Yes, we are going to learn Latin!

The Holy Father is exhorting us and so we listen. Truth be told, I haven't made it through all of Sacramentum Caritatis. I'm still working on it. But this stands out to me:

Similarly, the better-known prayers of the Church's tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung.

It's no secret that we have a bit of a "start and stop" relationship with Latin around here.  The same tow-headed boy who groaned on the way to Fr. M's Latin class when he was twelve, has now informed us that he desires a Classical Curriculum in college. Alrighty then. And the only thing he'd change about his home education? More grammar. Who knew?

Alas, God, the Pope, and Michael are telling me it's right and good to learn Latin (and Greek, but that's a different post). And we will. But I'm putting away the Latin books until next fall.  Then, someone else can help me teach.

In the meantime, and most urgently, in light of the above quote, I'm going to buckle down and learn these prayers with my children. I am so blessed to be a parishioner at a church which has been working towards this for eight years.

The Latin curriculum for the foreseeable future in this house is A Guide to Gregorian Chant by Rosemary Renninger.  This CD comes with a very complete liner with the entire texts of 25 common chants used throughout the liturgical year. Prayers are spoken and then sung using Roman liturgical pronunciation. The spoken tracks are clear and lyrical which aids memorization. Truthfully, it isn't my children's favorite CD, but I'm counting on them thanking me later!

Faithful Over Little Things

A few weeks ago, I started blogging the little details of our day at Faithful Over Little Things.  I began the new blogging adventure in order to attempt to answer the questions about all the little details of a homeschooling day.  I once heard a veteran homeschooler remark that it's never algebra that causes a homeschooling mom to give up; it's laundry.  The devil is in the details.  How do we put it all together? What does a "typical" day look like?

Honestly, it's been a challenge to faithfully record it all.  It's difficult to remember and because I wanted more than a list of page numbers--I wanted to give you a sense of how it all fits together--it's time consuming. But it's been a huge blessing to me as well. I can see how we're doing and I am challenged to be faithful over little things.  So, we'll keep going.

Much to my surprise, the little things inspire more questions.  If you've left a question at the little things blog, I got it.  And I've filed them all to answer here on this blog.  I want to keep Little Things simple.  There will be few links, few pictures, just straight notes. It's the only way I can stay faithful to the little blog.

Achieving Peace of Education

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.

Herbal Medicine Nature Study

 

We've always dabbled with herbal medicine:  a tin of Baby Balm here, a tincture of echinacea there, some Sambucol every November, chamomile at bedtime.  But I've never stopped to take the time for a comprehensive, systematic study of herbs that heal. The herb books were Mom's reading and usually it was reading done under the time constraints of some acute condition. Still, alternative medicine, and particularly herbal healing, is a burning interest of mine--one I want to pursue.

As the days grow shorter and darker this year and as the viruses threaten our home, I've decided that the perfect late fall and winter nature study is one that takes botany and brings it home for our health. And, in the true spirit of "getting things done," I am going to share our plans here for Dawn's late autumn field day, while trying to compensate for the fact that I missed her Loveliness of Homemade Fair.

Our booklist for this rabbit trail is fairly short.  For the children, I purchased a Kid's Herb Book for Children of All Ages.

This is a great book!  I read it through one evening during a nursing marathon and I learned so much.  The author, a dedicated practicing herbalist, familiarizes with sixteen medicinal herbs. It's a children's book, but her respect for the intellect of children is readily apparent.  The information in this book is not dumbed down.  interspered with the science, there are fictional stories about natural life but even those are well done and my children enjoy them. For each herb, we will learn a new "technique." For instance, comfrey is the knitbone herb.  We learned, at long last, how to make an herbal healing salve. I used this kit from learningherbs.com to jumpstart me.

We all enjoyed turning a small crock of simmering herbs

into little tins and pots of healing salve to give as gifts and to tuck into diaper bags and soccer backpacks.

Each child made a notebook page for comfrey which will be added to his or her own personal herbal reference book. I'll scan at least one child's entry each week and post it at Blossoms and Bees so we have an online herbal guide as well. This might be the first (and only) notebook that everyone from 4-18 completes.  Katie is too little to make her plants look much like plants and I do want her to have a keepsake so I am using coloring pages from Dover's Medicinal Plants Coloring Book. I got two of these, because I have a little guy who tends to freeze if he can't do something perfectly (where'd he get that trait?) and the coloring pages will get him over the drawing hump.

I'm making notes as we do this over the winter so that when the growing season comes again, our herb garden can reflect what we learned.  Hopefully, I can cut down on shipments like these from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Truth be told, much of that is my attempt to make my own postpartum-and-beyond tea.  My cuppa now has equal parts Raspberry leaf, Nettle, Lady's Mantle, and Lemon Balm with some Lavender and some Cinnamon chips. Still debating whether or not to add Red Clover...

We will follow the Kids' Herb Book through the rest of the fall and into the winter, learning one a herb a week and making things like elderberry syrup, ginger ale, and slippery elm lozenges.

Before Christmas, I plan to make milk and honey herbal soap and some soy candles scented with essential oil.  So far, we haven't a had huge success with honey soaps but we did make nice soap out of a simple combination of melt and pour glycerin, a little beeswax, some lavender from our garden and some lavender essential oil.

After reading about paraffin candles (HT:As Cozy as Spring), I decided there would be no more Yankee Candles here. Did you know:

"the EPA has confirmed that those candles, and the smoke and soot they give off, contain several dangerous chemicals in significant quantities. These chemicals include known or probable carcinogens, neurotoxins and reproductive toxins.

The American Lung Association also warns that burning paraffin candles can emit toxins (in measurable amounts) into your home’s air."

Instead, we are making soy candles and scenting them with natural fragrance oil.  We made our first batch last week and I'm very pleased with the result.  I used a starter kit to get us going, but now we're ready to tinker with combination scents and try some longer burning, larger candles.

Following the natural theme, we are also making beeswax angel ornaments.  I think that this combination of natural, yet lovely, items makes a pretty gift package.

In an effort to keep everything from being dried and bound in a book, we're going to grow some herbs indoors as well. This way, the children can gain an intimate knowledge of the plants and further appreciate what a gift they are to us. With this kit, we'll even bag our own tea!

So, there you have it:  lots of little goodies for thoughtful (and natural) gift baskets, the beginnings of an herbal medicine chest, some notebook pages, an ongoing nature study, and quite an education for Mom!

Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby Lapbook

Story 

The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

Supplemental Stories

Musabi Man: 

Hawaii

’s Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man Jim Aylesworth

The Gingerbread Doll by Susan Tews

Read Alone: “Hansel and Gretel” and other stories by the Brothers Grimm

Social Studies

Compare the Hawaiian version of the story to Jan Brett’s story.

Narration with innovation (for the lapbook): Make a Venn diagram of the comparison.

Language Arts

This is a great book to use to reinforce a sense of story and story structure.

v This book is a circle story, so we can present it to the children with the circle drawn and divided into twelve parts.  Prepare pictures representing each part. As you read the story, paste the picture into a section of the circle, working your way around until you return to the first segment which was the picture of Matti's home. I laminated the finished wheel and then I placed another cardstock circle with just one wedge cut from it over the top and secured with a brad. Now, the circle can be turned to show each segment in turn as the child re-tells the story. You can see the wheel on the upper flap.

Narration with innovation (how to make the circle for a lapbook): Make an 8 inch medium weight cardstock circle. Divide into have twelve sections:

1) The house from the title page (that's where the story begins and ends)--2 1/2 X 3 1/4 inch reduction on the copier trimmed to fit the wedge

2) Gingerbread boy in the bowl .2 1/2 X 3 1/4 inch reduction on the copier trimmed to fit the wedge.

3) mother and father searching --copier reduction again

4) Cat--I printed this page as is and just trimmmed the figures

5)Dog--as the cat

6)goat--as the cat

7) girls with braids knotted--copier reduction

8) fox--as the cat

9) milk man--copier reduction

10) pig--as the cat

11) river scene --copier reduction

12) Matti with the gingerbread house --copier reduction

All my children enjoyed the circle story lesson. For the older ones, I encouraged them to write a detailed narration of the Gingerbread Baby, bearing in mind the structure of a circle story. The protagonist begins at home, goes on an adventure and then returns home.

v Discuss the structure of the story using the terms conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement. 
Be certain the child understands each term and can identify the part of the story.

Narration with innovation (for the lapbook): Gingerbread doll fold:

Accordian fold a piece of paper four times and cut into a gingerbread shape. There is a pattern at this site:

Decorate the cover of the folded book to look like the gingerbread baby. Opening it out, on the first fold, write “conflict,” then on the next one “Rising Action,” then, “Climax” and then “Denouement.” The children will identify and dictate each part. You can record these on the bodies of your folded dolls if you type and fiddle with the font.

v Look closely at the parallel story unfolding in the insets in the margin and discuss parallel construction.

Poetry and copywork:

Run, run, as fast as you can!

You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!

Once there was a gingerbread man,
Baking in a gingerbread pan.
Raisin eyes and a cherry nose,
Trimmed right down to his fingers and toes.
A gingerbread man in a gingerbread pan!

Here's the old woman who made him so sweet,
A treat for her and her husband to eat,
She made him with flour and sugar and eggs,
She gave him a face and two arms and two legs.
A gingerbread man in a gingerbread pan

Now open the oven to see if he's done,
This gingerbread man, he know how to run.
Out of the oven and onto the floor,
Now run away out the kitchen door.
The gingerbread man, he's out of the pan!

Now chase him old woman, now chase him old man
Chase him, yes chase him as fast as you can!
Through the garden and out the gate,
Catch him right now, before it's too late.
The gingerbread man, he's out of the pan!

Along came a cow who wanted a treat
And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a horse who wanted a snack
But the gingerbread man, he never looked back
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a farmer who wanted a treat
And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a dog who wanted a snack
But the gingerbread man, he never looked back
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a hog who wanted a treat
And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a fox who wanted a treat,
And this gingerbread man, he looked good to eat.
Jump on my back, my gingerbread pet,
And we'll cross the river, so you won't get wet
Mr. Gingerbread man, who's out of the pan!

There was no place to go, there was no place to run
And a ride on the river could be lots of fun!
So off with the fox did Gingerbread go
And what happened next, you already know
To the gingerbread man, who's out of the pan

That sly old fox had a de-lic-ious treat

And the old man and woman had nothing to eat
Not a bite was left for the cow or the dog,
The horse or the farmer or hungry old hog
There's no gingerbread man in or out of the pan!

So let us go home and get out the pan
And we'll make ourselves a new gingerbread man!
And when he is eaten, we'll make us some more
But this time we'll be certain to lock the back door!
A new gingerbread man, in a gingerbread pan! 

Art/Cooking

v Watch the video online of Jan Brett drawing and reading The Gingerbread Baby 

v Mix and bake and decorate gingerbread baby cookies.

v Make gingerbread houses; kits are fine.

v Sequence the steps in making the house.

v Narration with innovation (for the lapbook) Gingerbread flap book:

At the Jan Brett site is an interactive activity where the children can decorate their own gingerbread houses. Each child did this activity and I printed the finished product at 75%. This became the cover of the book, seen pictured in the middle of the lapbook.

We built our gingerbread house from a kit. I save the picture directions, copied them for each child and cut them apart. On the next page of the book, a green piece of paper, cut to  the shape of the house, the child glued the steps to making the house in order.

The final page is another shaped green paper with a photo of the child building his house.

Stay tuned for plans for more Jan Brett Christmas books and a link to Kim's Jan Brett Lapbooks.