Philosophies » The Curriculum Choice

Nature Study Through the Holidays: A Mini Book of Nature Studies for Easter + Giveaway!

Bible, Charlotte Mason, Nature Study, Science, Unit study resources 20 Responses »

Feb 132012

“Let them once get in touch with Nature, and a habit it formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.” – Charlotte Mason

My family and I were privileged to enjoy this Easter study last year. We plan to enjoy parts of it again this Easter.

You can focus on the Easter story over the course of a week, a month or longer – using this ebook study in the way that best suits your family. Authors Cindy West and Melissa Leach say, “Our hope is that you will read a selection from the Bible…then get outside to find sweet signs of the Author.”

Included are:

Bible references for the Easter story
Hymn list for the Easter season

Nature ideas/walks organized to compliment:

Palm Sunday
Sweet Fragrances
The Passover
Mount of Olives
Black Friday
Burial
Resurrection
Traditional Easter Studies

Within each section above, the following is included:

Suggested books to accompany the topic study.
Ideas and suggestions for nature study. (For example, while studying the mount of olives it is suggested you go on a hike over a hill. On a scavenger hunt based on the jelly bean prayer – you and your children spend time finding something in nature to represent all the colors mentioned in the prayer.)
A notebooking or sketching page to complete a follow up activity.

Bonus features:

Where to Study Nature: offering encouragement for those living in cities to find parks plus simple ‘get out in your own backyard’ motivation.
Gearing up and Being Safe: From using common sense and having a healthy fear to ‘leaves of three let them be’ and a list of suggested backpack gear.

As a teacher I found this Easter Nature Study through the holidays to be easy to reference and use right then. All the ideas were compiled for me in one spot. The notebooking pages – I only had to print out. All I needed to do was add some books – and for the children to catch my enthusiasm.

Easter Nature Study Through the Holidays is a mini unit study available for $5.00. Visit Shining Dawn Books to learn more about any of the full-length nature studies.
Nature Study Through the Holidays Easter Mini Unit is 32 pages with seven full-color notebooking pages.
You can view a sample of this ebook at Shining Dawn books here.

A seasonal unit study such as this is a refreshing change up in routine for us. This mini book of nature studies for Easter helped us hone our senses, prompted us to get outside – and opened our eyes to His love for us!

What better way to welcome the Easter season?

Now for the giveaway!! Cindy West, owner of Shining Dawn Books and review author here at The Curriculum Choice has kindly offered five (5) copies of her ebook to give away!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Tricia has been homeschooling for over a decade. She faces a daily dose of chaos teaching five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting, frugal living and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

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Envision Teaching Latin with Visual Latin

Classical, Hands On No Responses »

Dec 162011

The thought of teaching Latin made me want to hide under a table. I did not think there would be any way for me to teach Latin. I never took Latin in school. I have no experience in this subject and quite frankly it is an intimidating subject if you are unfamiliar. Knowing that I decided to homeschool to provide a better education I knew I would have to find away to teach my children Latin. Latin will help build a strong foundation for English. A person who knows Latin will have a firmer grasp on vocabulary and spelling. I had to find a way to teach this subject without fear. Enter Visual Latin. The “visual” was enough for my interest to be peaked.

My daughter on lesson 3: Gender Words. She would draw a girl when it was a “girl word”.

Visual Latin DVDs add breathes life back into this dead language. Foreign languages can be intimidating to teach but the “visual” aspect of this program takes the pressure off of you. In fact, you can learn along with the children. I think the most fun about being a homeschool mom is revisiting lessons and learning new ones.I enjoyed learning some Latin and we all enjoyed the ease of this program. In just minutes a day using a multi-sensory approach you can begin to understand the foundations of Latin. The lessons are solid and fun. A far cry from stuffy and intimidating lesson you may have come to expect.

Here is the scope for the first ten lessons:

LESSONS 1 to 10:

1. Being Verbs Basics | To Be and Not to Be

2. Being Verbs Basics | Predicate Nominatives and Adjectives

3. Gender | Boy Words and Girl Words

4. Singular and Plural | E Pluribus Unum

5. Declensions | Meet the Cases

6. Adjectives Learn to Agree with Nouns

7. The Case Files | Nominative and Genitive

8. Counting to 10 in Latin

9. Active Verb Basics | Indicative Mood

10. The Case Files | Accusative

I will disclose to you that this is not my first Latin program. I had one that made me rethink teaching Latin to begin with and a few I truly enjoyed. Visual Latin is in the “truly enjoyed” category. I will be purchasing the other two sets. Visual Latin came highly recommended by a few homeschool friends so when I had the chance to review it I was thrilled. I am also happy to report my friends were right, Latin can be taught in an interesting and fun way.

You may purchase Visual Latin at The Compass Store.

Richele is an eclectic homeschooling mom to four reflections of God’s love whose greatest accomplishment thus far was teaching physics, folding laundry, and playing Candyland simultaneously. Find her blogging at Under the Golden Apple Tree.

It Just Couldn’t Happen

Bible, Biblical Principle Approach, Hands On No Responses »

Nov 112011

What an exciting new product! As a home-schooling family, this has just taken it’s place in our standard curriculum! Want to address those tougher questions about biblical vs scientific subjects typically taught in schools? This is fantastic for that, too! The book is easy to read, geared for all ages as it is well written, and has fantastic pictures to captivate.

It Just Couldn’t Happen outlines the points of view in easy to digest segments, providing not only “facts” but a means for you to discover and understand how science comes to its conclusions as well. They encourage learning more, seeking your own answers and going further. (perfect for library visits or building further for older children). The “Just for Fun” area is a fantastic addition to the book as well. At the end of each chapter they place fun, fanciful questions (such as: if you could live on any plant, what would it be an why?) and hands-on experiments. These engage minds and hands, bringing the subjects to a new level of imagination and interaction; a perfect way to retain knowledge and fuel further passions for learning!

I also love that the book takes both science and bible verses to guide you on the learning journey; something so other books so often fail to do. It’s a delight to see that science CAN be merged with Biblical wisdom and rather seamlessly as well. Overall, the book was a delight. I received this as an e-book to review from Book Sneeze, but honestly, I may go out and buy the tangible paper version – I see this being a beloved portion of our curriculum for years to come.

PROS:

Beautifully written, easy to read and understand concepts
Stunning pictures that really captivate the mind and the imagination
Fun experiments and questions to further enrich concepts

CONS:

For us, it was only that the book ended too soon; we had a blast with this book!

Pictures of Table of Contents and an except from inside the book.

Paths of Exploration

Charlotte Mason, History, Living books, Science No Responses »

Nov 072011

Have you ever pictured the perfect curriculum, and then searched high and low for it, only to come up with nothing? That was me, looking for a Bible-based, unit study approach curriculum that was Charlotte Mason friendly.

There are living book approach curricula out there, but I always look at them and feel SO overwhelmed! And then at long last, I finally found it! I had the pleasure of reviewing Paths of Exploration, the first book in the Trail Guide To Learning series by Geography Matters.

Written by homeschool veterans Debbie Strayer and Linda Fowler, not only does this curriculum use living books, but it tells you exactly which books you will need. The book list is not left up to my imagination, which can run wild.

The age range for this curriculum in grades 3-5. However, I am using it with my 7-year-old, who is in second grade, and she is doing well. I also have added the optional Middle School Supplement for my 6th and 8th grader.

We just finished up the first six-weeks, which were all about Columbus. The lessons didn’t get into the darker side (consider the age range) but we did discuss as a family some of the things we didn’t agree with as the study progressed.

What’s included-

Two, beautiful hardback books- filled with guided curriculum, including History, Geography, Science, Grammar, Reading, Art, Nature Study, and Spelling which cover an entire school year, with CD-ROM of different levels of student notebook pages.

What I love about Paths of Exploration-

There are extras that you can add-on for even more learning like lapbooks, Bible supplement, Middle School Supplement.
It is rooted in the education philosophies of Dr. Ruth Beechick.
POE marries nicely with Charlotte Mason.
Encourages engagement with dictation, discussion, and writing.
The kids love it. There have been no complaints about school with Paths of Exploration. They love the readings, enjoy the maps and activities, and clamor for the Nature Study. They even enjoy the copywork and dictation! And, they finally get regular art in each week.
The living books chosen as the base for this curriculum are wonderful. You even get to cook, using the cookbook, Eat Your Way Around the World, by Jamie Aramini.
I finally have a guide to incorporate Nature Study into our homeschool.
Geography Matters is a home-based company, located in Kentucky.
The cost- If you have a good library, you can spend as little as $150.00 {which is for the textbooks and CD-ROM}. You can also buy the Paths of Exploration curriculum, and all of the books you will need for the year for $375.00. That is for all subjects except Math, for an entire year. For me, I am using POE with 4 children this year, which is an amazing deal in my book.
This curriculum is non-consumable! The student pages are printed from the included CD-ROM, so everything else is reusable year after year. }

What I don’t love-

Nothing! This curriculum has been an answer to prayer!

Right now, there are two more titles in the Trail Guide To Learning series, covering American History, with three years of World History planned. The World History is going to be geared for grades 6,7, and 8.

You can also preview the other two years that are available, Paths of Settlement and Paths of Progress. Other helpful information, and families who are using the Trail Guide To Learning series, as well as an updated reading schedule can be found in the Yahoo Group.

If you are still looking for “the one”, I hope you will give this curriculum a try!

Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion

Charlotte Mason, Classical, Elementary, High School, Middle School, Mom Helps, Uncategorized 1 Response »

Oct 262011

If you have read many of my other reviews you already know that I like for things to be easy. If they aren’t easy, I at least don’t want them to be a ton of work for me. After all, my inner educator proclaims, this is their education, not mine! This of course is true to a point. We all know, I reply to my inner educator, learning never stops; least of all, perhaps, for a home educating mama.

In addition to easy, I want things to make sense, for them to be logical. Timely, too, in that when they are presented with new ideas, those new ideas make sense to my little learners. I want to be developmentally appropriate, and I want to cover material that will be useful and necessary.

We ascribe to a sort of Classical, sort of Charlotte Mason, very literary-based education for our children. The idea of a lot of rote memory work does not fit into my idea of practical or useful. The idea of memorization for the purpose of reviewing and cementing ideas, though, is another story. If memory work is one of the tools–like reading and writing and listening and drawing–that we use to gather and corral ideas, that is something I like and want to use.

I have found a great resource by Andrew A. Campbell called Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion that has removed some of the burden of memory work from my shoulders.

It is simply a book of lists. The lists, derived from academic subjects, contain organized information for the purpose of memorization. Dr. Campbell includes an essay detailing the how and why of using memory work as one of the tools of learning. The remainder of the book is comprised of lists of information in the following broad subjects: Latin and Greek, arithmetic and mathematics, grammar and composition, literature, religion, geography, world history, United States history and civics, and natural sciences. Each section is broken down into more specific categories and into lists. There are speeches and portions of documents. There are formulas. There are charts. All of this is intended to be used over the academic lifetime of a student–from Kindergarten to graduation.

The book has been helpful to me in two ways. First, it has given me ideas. Sometimes the question of what to memorize has been overwhelming to me–so overwhelming that I have thrown up my hands and provided nothing for my kids to concentrate on retaining. Now, I can open Living Memory, find a science list that fits with our studies, and put my little learners to work.

Second, Dr. Campbell has assured me that memorizing something is better than memorizing nothing, that I can start small and build, and that memory work can and should be in the context of our studies. I like that. It makes sense to me, because it is orderly and timely. It is developmentally appropriate. Also, it is simple and easy. And you know that I like easy.

Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion by Andrew A. Campbell provides comprehensive lists in a variety of pertinent subjects to be used for memory work. It can be found on Lulu.com in both digital ($14.95) and paperback ($22.46) versions.

Susan S. is a home educating mama of three in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Her days are wild and lovely, full of chattering, learning children. In all of the mess, she learns the most, taught by the Master Teacher Himself.

Spellwell

Charlotte Mason, Spelling No Responses »

Oct 192011

I’ve always been avidly against spelling as a subject all on it’s own, and this worked well for one of my children. Unfortunately the other suffers from poor spelling. It’s been a struggle for him, and thus for me.

I decided this was the year that we’d add spelling, officially, to our daily routine. The problem was, that I didn’t want to have random lists of words that confused the poor child even more.

You see, he can spell phonetically, but outside of that realm he’s lost. Thus he spells: frum, wut, luv, sav. Oh, to be able to read his sweet little notes without the need for a red pen to scribble all over it.

I wanted something that stuck with the basic rule of: keeping phonetically spelled words together. This is down the Charlotte Mason line of thinking, and it made perfect sense, especially for a child who is struggling so much.

After searching through many spelling programs I stumbled upon one called Spellwell. I was intrigued because I’d never heard of it before. The lists of words were not huge, and they happened to have a pattern about them!

I decided to give it a try, and ordered the second book in the series called Aa. That’s right, the series doesn’t have grades on them but alphabetical numbers. This works wonderfully well when you have a student in one grade for most subjects but feel the need to back them up significantly for others.

Each week a child starts with a pretest. Now, that goes against the Charlotte Mason idea of spelling, but I actually like this. It gives us a baseline, a jumping point. It allows me to know if it’s worth doing the lesson or not.

When we pulled the book out the first day, I was convinced my child would ace that test. He didn’t. I nearly cried. In the weeks since then, however, he’s gotten progressively better with each pretest, and was so excited to find himself using bonus words one week!

The spelling lists are roughly 7-10 words long in the Aa book that we are using. If a child can master all of those words you give them the Bonus Words. Each list has words that follow the same phonetical spellling rule. Er, ea, silent e, ice, etc.

This works really well and builds confidence quickly for my poor speller. If he remembers his phonics rules he can quickly master his lists because he remembers they all have something in common! This is just so perfect for his confidence!

There is one page of work to be done Monday – Thursday in Spellwell. Each page is very simplistic. It might be a fill in the blank story, rhyming fun, compound word practice, games or any one of a few things.

The books are in black and white, but there are sketches through out on most pages that the children are encouraged to color in if they want. My student skips this particular activity.

There is no work on Friday as this is saved for Post Test Day. There is no place within the small workbook for a child to take the test, so we generally do so on the whiteboard, or if the weather is really nice out on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.

What I love:

My top notch answer is going to be simple. I love that my child has gained confidence and power with his spelling. He’s gone from worrying that everything he spells will be wrong to asking occasionally. His spelling is not perfect, but it’s vastly better!

I love that the spelling words are applied each day in fun and engaging ways! So much so that my student who doesn’t truly need spelling help {yet} has asked if he could also do these books!

I love that the lists are short, simple, and the words on them all have something in common with each other! This was really important to me.

I especially love that this programme is extremely inexpensive. It’s presumed that in a typical school year {180 days} a child would go through two workbooks {Normally A & Aa or B & Bb, etc.} Workbooks & answer keys can be purchased through CBD or Book Depository.

I do not own a Teacher’s Manual for these workbooks. I didn’t feel a need for one, but if you wanted to purchase one they are a few dollars less then the Student books. You’ll also find that both letters {A & Aa or B & Bb, etc.} are all in one Teacher’s Manual!

Oh, and for those of you, like us, who did not use Explore the Code, the author of SpellWell happens to be one in the same! I found that information neat for some odd reason!

What I don’t Like:

Honestly, so far I’ve only had one qualm with this book. In one lesson there was a fill in the blank story about a Teddy Bear. In an effort to fit in a spelling word of “wear” the author used the sentence: “He is truly wash-and-________. Despite the answer being a rhyme with the previous sentence my son was baffled.

I thought they could have used a better sentence, but I have to admit I’ve tried to write fill in the blank sentences with rhyming words before and it can be tricky!!

Bottom Line:

We love this simple, inexpensive program.

Kendra lives in Tasmania Australia with her husband, the Man From Down Under, two curious boys, a dog, & a bird that constantly talks back. Creator, and avid user, of the Homeschool Book Of Days & The Nature Game she can be found retelling tales from The Land Down Under over at the Aussie Pumpkin Patch.

Simply Grammar

Charlotte Mason, Language Arts No Responses »

Oct 032011

In our three years of home education, I have tried just about every grammar program I have seen. With all that we have seen and used, I have decided that Charlotte Mason is the way to go with Grammar. We love one company in particular, but have so much copy work with our main curriculum that I needed to find something that was Charlotte Mason friendly, without all of the picture study and copy work that most provide.

After much research, I decided on Simply Grammar, by Karen Andreola. When it arrived, I happily cracked it open and began to read.

First off, this curriculum is a revised edition of First Grammar Lessons , by Charlotte Mason. Karen does a fabulous job of giving a thorough, yet brief history of Charlotte Mason, and her teachings. You will also find recommendations for using the curriculum, and how to use it each week.

The lessons themselves are refreshing. They are simple, and get to the point. They can be used for any age, in my opinion. I have been using Simply Grammar with my kids who are above Kindergarten. Even our 14 year old is learning things that he never grasped in public school.

We take one concept each week and break it into pieces, which is great to really cement what your children are learning. The kids love the fact that we are doing the book orally, we just sit together on the floor as I read the lesson, and then each child takes a turn (or more) giving their example.

The price for this curriculum is great, at $20 or less, depending on where you are shopping. Consider that the book is non-consumable, and the savings just get better. $20 for 4 kids this year, and 5 the next. I think it is a steal!

If I could change one thing, it would would be some of the wording. My children are not Victorian, and that is how I feel it sounds. I have to remember to go in and read the lesson ahead of instruction so that I can change the wording to be relevant to our use of language. Otherwise my children will be left scratching their heads.

If you are looking for a living curriculum that is solid, won’t bore you to tears, or take all day to complete, I would suggest you give Simply Grammar a try.

You might also enjoy Cindy’s review of Simply Grammar!

Anno’s Math Books

Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Living books, Mathematics, Middle School, Preschool 5 Responses »

Sep 262011

It is very difficult to find living math books that present complex topics in an accessible way. One math author whose books we have learned to love is Mitsumasa Anno. Anno believes “that mathematics is more than merely manipulating numbers, it is a way of thinking, and that it has bearing on all scholastic subjects, indeed on all forms of creative thought.” Children throughout the world have enjoyed his award-winning picture books.

We regularly borrow Anno’s books from the library and indulge ourselves. When very young, my children enjoyed the whimsical illustrations while the older children are intrigued by the puzzles and concepts. As a math-loving mom, I’m delighted at the way advanced concepts such functions or factorials are presented. Children comprehend much more than they are given credit for; having enjoyed a concept with Anno, they will be able to understand it so much better when it is introduced in math lessons.

Anno’s many math books include:

Anno’s Math Games

In four pictorial chapters of games and puzzles, Anno presents the ideas of

same and different
combining and assembling
numbers, ordering and coordinate systems
more and less.

In an afterword, Anno discusses the concepts presented in each chapter. Our children have always loved tall Kriss and tubby Kross as they work, ponder, and experiment.

Anno’s Math Games 2

Full of mathematical ideas, this is a fascinating book of games for children. Anno’s whimsical drawings illustrate ideas such as

cause and effect (functions)
differences and similarities
dots and pixels
counting and tabulation
volume and units.

Anno’s Math Games 3

This book was every bit as good as the others, but I cannot tell you the details since it is no longer available in our library.

Anno’s Magic Seeds

An old man gave Jack 2 large golden seeds. “These are magic,” he said. “Bake one seed in the oven until it is red and then eat it. You will not be hungry again for a whole year.” The other seed was to be planted and would produce two more seeds. How Jack fared with his seeds, the big decision he made, and what happened next is a fascinating story driven by math, but representing much of history as well. While children can understand it, adults can continue to ponder it for a long time.

Anno’s Counting Book

With a growing column of cubes on the left side of the page, and a large number on the right, Anno shows the development of a small village. On each successive page, spread throughout the year, the village increases by one child, one building, and one tree. Each picture is full of small stories such as building a railroad, photographing a wedding, or fishing, as well as many examples of the number. There are opportunities for adding, such as when three of the geese on the number 4 page lag far behind the other one, and for thinking about sets, and other concepts. Though it is a counting book, it is also much more.

Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar

Inside the jar there was water, and there seemed to be just enough wind to set the water rippling…and suddenly we are inside the jar, on a sea, sailing toward 1 island. On it there are 2 countries. Fascinating pictures tell the story of factorials in the first half of the book, and Anno explains them explicitly in the second half.

Besides math books, Anno has also created many other amazing volumes, and we’ve enjoyed each one we’ve seen.

Disclosure: As always, I am not compensated for my reviews and I give my own honest opinions.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

History Through the Ages Timeline CDs

Classical, Elementary, History, Mom Helps 1 Response »

Sep 062011

Timelines appeal to me. They aid visual, kinesthetic, spatial, and logical thinkers. What’s not to love?

Well, the work of putting together a visually appealing, cohesive, historically-accurate timeline, for one. How about the time it takes to find all of those little pictures? What about deciding which dates to include? What about figuring out how to put the thing together? What about figuring out where to put it?

The details of the timeline were dragging me down, threatening the reality of creating one in our home.

It seemed to me that some sort of timeline was a foregone conclusion in our home school, but there were several burdens to bear. Although I could have done the work myself, it is more likely that the timeline would have fallen by the wayside without a little outside intervention.

I found the help that I needed to make the timeline happen in our home at Homeschool in the Woods. Their History Through the Ages Timeline answered many of my questions, solved some problems, and simplified everything else.

I purchased the CDs, which include over a thousand historical figures. The figures represent people, places, and events throughout time. It is truly history through the ages, encapsulating a variety of different realms—political, military, social, art, music, and literature. Likewise, both secular and biblical and church history are included.

There are two CDs in the case. They contain the same figures, but one CD presents the figures in PDF format, the other in GIF format. Both CDs contain the figures with only a name and a date, as well as the figures with a short text summarizing the importance of the person, place, event, people group, or time period. There are two sizes of PDF files—wall and notebook size. These files print in pages of figures; they are arranged chronologically. The GIF files can be chosen and sized to fit specific needs, and are easily accessible using categories that serve as an index.

I have used the timeline figures for two major purposes in our academics.

We have begun a paper timeline that is stored in a binder. It is simple, but effective, visually presenting history through the use of Amy Pak’s intricately drawn figures. We add figures as time allows, which generally means a marathon session with the binder and a glue stick. We also add a little bit of color coding, just to help us remember who and where go with what and when.

I have also made a set of timeline cards—people, dates, and events with which I hope for us to maintain familiarity. I used a glue stick to adhere the appropriate timeline figure onto an index card, and voila, instant and cost effective timeline card! We study a fourth of history at a time, but we are able to easily review material from previous years. As an added bonus, I could choose the dates, which means that we review events from all through time and all over the world, customizing the cards to our studies.

My children are in elementary school, so a lot of the work of the timeline falls to me. As they get older, I will expect them to be more involved in the preparation, decisions, and details of our timelines. I foresee lots of mini-timelines and personal timelines and subject-specific timelines. It will be a timeline extravaganza! All brought to us from Homeschool in the Woods and their History Through the Ages Timeline CDs!

The Historical Timeline Figures come preprinted and in CD form. The preprinted sets contain figures that are 2.5” by 3.5” and are sold in historical groupings: Creation to Christ, Resurrection to Revolution, Napoleon to Now, and America’s History. They cost $22.95 each, with the exception of the American history set, which costs $32.95 due to its larger size.

The CDs contain the same figures found in all four sets plus a bonus set of additional figures. The CD allows for multiple printings and for resizing of timeline figures. The CDs contain 1,260 historical figures in both PDF and GIF formats, as well as the timeline information found on the website. It costs $74.95.

There is also a handy, dandy Timeline Placement Guide that I have found useful as I tried to determine placement of figures. The $11.95 has been well worth it, because it contains a sample timeline in miniature that includes all of the timeline figures on the CD.

The History Through the Ages Timeline CDs were a major investment for our homeschool. I have been pleased with both the figures and their use in our home, and believe that they will continue to be a benefit in the years to come. I bought them early in our homeschool journey so that we could suck all of the use out of them in multiple years and in a variety of ways. So far, so good!

Are you in need of a little timeline help? The History Through the Ages Timeline CDs may be answer!

-Most days find Susan on the couch reading to her children, in the floor “playing” math, and generally in the middle of a good-sized mess. A love for the Lord, a love for her little ones, and a love of learning have led Susan and her wonderful husband to an educational philosophy that is Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical and Charlotte Mason, with a touch of the traditional.

How to Read a Book by Adler and Van Doren

Charlotte Mason, Classical, High School 3 Responses »

Aug 262011

So now your children know how to read. Congratulations! That’s a major step, but does it mean that their reading instruction finished? Not at all, we’ve found.

How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading teaches the average reader how to understand, analyze, and learn from books. It takes students beyond the basics of reading to become scholars. It is, I think, the foundational book in our homeschool high school, besides the Bible.

Summary

How to Read a Book discusses and explains the four levels of reading as well as different approaches to different kinds of reading material. The book is divided into four exceedingly well-organized parts:

“Part 1: The Dimensions of Reading” includes information on the first level of reading, which is what we homeschool moms teach our little ones. Then it goes on to discuss the second level, inspectional reading, occasionally called pre-reading.
“Part 2: The Third Level of Reading: Analytical Reading” includes topics such as pigeonholing a book, coming to terms with an author, determining an author’s message, and agreeing or disagreeing with an author.
“Part 3: Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter” presents tips for reading both fiction and non-fiction: novels, plays, short stories, and poems, as well as history, science, math, philosophy, and social science. It also includes an insightful section on how to read ‘canonical’ books. For example, it explains how reading sacred writings as the revealed Word of God, rather than as mere literature, is entirely different from other kinds of reading.
“Part 4: The Ultimate Goals of Reading” explains the idea of syntopical reading and tells us what good books can do for us.
Appendices: These include a recommended reading list as well as exercises and tests at the four levels of reading.

Throughout the book, examples and explanations are taken from the literature of ‘the great conversation’ as the greatest Western literature is sometimes called. This adds immeasurably to the book.

How we use it

We were introduced to this book several years ago by both Ambleside Online and The Well-Trained Mind (first edition). Both resources recommended that students work through How to Read a Book in great detail, and that is what we have been doing. My children go through it paragraph by paragraph, for at least half the book. Each paragraph is summarized in one or two sentences, and I check each summary. This process teaches my teens a lot since it’s one of the few books meaty enough to make such careful attention to detail worthwhile. (It teaches me a lot, too. )

Of course, this is a great deal of work and we spread it out over at least the four high school years. I allowed Miss 18 to absorb the last half of How to Read a Book on her own during the last two years of high school, since she’s the kind of person who will read ahead and study independently. Although she would have learned more if she had continued the detailed summaries, there are only 24 hours in a day; she did read it several times. Mr. 16 and Miss 13 are both doing the detailed summaries.

As mentioned, How to Read a Book uses great books as examples. Thus my teens were exposed to much great writing in an enjoyable and inspiring way. In fact, Miss 18 designed her Intro to Western Literature course using the reading list in Appendix A. Recently Mr. 16 chose to read and analyze Machiavelli’s The Prince because of How to Read a Book’s discussion of an intriguing statement beginning with “A prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred;…”

Although this book is challenging and uses challenging examples, the subject matter is appropriate for Christian teens. They will need to think, true, but they will not be taught evil, immorality, modern political correctness, or revisionism.

Our family has been able to understand other books more deeply because of insights gained from How to Read a Book. Thus studying this one book has had a huge impact on everything we learn from other books. It both enhances the time spent reading and increases our efficiency in understanding new material.

I highly recommend How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading for all teens whose studies involve a lot of reading, and for their moms as well.

Disclosure: I do not receive any compensation for my reviews, and my opinions are entirely my own.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.