Monday, August 26, 2013
School Break!
School break this week! I just decided. It was actually scheduled for next week, but I am so stressed about a final paper I have to write this week for my current college class that I don't think I will be able to handle it all. I'm beginning to not sleep at night as well because of this pregnancy. Booo... not fun. I'm tired.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Week 5 Review
Second week with Classical Writing - Aesop. Love it.
I also love doing R&S English 4 orally with both girls. It takes some teacher-intensive time, but no more than doing oral reviews with two separate levels individually, and then explaining things they don't understand to each kid individually.
Love the Memoria Press products: Greek Myths, Famous Men of Rome, Latina Christiana 1, and Grammar Recitations (TM only, that we use for copywork). Geography 1 is ok; nothing special.
Love the Christian Liberty Nature Reader, book 4, for Charlotte. Perfect amount of reading and number of questions for her to answer. Savannah is learning tons in her Apologia Zoology 1 book that she reads and writes a written/illustrated narration about once a week.
Let's see...
Waking up early (myself at 5:00 am to work on online college work) and waking up the kids at 6 am is tough and not fun, but we get SO much accomplished while the babies are still asleep. Most of the teacher-intensive part of our day takes place from 6-715 am. Then the babies wake and we eat breakfast. After breakfast the two oldest do independent work while I play with the babies and clean up after breakfast.
On the days that I fail to get them out of bed at 6am I've had to put on a movie for the babies to entertain them for a hour and a half so that I can do the teacher-intensive schooling, while I'm still being interrupted by sad babies needing me for something. It is frustrating and takes much longer. So as much as I dislike waking up sleeping kids at 6 am, it really is worth it.
Maddy's Kindergarten is going well. We stopped math for a while to focus on getting through HWT-K workbook. I want her to know how to form all of her letters asap. She is almost finished with the book. She is doing great. She is also learning phonograms. That's all we do for K right now: handwriting and phonograms. She writes words in her handwriting book, which I have her identify the two-letter phonograms, the sound each letter makes (whether it is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd sound, etc), have her sound out the word, and then she writes it. When she finishes her handwriting book we will do this exercise with the spelling word lists in Spell to Write and Read Wise Guide. At that point we will also pick up math again.
Pre-school is not going as planned. We have managed to do the letter-of-the-week project every week, and I try to read aloud to them as much as I can manage, but I haven't followed my pre-school schedule at all. Today was the letter D, which we painted with mud for "dirty." Dirty D. B-we painted fingerprint bees and bugs (ladybugs) all over the B. C stands for "colorful," so we colored the C in many different colors. They love it. I'll have to post a picture soon.
Anyway, that's it for Week 5! The weeks feel like they are just flying by.
I also love doing R&S English 4 orally with both girls. It takes some teacher-intensive time, but no more than doing oral reviews with two separate levels individually, and then explaining things they don't understand to each kid individually.
Love the Memoria Press products: Greek Myths, Famous Men of Rome, Latina Christiana 1, and Grammar Recitations (TM only, that we use for copywork). Geography 1 is ok; nothing special.
Love the Christian Liberty Nature Reader, book 4, for Charlotte. Perfect amount of reading and number of questions for her to answer. Savannah is learning tons in her Apologia Zoology 1 book that she reads and writes a written/illustrated narration about once a week.
Let's see...
Waking up early (myself at 5:00 am to work on online college work) and waking up the kids at 6 am is tough and not fun, but we get SO much accomplished while the babies are still asleep. Most of the teacher-intensive part of our day takes place from 6-715 am. Then the babies wake and we eat breakfast. After breakfast the two oldest do independent work while I play with the babies and clean up after breakfast.
On the days that I fail to get them out of bed at 6am I've had to put on a movie for the babies to entertain them for a hour and a half so that I can do the teacher-intensive schooling, while I'm still being interrupted by sad babies needing me for something. It is frustrating and takes much longer. So as much as I dislike waking up sleeping kids at 6 am, it really is worth it.
Maddy's Kindergarten is going well. We stopped math for a while to focus on getting through HWT-K workbook. I want her to know how to form all of her letters asap. She is almost finished with the book. She is doing great. She is also learning phonograms. That's all we do for K right now: handwriting and phonograms. She writes words in her handwriting book, which I have her identify the two-letter phonograms, the sound each letter makes (whether it is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd sound, etc), have her sound out the word, and then she writes it. When she finishes her handwriting book we will do this exercise with the spelling word lists in Spell to Write and Read Wise Guide. At that point we will also pick up math again.
Pre-school is not going as planned. We have managed to do the letter-of-the-week project every week, and I try to read aloud to them as much as I can manage, but I haven't followed my pre-school schedule at all. Today was the letter D, which we painted with mud for "dirty." Dirty D. B-we painted fingerprint bees and bugs (ladybugs) all over the B. C stands for "colorful," so we colored the C in many different colors. They love it. I'll have to post a picture soon.
Anyway, that's it for Week 5! The weeks feel like they are just flying by.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
School Week 4 - Classical Writing
We just finished up week 4 of school, but our first week with Classical Writing - Aesop, using only the core and not the workbooks.
Our first three weeks of school I was using R&S English as written for both big girls, R&S spelling for each, and Classical Composition-Fable for Savannah. The problems ended up being that R&S English was taking a long time, especially for Charlotte. School, in general, was taking a long time. Our first lesson with Classical Composition - Fable was OK, but I wasn't sold on it. There wasn't enough explanation for certain portions of it. And Savannah mentioned that she wasn't learning anything new with the spelling. They are both natural spellers.
So insert Classical Writing - Aesop. I think we have a winner!
I am doing R&S English 4 orally with both kids at the same time, two lessons a week. We're skipping the composition lessons. We apply what we are learning in grammar to 3-4 sentences from the Aesop model we are studying for the week. I like this because we get to practice on real sentences that are never as straight forward as the canned sentences from R&S.
I dropped spelling completely. I picked ten words from the Aesop model to analyze on the whiteboard together (separate into syllables, mark the phonograms, go over the spelling rules that apply). Then they write the list into their notebooks twice. Next week I will test them on the list. They also practice spelling through dictation during the week.
The previous post has the schedule that we used.
So this is how our week with Classical Writing - Aesop went:
Monday:
Introduced the model, The Hare and the Tortoise. I read it aloud. We defined some of the difficult words on the board together. Each kid read it aloud to practice oral reading (pronunciation). Then we discussed the title, the author, the main characters, the plot, the purpose of the story, the meaning of the fable, etc.
Later that day I sat with each kid individually and we made an outline for the story (there are actually directions in Aesop on how to make a simple outline, unlike Classical Composition). Then on their own they wrote a narration using the outline. It worked great.
Tuesday:
The kids each read aloud the story again to practice oral reading (this time with animation/feeling). Then we went over spelling words as described above. I marked off a portion of the story for them to copy in their best handwriting and they copied it into their notebooks.
Later that day I sat with each kid individually and we edited their first draft of their written narration, fixing punctuation, capitalization, and making the sentences make a little more sense. This took about 5 minutes for each child.
Wednesday:
We don't do Classical Writing on Wednesday, but I do require them to do a freewrite for 10 minutes. This is where I set a timer and we all just write whatever we want. The rule is that you can't stop writing, it doesn't have to be in neat handwriting, and I won't read it. If they can't figure out something to write then they can write that over and over: "I don't know what to write. I don't know what to write." I give them a few topics they could write on or tell them they can write one of the poems the have memorized. They just have to WRITE. The purpose of this exercise is to get them over the fear of writing, or only writing when they have something perfect to put on the page.
Thursday:
Again each kid read the story aloud to practice oral reading.
This is the day we apply our grammar to a few of the sentences from the model, as described above.
Then they dictated to each other the copywork that they did on Tuesday. In other words, Savannah read her copywork passage aloud to Charlotte as Charlotte writes it down without looking at the model. They wrote this dictation into their notebooks. Then they went over each other's dictation to make sure they wrote it down correctly, and corrected each other's mistakes.
The point of dictation is to help them remember how to spell and punctuate correctly. It can also be a practice in keeping a sentence in your memory long enough to write it down.
Later that day I sat with each kid and we added dialogue to their written narration. This took about 10 minutes per kid.
Friday:
They rewrite their corrected and amplified first draft into a final product.
My thoughts:
I think this is a solid and thorough writing program and an excellent supplement to our Language Arts. I like how we are studying one model the entire week and applying what we have learned to the model. It makes our learning RELEVANT. I like that. I find it easy to implement. I'm writing a post on the details of how I plan for the week, which I will post soon.
For my girls, I think we will continue this pace for the rest of the year and move into Homer next year. I don't plan on using the workbooks for Homer either. I have found a lot of reviews talking about how people give up CW because it is so confusing to use, and I think that is because they are relying on the workbooks, wanting something easy to open and go, and don't want to, or can't, understand the Homer Core book. I think, THINK, that for this program to be successful you have to understand the Core well enough to manipulate it to your needs and the current needs of your students. So that is my plan. I think this is an excellent writing program and I have every intention of sticking with it. Then again, this is week 1 of Aesop... I am speaking out of inexperience. Time will tell.
Our first three weeks of school I was using R&S English as written for both big girls, R&S spelling for each, and Classical Composition-Fable for Savannah. The problems ended up being that R&S English was taking a long time, especially for Charlotte. School, in general, was taking a long time. Our first lesson with Classical Composition - Fable was OK, but I wasn't sold on it. There wasn't enough explanation for certain portions of it. And Savannah mentioned that she wasn't learning anything new with the spelling. They are both natural spellers.
So insert Classical Writing - Aesop. I think we have a winner!
I am doing R&S English 4 orally with both kids at the same time, two lessons a week. We're skipping the composition lessons. We apply what we are learning in grammar to 3-4 sentences from the Aesop model we are studying for the week. I like this because we get to practice on real sentences that are never as straight forward as the canned sentences from R&S.
I dropped spelling completely. I picked ten words from the Aesop model to analyze on the whiteboard together (separate into syllables, mark the phonograms, go over the spelling rules that apply). Then they write the list into their notebooks twice. Next week I will test them on the list. They also practice spelling through dictation during the week.
The previous post has the schedule that we used.
So this is how our week with Classical Writing - Aesop went:
Monday:
Introduced the model, The Hare and the Tortoise. I read it aloud. We defined some of the difficult words on the board together. Each kid read it aloud to practice oral reading (pronunciation). Then we discussed the title, the author, the main characters, the plot, the purpose of the story, the meaning of the fable, etc.
Later that day I sat with each kid individually and we made an outline for the story (there are actually directions in Aesop on how to make a simple outline, unlike Classical Composition). Then on their own they wrote a narration using the outline. It worked great.
Tuesday:
The kids each read aloud the story again to practice oral reading (this time with animation/feeling). Then we went over spelling words as described above. I marked off a portion of the story for them to copy in their best handwriting and they copied it into their notebooks.
Later that day I sat with each kid individually and we edited their first draft of their written narration, fixing punctuation, capitalization, and making the sentences make a little more sense. This took about 5 minutes for each child.
Wednesday:
We don't do Classical Writing on Wednesday, but I do require them to do a freewrite for 10 minutes. This is where I set a timer and we all just write whatever we want. The rule is that you can't stop writing, it doesn't have to be in neat handwriting, and I won't read it. If they can't figure out something to write then they can write that over and over: "I don't know what to write. I don't know what to write." I give them a few topics they could write on or tell them they can write one of the poems the have memorized. They just have to WRITE. The purpose of this exercise is to get them over the fear of writing, or only writing when they have something perfect to put on the page.
Thursday:
Again each kid read the story aloud to practice oral reading.
This is the day we apply our grammar to a few of the sentences from the model, as described above.
Then they dictated to each other the copywork that they did on Tuesday. In other words, Savannah read her copywork passage aloud to Charlotte as Charlotte writes it down without looking at the model. They wrote this dictation into their notebooks. Then they went over each other's dictation to make sure they wrote it down correctly, and corrected each other's mistakes.
The point of dictation is to help them remember how to spell and punctuate correctly. It can also be a practice in keeping a sentence in your memory long enough to write it down.
Later that day I sat with each kid and we added dialogue to their written narration. This took about 10 minutes per kid.
Friday:
They rewrite their corrected and amplified first draft into a final product.
My thoughts:
I think this is a solid and thorough writing program and an excellent supplement to our Language Arts. I like how we are studying one model the entire week and applying what we have learned to the model. It makes our learning RELEVANT. I like that. I find it easy to implement. I'm writing a post on the details of how I plan for the week, which I will post soon.
For my girls, I think we will continue this pace for the rest of the year and move into Homer next year. I don't plan on using the workbooks for Homer either. I have found a lot of reviews talking about how people give up CW because it is so confusing to use, and I think that is because they are relying on the workbooks, wanting something easy to open and go, and don't want to, or can't, understand the Homer Core book. I think, THINK, that for this program to be successful you have to understand the Core well enough to manipulate it to your needs and the current needs of your students. So that is my plan. I think this is an excellent writing program and I have every intention of sticking with it. Then again, this is week 1 of Aesop... I am speaking out of inexperience. Time will tell.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
New schedule
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| Click to read |
I'm really excited about next week and incorporating Classical Writing into
our day. I really like the focus of our studies.
The "Morning with Mom" is going to be from 530 am until 7am.
7am-8am is breakfast, dress, clean, break
8am-1200 is Latin copywork, independent CW, math, & enrichments.
1200-100 is lunch/break
100-200 is quiet time / literature reading
200-300 is CW with mom, rotating Savannah and Charlotte
Piano and "other" is anytime before 630pm
It is basically the same thing we've been doing the last three weeks except the oral part of Language Arts will be with me in the early morning. Composition and analysis will play a greater role in our day, I will have a more active role in teaching LA instead of using independent curriculum, LA is more streamlined and relevant, and Charlotte is folded into the learning instead of it being just for Savannah. I think it is going to be a really good change. I hope, I hope, I hope. I want some consistency this year.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Radical
I'm thinking about doing something totally radical and see how it works out.
Next week I'm going LCC: multa non multum, all the way.
Why? Because I feel we are not being efficient with our curriculum or time. I'm not satisfied. This is a flaw of mine and I may never be satisfied. I go back and forth on curriculum constantly, trying to find the perfect fit. At least my kids aren't behind on any subject. Yet.
I'm dropping R&S Spelling, MP's Grammar Recitations, R&S English, and Classical Composition. *faint*
I added Classical Writing - Aesop (it streamlines spelling, grammar, and composition, plus adds in literature analysis). A lot of people use an additional grammar and spelling program, but I am going to try to refrain from doing so. I think between CW and Latin, it is enough. We will have to pick up R&S English eventually in the higher grades, or another grammar curriculum, but for now an additional grammar is not needed. It is all in CW-Aesop. (Well.. maybe we'll keep English.. I don't know)
So here is my plan so far (I have until Monday to change it all around a million times):
Daily:
Scripture Study
Latin
Classical Writing
Math Mammoth / xtramath.com
Geography or Science or Classical Studies
Read literature for 1 hour
Piano
Poetry Recitations
I read aloud at night, they narrate: History, Bible, Homer, and Shakespeare.
What I like about Classical Writing is that the different components of language arts are all drawn from one weekly model. That is something that I have always wanted to have. Their recommended literature is the small collection of great books I have been looking for. It just seems to fit my goals and educational philosophy, and seems to be exactly what I've been looking for. We'll see.
So what is LCC? It is a book called The Latin-Centered Curriculum. He talks about multa non multum, which is Latin for "much, but not many." The three main principles of multa non multum are:
1. "The number of subjects must be limited to the truly academic."
2. "Whenever possible, subjects are taught in relation to one another and in the context of broader intellectual concerns." And, "in all subjects, students should be led to ask big questions: What is Man? What is the Good Life? How then should we live?"
3. "Readings in Literature and History consist of a very few representative masterpieces that the student reads slowly and studies in depth." - Andrew A. Campbell
He gives a 12-year overview of recommended subjects and curriculum, most of which I am following with this plan, substituting a few things.
Next week I'm going LCC: multa non multum, all the way.
Why? Because I feel we are not being efficient with our curriculum or time. I'm not satisfied. This is a flaw of mine and I may never be satisfied. I go back and forth on curriculum constantly, trying to find the perfect fit. At least my kids aren't behind on any subject. Yet.
I'm dropping R&S Spelling, MP's Grammar Recitations, R&S English, and Classical Composition. *faint*
I added Classical Writing - Aesop (it streamlines spelling, grammar, and composition, plus adds in literature analysis). A lot of people use an additional grammar and spelling program, but I am going to try to refrain from doing so. I think between CW and Latin, it is enough. We will have to pick up R&S English eventually in the higher grades, or another grammar curriculum, but for now an additional grammar is not needed. It is all in CW-Aesop. (Well.. maybe we'll keep English.. I don't know)
So here is my plan so far (I have until Monday to change it all around a million times):
Daily:
Scripture Study
Latin
Classical Writing
Math Mammoth / xtramath.com
Geography or Science or Classical Studies
Read literature for 1 hour
Piano
Poetry Recitations
I read aloud at night, they narrate: History, Bible, Homer, and Shakespeare.
What I like about Classical Writing is that the different components of language arts are all drawn from one weekly model. That is something that I have always wanted to have. Their recommended literature is the small collection of great books I have been looking for. It just seems to fit my goals and educational philosophy, and seems to be exactly what I've been looking for. We'll see.
So what is LCC? It is a book called The Latin-Centered Curriculum. He talks about multa non multum, which is Latin for "much, but not many." The three main principles of multa non multum are:
1. "The number of subjects must be limited to the truly academic."
2. "Whenever possible, subjects are taught in relation to one another and in the context of broader intellectual concerns." And, "in all subjects, students should be led to ask big questions: What is Man? What is the Good Life? How then should we live?"
3. "Readings in Literature and History consist of a very few representative masterpieces that the student reads slowly and studies in depth." - Andrew A. Campbell
He gives a 12-year overview of recommended subjects and curriculum, most of which I am following with this plan, substituting a few things.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Rod & Staff English, reduced. - UPDATE
I have figured out how to make our grammar, Rod & Staff English, not be so cumbersome!
Currently, we do a lesson in R&S English 4 days a week. They write everything out. It really doesn't take Savannah that long. She did it last year and she is used to it and she writes quickly. CHARLOTTE on the other hand spent about 2 hours today completing her English lesson. (grrrrr....) She writes slow and beautiful and is so easily distracted.
We just spend way too much time devoted to it. We're studying Latin and memorizing grammar terms through Grammar Recitations. R&S English is overkill, but I need it because it is all new for me, and I want the kids to have a solid foundation too.
Here's what I figured out:
Book 3: Cut out the first lesson on how to take care of your English book, cut out ALL reviews and extra activities, and cut out the last section on poetry. You get 80 lessons left over. I can do 2 lessons over 40 weeks.
Book 4: Cut out the first two lessons on how to take care of your English book, cut out all reviews, and cut out all *composition lessons. You get 80 lessons left over.
Book 5: Same as book 4. 80 lessons. 2 lessons/week.
BIG sigh of relief. We'll do two days of grammar and two days of Classical studies, which also contains a little writing. I'm going to add in two days of copywork and two days of dictation. Still a good amount of writing, but copywork and dictation shouldn't take Charlotte as long to complete. Plus copywork and dictation serve as better models of writing than the samples in R&S English.
I feel better. Whew!
-----Update----
This week I decided to do R&S completely oral and combined. I'm starting in Book 3 since Charlotte hasn't had any grammar yet. We will do 4 lessons a week, orally, with both Savannah and Charlotte. They'll take turns answering questions with me. Today it took about 10 minutes. I figure I can probably get through Book 3 & 4 this year.
However, even though grammar went from over an hour to do, to only 10 minutes, the day was still really, really long. I don't know what to do. I'm frustrated. :(
Currently, we do a lesson in R&S English 4 days a week. They write everything out. It really doesn't take Savannah that long. She did it last year and she is used to it and she writes quickly. CHARLOTTE on the other hand spent about 2 hours today completing her English lesson. (grrrrr....) She writes slow and beautiful and is so easily distracted.
We just spend way too much time devoted to it. We're studying Latin and memorizing grammar terms through Grammar Recitations. R&S English is overkill, but I need it because it is all new for me, and I want the kids to have a solid foundation too.
Here's what I figured out:
Book 3: Cut out the first lesson on how to take care of your English book, cut out ALL reviews and extra activities, and cut out the last section on poetry. You get 80 lessons left over. I can do 2 lessons over 40 weeks.
Book 4: Cut out the first two lessons on how to take care of your English book, cut out all reviews, and cut out all *composition lessons. You get 80 lessons left over.
Book 5: Same as book 4. 80 lessons. 2 lessons/week.
BIG sigh of relief. We'll do two days of grammar and two days of Classical studies, which also contains a little writing. I'm going to add in two days of copywork and two days of dictation. Still a good amount of writing, but copywork and dictation shouldn't take Charlotte as long to complete. Plus copywork and dictation serve as better models of writing than the samples in R&S English.
I feel better. Whew!
-----Update----
This week I decided to do R&S completely oral and combined. I'm starting in Book 3 since Charlotte hasn't had any grammar yet. We will do 4 lessons a week, orally, with both Savannah and Charlotte. They'll take turns answering questions with me. Today it took about 10 minutes. I figure I can probably get through Book 3 & 4 this year.
However, even though grammar went from over an hour to do, to only 10 minutes, the day was still really, really long. I don't know what to do. I'm frustrated. :(
Reading Aloud
Just wanted to jot this idea down before I forgot it. I was reading about the benefits of reading aloud, not just so the kids can hear good books, but they need to be reading aloud themselves as well. We do oral poetry recitations from our memory work, poetry tea-time where we all take turns reading a poem aloud, and daily scripture reading out loud. I read aloud to them at night, but for oral narrations, so I'm reading history, science, Bible, and classics: Iliad next.
My new idea: pick a literature book a little below their reading level and take turns reading a paragraph until we read a whole chapter. We would do this at lunch time. They get extra practice reading aloud, I get in a family literature book that I can't seem to squeeze in at night, Madelynn gets a book read to her at her comprehension level, it helps us all transition from free time to quiet time, and we can also discuss it as a family.
Hmm.. I'll have to try that and see how it goes.
My new idea: pick a literature book a little below their reading level and take turns reading a paragraph until we read a whole chapter. We would do this at lunch time. They get extra practice reading aloud, I get in a family literature book that I can't seem to squeeze in at night, Madelynn gets a book read to her at her comprehension level, it helps us all transition from free time to quiet time, and we can also discuss it as a family.
Hmm.. I'll have to try that and see how it goes.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Why a focus on Greece and Rome
I have chosen to focus on Greece and Rome in our homeschool. Not because I have any real convictions about it myself yet, (I certainly remain uneducated in this area), but because I have read arguments for it and I believe that it has merit. I believe spiritual knowledge is prime, but when it comes to secular knowledge, the civilizations of Greece and Rome take the cake and actually support our spiritual learning. The truth from their world is timeless and foundational to all that we know today. From the little that I have learned and read, I am finding that this is true, and that there is beauty and truth in these ancient civilizations, and valuable lessons to be learned.
Anyway, I found a great article that I wanted to post on here that really encompasses the link between the ancient and the spiritual knowledge, and the benefits of being immersed in the classics.
From Memoria Press: Why Read Homer's Iliad? written by Cheryl Lowe http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/why-read-homers-iliad (emphasis and notes mine)
"The heart of a classical education is the cumulative study of Latin and the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. In the Western tradition, education has always been synonymous with classical education. It began with the Greeks and Romans, was preserved and expanded by Christians during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and continued unabated until well into the twentieth century.
"I have said many times that Latin is not dead: it is immortal. Latin is truly the most influential language in human history. It has been immortalized in modern romance languages, in modern scientific languages, and in its own great literature.
"The most difficult part of classical education for parents to understand is not Latin, but rather our classical studies curriculum. Why study the Greeks and Romans? They are all dead, their civilization is dead and gone, they were pagans, and they weren't even Christians. What do they have to say to us?
"Just as Latin is not dead, it is also true that Greece and Rome are not dead. They, too, are immortal in their architecture, art, law, government, languages, mythology, literature, and philosophy. The cultures of Greece and Rome live around and through us every day.
"Students who study Latin soon see that Latin is everywhere and that they have been speaking and reading Latin all of their lives. Likewise, students who study Greece and Rome soon see that those cultures are everywhere, and they have been living as Greeks and Romans all of their lives.
"The story of Greek and Roman literature begins with the story of Troy. Our students at Highlands Latin School read the Iliad and the Odyssey in the seventh Grade, and at first, the warrior culture of these early Greeks seems very alien. They were not sensitive and sentimental like us. They were not politically correct at all. Achilles was certainly not a nice Christian gentleman like Robert E. Lee. We don't know many real facts about the Trojan War, and all those silly gods fighting and taking sides—ridiculous! Why don't we read something useful, like a book on the Civil War?
"But the Iliad, we discover, is a book about the Civil War. It is a book about all wars, about the people and characters that you find in every war—actually, in every town!—the wise, the foolish, the clever, the noble, the base, the ambitious, the women, the old, and the young. It is about their pettiness, their heroism, their adventures, their sacrifices, and their sufferings. The Iliad is mostly about people, not war, and it gives us unforgettable and universal character types.
"There is no passage in all of literature more moving than when Priam comes to beg for the body of Hector and kisses the bloody hands of Achilles, who has slaughtered so many of his sons. The two enemies, one old and one young, sit down and weep together over what they both have lost.
"Hector is the real hero of the Iliad, and he dies at the hands of Achilles, who desecrates his body and drags it around the walls of Troy, Venus then restores his body to perfection before it is returned to Priam. And the Iliad ends, “Thus was the funeral of Hector, tamer of horses." The Iliad is a strange poem when you think about it. It is not at all what we expect from a story about a great war hero. Hector, in fact, is just the opposite of the John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, make-my-day kind of hero that we so admire. I'm sure the Greeks were just like us and would have much preferred a poem that showed that they were number one, that they were right, and deserved to win over the effeminate Trojans. But that is not what Homer gave them—or us. Hector, in some sense, prefigures Christ, for he was not at all the Greek ideal of a hero, godlike in beauty and strength. Rather, he was a hero that was defiled and humiliated.
"I don't know any substitute for Latin for training the intellect and sharpening the mind. And I don't know any substitute for the Iliad for humanizing and civilizing the young. There is no book on the Civil War—or any war—that compares with the Iliad. And your children will be a little wiser and a little more human for having read it. Each year, our students at Highlands Latin School read the Iliad, under the guidance of Mr. Wheatley, our principal, and knowing the death of Hector is imminent, they often express the fear that they are going to cry in class.
"The Iliad and Odyssey are the beginnings of Western literature. The story of that war and its aftermath continues in the Aeneid, which our students read in the eighth Grade. Written by the great Roman poet Virgil, and modeled on the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas, who was destined to escape from the burning city of Troy and found a new city, Rome. And the destiny of Rome, Virgil tells us, was to civilize and rule the world. Rome brought an unprecedented two hundred years of peace and prosperity to the ancient world, preparing the way for the coming of Christ and the spread of the gospel to the ends of the known world. (And the link between Rome and America is made even clearer. As Rome prepared the way for Christ, so has America prepared the way for the Restoration of His gospel in these last days.)
"And the story continues in the ninth Grade when students read Greek drama and follow other heroes who return home from the Trojan War. The cycle of vengeance that is the curse of the House of Atreus, the unspeakable fate of Oedipus: the Greeks were certainly not afraid to ask the dark and hard questions about such matters. But in doing so, they prepared the way for the even darker and harder answer, the Crucifixion, too dark even for the Greeks.
"And the story continues at Highlands Latin School when ninth graders read the Divine Comedy, written at the opening of the Renaissance, almost one thousand years after the fall of Rome. In this great Christian epic, Dante must travel through Hell in order to learn about the true nature of man and the reality of sin. And who is his guide in the afterlife but Virgil, Dante's symbol of human wisdom and, of course, the author of theAeneid. And who does Dante see on his journey through the afterlife but those ancient heroes of old, Achilles, Odysseus, Caesar, Brutus, and, of course, the saints and sinners of the Bible and of Dante's own age.
"I hope you can see that literature taught in this way is a continuous story. That is what literature should be but rarely is. And I hope you can see that the Greek and Roman classics first told those stories that reverberate through all of literature. The classics of Greece and Rome are not optional: if we skip them, we have no hope at all of teaching literature with any real understanding or meaning.
"The classics of Greece and Rome provide us with a set of connected stories and a cast of characters that teach us what it means to be human. They are also the basis of literature, teaching us about the natural man (man at his best and worst, but natural man). They don't give us the answers that we find in revelation, but they do give us the questions.
"Chaucer, Shakespeare, and all of our great English writers take this basic canon for granted; references to it are everywhere. We can't really read English literature with understanding and profit unless we know this classical heritage as they did.
"At the turn of the millennium, there were many lists of the greatest works of the twentieth century. At the top of every list was James Joyce's Ulysses. Ulysses, of course, is the Roman name for Odysseus. Twenty-eight hundred years after Homer wrote the Odyssey, it still echoes through the words of the poets of the twentieth century. As William Faulkner said, “The past is not dead, it's not even past."
Anyway, I found a great article that I wanted to post on here that really encompasses the link between the ancient and the spiritual knowledge, and the benefits of being immersed in the classics.
From Memoria Press: Why Read Homer's Iliad? written by Cheryl Lowe http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/why-read-homers-iliad (emphasis and notes mine)
"The heart of a classical education is the cumulative study of Latin and the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. In the Western tradition, education has always been synonymous with classical education. It began with the Greeks and Romans, was preserved and expanded by Christians during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and continued unabated until well into the twentieth century.
"I have said many times that Latin is not dead: it is immortal. Latin is truly the most influential language in human history. It has been immortalized in modern romance languages, in modern scientific languages, and in its own great literature.
"The most difficult part of classical education for parents to understand is not Latin, but rather our classical studies curriculum. Why study the Greeks and Romans? They are all dead, their civilization is dead and gone, they were pagans, and they weren't even Christians. What do they have to say to us?
"Just as Latin is not dead, it is also true that Greece and Rome are not dead. They, too, are immortal in their architecture, art, law, government, languages, mythology, literature, and philosophy. The cultures of Greece and Rome live around and through us every day.
"Students who study Latin soon see that Latin is everywhere and that they have been speaking and reading Latin all of their lives. Likewise, students who study Greece and Rome soon see that those cultures are everywhere, and they have been living as Greeks and Romans all of their lives.
"The story of Greek and Roman literature begins with the story of Troy. Our students at Highlands Latin School read the Iliad and the Odyssey in the seventh Grade, and at first, the warrior culture of these early Greeks seems very alien. They were not sensitive and sentimental like us. They were not politically correct at all. Achilles was certainly not a nice Christian gentleman like Robert E. Lee. We don't know many real facts about the Trojan War, and all those silly gods fighting and taking sides—ridiculous! Why don't we read something useful, like a book on the Civil War?
"But the Iliad, we discover, is a book about the Civil War. It is a book about all wars, about the people and characters that you find in every war—actually, in every town!—the wise, the foolish, the clever, the noble, the base, the ambitious, the women, the old, and the young. It is about their pettiness, their heroism, their adventures, their sacrifices, and their sufferings. The Iliad is mostly about people, not war, and it gives us unforgettable and universal character types.
"Hector is the real hero of the Iliad, and he dies at the hands of Achilles, who desecrates his body and drags it around the walls of Troy, Venus then restores his body to perfection before it is returned to Priam. And the Iliad ends, “Thus was the funeral of Hector, tamer of horses." The Iliad is a strange poem when you think about it. It is not at all what we expect from a story about a great war hero. Hector, in fact, is just the opposite of the John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, make-my-day kind of hero that we so admire. I'm sure the Greeks were just like us and would have much preferred a poem that showed that they were number one, that they were right, and deserved to win over the effeminate Trojans. But that is not what Homer gave them—or us. Hector, in some sense, prefigures Christ, for he was not at all the Greek ideal of a hero, godlike in beauty and strength. Rather, he was a hero that was defiled and humiliated.
"I don't know any substitute for Latin for training the intellect and sharpening the mind. And I don't know any substitute for the Iliad for humanizing and civilizing the young. There is no book on the Civil War—or any war—that compares with the Iliad. And your children will be a little wiser and a little more human for having read it. Each year, our students at Highlands Latin School read the Iliad, under the guidance of Mr. Wheatley, our principal, and knowing the death of Hector is imminent, they often express the fear that they are going to cry in class.
"The Iliad and Odyssey are the beginnings of Western literature. The story of that war and its aftermath continues in the Aeneid, which our students read in the eighth Grade. Written by the great Roman poet Virgil, and modeled on the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas, who was destined to escape from the burning city of Troy and found a new city, Rome. And the destiny of Rome, Virgil tells us, was to civilize and rule the world. Rome brought an unprecedented two hundred years of peace and prosperity to the ancient world, preparing the way for the coming of Christ and the spread of the gospel to the ends of the known world. (And the link between Rome and America is made even clearer. As Rome prepared the way for Christ, so has America prepared the way for the Restoration of His gospel in these last days.)
"And the story continues in the ninth Grade when students read Greek drama and follow other heroes who return home from the Trojan War. The cycle of vengeance that is the curse of the House of Atreus, the unspeakable fate of Oedipus: the Greeks were certainly not afraid to ask the dark and hard questions about such matters. But in doing so, they prepared the way for the even darker and harder answer, the Crucifixion, too dark even for the Greeks.
"And the story continues at Highlands Latin School when ninth graders read the Divine Comedy, written at the opening of the Renaissance, almost one thousand years after the fall of Rome. In this great Christian epic, Dante must travel through Hell in order to learn about the true nature of man and the reality of sin. And who is his guide in the afterlife but Virgil, Dante's symbol of human wisdom and, of course, the author of theAeneid. And who does Dante see on his journey through the afterlife but those ancient heroes of old, Achilles, Odysseus, Caesar, Brutus, and, of course, the saints and sinners of the Bible and of Dante's own age.
"I hope you can see that literature taught in this way is a continuous story. That is what literature should be but rarely is. And I hope you can see that the Greek and Roman classics first told those stories that reverberate through all of literature. The classics of Greece and Rome are not optional: if we skip them, we have no hope at all of teaching literature with any real understanding or meaning.
"The classics of Greece and Rome provide us with a set of connected stories and a cast of characters that teach us what it means to be human. They are also the basis of literature, teaching us about the natural man (man at his best and worst, but natural man). They don't give us the answers that we find in revelation, but they do give us the questions.
"Chaucer, Shakespeare, and all of our great English writers take this basic canon for granted; references to it are everywhere. We can't really read English literature with understanding and profit unless we know this classical heritage as they did.
"At the turn of the millennium, there were many lists of the greatest works of the twentieth century. At the top of every list was James Joyce's Ulysses. Ulysses, of course, is the Roman name for Odysseus. Twenty-eight hundred years after Homer wrote the Odyssey, it still echoes through the words of the poets of the twentieth century. As William Faulkner said, “The past is not dead, it's not even past."
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