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.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle

Savannah is reading this book right now.  She loves it; reads it every night and every time we get in the car.  She draws pictures of Robin Hood and his bow and arrow.  She pretends to be Robin Hood and climbs up in the trees.  LOVES it. 

I gave her a school assignment to write a narration about what she has read so far.  It had to be at least five sentences.  Here is what she wrote, as she wrote it, spelling and all.  For the record:

"Robin Hood lives in Sherwood forest.  When ever he or one of the men go somewhere, they disgise in scarlet.  The Sheriff of Nottingham town is always tricked by Robin Hood.  He went to a shooting-match and won a golden arrow.  Little John won two fat steers.  In the middle of the forest there was a certin tree.  On the tree Robin Hood hung the golden arrow.  Robin Hood told little John he had to go to Ancaster.  Soon, it started to rain and he had to stay at Blue Boar Inn.  He stayed the whole night.  The next day he saw Arther a Bland.  They foght almost half an hour.  Soon they stopped.  Robin Hood popped out of the bushes.  He told who he was.  Arther A. Bland was amased.  He joined the band and then all three walked to Ancaster."


And HERE is a sample of the book.  It is not an easy read.

I'm impressed with Charlotte too.  She is on her second book of the Narnia series and she is not yet seven years old!  I was not reading like this when I was their age.

McGuffey Readers

I love these books and so do my children.  I use the Primer, First, and Second readers for daily reading practice.  These first three readers contain simple stories with pretty pictures.  They just love them.

Readers 3-6 contain such a beautiful collection of stories and poetry that I just don't want them to miss out.  Yet, I don't want to do a lesson/day like we do with the beginning readers because they increase in difficulty very quickly, for example, the third reader should last a few years.  I also want to spend more time on one lesson so that it becomes more ingrained on their minds. 

I've been looking for a way to bring them more into Savannah's daily schedule lately, as well as incorporate more Charlotte Mason ideas, and I think I have come up with a plan.  We'll try it for the next few weeks to see how it goes.

With Savannah I'm going to start in the Third reader and work on one lesson a week for oral reading, copywork, and dictation.

ORAL READING:  This is to help her learn to pronounce words clearly and correctly, as well as to speak in front of other people.  On day 1 & 2, she reads the lesson out loud to me.  We work on saying the words clearly.  Day 3 & 4 she reads it standing up as if reading to an audience.  This time, in addtion to speaking clearly, she needs to speak loudly and with correct intonation.  Hopefully on day 4 or sometime over the weekend I can provide her with an audience.  Maybe during Family Home Evening.

COPYWORK:  I will choose part of the lesson for her to copy on day 1, and a different part of the lesson to copy on day 3.  She will mark the words phonetically as we do in Phonics Road.

DICTATION: I will dictate her copywork to her on day 2 & 4.  No phonetic marks this time.  Dictation is one of the most effective ways to learn spelling.

I think this is a good plan.  We'll see!