Ancient History Homeschool Studies

For our homeschool studies this year, we've added ancient history to our first-grade core curriculum. We're supplementing Story of the World, Vol. 1 with art projects and lots–and I do mean lots–of library books.

For the art projects, we are using Artistic Pursuits, Book 1, one of Cathy Duffy's top 101 picks. For now, we're skipping the first two parts of the book and are concentrating on the chronological ancient art projects in the back of the book. So far we've done "cave paintings," made pottery, and drawn pyramid-style murals. Thursday art days have become a favorite in our house.

In no particular order, I'll share with you some of our library book finds. I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many feet high my stacks of library books measure, but there is no way I can catalog them all for you–at least not in one post. And you wouldn't want me to. So here are few for starters.

The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with Hieroglyphs is a beautifully illustrated tale retold from an ancient papyrus scroll believed to date to the nineteenth century B.C. I love that it is an authentic Egyptian story and not historical fiction. There's a place for both but the authentic literature is harder to come by for early ancient history, especially when considering what's appropriate for the younger student. Plus, there are actual hieroglyphic phrases in the illustrations of the book, complete with word-for-word pronunciation and translation!

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs is a wonderful picture book biography of Jean-François Champollion. It is well-written and nicely illustrated with lots of interesting information tucked in.

Adventures in Ancient Egypt, a time travel book written and illustrated in comic-book style, was fun for me to read, but I think I'll save reading it to Katherine until we cycle through again. It's appropriately designated for ages eight through twelve.

A City Through Time and A Street Through Time are both excellent pictorial overviews of the history of civilization from nomads through modern times. The detailed illustrations make these over-sized books lots of fun.

I think that's enough for now. Good night!

Rest: The Opposite of Acedia

In reading Kathleen Norris's book, Acedia and Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life, I was cheered to come across the following passage on the nature of unceasing prayer:

We might well ask if these crazy monks don't have it coming: if your goal is to "pray without ceasing," aren't you asking for trouble? Is this a reasonable goal, or even a good one? Henri Nouwen tells us that "the literal translation of the words 'pray always' is 'come to rest.' The Greek word for rest," he adds, "is 'hesychia,' and 'hesychasm' is a term which refers to the spirituality of the desert." The "rest" that the monk is seeking is not an easy one, and as Nouwen writes, it "has little to do with the absence of conflict or pain. It is a rest in God in the midst of a very intense daily struggle."Acedia is the monk's temptation because, in a demanding life of prayer, it offers the ease of indifference. Yet I have come to believe that acedia can strike anyone whose work requires self-motivation and solitude, anyone who remains married 'for better for worse," anyone who is determined to stay true to a commitment that is sorely tested in everyday life. (p. 6)

Acedia definitely strikes me, and, for some reason, knowing that the cure is rest in God is so very comforting and encouraging. To pray always is to enter the height of creation, the Sabbath of worship and rest. It is to remember our freedom from bondage of every kind through our Savior. It is to enter into the re-creation, the Eighth Day of the resurrection. It is to be always present in the Kingdom of Heaven, hidden with Christ in God. By God's grace, may it always be the cry of my soul to be there in that hidden place.

Favorite Picture Books

We are always interested in captivating picture books around here, so I thought I'd share a few of our favorites from the last couple years. We borrow most of ours from the public library.

Jude and Katherine both love The Story of Noodles and Pond Walk. They urge me to re-request these from the library and never get tired of hearing them. As a bonus, each book comes with a recommended activity in the back. The Story of Noodles has a recipe, and Pond Walk has a craft. The Story of Noodles has changed the way we eat noodles in our family!

We also loved the books we've found on the various composers we've been studying. They are all excellent, Charlotte-Mason-quality "living books":

 

 

 

In January and February we discovered some great reads for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day. I got so carried away at the library that it kind of morphed into a mini-unit study on Lincoln, the Civil War, slavery, and the civil rights movement (with a little bit of George Washington and the War of Independence thrown in)! Here are just a few of the best reads:

This beautifully written book by Rosemary Wells is a chapter book rather than a picture book. Katherine, my kindergartener, and I read it together over several sittings and we were both engaged. However, she's a little young to fully appreciate it (and many kindergarteners probably wouldn't have the attention span to sit through it), so I'm saving this title for future reference. It's a very moving account of Abraham Lincoln through the perspective of his relationship with his two youngest sons, one of whom dies in childhood.

Henry's Freedom Box is a beautifully illustrated story of the amazing escape from slavery of Henry "Box" Brown. (His middle name tells his story!) This one was very frank about the horrors of slavery and was a bit too sad for my very sensitive girl to want to read more than once or twice. However, the copy I got from the library came with an audio CD containing read-aloud versions as well as a recording of a feet-stomping traditional African-American gospel song.

Words Set Me Free is the powerful story of how learning to read and write allowed Frederick Douglass to desire and eventually attain freedom from slavery. In addition to conveying an essential story in our country's history, it is the perfect story to read to an emerging reader and conveys the heart of what classically-informed educators mean by a "liberal education."

I love the story, the illustrations, and the layered message in Going Someplace Special. A pre-civil-rights girl finds a reprieve from the realities of racism in the public library where "All are welcome."

And here a couple other classic stories we've enjoyed recently:

 

Denham's lovely retelling of collected saint's lives is truly poetic at times. My favorite was the chapter on Saint Peter.


What are some of your favorite picture books?

Sanctification as Healing Through Inward Grace

I love the Orthodox understanding of sanctification and what it means to enter the Kingdom of God. I found the following quotation from Archbishop JOSEPH in Sunday's bulletin:

"We must strengthen ourselves by truly realizing that the God of the Universe is the God who dwells within us. When we begin to enter into our interior universe, we will find how close we are to our healing. God has given us all things, we need only remove from our inner selves what is not of God."

When I poked around the internet, I found that his words were taken from an address he gave in 2005 at the Northern California Ladies Retreat. I love it so much I am copying all but the introductory remarks below.

[. . .] When we speak of illness, we often think of symptoms: a cough, a pain, a discoloration. Yet, these are only signs that an illness has already taken hold of our bodies. An illness runs deeper than the symptoms, and it is only through careful examination that a physician can discover an illness before the symptoms develop.

This is true of both the body and the soul. Our souls and minds can become infected with very real and very deadly diseases, which result in a variety of symptoms. St. Paul refers to them as works of the flesh. In Galatians, he wrote:

"Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal 5:19-21)

The Holy Apostle warns us that symptoms indicate that the disease of sin is so great that we cannot enter the Heavenly Kingdom. Just as an unhealthy body prevents us from going places, so an unhealthy soul prevents us from going into spiritual places, foremost of which is the Kingdom of God.

Let us also remember our Lord’s words recorded in the Gospel:

“For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he then said to the paralytic – “Rise, take up your bed and go home.” (Mt 9:5-6)

Sin is a greater affliction to man. Though physical sickness may cause us great suffering, sin keeps us removed from God’s presence and sets in a place of eternal suffering. Physical wellness is of no value to a suffering soul, wracked with a guilty conscience and angry unforgiveness. Our Lord offers us forgiveness first, that might be healed of soul, so that we can join in the Mystical Union of Christ and the Church. 

If we are to enter into the Bridal Chamber, we must be healthy. The diseases that afflict us must be cured. From the example of the saints, we know that physical diseases afflicted people close to God. Yet, we also know that many diseases are brought about by what we now call ‘lifestyle decisions.’ The alcoholic suffers from the disease of cirrhosis brought about by his drinking, and the coal miner suffers from black lung because he worked too long in the mines.

Therefore, to live a peaceful and joyous life, we must be mindful of how we live. We must have a ‘healthy lifestyle.’ We listen to the advice of doctors in caring for our bodies, and we should listen to the teachings of the Church if we desire to have a healthy soul.

However, I know that many of you are coming here to this retreat with much suffering. You are in pain and seeking healing. I promise that what you hear this weekend can be, for all of you, a new beginning on the road to healing. What I hope all of you will find here is hope, a hope and faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ, which will give you the strength to change. For the solution to all illness is found in our willingness to take the cure. The sick person who refuses the medicine will not receive its benefits, and those who reject the teachings of the Church also reject the cure of the soul which the Church offers.

For some of you, this will be a long road. My hope is that the friendships you build here will become a means of support as you journey along the way. It may be difficult to return from here to places we know are sick. Perhaps we do not think that our homes or parishes are healthy places. Never forget that the medicine is always stronger than the disease, and that your own healing will heal all those around you. You do not need to rely on the spiritual health of others to be healthy yourselves. Our Holy Faith has survived centuries in the hearts of people surrounded by those who hated them. We must strengthen ourselves by truly realizing that the God of the Universe is the God who dwells within us. When we begin to enter into our interior universe, we will find how close we are to our healing. God has given us all things, we need only remove from our inner selves what is not of God.

I hope that all of you find in this retreat a renewed confidence in our Lord, Jesus Christ. Never forget the inseparable bond we have in the Church, and let us aid one another in this marvelous journey in the Kingdom of Heaven.

God Himself

On my kitchen counter stands a four-by-four-inch mahogany-stained wooden frame suspended in a wrought iron stand. Both the wood and glass are speckled faintly with water spots and dust. Ornamenting the frame's face, a small pressed wild flower has been lacquered on with clear nail polish. The tiny petals are almost as faint as the water marks against the backdrop of wood. Behind the glass, the frame encloses a handwritten inscription transcribed more than a dozen years ago, the immaculate lyric script undeniably my friend Amanda's.

She made the framed quotation as a present for me in college in a season when I began to feel my first real doubts about my Christian faith. In a wave—no a sea—of fear and insecurity, I realized I couldn't just believe that God, if he existed, loved me. It made no sense. My mind spun trying to fathom how a God could love everyone—so many billions upon billions of us—and even more how he could truly love any one of us, for example, myself—as incredibly unlovable as I found myself to be.

The words in the frame spoke to me in that place. They are words attributed to Madeline L'Engle, but I believe L'Engle got them from Miguel de Unamum (see Treatise on Love of God, p. 15). Here they are, arranged to match as closely as I can Amanda's poetic turning of them: 

"They who believe

            they believe in God,

but without passion in the heart

        without anguish of mind,

without uncertainty,

                      without doubt,

        and even at times

                         without despair,

believe only in the idea of God,

        and not in God himself."

God himself. He is a self, a person, not a proposition. My mind still whirls when I try to understand how he could possibly exist, possibly love, possibly act in my life. I get dizzy like Annie Dillard at the vastness of the universe and want to lie down on something low and solid, to feel some containment, something palpably sure and secure.

I don't think the fear and doubt will ever go away in this lifetime, but I have more or less learned to sit with them. I let them wash over me as they come and go like waves, knowing that I do not sit with them alone. The same one who sits with me once stood suspended faint against the wood, against the dark. On him my hands are clasped like the dead waiting for resurrection. He is my only light.

Never the Same

Postpartum depression affects 12 to 25% of mothers, reports Kathleen Kendall-Tackett in the second edition of her book, Depression in New Mothers: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment Alternatives. I have been one of those mothers.

For a book addressed primarily to medical practicioners, there are several wonderful gems in this book for the lay and professional reader alike. I found it to be empowering, especially in dispelling myths. For example, we learn that PPD is NOT caused by hormonal changes or imbalances, does not go away with time, and can be as efficaciously treated with exercise and other alternative treatments as it can with drugs.

The most powerful part of the book, in my opinion, is the section describing the rituals surrounding birth and the transition to motherhood in cultures where researchers have found a surprising absence of PPD. I found these descriptions beautiful, moving, and illuminating, especially in the context of the voluminous research summaries that make up the bulk of the book.

Kendall-Tackett describes the social structures that protect new mothers including a distinct postpartum period, social seclusion and mandated rest, household and childcare assistance, and social recognition of her new role and status:

In almost all the societies studied [which displayed low instances of PPD], the postpartum period was recognized as a time that is distinct from normal life. Postpartum is a time when mothers are supposed to recuperate, their activities are limited, and they are taken care of by female relatives. This was also common practice in colonial America, and was referred to as the "lying in" period (Wertz and Wertz, 1989). [. . .]

In cultures where there is a low incidence of the blues or depression, there is a great deal of personal attention given to the mother. This has been described as "mothering the mother." In these various cultures, the new status of the mother is recognized through social rituals and gifts. For example, in Punjabi culture, there is the ritual stepping-out ceremony, ritual bathing and hair washing performed by the midwife, and a ceremonial meal prepared by a Brahmin. When she returns to her husband's family, she returns with many gifts she has been given for herself and the baby. Ritual bathing, washing of hair, massage, binding of the abdomen, and other types of personal care are also prominent in the postpartum rituals of rural Gautemala, for Mayan women in the Yucatan, and for Latina women both in the U.S. and Mexico. Here is a description of one of these recognition rituals performed by the Chagga people of Uganda

"Three months after the birth of her child, the Chagga woman's head is shaved and crowned with a bead tiara, she is robed in an ancient skin garment worked with beads, a staff such as the elders carry is put in her hand, and she emerges from her hut for her first public appearance with her baby. Proceeding slowly toward the market, they are greeted with songs such as are sung to warriors returning from battle. She and her baby have survived the weeks of danger. The child is no longer vulnerable, but a baby who has learned what love means, has smiled its first smiles, and is now ready to learn about the bright, loud world outside." (Dunham, 1992: 148)

There is something very wrong about a culture where we expect and are expected to pop out a baby and get right back on the horse acting as if we are the same person we were before we birthed a new life into the world. We are not and will never be the same.

How to (Not) Waste Kindergarten

When my friend, Cinda, gave me a proverbial slap across the face last spring, it mostly brought me back to my senses.

I had emailed some veteran homeschool mom friends asking for advice on which math curriculum to use for Kindergarten/early-elementary instruction. Cinda wrote back:

I was really surprised by your email. I have attempted to answer it a few times now, but found my answers trite and unhelpful.  So, in short . . . don't buy curriculum! Buy some good books, live at the library and do what you already know to be true, and good, and FUN! Color, cut, paste, cook, run, dig, paint, build, plant, these are the curricula for a kindergarten student. You are probably doing all of these things, but don't stop to fill in a workbook page. Workbooks don't teach, parents do!

Oh, snap! I've always prided myself on being someone who thinks outside the box, and there I found myself—totally in the box when it came to Kindergarten and, especially, math.

I was so grateful for the reality check. I decided to ditch all formal math curriculum along with any other textbooks, worksheets, or formal instruction in science, history, social science, or world languages.

Well, we did do a once-a-week co-op Science class for the fall semester, but that was mostly for fun and to meet people and plug in to our new community.

And, well, I just couldn't give up the reading and writing instruction.

I'd like to say that my daughter brought this on herself. I had hoped to put off writing and penmanship instruction until a later grade, especially given that fine motor skills tend to develop later than mental-visual abilities like reading. But then my four-year-old went and taught herself to write the alphabet. She was printing letters and writing rough notes on her own initiative—with poorly formed letters and poor penmanship (i.e., pencil grasp and posture), not to mention rather inventive spelling. I did not want those habits to become ingrained. As the saying goes, "What they learn first, they learn best."

To top it off, I read essays (like this one) by Wanda Sanseri and became convinced that the best way to learn to read and write is to start with learning phonograms and spelling. So I got Sanseri's program, Spell to Write and Read (a.k.a. SWR) with the corresponding Cursive First package, and I love it. I followed the SWR Kindergarten plan and tend to agree with Sanseri about the pacing: if it's too slow, it's boring and loses momentum and effectiveness.

But it was certainly a lot of seat work for a Kindergartener who turned 5 in November and a mom-teacher who hadn't particularly wanted to do formal desk learning in Kindergarten.

Now, when I say it was a lot of seat work for Kindergarten, I'm comparing that to, well, no seat work. We actually averaged about 1.5 hours a day for 3.5 days per week doing formal homeschooling. That's less than six hours a week. As I would often like to point out to my daughter, that's nothing compared to what most people expect or experience for Kindergarten.

However, we don't want to be "normal" schoolers; that's why we're homeschooling.

Part of me remains conflicted about whether it was the best choice to charge ahead with the penmanship and spelling-reading with a young Kindergartener. (With kids who are NOT already writing, I would probably put off formally starting SWR until first, maybe even second, grade. But the phonograms can be learned in preschool or earlier, as my sponge of a toddler has demonstrated this year.)

On the whole, with perfectionism aside, however, I'd say it's been a great year and my daughter seems to have really flourished.

Mid-way through the fall semester, I realized the Science co-op class, although fun and socially expedient, was mostly a distraction from what I wanted to spend my Kindergarten homeschool time doing. 

So, for this last semester, we've been spending more time on the essentials: We've gone to the zoo and the beach, on walks at the lagoon and hikes in the open nature preserve, to the botanic garden and to many local parks. We've attended over a dozen free "Music at Noon" concerts and listened to classical music at home. We've read lots of Bible stories, Mother Goose nursery rhymes, Aesop's Fables, and library books. I've tried to send the kids outside to play on the hill in the flowers at least once a day, even if only for 10 minutes. We've had lunch al fresco under the trees. And craft time every afternoon after naps. (Yes; my five-year-old still needs her daily nap, and, because we're homeschooling, she still gets it.)

I'd like to be proud that my daughter can now, at the end of Kindergarten, spell at a second grade level and write with beautiful cursive handwriting. But, I know that what's much more important is that she get to be the kid she is and develop her natural, God-given intellectual capacities for observation and intuition, problem-solving and creativity through the developmentally appropriate avenue of unstructured, imaginative play and a wealth of direct experiences with beautiful, living things and ideas.