If I may take this choice one step farther, if we choose to classically educate our children, we have the freedom in how we go about in doing that.  There are many ways as to how to give our children a Classical Education.  To name a few  there is the neo-classical way ( The Well Trained Mind,  Trivium Pursuit )  as well as the traditional classical path ( Latin-Centered Curriculum,  Circe Institute,  Classical Liberal Arts Academy)  There are many  different 'versions'  of Classical Education.

There are some people, though, that do not agree with the various versions.  These people  are die-hard traditionalists and say  that Classical Education should be taught exactly how the Ancients taught there students.  These people do not consider Neo-classical as any part of Classical Education.  In their opinion it is a misnomer to classify the education of stages as Classical Education.  This  disagreement has been going on for a very long time. This is nothing new.  What is new, is the article written by William Michael (head of  Classical Liberal Arts Academy.)  Mr. Williams has taken on the gigantuan  task of  combing through  Dorothy Sayers'  essay on Classical Education and disputing her statements on Classical Education.  (You can read the article, in full, here )  Sayers' article was the catalyst for the  Neo-Classical movement.   According to Mr. Michael, Sayers'  followers shouldn't even term what they are doing as Classical Education, as it doesn't even resemble how CE  was traditionally taught.

I, personally,  do not follow  the writings of the Neo-Classicists.  I lean more toward traditional classical.  I am sure, though,  that if Mr. Michael  was a fly on our homeschool wall he would be aghast  that I, too, consider myself a Classical homeschooler.  I would probably be in that article right alongside Ms. Sayers.   I do not see the point  of  criticizing  the ways of others.    If  there are other  people  not doing  things  the exact same way  as it should be done, does it  matter?  In the big picture of things, is it really going to matter?  Isn't it more important  that our children get a good education?  An education that instills wisdom and virtue? I think that regardless of how you homeschool  your children, rather through the traditional methods or those of the neo-classicists, your child will receive a wonderful education.  

Thank goodness that we have the freedom  to choose how to give our children that kind of education, traditional classical or not. 

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband, homeschooling their 3 children (10,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more on her blog.

Regardless of whether you take the summer off from school or whether you school year round, summer is an excellent time for a special read aloud.  There is just something about sitting outside in the warm air with the sun beating down  and everyone listening to a well-written book, enthralled in the storyline.  Our family schools year round but the summer is a light load for us.  We do just the basics of math and reading, and we always include a read aloud.  It wouldn't  be a fulfilling day if we didn't have a family book to read.  

I have picked out a book  for our summer reading.  Usually we read classics,  like Little Women, Charlotte's  Web, Treasure Island,  etc. during the year  but for this summer I have picked a modern book as our choice.  I usually do not like contemporary books but this book is just a darn good  story.  Also, thise book fits very well into Classical Education.  This is why I am recommending it in this post.

Our family is now reading  a book that is going to be a family favorite for a while.   We are enthusiastically immersed in The Mysterious Benedict Society   by Trenton Lee Stewart.  This book is logic-inspired, full of puzzles and riddles.  The main group of characters are 3 orphans and 1 runaway.  They are selected to carry out a top-secret spy mission.  These 4 children have endeared themselves  to my children.   My children especially  like Sticky Washington, whose real name is George Washington,  whose nickname is Bald Boy.  Whenever Sticky is mentioned my kids giggle.  They love his name.  This book is also the first in a series. 

If you need some more ideas for summer read alouds,  you can try here and here   for more suggestions.  Enjoy!

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling her 3 children (10,8,6)  and attempting to give them a Classical Education.   You could more at her blog.

It all boils down to the definition of Classical Education.  I am sure you know it by heart now as I have been reciting it at every chance that floats by.  Classical Education is teaching wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul with all that is beautiful, true, and good.   

Putting this in the context of Father's  Day,  the concrete example of this definition will vary depending on the father.  What is beautiful to one dad may not be held  in the same light as another dad.  One dad might consider a coffee table book on  Rennaisance art  a thing of beauty, while another dad might think that a DVD set  on the history of WWI  might be beautiful or good.  My husband would consider a sports magazine, or a biography on Gordie Howe,  a thing of beauty. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

My point is, though,  that in thinking of what to give the father in your life, consider  how to give him the classical gift;  something  that he would consider beautiful,  true, or good.  You can't go wrong with that.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling her 3 children (10,8,6)  and attempting to give them a  Classical Education.   You can read  more at her blog.

In our five years of homeschooling we have used (are you ready for this?)   First Language Lessons,  Rod & Staff,  KISS  Grammar,  First Language Lessons  3,  Mother Tongue Book I,   the grammar portion of Classical Writing, and, finally, a return to Mother Tongue.  Whew!  Writing that list out alone exhausted me.  What was I thinking?  That's just it, I wasn't thinking.  I was living on doubt and second-guessing.  Rational thought  was not part of my repertoire.  Even though, rationally, I knew  that skipping through curriculum was not wise,  I still was not satisfied with what was offered program-wise.    

I am tired of all of the second-guessing.  I am tired of those age-old thoughts  "Is this  program too rigid?  Is it not rigorous enough?  This is too text-book-y.  This is so confusing."  I am tired of curriculum hopping.  So, it is with much courage  that I declare today that I am officially throwing away those doubts of whether I am doing the right thing with the grammar program that I have chosen.  I am going to throw it all away and we are going to jump into Mother Tongue  Book II  in the fall.  I am not going to question it's material.  I am just going to teach it.  Even though, I have no idea what a transitive verb is, or a participle, or a gerund, ( do you see now where the second-guessing is coming from?)   I am going to  take  the summer and go through the book on my own and learn all that there is to learn about grammar.  I am going to wash those doubts out of my brain!

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies homeschooling her 3 children (9,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

Books are a whole 'nother animal, in my opinion.   Books need to be kept, regardless of whether they will ever be read again or not.  Throwing out books is equivalent to book burning.  Throwing out books is blasphemous in this book-lover's opinion.  I have a very hard time getting rid of books.

I should probably take this time to explain what I mean by 'books'.  I don't mean  fluff books, like  those written by John Grisham, David Baldacci, or Jodi Picoult.  I have no problems in ditching those kinds of books.  I am talking about classics or books that cause you to think.  I am even talking about  the Great Books.  Just the thought of throwing out a Great Book causes my stomach to flip flop.  That is just not right. 

Books like Plato's The Republic,  Jane Austen's  Pride and Prejudice,  or  Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby deserve their rightful place on a bookshelf, rather than a musty box in someone's garage sale.  I also think books  that cause you to ponder about life should be kept as well.  In this category, I am thinking of  Eat, Pray,  Love  by Elizabeth Gilbert  or  Socrates's Cafe  by Christopher Philips.  These books are not of my worldview but they have stopped me to think about life  and my faith. These books are keepers.  These books are ones that I will revisit  as years travel on. 

It is my hope  that  as my children become older,  they will not lament over the fact  that mom threw out their water colour of a lupin  but, rather,  have warm, fuzzy memories over the shelves and shelves of books of all different genres and authors that mom has kept over the years.  To my way of thinking, there are no better memories than ones like,  "Pinocchio.  Yeah,  I remember reading that when I was 8,  while cuddled up on the couch with Mom."  Those memories are worth saving.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies,  homeschooling her 3 children (9,8,6)  and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

When  I read other people's  blogs, I am always impressed with what they accomplish.  There are always many great ideas and amazing projects.  You  go away from these blogs wishing that your kids could go to that mom's school,  maybe your kids would actually learn something there.  Unfortunately, it is human nature to only display that which is a success.  If we tell about the failures, it is pretty much like airing dirty laundry.  Well, I am going to break the mold here.  I am going to tell about our school year--the good, the bad and the ugly.  

Our year has been like a roller coaster ride.  There have been many lows and highs.  The lows were such that at times I felt like I was living under a snake's belly.  Then there were the mega-highs in which I felt like I could touch the clouds and give them all a name.  Our year has been full.  Our year has also been a learning ground for me.  I don't know if the kids learned anything this year, but I know I sure did.   One thing I learned was that I am a strong woman.  My strength comes from my faith, without that, I would still be under the belly of that snake.  I also discovered that I am resilient.  I have bounced back many times from periods of sadness and discouragement.  Why?  Again, if is due to my faith.  My faith gives me hope  that life will not always be like this.  My faith tells me that I go through everything so that God will be glorified.  

As I said, there were many rough spots in this year, but I would like to share one particular one.  It was early on in the school year when I was finally ready to pull my head out of the and recognize that all 3 of my children have learning difficulties.  I had such a hard time with this one.  I knew that I could handle teaching 1 child with learning problems,  possibly  2,  but 3?  How in the world could I do that?  I didn't even know where to start.  Even though difficulties my children faced were similar,  they came out  in different areas for each child,  so I couldn't  just  give them a 'one size fits all' kind of learning plan.  I had to figure out what to do with each child.  I felt so overwhelmed.  I was certain that I was going to do my children a disservice.  I felt  paralyzed, not knowing what to do first.  God, very graciously, led me each step of the way and showed me what I needed to do at each step.  Finally the paralysis  loosened.   I was able to figure out what needed to be done.  This is a process and I am still learning but I have more confidence in my teaching ability than I did in October.

This rough spot, though, is the catalyst for many cloud sailing moments.  I have always known that I wanted to give my children a Classical Education.  That has been very important to me.  I didn't know why that was so important until this year.  The reason for the head strong movement on CE was because this was the way that I wanted to be educated.  If I wanted to be educated this way,  well, surely  my kids would respond the same way.  Not so.  I have realized that CE does not work well for my kids.  I have known this for a while but I firmly put my blinders on so that I wouldn't have to admit what I considered failure.    

It was at this time that a very dear online friend said that the definition of Classical Education is attaining wisdom and virtue by nourishing your soul on everything that is beautiful, true, and good.  My friend continued that CE scholars give you the definition but they don't  tell you how to achieve that in your child's education.  That part is up to you.  These words were a beacon of light for my weary soul.  I knew  that unit studies were to what my children responded.  My friend's words gave me the permission (yes, at that time, I felt that I needed permission) to go down the path of unit studies in a classical style.  

We have been doing unit studies for history and science since Feb.  I don't think  I can properly put into words the positive change that has taken place in our homeschool.  My children are actually learning and they are retaining the information that is being tossed to them.  There are no more tears, groans or moans when it is time to learn.  To sum it up, we are having a blast.   Our days are set up with doing the basics in the morning.  I am still trying to implement some CE elements to this time.  In the afternoon, we, then, do our unit study.  I try to implement what we have learned in the morning into our unit in the afternoon.  I am not using curriculum for our studies but am relying heavily on Ruth Beechick's  suggestions found in her book,  You CAN  Teach Your Child Successfully.   

Even though  this post has a happy ending,  I am still disappointed that we are not doing Classical Education the way that I had initially  planned.  Life happens, though.  As the old saying goes,  if life hands you a bowl full of lemons, make lemonade.  That is what I have done.  I have made lemonade from the lemons that were given to me.  I am sure that there are many other families who are in similar situations.   You may not be able to follow CE exactly like you had originally intended, but you do the best you can with what you have.  That is all you can do.   You will be blessed by that.

So that is my end-of-the-year confession.  

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  homeschooling  her 3 children (9,8,6)  and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more on her blog

Before my familiarization with Classical Education,  I had never heard of the term 'commonplace books."   As I started frequenting CE message boards and e-lists, though, that name started popping up quite a bit.  I was intrigued.  I started reading  all that I could about Commonplace Books.  I soon realized that this was something that I wanted to do with my children as well as to keep one for myself.

There are many different uses of commonplace books. Some people use them as diaries, others use them as a place for special quotes, scripture verses, poems,  book quotes, etc.  Some commonplace books are used as book journals, a place for the owner to record their thoughts about the books that they have read.  

The definition of  a commonplace book that struck me deeply was the one where the student uses the book to record quotes, scripture verses, song lyrics, etc. that pertain to the 15 virtues.  The book is divided into sections according to the various virtues.  When the student comes across an example of one of these virtues in their reading, they would then record those words in the proper section.  These examples cement that virtue into the student's thoughts.  They are able to recognize this virtue and all of its ramifications  through the various examples.  I like this idea  very much.  I am hoping to introduce this to my children when they are in Grade 7.  It is my hope that the commonplace book  will be their constant companion as they read all of the classics and the Great Books.  A commonplace book can be such a treasure to the child once they reach adulthood.  It will be full of many memories--childhood and literary memories.

I am currently using a commonplace book for a different reason.  I am keeping 3 books, 1  for each of my children as a keepsake as they get older.  I write in each book a quote, song lyric, scripture verse, or even just my memories of a special event.  When they become of adult age, I will give them their book.  Again, it is my hope that this will be a special keepsake for them,  especially when I am gone.  This is something to keep the memories alive.

As you see, commonplace books can be used for just about everything.  The final result, though, is to have something to treasure as time marches on.

In honour of Memorial Day, I would like to share with you some quotes authored by Americans.

"Great minds discuss ideas.  Average minds discuss events.  Small minds discuss people."                                                                                                                 

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation may be,  for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness  and misery depends upon our disposition and not upon our circumstances."                                                                                                                     

- Martha Washington

"Most people are about as happy as they make their minds to be."                                                                                                                    

- Abraham Lincoln

"Neglect mending a small fault will soon be a great one."                                                                                                                  

-  Benjamin Franklin

"Love is not something you feel but something you do."                                                                                                                   

- David Wilkerson

You may use these quotes for your commonplace books.

Happy Memorial Day!

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling her 3 children (9,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

Latin is somtimes the main reason why many shun Classical Education.  Why learn Latin?  It is a dead language.  Why waste your time on a boring language?   I have thought this over quite a bit in the last 5 years.  Why do people learn Latin?  There are a myriad of reasons.  1) to help with English grammar  2) to help with vocabulary  3) to be able to read  texts in their original language,  4) to enable the child to think critically (this is my reason for teaching Latin.  Have you ever tried to translate Latin to English or vice versa?  There is so much thought involved  that head aches are usually the end result of such an exercise.)   There are many reasons.  I recently read on an online article that  none of these reasons are sufficient for learning Latin.   You learn Latin to immerse yourself in the culture of the Ancients, so that you can fully understand  the mindset of the Great Masters of that time.  I can't say that I am there in my thinking quite yet.  I still like my reason the best.  

Another area of controversy  is when to begin the teaching of Latin.   Many start teaching Latin when the child is in Grade 1.  The  common rule for this is 'don't start teaching Latin until the child is reading well in English.  There are also those who say that  teaching  "Kiddie Latin" (Latin programs for elementary  grades) are a waste of time.  These people belong to the camp that say later is better.  It is best to wait until the child is in Grade 5 or 6.

With my oldest,  I started Latin with her when she was in Grade 1.  She was reading well at this point, so I thought this was my green light to go ahead.   It was a disaster.  She ended up hating Latin.  Every time I brought out the vocab cards,  she started to cry.   We put it away for awhile but then I decided that later might be better for our family.   We will be starting up again in Latin  when my oldest is in Grade 6.   Every child and every family is different, so this kind of decision needs to be made based on what the child can handle.   I don't know if there is a right starting age for Latin.

Now we enter the third controversy about Latin: which program to use.  There is the argument about whether inductive or deductive is more effective.  Another argument is whether learning Latin through songs and games is better than using the workbook approach.  Ahhh!  It never ends.

I am going to leave you with a few links to some Latin programs and let you decide what would work for you and your children.  I have tried  a few of these programs  so I will share my opinions as well.

Latin For Children--is a popular Latin program for elementary  children.  The company that publishes this program also has SongSchool Latin for little people  and Latin Alive for jr. high age.   I have not used LFC  but I have been intrigued  by SongSchool Latin.  I think this would be a fun intro to Latin so that when the formal program began in Grade 6, there wouldn't  be a huge culture shock.

Memoria Press--this company is well known for Prima Latina (for little people) and Latina Christiana ( for elementary age children.)   They also offer supplementary programs for Latin.   We have used  PL and  LC I.  These programs are workbook  oriented.   I make no secret that workbooks do not work in our family.   We used PL before I came to that realization.  I often wonder if this is why  Latin bombed for my dd or if it was just because I started too early.   Who knows?  I am using LCI  with my kids now  as a stepping stone for when we start Latin more formally,  but I do not use it the way it is intended.  We do it very informally.

Lingua Latina--There has been a resurgence of use with this program recently.  Many are turning to the inductive method of learning Latin.   This means  that the child learns Latin through  reading it right away.  There is no English  used in the program.  It is all Latin.  I have been tempted to use this program but I have read in many places that it works better if the teacher knows Latin.   That counts me out.   I have also read that it works better for children in middle school (as early as Gr. 5.)

Minimus -- we have used this program and love this little mouse.  This program is about a  mouse who lives during the time of Ancient Rome.  The child not only learns Latin but learns history and the way of the Romans.   The major criticism of Minimus is that it does not teach Grammar formally.  I think, though, that it is a good intro to Latin.

Great Latin Adventure--I have only heard about this program quite recently  so I think this is a new program.   I do not know anything about  this program, just that it is for Grades 4 and up.

Lively Latin--this program is another popular one  with elementary  grades.  It is relatively new (within the last 3 years) but I have heard great things about it.

There are many more Latin programs out there.  It would take more time than I have to list them all.  But this gives you a good starting point.   Enjoy the adventure!

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling her 3 children (9,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more on her blog.

Classical Education has become the mountain that is just too high to climb.  The sad thing, though, is that many don't even give it a try.  They decide from just looking at that mountain that it is unattainable.  They don't want to even attempt to climb it. I agree that the mountain looks steep.  There are patches of glaciers along its path and the elevation makes it difficult to breathe at times.  But the going isn't as scary as it seems from the bottom.   If the trek is taken at a slow, steady pace,  the top can be reached.

When I first heard of Classical Education, I was so excited!  I had found the way to educate my children.   Reading the Great Books, discussing them,  being a part of the Great Conversation, excited me.  This is what I wanted for my children.  As I started on this path,  I had moments of waffling.  Who was I kidding?   I couldn't teach my kids this way!   Yes, I am an avid reader, but my books are mostly of the fluff variety.  Homer would laugh me out of the room if he ever read the kind of books that I used to read.   I am horrible at math.  I am not good at science.   Latin? (shiver)  The more I walked up the path, the more I wanted to turn around and play it safe.  Taking the Classical Education trek was a bit too scary for me.  Actually, it looked quite nice at the bottom but once you started sludging up the side of the mountain, the air of second-guessing started wafting around me.  

How could a reader of Danielle Steel books ever get to the point of reading Walden or Homer?  That word kept echoing in my brain, How?  How am I ever going to do this?

I am very thankful that I didn't give up at the starting line.  I kept putting one foot in front of me by taking along  my handy dandy manual of self-education.  I began to educate myself in the area of latin, math, and science.  When we would study an area of history or science,  then I would get a book from the library on that same subject but at a  jr. youth or adult level.  I have fallen off the latin wagon but this summer I am aiming to get back on it as my oldest will start with latin during the year of 2010.  I need to be ready.  I am also planning on taking Traditional Logic  so to prepare myself when it is time for my children to take it.

The most progress I have made is in the area of reading.   No more Danielle Steel books for me.  No Sirree Bob!   I have not yet read Walden (even though it is on my bookshelf) but I have read both of Homer's, The Iliad and The Odyssey.   The best part of this is that I understood everything that was going on!   Wahoo for me!  This was a huge mountain for me to climb but it has been so worth it.  I have also read  David Hicks'  Norms and Nobility.   This is a very tough read.  My head would make a zinging sound every time I would open up the book.   It took me 3 years but I did complete it.  Better yet, I knew what he was talking about.  That is important, you know. 

I have climbed many reading mountains.  I am now ready and  semi-confident of attacking the mountain of Teaching Classical Education to my Children.  I can do this. The key is to educate myself while I am educating my children.

I think every mother should be doing this, regardless of whether they are classical homeschooling,  regardless, even, of whether they are homeschooling their children.  We owe it to our children to be familiar with and know what they are learning.  We also owe it to ourselves to excercise our brain muscless by attempting material that may be just a bit beyond us.  If we keep persevering, that material will become too easy for us and we will be able to move on to the next step.  

In honour of Mother's Day, I encourage you all to keep plugging away at the mountain of self-education.  Take a deep breath and put one foot, slowly but steadily, in front of you.  You will be amazed at all that you can accomplish!

Happy Mother's Day!

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, hmeschooling her 3 chldren (9,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read  more at her blog.

The Circe Institute is a think tank of sorts for Classical Education schools.  The Institute supports these schools in giving them ideas for better teaching,  better curriculum, etc.  The Institute, though, is not just for schools.  It is also open to classical homechoolers in the sense that their books and other resources are available to them as well. 

The conference is also open to homeschoolers.  Each year, the conference is guided under a theme.  In past years, the themes have been  beauty, knowledge, justice, rest, and humour.  This year's theme is nature.  Each year, the participants of the conference come away refreshed and recharged.  They have attained much food for thought  and are challenged to take that food and apply it to their schools.   New ideas are brought forth.  At the 2006 conference, one of the speakers,  James Daniels challenged the audience to teach from a place of rest.  That was a new idea for many there and it resonated  with them all.

The conference speakers all have something to do with classical education, whether they are teachers or administrators of a classical school.  Some of the speakers are quite well known to the world of CE like, Martin Cothran, Cheryl Lowe, Laura Berquist, and Vigen Guroian.  Other  speakers that may be less well-known  but  a gem in their own right  are James Daniels and James Taylor (not the singer.)  

The conference sessions are like a breath of fresh air. They fill you up and keep you floating for a few months afterwards.  They challenge your thought patterns  and mindset  about Classical Education.  Also, just the opportunity to be with like-minded  people is so refreshing.   I"m getting goose bumps just thinking about it.

If you are like me and cannot afford to take this excellent opportunity,  I have the next best thing: conference  CD sets.  Circe tapes all of the workshops and panel discussions.  These are amazing!  I have been blessed with the 2006 CD set.  I have been challenged, comforted, and reassured by these CD's.  I can't remember how many CD's there are but there are quite a few.  The CD set costs $97 but in light of how many CD's you are getting,  I don't think this is a bad price.  There is such an array of speakers and topics that no one can possibly walk away  disappointed.  I am getting  ready to order my next  CD set.  I think this year I will try the set in which the theme is rest.  This will be my virtual field trip.  Hey,  when you are a mom, you get them any way you can. 

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling her 3 children (9,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more on her blog.

For the highschooler, math will look very differently than that of a middle schooler.  The math masters should be read ( or at least researched) so the student is aware of their discoveries.  There are many good high school math texts that will offer a student a good math foundation for college.

I should probably admit here that math is where I part company with many classical homeschoolers.  To many parents, math needs to taught in a rigorous  manner.  This is equated to a math textbook.  A textbook that is heavy on drill.  I have wished often that my children were made to be math lovers, children who worked well  with drill and flashcards.  Unfortunately, my children were not made this way.  I don't think that my children are in the minority.   The more egroups that I am on,  I am seeing that there are many children that cannot handle a rigorous math program.

I do not believe that young children should be taught in rigorous mode until they are at the age for jr. high.  This is the time for rigor.  Elementary is the time for exploration and discovery.  I believe that this falls into the the definition of  classical education.  I know I use this definition a lot  but this has become my plumbline  for all subjects.  The subject or topic should show all that is beautiful, true, and good.   Math can, indeed, be full of beauty.   To my way of thinking, the 'drill 'n' kill method  does exactly that;  it kills  the beauty of math.

I am a huge proponent of living math and I think this fits in very well with a classical education for a young child  (Gr.5 and under.)   I  believe that a child can have a good math education and still be shown its beauty without the use of a textbook/workbook.  I am attempting this with my youngest.  I am not using curriculum with her, rather we play games, read math storybooks, do hands on activities that show the various math concepts.

Some of these hands on activities could be baking, sewing, carpentry work, and gardening.  Gardening is a wonderful way to teach math. There are many concepts  that can be taught while planting flowers and vegetables, and still  maintain that sense of beauty and goodness.  

Math is needed even before you even get out to the garden.   Your child could help you figure out how many kinds of plants and seeds you need.  You can also  set a flower budget  and have your child  pick out  what is needed so that it meets your budget.   Estimating is also practiced when figuring out  how many plants or boxes of seed you need for your garden plot.  Your child  could graph out  where you want the plants to go.  She could do a graph to scale to help in the placement of the plants.  Measuring is accomplished when placing the seeds or plants so far apart, as well as how deep the seeds need to go in the dirt.  Patterns can also be taught  through placing various colours or kinds of flowers.  Even the basics of counting and skip counting are taught when planting seeds or flowers.   

There is no better way to show the beauty of math than from doing it hands on in activities like gardening.   This is where real learning comes in.  It is all well and good to know your math facts from flashcard drill, but if you can't put that knowledge to work in life situations then it is all for naught.  I know that many people would disagree with me but I think, for the early years, living math fits in very well with the definition of classical education.  Check back with me in five years,  when my youngest will be eleven and I will tell you if I am right or not.  

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling  her 3 children (9,8,6)  and attempting to give them a classical education.  You can read more at her blog.

It's that time of year.  The time for homeschooling conferences.  The time for perusing the endless vendor's tables.  The time for major decisions of what would be the best kind of grammar curriculum to buy or do you really need to buy a logic program  for your Gr 6 child?  The questions and stress are rampant.  This is a time full of second guessing. 

I also think of homeschooling conferences  as the time for getting the word out on various educational philosophies.  This is the time  for 'selling'  the different ways to teach your children.   This can also be a time for straightening out any misnomers or misunderstandings regarding a method or philosophy.  Many people have misconceptions about a method and this is a good time to set them straight.  

I see this as beneficial for Classical Education (you knew I was going this way, didn't you?).  With the ever-growing  popularity of the Neo-Classical Movement,  people see CE only in this dimension.  There are many different ways to give a Classical education and those ways should have an equal platform at conferences just as WTM does.

Earlier this month, on a homeschooling forum  that I frequent, there was a question about whether there was such a thing  as relaxed classical.  Many people responded  that  it wasn't possible.  In their minds, classical education consists of workbooks, textbooks,  8 hour school days, and being chained to the ktichen table (that last one was my little add-on).  Relaxed and classical were oxymorons to their way of thinking. 

This makes me so sad.  There is so much more to classical than textbooks and  endless hours of school work.  Actually, that definition sounds more like a traditional school philosophy rather than that of classical education.  I think many confuse the two.  I feel like it is high time to set the record straight.

Classical Education is the cultivating of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on all that is beautiful, true, and good.   That definition tells us what CE is, but it doesn't tell us how to do it.   That is up to each individual family.   If your family works better with workbooks and textbooks,  then go for it.  But if your children are like mine and break out in hives when a workbok is brought out, then beauty, truth, and goodness can be shown in so many more different ways:  like nature study,  picture study,  living books, etc.  You do what works for your children.

Now, clothed in the above  paragraph should be the subjects of the trivium  and the quadrivium.  In order for a philosophy  to be termed CE, it should have latin  or  greek somewhere in its pages.  As the child gets older, things will start to look different.  As the child  progresses towards jr. high and high school, their days  should be more structured and rigorous (or vigorous, depending on your choice of term, but that is for another post entry!).  But  I would hope that this would be the same for any philosophy.  High school students need to step it up a notch regardless of whether they are doing Waldorf, CM, unit studies, etc.   I don't think CE is the only philosophy where more work should be expected during the upper years of education. 

As the traditional classicists are coming out of the woodwork more and more,  I think the message CE = WTM will  be dwindled down as time goes on.  I am hoping that us relaxed classicists will also be able to get our voices heard as well.   This is my hope for future homeschool conferences. 

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies, homeschooling her 3 children (9,8,6), attempting to give them a Classical Education.   You can read more on her blog.

This form of imitation can also be used in imiating the greatest Master of all time:  Jesus Christ.  In imitating Christ, we have the best canvas as to paint how our life should be displayed.   We can learn lots by reading about Jesus, how he dealt with the poor, the sinful, how he dealt with the Pharisees, how he dealt with His  Disciples.  We can learn how to deal with pain, joy, anger, and exhaustion by just  looking at how Jesus dealt with it all.  His life is the best portrait of all to imitate our life after. 

As Easter comes upon us, I suggest we look to Jesus and pattern our life after His. Look at how he deals with those around Him, with gentleness and humility. On Palm Sunday, Jesus made his way  to the city of Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.  This exemplifies humility.  We need to be reminded of that humility and would do well to imitate its depth in our own life.

Christ made the ultimate sacrifice by dying a horrible death so that we might have a glorious life.  What a sacrifice!   There are many ways that we can sacrifice ourselves on a daily basis, not to the extreme  that Christ did but on a much smaller level in our marriages, and with our children.  We can make those sacrifices with humility as Christ did.   They call it dying to self, and it the hardest of all sacrfices  on a human level.   But in doing that, we would be imitating  the Master of all time.

Hallelujah!  He is Risen!   He is Risen indeed!

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  with her 3 children (9,8,6)  attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog

Classical Writing has announced that they will be releasing a new writing curriuclum for the early years.  You can see a sample on CW's homepage.  It looks quite interesting.  The author's say that this program can be for anyone who is not yet ready for Classical Writing: Aesop. So this means any grade from K to 4.  There are three books to this series.  Each book is 12 weeks long and they coincide with the three seasons of the school year--Autumn, Winter, and Spring.

From looking at the sample, they use Beatrix Potter books (Squirrel Nutkin) for copywork and dictation.  Selections from Aesop's Fables are used for narration.  Both of these selections are used for grammar lessons.  In the sample that is provided, the grammar focus is on past tense.

There is also opportunity to do some nature study and sketching.   For Week 2 in the Autumn book, the child is asked to look out the North window in their home and sketch what they see.  Picture Study is also included by studying a Homer painting  and attempting to imitate the painter's style.

The reason given for including nature and picture study into this program is to hone the skill of visual acuity.  Making a child visually observant and alert is one of the goals of Classical Education.  Classical Writing is attempting to meet this goal  with their Primer series.

 Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies  with her 3 children (9,8,6)  attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more on her blog.

For the followers of CM,  copywork is used  to  help the child improve their handwriting.  Copywork  is used all through a child's  academic career.  For those who are of the classical education persuasion,  coypwork is used  to teach the mechanics of writing: captial letters,  punctuation, spelling,  etc.  Neo--classicists,  notably followers of The Well-Trained Mind, only use copywork for Grade 1, possibly Grade 2 as well. It is used as a precursor to a formal writing program. 

If you choose to go down the path of copywork, you would pick out a selection from various sources.  Your choice may be from Scripture, a poem, or a passage from a well-written book. The child copies out those words in his/her best handwriting.   With a beginning writer, you could start out with copying out sole letters of the alphabet, move on to words and then finally progress to sentences and  paragraphs.  

Our family does copywork a bit different than the above explanations.  Let me give you an example with this poem:

April Rain

by

Langston Hughes

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain makes running pools in the gutter.

The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night--

And I love the rain.

I would instruct the child to copy out this poem.  Before he started, we would discuss about letters that should be capitalized, punctuation, and any words that had unusual spelling. After he had finished copying out this poem, then we would work on grammar.  I would give him the definition of a part of speech that we were working on.  For sake of explanation, let's say that the part of speech we are  working on now is noun. I would ask him to find all of the nouns in this poem. I would list them out on a whiteboard.  Then I would ask him to give me the common and proper nouns.  I use copywork as our informal grammar lesson for the early elementary grades as I don't use a formal grammar program until the child is in Grade 4.

I will leave you with a few  links  that describes copywork at greater length.

Copywork for CM users.

Copywork for CE users

There are other explanations  of copywork  here and here.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her 3 children (9,8,6),  attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more on her blog.