2011-2012 Ambleside Selections

Ambleside Selections 2011-2012

Read Aloud Hopefuls:

Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry

Chopin By Opal Wheeler

In Search of the Source

Miracles of Maple Hill

Cheaper by the Dozen

Amos Fortune, Free Man

Little Britches

The Story of Albrecht Durer by Joyce McPherson

George Washington’s World

Freckles

Term 1:August-November

See Ambleside Online for original selections 


I am using Spotify this year to make up my music lists

Music/composer:

Frederic Chopin (1840) (Romantic)
Listening selections for this term:
    Op 09 no 2 Nocturne in E flat maj
    Op 10 no 3 Etude in E-maj
    Op 10 no 12 Revolutionary Etude in C minor
    Op 21 Piano Concerto number 2 in f minor
    Op 28 Preludes no's 15, 20 and either 16 or 17
    Op 53 Polonaise in A flat, Heroic

Artist:

Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) Italian Renaissance

   1. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1498, woodcut.
   2. Self-Portrait in a Fur Coat, 1500, lime panel, Pinakothek, Munich
   3. A Young Hare, 1502. Watercolour and gouache on paper. Vienna, Austria
   4. Altarpiece of the Rose Garlands, or here, 1506, oil on panel, Národní Galerie, Prague
   5. Praying Hands, 1508, brush and ink, Vienna
   6. The Knight, Death, and The Devil, or here, 1513-14, engraving

Shakespeare: Richard III

Plutarch: Lycurgus

Term 2: January-March

Music/ Composer:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (early classical)
Listening selections for this term:
    Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
    Requiem [A Vocal work]
    Symphony no. 41 in C major (Jupiter)
    Sinfonia Concertante
    Piano Concerto no. 21 in C major (K.467) 

Artist:

Caravaggio (1571-1610) Italian Baroque

   1. Rest During the Flight into Egypt, or here, c.1595, Rome
   2. The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1598-1599. Oil on canvas. Princeton, NJ
   3. The Calling of St. Matthew, or here, 1599-1600 San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
   4. The Conversion on the Way to Damascus, or here, 1600-1601 Rome
   5. Supper in Emmaus, or here, 1606. Oil on canvas, Milan
   6. The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1608-1609. Oil on canvas. Messina, Italy

Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

Plutarch: Numas

Term 3:April-June

Music/Composer:

Felix Mendelssohn (1840) (Romantic)
Listening selections for this term:
    Songs without words
    Violin Concerto in E minor
    Symphony no. 4 in A major (Italian) (4 weeks)
    Octet in E-flat major
    Fingal's Cave ("Hebrides") Overture

Artist:

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) Romantic self-portrait

   1. Liberty Leading the People, 1830, oil on canvas, Paris
      or, this more modest option, The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople, 1840, oil on canvas, Paris
   2. Portrait of Frederic Chopin, 1838, oil on canvas, Paris
   3. Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard, 1839. Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris ("Alas, poor Yorick!")
   4. The Sultan of Morocco and his Entourage, 1845, oil on canvas, Toulouse
   5. Arab Horses Fighting in a Stable, 1860, oil on canvas, Paris
   6. The Lion Hunt, 1861. Oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago

Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice

Plutarch: Caesar

Morning Time September 2011

Artist: Durer

We have been reading Joyce McPherson's excellent children's biography of Durer, Artist of the Reformation.

This week, Alex and Andrew each picked out 5 Durer works for their notebooks.

Here is one of Alex's picks:

Here is one of Andrew's pics:

I printed them from the Internet.

Composer: Chopin

As soon as we finish the Durer book we will begin Opal Wheeler's childhood biography of Chopin. In the meantime we just have a Chopin play list on Spotify.

Shakespeare:  I have canceled, maybe, Richard III and we are trying to decide which play to do next. 

Plutarch: Lycurgus  This is turning out to be a relevant and interesting 'Life.' Lycurgus was called the Lawgiver of Sparta but it sounds like he was basically a Marxist or maybe I should say the Marx was a Lycurgusist. Much food for thought. I will not claim that the children love Plutarch, but it is really not something I would ever want to skip. We just read small sections at a time since the ideas are dense and we stop and discuss vocabulary frequently.

Mother Tongue II: The children are all doing separate grammar programs this year but I am continuing our oral working through this book. Some of you may have noticed that it is going on 3 years. Little drops of grammar make the mighty man. The reason this approach is valuable is something that I have just stumbled upon and has greatly encouraged me as a teacher. Between small amounts (Remember Charlotte Mason's short lessons?) of written grammar daily, Latin, oral discussion and written narrations corrected, each only a tiny bit at a time, a symbiosis is created which increases retention far beyond the use of any one method or workbook or text.

Bible: Right now we are reading with discussion through the Epistles. This is a departure from our usual readings of Proverbs but it is going very well. 

Review this week: The 12 Tribes of Israel, Psalm 100, Phil 4:4-8, Psalm 104

Poetry: Just finished, finally, Sea Fever, a poem I highly recommend. Not sure what we are doing next. I want to concentrate on the Preamble to the Constitution for a while.  We also are continuing to read through the poems in 101 Famous Poems. We read and discussed Hamlet's Soliloquy today.

Review this week: The Destruction of Sennacharib, A Little Brother Follows Me, Breathes by Walter Scott, King Alfred's War Song, Recessional by Rudyard Kipling.

Misc:Continuing through the Civics Question of the Day. There are all sorts of wonderful, easy to use Civics resources on the naturalization site. Today we discussed question 64: What special group advises the President?  Answer: The Cabinet. I also moved on to questions 65 and asked, "Which President is called the 'Father of our Country'?"  Alex, in spite of the fact that we are reading George Washington's World, said tentatively, "George W Bush?" and then quickly seeing my face, "God?" 

Review: Preamble(Daily), Amendments 1-5 this week.

Reading Aloud:

George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster

The above mentions bio of Durer.

And we are finishing from last year and really loving, The Marsh King by Walter Hodges, a story of King Alfred, a book I highly recommend for boys. It is a bit slow going at first but it gets better.

We were working on our 13th school day of the year and we have completed 11 Morning Times. Yesterday we didn't even get started until 12:00 because of various interruptions.

Morning Time: January 2011

There is something gloriously wonderful about getting back on schedule after a long break. Our first week after the break we did not do MT. To be truthful the holidays are anything but a break for me. I love them but when the steady stream of company leaves I am exhausted. I need a real break but January is not the time. January is the time for making time. So we take one week to just get up and get our lists done and then we add in MT the next week.

In making out this sheet I got pretty excited. New composer: Vivaldi. I love Vivaldi. I mean I LOVE Vivaldi. New artist: Durer. I was tempted to stay on Monet but hey, I like Durer a lot and he is an artist the boys can appreciate:

New Plutarch: Romulus It has been a while. A long while.
Shakespeare: Hamlet. Hamlet is important and the children are beginning to be familiar with the play. There are lots of options to watch it from Mel Gibson to David Tennant

Bible: Continue working on I Peter 5:5-11
Read 1 Proverb daily and discuss
Shorter Catechism Question of the Day

Review:
Books of the OT
Books of the NT
Romans 6
Psalm 15
I Corinthians 13

Hymns:
Review
The Star-Spangled Banner
These Things are True of You
To God be the Glory
Trust and Obey
Unbounded Grace

Poetry:
Sea Fever by John Masefield
I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

By John Masefield (1878-1967).
(English Poet Laureate, 1930-1967.)

Review:
Keep a Goin'
Be Strong
Trees
How Did You Die?

Opportunity by Edward Sill
(Which I must share in full every time I mention it since it is superb.)

HIS I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:--
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge,
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel--
That blue blade that the king's son bears, -- but this
Blunt thing--!" he snapped and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

Misc. Memory:
Civics Question of the Day

Review:
Presidents Bee
Bill of Rights 6-9

Read Alouds:
America Moves Forward
Johnny Tremain


The Marsh King by Walter Hodges