Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Morning Time: Ambleside Categories

Day 18~

As I try to walk through these Ambleside categories I want to try and be very honest so that you do not get overwhelmed or discouraged.

Always, always remember that the purpose of MT is to gather tiny moments not do big projects.  I put those Ambleside categories at the top of my MT sheet to remind me to include snatches of them throughout the week.

Before the beginning of the school year I work on term selections for our 3 Terms. Term 1 is August- November. Term 2 is January-March and Term 3 is April-June.  Often Term 3 is our weakest term.  I am somewhat serendipitous about these selections.  Often I follow along with the Ambleside Online terms but just as often I make a different decision.

Here is our Term 1 selections for this year:



Ambleside Selections 2013-2014

TERM 1 : August-November
Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809; Classical)
   String Quartet Op 76 no 3 "Emperor" OR String Quartet Op 76 no 4 "Sunrise"
   London Symphony no 104 (4 weeks)
   The Creation (4 weeks)
   A horn concerto
John Singleton Copley (American, 1738-1815) (This term's composer: Haydn)
   1. Paul Revere, 1768-70
   2. Watson and the Shark, 1778 (Graphic depiction of a real event) OR The Copley Family, 1776-7 (for more sensitive students)
   3. The Death of the Earl of Chatham, 1779-81
   4. The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 1782, 1783-91
   5. The Red Cross Knight, 1793 (Lynn Bruce's study notes)
   6. Saul Reproved by Samuel for Not Obeying the Commandments of the Lord, 1798
         Further Interest: The Nativity, 1777

Shakespeare: The Tempest
Plutarch: Brutus

You can see from the above selections that I followed along with Ambleside for our composer study and artist study, I made a slight change for Plutarch, and I went my own way for Shakespeare.

Even though it is still October we are ahead on both Shakespeare and Plutarch. On the other hand we have only listened to Haydn a few times, much less than usual and we haven't looked at our Copley prints as much as I would like, but more on that tomorrow.

For the month of November we will sing several of our Harvest hymns and review many autumn poems. December is also not scheduled because from Thanksgiving on our Advent season takes on a life of its own. It is a nice break from routine. We still have MT but I keep it to a bare minimum using Handel's Messiah as our framework and reading aloud from books which give us a cozy holiday feel. I generally put aside all of our history reading for that time, along with even Shakespeare and Plutarch. This break (sabbath rest?) helps us to return to our regular MT in January with renewed vision.

Here are our selections for after Christmas this year.



TERM 2: January-March
Composer
 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
   1. Symphony no 6 "Pathetique"
   2. Piano Concerto no 1
   3. Serenade for Strings
   4. 1812 Overture
   5. String Quartet in D maj (Andante Cantabile)
   6. Swan Lake

Artist:
Edouard Manet (man-AY; 1832-1883; French Impressionism)

   1. Concert in the Tuileries, 1860-62 (Notes at Artchive) OR Luncheon on the Grass, 1863 (some nudity; but arguably his most famous painting. Notes here) .
   2. The Old Musician, 1862
   3. The Races at Longchamp, 1864
   4. The Fifer, 1866
   5. The Railway, 1872; NGA Lecture about this painting
   6. Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère 1881-82; (Audio from Artchives; or YouTube video; not previewed).
         Additional notes for further study here.

Shakespeare: Macbeth
Plutarch: Dion

We have already started both Macbeth and Dion so Term 3 just might work this year.


Suggestion of the Day for Morning Time Memory:

US Oath of Citizenship:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God." 
 





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