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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Sept 18 2010 at 12:21am | IP Logged
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I have come to the realisation, again, that my dd13 does not learn the way I naturally teach. When I get my ds15s year ready I fill the bookshelves. But dd13 is dyslexic, rightbrained, brainy!, mathy, and VERY HANDS ON- quilts, sews, paints, draws, crossstiches, sews period dresses, and the list goes on.
My question: how do I plan for this child? The AO type of schedule we have been doing is not doing it for her anymore. I read aloud a lot of the books or she listened to them via audio, but this takes up SO MUCH TIME, and she wants to learn about so many interesting things and do it in such a hands on way and I am befuddled as to how to map our LOOOOONG days! I am naturally also a 'hand me the stack of books' learner so I am pretty stuck!
Any bright ideas 
Oh, we are doing a modified House of Education Year 7- mainly the Middle Ages, Church History, and lots of Medieval Lit!
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 18 2010 at 10:02am | IP Logged
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I have a few ideas, Kristie.
First, you mentioned that your dd is dyslexic. While I have no experience with this special need, I wanted to mention something that struck me in listening to Sonya Schaefer (SCM) speak and came to mind when I read your post. She speaks of educating her girls with CM methods, and she often speaks of her youngest who has autism. She continues to use Charlotte Mason methods and adjusts them to meet the needs of her autistic child. An example I remember is the geography/mapwork they would work on once a week. The older girls would receive a blank map and after studying a country or area of land, would write in everything they could remember. Sonya would give her autistic dd the same map she worked on last week rather than a new blank map. Instead of writing in names, Sonya gave this child crayons to color in countries. They'd name them together. It really is a slight modification to what the older girls were doing, but it provided the same consistent method to her autistic dd while working with that daughter's needs and abilities.
I wish I could brainstorm some specific ways that would help your dyslexic dd - I certainly would if I had any experience there. I'm thinking perhaps curtailing the number of books she reads, but still keep with the variety of books offered in a liberal education.
Something else I wondered was how much is she reading daily?? It shouldn't be too much. The method is really a slow and steady method. So...my idea was to go through her booklist and drop a few books from it. Then, with the books left, redistribute them among the terms you have. Alternate them - so on Monday/Tuesday she might be reading a few pages from a Church History book...on Wednesday she could be reading a few pages from a book from the Middle Ages...and on Thursday/Friday a few pages from a piece of Medieval literature. That covers at least 3 books in a term!!!
My next suggestion would be to alternate your weekly schedule so that it varies day-to-day more for your dd. This might help her so that her handwork seems more present. So...(and this is just a suggestion off the top of my head):
Weekly Schedule
8:00 - 8:30 - Religion reading (choose something that is living and can be read by your dd - if it's only 2 pages/day - fine!) & catechism work...or whatever your pref is for teaching religion
8:30 - 9:00 - Alternating day --
Monday - Narrate while working on handwork project
Tuesday - Logic
Wednesday - Narrate religion reading while working on a handwork project
Wednesday - Government/Civics reading
Thursday - Narrate religion reading while working on a handwork project
Friday - Nature Walk
9:00 - 9:45 - Math (if your dd really likes math and hands on, do check out Wff 'n Proof math and logic games - you can sometimes find them inexpensively by searching ebay and amazon)
9:45 - 10:00 - Alternating language arts:
Monday - Copywork (optional once children are in high school/Form IV in CM studies...but I'm including it here as a suggestion - you could replace this with a grammar course or more written narration time)
Tuesday - Studied dictation
Wednesday - Continue studying or write dictation
Thursday - Copywork
Friday - Written narration (longer time may be needed for this)
10:00 - 10:30/45 - History reading:
Monday - Church history reading
Tuesday - Church history reading
Wednesday - Middle Ages reading
Thursday - Medieval literature
Friday - Middle Ages reading (light reading assignment) & Book of Centuries work from the week's reading
10:45 - 11:15 - Narrate history reading while working on handwork project, taking a walk, or preparing lunch
11:15 - 12:00 - Latin/Foreign Language OR Masterly Inactivity - her time to choose from handwork or projects she wants to continue from earlier in the day
12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch - she can narrate anything she might be behind on during this time
1:00 - 1:30 - You read aloud --> alternate here on different days of the week...
Monday - read something from current events (or, an alternative to reading would be to listen to talk radio and have her narrate back/discuss)
Tuesday - read a meaty history selection aloud
Wednesday - Shakespeare from Charles and Mary Lamb
Thursday - continue with your history reading
Friday - a piece of literature from the period of history you're studying...or a religion/lives of the saints read aloud.
** This type of mom reading aloud doesn't burn mom out with CONSTANT reading aloud ALL.DAY.LONG - it's just 30 minutes at the same time every day of the week...but you're varying what you read and you're reading those MEATY selections that might challenge her reading with her dyslexia.
1:30 - 2:00 - Science reading and project time (you can either alternate reading day/project-lab day...or I have my dd read M - Th, and then Fri is set aside for labs)
2:00 - 2:15 - Alternating:
Monday - Poetry recitation
Tuesday - Geography/Mapwork
Wednesday - Composer study
Thursday - Picture Study
Friday - Time for nature sketching
That's a rigorous week for a 13 yo. The key is in the variety....both in the reading and in how you schedule it. This is TOTALLY OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD!!!! I don't know your dd, but YOU DO!!! So, the above is just a suggestion to help you see how you might vary things up a bit so that she feels there is some time for her hands-on type studying along with variety. You might already be doing this though...so I'm super sorry if this is redundant and not helpful.  But, it could be a starting point for brainstorming more!!! We can work more from here!
One of the biggest parts of a CM education is that it is a discipline. I spend time every week in a special *meeting* with my older two students. We discuss the things that are challenging them in their days and I brainstorm around their feedback asking myself -->
** is this a logistical need I can work out? --> brainstorm with the schedule...vary offerings through the week, make sure lessons are short, liberal reading...but not an overwhelming amount of reading from one book
** is this an issue of discipline? --> I talk openly with my children about this being their education. I am alongside. I am offering a liberal feast, but my student is responsible for living out their education. They understand that some subjects will not be *emotionally enjoyable* (my dd doesn't enjoy Latin), but we both agree on the *why* of it being offered in the curriculum. I agree that we will only accomplish basics, and she agrees to master those basics. I agree to offer it in ways that are most palatable for her, straightforward, understandable. She agrees to work with that. I wanted to illustrate that part of the discipline...that there is communication, understanding, cooperation that works together with the discipline of the education.
** is there enough margin in my day/a child's lesson plans so that there is room to work with "the unexpected"???
These weekly meetings have been such a help for us!!! They keep the lines of communication open as we discuss how to make the days smoother. I work from my end and they work from their end...but we're both working together.
Well, that's a lot!!  And hopefully it's a start. This is a sort of bare-bones CM routine for a week, but it could be workable I think. There may be some things here that are completely un-helpful, and others that might help in brainstorming more...where could we narrow the focus more, Kristie??
Anyone have experience with a dyslexic child that uses the Charlotte Mason method in a structured way??
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 18 2010 at 12:16pm | IP Logged
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For a child like that, I think making time for the hands-on stuff is essential.
Can she do her handwork while she listens to her literature on audio? Or while you read aloud to her? I often schedule my dd's more fun hands-on work at the end of the day so that if it goes overtime she can continue to work while I go on to do dinner prep or whatever.
The time period you are doing this year is absolutely rich with potential for hands-on work. She can make a small "tapestry" based on one of the lit selections (on a a simple home-made loom). Stained glass windows using glass paint or kite paper, period costumes, heraldry, models of castles and cathedrals, portraits of important church/historical figures...such a fun age to study!
I'd keep the reading short and sweet if possible.Reading is only one way to learn. It takes a shift in mindset to really internalize the fact that projects are not only fun, but she will learn so much from doing them, too! I'd let her literature and history reading selections form the background for her projects, letting the goal for the readings be "exposure" to the ideas of the age and her hands-on work be where the real learning takes place.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 18 2010 at 12:27pm | IP Logged
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Oh, I wanted to add one thing.
I think the key to making projects a truly valuable educational tool is in the discussion/narration of them.
Just as we would discuss an assigned book with our child, we need to include discussion (or narration) as an integral part of the project experience.
For example, if your dd is building a model cathedral, ask her to tell you why she chose to make it the size she did, why she chose that particular shape, what are the names and purposes behind certain structures or decorations?
If she is making a period costume (perhaps for a doll) you could ask her to tell you why she chose the colors and styles she used. What type of fabrics would have been available to a seamstress of the day, and who would have been making the clothes in that day? What tools would they be using? Where would the fabrics have come from?
If she has done her research, she should be able to give well-thought out and reasoned responses. If she can't, you can encourage more research on the topic or choose your reading selections to better support her learning.
In my humble opinion, it is this discussion/narration step, which I consider so vital, that many folks leave out when doing project work. They have the child build the castle or paint the scenery without ever asking for a narration on it. And as we know, it is the narration that cements the learning.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Sept 18 2010 at 4:18pm | IP Logged
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I'd keep the reading short and sweet if possible.Reading is only one way to learn. It takes a shift in mindset to really internalize the fact that projects are not only fun, but she will learn so much from doing them, too! I'd let her literature and history reading selections form the background for her projects, letting the goal for the readings be "exposure" to the ideas of the age and her hands-on work be where the real learning takes place.
No time to comment more but THANX so much to both of you....
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 18 2010 at 6:50pm | IP Logged
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Kristie,
Tagging on to Theresa's ideas to really incorporate the hands-on side of things for your dd I thought I'd link you to some hands on ideas. You may already have some of these ideas, but we're studying this period of history this year as well, and these are some of my bookmarks for ideas of projects and activities for this period (there are a couple of book links):
Architecture Made Easy art plans with emphasis on the castle section - we just finished these plans and loved them!!
The Art of the Catapult by William Gurstelle - great book! Check your library! There are some fantastic projects here!
Medieval Food
Middle Ages Projects
Work on calligraphy and study Medieval Script and Illuminated Art (be sure to check out the sidebar links) and check out the techniques of the early scribes.
Print a paper model of Notre Dame Cathedral
Castles of Britain
Free Stained Glass Patterns
Virtual Tours of Cathedrals
Dover coloring book: Design Your Own Coat of Arms
Build A Popsicle Stick Catapult
How to Build a Trebuchet
Build a Medieval Castle
Celtic Monastery Castle
Sundial Projects
Study Medieval and Renaissance Instruments with more here
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 20 2010 at 7:58am | IP Logged
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I was reading at the Childlight blog, Kristie, and this post was just wonderful!
Our Part in Teaching Special Needs Children
Tammy teaches her autistic daughter using the Charlotte Mason method, and though her article speaks generally to the benefit of using Charlotte Mason methods with all children with special needs, there is only one small mention of dyslexic strategies...which you're already employing (reading aloud/audio books). However, I found the whole article so inspiring because Tammy shows us how to use the CM method in ways that remove obstacles to learning for children and I see how this can be applied to ALL children. I have a child that has mild learning difficulties for whom I often have to brainstorm creatively. Tammy's article was wonderful in offering a vocabulary that I think can streamline and focus brainstorming - removing obstacles to learning.
From Charlotte Mason's School of Education, p. 187-188(emphasis mine)
Quote:
| “In proportion to the range of living relationships we put in his way, will he have wide and vital interests, fullness of joy in living. In proportion as he is made aware of the laws which rule every relationship, will his life be dutiful and serviceable: as he learns that no relation with persons or with things, animate or inanimate, can be maintained without strenuous effort, will he learn the laws of work and the joys of work. Our part is to remove obstructions and to give stimulus and guidance to the child who is trying to get into touch with the universe of things and thoughts which belongs to him.” |
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Maybe this speaks to me because of some of the challenges I'm facing in my own home right now, but this quote, which I've read before, really stands out to me now. It's like opening a big window and letting sunshine in. Anyway, it really spoke to me...and I thought I'd share it with you as well as that great article! Hope it's a help!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 20 2010 at 8:01am | IP Logged
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Oh, what a coincidence, Jen. I was going to post that article here, too!
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Brainstorm with me..
