How do you teach poetry ?

The idea of "teaching" poetry always leaves me filled with panic!  I love words and the clever use of words can be a real pleasure to enjoy in poetry. For me however, when I think of teaching poetry my mind drifts to school days. At school we had to dissect poems and try to work out what the teacher thought of it.  We had to analyse it, search for symbolism and hidden meanings, look for and explain the rhythms and or patterns, categorise the different parts of speech and then the dreaded composing of poems ... 

I'm sorry this post will not contain a detailed how to on teaching poetry as this is a new season of home education for me. One of the methods I am keen to incorporate in my homeschool is a Charlotte Mason approach.  Charlotte says of poetry

"Children should practice reading aloud every day, and their readings "should include a good deal of poetry, to accustom him to the delicate rendering of shades of meaning, and especially to make him aware that words are beautiful in themselves, that they are a source of pleasure, and are worthy of our honour; and that a beautiful word deserves to be beautifully said, with a certain roundness of tone and precision of utterance. Quite young children are open to this sort of teaching, conveyed, not in a lesson, but by a word now and then." from volume 1 pg 227 Older (age 9?)

I'm always amazed at how life unfolds.  On Monday we had a home school mothers meeting and the theme for the meeting was Poetry. The guide for this conversation was taken from The Charlotte Mason Companion Chapter 29 Approach to Poetry.

Karen shared some of her view on teaching poetry online over at Homeschool World in her article The Charlote Mason Approach to Poetry.

My gleanings from Karen

• Through carefully chosen poetry, mothers can teach their children to recognise sin, be inspired, and be filled with admiration of God's gifts to man.
• Poetry is not just a means to moral instruction. It is part of the humanities.
• It's a deep expression of thought and feeling.
• It should be permissible to have a different taste for poetry than that of the teacher. Making a connection with poetry 
• If you do not like poetry, there is an obvious remedy: introduce the child and the poem and leave them to make friends for themselves.
• Poetry is strewn with ideas. Saturate yourself in the words - they can have an intoxicating effect on the intellect.
• After years of a relationship with poetry, built on shorter poems, children will be capable of enjoying and comprehending longer and more abstract works.

Ways to incorporate Poetry

• Read out loud daily (no twaddle allowed)
• Mark the seasons 
• Use poems in nature journals
• One Poet a week.  If you have an anthology choose one poet and immerse yourselves in their poems for a week or two.
• Use a child's favourite poems in copy work.  If it's a long poem choose a stanza a week.
• Memorise poetry and present it at a special tea or a homeschool co-op

Poetry Books

• Favorite Poems Old and New: Selected For Boys and Girls by Helen Ferris Tibbets (Author) , Leonard Weisgard (Illustrator) Over 700 classic and modern poems
• Now we are six - AA Milne
• Favorite Poems of Childhood Edited by Philip Smith
• Favorite Poems old and New by Helen Ferris
• Cotton Sailboats - Poems for Little Children
• Child's Introduction to Poetry
• A Child's Anthology of Poetry
• Classic Poetry
• A Treasury of Poetry for Young People
• The Llama Who Had No Pajama
• All the Small Poems This books was a delight to read out loud.  We really enjoyed it.

On the WWW

• Pinterest - Language Arts Poetry
  
  
• Teaching Poetry over at Love to Know Home School
• Simply Charlotte Mason: Teaching Poetry
• Simply Charlotte Mason: Poetry - Language Arts
•  Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - Poetry
• Poetry for Homeschool by Jimmie over at Squidoo
• The Parents Review 1892/936 Pages 893-898 An Address on the Teaching of Poetry
• The Parents' Review The Teaching of Poetry to Children by Mrs. J. G. Simpson Volume 12, 1901, pgs. 879-883
• The Parents' Review What is Poetry? by H. A. Nesbitt, M.A. Volume 14, 1903, pgs. 33-42
• Poetry Lesson Plans and Ideas by Harmony ArtMom over at Squidoo.
• 12 Best Poetry Websites for Kids - interactive apps, forms and fun!
• Math Poetry Lessons for Homeschool over at Squidoo
• High School - How to Teach Your Children Poetry over at Crosswalk.
• Homeschool Poetry Study over at 31 Cups

Charlotte explained that “the magic of poetry makes knowledge vital, and children and grown-ups quote a verse which shall add blackness to the ashbud, tender wonder to that ‘flower in the crannied wall,’ a thrill to the song of the lark” (Vol. 6, p. 328)

I would love to know your thoughts and favourite books in this area of your home school
Blessings

Chareen

This post is part of the Homeschool Help series brought to you by a group of homeschool Mom's from around the globe.  Do not forget to visit and read their inspirational insight.

This week

• Bernadette   Waxing Poetical
• Julie  Studying Poetry with Children
• Savannah shares Poetry – How and Why to Teach It; Part 1
• Lucinda  How we do Poetry Teatime 
• Nicole  Our First Poetry Smoothietime!

 ---ooOoo---

This post is linking to

The Informed Parent

Carnival of Homeschooling {Edition #381}

Welcome to the 381 edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling where home school families share their homeschool wisdom with us from all over the world via their blogs.

Carnival of Homeschooling was started by the Cate Family over at Why Homeschool and has been a tremendous source of home school support and information.

This Week . . .

In homeschooling we all come across difficult obstacles. Today Rachel is reminding us in order to overcome those difficult subjects, it may take grace, and one small step at a time!! Pop on over to DiAmOnDs In ThE rOuGh to read Doing the Hard Things; a principle for life!

April 22 is Earth Day and Mindy from over at Den School has put together a post with links and ideas for teaching your children about our responsibility in looking after the earth.

Barbara from over at Barbara Frank Online shares some encouragement in My Son's Impossible Dreams for us as parents in regards to our children not reaching their dreams or being unable to reach their dreams due to circumstances.




This week I would like to share with you some of the Resources you can use to home school for FREE.  This post is part of a homeschool series called: Homeschool Help where five homeschool mom's are sharing their experience with you.



Time 4 Learning shares The Number Of Homeschoolers In The U.S. Continues To Rise. This post is about the rising popularity of homeschooling, reasons for the increase, and how the success homeschoolers are achieving is reinforcing the homeschooling movement.



Meg shares Jude is READING!!! A year ago, he had a whole bunch of educational testing done, and the results were not hopeful.  His language disabilities left him on the cusp of being considered "ineducable." It took him over a year to learn his alphabet (and he still struggles).  We started this program, and I wasn't expecting success -- I figured we would just plod along and get there eventually.  My hope was that by next spring we would have an "early reader."  But he is READING WORDS!!!! Read more over at  Adventures with Jude


Karyn shares her Favourite Homeschool Science Curriculum as voted by YOU the homeschool Mom over at Teach Beside Me.  She did some research on Facebook, Forums, Email and in person and shares some great information on Teaching Science and the Curriculums out there.

 Have you ever wondered what Real Life Homeschooling is all about ? Candice from over at His MERCY is new has a new series where she shares her insights with us. This is a new series where homeschooling moms are dispelling the myth that we have it all together! :) Please come and share your "real life" homeschooling moments and let's encourage one another to keep on keeping on!!



Kym over at Homeschool Coffee Break shares  a History lesson: Route 66 the famous highway known as the "Main Street of America" and made popular by songs and movies.  Pop on over for some history ideas.




Over at This Sweet Life Tara shares how she tackles Fourth Grade Language Arts - Spelling. Have a look at a step by step break down of tackling spelling.

Vikings were the theme of the day today. Annette from over at A Net In Time Schooling says they were learning about Vikings and this is where their learning took them.

Leah from over at As We Walk Along the Road is blogging through the Alphabet and shares that B is for Budget specifically her homeschool curriculum BUDGET.  How to plan and buy.

Sarah Elisabeth shares 14 ways to save money on home education resources over at Delivering Grace.

Susan from over at Homeschooling Hearts & Minds helps to dispel The Comfy Couch Myth of Homeschooling.  Susan encourages you to find what works for you and your family and do that, in fact do more than that embrace it for it's who you and your family are.

Celeste from over at Joyous Lessons shares First Grade in Our Home: Memory Work Round-up. April is National Poetry month Celeste expands on memory work with samples and ideas of the sorts of things you can do in First Grade the Charlotte Mason way.



Kim shares over at On Planting Seeds that you don’t have to go far to find really great “classrooms” when you homeschool. I got on the Internet last night and scoped out some possibilities for the coming week. I wonder if you have similar things going on in your area? Pop on over to read Homeschool Outings: 10 Things You Can Do This Week




Deborah from over at The Paper Maid shares some insights about Life of Fred and what she has found on her research.

Gary from over at Homeschool Buzz shares the Top 100 Most Commonly Used Words: Must Learn List via a delightful graphic and list. He encourages To solidify your child’s foundation in spelling, make sure he knows how to spell this word list, which makes up more than half of all the words most likely to be encountered in reading and basic writing needs.


Over at Bow of Bronze Amy shares a great tutorial Sewing with Children: How to make an Apron from a Tea Towl. This is a cheap easy to do craft that will bring great delight to children for days.




Gwen from Tolivers to Texas shares on Teaching Bible Stories to Children. There are many types of felt figures out there but Betty Lukens Bible felt figures are different. Did you know you can still purchase these ?  Pop on over to find out more.  No  this is not a review . . .

Thank you for visiting the carnival this week may you be as encouraged as I have been reading what has been shared.

Blessings

Chareen 

   
Next week's Carnival of Homeschooling will be hosted on the 23 April by Karyn over at Teach Beside Me.

Karyn homeschool's her three children and has an eclectic style.

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For Future editions of Carnival of Homeschooling
Email submissions to: CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com
When: by 6:00 PM (PST) on the Monday evening of the week. It is greatly appreciated when the submissions come in earlier.
What: Please send the following information
Title of Post
URL of Post
Name of Blog
URL of Blog
Brief summary of the post
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(With "carnival" or "submission" in the subject field of the email.)

Homeschool Daily Schedules

Personally I have a love hate relationship with home school daily schedules.  On one had I know how valuable they are and on the other they annoy me endlessly.  I love flexibility to the annoyance of my family, who do not cope with sudden and unexpected change. I have spent the last year without a formal written schedule and the fruit of this decision shows my time has not been as productive as when I have used a written formal schedule. At the moment I have the skeleton of a schedule brewing in my thinking. I have baulked at creating a schedule partly because of Sir N's make up.  He thrives on schedule but if anything changes even by one minute the world comes to an end and I end up spending hours trying to calm him down and get back on track.

Today at our home school mom's meeting we discussed the chapter Inconstant Kitty in A Charlotte Mason Companion it could not have come at a better time. It always amazes me how these sorts of things 'happen' across my path when I need them the most.

"Every lesson must have its own time, and no other time in this world is there for it. The sense of the preciousness of time, of the irreparable loss when a ten minutes' lesson is thrown away must be brought home." - Charlotte Mason Companion page 93

Dangers
There are many hidden dangers to having a formal schedule. I have found often times we purchase a curriculum and feel driven to check every box in order to say we have achieved X,Y of Z. Or we say I have paid good money for that I will use it. Often times this is much to the determent of our home atmosphere. I have learned that a home atmosphere determines the length of a home school journey.

However the counter balance is "What you are allowed to meander through all day, you will; what must be done, is done." - Charlotte Mason Companion page 92.

Another danger is becoming a slave to the schedule and loosing all sense of flexibility.  A Schedule can be your ruling tyrant or active servant. Over the years I have found that it is important to keep it in the appropriate place of servitude. Sally Clarkson says: "There are many varieties of personalities and possibilities of home organization, Each of us simply has to find the combination of routines that suits our lifestyle and desires." -  The Mission of Motherhood.

Home school groups / friends can be another source of danger. At times there can be a sub culture of comparison within many home school groups. Over time I have come to understand that this happens because as home school mothers we feel inadequate. So we constantly compare ourselves and what we are doing with what others are doing.

For many years I did this (and sometimes still do) and the result was constantly changing my home school to look like someone else's. The fruit of this is adding in many excellent ideas that were working for other families and in the end I had so many things I was doing I couldn't possibly do them well. There just were not enough hours in my day to do so. I constantly have to prune in order to do a few things really well rather than a myriad of things at 25% capacity.

Consider

When setting up your individual schedule keep in mind your own families needs and character.  Trying to adhere to someone else's schedule is a recipe for an unhappy home. Remember your children are being tutored therefore they do not need to have a six hour school day.  Typically a 7 year old can learn a full day of school in 2-3 hours. In the high school years an average of four hours is all that is needed. Here are a few things to consider when formulating a schedule should you choose to have one:

• Your personality and those of your spouse and children.
• You spouses schedule and needs
• Learning Styles
• Family needs
• Break times
• Deadlines
• Extra curricular classes (children's, yours and your spouse)
• Ages and stages of your children
• Your personal style.
• Why ? What's your motive for that choice? 
• Know your purpose. 
• Consider all or your priorities.
• What are your goals ?
• Limit and cut back on all fronts because everything takes longer than you will expect.

Remember a schedule needs to grow and change with your family.  Your children are growing, changing and maturing. What is working well today might not work so well in six months time. Take regular time to reevaluate your schedule and tweak it to suit your family.

Methods
There are many methods of structuring your day out there.  Here are some ideas for you to consider when developing your schedule

• Chunks of time
• Hourly topics
• Charts
• Lists
• Theme for the Day
• Monthly Theme

On the WWW

• Homeschool Planners & Record Keeping on Pinterest
• Homeschool Planning Know How on Pinterest
• Homeschool - Daily Schedule by Mary Lou
• Sample Schedules on Simply Charlotte Mason

Last thoughts

Once you have structured your plan and have embarked upon your new adventure be aware that you will need to make regular small course corrections to stay on track.  The winds of time, health, seasons, understanding and interruptions will blow. On occasion the storms of life may blow you off track so it is imperative to take some regular time to course correct and refocus and move forward.

Blessings
Chareen

This week

• Bernadette shares I've got Rhythm and wonders if you could ask for anything more?
• Julie has a Highhill Education Daily Schedule and uses spreadsheets to keep organized and help her children become more independent.
• Hwee shares about their Daily Schedule or Lack thereof and talks about their journey from being formally structured home schoolers to find their loosely structured approach.
• Savannah shares Our Daily Schedule including daily life, meal planning, school and all the extras

 ---ooOoo---

Linking with

Title Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles

A little Word on Homeschool Record Keeping

Some home schooler's wonder whether record keeping is worth while and others are plagued by a deep fear of being checked up on which drives them to keep reams and reams of records. Record keeping during homeschooling does not need to be fear driven or brushed aside I think a healthy balance somewhere in between is a good place to be.

Record keeping is different in every country / state in the world so it's important that you check to see what the legal requirements are.

Planning your homeschool year is a great place to start with your record keeping. You can use this as a check list at the end of each day and by the end of the year you will have gathered a substantial list of what has been completed.

A word of caution, when we purchase a curriculum we somehow feel compelled to check every box and do e-v-e-r-y assignment and at times this can be to the detriment of our learning experience. Remember that you are the master and that purchased curriculum is your servant.  Use it as such.  For some reason when we pay money for something we feel compelled to use it from A to Z. Remember that not checking all the boxes is not an indication of failure but rather indicates an attitude that you have evaluated whether or not you need to complete the said assignment to accomplish your goal. Setting up goals and planning go hand in hand with good record keeping.

Consistent record keeping is especially important in the High School years. You will need these records to provide accurate details to future employers and tertiary institutions.

The first key to keeping excellent records is being consistent. The second key to unlocking record keeping is to find what works for you and stick to that method. As homeschool parents we live in a costant state of doubt and the result of this is looking at what others are doing and feeling that you need to change and be like them. Rule number one is: "Do not compare your system to someone else unless you are looking for a method to improve yours or your system is not working."

What should you keep records of ?
Generally records fall into one of three main categories.

1. Academic
2. Additional information.
3. Transcripts

The HSLDA has an excellent pdf document you can down load titled HSLDA Guide for Homeschooling through High School. This document has a comprehensive summary of what to include in each of these categories.

It is exceptionally important to be familiar with the local laws governing homeschooling where you are so that you know what sorts of records are important for you to keep.

Lee Binz from The Home Scholar has some excellent YouTube video's on Transcripts and how to.

Legal Requirements {Australia}

1. Queensland
2. Northern Territories
3. Western Australia
4. South Australia
5. Victoria
6. Australian Capital Territory
7. New South Wales
8. Tasmania

In the USA a good place to start is HSLDA and for the rest of the world they have a comprehensive International Homeschooling contact list.

A word about technical terms (jargon)
There is nothing like sitting in a room full of people who use big words and you have no idea what on earth they are talking about.  Over at Time 4 Learning they have an amazing Homeschool Glossary for you.

• Homeschool Terms and Definitions (A-C)
• Homeschool Terms and Definitions (D-N)
• Homeschool Terms and Definitions (P-U)

Thankfully I read some books by Ruth Beechick who is an excellent encourager. She helps you to understand the daily tasks you do with your children can be categorized into the fancy school terminology (technical jargon of schools). All you need is a little understanding and a little bit of vocabulary building on your part as well as taking some time to evaluate each activity and reclassify it. This in turn will make your homeschool records take on a more professional feel. I highly recommend Ruth Beechick's book: You Can Teach Your Child Successfully.

How to keep records 

When I first started homeschooling I used my Sonlight Instructors Guide and checked off each task as we completed it. This guide is an excellent resource for record keeping and planning ahead.  I am currently using The Well-Planned Day Homeschool Planner and another one that looks great is The Ultimate Homeschool Planner published by Apologia Ministries.

• Easy Fuss Free Record Keeping over at Homeschooling Downunder Blog
• Homeschool Record Keeping and Evaluation over at About.com
• How to Keep Accurate Homeschooling Records over at wikiHow
• Homeschool Record Keeping in High School on Squidoo
• Homeschool Portfolio Evaluations Shouldn't be Scary! over at Time 4 Learning.
• Creating Homeschool Transcripts over at Pros and Cons of Homeschooling.

Record Keeping on the Net

• Homeschool Planners and Organizers over at The Home School Mom
• Recordkeeping: Is it Worth the Trouble? over at HSLDA
• Record keeping for High School over at HSLDA
• Record Keeping for Special Needs children over at HSLDA
• Homeschool Record Keeping on Pinterest
• Nadene over at Practical Pages shares some tips on using Google Calendar for planning/record keeping. This post is a step by step tutorial
• Theme for the Day over at Practical Pages.
• Homeschooling with Excellence No.3 {Better Ways to Use Your Instructor's Guide} over at Sonlight.
• Useful iPad Apps for Record-Keeping over at Creating with Wisdom
• Unschooling Record-keeping and Planning over at Creating with Wisdom
• Homeschool Planning Know How on Pinterest
• Homeschool Planners and Record Keeping on Pinterest. 
• Free Weekly Planning Pages from Homeschooling Hearts and Minds.
• Free Gradebook+ over at  Fivejs
• Some Helpful Tools and Resources over at Time 4 Learning

What are some of your favourite resources to keep records of your homeschool journey ?  Please share the link in the comments so that I can add to the above list.

Blessings
Chareen 

This post is part of the Home school High School Carnival.  Don't forget to pop on over to Creating with Wisdom to read what others are saying about this topic.




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Winter Nature Study is it Possible ?

Who are you kidding ? Taking the kids out in the blustery cold, rain or snow. Do I have to ? It's to cold to go outdoors. It's raining. Is it worth it or is there something else I could do ? .....

These are just a few of the thoughts that fly through my mind when I consider doing Nature Study in Winter.

Nature Journaling in winter is not impossible it requires some foresight and planning.

Some options to consider

• Rug up and go for short walks with your camera, take some photo's then come home and learn about what you found on your walk. Search for anything with colour in your environment and observe it for a while. 
• Make a bird feeder to feed the winter birds near your home and hang it near a window so you can watch the birds from the safety of your home.
• Pick an animal a week to study and borrow books from the library and search YouTube for good information.
• Follow the Handbook of Nature Study Website .
• Go to your local green grocer and buy a new fruit each week. Take time to study it in depth with suplemental materials from the library and internet.
• Make use of your zoo membership and visit a Zoo near you and choose an animal to learn about. Take your drawing things with you and draw the animal you have chosen for that week.
• Make animal foot casts
• Explore your own garden and search for some winter colour. I did this a couple of years ago and was surprised at just how much colour there is when I was least expecting it.
• Find something that your family can turn into a tradition. We go to Wild Nights Zoo after Dark in winter.
• Grow a windowsill garden and if the sill is too cold bring it further indoors and put it on a table near the window. Document the process.
• Read beautiful living books by authors such as: Holling Clancy Holling and Sterling North

Else where on the www

• Winter Wednesday - Nature Study Ideas at Squidoo
• Winter Nature Study for Families at Squidoo
• Winter Nature Walks at Squidoo
• From Stepping Outside to the Nature Journal at Serenades and Solace
• Nature in Winter: An overview over at In Season by Donna Long.
• Nature Study Winter over on Pinterest by Barb (Harmony Arts Mom)
• Nature Study in the Winter by Our Journey Westward
• Winter Nature Study Ideas over at The Common Room.
• Winter nature study: Taking your homeschool outdoors over at She Knows Parenting

So whether you are in the throws of planning your year ahead or in the middle of a deep snowy winter take some time and consider your options for Nature Study, create regular opportunities so that you don't miss out.

If Nature Journaling is a new concept to you then pop on over to TT - Nature Journaling for some resources on how to start and what to do.

Remember: Knowledge in one "subject" helps us to understand another. All the information your children are gathering in their nature study lessons, and the habits of observation they are acquiring, will form an excellent foundation for their future education. (CMC Page 259 Karen Andreola)

Blessings
Chareen


This post is part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog Cruise: Winter Nature Study. Take some time and pop on over and be encouraged to do Nature Study in Winter.

This post is linking with Carnival of Homeschooling hosted over at Dave Out Loud.