The Charlotte Mason Subjects

I already wrote about the curriculum we'll be using for the 2010-11 school year, but there's a lot of subjects we cover without exactly using a set curriculum.  These are the subjects that are at the heart of a Charlotte Mason education.  These subjects include Nature Study, Artist/Picture Study, Composer Study, Hymn Study, Poetry Study, Shakespeare, and Handicrafts. 

I've come to realize that without a set plan, these subjects often get neglected and go by the wayside, so this year I'm being very deliberate about them.  I've divided ths school year into 6 six-week terms during which we'll have a focus topic in each subject.  I only plan on covering each subject once every two weeks, so it's really not a lot of time in each area.  Here's what this part of our school year will look like (The numbers indicate the term.)

Nature Study:
1.  Clouds
2.  Apple trees
3.  Rocks
4.  Ladybugs
5.  California Poppy
6.  Constellations
Resources:  Handbook of Nature Study, Southern California Nature Guide

Artists:
1.  Vincent Van Gogh
2.  Winslow Homer
3.  Georgia O'Keefe
4.  Michelangelo
5.  Ansel Adams
6.  Leonardo da Vinci
Resources:  Discovering Great Artists (Kohl), Art Projects for Kids,  Deep Space Sparkle

Composers:
1.  Mendelssohn
2.  Rossini
3.  Beethoven
4.  Handel
5.  Dvorak
6.  Copland
Resources:  Classics for Kids, CDs from the library

Hymns:
1.  My Father's World
2.  Amazing Grace
3.  O Little Town of Bethlehem
4.  The Lord is My Shepherd
5.  America the Beautiful
6.  A Mighty Fortress
Resources:  Hymns for a Kid's Heart, Vol. 1, Christmas Carols for Kid's Heart (Hymns for a Kid's Heart, Vol. 3)

Poets:
1 & 2.  Emily Dickinson
3 & 4.  Robert Frost
5 & 6.  Christina Rossetti
Resources:  Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson, Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost

Shakespeare:
1-6.  Romeo & Juliet
Resources:  Beautiful Stories From Shakespeare

Handicrafts/ Life Skills:
1.  Latch Hook
2.  Setting the table
3.  Embroidery
4.  Loading the dishwasher
5.  Photography
6.  Weeding

So how do I choose the topics?  It's pretty random.  Some of our nature study topics (clouds, rocks, and constellations) will align with our earth science curriculum this year.  Some of the artist (Michelangelo, da Vinci) are from the time periods we'll be studying in history.  Other than that, I simply choose topics that  I have resources for, or they sound fun and interesting.  I think the key is just having a plan.  Choosing something is better than choosing nothing! 

So how's your planning going?

Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky is a wondeful composer to study around the holidays, especially if you can squeeze in a performance of The Nutcracker!  Degas is a great artist to study with Tchaikovsky due to all his works featuring ballerinas.

Here's some resources we found helpful:

Books:
Tchaikovsky Discovers America
Peter Tchaikovsky (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
Swan Lake
The Nutcracker

CDs:
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker; Prokofiev: Cinderella

DVDs:
Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty, Bolshoi Ballet (available through Netflix)
The Nutcracker Ballet (available through Netflix)
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake - Moscow Classical Ballet (available through Netflix)

And if you're a sucker like me:
Sleeping Beauty (Two-Disc Platinum Edition) I was pleased to discover this features much of Tchaikovsky's music from his ballet.
Barbie in The Nutcracker
Barbie of Swan Lake

But the biggest highlight was seeing a performance of Swan Lake and getting to meet Clara!

We heart Bach!

Composer studies are a new addition to our curriculum this year and so far, I am amazed at the positive response it has gotten.

I'll be honest, I wasn't and still am not exactly sure what I'm doing. But I've seen big results for rather little input. We've read a few books about Bach and listened to CDs of Bach's music all from our local library. We Netflixed a DVD of Bach performances. And that's pretty much it. But Gracie's interest in Bach is flourishing!

I definitely want to take advantage of some musical learning opportunities. Gracie's started taking an interest in musical instruments, guessing which instruments she is hearing during the songs. So we'll be looking more into that. We also might even dive in and begin piano lessons. I've been planning on doing music lessons eventually. Now might be a very good time to start.

Week One:
Listen to Bach on Pandora

Week Two:
Watch Bach: Greatest Hits (available from Netflix)
Read Johann Sebastian Bach (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)

Week Three:
Read Johann Sebastian Bach (Primary Source Library of Famous Composers)
Listen to Bach Greatest hits (from our local library)

Weeks 4, 5, and 6 are still ahead of us, but here's what I have tenatively planned:

Week 4:
Classics for Kids website and worksheet
Read Sebastian: A Book about Bach

Week 5:
Leonard Bernstein - Young People's Concerts
Learn about different types of instruments: brass, strings, woodwind, percussion

Week 6:
Making Music Fun lesson plans
Bach appreciation fancy tea party