Food for Thought ~ “Permanent Things”

:: What Art Can—And Can’t—Do by Philip Yancey @ First Things [This is an older article, and it’s not a short one, but please, please read it. Let it breathe life into your soul. (Hello, Flannery O’Connor.)]

For those of us who labor in the arts and who believe in transcendence, here is a place to start. Some are called to be prophetic goads, and some giants may hammer in firmly embedded nails. But the rest of us can aspire, with no tinge of shame, to scribbling in the sand. Spaces need filling. The father of cellist Yo-Yo Ma spent World War II in Paris, where he lived alone in a garret throughout the German occupation. In order to restore sanity to his world, he would memorize violin pieces by Bach during the day and then at night, during blackout, he would play them alone in the dark. The sounds made by the reverberating strings held out the promise of order and hope and beauty. Later his son, Yo-Yo, took up the father’s advice to play a Bach suite from memory every night before going to bed. Yo-Yo Ma says, “This isn’t practicing, it’s contemplating. You’re alone with your soul.”

:: After you have read the above article, go read this Facebook post by S.D. Smith.

You lose elections long after you lose the stories that shape. Elections are a hundred years too late to save us. In other words, an election only reveals the stories we believed, loved, and allowed into our hearts to shape our affections. Elections are more effect than cause.

:: Lord of the Flies: Evil Recognized Is Redemption Begun @ CiRCE. I read Lord of the Flies for the first time last year and am reading Flannery O’Connor this year.

Like a Flannery O’Connor story, Golding’s ending completes the meaning of his work, not by resolving it, but by creating the possibility of resolution. The characters are not saved, but they are prepared for salvation. And readers are prepared along with them, for they, too, have been given the opportunity to take a long, hard look at themselves.

:: Candor: What Jane and Lizzy Bennet Can Teach Us about Charity @ Roman Roads Media [The Four Loves | A Series Exploring C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves] What a beautiful essay! Again, I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time last year (though I had watched both movie versions numerous times) and The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis is on my to-read list this year.

This will sound very anticlimactic, but when we face our human enemies, we need to face them as literary critics. A good critic does not react to what he reads. He reads it. He reads it carefully, over and over if necessary. He considers its genre, its context, its author, its author’s intentions, stated and unstated. He considers what circumstances the author himself may have been reacting to. And then, given all that consideration, he gives the work the most generous interpretation he can. The virtues of a literary critic are patience and generosity, but something deeper too: the good critic has to want there be something in that book to be understood—something, however small, that is worth understanding.

:: My Wife is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World: C.S. Lewis on Eros, Beauty, and Plato @ Roman Roads Media [The Four Loves, Part 2]

But I would submit that our starting point and first response to the question, “What makes a woman beautiful?” should be “Participation in the image of God.” Man is created in the image of God, male and female, but woman is given a special aesthetic placement in that order—she is the glory of man. She bears the image of God in a unique way—a way that’s glorious and beautiful, a way that’s defined and measured by participation in something greater and more universal than herself.

:: The Eye of the Beholder @ CiRCE [Supper of the Lamb was one of my favorite books from 2015]

:: Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Dies at 89 @ The New York Times [Go Set a Watchman was one of my favorites in 2015 and To Kill a Mockingbird is in my all-time top 10.]

:: Christian Books and Christian Reading: Part 2 @ Center for Lit

Lewis realized that anyone who has never read widely is liable to become a prisoner of narrow and weakly held opinions, because his experience is limited by his own time and place. The one who participates in great literature, on the other hand, encounters the opinions of a host of other thinkers. He can see the consequences of their ideas without having to adopt their philosophies himself. In the process of comparing his assumptions with those of others, his own worldview gains strength and clarity.

:: The Necessity of the Imperfect Community (Inspired by Jayber Crow) by Angelina Stanford @ CiRCE

"I think Berry makes a profound point about the community being imperfect and yet that imperfection is just what we need to grow. The Enlightenment has us all obsessed with creating the perfect environment for us to achieve our potential. But maybe our obsession is making it harder for us."

:: The book most people have lied about reading - and it's not War and Peace @ The Telegraph [As of this month, I’ve read 11 of these, not counting half-heartedly listening to Alice in Wonderland. I have Anne Frank on my to-read pile.]

:: Punctuation in novels @ Medium [So fascinating!! Brief strong language alert.]

:: Words are for Lovers @ The Philology Institute

Third, words reveal the contents of our minds and hearts. That means words involve a certain amount of vulnerability. We are disclosing to the other something personal and private. We are uncovering something of our interior life, something of ourselves.

:: Standards, Grades And Tests Are Wildly Outdated, Argues 'End Of Average' @ nprEd

"Absolutely no one is precisely average."

The term he uses for this--jaggedness--is perfection. I have at least two kids who are much more jagged than average, for sure. This article is excellent, especially paired with a re-reading of the children's book Understood Betsy:

"'What's the matter?' asked the teacher, seeing her bewildered face.

"'Why--why,' said Elizabeth Ann, 'I don't know what I am at all. If I'm second-grade arithmetic and seventh-grade reading and third-gradespelling, what grade am I?'

"The teacher laughed. 'You aren't any grade at all, no matter where you are in school. You're just yourself, aren't you? What difference does it make what grade you're in? And what's the use of your reading little baby things too easy for you just because you don't know your multiplication table?'

"'Well, for goodness' sakes!' ejaculated Elizabeth Ann, feeling very much as though somebody had stood her suddenly on her head.

"'What's the matter?' asked the teacher again.

"This time Elizabeth Ann didn't answer, because she herself didn't know what the matter was. But I do, and I'll tell you. The matter was that never before had she known what she was doing in school. She had always thought she was there to pass from one grade to another, and she was ever so startled to get a glimpse of the fact that she was there to learn how to read and write and cipher and generally use her mind, so she could take care of herself when she came to be grown up, but in that moment, she had her first dim notion of it, and it made her feel the way you do when you're learning to skate and somebody pulls away the chair you've been leaning on and says, 'Now, go it alone!'"

:: Celeste Headlee: 10 ways to have a better conversation @ TED. I need to listen to this TED talk weekly, if not daily.

:: Death, the Prosperity Gospel, and Me @ The New York Times

"The prosperity gospel has taken a religion based on the contemplation of a dying man and stripped it of its call to surrender all. Perhaps worse, it has replaced Christian faith with the most painful forms of certainty. The movement has perfected a rarefied form of America’s addiction to self-rule, which denies much of our humanity: our fragile bodies, our finitude, our need to stare down our deaths (at least once in a while) and be filled with dread and wonder. At some point, we must say to ourselves, I’m going to need to let go."

This reminds me of the Flannery O'Connor essay I read recently (The Fiction Writer & His Country).

"He will feel that any long-continued service to [the topic of prosperity] will produce a soggy, formless, and sentimental literature, one that will provide a sense of spiritual purpose for those who connect the spirit with romanticism and a sense of joy for those who confuse that virtue with satisfaction."

In The Mind of the Maker (also on my "currently reading" stack), Dorothy Sayers quotes C.S. Lewis:

"There is kindness in Love: but Love and kindness are not coterminous...Kindness, merely as such, cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering... It is for people whom we care nothing about that we demand happiness on any terms..."

:: Misty Copeland Recreates Iconic Edgar Degas Artwork @ Coloures [Gorgeous!]

:: Master of Light: A Close Look at the Paintings of Johannes Vermeer Narrated by Meryl Streep @ Open Culture [video] Vermeer is one of my favorites!

:: Loving Vincent

 

More about the movie:

 

:: Music

31 Days of Book Detectives ~ Day 21: The Boy Who Loved to Draw

[Click here to read other posts in the series.]

The Boy Who Loved to Draw is a picture book biography of the very first world-famous American artist, Benjamin West. Children who enjoy this story may enjoy the longer entertaining biography Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry, acclaimed author of Misty of Chincoteague.

Benjamin West has a talent and a deep desire for drawing and painting, but the Quaker family and society into which he is born is very practical and Benjamin’s drawing leads him into mischief! Will they come to understand and value his abilities?

[This picture book includes three small reproductions of Benjamin West’s art, including his first painting, painted at age ten!]

Crime Scene [Setting]

Where?

Pennsylvania

West household

Real world, true story

When?

Colonial America

Mid-1700s, before the Revolutionary War

Benjamin’s whole boyhood

Suspects [Characters]

Who?

Benjamin West—young boy, loved to draw and paint, very talented, a little mischievous

The West family (Mama, Papa, John, Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, Rachel, Sarah, Hannah, Mary, and Elizabeth)—Quakers, stern

Baby Sally

Gray Wolf—Lanape “Indian,” lived in wigwam, sold baskets, kind and helpful

Grimalkin the cat

Food For Thought ~ Music and Art

 

Music

"Music, being identical with heaven, isn't a thing of momentary thrills, or even hourly ones. It's a condition of eternity."

~Gustav Holst [HT: Squilt Music]

"You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God. There's really no technique for melodies."

~ Quincy Jones, producer/arranger [HT: Jim Weiss]

:: Science Just Discovered Something Amazing About What Childhood Piano Lessons Did to You @ Mic.com

"What we found was the more a child trained on an instrument," Hudziak told the Washington Post, "it accelerated cortical organization in attention skill, anxiety management and emotional control."

:: 7 Days to Beethoven: A totally free mini-course from Professor Carol

:: Music Makes You a Better Reader, Says Neuroscience @ GOOD Magazine

“We’ve added a critical new chapter to the story about music and education,” says Kraus. “Due to the overlap between neural circuits dedicated to speech and music, and the distributed network of cognitive, sensorimotor, and reward circuits engaged during music making, it would appear that music training is a particularly potent driver of experience-dependent plasticity in the brain that influences processing of sound related to academics.”

Art

:: An Honest, Human, Amateur Art Critic @ Story Warren

In The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning said, “Quite simply, our deep gratitude to Jesus Christ is manifested…in our deep and delicate respect for one another.” Artistry cannot be objectified as something entirely separate from the person, not if it’s good and thoughtful work. Scribbles are scribbles, after all, but the pouring out of a person’s heart should not be taken lightly. The gift reflects and reveals the giver. And the giver reflects the Giver, in both image and art.

:: How Art Can Help You Analyze by Amy E. Herman [Ted-Ed]

The benefits of art study are numerous and complex, but this entertaining and short video highlights a practical benefit not often considered.

:: The Art of Cleanup: Ursus Wehrli Playfully Deconstructs and Reorders the Chaos of Life @ Brain Pickings.

This is oh, so fun. I need this book to look at on those rough days when nothing is in its place.

:: 12 fascinating optical illusions show how color can trick the eye @ The Washington Post.

“The Dress” brouhaha that made its rounds on social media disturbed me. How can it be possible that people see colors that differently? This article is fascinating.

 

If you prefer to have your “Food for Thought” reading spread out over time rather than in one huge buffet of links, follow me on Facebook where I share quotes and articles as I discover them!

Delightful Learning

 

:: Professor Noggin's History of Art Card Game

We’ve enjoyed playing this art card game as a family the past few days. It is a simple trivia game for 2 or more players, and it covers ancient art through modern art (including art movements and eras, painting materials and techniques, famous artists and masterpieces, architecture, and art museums). The game includes 30 sturdy art cards and a die that corresponds to the questions on the back of the cards. There are two levels of questions, which makes it easier to play the game with a wide range of ages. Players take turns asking each other trivia questions. If the other player answers the question correctly, they add the card to their collection. If not, the answer is read aloud and the card returns to the bottom of the pile.

(It’s amazing how many of the answers my boys knew mostly from reading our collection of Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists books by Mike Venezia. They kept going to the shelf and grabbing books when they recognized a painting!)

We are looking forward to adding more of the huge selection of Professor Noggin Games to our collection. I can’t decide between Professor Noggin's Wonders of Science and Professor Noggin's History of the United States, so we might have to get them both. These games are great for around the dinner table fun.

 

:: About Time: A First Look at Time and Clocks

I am a huge fan of delightfully illustrated non-fiction picture books. About Time is a fascinating look at the history of timekeeping, from Ancient Sumerians in 3500 B.C. to Albert Einstein in 1905 and Daylight Saving Time in 1915. The reader learns about how time is defined and measured, as well as different types of “clocks” such as obelisks, sundials, water clocks, Chinese astronomical clocks, sand-pouring clocks, and so much more. History, math, science, cultures, and mechanics are all integrated in this lovely book.

 

If you or your children enjoy this one, you may also enjoy The History of Counting, as well. In a similar format, readers learn about the history of counting numbers across time and cultures, which I find fascinating. Don’t judge this one by the cover (it doesn’t appeal to me). The interior illustrations are well-done.

Classical Conversations ~ Cycle 3, Weeks 13-24

January always sneaks up on me. It shouldn’t. I mean, my Foundations/Essentials boys will have had six weeks off. Six!! Granted, my Challenge student had fewer weeks off, with an adjusted schedule due to rescheduled classes (he had three community days at the very end, on December 1, 5, and 8), and work to complete over break which he has managed to spread out over the whole break. And we’ll be on a big family vacation during the first week back (wahoo!!), so Levi also needs to be ahead in a few subjects.

We also have Levi’s 13th birthday to celebrate on January 1st before we head to Disneyland a couple days later. So, you see, it’s difficult to imagine getting back into the swing of things on January 12th (a week late).

But come it must, and we’ll be ready.

History

We continue with United States history.

I posted a lengthy book list at this link, which includes history, literature, speeches and poetry memory work, and geography through week 24.

Geography

Again, we continue with U.S. geography.

My favorite two free online resources are:

:: Sheppard Software geography games (fantastic for U.S. and World geography in Foundations and Challenge A, and includes geographical features as well as states and capitals)…

:: and Draw the USA at Mahalo (video tutorial)

Science

We move on to chemistry for weeks 13-18 and general science topics for weeks 19-24.

[Y’all should know that those last 6 weeks of science memory work are a sneak peek and early preparation for what your student will be learning in the rhetoric strand in Challenge A, which includes the memorization of 57 similar sentences! The first 12 weeks of human anatomy memory work in Foundations cycle 3 help prepare the student for the body systems memory work encountered in the second semester of Challenge A, as well.]

Chemistry:

::  TED-Ed launches an interactive periodic table with a video for every element

::  The New Periodic Table Song. (Too fast for you? Try the slow version with captions.)

::  They Might Be Giants: "Meet the Elements"

 

::  Memorize the first 20 elements of the periodic table using mental imagery.

::  Elements and Atoms by Khan Academy

If you’re like me, and no subject is complete without a few books to peruse…

:: The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe is a spectacular book that should hold the attention of kids and adults alike. Each visually-stunning two-page spread explores a single element, including current uses. Check out the “see inside” feature at Amazon, and you’ll see what I mean. Highly recommended. I’m adding Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything to our collection, as well.

:: The Periodic Table: Elements with Style! and Basher Science: Chemistry: Getting a Big Reaction. My boys are huge fans of all the Basher Series. These books are highly entertaining and perfect for boys who would rather be reading comics. Each element or concept is defined using personification (and quirky illustrations). For example:

“Alloy. The Man of Steel. I give a backbone to spineless metals. I make them fit for purpose with properties that better suit their uses. Without me, “supermetal” would be, well, just plain old Metal…”

“Radium. I am the heaviest of the gang and a completely captivating character. I shine in any social situation. Bright and luminescent…I’m a real stunner…”

“Lead…Over the years, I’ve gained a bad rap. People say that I build up in bones as a slow poison and that I have damaged children’s development. It’s true that I have an unfortunate ability to slip easily into the food chain—from pipes and cookware, leaded gasoline, and paints to fishermen’s weights. I have also been blamed for ending the ancient Roman civilization. Not fair! These days, I am closely regulated. But I am still used as a shield against x-rays, for roofing, and in stained glass.”

:: The Mystery of the Periodic Table. Looking for a good narrative science read-aloud? Or an interesting history of science chapter book for independent readers? We have enjoyed all of the Living History Library, particularly the books by Jeanne Bendick, so The Mystery of the Periodic Table is on our list. (Levi read it independently a couple years ago and enjoyed it.)

:: DK Eyewitness Books: Chemistry is a good choice for general chemistry information in the visually-attractive (but non-narrative) style of DK reference works—perfect for researching a specific topic or for a child who enjoys poring over books with pictures and detailed captions.

:: Exploring the World of Chemistry: From Ancient Metals to High-Speed Computers by John Tiner is a Chemisty course written in narrative style from a biblical perspective. (Memoria Press uses this series in 5th-8th grades.)

Latin

The following is a video set to my friend (and son’s tutor) Mindy Pickens’s rendition of John 1:1-7 in Latin from the Vulgate. (We use the same tune to sing the verses in English.)

 

Fine Arts

 

Great Artists:

Grandma Moses, Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keefe, N.C. Wyeth, Lichtenstein, and Jim Davis

:: Roy Lichtenstein (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists). I’ve purchased the books by Mike Venezia that correspond with the above artist. I love his style. Entertaining (but thorough) biographical and historical information paired with hilarious illustrations and the artist’s work along with period art and photographs. My boys LOVE them.

:: Grandma Moses (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists). [I am also purchasing this version of The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Grandma Moses. It will be a wonderful addition to Christmas book collection.]

:: Norman Rockwell (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) [I’m leaving out my Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book until after we’re through learning about the artist.]

:: Norman Rockwell: Storyteller With A Brush

:: Georgia O'Keeffe (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)

:: N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims. We have several books illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, but this one is a lovely picture book example of his work.

:: 20 Years & Still Kicking! Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection. We may have to add How to Draw Garfield and Friends (Learn to Draw), as well!

 

Composers:

[Romantic and Modern periods] Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Stravinsky

:: My most favorite free online resource is far and away Classics for Kids. Many composers are featured (including all three of this cycle’s composers). Click on the composer’s name for biographical information. Then click the top left (green) option “View past Classics for Kids shows about _________.” The shows are radio-style with narration and music. Some are about the composer. Some are about a specific piece of music. Often there are coordinating activity sheets you can print. [These are the options for Tchaikovsky.]

:: Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music! If you are wanting to purchase the single best resource for composers and instruments for elementary students that will carry you through all 3 cycles of Classical Conversations Foundations composers and instruments, this book is my highest recommendation. The first half of the book covers 15 different composers in chronological order as well as a page on each period (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern). All three of cycle 3 composers are covered (and two each of the previous cycle’s composers). The biographical information is fairly short, and the illustrations are entertaining. The second half of the book covers the instruments, divided by sections of the orchestra. The accompanying CD includes short tracks for each composer and instrument.

:: Igor Stravinsky (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers). Again, my boys devour Mike Venezia’s biography series. We own a plethora of composers, artist, presidents, and inventors, and the boys immediately sit down to read them if I leave them out. Venezia uses a combination of hilarious illustrations and period photographs and art to complement his generous (but child-friendly) biographical information. Very informative and entertaining. Highly recommended.

:: Peter Tchaikovsky (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers). I just wish Mike Venezia would write one about Debussy!

:: Tchaikovsky Discovers America. My kids adore all of the Classical Kids recordings. They are radio-style full-cast stories with music. I highly recommend the whole collection.

Instruments of the Orchestra:

:: Children's Classics - Prokofiev: Peter & The Wolf / Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals / Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (CD). These three recordings are essential to a child’s cultural literacy. [This animated version of Peter and the Wolf is stunning if a tad dark.]

:: The Story of the Orchestra (details above)

:: Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin. A delightful picture book for younger elementary students.

:: The Philharmonic Gets Dressed. This is a charming, unexpected book. Just for fun.

 

I think that wraps up new content for the second semester! Are you ready for January?

Mt. Hope Academy ~ New Resources and Curricula: 2013-14

(I promise I have something other than homeschooling lists in the queue. As soon as I finish these curricula posts, I will be catching up on all my pictures!)

Looking ahead to the 2013-14 school year, we have only a few small changes and additions to our resources and curricula line-up. I’m feeling confident and excited about many of the things we have been using, and I’m glad not to be making any big switches or searching for the “right thing.” (I am certain there are other excellent resources, but there simply isn’t enough time in the day, nor would it be reasonable to expect the boys to do it all!)

You can read details about all our subjects at these links:

• The Great Conversation (the driving themes behind my curricula choices)
• The Simplicity Version (my top picks for a basic core elementary curriculum)
• History (The Tie That Binds)
• Geography (the “where”)
• Literature: Part 1 (our history-related literature studies)
• Literature: Part 2 (the remaining literature studies)
• Faith
• Mathematics
• Language Arts
• Science
• Latin, Fine Arts, and Extras

New for 2013-14

This is Levi’s last year of Foundations and Essentials with Classical Conversations. The following year he begins Challenge! I’m feeling just a bit of pressure to make this year really solid for him because it will be the last year I have this much flexibility for his weekly work. CC’s Challenge levels are complete curricula. Students follow the Challenge guide to do their work at home for all subjects and then present and discuss in class once a week.

Classical Conversations:

Foundations: Cycle 2 (our second time through!!, working toward Memory Master with Levi and Luke (possibly even Leif))
Essentials (second year for Levi, first year for Luke)

Faith:

Telling God’s Story (Year 3) isn’t yet available, so we may re-read year one or two. We’ll be listening to The Heavens Declare (scripture memory songs) for our Bible memory, and reviewing past CDs. We are adding the latest video in the Buck Denver series, Buck Denver Asks: What's In The Bible? Volume Eleven - Spreading The Good News!, and reviewing the other ten DVDs in chronological order. 

Math:

The boys will continue progress through Teaching Textbooks, Beast Academy, and Life of Fred (with the new books in the series!), along with drill (games or worksheets) and critical thinking workbooks. Levi is half way through TT 6 and the plan is to have him finish level 7 by the end of next summer (and we’ll be working, working, working on his times tables so he has them down easily). Luke is currently working through TT 5, and Leif is on level 4. They’ll just move up a level whenever they finish.

Science:

CC memory work covers astronomy and physics in cycle 2. So we’ll cover those topics with our regular resources of books and DVDs (including Real Science 4 Kids). We are going to review geology (this past year’s topic) with Real Science 4 Kids, and I may have Levi start in on Chemistry in late spring (since he won’t be covering that the following year in Challenge).

P.E:

The boys are continuing with swim team (we may add in Leif this coming year), but we are also looking into a weekly archery class for Levi and Luke.

Fine Art:

Art:

I purchased The Usborne Story of Art Sticker Book for each of the boys. They will come in handy when they need something interesting to take “on the go.”

CC cycle 2 artists are Rembrandt, Linnaeus, Gainsborough, Monet, Degas, and Morisot. The following are a few books and DVDs we have in the queue:

50 Artists You Should Know (including Gainsborough and Monet, local library) 

Rembrandt (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)

Carl Linnaeus: Father of Classification

Thomas Gainsborough Artist of England
Thomas Gainsborough: A Country Life

Berthe Morisot by Marianne Mathieu (local library)
Berthe Morisot by Kathleen Adler (local library)

I Dreamed I Was a Ballerina (a girlhood story by Anna Pavlova illustrated with art by Edgar Degas) 
Charlotte in Giverny, and many other beautiful picture books about Monet and other Impressionist artists 

 

From The Artists' Specials DVD collection: Degas and the Dancer, Rembrandt Fathers & Sons, and Monet Shadow and Light.

Music:

:: The boys will be participating weekly with a choir this coming year, and I’m very excited about the opportunity! I’m also going to do my best to have them in a routine of practicing the piano even if we aren’t participating in regular piano lessons.

CC cycle 2 composers are Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak.

From the Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers series we have Ludwig Van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms.

 

Two Scarlet Songbirds: A Story of Anton Dvorak

The Heroic Symphony (Beethoven)

Audio CDs:

The Story of Dvorak In Words & Music (also the Beethoven and Brahms in the series)

The Young Brahms from the Opal Wheeler series (I have the audio CD which I purchased through Rainbow Resource, but this link is to the book versions.)

Beethoven Lives Upstairs 

Language Arts:

IEW Medieval history-based writing lessons (Levi and Luke with CC Essentials, cycle 2)
(We will be reviewing our MCT books instead of going on to the next level)
I’d like Levi to finish Writing With Skill level 1 by the end of next summer (filling in the spaces before and after CC)
I’d like to make it through All About Spelling level 5 by the end of the year (finish levels 2 and 3 for Leif)

Latin:

We’ll be heading into First Form Latin when we finish up Latina Christiana I.

Spanish:

I have La Clase Divertida level 2. We’ll see if we get to it.

Geography:

CC cycle 2 geography includes world geography (lots of Europe and Asia, Central America, and a little bit of Africa)

 

History, Historical Fiction, Literature, and Poetry Memory:

Stay tuned for the list. (The very, very long list.) It is coming up next…

Click here to view the list!

Mt. Hope Academy Curricula ~ Latin, Fine Arts, and Extras

If you are just now checking in or would like quick links to previous posts in my curricula series, this is what we have so far:

• The Great Conversation (the driving themes behind my curricula choices)
• The Simplicity Version (my top picks for a basic core elementary curriculum)
• History (The Tie That Binds)
• Geography (the “where”)
• Literature: Part 1 (our history-related literature studies)
• Literature: Part 2 (the remaining literature studies)
• Faith
• Mathematics
• Language Arts
• Science

This post should wrap it up (though I have one in the works with a few new additions for the coming school year).

Latin

I love Memoria Press. I really do. I love their products. I love their articles. I love their magalog. And I love their Latin.

We’ve (slowly) worked through Prima Latina and half of Latina Christiana I. “The plan” is to finish up Latina Christiana I and head into First Form Latin this fall. I’m really hoping Levi can finish it before he heads into Henle the following year in Challenge A with Classical Conversations. I love the prayers and songs. I love the ecclesiastical pronunciation (though CC uses classical pronunciation which drives me crazy!).

Levi and Luke have stayed together in Latin for the most part. I think I’ll be going through Song School Latin with Leif this next year since I have it on the shelf.

The boys also have memorized Latin declensions, conjugations, and some vocabulary, as well as John 1:1-7 in Latin through Classical Conversations.

Logic

We didn’t do much this past year, but I like several of the workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co. such as Balance Benders and Red Herring Mysteries. Levi and Luke will be attending a logic academic camp with CC this month, using The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-Eight Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning. I’ve purchased the book as well as the DVDs, so we’ll be reviewing and using the book throughout the year. I’m really looking forward to some interesting discussions with the boys!

Fine Arts

Classical Conversations Foundations classes include four fine arts units. Six weeks of drawing basics, six weeks of music theory and tin whistle, six weeks of famous artists and art projects, and six weeks of composers and instruments of the orchestra.

Music:

:: The Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music! is a fantastic all-in-one book for learning about the instruments and composers (chronologically by period).

The Classical Kids CD series is a family favorite. Titles such as Mr. Bach Comes To Call, Mozart’s Magic Fantasy, Mozart’s Magnificent Voyage, Tchaikovsky Discovers America, Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Hallelujah Handel, Song of the Unicorn, Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery, and A Classical Kids Christmas have delighted us all for years. The recordings include a dramatized fictional story centered around each composer, including details about the composer’s life and his music.

This year we have also been listening to Opal Wheeler’s composer series on audio book, including Sebastian Bach, The Boy from Thuringia. For an all-in-one title, The Story of Classical Music audio book with music is well-done. For silly educational fun, my boys love the Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies audio series.

:: For free online composer education, Classics for Kids cannot be beat. Their radio shows about the composers are excellent.

The beautiful composer picture books by Anna Harwell Celenza are also favorites: The Farewell Symphony, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Bach's Goldberg Variations, and others.

:: The boys have not been in piano lessons this past year, but I really want them to keep up their practicing. Honestly, Lola has been the single biggest deterrent. I don’t want them practicing while she’s napping, and she simply won’t leave them alone if they are playing the piano while she is awake. We are going to work more on that discipline issue this coming year. Sigh.

Both The Artists' Specials and the The Composers' Specials DVDs have been a fun addition to our fine arts studies. The period films are fictionalized stories with historical details. (You can get the DVDs individually or discounted as a set at Rainbow Resource. Our library carries most of them.) 

Art:

My boys love the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. We have a collection of them that they pour over—especially Luke. (The author also has a series of composers, presidents, and scientists!)

13 Artists Children Should Know and others in the series by Prestel are beautiful hardback books. They include timelines at the tops of the pages for history integration. Cave Paintings to Picasso: The Inside Scoop on 50 Art Masterpieces is a great all-in-one resource for studying the history of art (chronologically) with children. 

And, of course, there is an abundance of beautiful picture biography books about artists, as well as lovely books about art. It would take forever to list them all here! (Check your library.)

Poetry:

A quick mention here of poetry: Three resources I love are A Child's Introduction to Poetry: Listen While You Learn About the Magic Words That Have Moved Mountains, Won Battles, and Made Us Laugh and Cry (a fantastic all-in-one resource that explains different types of poetry and then covers famous poets chronologically—with an audio CD), Poetry Speaks to Children (Book & CD), and the Poetry for Young People series (each book covers a specific poet with a short biography, a selection of poems, and illustrations). 

Spanish

We have La Clase Divertida and Rosetta Stone. Did we ever get to them? Nope.

Typing

I really want to have Levi working through a typing program regularly, but it is another thing we just haven’t made time for…

Physical Education

Levi and Luke (and Russ) swim on a local year-round swim team. Leif took swim lessons this spring and did very well. He’s so close to being able to swim for the team.

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I think that sums up the rest of our basic curricula and resources (though I’m certain I’ve forgotten a few things).

I have a couple more posts in the works with plans for this coming school year.

Any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments.