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kristinannie
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| Posted: Sept 26 2011 at 11:54am | IP Logged
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I am planning on following CM for LA. I am going do narration, copywork and dictation (as the kids get older). I am also going to require occaisional written narrations when my kids get older. I was wondering if you teach composition. I never have seen that mentioned in CM's writings (although I am not all the way through the volumes). When do you teach how to write an essay or a research paper? Or do you teach that? I am a little confused about this aspect of CM. Thanks in advance for your help!
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Mackfam
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Composition as a subject was not taught in CM's schools until the upper forms, which would be high school in the U.S. She believed VERY STRONGLY that a child that was consistently exposed to a variety of great writing through worthy books WOULD write. Narrations, and transitioning into written narrations, does much to lay the groundwork in their writing. In fact, CM was pretty emphatic about NOT teaching composition as a skill:
Volume 1, p. 247
Quote:
| "...lessons on 'composition' should follow the model of that famous essay on "Snakes in Ireland"––"There are none." |
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I wrote a post that has some useful quotes from CM in it, in case you're interested.
It's one of those really big steps out in faith because, frankly, it's not popular, nor is it the norm. But, that's CM take on it. I can only say that in my home I've seen it work out wonderfully. My children read abundant literature, and they all truly enjoy writing as a form of expression.
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Jen Mackintosh
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kristinannie
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So, composition is taught in HS? I am just thinking that a child would need to be able to write an essay to go to college. I do believe that constant exposure to excellent writing is paramount. I believe that is why I am a natural writer and just seem to get grammar even though I never studied it formally. So, are you teaching composition in HS? I honestly don't mind waiting until HS to teach it. What do you use? I am going to go check your link. Thanks!
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Mackfam
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Yes, you're correct. A child needs to know how to write a formal essay in high school.
I am teaching composition as a subject in high school, but it's really quite a joy. My high schooler already has a very distinct writing voice.
As far as the tools I use, I linked and reviewed most of them in the composition post. The Bravewriter Home Study courses work well for us, though if you consider them as a fit for your family, do watch for them on the Homeschool Buyers Co-op as they go on sale for substantially reduced prices there sometimes. The Writers Jungle is written to the parent, not to the student, and I think it's a help as soon as your student moves into written narrations.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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jawgee
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| Posted: Sept 26 2011 at 1:55pm | IP Logged
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Slightly off-topic:
I was initially concerned about no formal composition until the teen years. I have been finding, though, as my 9YO continues daily narration, that his thoughts are naturally becoming more well-organized. Each Friday I type as he gives me a narration for the week, and it is astounding how different this week's narration was compared to the first week. I really think composition is going to be an easier transition than I had thought simply from the thinking and processing that is required for narration.
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Monica
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 26 2011 at 2:25pm | IP Logged
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That's exactly what I found, too, Monica.
This is really about a big picture focus, I find. If I focus and zoom in on individual challenges or problems and decide I need to fix them immediately, I could become overwhelmed quickly...and begin to doubt that the methods I'm using will be enough to address the challenges I'm seeing. Conversely, if I zoom out, and let myself look back at a generous sampling of the work a student has done, using a method like say, dictation for example, for six months, and look through it....I can see growth. The same is true for narrations --> written narrations --> formal composition. They each start out a little shaky, but CM's methods work themselves out in very gentle ways, over the long haul. It's about patiently staying the course, and then allowing yourself a little look back on the journey. From that vantage point, one can really begin to see some amazing growth from one's children in various skills!
From the point of view of teaching composition as a subject to a high schooler, I find CM's methods quite wise and a joy, because at that point, the student has already done much of the work....well, the student and the authors of all those amazing living books they've encountered over the years. Their writing begins to be an amalgamation of the thoughts and ideas they've read, and you begin to see it in the way they build a story, they way they phrase an emotive scene, the perspective from which they enjoy conveying their thoughts, the way in which they begin to organize an argument.
Here is one of the areas I see CM and a classical education converging naturally and quite nicely. While CM didn't structure or pattern her educational philosophy after a classical education (and in fact was sometimes quite critical of it), I can find many common areas. Her approach to teaching composition really complements the gifts that a student in the rhetoric stage brings to their paper. At the rhetoric stage the high school student is naturally argumentative and eager to be a part of the Great Conversation. They are open to exploring some very beautiful thoughts, for themselves and with others. This too comes out in their writing, and the beautiful foundation through their literature really begins to serve them well at this point, for remember, a narration, once given, cements ideas, and those ideas are recollected and served in astounding proportions in an older student's writing.
So, all that to offer a bit of context as to why I agree with you wholeheartedly, Monica! A comparable analogy would be like trying to teach your 2 yo to try to ride a 2-wheel bike. You can probably do it to some extent: you could plug away at it, hammering the skills, but they don't have the necessary balance in motor skills yet to be a proficient rider. So the work is going to be frustrating, and to a large extent, defeating to the child. He feels a failure. The act of riding the 2-wheel bike isn't fun or enjoyable because it's always a skill that is broken down, dissected, and forced upon the child, and even when the child is old enough to accomplish the skill with ease, he may still find it dull because of his earlier memories. However, when the child is older and more developed physically, the skill comes quite naturally to him because he's spent time acquiring balance and a better sense of his surroundings which he can apply to riding the bike. In much the same way, writing can come very naturally, delightfully, and with great ease if a child has been exposed to a great quantity of worthy literature. That's a generalization of course, and I can't from my vantage point say that it works across the board, I can only nod my head and say it works here in our home. CM's vantage point was much greater, and in Volume 6, as she reflected back over years of work in her methods, she could say it more generally and with more authority than I ever could.
Of course, it goes without saying that you can't expect the best CM results (in writing) if you don't use the method as part of a balanced whole, as her students would reflect.
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Jen Mackintosh
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ShannonJ
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This is really quite an intriguing question for me, but in a more personal fashion. It is quite interesting to see how the CM education formed the child's mind in such a way as to prepare him for success before he has even begun!
My mother began teaching me at home when I was already partly through eighth grade. I am beginning more and more to be amazed at her absolute faith in our ability to absorb and learn through such natural methods. She did not know of CM or any other particular method at the time, but after a very short-lived attempt at a workbook style curriculum she simply allowed me to form my own "curriculum" for my highschool years. I was not allowed to just go about willy-nilly, but required to form a plan for each subject, to include what methods and resources I would use and my final objective for each subject. I read copious amounts of books, of which we had plenty, and began to choose to write of my own volition. I began to take a pride in my work, which I did indeed see as "work" but not a chore. Composition was not difficult and a thing to be dreaded, but rather, a beautiful compilation of those things which I had lived, breathed, read, and experienced.
Now that I am teaching my own children, I have still struggled with the same problems as most other homeschool mothers in the wading through the sheer plethora of information that is that is now available to a homeschooling family. I am just now beginning to see how wonderful the simplicity of CM truly is.
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Angel
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ShannonJ wrote:
My mother began teaching me at home when I was already partly through eighth grade. I am beginning more and more to be amazed at her absolute faith in our ability to absorb and learn through such natural methods. She did not know of CM or any other particular method at the time, but after a very short-lived attempt at a workbook style curriculum she simply allowed me to form my own "curriculum" for my highschool years. I was not allowed to just go about willy-nilly, but required to form a plan for each subject, to include what methods and resources I would use and my final objective for each subject. I read copious amounts of books, of which we had plenty, and began to choose to write of my own volition. I began to take a pride in my work, which I did indeed see as "work" but not a chore. Composition was not difficult and a thing to be dreaded, but rather, a beautiful compilation of those things which I had lived, breathed, read, and experienced.
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Thanks for sharing your experience, Shannon! It's nice to get some confirmation when you're in the trenches. 
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Angela
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Composition?
