On one of my Classical Education e-groups,  the  comment has come up a few times  that we, as classical homeschoolers, need to learn the philosophy of CE, as well as it's principles.  In learning these two things, we will have liberty in teaching our children without being enslaved to curriculum.

This discussion continued with the agreement that Classical Education is not  about the kind of curriculum you have.  You may be using Classical Writing, Latina Christiana, or Traditional Logic but this does not make you a card-carrying member of Classical Educators Anonymous.  Curriculum, per se, does not make you a classical homeschooler.  It is not what you use but how you use it. 

Now, this is where I admit  that I do not know much about the philosophy or principles of Classical Education.  It seems that the more I homeschool, the less I seem to know about Classical Education.  My thoughts about a CE philosophy is that it is the nourishment of one's soul with all that is beautiful, true, and good.  If we use this statement and pursue it in how we teach our children then I think we are on our way in giving our children a true education.  If we show them those three things  through the Bible,  literature,  math, art, and music (to name a few things) then we are doing well by our children.

Classical Education is all about discussing.  I think it is more about discussing than doing.  The more we talk with our kids about the great ideas of the world, the more we will be equipping our children  for the world, for their future, whatever God deems it to be. 

If we, as educators, pursue our self-education in learning about the principles of education, we will find the freedom to educate our children in the way that works for them and still give them an education that is of the liberal arts.  Knowing these principles  will enable us to be no longer enslaved to the next best curriculum that comes along.  There is much liberty in that.

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband, homeschooling their 3 children (10,9,7) and is attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

Many people are scared off from CE  by  the notion of having to read those big scary tomes that are also known as the Great Books.  Boring  and confusing  are words that are often associated with these books.  I used to think the same thing.  Now, though, I am able to see the wisdom and personal discovery that lurks in between their pages.  So much can be learned by reading these books. 

Not only do these books teach us things about the world and ourselves, they also slow us down.  In a busy-oriented world, a Great Books-induced slowness is a gift.  

I recently read a book that defends the lost art of reading.  The author's apologetic  can be transferred to the reading of Great Books and classics.  Yann Martel,  a Canadian author, has been sending books to the Prime Minister of Canada for the last two years.  His reasons?  Well, he has many but the main one is to instill a sense of stillness in the PM's busy, stressful life.  Martel  says  that reading slows us down.  Here is a quote:

'To read a book, one must be still.  To watch  a concert, a play, a movie, to look at a painting, one must be still.   Religion, too, makes use of stillness, notably with prayer and meditation.  ...   Life, it seems, favors moments of stillness, to appear on the edges of our perception and whisper to us,  'Here  I am, what do you think?"  Then we become busy and the stillness vanishes....  And so we work, work, work,rush, rush, rush.  On occasions we say to ourselves,  "Gosh,  life is racing us by."  But that's not it  at all,it's the contrary:  life is still.  It is we who are racing by."                    Pg. 4

I think Martel is spot on  with his observations.   There are many good reasons to read the classics and the Great Books but  we need stillness in our lives.  I think many of us are desperate for it.  What better way to instill stillness, by reading  Austen, Walden, Plato, and Machiavello.  You can hit a bird with two stones:  you can gather stillness and expand your brain.   That's  a pretty good deal. 

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

Now it is time to think about the beginning of a new year.  I always feel that New Year's is similar to the first day of the school year.  There is a sense of  anticipation of the plans you have for the New Year as well as their being  a sense  of  newness.  You can let go of any negativity that happened during the last few months and start all over again in January.   You can start with a fresh slate.

The New Year is a time to take stock of all that has happened in the first part of the school year.  Are you happy with the results?   If you are not happy with how the last few months have played out then take time to think long and hard as to why, exactly, things are not working.  

Is the problem with your curriculum?   Is it too workbook-y  for your child?  Is it too teacher-intensive for you?    Does it meet your child's learning style, as well as your  teaching style?  

Is the problem with your schedule?  Is it too rigid, too time-intensive?  Or is it too relaxed to the point that you aren't getting anything done?  Maybe a rhythm-type schedule would work better for you.  Many homeschoolers start their learning time  first thing in the morning.  Maybe that doesn't work for you.  Maybe starting later in the day, even in the afternoon  would work better for your family.   After starting  school in the morning for 5 years, our family has started our learning time after lunch and that has worked so much better for us 

The problem might just be with your philosophy.  It just might be that the way you are educating your child resonates with you but not so much with your children.   I found myself in that situation.  A Classical Education resonates so strongly with me.  I know that if I could be educated over again,  I would  love to be educated in this manner but it doesn't work for all of my children.  So I have spent this last year   trying to think if it is possible to achieve a happy medium.  So far,  it isn't working very well, but I am not giving up.

I want to encourage you if you are having difficulties in your learning time, to take  the next few days and think deeply as to what exactly is the problem.  Then slowly  try to come up with some solutions.  These ideas might not work, so be ready to go back to the drawing board and fool around with more ideas.  It is very much a trial and error process but once you hit pay dirt, it is so rewarding for both yourself and your children.

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

This site has Bible readings, art history and appreciation, history, geography, music, book suggestions and just plain fun.  All of these offerings are rooted in Christmas and Advent.  The first page gives you a calendar of the Advent season (the site has not been updated since 2008 but it is still usable.)   When you click on a day, it gives you a plethora of ideas and readings for that day.  Most days  revolve around a theme which make us theme-oriented moms happy. 

This is an awesome site and it is used to full capacity by  our family,  year after year.  Our Advent season would not be complete without ideas from this Advent site. 

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

I have been in need of that anchor in the last few months as I have been dealing with health issues.  These issues and the ensuing effects have caused me to doubt myself and my ability to educate my children.  I have even gotten so far as to seriously consider putting them in school after the Christmas break.  I feel like I have let my children down.  Not only am I not giving them a Classical Education but it might also be debated whether I am giving them any kind of education at all.

Those are the words that I mutter to myself when I sink into that bad place.  That dark, suffocating place that does not abide in hope.  I don't like that place so I combat it by turning to God's Word.  I read His Word and commit it to my spirit, so that when the darkness starts to enfold me, I can hold it off by the light of His Word.  

When I am at this place, there are quite a few scriptures that wards off the darkness.  Here are a few  that I have relied on in the last few months.

For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.  Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.  Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of  truth.  (Ps. 31:3-5)

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.  (Ps. 31:24)

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness .  (Isaiah  41:10)

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.  (Ps. 5:3) 

I am so thankful for God's Word that I can cling to as my anchor through this rough time.  In clinging to His Word, I am assured that He will lead me to higher and drier ground  in time. 

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

The premise of this book is intriguing.  Racing Odysseus is the memoir of a 61 year old college president, Roger Martin.  after a victorious struggle with cancer,  he decides to go back to college as a freshman.  This book journals his experiences. 

Martin decides to enroll at the Annapolis campus of St. John's College.  St. John's  is a liberal arts college.  Their teaching of every subject is based on the Great Books.  The method of teaching is based on the Socratic Method.  There is very little lecturing but  much discussion.  The facilitators ask a question to start off the class and then the discussion may go in any direction.  There are few rules to these classes.  The main one, though, is that everyone must participate in the class discussions.  If you don't, then you face failing that class.  The facilitators are there to make sure that everyone gets a chance to talk and that the discussions do not get side railed on to a non-related subject.  Liberal Arts people do not like rabbit trails.

Martin's book talks a lot about the Great Books that he is assigned to read for class.  As is common, Martin finds many analogies in the Great Books  that coincide with his life.  We are given a glimpse of Martin's early life via the Great Books.

We are also shown that  liberal arts' colleges are still needed and important in this day and age.  Liberal arts colleges provides an excellent foundation for anyone that wants to pursue any kind of education.  St. John's has turned out to be the first educational stop for many students who want to go on to be doctors,  businessmen, and lawyers.  The Great Books education teaches them perseverance and how to learn through hard work.  It also teaches them how to think and express themselves.  Martin had doubts about  this kind of education but his experience proved to him that a liberal arts education is a good foundation for any kind of line of work or vocation a person may decided to follow.

I found this book to be an exhilarating read.  Another vote was cast for the side of a liberal arts education.   It was nice to see this vote being pledged by someone like  Roger Martin.

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

As the years have unraveled, it is plain to me that I do not have a clue as to what is truly a Classical Education.  I second guess myself at every pass and turn.  I question my decisions on philosophy, as well as curriculum.  I know so much less than I did 5 years ago.

This is where I depend on the wise women that have gone before me on their homeschooling journey.  I soak up all of their advice and experience.  I am extremely thankful for their willingness to share their experience with those of us who are new to this path.  I am thankful that they are willing to share their experience in the way of blogs.   

I am a blog reader.  This is where I find my inspiration, ideas, and comfort.    These women give me much food for thought.  They have blazed the trail before me and, again, I am so thankful that they put their experience and thoughts out into the cyber world.  I would love to meet these women in real life  and soak up all that they have to offer, but I am content with reading their words.

I have a handful of classical homeschooling blogs that I thought I would share with you.  Enjoy!

The Beehive

Well Trained Mind : Susan Wise Bauer has a new homeschooling blog.

Mental Multivitamin : not exactly a classical homeschooling blog but there is much food for thought here.

A Circle of Quiet 

Odor Amoris : another  blog on  educational philosophy  but  great thoughts found here.

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

As I noted a few weeks ago, teaching with a sense of rest can mean many things.  It can mean a sense of contentment  with how you are teaching your children and  the curriculum you are using.  It can also mean paring down the subjects you are teaching to the bare minimum.  This concept scares many homeschooling moms.   This idea is equivalent to academic suicide to the minds of many.  This flies in the face of modern education.  Today in public schools,  the students' days are filled with numerous classes that are not just academic in nature but vocational as well.  The premise for this is that the schools are trying to prepare the student for the world and a job, hence, computer classes, home ec. classes, welding classes, etc.  In overloading the student in this manner, we are increasing the odds that he or she will not be able to learn anything very well.  The basics will be pushed under the rug, so to speak, to make room for the extras. Therefore, we end up with young adults that do not know much about anything.  We, then, wonder why Johnny can't write or read when he graduates high school.   

When we focus on the basics and a few extras, we have time to teach in a thorough and effective way.  When your child is doing the basics of math and language arts (grammar, spelling, writing, lit. study, vocab) plus the extras of foreign language (some are doing 2 or 3 different language studies) and content subjects (history, science, geography, etc,) there is no wonder that it is taking them much longer than 6 hours to get their school work done.  Also, what are they truly learning?  

Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons  and  The Latin-Centered Curriculum  by Andrew Campbell speaks to simplifying our academic expectations of our children.  In doing this, we can teach more deeply and effectively. There is a sense of rest in teaching this way.  Also, teaching this way  requires trust.  We need to trust  that God will fill in the gaps in the way that only He can.  Trust is key in rest.

The first few years of our homeschooling was chock full of various subjects like  geography, science,  vocab, Latin and Spanish plus all of the CM variables of picture study and composer study and we haven't even gotten to the basics yet.   Our days were full and I taught with a cloud of pressure hovering over me the entire time.  When we didn't finish all of our plans (which happened regularly) I felt like a total failure.  Another consequence to this kind of schedule was children who were burnt out come the end of the first term.  They were beginning to hate learning.   This is not how I had envisioned our homeschooling to be.  Again, failure.

It has taken me a few years to clue in, but  I am seeing now that less is better.  I am able to give more time to my kids  to teach them.   We do not have time pressures  anymore. Our frantic, crazy days have been replaced with a relaxed, calm  atmosphere.  It is a soothing balm to my soul.

Our days are now focused on math, reading, writing and grammar.  We do one  content subject which is history.  We do science but in a very relaxed manner.  We will not do science as a formal subject until my children hit Grade 7.  I do teach Latin to my children but it, too, is done in a relaxed manner as my children are dyslexic and foreign langauages are tricky for them.  We also do Plutarch, Greek Mythology, Poetry,  Recitation,  and Shakespeare but they are done one a day.  Even this  sounds like a lot  but it is do-able for us.   We do not feel  the familiar pressures of days gone by.  There is that sense of calm and peace that I have  been trying to attain for the last 5  years.  I am sure  that I will always have to strive  for this rest every year that we homeschool but I think I am up to the challenge. 

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

I have seen many times when people are asked what makes them classical homeschoolers, they reply  that they are doing the 4 year history cycle so this makes them Classical.  I always have question marks about that answer.  I don't believe the 4 year history cycle has anything to do with Classical Education.  It is definitely an element of  The Well Trained Mind,  but not in the general sense of CE.  There are many people who classify themselves as classical who are doing a 5 year or 6 year cycle of history.  So doing  the whole realm of history in 4 years  does not set you apart as a Classical Educator.

This has led me to think about whether chronological history is an element of Classical Education.  If you are homeschooling your children in the classical way  then is it a given to be teaching them history chronologically?  Can you be hopping all over the timeline, historically, and still be considered a Classical Educator?

The answer to that one is a resounding 'I don't know.'  If the definition of CE  is  instilling wisdom and virtue by nourishing their souls on all that is beautiful, true, and good,  then you can do all of that without doing history in order.  Another important element of Classical Education is to be able to express yourself in written and verbal form.  This can be done regardless of how you teach history.   

Now, I can see if you need to make logical connections from one incident of history to another, then chronological history would be easier to make these  tie-ins.  But is it necessary? 

I just don't think we can say that we are giving our children a Classical Education  based solely on teaching history chronologically.  There are many more components that figure into the definition than just this one.

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

Last month (the beginning of Sept.)  I found out  that I had cancer.  In the big  scheme of life,  my cancer is not a big deal.  The official name of it is Soft Tissue Sarcoma.  I did not need chemo or radiation, but I did need surgery.  The last two months have been very intense for our family.  Even though my cancer was a tiny blip on our lives, it was still cancer.  No matter how small the cancer is, you are still obligated to go through all of the emotions and levels of grieving that are associated with the bigger types of cancer. 

God had prepared my heart for the diagnosis two weeks beforehand.  I knew, when I stepped into the surgeon's office to get the results of my biopsy, that I would be hearing the C word.  God gave me an amazing calm and peace as the cancer word floated around the room.  Even though my heart was prepared, my family was not.  This, literally, blew them away.  I watched as my children became little cling-ons.  It didn't matter where I was but I had three little people stuck to my side.  I think they were afraid that if they blinked I would disappear and they didn't want to take that chance.  They asked me a gazillion times a day how I was feeling.   Where there was once  onfidence,  was now a puddle of insecurity and fear.

I knew that there was no way we could continue on with our schooling,  at least not the way we were doing it.   My kids' heads were not in the game, so to speak.  I knew we were in no condition to do academics but I also knew that I needed to replace my kids knowledge of all things cancer with poetic knowledge.  Their souls had been depleted with that cancer word and I needed to fill them up with all things beautiful, true, and good.  I began to think of ways to do this.  

I decided to keep on with our Morning Time.  This would be the anchor of our day.  This time would give our day comfort and meaning.  During this time, we read the Bible, did Latin sporadically, read Shakespeare, Greek mythology, poetry, Plutarch, nature stories, and our read aloud.  These readings soothed our souls.  They comforted our aching hearts.  They gave us stability during a time when we felt blown around by the wind.  

We still did math and reading but that was not done everyday.  When we were having a strong day then we attempted the basics  but when the tears and fears  took residence in my children's lives, then we just had our Morning Time.

Another thing we did every day  was to go for a walk.  We used this time to fill our beings with the blessings of God's Creation.  Not only were these walks a form of nature study but they also became a chance to talk about what was happening in our lives. During these walks, my dd and I had some really good talks about cancer and how it was affecting us.

It has almost been two months since my diagnosis.  I had my surgery at the end of September.  We are still waiting pathology reports as to whether the cancer is completely gone, but I am already confident that it is.  Even though my body has healed, our emotions still have that bruised and battered feeling.   I thought at the beginning of this little ordeal  that once the surgery was over, that life (learning) would get back to the way that it was.  I was wrong.  We are still in need of comfort,  of just being together.  So I have decided that we will continue with  just doing our Morning Time and the basics of math, reading, and copywork until Christmas.  We will then evaluate and see if we are ready for a more scheduled day.

What I am about to say will sound very bizarre, but I am now able to consider cancer a gift.  Cancer has given us the joy of just being together, of being able to see the beauty that God's Creation offers, of having first hand knowledge that God is El-Elyon, the One who is in control.  He has brought us through this storm a bit stronger and a bit wiser. Thank you, Lord, for this priceless gift. 

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

From all that I have gathered from listening to various CDs and reading many blog posts and articles on this subject, teaching from a place of rest encompasses  many different areas.  I would like to, in the future, discuss these areas but for today I want to address the meaning of rest as applied to educational philosophy.

I have written about this before but I think I need to revisit it as it has cropped up again recently on my cyber-hangouts. Recently on the WTM forums, there has been much talk about giving our children a rigorous education.  Many moms have chimed in to the conversation saying that they have slacked off in their requirements for their children and that they need to get back into the saddle.  I saw a lot of guilt and anxiety in that thread, as well as in the spin-off threads. Guilt and anxiety do not produce rest.  In fact it is quite the opposite.

I think rest should be the goal for every homeschooling mom.  We need to strive for a place where we are happy with how we are teaching our children.  A place where we are confident  that what we are giving them will equip them for  the days ahead.  We need to be able to lie back and just  'be' in our teaching.  How do we get  to that place?  

I think there are two ways:  1. Trust.  Trust  that God is in control  of your homeschool.   He knows  what you should be teaching your children.  He knows  the ways that you should teach children.   The key here is to trust and listen.  When you are going down a path of curriculum or philosophy that just doesn't seem right to you then listen to that feeling.  That is probably the Lord telling you that this isn't right for you or your children.  LIsten to it.  Carry through with it.  2. Turn a deaf ear to the latest curriculum choice or popular educational philosophy of the month.  If you are happy with how your days are going, then there is no need for change.   There is no need to listen to all of the talk around you because all that does is give birth to guilt.  Guilt is not a friend to rest.

If you are not happy with how your learning time  is going then turn to the Lord and ask Him to show you what needs to change or how it needs to change.  Cover your school in prayer.  God will show you what needs to be done.   Making these kinds of decisions in this way  leads to a place of rest.   When we turn our ears away from all of the newest and shiniest  homeschool fads and look up to the Lord to lead us,  then that place of rest  can, indeed,  be ours.

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

The craft that I am going to share with you is more for the quadrivium.  This craft  uses geometrical skills  that your elementary school aged child can show off.  The official title of this craft is Dangling Bread Shapes.  Doesn't sound very classical, does it?   Bear with me.  I found this idea in an Usborne book.  Here are the steps:

1) Press a cookie cutter (can be of any shape--circle, star, flower shape, hexagon, etc.) into a slice of bread.

2) Press the end of a straw into each shape to make a hole so you can hang up the shapes.

3) Leave the shapes out overnight  so they will dry out.

4) Mix some white paint with white glue. Paint the edge of the shape as well as both sides.

5) When the paint is dry use a pencil to draw on simple geometric patterns.

6) Fill in the patterns with different colors of acrylic paint.  Paint the edges as well.

7) Tie a piece of thread through the hole at the top to hang.  You can also tie different shapes together to make a mobile.

There you have it!   A Classical craft! 

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her husband, homeschooling her 3 children  and attempting to give them a Classical Education.  You can read more at her blog.

For those who do not follow the WTM, memorization is equally important but not for every subject.  Some history dates are important  to remember as connections are made from one era to the next.  Memorization is important for Latin as well.  Having conjugations and declensions pop out at you when you are translating is an important skill.  Memorization helps them pop out.  Also, remembering grammar and spelling rules are beneficial, especially for the ones who are not naturals in these subjects.  It is also helpful on a practical level  to have your child memorize Scripture verses.  When hard or joyous times present themselves, it is refreshing and rejuvenating to be able to recite a verse that pertains to your situation.

Poetry is another area where memorization is helpful.  Being able to remember  various poems can instill beauty into one's  soul.   When going through hard times,  poetry, as well as Scripture, can minister to one's  soul in a way that nothing else can.

We memorize a lot of poetry in our family.   We use the poet suggestions from Ambleside Online.  Each one of my children has a poet that we read from for about three months.  My children will work on memorizing poems from their poet during this time.  

One day, last week,  we were going for a walk and the kids started reciting the poems that they have been learning for this term.  It made our walk very special.  I always liked watching movies when the characters would recite poetry that they had learned from their childhood.  This is what I wish for my kids.  That when a situation sparks a memory of a poem long ago learned,  they will be able to rattle it off and nourish their soul.

Autumn is creeping up on us so I thought I would include a poem of this beautiful season.

When the Frost is on the Pumpkin

by James Whitcomb Riley

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,

And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,

And the clackin' of the guineys and the cluckin' of the hens,

And the rooster's hallylooyer as he  tiptoes on the fence;

O it's then's the times a feller is a-feelin' at his  best,

With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,

As he leaves the house, bare-headed, and goes out to feed the stock,

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

There's something kindo' hearty-like about the atmosphere,

When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here

Of couse we miss the flowers and the blossoms on the trees,

And the mumble of the hummin' birds and buzzin' of the bees;

But the air's so appetisn' and the landscape through the  haze

Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days

Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

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

Our family hit a life bump at the beginning of this month.  As a result, we have had to have a lite version of school.   I had planned on using Classical Writing this year with my oldest but I knew that I wouldn't be able to pull it off with all that we were going through, so I had to change my plans in the area of writing.  

After talking to a few homeschooling moms about what to do with writing when your plans go up in smoke, I decided to do the tried and true method of writing a la Charlotte Mason--written narrations and copywork.  It sounds so simple, but I am finding that it is working.  After carrying out these activities for a few weeks, my anti-writing child is carrying out her writing assessments with little complaining and her narrations are very well-written-- at least for a 10-year-old. 

I have added a few things to my writing expectations.  As a result, I am liking how we are carrying it all out.  My dd is reading Little Women on her own.  I ask her to write a narration for each chapter.  I also have her do copywork from  this book as well.  My hope was to do this every day but the reality is that we are lucky if we get to copywork twice a week,  but this is better than nothing.  We are studying Ancient Egypt this month for our history unit study.  She is to read Tales of Ancient of Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green.  I have her write out narrations from selected chapters from this book.  

For my two youngest, I have them doing copywork as well.  My youngest is not reading yet, so I just have her write simple words.  My ds, 8, copies sentences from the book that he and I are reading, Understanding Betsy.  I also have them do narrations from the chapters on Ancient Egypt  from  Story of the World.  This is a wonderful way  to kill three birds with one stone.  I read the story, then have the two youngest give me their narrations.  I write out my youngest's narrations and then let her draw an accompanying illustration.   I write out my ds' narrations but have him copy it out.  For my oldest,  I have her do the beginning step of outlining.  She reads each paragraph and  writes a sentence for the main idea of that paragraph.  I found this idea in the logic stage section of The Well Trained Mind.  

All of these ideas are a simple marriage of ideas from CM and WTM.  I am so thankful for the simplicity of these ideas.  Simple works just as well as fancy and formal.

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

Classical Education, though, is not just made up of the Trivium.  The Quadrivium is also part of CE.  This is the part that seems to get swept under the rug.  The Quadrivium is just as important as the Trivium but it represents a different set of subjects.  The Trivium  includes  grammar, logic, and rhetoric.  These are the subjects that get more airplay in a  discussion of CE.   The Quadrivium, though, includes  arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy, and music.  This is the scientific/mathematical side of CE.

Arithmetic and geometry are closely linked to logic.  You need highly effective thinking skills to master the problems of algebra.  There is a sense of order that needs to be attained when tackling an algebraic sequence.  I see arithmetic  similar to Latin.  When translating English to Latin, or vice versa,  your brain is getting a work out trying to figure out the vocabulary and the proper conjugations and declensions being used.   Order needs to be used when translating as it needs to be used when doing mathematics.  

Math is not just a skill of regurgitating facts.  Math is a platform for beauty.  When you delve into the various facets of math, you are made aware of just how beautiful math is and is present in nature and the arts.  Math has the capacity to take your breath away.  This makes it a very important part of Classical Education.

Here is a blog post about math as the forgotten subject in Classical Education.

An Aside: I just  discovered an interesting book at the library that ties in with this  post.  The book is entitled, Lewis Carroll in Numberland.   This book is about  the noted author of Alice in Wonderland, the man who had an amazing gift with words as well as a gift with numbers.  I haven't started reading it yet  but I am intrigued.

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 at her blog.