Composer, Artist, Hymn, Shakespeare Monday

We discussed the Last Supper today. The kids were pretty fascinated by it. One of the resources we used said that the pictures that we hold in our hand is probably in better condition than what is left on the Refectory wall now in Milan. I also found this link for detailed discussion. We will spend more time on that next I am hoping. Breaks down the painting piece by piece to understand it. Nice that they built a door way right through the bottom of the painting!

We re-started As You Like It by Shakespeare. We are using the Lamb version of the tales until the kids get older. Nik could actually probably handle reading the actual plays right now, but the point right now is MY sanity, so we are sticking with Lamb for a bit more. I was reminded last night on one of my lists to not keep stopping and rephrasing everything for the kids understanding. For one, this makes the readings LONG and tedious! But, yet, I was still doing it. Here is what Charlotte Mason says about that:

Volume 1, pg 232
The points to be borne in mind are, that he should have no book which is not
a child's classic; and that, given the right book, it must not be diluted with
talk or broken up with questions, but given to the boy in fit proportions as
wholesome meat for his mind, in the full trust that a child's mind is able to
deal with its proper food.

Before the reading for the day begins, the teacher should talk a little(and
get the children to talk) about the last lesson, with a few words about what is
to be read, in order that the children may be animated by expectation; but she
should beware of explanation and, especially, of forestalling the narrative.
Then, she may read two or three pages, enough to include an episode; after that,
let her call upon the children to narrate,--in turns, if there be several of
them. They not only narrate with spirit and accuracy, but succeed in catching the
style of their author. It is not wise to tease them with corrections; they may
begin with an endless chain of 'ands,' but they soon leave this off, and their
narrations become good enough in style and composition to be put in a 'print
book'!
This sort of narration lesson should not occupy more than a quarter of
an hour. The book should always be deeply interesting, and when the
narration is over, there should be a little talk in which moral points are
brought out, pictures shown to illustrate the lesson, or diagrams drawn on
the blackboard.

Isn't she so smart? So, I put it to the test, (I have been timid to try it with dealing with 3 different ages, but I do KNOW better!). I read 10 minutes of As You Like It, and asked for a narration from anyone who could give it to me. Seth went first and gave really good details (of the wrestling match of course;) of the story line. Nik filled in most of the gaps. Lesson accomplished in a mere 15-20 minutes! If only I would always just follow the method... The first time I read it, I got 2 pages and stopped and explained every strange word and innuendo, its just unnecessary! And they would really hate Shakespeare when I was done with them;)

Bach we watched 2 more episodes on YouTube of The Great Composer~Bach series. They are interested. I just need to somehow get us listening to classical music during the day. I think that would help them.

I still have half a day to do with them, but its close to 2pm, guess we will get in the major stuff!;) It is getting smoother for sure!

Composer, Artist and Hymn Study

On Mondays, I try to combine as many things as I can and teach them as a *class*. This works really well with the Composer, Artist and Hymn of the term (I also combine Handbook of Nature Studies, Shakespeare & Folksongs, but so far I am not as creative with those three, ha!, but we still do those on Mondays also). This school year, with all the crunches most of us are going through, I basically do not have a school budget. So for these three I use itunes and YouTube alot. I just wanted to share some of the links that I have been using.

Johann Sabastian Bach
For Bach, the first four weeks we are focusing on the Magnificat. I am finding it so fun to have to teach the kids something that, on a regular basis, I would not take the time to study or listen to on my own. (this is all about my education, right?) Anyway, I found lots of great links and info!
The Magnificat was written for an Orchestra and (I believe) 5 vocalists. So the first week we talked a lot about what an Orchestra is and what instruments make it up. I got to show the kids the different instruments and listen to them. I think they appreciated the music after they got to hear all the different types that go into it. I found this on YouTube:



Then I found this breakdown of the Latin of the Magnificat for them. Of course you could just look it up in the book of Luke;) Then a short bio with LOTS of MIDI files are here. A longer bio is of course on Wikepedia;) Also, since this wasn't enough (ha!) I searched Bach's full name in YouTube and found a Great Composer Series from BBC! We spent a slight bit of time around the computer screen on Monday morning.


Leonardo Da Vinci
Ok, then for Mr. Da Vinci...we have been studying him for LITERALLY a year! UGH! He was the Artist for the first term of September 2007! I was so good and got the prints off to Office Max and got copies for all the kids, laminated, etc. But, well, then our house got literally turned upside downside;) (Ok, just the back of the house got ripped off, but still.) So, since I had the prints and the books, I kept on with him. So beside the prints, we are using a couple books that guide us through some of the portraits. One is Leonardo Da Vinci by Ernest Raboff and the other is Leonardo Da Vinci (haha) by Bruno Santi. I did find some websites also. One is from the Louvre that takes a close up view the Mona Lisa. And then Nik is reading this Landmark book by Emily Hahne.

All the Way my Savior Leads Me, by Fanny Crosby

This is our hymn to study for the next twelve weeks. It is a beautiful hymn, but learning more about Fanny Crosby has really impacted my kids. She went blind at 6 weeks from a mere eye infection, and a *doctor* gave her a wrong remedy and ruined her eye sight. She wrote this poem when she was 8:

Oh what a happy soul I am,
Although I cannot see;
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don't;
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't."

And she is quoted as saying:

It seemed in­tend­ed by the bless­ed prov­i­dence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dis­pen­sa­tion. If per­fect earth­ly sight were of­fered me to­mor­row I would not ac­cept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been dis­tract­ed by the beau­ti­ful and in­ter­est­ing things about me.

And then good ol' youtube helped me out again;) A pastor used her as a sermon illustration. The kids had heard most of it, but I think it was like they were getting to watch TV during school, so I let them see it. The only thing that was questionable, was how he presented her getting saved...but beside that it was good information, and it brought up good conversation starters. (Not that my kids really need any of those;))

She definitely led an extraordinary life, writing over 8000 hymns and poems! Her concepts and dependence on her Lord is quite inspiring.