looking at AO1, since that's what you most wanted to hear about. If you like, we can continue on to other years after that. So let's take a look at the AO1 booklist as written. You'll find it here, but you might want to print out a copy to scribble on. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Okay, so you'll see that AO1 covers the years 55 BC to 1066 AD - a huge time period, basically overviewing the time from the invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar up until the...er...invasion of Britain by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Now, the history of Britain is really the history of Australia as well, so you're not going to mess much with the books under history, are you? Here they are cut and pasted:

Trial and Triumph, by Richard Hannula ($ K) ^{[2] [3]}An Island Story, by H.E. Marshall β Δ ($ K) Ω ^[4] (Kings and Queens Timeline Figures)* ** Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin, selected chapters β Δ ($ K) Ω Ω Κ ^[5]** *** Viking Tales, by Jennie Hall , ch 1-11β Δ ($) Ω ^[6]

Viking Tales is there mainly because the first discoverers of America were the Vikings. You could leave it out for this reason, or substitute, but I didn't. It's a really interesting book. Trial and Triumph is church history. You'll want to read this, unless you're Catholic, then you'll want to read this first and decide.

Next up is a group of books entitled American History Biography. Here are the books:

* Benjamin Franklin, by Ingri D'Aulaire ($)** George Washington, by Ingri D'Aulaire ($)*** Buffalo Bill, by Ingri D'Aulaire ($)

At first glance, people are inclined to leave these out of an Aussie AO, but I'd encourage you not to. Firstly, the D'Aulaire books are delightful, and are beautifully written. You might want to read them just for that. Secondly, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were really great men. They also happen to be American, but really, they're men important to world history, not just to America. You are going to want your kids to know about Ben and George sometime. Now, here's the rub. If you continue following my Australianised version of AO, you're going to discover that I leave out pretty much all American History, so if you want your kids to know these men, this is your chance. These books give your kids a delightful introduction to two men that they're going to need to know about. Leave them in. I leave in Buffalo Bill and Pocahontas, a free read by the same authors, too, because it is good for your kids to know these stories. You could substitute, if you want, but you'll struggle to find books as good as these, and most Aussie heroes you'll want to save for later years. Leaving the books out completely is an option. Do that if you want, but I wouldn't.

Next up is geography, where the scheduled book is Paddle to the Sea, by Holling C. Holling. You could substitute this for Alison Lester's Are We There Yet? if you want. It's a fabulous book, and a great intro to Aussie geography. The only problem you'll have with this book is that it's much shorter than Paddle, so you'll want to use it over maybe a term, not a whole year. You could do it in addition to Paddle, if you choose. That would be extra good. I didn't do that, but in hindsight, perhaps I should have done. I used it in AO0 instead. I chose to use Paddle to the Sea because it is beautiful, and I'd always wanted to know the Great Lakes myself, and this book teaches them to you. Paddle covers America, Canada, and even across the Atlantic to France, and it teaches it all so delightfully that I can't imagine leaving this book out. You can if you want, but don't tell me if you do. The two books used for physical geography, Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography, and Home Geography by Long are relevant for Australia, so you'll want to include both of those.

Are you still with me? Let's march onward to Natural History/Science.:

The Handbook of Nature Study, by Anna Botsford Comstock Δ ($), as scheduled in Nature Study; online.James Herriot's Treasury for Children, by James Herriot ($) ^[8]The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by Thornton Burgess β Δ ($) Ω Κ ^[9]

I have Comstock, and I use it all the time. This handbook is a cheat-sheet for mum. It's designed to make you look clevah in from of your clevah kids. The idea is this: You find that aphids have taken over the new spring buds on your roses, right? You're irritated by that and try to squash them all, but your kidlets are fascinated, and want to know all about them. You know nothing about aphids except that they suck all the loveliness out of your roses, so you sneak inside (pretend to be going in to collect an icecream container or something), and grab out your book. There on page 351 you'll find a nice big juicy section (heh) on aphids. Speed-read the section, grab up the container and rush back outside. You are now super clevah, and your kids are super impressed Win! There's even an experiment listed for the aphid. Sacrifice a bit of your rose, and bring it inside. You'll learn all sorts of stuff that turns nature study into science. All this comes from Comstock. You want it; you need it. There are lots of things we don't have in Oz that you'll find in the book, but there is plenty enough to make it a useful addition to your homeschool library.

I also list Nuri Mass's The Wonderland of Nature in my curriculum list for AO1, but in hindsight, this book would be better in AO3 or 4. Leave it to then.

James Herriot's book is super lovely. Read it, adore it. Don't forget to read the Christmas story at Christmas time. That's why it's not scheduled, so you can put it where it needs to go.

Which brings us to Burgess. If you look at the footnote for The Burgess Bird Book (You do all read the footnotes, don't you? You absolutely have to), you'll see that you're to do 6 birds per term based on the season and birds that frequent your geographical area. For those of us in Australia, there are almost no birds in this book that frequent our area, so it will be useless for us. What the footnote is telling us, though, is that we are to read about 18 birds that we should be able to find and see. The idea here is to start learning about the birds we know and love. We have no equivalent book to Burgess in Australia. This book is a possibility, but even though it was only published recently, it is not currently in print and is hard to find. I used a delightful book by C K Thompson, Old Bob's Birds, but all of you gals who have followed after me have bought up all the copies, so it's really expensive, and not worth inflated prices, in my opinion. Sometimes you can get hold of his other titles - snap them up if you see them, but I wouldn't pay more than $10.00. Failing that, Leslie Rees's books are good. You're looking for the ones starting The Story of... Again, don't pay more than ten or twelve dollars. Lyla Stevens wrote a beautiful book, Birds of Australia in Colour, which is still available on Abe. Today, at least! I'm inclined to think I would use this book as a spine, reading a bird a week, but read one of Thompson or Rees's books per term to do an in depth study of three over the year. Again let me remind you to study birds you see. Put a birdbath outside your kitchen window, too, and get to know your feathered neighbours! If you really can't find a book, just study your own birds using a field guide. That will do.

Moving right along to poetry

* A Child's Garden of Verses β by Robert Louis Stevenson; ($) Ω Κ ☊ ^[10]** Now We Are Six ($ K) and When We Were Very Young ($ K) by A.A. Milne (4-Volume Pooh Library: $)*** A Child's Book of Poems, by Gyo Fujikawa ($), OR The Oxford Book of Children's Verse, by Iona and Peter Opie ($), OR AO's free online collection of 200 Classic Children's Poems. (K)

You can use the recommendations at listed if you choose, but if you haven't already introduced your child to C K Dennis's A Book for Kids, you'll want to do that this year. I would substitute it for the third term anthologies. You really need to use this book while your kids are young.

I left all the literature and free reading titles as is, and added Australian titles to them. Generally my rule is one book in; one book out so as not to overburden my student, but in AO1, the amount of reading is light enough that a couple of extra books can be added without a problem. In fact, somewhere it says that the book load is deliberately light to allow parents to add their own favourites, but I can't find that right now. Anyhow, to literature - that is scheduled books that required narration after each reading - I added Dot and the Kangaroo by Ethel Pedley, and The Way of the Whirlwind by Mary Durack. I also added Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs and Blinky Bill by Dorothy Wall to the Free Reading list. I did not require narration of these two.

And that, I think might be that. I do hope that's what you are after, ladies, and I'm sure your coffee is cold by now. Have I left you with more questions than answers? Let me know what else I need to address.

Here's pne mpre photo of my beautiful girl. Wasn't she cute?

 

In which I think out loud

I brought my laptop with me to Jemimah's dance studio today, intending to do a bit of blogging, only to discover that the OS X installation still has 4467 hours remaining. Yup. In the meantime, I'm pecking on my iPad. One finger at a time. Life is hard. It is.

I've been fretting a bit over how I'm going to fit everything in this year, with an extended holiday in the middle of it. I know I said only a few posts back that finishing the year wasn't as important as what we'll learn on our trip, but it's different now that I'm trying to juggle it all around to make it work. I mean, some stuff is optional, but there is a minimum, right?

I thought you might like to see how I muddle this sort of stuff through. Consider this a wee peek into the workings of my brain. Okay?

So. By squishing a couple of weeks together at the start, we have exactly enough weeks for AO7 term two. We will finish Week 12 the day before we leave. I might even manage a day or two of exams there. It is term 3 that is the problem.

I have 7 full weeks on our return. Now I'm happy with 7 weeks of maths and science and Latin and 'extras' ( We'll be practising our French and Japanese in situ and will have plenty of nature study), but I really want to fit in all the AO books. I'm thinking I really need to read How The Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books before we go. It's about a family's literary journey around Britain, and we might get some inspiration, I'm guessing. Maybe I could add that to the Family Free Read list. I've added a book on the two Margarets, Against the Tide by Hope Irvin Marston into our evening Family Devotions, and I could probably follow that with Douglas Bond's bio on John Knox, The Thunder. I want to cover these two books because we're going on a week long Covenanter Tour of Scotland, remember? We've read Douglas Bond's Crown and Covenant Trilogy, but it was a few years ago, and we sort of need the reminder of the events of the Reformation to get the most from the tour.

I can finish Ivanhoe in term 2 if we schedule two chapters a week, and then read the left overs in the last week. That one is easy. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made I will continue as written, leaving five weeks to carry into AO8. Many people choose to wait until then to do this book anyhow, so that should be fine.  By reading a full chapter of A Taste of Chaucer per week instead of dividing each story in two, I can fit that into a term as well.

The Daughter of Time and the third of The Lord of the Rings can come with us for reading while we're travelling. We're halfway through the second of the Ring trilogy, so I just need to get that done before I go.  We still have a couple of free reads to complete.  David Copperfield is the only one that might have to continue into the summer.  Dickens isn't known for being concise.

If I do all of that, we're left with a slimmed down term 3 that should fit neatly into our 7 weeks.  What think you?  Achievable?  What would you do differently? Should I cut something out?   Is there anything that you think we really need to add before our trip? I'd love your input.

Incidentally, speeding up the AO schedule isn't something I really recommend.  You can certainly manage the readings, but something has to give, and it is generally the stuff that makes for a rich and generous liberal education  - the picture study, composers, poetry, nature study, science experiments, handwork, languages, that sort of stuff.  I'm doing it this time because our upcoming trip is filled with cultural experiences, but I wouldn't want to do it very often.

Oh, in case you're wondering, there are 2532 hours remaining on the installation now.  Seems this post has taken me 1935 hours.  Whodathunkit?  Time certainly flies when you're doing school planning.

Finding a summer routine

We're finding it kinda hard to settle back into a routine after 9 weeks of slow, relaxing summer holidays.  AO7 is quite a step up from the lower years, both in time required and in intensity, and it is proving difficult to fit it all in when the mornings are taken up with our annual three weeks of intensive swimming.

We've been really disciplined, and Jemimah has been completing a couple of readings before breakfast each day, but lots of things are new, and we're still having to work out how to do them in the best and most efficient - not to mention enjoyable - manner.

Nearing the end of our first week, we're already discovering which subjects and books are likely to be our favourites.  Jemimah is desperate to read the next chapter of The Once and Future King, and Ivanhoe had us at the very first page.  We're surprised to discover how much we're enjoying Winston Churchill's The Birth of Britain, a book which is often described as dry and difficult on the AO Forum. We've divided up the readings into daily portions, and Jemimah was able to do a terrific written narration on today's section about Julius Caesar's Landings in Britain.  How to Read a Book generated a wonderful discussion, as well.  Our science selections are all pretty good, so far, and we've already learnt lots of good stuff.  The Wonder of Light by Hyman Ruchlis is probably our favourite, at this early stage.

Probably our biggest problem is not the readings, but the other stuff.  It is easy to divide the books up into the number of days and just read until you're done, but we haven't done any nature study this week, and Jemimah has only made one entry in her Science notebook so far.  We've managed Plutarch, but we haven't even looked at Shakespeare.  Not that I'm overly worried as yet.  We did spend plenty of time in nature over the hols, and we're going to see Hamlet performed live next weekend.  It'll all be covered one way or another, even if we start a bit late.

I guess for us, it is more important that we have a nice relaxed start to the new year than that we're able to tick off every single little thing.  There are 39 weeks in our academic year (counting exam weeks), and that gives us plenty of time to find that routine, and to make up the little that we fall behind at the start.  Right now, our priorities are lots of pool time every day, time for us to spend together, and lots of time for delicious lunches at Melbourne's ethnic restaurants.  Jemimah's passion for Sculpey modelling hasn't waned at all, and she is considering moving into sugar work now.  She wants time for that as well.

School for us is an extension of our everyday life.  As we live we learn.  I'd be rather concerned if we never found our stride with this new AO year, but right now were content to begin slowly.

We're rather too busy trying to nail 100 metres of Butterfly to worry too much about anything else.

Back to school

Jemimah and I started back to school this morning.  AO7.  Wherever has the time gone?  Where has my baby gone?

We started the day as we start every year with our traditional first day doughnut breakfast - not so healthy, but lots of fun - before heading out for the first session of three weeks of daily swimming lessons.  This could well be the last year of this lovely gentle easing back to school, since Jemimah doesn't really need the lessons any more, but it makes it feel so summery and still-on-holiday-ish-for-three-more-weeks that we are reluctant to give it up.

Our first day is full of traditions.  The doughnuts, the swimming, the first day photo, and the gift wrapped stationery.  Do you remember how exciting it is to begin the year with new pens and pencils, fresh exercise books, and lovely clean folders?  It is just as much fun for Jemimah, only I gift wrap hers, and pop in a few surprises as well.  A blingy ruler, some brightly coloured paper, and some metallic textas were this year's fun extras.  We always make a grand ceremony of The Opening of the Stationery, and also of The Reading of the First Book - in today's case, Watership Down. Starting tomorrow, Jemimah will read this herself, but today was Mummy's turn.  I love reading aloud.  In case you hadn't noticed.

AO7 is a lovely year.  I think I say that about every new year, but I am particularly enamoured with this one.  Our time period is the Middle Ages, and we're reading the Venerable Bede, and Beowulf, and The Green Knight, and other wonderful British literature, as well as such greats as Scott's Ivanhoe, Bulfinch's The Age of Chivalry, T H White's The Once and Future King, and Charlotte Mason's Ourselves. The first volume of Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, The Birth of Britain is our history text, and we're reading The Brendan Voyage for Geography.  Oh my, I am so excited!  There will be some Aussie content, of course, with Amy Mack's A Bush Calendar and Bush Days for Natural History, and The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson, and some offerings from Hesba Brinsmead and Ivan Southall amongst the Free Reads.

This year we're trying a more Charlotte Mason style of science.  I hesitate to call this Living Science, because I get visions of the pseudo CM Living Maths when I do, and it isn't a CM term at all, but it is called that by many.  Anyhoo, I'm trying to do it, what ever it's called.  We'll be doing lots of botany and astronomy, but we're also studying light, and the physics of how we see, as well as some genetics and a bit on bacteria and viruses. Some bios of scientists will round out the year.  This is probably the part of the year that excites me the most.  I can't wait to share what we're using, and how it goes, with you.

The other interesting addition to our curriculum this year is Japanese, along with our studies of French and Latin.  This is the first time that I've had to teach a language that I haven't studied myself, and I'm finding the idea a bit daunting, to be honest.  It is likely that we will be visiting Japan later in the year though, so we do have a bit of an incentive to at least learn the basics.

Of course, this is only a sampling of the wonderful subjects that make up Ambleside Online's Year 7 course of study.  You can see what is included here. I'm planning to write a further post on all of our selections in the next few days as soon as I finalise a few things, but if the rest of the year goes anywhere near as well as today did, then I'll be well pleased indeed.

Happy New School Year to my beautiful Jemimah.  I love learning alongside of you. xx

The change of seasons

This morning I exchanged the winter obi covering the altar table in the front hall, with its scene of birds and snow, for this one scattered with pretty pastel spring blooms. So serene.

We rotate our home's interiors based on the Japanese aesthetic concept called shun - seasonality. When a new season arrives - according to the weather, not the calendar - we change our seasonal displays and our decorations - cushions, throws, candles. It is rare that these occur at the same time, but this year the weather gained ten degrees on the first of September. Lovely.

Along with the change in our interiors, so is there a change in the rhythm of our days. Jemimah packed her morning books into a bag this morning and headed out to the hammock with the dog and a long glass of iced water. Gone are the days of snuggling under her blankets to read - de rigueur only a week or so ago. She'll read our there for an hour or so, and then come back inside for a piece of fruit and a narration, and a bit of table work. Perhaps this afternoon we'll head out to the recliners on the deck while I read Ben Hur aloud. I'd like that.

I've learned that its not worth spending too long over-scheduling our days. We have a list to get through by the end of each day, week, and term, but the order will change not only with the season, but also with our mood, or simply on a whim. A day like today simply screams 'come outside'. Postponing that nature walk simply because its not on the schedule until Thursday seems counterintuitive, somehow.

Adjusting our days like this seems sort of peaceful. It allows time for a morning perigrination around the garden, coffee in hand, to inspect the abundant spring growth. It lets us discover new birds like the Blue-faced Honeyeater we spotted this morning and then learn more about them in our field guide. A Charlotte Mason education allows plenty of time for these rabbit trails, because it encourages learning all the time, not just in school hours, and those school hours can be done in a morning - or an afternoon, as you choose, but don't take up both. There is still time for living.

Today there are little reminders of spring all around my home. Camellias, freesias, orchids. They make me feel really happy. And the best bit? It will be spring tomorrow as well. And every day for the next three months. And then it will be summer. And you know something? I love summer too, and the long evenings,and the holidays and Christmas. Plus, I have a lovely collection of summer obis to enjoy on the altar table in the front hall.

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:21 NIV

 

Fitting in the nice bits

It is entirely possible that I am misunderstanding here. It happens quite often.  I may be doing it wrong myself - entirely possible, or alternatively I might not quite be understanding the issue the way it's written, but I struggle to understand people who write that they can't fit the 'extra bits' into their child's Charlotte Mason education.  By the extra bits, they mean the nice stuff - folk songs, composer study, Shakespeare, Plutarch, picture study, art, map work, handwork, a nature walk.  I scratch my head a little because without these things you're left with reading, writing and arithmetic - hardly a liberal education at all, really, is it?

I feel bemused, I think, because these are the bits that fit seamlessly into our week.  I am much more like to run behind on maths or the reading list than I am on these little bits. Maybe I'm odd.  That is entirely possible too. Likely, in fact.

I thought today that I might explain a little how these little bits fit into our day.  Who knows - it may even help somebody.  Or maybe not!

First, a few things that I really should look up references for, only if I did that I would end up with writer's block again, so I'll just continue on.  Anyhow, we need to remember a few things when we plan our days.  I didn't invent these - Charlotte Mason did.  The first is to alternate our inspirational subjects with our disciplinary ones; written ones with the reading of a book, and so on so as to keep the mind fresh and not fatigue the child.  Secondly, we should keep subjects short.  You can fit an awful lot of five minuteses into a day.

With that in mind, our  work goes something like this:

Devotions (inspirational)
Memory verses (disciplinary)
Singing (inspirational)
Copywork (disciplinary)
Read aloud (inspirational)
Written Narration (disciplinary)
Poem (inspirational)

Okay, I think you get the idea.  In this way you absolutely have to do an inspirational, fun, nice subject before you do a disciplinary one.  That's the rule!  In the afternoons  do the stuff that takes time - a bit of gardening, a longer nature walk, some cooking, a big art project.  Do one per day.

The reason I plan out our day instead of allowing my student to do what she wants when she wants is that I keep in mind some of Miss Mason's rules - firstly that subjects are kept short.  In AO6 that is a bit longer than in earlier years - say half an hour max, but in the first few years we aimed for 15-20 mins max.  Secondly, I ensure that each day is not identical to the one that came before - variety is after all the spice of life - and finally I attempt to alternate the inspirational with the disciplinary, the hard with the easy, the fun with the not-so-fun.  Here is a list of subjects divided into those two headings:

Inspirational subjects: 

Devotions
Singing - Psalms, folksongs, foreign language songs
Composer study
Picture study
Citizenship - Plutarch
Literature
History
Science
Art
Poetry
Shakespeare
Handwork

Disciplinary subjects: 

Foreign languages
Written narration
Copywork
Mathematics
Grammar
Memory work, recitation
Music lessons

Every day I allow some singing - folksong, Psalm or foreign song.  It only takes five minutes - unless we get carried away and sing some more.  Of course that never happens.  Never.  Every day we also choose one of the following:  Shakespeare, Plutarch, Composer study, Picture study or Grammar.  One per day.  Do devotions and memory work first thing.  Then if anything happens, at least the important thing is done.

Now, saying that I plan our days does not mean that Miss 11-going-on-teenager doesn't have a say - she does, and where possible I listen to her.  It just means that I have some sort of written plan of his things might go before I start.  Planning my day like this means that by necessity I'm going to fit inspirational subjects into my day -just as many of them as I do disciplinary ones.  And by keeping them short, I don't run my day too late.

For me the secret to getting everything done is this - don't try too hard.

What I mean by this will come clear once I describe how we approach these subjects:

Poetry:
Read the poem.  Ensure that we know what it's about.  Discuss briefly whether we liked it and why.  Possibly clap out a rhythm or identify a rhyming pattern.  How does it make us feel?  Is it happy or sad?  Does the poem work?

Picture study:
Look at the picture for five minutes.  Cover it up and tell what you remember.  Is it night or day  What season is it?  Can you tell when it was painted?  Can you name the style of painting?  Do you like it? Can you briefly show where things are on a blank piece of paper?  What is the painting's name?  Who is the artist?  Week two - repeat. Once a term we might discuss the artist and possibly his contemporaries, only many of these artists lead tortured lives, so then we mightn't learn much about him at all.  Occasionally visit an art gallery.

Composer study:
Listen to the music. In the car.  While doing maths.  Over dinner. Maybe read a bit about the composer's life - especially if there is an Opal Wheeler expurgated  bio.  Discuss what makes the music similar or different from other pieces by the same composer.  What about other composers we've studied? If the piece were used in a movie, what would be happening?  What is the name of the piece?  Do you know why? Minor key/Major?  Fast/slow?  Happy/sad?  Like/dislike?  Sometimes we listen to the Classics for Kids radio shows too.

Grammar:
Study one of the nine parts of speech.  In different ways.  For a whole term.  Yep - for the nine terms of  AO4-AO6 learn one of the nine parts of speech per term.  That easy.  Construct sentences.  Parse a sentence of your copywork or dictation.  Identify all the 'adverbs' in this paragraph.  Write a list of adverbs.  Play Mad Libs.

Plutarch:
Identify unknown vocab.  Read the section.  Narrate.  Discuss using Anne White's study guides.  If there isn't a study guide, choose another Life.  Anne is my wondergirl. Talk about the character of the 'hero'.  Is he similar to other Lives you've studied?  Do you know people like him?  Do you ever behave that way?  What did he do right?  Wrong?  If he were a Christian would you expect him to behave that way?  Is anyone ever entirely good/bad?  Did he behave in character?  What happened to make him behave that way? Would you like him as a friend?

Shakespeare:
Read Lamb's to get an overview.  Discuss.  Read some famous speeches.  Begin reading the play.  If possible see it performed.  The end.  The Bard would say it better than that, but that is because he is the Bard and I am not.  He is renowned for such things.

Folksong:
Find a YouTube video you like.  Sing the song.  Preferably every day, but at least twice a week.  Maybe research a bit about the song.  Have fun.

Psalm:
Ditto. Read from the Bible one day.

Foreign folksong:
Ditto again.  Translate it sometime. Try singing your English version. Laugh a lot.

Map work:
Whenever you read about a place look it up.  Identify countries and landmarks that you know.  Can you find this new place on the wall map?  On the globe?  What continent is it in?  Is it near the equator?  What would the climate be like?  Have you been there?  Would you like to? What is the nearest country you've visited?

Nature walk:
Keep an eye on the weather.  When it is fine grab the dog lead and the dog and go for a walk.  If you miss maths it is not the end of the world.  Truly.  Keep your eyes open and talk about what you see.  Sometimes pack a picnic and go further afield.  Periodically draw something in your nature notebook.  Occasionally plan an all day walk on a weekend.

Handwork:
Find something your child enjoys.  Become obsessed.  Do it all the time.  Keep an eye out for on-line courses like Mama Squirrel's crochet one and learn a new handicraft.  Become obsessed.  Do it all the time.  Crochet a bedspread.  Just kidding.  We actually do do handwork all the time, both during school and afterwards.  The trick is the first bit - find something you enjoy.

Sometimes I might do a subject in more detail.  Sometimes we might do a written narration in the style of our poet.  Sometimes we might look more at a style of music, or an era.  Or at composers who lived at the same time, or in the same place.  Sometimes we act out Shakespeare or Plutarch.  Sometimes we watch something on telly or on YouTube. Sometimes we list birds or add to our Book of Firsts.  Sometimes we create a fractal pop-up. There is a lot you add to the studies we do, but the important thing is that you don't need too.

The important thing is, don't try too hard.  And have fun.

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.

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...

Art - a success story

If you look over at the Categories in my right sidebar you'll discover that there is one lousy teeny weeny little entry under 'Art'. Worse, if you read it you'll find that that one post is an admission that we didn't do Art very well in our homeschool. Now often I find that if the subject is one that I'm not good at then that subject has remained a problem from go to whoa. Not so Art. More than six months after I wrote that one solitary post, I am back to report that Art is now happening on a weekly basis with no effort at all. Such a pleasant surprise. It's amazing what being accountable to you gals has done!

I have no secrets, and our method is so painfully simple that I'm almost afraid to share it, but given that it took me six years to discover, I will, in case one of you, too, is art-phobic. Sometimes the simplest ideas are hardest to find.

Firstly, I purchased a curriculum. Those of you who are more artistic than me might be able to easily think up new and exciting activities every week and provide a wide variety of media and techniques, but I really like everything laid out so that I don't have to think things up. Actually, I dont think I could think things up, to be honest. I chose ARTistic Pursuits, and have been more than happy with it. We don't do all the art history lessons, but Jemimah has a bit of a read through the pages before she starts the activity.

Secondly, I purchased the materials required for the whole book up front. I found that if I didn't have all the materials required for a certain activity, I was at risk of giving up and thinking it all too hard. I bought ours from a local art supply store, although those of you who live in the US will probably find it cheaper to purchase a complete art pack containing everything directly from ARTistic Pursuits themselves. The postage is too much for me to do that, so I used Deans.

Thirdly and most importantly for me, I created a time in the schedule when I thought it would actually happen - first thing Monday morning. When I left it until the end of the day, it was all too easy to leave it until tomorrow. Or next week. Like the lyrics, tomorrow never comes, right? Now we do art right after our first block of work.

Finally, and here is the thing that made it work for us, while Jemimah draws or paints, I read. Each term, it seems, there is one long reading. This term it is David Livingstone's Missionary Journeys. This fascinating but old and densely written book is much more interesting read aloud, and to do so takes a l o n g t i m e. A very long time. Time enough to do a great piece of art. In the past I found it hard to get excited about adding another hour or so to our week when we'd rather be outside. Then I considered the fact that Jemimah had always done handwork during a our readings, so I wondered whether she would be able to listen while she painted. As it turns out she can. She continues to narrate and join in with discussion, only now she paints or draws while she does so.

Art this way doesn't add any time to our busy week, but it sure adds a lot of pleasure for Jemimah and satisfaction for me. I love it that this irritating grain of sand has been covered with nacre and annoys no more. It is actually a real relief, y'know?

I've been thinking about other things that don't get done as well as they ought. What easy changes can I implement that will allow them to be seamlessly integrated into our day like art has? Are there elements from our art solution that will work with them too? The possibilities are endless!

Do you have problem subjects like art in your homeschool? Have you implemented changes that made a long term difference? Care to share?

AO6 Term 1 Schedule

I recently learned via A Peaceful Day's Facebook Page that two Sydney ladies are following along with our Australianised AO6 in 2013. Which is thrilling, and humbling, and exciting. It is also a bit daunting, because it means that I need to get all of our plans up before the beginning of each term instead of feeding things to you in dribs and drabs throughout the year.

Yesterday I completed our schedule for Term 1 of AO6, which you'll see below.  At least that way you'll know what books we're reading.  The booklist and timetable will come shortly.

As always, most of this is taken directly from the Ambleside Online website.  It is always my intention to follow the Advisory's recommendations as closely as possible, substituting only what is necessary for our Australian location.  This year it was also necessary to find a substitute for It Couldn't Just Happen, since Jemimah read this in AO3 (I think) where it was included before AO changed the science schedule.  If you haven't read this book then I thoroughly recommend you do so.  If you have, then its omission allows the inclusion of some terrific Aussie texts in its place.  You'll see those below.

Term 2 and 3 will come as I complete them, but will not involve as many substitutions as Term 1, since the history rotation means that we'll be back to Ancient History then, and Australia was really Terra Incognita Australis indeed!

Don't be strangers here, ladies.  Come and talk to me.  Let me know what you need and how I can help.  It is so gratifying to know that others are able to make use of our Australianisation of this terrific curriculum.  Thank you for your confidence in me.

AO6 Term 1 Schedule

AO5 Schedule

Hello Lovies.  I'm so sorry I've been absent without leave.  Jemimah and I have been beavering away on school in order to get AO5 Term 2 finished by the end of this week.  We've managed it too.  Hurrah!

For the first time in our homeschool journey we're not taking a break between terms, but are instead moving straight into Term 3 next week.  Before you harass me for being a bad mumma, however, let me remind you that we did take  a three week holiday to SE Asia midway through this term, and so we haven't really been working 12 weeks straight without a break.  I would not like to be thought of as harsh and uncaring.

We're hoping to make a head start on Term 3 because in only a few short weeks I'm off to Europe with my mum, leaving Mr PD with sole parental responsibility for our daughter for almost a month.  Jemimah and both agree that it is much more desirable for her to take a couple of weeks holidays then, since independent work for four weeks would be quite a strain otherwise.

The good side of all this is that it has forced me to actually finalise our AO5 schedule.  I've posted it here for those of you who like to follow along with us.
Year 5 Schedule

AO5 Term 3 covers the period of time between Federation up to and including WWI.  It is not a very busy time in Australia's history, this 20 year period, providing us with the opportunity to add in not one but two books on the war.  One of these, of course, has to be Elyne Mitchell's novel about my grandfather, The Lighthorsemen, but the other is a fascinating little novel by Methodist minister, Joseph Bowes, called The Aussie Crusaders.  Bowes, a minister in NSW and Queensland for almost fifty years, was a prolific writer of books for boys, including a number of war stories.  In this one, Major Jack Smith and Sergeant Jock M'Thirst are captured by Bedouins and then Turks and are present at the fall of Gaza and Jerusalem.  It is a thrillingly exciting book with much apparent accurate research.  I'll write a review once we've read it.

Other highlights include biographies of Beatrix Potter and George Washington Carver, along with the conclusion of our bio of John G Paton.  Literature includes Kim by Rudyard Kipling, Goodbye Mr Chips and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Every term of Ambleside Online is a goodie, but this one is shaping up to be extra fine indeed.

There is a happy jig happening here.

Our homeschooling day

Amongst my favourite blog posts are the ones Mama Squirrel posts about her daughter, Crayons' homeschooling days. Posts like this one.

I don't know about you, but I find it really helpful to see what an education using Ambleside Online looks like in real life, especially since Crayons is only a term ahead of Jemimah.

Today I thought I might might try my very own Mama Squirrel post. Maybe you'll find my day interesting as well. You never know!

Since I work as well as homeschool Jemimah, our days are rarely straight forward. Today I had a meeting from 10.30 am - 1.00 pm, and we needed to be finished shortly after to travel to Melbourne for hubby's work. Our homeschool needed to fit in around these commitments. We began at 9.00 am, after Jemimah had completed her Private Devotions.

We started with a bit of singing. We're studying Canada in folksongs this term. Today it was Log Driver's Waltz, which is a fantastic song except that it is an earworm. We've both been breaking into the chorus all day.

Next Jemimah ran through her memory verses and Westminster Shorter Catechism questions. Every day she says about three or four passages in English of about a chapter each, a couple of French verses and five catechism questions and answers.

I read a poem. It was Longfellow's Nuremberg, which we had read last year during our Albrecht Dürer art study. It brought back nice memories.

Jemimah read a chapter of her Free Reading book, The Story of the Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit. She only has a couple of chapters to go. We've both enjoyed this book.

I read a couple of chapters of our book about John Paton. This has been an exceptional book, and today's chapters about how he and the Mathiesons fled Tanna and the cannibal natives was incredibly exciting. After Jemimah narrated we had a bit of a chat about this section of the reading, and how often God intercedes in this way:

At this dread moment occurred an incident, which my readers may explain as they like, but which I trace directly to the interposition of my God. A rushing and roaring sound came from the South, like the noise of a mighty engine or of muttering thunder. Every head was instinctively turned in that direction, and they knew, from previous hard experience, that it was one of their awful tornadoes of wind and rain. Now, mark, the wind bore the flames away from our dwelling-house; had it come in the opposite direction, no power on earth could have saved us from being all consumed! It made the work of destroying the Church only that of a few minutes; but it brought with it a heavy and murky cloud, which poured out a perfect torrent of tropical rain. Now, mark again, the flames of the burning Church were thereby cut off from extending to and seizing upon the reeds and the bush; and, besides, it had become almost impossible now to set fire to our dwelling-house. The stars in their courses were fighting against Sisera!

The mighty roaring of the wind, the black cloud pouring down unceasing torrents, and the whole surroundings, awed those savages into silence. Some began to withdraw from the scene, all lowered their weapons of war, and several, terror-struck, exclaimed, "That is Jehovah's rain! Truly their Jehovah God is fighting for them and helping them. Let us away!" A panic seized upon them; they threw away their remaining torches; in a few moments they had all disappeared in the bush; and I was left alone, praising God for His marvelous works. "O taste and see that God is good! Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him!"

Returning to the door of the Mission House, I cried, "Open and let me in. I am now all alone."

Mr. Mathieson let me in, and exclaimed, "If ever, in time of need, God sent help and protection to His servants in answer to prayer, He has done so to-night! Blessed be His holy Name!"

In fear and in joy we united our praises. Truly our Jesus has all power, not less in the elements of Nature than in the savage hearts of the Tannese. Precious Jesus! Often since have I wept over His love and mercy in that deliverance, and prayed that every moment of my remaining life may be consecrated to the service of my precious Friend and Saviour!

The Story of John G. Paton Or Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals by James Paton

Jemimah studied her picture from this term's artist, Ellis Rowan, and read a few pages from the book, Wildflower about her life.

We zipped through some flashcards of our French vocabulary words.

I read a chapter about Bacchus from The Age of Fable. This was Jemimah's written narration for the week.

About then I had my meeting. Fortunately it was at home today. Jemimah went and worked in her room. Her independent work included her written narration, writing a letter in French and studying her dictation passage.

After lunch we spent a few minutes working together on MEP maths, and then Jemimah completed the accompanying worksheet on subtracting fractions with different denominators while I packed.

I read her dictation passage to Jemimah and she wrote in her best handwriting instead of copy work for today.

That was school done.

In the car I read aloud from our books - a few chapters each of Ginger Pye, Tom Sawyer, Athanasius Against the World, and Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates. The father woke up in the last book. So wonderful. I found the earlier parts of this book a thinly veiled text book on the Netherlands, but nearing the end we're all really enjoying it. We don't call this type of reading 'school', but it is a great way to read some fine books together. You all know how much I love reading aloud.

Tomorrow we're off to the Melbourne Museum to have a bit of a look at their joint exhibit. I want Jemimah to try to identify the various joints and the movement that occurs in each, as well as having a bit of a browse around. I love using 'homeschooling' as an excuse for doing stuff like that!