In honor of Shakespeare's 444th birthday, we ditched school and spent the day making merry with all things Elizabethan and Shakespearean. Normally my older boys are just too cool for something like this, but when you add no school + anything they usually come around. There is some question as to what day Shakespeare was actually born, we know he died on April 23rd, but his birth is a bit of a mystery. After a very quick, rather unscientific search of the web I settled on April 23. After all, if this date is good enough for STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, it's good enough for me. Plus it's St. George's Day, and we got to include a little bit on him as well because Ethan loves St. George.
First we had to do a little bit of decoration, we colored pictures and hungstreamers. As we decorated we listened to an audio version of A&E's Biography: William Shakespeare, it's on iTunes for only $0.95.
I had hoped to begin our time of celebration outside, but Ben is allergic to grass and oak tree pollen and both are now in full force here. Our kitchen stood in for the stage (instead of our deck) and we groundlings watched from the pit (our family room.) We recited sonnets and portions of plays. This was a little out of the comfort zone of my teenage boys, but they had fun in spite of themselves. After our oratory practice, lunch was served. We dined on duck, cheese, pears, really good bread, strawberries and clotted cream.
Next we played a file folder game I made, you can download it here. The game is called Quote to The Globe. Players must correctly identify various Shakespearean quotes in order to advance, there's a wee bit of history thrown in too. The first player to make it to The Globe wins. Suffices to say, who ever paid attention for our stage portion did well with the game. I served as reader since I knew all the answers. I also came across some fun online games at Bantam.
We ended our day with one of my favorite movies, Much Ado About Nothing. I think Kenneth Branagh is hysterical in it, and I will admit that it upsets me that he and Emma Thompson are no longer together. :-/ And that's all I have to say about that.
Our Favorite Sonnets
SONNET 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
SONNET 73
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
SONNET 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
History/Church History
This week was a week of comparisons. We compared the two great empires of Central and South America, the Aztecs and the Incas respectively. We also compared both of those cultures with their Spanish conquerors and with the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. We shed some light on the horrific practices of both the Aztecs and the Spanish conquistadors. As we studied the economy of exploitation that was set up by the conquerors, we read portions of writings by Michel de Montaigne, Bartolome de las Casas and Hernan Cortes. We'll let you draw your own conclusions, but I will mention that we had quite a lively discussion.
Government
Ben really enjoyed Machiavelli's "The Prince." We often found ourselves comparing this prince with Plato's philosopher king. TOG's government credit is a gem (have I said that already?) Give it a try!
Literature
In addition to our scheduled readings, we began listening to The Children's Shakespeare by E. Nesbit. Open Texture offers a wonderful audio version.
Rhetoric - Ben read The York Play of the Crucifixion. I had him read this modernized version as well. From the University of Toronto. Also read this week was Everyman and we found luminarium.org to be a very useful web site. It includes a link to a modernized version. I did have Ben read the text from Norton's as well.
Memory Work Ethan finished up The Ten Commandments.
Zach: Ephesians 5:8-12 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
Copywork Ethan: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Zach is still working his way through "Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build". My camera is missing, but one day soon I hope to have some pictures posted of these fun projects. By the way, the text is available for free online at Wowio, courtesy of Verizon.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"
"Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36
History/Church History
This is not a pretty week as we look at the Crusades, but in addition to reading about the atrocities associated with this period of history, we also saw the good that came out of it. God has a plan for good in this world and all the evil men conspire to do can not thwart it.
Philosophy
Thomas Aquinas was studied this week. I tied in this week's writing assignment (informal outlines from lectures) by having Ben outline a lecture by Peter Kreeft on Aquinas.
Literature
Lower Grammar - The Usborne Official Knights Handbook
Dialectic - The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle.
Rhetoric - Finished Inferno, read parts of Purgatario and Paradiso. We found the web site Dante Worlds very helpful.
Hands-on
We made a file folder game of Nine Men's Morris. We also played it online. We're hooked!
Copywork Ethan: You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Zach: "O Lady mine, the spring is here,
With a hey nonny nonny;
The sweet love season of the year,
With a ninny ninny nonny;
Now lad and lass
Lie in the grass
That groweth green
With flowers between.
The buck doth rest
The leaves do start,
The cock doth crow,
The breeze doth blow,
And all things laugh in-"
~ Little John's untitled ditty from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Recitation and Commonplace Book "Within the deep and luminous subsistence
Of the High Light appeared to me three circles,
Of threefold colour and of one dimension,
And by the second seemed the first reflected
As Iris is by Iris, and the third
Seemed fire that equally from both is breathed.
O how all speech is feeble and falls short
Of my conceit, and this to what I saw
Is such, 'tis not enough to call it little!
O Light Eterne, sole in thyself that dwellest,
Sole knowest thyself, and, known unto thyself
And knowing, lovest and smilest on thyself!"
~ Paradiso
canto XXXIII lines 115-126
History/Church History
We learned a lot about feudalism this week and the benefits and disadvantages it brought to the church. Zachary, dialectic, enjoyed exploring the Middle Ages pages at the eMuseum of Minnesota State University Mankato
Philosophy
Anselm of Canterbury's works were examined this week. Our readings and discussions, which made our brains ache, led to an examination of the paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise by Zeno.
Literature
Lower Grammar - The Usborne Official Knights Handbook
Dialectic - Zachary finished The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow.
Rhetoric - Ben is reading Inferno and is enjoying it immensely.
Memory Work Ethan is memorizing The Ten Commandments.
Zach: The Rules of Chivalry Thou shalt believe all the church teaches and observe all its directions
Thou shalt defend the church
Thou shalt respect all weaknesses and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them
Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born
Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy
Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without cessation and without mercy
Thou shalt perform scrupulously the feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of God
Thou shalt never lie and remain faithful to thy pledged word
Thou shalt be generous and give largesse to everyone
Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and Good and the foe of Injustice and Evil
Copywork Ethan: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
Zach: "...The wicked knight leapt suddenly upon him, cutting off the top of the crown which the unction of sacred chrism had dedicated to God. Next he received a second blow on the head, but still he stood firm and immovable. At the third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living sacrifice, and saying in a low voice, 'For the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.' But the third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he lay prostrate. By this stroke, the crown of his head was separated from the head in such a way that the blood white with the brain, and the brain no less red from the blood, dyed the floor of the cathedral. The same clerk who had entered with the knights placed his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to relate, scattered the brains and blood about the pavements, crying to the others, 'Let us away, knights; this fellow will arise no more." Edward Grim was a clerk from Cambridge who was visiting Canterbury Cathedral on Tuesday 29 December 1170 when Thomas Becket was murdered.
Recitation and Commonplace Book "Through me the way is to the city dolent;
Through me the way is to eternal dole;
Through me the way among the people lost.
Justice incited my sublime Creator;
Created me divine Omnipotence,
The highest Wisdom and the primal Love.
Before me there were no created things,
Only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter in!"
These words in sombre colour I beheld
Written upon the summit of a gate;
Whence I: "Their sense is, Master, hard to me!"
And he to me, as one experienced:
"Here all suspicion needs must be abandoned,
All cowardice must needs be here extinct.
We to the place have come, where I have told thee
Thou shalt behold the people dolorous
Who have foregone the good of intellect."
And after he had laid his hand on mine
With joyful mien, whence I was comforted,
He led me in among the secret things.
History/Church History
Well, our first week back from Christmas break was filled with distractions, so we didn't quite get it done. Rather than rush through Alfred and the Vikings we will settle in for another week.
Government
This week we have been studying Alfred's Doom Book. I found a good web site that gives some background information on Alfred and his laws, even though we have TOG's government supplement it was helpful and those of you who do not have the Government cd will find the information needed to answer the government questions.
Literature
Lower Grammar - I'm reading "Leif the Lucky" aloud to Ethan.
Dialectic - Zachary is enjoying The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow.
Hands-on
Zach began carving the image of a viking ship into a bar of Ivory soap. Their web site includes soap carving instructions.
Something Fun
Last year I taught a literature class to 9 - 12 year olds at our co-op. We read Heaney's version of Beowulf, did some literary analysis, vocabulary study, and discussion. In addition, my students wrote a script inspired by Heaney's text, made puppets, and filmed their show. It was a fun and relatively easy project.
History/Church History
Have you ever had one of those weeks where it seems like nothing is getting done and you are ruining your child's education, but then you find out while you were distracted with life your children were actually learning something? That was this week for us. When our discussion time began I was filled with dread, but my sons surprised me with all they learned about Charlemagne.
Literature
Lower Grammar - Ethan read "The Adventures of King Arthur" (Usborne) to me. That is the longest book he has read yet, he did a great job.
Dialectic - Zachary has read Beowulf many times so I had him read "The Son of Charlemagne" by Barbara Willard. He gave it a
I have type set a good retelling of Beowulf. If time is short, but you don't want to skip reading the tale this would be a great option for you. It's only 13 pages, download here.
Hands-on Ethan built a castle out of Legos and K-nex and made up a legend which he orally shared with us. It sounded an awful like the legend St. George and the Dragon, but since this knight's name was Tree Beard and there was no princess we overlooked it.
Memory Work
Ben and Zach finished The Lord’s Prayer in Koine. We also included some Latin carols from Lingua Angelica.
Ethan memorized the first verse of "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel".
Copywork
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Dictation
(Charlemagne) was very forward in succoring the poor, and in that gratuitous generosity which the Greeks call alms, so much so that he not only made a point of giving in his own country and his own kingdom, but when he discovered that there were Christians living in poverty in Syria, Egypt, and Africa, at Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Carthage, he had compassion on their wants, and used to send money over the seas to them. ~ Einhard*
* Einhard was a scholar in Charlemagne's court. He was a man of considerable talents and a product of Charlemagne's education system. As a symbol of gratitiude, Einhard wrote "Vita Caroli" or "The Life of Charlemagne." Click here to read more from his work.
Recitation
Ben read aloud the scene when Oliver and Roland argue about blowing the oliphant from "The Song of Roland."
History/Church History
We learned a lot about Muhammad this week, it was very interesting. At the rhetoric and dialectic level we read portions of the Quran and compared verses from it with similar verses in Scripture.
Government
We read an article that was written by Ghulam Ahmed Parwez, a Pakistani scholar who founded the Tolu-e-Islam movement. This reading is included in the Tapestry of Grace Key Documents in Government studies CD which I very strongly recommend for those with rhetoric students or if you are working that level yourself. In fact, I will use this post as opportunity to state how much Ben and I are enjoying our government discussion, if you can at all squeeze government into your schedule I think you will not regret it.
Literature
Lower Grammar - I read the Zeman book to Ethan, beautifully illustrated.
Dialectic - Zachary continued with his reading of 1001 Arabian Nights. His literature worksheet included literary terms and we used the Bedford-St. Martins Glossary of Literary Terms to assist with that assignment.
Hands-on
We looked at tessellations which are very prominent in Muslim art.
Ethan colored an M.C. Escher illustration and played with his lizard tessellation puzzle. I forget where I got it from, but here it is.
Zach made his own tessellation using the web site tessellations.org for guidance.
We spent a little time studying Escher too.
Memory Work
Ben and Zach are still working on The Lord’s Prayer in Koine.
Ethan is memorizing The Apostles Creed.
Copywork
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord
Dictation
Patience is the key to contentment. - Muhammad
Recitation
Who is the liar buthe who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ~ I John 2:22-23
We had a great week, it almost went as planned. Still working out having all the discussions that need to happen. At this point we discuss history and church history together and literature separate on the last day of our week, and I discuss government and philosophy with Ben (rhetoric) mid week. We are getting a lot accomplished, but we are constantly moving. TOG is a lot of work at the rhetoric level, but I know it will be worth it. I don’t mean to say that in such a way that it appears like we will only get some future benefit, we are benefiting now. I love seeing my boys make the connections between the past and the present or with literary allusions.
History
Why is the name Flavius Belisarius not known to school children in the same manner as Alexander, Julius Caesar, and Hannibal? This man was an incredible general and it was so exciting reading about him. I’ve included a three page document titled “The Age and Laws of Justinian” from The World’s Greatest Events Vol. II and if you like you can download it and read a little more about this neglected general. I’ve also uploaded a poem about Belisarius by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (see above link); it addresses a legend about how he was treated by Justinian in his elder years.
Dialectic - Zach is reading a different version of Arabian Nights, a $1.00 library cast-off that is quite good. This is a good literature assignment to switch out books if you are trying to use what you have on the shelf. The worksheets are not tied specifically to the version recommended in the curriculum.
Rhetoric - This is a busy week. Ben and I will be writing out literary terms all weekend. I recommend assigning some of these in Week One is possible. Drop by drop the bucket gets full. 8-S
Hands-on
We completed a fun project this week. We made copy books that resemble the jewel encrusted Bibles of the Middle Ages. Inside we included a little illuminated writing and Latin Scripture verses from the Vulgate. You can download a mini-kit I put together for your use, or you can make your own using the web sites I used for inspiration: Leaves of Gold and Medieval Woodcuts
Memory Work
Ben and Zach are still working on The Lord’s Prayer in Koine.
Ethan is memorizing The Apostles Creed.
Copywork (Ethan)
Praise we now the Keeper of heaven’s kingdom,
The mind of the mighty maker,
The Glorious Father who made
The world and all its wonders;
Dictation (Zach)
Ah! vainest of all things
Is the gratitude of kings;
The plaudits of the crowd
Are but the clatter of feet
At midnight in the street,
Hollow and restless and loud.
~ from “Belisarius” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Recitation (Ben)
None, I gave him a break because of the literary terms mentioned above.
Monday
Today my husband Lou turned 44 and we traditionally take everyone’s birthday off. Unfortunately for Ben that was not the case since he had so much work to make up.
Government:
Ben completed his reading and questions.
Total TOG Time: 2 hours (Ben only)
Tuesday
History:
Both Ben and Zach finished their history readings and questions.
Church History:
Church History reading begun
Hands-on:
We drew Celtic Knots this week, this is actually a project left over from unit four of Year One. Click here for modified graph paper to make your knots easier to draw and here for step by step instructions.
Government:
Discussion
Philosophy:
Reading and discussion
Total TOG Time: 2 hours
Wednesday
History:
Discussion, dialectic and rhetoric together.
Church History:
Finished reading, answered questions.
Discussion, dialectic and rhetoric together.
Literature:
Individual discussion.
Total TOG Time: 1.5 hours
Memory Work:
Ben and Zach are still working on The Lord’s Prayer in Koine.
Ethan has memorized The Lord’s Prayer in English this week.
Copywork (Ethan):
A different section of The Lord’s Prayer every day.
Dictation (Zach):
“Troubadours, minnesingers, and trouveres wrote and performed lyric poetry in the castles of great lords and kings. Lyric poems were set to music and told tales of courtly love, in which knights performed daring deeds for the women they admired.”
~ from “Medieval Myths, Legends, and Songs”
Recitation (Ben): None scheduled
Extracurricular items:
I forgot to mention last week that the older boys and I watched
“I, Claudius.” We all enjoyed it very much. There are a few scenes that required the fast-forward button, but overall it was fine.
Sickness was the star of the week here and TOG Year 2 week 1 will continue on to next week. Zach was able to get a lot done, but Ben was very ill. In fact we had quite a scare on Thursday when, after examining Ben, his pediatrician recommended going to the emergency room for a spinal because she suspected meningitis. Praise God the emergency room pediatrician tested him for strep one more time (3x all together), but this time she stuck the swab wayyy down and located the hiding streptococci.
Since we began week 1 after completing unit four of year one we didn’t have to do much in the way of review. I did have Ben and Zach read a summary of the Roman empire from Augustus to the fall of the West. (download here) A typical week one assignment is to discuss why we need to study history, we had already done that so instead we discussed what makes a hero. As inspiration for our discussion I read this poem:
The Hero
Sir Henry Taylor (1800–86)
WHAT makes a hero?—not success, not fame,
Inebriate merchants, and the loud acclaim
Of glutted Avarice,—caps toss’d up in air,
Or pen of journalist with flourish fair;
Bells peal’d, stars, ribbons, and a titular name—
These, though his rightful tribute, he can spare;
His rightful tribute, not his end or aim,
Or true reward; for never yet did these
Refresh the soul, or set the heart at ease.
What makes a hero?—An heroic mind,
Express’d in action, in endurance prov’d.
And if there be preeminence of right,
Deriv’d through pain well suffer’d, to the height
Of rank heroic, ’t is to bear unmov’d,
Not toil, not risk, not rage of sea or wind,
Not the brute fury of barbarians blind,
But worse—ingratitude and poisonous darts,
Launch’d by the country he had serv’d and lov’d:
This, with a free, unclouded spirit pure,
This, in the strength of silence to endure,
A dignity to noble deeds imparts
Beyond the gauds and trappings of renown;
This is the hero’s complement and crown;
This miss’d, one struggle had been wanting still,
One glorious triumph of the heroic will,
One self-approval in his heart of hearts.
Also completed this week:
Geography - This week’s assignment is huge, mapping the world and medieval Europe. We needed the help of the internet for a few of the locations.
Hands-on - No hands on this week
Literature - Zach enjoyed the week 1 assignment which is basically an overview of medieval literature. It whet his appetite for stories to come.
I am reading aloud to Ethan from Britannia: 100 Great Stories from
British History.
Memory Work/Copywork
Zach and Ben are memorizing The Lord’s Prayer in Greek.
Ethan’s copywork was:
Attila was the Scourge of God. Leo saved Rome from Attila.
Lord willing we will finish week one on Wednesday :-)
This blog is a look into our homeschooling journey as we use Tapestry of Grace. You'll also find stories from various books I have collected that are now in the public domain and real life slipping in occasionally. Most posts from the public domain books have a pdf that you may download and print. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
