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Charlotte Mason, Homeschool, Morning Time

A Shakespeare Resource – Act it Out Shakespeare

Shakespeare Resource Act It Out Shakespeare

Two years ago, when we were reading King Lear with another family, I searched high and low for some paper dolls or paper puppets we could use to keep our characters straight as we read the play aloud. I never found quite what I was looking for.

My daughter has always loved drawing and painting. She started working on a set of people. She came to me one morning to announce that she had created a Shakespeare resource for families who might like to “act out” their Shakespeare as they read it. That gave her the idea to rework Shakespeare’s original play to include only the parts that were in the Lamb’s retellings we’d previously read and have puppets for each of those parts. Her adapted play is not to replace reading the actual Shakespeare play, but to allow co-ops or families to put on a shortened version that keeps the main story intact.

Act It Out Shakespeare

Hence Act It Out Shakespeare came to be. My 12 year old’s entrepreneurial idea. Currently, The Tempest is available for purchase. Complete with 11 puppets to cut out and glue to popsicle sticks (if desired), a play, and a lit of characters per scene so you can easily assign roles without going through the entire play.

Next, she is working on A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Much Ado About Nothing. Leave her comment to let her know which plays you will be doing this school year and she will add them to her running list.

Books, Charlotte Mason, History, Homeschool

Adding Diversity to History in Middle School

Adding diversity to Middle School History

My kids are now in Year 8 and 6 with a Kindergarten student joining in occasionally. We also have a 3 year old. We’re in the History Cycle of Ancient Near East (3500BC to 550 BC) and American and British History from 1000-1680AD. Since we’re starting from the very beginning, I especially wanted to add diversity to history this time around.

We discovered Charlotte Mason and jumped into Ambleside Online six years ago when my oldest was in Year 2. Year 2 is the same time period as we are doing now. However, back in Year 2, I wasn’t trying to add diversity to history. I was just sticking to the book list. I also didn’t have a very clear understanding of what the Charlotte Mason principles even were! It’s been such a wonderful journey delving deeper in my understanding of her philosophy of education. We no longer use Ambleside Online because we like the whole family to be on the same history cycle, but I still visit it often to help me choose books!

These are all linked to Amazon for your convenience. Nurturing Learning participates in the Amazon Affiliate program and receives a commission at no extra cost to you if you complete a purchase through our Amazon links within 24 hours of placing an item in your cart.

Ancient Near East

I purchased Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors and The Book of the Ancient World to use as spines. What I like about Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors is that I can use the corresponding narration cards from Simply Charlotte Mason.

Amber of Heritage Mom mentioned some great resources for studying the great nations of Western Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. We will add all of those books in as well. Some of those we are reading and narrating during our summer break, as they were available at the library.

American History

As I looked at American History for the 1000-1680 time period, and considered what narrative I wanted to teach my children, I realized that we have never actually studied the indigenous peoples who were here before the Europeans. Searching on the Living Books for All People Facebook Group, I decided on several books to round out both our Ancient and American History streams to include indigenous people of North America and South America.

We will read through the chapters (relevant to our time period) of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People and A Young People’s History of the United States. We will also read all of Turtle Island and Before Columbus.

World History

Ideally we would have read Our Island Story in this time slot, but we have already read this book. Leah Boden of A Modern Miss Mason recommends The Story of Britain. (We’ve actually used this book for Modern Times and it is one of my son’s favorite history books.) The Winston Churchill history books were another possibility. However, ultimately, I decided on the Genevieve Foster books (The World of Columbus and Sons & The World Of Captain John Smith) because I like how these books present a wider picture of people and events around the world for a time period. There are issues – I especially do not like the sections between page 29 and 41 in the Columbus and Sons book. I have not read the whole book yet, but have several weeks to do so before school starts. I will be assigning specific non-problematic sections for the kids to read.

How to fit it all in

This is how I am scheduling the books:

Monday – Ancient History of the Near East
Tuesday – Africa (see Heritage Mom for details)
Wednesday – (Term 1) History of Indigenous People in the Americas (Turtle Island and Before Columbus) (Term 2 and 3) America History (An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People and A Young People’s History of the United States)
Thursday – World History
Friday – Geography

Any other recommendations for adding diversity to history? Drop me a comment. What biographies and historical fiction do you love for this time period?

Homeschool

Some Great Books and What to Do When You Need to Homeschool for a Short Time

What do you do if suddenly, you need to homeschool briefly and need a short term plan. Here is what I recommend for grades 3-6.

Daily:
30 minutes of math
30 minutes of writing
10-20 minutes of grammar
unlimited time to read from the reading list (see below) and draw, pursue hobbies of the child’s interests

For the first three subjects, you can use these workbooks at the grade level your child needs. Once the child goes back to brick-and-mortar school, these workbooks can be finished as summer enrichment.

There aren’t lesson plans to go with these books, but just sit with your child and do a few sample problems together (for math) or read the instructions together and start an assignment together, then set the timer and have the child continue for the allotted time.

The reading list includes historical fiction and narrative science books. We have read every title on this list. I have starred the ones our family has especially loved. Have your child choose one from each category and narrate (tell back) to you after each chapter. If you want, these narrations can be written down.

These are all linked to Amazon for your convenience. Nurturing Learning does get a commission if you make a purchase through our Amazon links.

Classic Books

*Charlotte’s Web
Trumpet of the Swan
A Cricket in Times Square
*The Chronicles of Narnia
*A Little Princess
The Wind in the Willows
*The Green Ember (and other books in the series)
The Tale of Despereaux (and really, just any book by Kate diCamillo – this one is one of my favorites)
*The Saturdays (this book has 3 other books to go with it: The Four Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, Spiderweb for Two)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (and Through the Looking Glass)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
The Vanderbeekers
any Marguerite Henry book
Heidi
*Swallows and Amazons
*Understood Betsy
Ballet Shoes (and other Noel Streatfield books)
*The Princess and the Goblin
*All-of-a-Kind Family

Nature Lore

(books that are important for compelling kids to go outdoors and observe nature)

*The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (there is a sequel as well)
My Side of the Mountain
Rascal
Mountain Born
*Owls in the Family
*Kildee House
The Tarantula in my Purse
Bambi
The Call of the Wild or this one.

Historical Fiction

Sarah, Plain, and Tall
Strawberry Girl
Houseboat Girl
The Little House Books
*The Wheel on the School
Calico Captive
Indian Captive
Children of the Longhouse
Johnny Tremain
Soft Rain
Benjamin West and his Cat Grimalkin
Bound for Oregon
*Caddie Woodlawn

Add to this poems read aloud from this poetry anthology. (Check out this post on Poetry Teatime!)

I hope this helps you on your journey if life puts homeschooling in your lap for a while. Feel free to drop questions in the comments.

Charlotte Mason, Homeschool, Montessori

Do Your Kids Know How to Cut Safely with a Knife?

cutting

What attracted me to the Montessori philosophy when we first started homeschooling was its emphasis on teaching toddlers and preschoolers practical life skills. My daughter was using a knife early on (she’s not quite 3 in that post).

I strongly believe that kids should be included in food prep early on. My 11 month old stands at the kitchen counter and watches me prepare dinner. She munches on zucchini, or whatever I am cutting at the time. Soon she’ll be able to help me stir or add things to a mixing bowl. When we lived in Costa Rica and I had a huge kitchen island, I would set up my then 3 month old son on his tummy time pillow so he could watch his sister and I prepare dinner. My oldest was 2 at the time and would tear lettuce for our salad. My kids have always been in the kitchen with me.

Here’s a video to get you and your children started with knife skills.

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A Shakespeare Resource – Act it Out Shakespeare

Adding Diversity to History in Middle School

Some Great Books and What to Do When You Need to Homeschool for a Short Time

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