Foreign Language ala Charlotte Mason Help

I'm working on my foreign language plans, and liked the suggestions on Charlotte Mason Help. However, they aren't all in one place for all the grade levels, so I thought I'd put them here.

Year 1:

(Choose a foreign language)
Illustrated children's tales
Audio -listen and read along
Copywork
Learn objects and simple every day phrases

Year 2:

Illustrated children's tales with audio cassettes or CDs
Transcribe sentences from tales.
Children translate small passages into English orally

Year 3: 

Listen to audio children’s tales with picture books
Children orally narrate from tales in English and foreign language
Copywork once a week from same story

Year 4:

Study target language’s grammar
Read from short books in target language and translate.
Copy and narrate favorite passages.

Year 5:

Transcribe favorite passages and narrate from children's literature in written and oral form alternating between English and target language.
Continue copywork

Year 6:

Continue learning the grammar
Begin translating literature passages into English in written form.

Ambleside Year 4 (tweaked)

This year we tried a different structure to our year, so some things are really not AOish, but sort of CM friendly.

History
Maestro: The New Americans: Colonial Times 1620-1689
Maestro: Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars 1689-1763
Maestro: Liberty or Death: The American Revolution 1763-1783
Maestro: A New Nation: The United States 1783-1815
Sanders: America's Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders with 21 Activities
Anderson: Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution
Hennessey: The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation
Bauer: Story of the World vol. 3 (only the 1600-1800 sections)

California History
O'Dell: Cruise of the Arctic Star
O'Dell: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Steck-Vaughn: Never Turn Back: Father Serra's Mission
Abbink: Missions of the Monterey Bay Area
White: Missions of the San Francisco Bay Area
(the two missions books were chosen because I found a report on a Native American website that those books tend to more accurately reflect the Native experience)

Biography
Fleming: Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life
Bober: Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution

Science
Dixon: The Practical Geologist
Earth Science cards from Creek's Edge
Nebel's Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding K-2 & 3-5
Comstock: Handbook of Nature Study (if I can figure out how to fit nature study in)

Geography
Ada: Where the Flame Trees Bloom
Sherlock: West Indian Folk-Tales
Taylor: The Cay

Shakespeare
Midsummer Night's Dream
Romeo and Juliet
Love's Labors Lost

Plutarch
Pericles, Fabius, & Nicias

Literature
Stevenson: Kidnapped
Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
Burnford: The Incredible Journey
Bullfinch: Age of Fable (first 15 chapters)
Irving: "Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
Longfellow: "Paul Revere's Ride"

Poetry
Tennyson, Dickinson, Wordsworth

French
Alex et Zoe levels 2 & 3

Japanese
beginning class at the Japanese Language School in San Jose

Artist Study
Renoir (ok, we mostly missed him), Hokusai, Seurat
Place: The Old Man Mad About Drawing (about Hokusai)

Art
Artistic Pursuits grades 4-6 vol. 1

Composer Study
Debussy, Bach, Verdi

Practical Life: Computer Science
Bueno: Loren Ipsum
Programming practice in Scratch (we may use learnscratch.org)
(we may also add in Alice at some point)

Math
Mathematics Enhancement Programme Year 4
Kumon books about the 4 operations

English
First Language Lessons vol. 4
Writing with Style vol. 1
Thompson: Sentence Town
Henry: Words

Ambleside Year 3 (tweaked)

Here is what we're up to this year:

History

Bauer: Story of the World vol. 2 & 3

California Songs with Historical Narration

Cohn: From Sea to Shining Sea

Biography

Hahn: Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci for Kids

Shakespeare for Kids

Geography

Komroff: Marco Polo

Marco Polo for Kids

Literature

Kingsley: Heroes (this is what we started with but bluntly it's dull, so we've switched to Evslin)

Evslin: Heroes and Monsters of Greek Myths

Evslin: Jason and the Argonauts

Stoutenberg: American Tall Tales (this is entirely about men, so we added San Souci)

San Souci: Cut from the Same Cloth: American Women of Myth, Legend, and Tall Tale

Lamb: Tales From Shakespere

Nesbit: Princess and the Goblin

Marrat: Children of the New Forest

Science

Bryson: A Short History of Nearly Everything (A Really Short History of Nearly Everything might work better for most kids)

Sweeney: Connected Wisdom

Kelly: Evolution of Calpernia Tate (living fiction)

George: Summer Moon, Autumn Moon, Winter Moon, & Summer Moon

Long: Secrets of the Woods

U.S. History: Potential Spine Reviews

I'm on search for a spine for U.S. History. I'm working through various options slowly, comparing the chapters on Columbus. My primary goals are that a text be well written and that it reflects the experience of the oppressed as well as tell the traditional stories. I would also love it if the text isn't anti-Catholic (or anti- any other faith tradition, for that matter).

"A First Book in American History" by Edward Eggleston had a very positive rendition of Columbus' story. It's probably the most familiar version, really developing Columbus as a hero. I was aware before all this that a lot of the history we tell children is "whitewashed" with the more difficult aspects left out, but I felt like this book went too far. The first sentence of chapter 3 is "Columbus was very kind to the natives" which is hardly the way that I would describe someone who was taking people back to Europe as slaves.

"A Young People's History of the United States" based on Howard Zinn's history tells the Columbus story from the perspective of the Native Americans on the islands that Columbus arrived on. It talks about Columbus' need to bring back either gold or slaves to make the excursion financially feasible, and about the terrible things that Columbus did to the Native Americans which eventually killed the whole of the Native American population on the islands. While the chapter clearly paints a negative portrait of Columbus, it has a section that talks about a Catholic priest who realized that what they were doing was terrible, and started writing and collecting information about Columbus, and took a stand against the horrible ways that the Native people were being treated. So while the book pulled Columbus down off his pedestal, in some ways it lifted this priest up as a possible hero. In reading it, I really appreciated the way that this priest was portrayed and after reading the whole chapter felt like the view of Catholicism was unusually balanced. One downside of this book (for me) is that I'm not sure I'm ready to expose my 2nd grader to such terrible events, but I also have the same problem with lots of the stories about martyrs. I also wonder if this book goes too far -- Columbus comes out looking really, really bad in the end.

"This Country of Ours" by H.E. Marshall has a reputation for being anti-Catholic. I didn't encounter anything blatantly anti-Catholic in the chapter that I read. It tells the Columbus story from the European perspective, but unlike "A First Book In American History" I felt like it addressed the reality of the effects Columbus had on the Native people. It supports the Columbus-is-a-hero perspective, but it doesn't paint him as being perfect. It doesn't mention slavery, but it did talk about the settlement Columbus founded and how it was destroyed by angry natives. One of the major downsides of this book though, is the language. It's really hard to ignore that she calls the Native Americans "savages".

"From Sea to Shining Sea" edited by Amy Cohn is a collection of stories & songs from a wide range of American culture. I suppose it's not really a spine in the traditional sense.

Native American studies

I'm forever looking for resources for Native American studies. It's an interesting challenge. My hope is to have a list of books that are respectful and "living". I haven't read all of these (yet) but this list serves as a way for me to keep track of books that look worth looking at. I'm also open to suggestions & feedback!

General History
Art, Suzanne Strauss: Ancient Times: the Story of the First Americans
Art, Suzanne Strauss: Native America on the Eve of Discovery: the Story of the First Americans Book II

These are pretty good, written for a middle school level. They're quite dense, but interesting. They don't reflect the latest data or the Native folklore about the pre-Clovis people (the people here before the last ice age), but it does include a wide range of tribes and cultures, including the mound builders (which some books seem to leave out).

Ka-Be-Mub-Be (aka William Camus): My People: A History of the Native Americans

This author is Iroquois, from Canada and educated in France. He has written a number of books, but most of them are in French. This book doesn't flow like a story, but it well written.

Sacred Texts, Poetry, etc.
Montejo, Victor et al: Popol Vuh: a Sacred Book of the Maya

This version of the Popol Vuh is specifically for children. It has beautiful illustrations and flows well.

Bierhorst, John: In the Trail of the Wind: American Indian Poems and Ritual Orations

I found this book from a reference in From Sea to Shining Sea, which contains a variety of stories and songs from a wide range of American culture, including Native American cultures.

Fiction
Harrington, M.R.: Dickon Among the Lenape Indians

This author was an archeological pioneer and an honorary member of the Leni Lenape tribe. There are more books in the series.

Other Sites
Here are some other sites with more resources:
Exodus Books page on Native Americans

I'd given up on gardening, but...

I have spent years trying to grow some sort of produce on our apartment patios. I'd given up after many unsuccessful years. But somehow, I'm trying again!

We've joined one of our local homeschool groups with a potato growing project, called "Potatoes Grow Up." Our growing environment continues to be less than optimal, but at least we can collect the data for the project.

The little plant already growing in the front is Sweetie's chickpea plant. I was so surprised when it sprouted! Hopefully the potatoes will follow suit.

:)

Anabel

Foreign Language ala Gouin

Charlotte Mason advocated using the language learning method taught by François Gouin (the Series Method). Here are a couple links to articles or other information about that method.

Language Impact article about the Series Method

Gouin's The Art of Teaching and Studying Lessons

Gouin's A First Lesson in French

Videos about how to use Gouin's method

A quick idea of what Gouin's method looks like; suggests that it's good for working with young children.


And, not necessarily mentioning Gouin but Charlotte Mason-style foreign language instruction:

A Parent's Review Article "The Teaching of French"

A Parent's Review Article "Notes of Lessons": the first segment is on French narration.

Another Parent's Review Article titled "Notes of Lessons": one segment is notes on a German lesson.

A Parent's Review Article "On the Teaching of Modern Languages".

A Parent's Review Article "When and How to Begin Modern Languages".

Another Parent's Review Article "How to Learn a Language".

A fabulous blog post about using narration in foreign language learning by Amy in Peru.