It's A. A. Milne's birthday! We'll be serving smackerels for tea time and copying Pooh quotes for copywork. And, of course, we'll be reading aloud from The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh. I hear there's a party at Marjorie's too!
Helen sent me a little red book in early December that has captivated me. It's called Achieving Peace of Heart by Narciso Irala, S.J. The book is a compelling guide to mental and emotional health and happiness. I hope to write about it later with regard to the sage spiritual advice found there. In the first few chapters, however, what struck me is how much Fr. Irala sounded like Charlotte Mason. His antidote to the exhaustion and confusion of our fast-paced world is to slow down and concentrate fully on one thing at a time. He wants us to cultivate what Miss Mason calls the "habit of attention."
I've been thinking hard for over a month now about this call to simplicity and concentration. And I can see how the last year has really been an advent of sorts. It's been a preparation for a serious commitment to simplicity and attention in all aspects of life--from the spiritual to the academic.
While I will certainly share more about peace of heart, right now, my thoughts have been most definitely on peace of education. The process--during advent,no less--of reflecting upon Michael's education and preparing college portfolios has given me ample opportunity to assess what works for our family.
Charlotte Mason education works. It's academically sound and produces a well-educated child. It is a peaceful, integrated education.
The Domestic Church works. A fully-integrated life of prayer at home with our spouse and our children, celebrating the liturgical year and the life of the church gives children spiritual peace of heart.
That's it. Living books, narration, nature study, Latin (yes, I said Latin--stop laughing, MacBeth). And God, real and present and tangible.
Sounds like a plan.
Advent and Christmas with Tomie de Paola and Others
Scripture Memory Verse: And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Luke 1: 46-49 Shorten as necessary.
Narration:
Child will listen to or read The Legend of the Poinsettia and The Lady of Guadalupe and The Night of Las Posadas and narrate.
Stories to Read:
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey
Read Aloud: A Christmas Carol. (Dickens).
Copywork
For beginners: May God be as good to you as he was to Juan Diego.
For middles: Juan Diego looked down. His rough cactus-fiber tilma had been changed into a painting of the Lady just as he had last seen her at the foot of Tepeyac.
For the big kids:
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Rabbit Trails for the whole family:
Read about Mexico. Find it on the map and tell about the country today. How is Christmas celebrated there?
Make Holiday Flan:
4 eggs
2 and one half cups milk
one half cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons warmed honey or syrup
Method:
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and honey together just to simmering, then add the vanilla.
In a slow, thin stream, beat the milk mixture into the eggs. Our the mixture into a buttered 9” layer cake pan or flan pan. Place in a large, shallow pan or baking dish filled with hot water to a depth of one-half inch. Bake at 325 degrees for thirty-five to forty minutes, or until the center is fairly firm. Glaze with the honey.
Makes six servings
(from Joy to the World by Phyllis Vos Wezeman and Jude Dennis Fournier)
The creche is an important part of The Legend of the Poinsettia. Where did the tradition of the manger scene begin? Read about it in Francis, The Poor Man of Assisi by Tomie dePaola.
Make tissue paper flowers in red, white, and pink, traditional poinsettia colors.
Copy de Paola’s picture of Our Lady of Guadeloupe onto cardstock using magic markers. Send it as a Christmas card.
Using felt, make a large banner of Our Lady like the one in the book.
Have a procession like the one in the book. Gather up some friends to parade with you and have hot chocolate and cookies afterwards.
Make Mexican Hot Chocolate for tea time.
Copy the recipe above and embellish the recipe card for your lapbook.
Make a manger scene using old-fashioned clothespins, doll head beads and felt (all supplies are readily available in craft stores).
Make clothespin poinsettia ornaments.
Detailed directions with pictures to follow, but you need old fashioned clothespins and doll heads, artificial poinsettias (3 or 4 will probably do), hot glue and glue gun, a little paint or markers in pink and blue, something to use as doll hair, gold cord to use to hang the ornaments, and flesh colored pipe cleaners.
Make rose pound cake.
Make a Juan Diego for your lapbook. Copy the illustration of Jaun Diego twice. Cut the tilma only out of one of the copies. Copy the image of Our Lady.
Cut and glue the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the full copy of Juan Diego. Tape the bottom of the tilma-only copy to the Juan Diego. Stick rose stickers to the inside so that when it falls open, you see roses.
If there is a baby in the house, make a ceremony of letting each child trace a cross on her forehead and say, “May God be as good to you as he was to Juan Diego.”
Make a grotto for Our Lady of Guadalupe
Set up a family shrine.
Make ornaments like the ones pictured on the 4Real Message Boards.
Watch Juan Diego: Messenger of Guadalupe
More rabbit trails for older children:
Research Christmas traditions in Mexico. Make a flip book of them for your lapbook.
The story of Our Lady of Guadeloupe is presented as a legend in the book, using another source, read about the Church’s official teaching on Juan Diego. Read about the canonization of Juan Diego.
Our Lady of Guadeloupe is just one of many of Mary’s titles. Make a list of all of them and decorate the list with embellishments.
Carve a nativity set.
Poet Study:
Read Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, Matt Tavares (Illustrator). Read every day, slowly, memorizing the poem together. This is the only poetry for the entire month. Break copywork into small chunks. Let children illustrate segments as they memorize.
Science and Nature Study
Don’t forget to get outside for a hike and don’t let it get swept away by the pressure of the season. A brisk walk is a great stress-buster for mom and kids.
Go to a Christmas tree farm and compare the different varieties of trees. Make sketches and label them in nature notebooks.
Read about Christmas plants in Hark! A Christmas Sampler (beginning on page 60). Visit a nursery to see Christmas plants up close. Bring home a poinsettia.
Narrate what you learned about Christmas plants and make a poinsettia covered brad-book for your lapbook. Copy a poinsettia picture from de Paola’s book, laminate it, trace it onto several pages of lined paper. Write narrations on the lined paper and “bind” them behind the laminated illustration with a brad.
Music:
Enjoy A Classical Kids Christmas
Listen to Castilian Roses
Tea Time Read Aloud
Saint’s biography: The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Empress of the Americas
Jotham’s Journey (Ytreeide) This is includes a daily reading for every day of Advent and Christmas Day. It is an adventure story that can get intense at times. Preview each selection and paraphrase if you think it necessary. Not a bedtime story.
Story
‘Twas The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett
Supplemental Stories
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Mary Engelbreit
“Twas the Night Before Christmas by
Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book by Molly Rockwell
choose some supplemental St.Nicholas picture books to complete your study
Narration with innovation suggestions follow each subject.
*Trim the top of a red file folder for the lapbook into a miter to begin this project. We trimmed it with gold.
Character/Faith
v After reading the chosen story discuss the virtues of humility and charity as modeled by St Nicholas.
v Research the office of Bishop.
What qualifications are necessary?
Do Bishops normally get nominated by the people as St Nicholas did?
Who is your local Bishop? Archbishop?
v For which countries, causes, and groups of people is St Nicholas a patron saint?
v St Nicholas’ tomb in
Myra was a popular place of pilgrimage. What is the Catholic definition of a pilgrim?
v The sailors of
Bari made a box to hold St Nicholas’ relics. What is a relic?
v students may wish to follow the suggestion found on at St. Nicholas Center
to give anonymous gifts to a needy person without seeking recognition. Alternatively, siblings could draw names to be secret St Nicks to one another for the remaining days until Christmas.
History/geography/culture study:
v Read about the life of St Nicholas
v Make a timeline
v Narration with innovation: cut a graphic of St Nick and trace several blank pages on which to narrate his bio. Compile in order and attach with a gold brad at the miter to make fan book.
v Find a map of Asia Minor and compare to modern day
Turkey
Narration with innovation: print and paste into lapbook
v Narration with innovation: A more in-depth geog option would be to compile St Nick customs from various countries and make them into a map book – Could accordion fold paper and paste map on left side and the custom on the right.
v Identify the symbols associated with St Nicholas and narrate the stories behind them
Narration with innovation: compile into vertical layered book (or tab top book) with symbols outside/explanation underneath
v Follow the development from St Nicholas as Saint of the Church into Santa the popular folk figure. Make a timeline. Who is responsible for the character of Santa as we know him now?
v additional stories of St Nicholas for children can be found here and here, for older students.
v Watch the Jan Brett video online to see where the story is set.
v Find Stockbridge
Massachusetts . Put Twas the Night Before Christmas story disk on
Massachusetts .
v Look through the Norman Rockwell book to see how he depicted Christmas. Look for people and places in Stockbridge.
Language /Copy work options:
v *There are a number of stories about the life of St Nicholas on the Kids Pages link. Any of these may be used for copywork.
Younger
St. Nicholas lived a long time ago, but he was a real person like you and me. When Nicholas grew up, he became a bishop. He kept on giving gifts to the poor, in Jesus' name.
Middle
"Here I live," smiled the man, "but after I leave my sticks I will carry your sack to your journey's end with a good heart, for it is Christmas when all men should help their fellowmen."
from story on St. Nicholas Center.
Older
Nicholas vowed that he would bring the Gospel of Christ to the people and defend the faith from all those who would assail it. Bishop Nicholas then lived his life in faithful service to God as protector of the poor and helpless, as advocate of justice for those in need, and as a faithful defender of the Christian faith.
v select a poem to memorize this week.
v memorize ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas
v Optional extras on the site include word searches or crosswords that can be completed as language fun work.
v preschool students may enjoy an echo story complete with hand gestures to act out
Additional titles to peruse!
Critical Thinking
v Compare/contrast St Nicholas and Santa
Venn Diagram
Narration with innovation: 2 flap minit bk
Art
v Compare the art in the three versions of the book.
v Print a Saint Nicholas icon. Study pictures of real icons. They are certainly different from the art styles in the books we are using. Use glitter glue and glitter paint to paint the icon printed from the website.
v choose an art/craft project such as the felt puppet
Narration with innovation make a pocket to store your puppet in the lapbook
v create stand up St Nick dolls
v color pictures of St Nick to illustrate a notebook-style report
v The graphics included in the craft pages on the site would be excellent to make into cards for the shut-ins of your parish.
v St Nicholas is especially loved in the Russian Orthodox church which is known for its icon art. Research icons and see if you can locate St Nicholas icons on the internet. Follow this link for a meditation on such an icon:
Music
v Listen to and learn a traditional St Nicholas hymn or two.
v Music students may wish to print the sheet music and play traditional St Nicholas songs
Drama
v Students may choose a script and perform for the family.
v Older students may wish to organize a larger presentation for their homeschool group, parish or local nursing home.
Cooking
Read The Baker’s Dozen and make St. Nicholas cookies from the cookie cutters available on the website.
...and while I'm still firmly in denial mode (I like her in Virginia), I am enjoying all the goodies she unearths in the process. Se sure to visit the Bonny Glen today to read about how God brought a great good out of a tragic situation and the Martha books were born amidst the trials and sufferings of a young family fighting leukemia.
And since we're unearthing old memories, I remember when Lissa first reached out to me and offered to write the foreword to my book. I declined. I hadn't read any of the Martha and Charlotte books. As a matter of fact, I thought them heresy. How dare anyone try to further Laura Ingalls Wilder's own series?! The audacity! To understand my devotion to Laura, you must know that I consider those books an integral part of my childhood, a driving force in the formation of who I was to become as an adult and second only to my children's Bible when I consider how I survived some very difficult growing years. When I wanted an example of a strong, faithful, and compassionate father, I looked to Pa. When I wondered how to behave as a mother in a household full of chidren despite trial and tribulation, I studied Ma. I studied every nuance of Ma's responses to Pa and Ma's responses to her children. I even memorized Ma's housekeeping routine! And when I wanted an example of a confident child whose whole childhood was preparing her to be a writer, I had Laura. No one could mess with Laura in my opinion. But something nudged me to read Lissa's books, probably the loveliness of Lissa's online posting--I wanted to know what she could do with fiction.
So, for my "babymoon" after Stephen was born, I binge read them all. And I found that someone could take the inspiration of Laura Ingalls Wilder, honor her legacy, and write something even better. There. I've said it in public. I think the Melissa Wiley Little House books are even better than the Laura Ingalls Wilder originals. They are richer, more complex, more lyrical. They are finely woven tapestries. Every word, every page, every turn of the plot is carefully measured and artfully crafted. In a time when so many series for children are cranked out in the vein of Captain Underpants, Martha and Charlotte shine alone. For they are truly children's literature. They are art.
The Martha and Charlotte books, like the Laura books, are set apart because they respect children. They love children. Laura wrote during a time when children were prized and cherished. The Martha and Charlotte books are written during a time when children are prevented and discarded before they ever see the light of day. And, sadly, much of the publishing industry treats children as commodities but not as precious minds and hearts in need of art to be fed to their souls. The publishing industry churns out much twaddle these days, making lots of money off of children but hating them right along with the much of the popular culture. They offer fare that is stripped, dumbed down, and beneath the dignity of the child. Books like the Martha and Charlotte books are the exceptions--they respect children; they love children. They give them the rich experiences for which literature is intended.
They are books that can take a little girl in a sad home situation or a child in a leukemia ward and transport her to a place of hope. And once she's there, the books have enough depth and texture to keep her there, to stay with her, to carry her through. And one day, someone will ask that child--now grown up-- who influenced her to become such a good mother, to put so much emphasis on family and love and fullness of life, and she will stop and ponder. And then, she will reply confidently, "Martha Morse and Charlotte Tucker." Remembering that she is grown and that they are characters in a childhood book, she'll revise her answer, "Melissa Wiley. Melissa Wiley made my childhood good. Really."
I'm Elizabeth. I'm a happy wife and the mother of nine children. I grab grace with both hands and write to encourage myself and others to seize and nurture the joy of every day. I blog here with my daughter, Mary Beth, a wholehearted young lady on the brink of adulthood.
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