Serendipity

Pardon Our Dust

We're under reconstruction:-).

The Ivy Basket

 I'm so happy to be able to post our Ivy Basket plans for the Literature for the Young Lady program!!!  If you haven't yet read the overview for Literature for the Young Lady - please do!

Like the other baskets, I think this basket will take about 9 weeks to complete, however this is so dependent on life and any rabbit trails which might come our way.

So far, Mary Beth has really enjoyed working this way. I think she feels like this is meaningful work, much of which has practical applications right now. Her little sisters are getting some trickle-down. Our three-year-old is quite taken with Mr. Darcy;-)!

Do let me know if you've been adapting our plans for your use. If you're willing to share, I'd love to provide a link or a download here for anyone else who might come along looking for inspiration.

Download IvyBasket (Mary Beth) - pdf

What to do about Broken Botany Links?

Jamie wrote:Thank you, Elizabeth, for all you have written and compiled ... so beautiful. The links to the botanical information on the Flower Fairy site say they are "broken" ... I found the site, but can't find anything on there about botany? Any ideas? Thanks again and God Bless, Jamie

Yep. I know.  The Flower Fairy people changed the website and none of the links work, even the botany ones. some of the flowers have links to other sites for botany information. Eventually, I'll go find links for all the flowers, but right now, that is just too big a task to take on in light of the gazillion other things that are more pressing in my life;-). So...here are some sites to consult if you want to find some botany information:

Enature Field Guides

Botanical.com

The US Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers

Wildflowers and Weeds

Sorry for the inconvenience, ya'll. The Flower Fairy site was so huge in these plans and it definitely ruffled our feathers when it all changed. The sites above are even better, though, in terms of the science of it all.

The Utterly Lovely Alphabet Path

I've been so delighted to receive notes from lots of new families traveling the Alphabet Path this year! Did you see Jessica's photos of A week? Remember, comments are open at Serendipity now, so that you can tell us about your adventures with each and every letter. There is some work for me to do in the middle of the alphabet, updating some booklists, and I hope to get to that before you all get to those letters. Your prayers for my time are truly, truly appreciated. Also, I know that lots of Flower Fairy links are broken. The Flower Fairy site was totally overhauled and all the links changed.The new Flower Fairy site is here. Link updating is tedious and time consuming and...I'll get to it:-) Remember, there is a tutorial for how to to use the Alphabet Path here.

I encourage you to leave comments, ask questions, make suggestions, and have a conversation!

Sneak Peek: Writer's Workshop

There's one more component to this year's doings that we haven't yet shared with you. Colleen and I are crafting plans for a weekly Writer's Workshop. She's going to do it as a co-op. I'm going to do it with my own small band of children. We're really excited about this--an idea inspired by not one, but two, great living books on writing.

The first book is Show, Don't Tell! by Josephine Nobisso, author of The Weight of a Mass. The second book is not yet released, but our research tells us that it's worth holding up the whole workshop in order to include this book. S is for Story: A Writer's Alphabet is due out the first week of September, so we don't have too long to wait. In the meantime, we're happily collaborating in Google Docs, and we can share it with you in the not-too-distant future.

Shakespeare Fridays

 

from Shakespeare's Storybook

Colleen and I have put our heads together to come up with a family friendly Shakespeare Study for this year. We are eagerly anticipating dedicating our Friday Afternoons to the bard. You'll see how it's scheduled in Colleen's planning document in the Continent Study post. I'm uploading it again here for your convenience. We'll study one lesson block a month, for a full academic year of literature study.Download Calendar_2009-05-10_2009-05-17(2)

ETA:  **Laughing out Loud at Our Discovery Today! When Colleen sent me her schedule to create a PDF, Google kindly translated her time zone into my time zone, so now it looks like the Mitchells are slackers who don't start their days until 10:00:-). Just slide the time blocks up--or not, depending on when you want to get going...

(Sorry about the funky highlighting. This post spent too long in Google Docs and endured much tinkering. So, it rebelled when we transplanted it and utterly confounded us with all kinds of complex code:-)

We'll cover the following topics:

General Biography of Shakespeare

Globe Theatre

Stories that Inspired the Bard

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Romeo and Juliet

A Winter's Tale

Hamlet

Macbeth

Twelfth Night

The Tempest

Core Books:

Tales from Shakespeare

by: Marcia Williams

Includes versions of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Winter's Tale, Julius Caesar, Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest, The stories are portrayed on a stage, with cartoon panels carrying the actions and direct quotations from the play. The author's narration appears below the panels.

More Tales from Shakespeare

by: Marcia Williams

Includes versions of As You Like It, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice and Richard III.

Lamb's version online for free audio:

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit)

Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb)

Brush up Your Shakespeare! (indexed in the back)

Shakespeare for Kids

Poetry for Young People

High School: Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, Tragedies

General Bio:                                                                     

Read Bard of Avon
Read DK books--Shakespeare

Read biographical information in Poetry for Young People

Shakespeare for Kids: pgs 3-7;43-47;55-66;107-112;131-134

Copywork:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Main Lesson Book page: Who was Shakespeare?(Written Narration and illustration--do one page each week this month)
1.  Draw a portrait of Shakespeare
2. Draw a map of England, label London for reference, the Thames River, and Avon.
3. Draw a scene from Shakespeare's life and narrate it.
4. Write an acrostic poem about Shakespeare using the letters in his name.  Decorate the page.

To Make or Do:
Make a wee felt Shakespeare.
Use only things you can find around the house to dress a sibling as Shakespeare or one of the ladies who would have attended his plays. Take a photo for you main lesson book.

 High School
Watch Teaching Company DVD Lectures 1 and 2

Globe Theatre:
Read William Shakespeare and the Globe

Read Shakespeare's Globe (pop-up book)

Read Shakespeare's Theatre 

Shakespeare for Kids: choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Copywork:  

Sonnet 20

A woman's face with Nature’s own hand painted
Hast though, the master/mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change,as is false women’s fashion;
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
A man in hue, all hues in his controlling,
Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.
And for a woman wert thou first created,
Till Nature as she wrought thee fell a-doting,
And by addition  me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she pricked thee out  for women's pleasure,
Mine be thy love, and thy love’s use their treasure.

Main Lesson Book Page: Diagram of the Globe Theatre with written explanation (a page a week for the month).
1. Draw the globe from the actor's perspective (stage out) and label.
2. Draw the globe from the audience's perspective (looking at stage) and label.
3. Illustrate actors in a Shakespearean play, considering common costumes, wigs, props, etc...
4. Create a list of items that would have been common props or scenery at the Globe, illustrate these items in the border of your actor's page and label them.

To Make or Do: Make a diorama of the Globe to use with wee felt folk to be made for each play studied.

 

Stories that inspired Shakespeare:

Read   Shakespeare's Storybook (Barefoot Books/cd available)

Read Will's Quill

Copywork:

SONNET 15

When I consider every thing that grows

Holds in perfection but a little moment,

That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows

Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

When I perceive that men as plants increase,

Cheered and cheque'd even by the self-same sky,

Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,

And wear their brave state out of memory;

Then the conceit of this inconstant stay

Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,

Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay,

To change your day of youth to sullied night;

And all in war with Time for love of you,

As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

Shakespeare for Kids:choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Main Lesson Book Page:
1. Choose one story a week from Shakespeare's Storybook. Look at the full-sized illustration. Create your own illustration in this style. Be sure to include a beautiful border.
2.Narrate Will's Quill  and illustrate in the same style as the Storybook illustrations

To Make or Do:
Make beeswax figures to dramatize one of the stories.

Midsummer Night's Dream                                                               
Read the Nesbit or the Lamb's version
Read the Marcia Williams version and study the illustrations
Read Bruce Coville version  A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare for Kids: choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Copywork: Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Choose quotes from the play which are appropriate for you family and copy, illustrate and memorize them.

Main Lesson Book:
1. Write about the setting with the place and time of the play.
2. Write about and illustrate the main characters--draw them, list their traits--older kids can include quotes for evidence of trait.
3. Write and draw about the plot--diagram major events of rising action, climax, falling action,
4. Write about themes--articulate main themes of play in own words and decorate page.
Bonus: Write a comic strip version of the play.

To Make or Do: Craft a wee felt scene and use figures to act the play.

High School (to be done in addition to assignments above)
Read the entire play.
Watch the film version.


Romeo and Juliet
Read the Nesbit or the Lamb's version
Read the Marcia Williams version and study the illustrations
Read Bruce Coville version Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare for Kids: choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Copywork: Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Choose quotes from the play which are appropriate for you family and copy, illustrate and memorize them.

Main Lesson Book:
1. Write about the setting with the place and time of the play.
2. Write about and illustrate the main characters--draw them, list their traits--older kids can include quotes for evidence of trait.
3. Write and draw about the plot--diagram major events of rising action, climax, falling action,
4. Write about themes--articulate main themes of play in own words and decorate page.
Bonus: Write a comic strip version of the play.

To Make or Do: Craft a wee felt scene and use figures to act the play.

High School (to be done in addition to assignments above)
Read the entire play.
Watch the film version.
Teaching Company DVD Lectures 19 & 20

A Winter's Tale
Read the Nesbit or the Lamb's version
Read the Marcia Williams version and study the illustrations
Read Bruce Coville version A Winter's Tale

Shakespeare for Kids: choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Copywork: Brush Up Your Shakespeare:Choose quotes from the play which are appropriate for you family and copy, illustrate and memorize them.

Main Lesson Book:

1. Write about the setting with the place and time of the play.
2. Write about and illustrate the main characters--draw them, list their traits--older kids can include quotes for evidence of trait.
3. Write and draw about the plot--diagram major events of rising action, climax, falling action,
4. Write about themes--articulate main themes of play in own words and decorate page.
Bonus: Write a comic strip version of the play.

High School (to be done in addition to assignments above)
Read the entire play.
Watch the film version.

Hamlet
Read the Nesbit or the Lamb's version
Read the Marcia Williams version and study the illustrations
Read Bruce Coville version Hamlet

Shakespeare for Kids: choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Copywork: Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Choose quotes from the play which are appropriate for you family and copy, illustrate and memorize them.

Main Lesson Book:

1. Write about the setting with the place and time of the play.
2. Write about and illustrate the main characters--draw them, list their traits--older kids can include quotes for evidence of trait.
3. Write and draw about the plot--diagram major events of rising action, climax, falling action,
4. Write about themes--articulate main themes of play in own words and decorate page.
Bonus: Write a comic strip version of the play.

High School (to be done in addition to assignments above)
Read the entire play.
Watch the film version.
Teaching Company DVD Lectures 25, 26 & 27

Macbeth
Read the Nesbit or the Lamb's version
Read the Marcia Williams version and study the illustrations
Read Bruce Coville version MacBeth

Shakespeare for Kids: choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Copywork: Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Choose quotes from the play which are appropriate for you family and copy, illustrate and memorize them.

Main Lesson Book:

1. Write about the setting with the place and time of the play.
2. Write about and illustrate the main characters--draw them, list their traits--older kids can include quotes for evidence of trait.
3. Write and draw about the plot--diagram major events of rising action, climax, falling action,
4. Write about themes--articulate main themes of play in own words and decorate page.
Bonus: Write a comic strip version of the play.

High School (to be done in addition to assignments above)
Read the entire play.
Watch the film version.

Teaching Company DVD Lectures 34, 35, & 36

Twelfth Night
Read the Nesbit or the Lamb's version
Read the Marcia Williams version and study the illustrations
Read Bruce Coville version of Twelfth Night

Copywork: Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Choose quotes from the play which are appropriate for you family and copy, illustrate and memorize them.

Main Lesson Book:

1. Write about the setting with the place and time of the play.
2. Write about and illustrate the main characters--draw them, list their traits--older kids can include quotes for evidence of trait.
3. Write and draw about the plot--diagram major events of rising action, climax, falling action,
4. Write about themes--articulate main themes of play in own words and decorate page.
Bonus: Write a comic strip version of the play.

High School (to be done in addition to assignments above)

Teaching Company DVD Lectures 3 &4

Read the entire play.
Watch the film version.

The Tempest
Read the Nesbit or the Lamb's version
Read the Marcia Williams version and study the illustrations
Read Bruce Coville version The Tempest

Shakespeare for Kids: choose an activity that appeals to your family.

Copywork: Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Choose quotes from the play which are appropriate for you family and copy, illustrate and memorize them.

Main Lesson Book:

1. Write about the setting with the place and time of the play.
2. Write about and illustrate the main characters--draw them, list their traits--older kids can include quotes for evidence of trait.
3. Write and draw about the plot--diagram major events of rising action, climax, falling action,
4. Write about themes--articulate main themes of play in own words and decorate page.
Bonus: Write a comic strip version of the play.

High School (to be done in addition to assignments above)
Read the entire play.
Watch the film version.

Notebooking pages and other resources

Literature for the Young Lady

~ A Fascination of its Own ~

Literature for the Young Lady at the Bend in the Road

“…my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend…” Anne of Green Gables

~

We are excited to share a set of plans with you on this Feast of St. Anne, a curriculum really, that we have been working on over the summer.  This curriculum is designed for young ladies around the ages of 11 - 14. 

As with all things on Serendipity, we share this as part of the overflow of our days.  We can't promise when we'll update, or when we might add more, except to say we will do so as God and our vocations allow.

Literature for the Young Lady is a curriculum that offers a young lady (of approximately 7th grade – 9th grade age) a guide for studying and immersing herself in the virtues of femininity, the domestic skills and arts, literature and history of the Victorian Period, Natural History with a particular emphasis on Botany and Victorian naturalists - all while following along with a most faithful companion well suited to our young ladies as they develop into spirited but gentle young women – Anne of Green Gables.  The study begins with Anne as a young girl in Lucy Maud Montgomery's first book, Anne of Green Gables, but continues and follows Anne throughout all 8 books of the series as she grows and matures into a beautiful woman full of vivacity and life.   It is her vivacious, joyful spirit we mean to imbue this guide with.

 The study itself is organized into baskets, or themes, named for the flowers Father Lasance offers as representatives of the virtues discussed in The Catholic Girl’s Guide.   Following this introduction you will find documents for downloading resource listing for the first year of the program.   This resource list can be used for the year to aid in planning and library lists.   We will publish the Year 2 resource list sometime in the future.  In a post following this one, we will publish documents that offer our plans for the first basket in the series, The Sunflower Basket.

~Note: All the books in the first basket--the Sunflower Basket--are in the Young Ladies' Books Amazon store

This curriculum is decidedly Catholic in content.  There is no better model of purity and femininity for our young ladies to emulate than the Blessed Mother herself and we place this course under her protection.  Faith studies are taught with an eye towards virtue development.  Using The Catholic Girls Guide by Father Lasance, one virtue at a time is presented in order to provide time for prayer and depth of discussion.  Lives of the Saints, particularly those who lived during the Victorian period, were chosen to further illustrate the specific virtues discussed.  There is an element of Catholic culture in many of the course offerings in this curriculum.

Every attempt has been made to coordinate all subjects so that they work together and complement each other and the Victorian period as much as possible.  This study does not wish to “idealize” the period, but does choose to point out the good and beautiful, and particularly wishes our girls to have Anne as a companion during the entirety of the study. 

I'll briefly give you our vision for each of the individual courses....

:: Literature - Selections are chosen based on the period in which they characterize or were written.  All selections point to the Victorian period in some way.  Each basket offers one of the Anne books, and one additional literature selection.  These selections are fairly meaty, and because we wanted to foster time for immersion, written narrations, biographies, appropriate study, and additional related reading in History, we limited the literature selections.  Occasionally, you will see that Elizabeth and I fill in with other Literature that is appropriate. 

:: History - Selections parallel the Literature pieces offering background or context of the Victorian period.  The goal of the history portion of this course was to provide context and set the stage more than anything else, allowing the strength and vitality of the feminine characters of this study to offer a picture of life in the period.  Special emphasis is given to Queen Victoria and the Victorian period in general during this first year.  Next year, we plan to assemble a unique course spotlighting some very unique and strong First Ladies of the United States.  In each basket we provide opportunities for adding to the historical perspective of the course through writing opportunities and additions in each of the girl's Book of Centuries/Timeline.

:: Homemaking and Hospitality - No course following Anne and fostering a cheerful domestic spirit would be complete without a thorough and practical examination of the skills of homemaking and an attitude of hospitality.  In living out our vocations, we see skills and practices that can and should be nurtured within the home to assist in fostering these attitudes and practical skills.  There is also a Catholic element we hoped to breathe into this course through the use of some of the beautiful offerings of Catholic author and homemaker extraordinaire, Alice Cantrell as well as other Catholic authors that have written beautiful books to assist in living out the liturgical year at home.  We hope what we have assembled inches our girls towards cheerfulness and ability in the home and home arts.

:: Natural History - It seemed fitting to turn to Natural History for any course focusing on the Victorian period.  The Victorian era saw a surge of prolific and talented naturalists, two of whom we have chosen to follow for this course.  This first year will be spent following Edith Holden, a naturalist that technically lived and worked during the Edwardian era, the period immediately following the Victorian era and named for Queen Victoria's son, Edward.  She enjoys a great deal of popularity after the publication of her nature notes in 1906 - The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.  The second year will be spent following one of our absolute favorite naturalists, Beatrix Potter.  Both ladies offer a substantial body of work for study and inspiration.  Following along with Edith Holden, we will spend this year immersed in Botany offering many opportunities for reading, watercoloring, and nature journaling.  Next year, following Beatrix Potter, our studies in Natural History will take us to Zoology.

:: Faith - Our goal was to follow along with Father Lasance in The Catholic Girl's Guide taking one virtue to really focus on for each basket.  In addition, many books on the saints have been added because of their great value in illustrating through the lives of the saints the beauty of each of these virtues in action.  Each basket contains a chapter of The Catholic Girls Guide, and at least one book on the life of a saint.  This portion of the course is meant to be discussed frequently as some of the terminology and expressions Father Lasance uses are quite antiquated. 

:: Poetry - Our studies for poetry are inspired by Anne. We'll learn some of the poetry Anne and Lucy Maud Montgomery found inspiring using Anne's Anthology by Margie Gray.  The collection of poetry written by Lucy Maud Montgomery also fills the basket.  In addition, the girls are following the R is for Rhyme series on Serendipity.

:: Fine Arts - We'll be following and learning from the Impressionists during this study with a special emphasis on the works of Claude Monet.  We'll also spend a bit of time enjoying pieces of classical music from the Romantic period (1815-1910) such as Beethoven and Wagner and the Impressionist period (late 19th/early 20th century), such as Debussy and Ravel.  As a further connection to our Natural History studies we are offering our girls many opportunities to learn how to paint with watercolors as well as opportunities for expression.

:: Handcrafts - In our effort to foster the development of skills common in the Victorian home as well as promote a joy in creating, we're offering our girls some focused time in the handworking arts - primarily sewing skills and creations.

:: Child Development - The selections in this course are offered with an eye towards equipping our girls with the necessary knowledge and understanding of child development that would be appropriate at this age.  It was our hope that the knowledge gained here would be beneficial in the home right now with younger siblings, as well as down the road if God's plan for our girls includes the vocation of Matrimony.

:: DVD documentaries/movies/viewing options - This course is rich in terms of its literary offerings, but I would be remiss if I didn't communicate to you what a wonderful resource I've found for further enhancing a study in the offerings at Netflix and from the local library.  Each basket contains a number of DVD offerings to enhance the basket.

:: Copywork/Dictation/Writing Opportunities -We are comfortable adding these opportunities into each basket for our girls as a way of furthering and developing the skills of Language Arts.  We have not provided specific passages for copywork or studied dictations in our plans, though we have requested some written narrations as well as biographies for the girl's Book of Centuries.  Many of our selections will come from our poetry selections, our faith studies or reading from the saints, beautiful and well-written phrases from literature selections, or a lovely and inspiring thought from one of our Victorian naturalists.  This approach is important to us, but it doesn't have a mentioned place in the curriculum.  (For further reading, Ambleside Online has some discussion of the language arts principles of narration, copywork, and dictation.)  I also wanted to list another FAVORITE resource of mine for notebooking pages.  Some enjoy making their own in a simple, blank notebook, but my children just love doing copywork and dictations to add to their Book of Centuries on these Notebooking Pages.  A particular favorite of my daughter are the floral designs notebooking pages.  They're quite inexpensive and make a lovely addition to any notebook!

A final word about how this course looks...in our homes and yours.  These plans, these suggestions are just that - suggestions, a framework.  This course will look different in our individual homes - one could spend much more time in each basket adding a variety of resources and materials to flesh out a particular book or concept, or you might enjoy focusing more heavily on one section/subject of the basket than any of the others.  You could certainly substitute books and resources other than the ones you see here.  We embrace a literature rich approach to homeschooling, but we each have unique ways of implementing that philosophy, and each of our daughters have individual interests and talents they wish to pursue at this time. 

We feel that this course is best experienced at a relaxed and gentle pace, and we suggest a 2 year time frame – which means completing 4 baskets a year.  This allows for approximately 9 weeks per basket (in a 36 week year) providing time for writing and expression of creativity through handwork and practical homemaking exercises, all of which  is essential to the development of this course and our young ladies.

What isn't here...This course does not contain any math suggestions - you will need to add your own curriculum for math and Latin or another language if you choose.

The planning sheets...Each basket has its own unique set of planning sheets.  The guide or outline of each basket is provided for you in a format that is easy to use as a reference.  The daily and more detailed planning is left to you or your daughter.  We are excited to hand over some of the daily planning to our young ladies.  It seems a very good exercise in time management as well as valuable experience gained in planning as our daughters prepare themselves for their vocations. 

A call to prudence...Almost all of the books and many of the movies/documentaries suggested for this course have been read or reviewed by one or both of the authors, but there are those here that have not yet been previewed.  We’re learning as we go.  It goes without saying that the authors encourage family prudence when choosing and offering books and DVD’s for this program.  We recognize that we're the best judge of our daughter's needs and sensitivity levels, and you are the best judge of your daughter's needs.  If you don’t like something you see suggested...simply remove it from the basket or substitute something more suitable in it’s place and move forward in joy!

It is our prayer that this course fosters a communication and dialogue of true femininity, beauty, and virtue between mothers and daughters at “the bend in the road” while offering noble and great books to feed the intellect, imagination, and soul.

God bless you.

Literature for the Young Lady Resource Lists:

:: Download Serendipity - Lit for a Young Lady - Mary Beth's plans

Feel free to print these out.   There are some links in this listing, but not many.  All titles and author's names are provided.  There are a few more links provided on the plans for the individual baskets (see below).

A reminder...this is only Year 1.  Year 2 will be posted at a future date.


As we post individual basket plans they will be linked here:

:: Sunflower Basket Plans and Forms
:: Ivy Basket Plans and Forms
:: Peony Basket Plans and Forms...coming soon!!!
:: Rose Basket Plans and Forms...coming soon!!!

:: Year 2 Resource Listing....coming soon!!!

:: Carnation Basket Plans and Forms...coming soon!!!
:: Forget-Me-Not Basket Plans and Forms...coming soon!!!
:: Violet Basket Plans and Forms...coming soon!!!
:: Daffodil Basket Plans and Forms...coming soon!!!
:: Narcissus Basket Plans and Forms...coming soon!!!

St. Anne, pray for us!

Sunflower Basket

The Sunflower Basket is the first basket in the series of Literature for the Young Lady.  (If you haven't read the introductory post, please do so before reading further!)  Plan on taking at least 9 weeks with this basket, perhaps even a little longer. 

The following are the plans for the Sunflower Basket.  Many of the resources are active links. Almost all the books are linked in the righthand sidebar.

Download Sunflower Basket Mary Beth


Download Sunflower planning sheets

Download Weekly Rhythm and Planning

Download Sunflower Basket blank - planning

Coming soon....Ivy Basket!!!

Continents and Cultures: India and the Middle East

After spending six weeks immersed in the geography and culture of Africa, we'll head east and set our sights on learning more about the culture and geography of the Middle East and the collection of sites Christians refer to as the Holy Land.  Using Volume 2 of A Child's Geography, we'll immerse ourselves thoroughly in this study for about ten weeks, then shift our focus to a special Advent unit we are preparing.  After the Christmas season, we'll resume this block, focusing on Arabia and India for another 4 week block.  We are posting the study in its entirety here for those of you who may choose not to take the break with us during Advent and would like to use those four weeks to complete this section of your continental tour.  We'll continue our study of the continent of Asia with a separate block on the countries in Eastern Asia after the new year.  As you prepare your map work and continent box contents, keep in mind that these tools will be used throughout both of these blocks.  You may want to assemble contents for both areas of Asia all at once or choose to focus the work on the Middle East and India first, and switch the focus for the Eastern Asia block.  In addition, for most of blocks in our Continents and Cultures tour, our book lists will hold pride of place.  However, for this particular block on the Middle East, we are planning to soak in as many of the beautiful learning opportunities Ann Voskamp has provided in the second volume of A Child's Geography as we can.  The reading, narrating, and notebooking ideas she provides will be our focus as we learn about the homeland of Christianity.  There are also rich and worthy ideas outlined in each of the main lesson book categories below.  We have, therefore, provided a suggested book list and organized titles to the best of our ability.  Please understand there is much more there than you can probably cover if you are using the full program outlined in A Child's Geography.  Therefore, we have not suggested a timeline or weekly guideline for how to cover these books.  Our suggestion would be to choose those titles that are available or appeal the most to your family in each category and read them aloud over lunch or tea throughout the weeks of your study.  We have included a link to an adjusted weekly schedule so you can have an idea of how this particular block will look in our homes.  If you choose not to use A Child's Geography, this list is extensive enough to form a full study all its own.  We have tried to be sensitive to religious and cultural differences in our choices of books as well as to current events without delving too far into any of these issues further than is necessary for young children.  Still, we recommend each family determine what is appropriate for its own children.  If you are using the book list for your primary curriculum, just make your way through the list, narrating and creating a family notebook as you go.  Immerse yourselves in the stories by sculpting characters and settings using sweet-smelling beeswax, or craft some wee felt Middle Eastern children to narrate with.  Use play silks and lengths of fabric to recreate the dress styles illustrated in the books and dramatize the stories.  Add photographs of your work to your family's Asia notebook as you go along.  On other days, written narrations and illustrations can round out your study time.  For those of you following along in A Child's Geography with us, we'll go back to this focus on the book list when we make our way to India at the end of this study block.  So get your passports out again and prepare to be inspired as we travel the lands where our faith originated and get to know the people that inhabit them.

 

Continent Box Contents:

• spine book
• puzzle map of Asia
• outline map of Asia
• Montessori for Everyone Asia downloads
• animals of Asia figures (Wild Republic Asian Animals Tube)
• fabric squares
• spices (Middle Eastern Spices, Indian spices)
• coins
• craft from that continent

Spine Books:

A Child's Geography Volumes 1 and 2

• Turkey (3 weeks)
• Israel (3 weeks)
• Iraq (2 weeks)
• Jordan (2 weeks)
• BREAK
• Saudi Arabia (2 weeks)
• India (2 weeks) (Vol. 1, Ch. 4 and 5)

 

Poetry and Art:

The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East

Arabic Patterns Stained Glass Coloring Book

Traditional Designs from India Coloring Book

 

The Middle East: 

 

Books for Historical Background:

Mesopotamia (DK Eyewitness)

Bible Lands (DK Eyewitness) 

Ancient Mespotamia: The Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians

Life in Ancient Mesopotamia National Geographic Investigates: Ancient Iraq

 

Read Alouds:

• Gilgamesh the King
• The Revenge of Ishtar
• The Last Quest of Gilgamesh

 

 

Folk Tales for Everyone to Enjoy:

 

The Hungry Coat: A Tale from Turkey

One City, Two Brothers  (Jerusalem, Israel)

Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur! A Palestinian Folk Tale

Forty Fortunes: A Tale of Iran

A Fistful of Pearls and Other Tales from Iraq

The Enchanted Storks: A Tale of Bagdad

Power of Song: and Other Sephardic Tales

The Legend of the Persian Carpet

The Persian Cinderella

The King and Three Thieves: A Persian Tale

The Legend of the Persian Carpet

 

 

Picture Books to Good to Limit to Little Ones: 

Rumi: Persian Poet, Whirling Dervish (Turkey)

Snow in Jerusalem (Israel)

Sami and the Time of Troubles (Lebanon)

Sitti's Secrets (Palestine)

Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up in a War (Ancient Iraq)

Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq (Iraq)

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (Iraq)

Silent Music (Iraq)

Listen to the Wind (Pakistan)

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Save the World... (Pakistan)

Silly Chicken (Pakistan)

Four Feet,Two Sandals (Afghanistan)

Caravan (Afghanistan)

 

Chapter Books:

Tirzah (Jerusalem) 

Adara (Syria) 

Hittite Warrior () 

Habibi (Palestine) 

 

Arabia:

 

Everyone Will Enjoy:

A Gift of the Sands

A is for Arabia

One Humpy, Grumpy Camel

Chapter Book:

Ali and the Golden Eagle

Read Aloud:

Aladdin and Other Arabian Nights Stories

 

India:

 

Everyone Will Enjoy:

One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folk Tale

Anklet for a Princess: A Cinderella Story from India

India (DK Eyewitness)

Indian Children's Favorite Stories

Stories from India

Tales Told In Tents: Stories from Central Asia

The Gifts of Wali Dad: A Tale of India and Pakistan

 

Picture Books Too Good to Limit to Little Ones:

Once a Mouse...

Finders Keepers?

The Road to Mumbai

The Drum: A Folktale from India

Tea Leaves (Sri Lanka)

Monsoon

 

Elephant Dance

Lily's Garden of India

My Mother's Sari

The Monkey and the Crocodile: A Jakata Tale from India

Chapter Book:

Daughter of the Mountains-

Read Aloud:

Just So Stories-

Science Books:

I Wonder Why the Sahara is Cold at Night

DK Eyewitness Desert-OOP

Explore the Desert

Hansa: The True Story of an Asian Baby Elephant

Saluki: Hound of the Bedouin 

***Most of the desert books available are focused on the Sonora desert of Southwest America.  If you choose, it could make an interesting study to compare the animal life that is found in that desert to the animals of the deserts of the Middle East.  If you are interested in this idea, One Small Square: Desert is a great way to investigate the American desert.

Marian Main Lesson Book: 

Our Lady of Madhu (Sri Lanka)

Our Lady of Lebanon

Our Lady of Arabia (Kuwait)
Our Lady of Vailankanni (India)

Copywork: Prayer to Our Lady of Vailankanni from the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Prayer
O Most Holy Virgin!
You were chosen
by the most adorable Trinity
from all eternity
to be the most pure Mother of Jesus.
O Tender Mother of the afflicted,
grant me under my present necessities
a special protection.
Relying upon the infinite mercies
of your Divine Son,
and penetrated with confidence
in your powerful prayers,
I humbly entreat you to intercede for me.
I beg you to obtain for me
the favors which I petition.

O Mother of God,
accept my salutations
in union with the respect
with which the angel Gabriel
first hailed you "full of grace."

I beseech you,
O comfortress of the afflicted,
to obtain for me the favors and graces,
which I have now implored
through your powerful intercession.
For this end I offer you
the good works I do and sufferings I endure.
I humbly entreat you
for the love of the amiable heart of Jesus
with which yours
was ever so inflamed
to hear our prayers
and obtain our requests.
Amen.

Missionary Main Lesson Book:

Map Work:  Trace or paste an outline map of the Middle East and India, with countries labeled into MLB.  Throughout the course of the study, complete the following tasks and create a coded guide:

• Shade in what we refer to as the Holy Land.
• Mark Babylon, the Red Sea, Jericho, Israel
• Mark Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Galilee and the Jordan River.
• Shade in Mesopotamia.
• Using Acts of the Apostles as a reference, mark at least three places we know St. Paul visited.
• Mark the site of St. Paul's shipwreck in Acts.
• Using Acts to gather information, mark at least three mission territories of other Apostles.
• Mark St. Nicholas' home.
• Mark the location of St. Charbel's monatery.
• Mark at least three locations evangelized by St. Francis Xavier.
• Mark the city that is the center of the work of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity.

Students should include at least two written narrations of the lives of the saints studied in the geography work and at least two narrations of stories from Acts of the Apostles that highlight the early church's missionary history. 

Have students research itineraries for tours of the Holy Land.  Then have them plan their own itinerary for taking a group of young people from their church to the Holy Land for ten days.  Students should mark the sites they'll visit and travel route on a map and paste it into their main lesson books.  On the facing page, have them write a summary of the sites to be seen and the significance of each for each stop on their trip.  Students should include a Scripture reference in each explanation.

Students are also encouraged to find a priest currently serving in their diocese who is from India to interview about his home, his childhood, his call to religious life and his experience as a missionary.  A written summary of the interview should be included in their main lesson book.

Have students research the work of the Missionaries of Charity in India and around the world.  Have them create a page for their main lesson books that summarizes their Rule of Life and the main apostolates of the religious fathers, sisters, and laity of the organization.  In addition, the students shoud choose the apostolate that most appeals to them and write a short prayer for the succes of that apostolate.  This should be copied into the main lesson book and decorated.  Encourage the student to pray that prayer daily.

 

We'll be offering some guest posts by young Catholic missionaries who have recently visited and shared the Gospel in India.  Students could include a response to these testimonies in their notebooks.

 

Cultural Considerations Assignment: You are a missionary and have just been assigned to spend the month teaching and working with children in a refugee camp in a Middle Eastern nation. Brainstorm a list of at least ten ways you would share the love of Christ with them as their teacher.

Folk Tale Main Lesson Book:

Little ones should narrate the stories while mom keyboards.  Printed narrations can be pasted into the main lesson book and the facing page illustrated.  These narrations make great reading practice for beginning readers.

 

Animal Main Lesson Book:

Habitats: Arabian Desert and India's Mountains

Great desert website with lots of animal info: Living Desert

Lots of info about animals in India: India Wildlife

Students can use this list or generate their own from books or web sites.  They should illustrate the animal and on the facing page, record any information they've been able to gather including the animal's common name, species classification, habitat, food, shelter, and predators or any other unique facts they'd like to record.

• Arabian Camel
• Arabian Wildcat and Turkish Van Kedi
• the Arabian Horse
• Bengal Tiger/White Tiger
• Asian Elephant
• Leopard/Snow Leopard
• Indian Rhinoceros
• Caracal
• Peacock
• Cobra

Archaeology Main Lesson Book:

Students can do a bit of book or internet research on each of the following topics and then create a main lesson book page that includes an artistic representation as well as a written narration of what they've discovered. 

Great website for important bible sites: Bible Places

Nice history of Taj Mahal: Taj Mahal

• the Dead Sea Scrolls
• Code of Hammurabi
• Royal City of Ur
• Babylon
• Ninevah
• Jerusalem
• Taj Mahal

Middle East geography games:http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Middle-east_Geography.htm

Middle Eastern Recipes

Indian recipes

 

Bible Stories at Bedtime

When you start planning out your school year and listing all the things you'd like to share with your children, the list can seem never-ending.  Then you look realistically at weeks and days and try to find the hours to get to all those things and more often than not, you start scratching out, erasing, and undoing lists, finding that you've way overshot the mark on what you can actually accomplish with the number of hours the Good Lord has given us each day.  Because I am reluctant to give up on my plans, when I realized at the beginning of last school year that my plan to get to two long lesson blocks a day was just too much for us, I refused to give up any topic I'd chosen for our year's studies.  They were all there for a reason, and we were excited about each of them, just having a hard time fitting it all in.  Then I hit on an idea--if I took one subject and resigned myself to the fact that the books and stories themselves were the most important thing I wanted to share with my children and if I would be willing to forfeit all my more formal plans to gain back that book list, I could shift it to our bedtime reading routine, which was before this an informal conglomeration of books from the library and those dragged from our shelves that day, and not lose a single one of the great stories I wanted to share with my children.  It worked beautifully and we spent the year reading our way through the stories of Greek mythology with great enthusiasm.

When I described how beautifully it had worked to Elizabeth, she too felt it would be a great asset to settle down each evening with a basket full of carefully chosen stories she felt were important to share with her kids.  As we thought about the year ahead and our plans for it, we settled on the thought of working our way through lovely stacks of picture books depicting the stories of the Bible.  The list we have come up with is one of stories, poems, and psalms from the Old Testament.  It is a perfect tie in to the first units in our Continents and Cultures study and will, we hope, enhance our faith studies, produce fruitful discussions, and give our children a relationship with the stories found in God's Word that will keep them growing and learning through Scripture long after the years of bed time read-alouds.

Many of the books on this list were discovered as we researched with just an idea and a deep desire in hand.  We have not edited the list for Catholic content.  There are many lovely stories here that are written from both Protestant and Jewish perspectives.  We have not pre-read every title here either.  Our plan is to gather up these titles from our local library, scour for them at used book stores, and add them to our Amazon wish lists.  When we get our hands on them, we'll read them through and those that fit our purpose will get tucked in the bedtime reading basket.  We are of the firm belief that a beautiful picture book can teach a concept more effectively than just about any other method available.  We are also firm believers in the idea that not every resource we use to teach our children need be a particularly "Catholic" resource, that there are great riches to be found in taking the best of many resources and books and stories and weaving a faith-filled tapestry of education for our children.  We are also well aware that every family has its own level of comfort and sensitivity to stories and books and that not all families will enjoy every book title we enjoy.  We are sharing our list here because we know that beautiful picture books that bring the beauty and reality of our faith alive for our children are like little treasure chests.  When we discover a new one, we feel like we've struck gold.  We know there are many such treasures waiting to be discovered on this list, and we are excited to begin our hunt.  We hope you too will dig and discover some new gem that adds a little glimmer and shine to your bedtime reading basket this year.

~Colleen Mitchell

• Daily Life in Biblical Times: What Archaeology Tells Us

 

Creation and Genesis:

• Creation--Spirin
• The Story of Creation--Ray
• Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden--Ray
• Sarah Laughs-Jules
• Abraham's Search for God-Jules

 

Noah:

• Noah's Ark--Pinkney
• On Noah's Ark--Jan Brett
• Noah's Ark--Spier
• Why Noah Chose the Dove--Carle
• The Ark

 

Moses, Miriam, and Exodus:

• The Ten Commandments-Arch Books
• Moses and the Angels--Sobel
• Moses: The Long Road to Freedom--Spirin
• The Moses Basket--Koralek
• Miriam--Gormley
• Miriam's Cup: A Passover Story
• Exodus--Wildsmith
• Let My People Go
• Pharoah and the Fabulous Frog Invasion

 

Psalms and Proverbs:

• Let's Make a Joyful Noise: Celebrating Psalm 100
• Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92
• I Will Rejoice: Celebrating Psalm 118
• God Loves You: Proverbs from the Bible
• The Praises: Psalm 148--Chocheli
• Shout For Joy and Sing: Psalm 65 for Children
• Praise the Lord My Soul: Psalm 104 for Children
• Psalms for Young Children-Delval
• Psalm Twenty-Three--Ludwig
• The 23rd Psalm--Hague
• The Lord is My Shepherd--Spirin
• To Everything There is a Season-Leo Dillon
• To Everything There is a Season-Jude Daly

 

Esther:

• Esther's Story--Wolkstein
• Tapestries: Stories of Women in the Bible--OOP
• Hadassah: The Girl Who Became Queen Esther--Tenney
• The Story of Queen Esther--Koralek

 

Jonah:

• The Book of Jonah--Niko Chocheli
• The Book of Jonah--Spier OOP

 

Daniel:

• The Story of Daniel in the Lion's Den--OOP
• The Super Short, Amazing Story of Daniel in the Lion's Den

 

David and Solomon:

• The Super Short, Amazing Story of David and Goliath
David and Goliath--Hodges
• The Money in the Honey: A Midrash about David, Future King of Israel
• Solomon: A Man of Wisdom--OOP
• King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

 

Joseph:

• The Coat of Many Colors--Koralek
• Joseph--Wildsmith

 

Stories of Prophets and Kings:

• The Promised Land: From Joshua to the First Leaders of Israel--OOP
• Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture--Mayer
• God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah
• Victory on the Walls: A Story of Nehemiah
• Benjamin and the Silver Goblet

 

Biblical Living Fiction:

• Tirzah
• Adara