▼

Our Delightful Feast- A Look Into Our Living Education

A Day in Our Delightful Life: A Look at Our Feast

I am humbled and honored to offer you a peek into the way that my family chooses to delightfully feast. Your feast will not look exactly like mine, and it shouldn't, but my hope is that in seeing how a busy, ministering, businesswoman, homeschooling mother serves up a wide feast and (mostly) delights in it, you too will know that you can spread a wide feast and that homeschooling can be delightful and enjoyable. With both the courage to form a plan and set aside the hours that its due and the grace to let each imperfect day go so that you can embrace the next, you can have a banquet table that excites and enriches both you and your born persons. 
May all your days be spent delightfully feasting.... 

The Framework of Our Week

We do formal lessons three days each week, and do field trips and other activities on a fourth day. Please know that this fourth day is not a day in which I cram all of the "fine arts" or other "extras" within a Charlotte Mason feast. Art Study, Music Study, and Handicrafts are not extras in our home, but rather an essential part of a wide feast. These lessons, along with drawing and singing and many other "extras" are dispersed throughout our week, so as to provide everything that the mind needs to feed upon within each day, not just at the end of our week. Our fourth day, however, IS a day in which we can do some of the things that require leaving our home, such as physical geography lessons, nature walks, and field trips.

In 2021, I have a 6th grader and a 2nd grader (Form 1a and Form 2a)

A Typical Week in Our Life:
Monday-
House Cleaning, Grocery Shopping, Teacher Development (studying, planning, etc)
Tuesday- Morning Lessons, Occupations
Wednesday- Morning Lessons, Occupations
Thursday- Family Studies Day/ School With Friends/ Forest School
Friday Morning- Free Time
Friday Afternoon-
Coding, Housecraft, Sporting, etc


Days 1 and 2
(usually Tuesday and Wednesday) 

5:00-
Mom Awake
5:00- Bible Study, Prayer, Daily Readings
6:00- Workout and Podcast
7:00- Make my Breakfast and Begin Work/Ministry Tasks, Etc
8:00- Start Boys on Independent Morning Baskets/ Mom Finishing SCHOLE
(read more about Mother Culture/SCHOLE here.)
8:30: Start Boys on Daily Tasks and Drill/  Mom Doing Daily Cleaning and Laundry
*During this time, I also make the boys an easy breakfast. 

7:45-
Boys Awake.
If the boys are not awake by this time, an alarm goes off to remind me to wake them up. If they wake before they have to be up, they can engage in quiet activities until it is time to begin their tasks. 

8:00-
Independent Morning Baskets
The boys officially start their morning with their Independent Morning Baskets. These baskets are filled with word searches, logic puzzles, drawing books, riddles, and a variety of other activities that can be done without my help. These are things that wouldn't be a part of our official Lessons, but that the boys enjoy and provide a gentle start to the day. During this time, I remain nearby either wrapping up work/ministry tasks or reading a book. I can help as needed, but I am engaged in my own activities and we are all starting the morning together, but quiet and at peace. 

8:30-
Daily Tasks
The boys go to their chore list for the day and work through their chores together. They each have a cleaning bucket filled with all of the supplies that they need, so there is no arguing over or spending time locating supplies. They have 3 tasks to do each day, in a different room depending on the day. They then have a checklist of every day tasks to complete. This usually takes about 10 minutes. 

 During this time, I do my daily tasks as well. This includes getting some essential oils diffusing, taking out meat for dinner, starting a load of laundry, etc

8:45-
Drill
The boys do dance, Yoga Cards, or Swedish Drill, depending on the day. 
During this time, I either join them (for Swedish Drill, I instruct) or I wrap up any tasks that I needed to do for the morning, so that I can set everything aside and focus on our school day.

9:00-
Treasure Time
When drill is wrapping up, I play Little Boy Heart Alive in the central area of our home. When the song begins, the boys know that they have approximately 4 minutes to arrive at the Treasure Time table. They gather a snack and beverage, a sweater if they're cold, etc. We then gather at our Treasure Time table by the end of the song. At this table, we have our daily books, and our Daily Binders. These binders are laid out in front of each person's spot at the table.


Our Treasure Time consists of the following: 

Day 1
1. Holy, Holy, Holy
2.Prayer
3.Bible: Old Testament Reading (Joshua) 
4.Literature 1 (Term1: King of the Wind, Term 2: Black Beauty, Term 3: White Stallion of Lipizza)
5.Poetry (using the Poets of Nature, Revelry and Rhyme lessons from Under the Home) 
6.Church History (using Peril and Peace: Chronicles of the Ancient Church)
7.Biography 1: Pirates (using Pirateology, Pirate Diary, and Pirates: Dead Men's Tales)
8.Special Studies A: (Term 1: Endangered Animals, Term 2: Medicinal Plants, Term 3: Foraging)
**Using Delightfully Feasting Special Studies Units (see Book List Below)
9.Picture Study (Term 1: Whistler, Term 2: Monet, Term 3:Homer) 
10.Drawing: 
11. Latin and Greek Roots (English From the Roots Up Cards) 
12. Memory Work (Shakespeare and Scripture)
13.Life Poem and Benediction

Day 2
1. Holy, Holy, Holy
2.Prayer
3.Bible: New Testament Reading (Acts) 
4.Literature 2 (Term1: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Term 2: The Silver Chair, Term 3: The Last Battle- all by C.S. Lewis)
5.Poetry (using Poetry Reader Volume 2 from Cottage Press) 
6.Tales (using the upcoming Tales and Folk Songs unit from Delightfully Feasting)
7.Biography 2: Pharaohs (using Landmark's The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt)
8.Special Studies B: (Term 1: Habitats Coral Reef,  Term 2: Shells, Term 3:Ocean Life)
**Using Delightfully Feasting Special Studies Units
9. Music Appreciation (Using Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion from Under the Home) 
11. Recitation (Poetry)
12. Memory Work (Catechism) 
13.Life Poem and Benediction


11:00-
Morning Collective
After Treasure Time, we head to the back porch and the boys complete a few items in their Daily Binders (calendar, weather, math daily word problem, etc) and their Daily Nature Calendars, and then we complete our Collective Lessons. Being outside for this time allows a change of scenery and the opportunity to observe the subtleties of the weather and nature for that day, without being rushed or simply "checking a box". 

Day 1: 
1. Daily Binders 
2. Nature Calendar
3. Handwriting
(Form 2 Using Handwriting Level 6 from The Good and the Beautiful)
(Form 1 Using Handwriting Level 1 from The Good and the Beautiful) 
4. Folk Song Lesson (Using the Tales and Folk Songs unit from Delightfully Feasting)
5. Word of the Day (using A Word a Day Intermediate by Evan Moor)
6.Thought of the Day (using Morning Exercises for All the Year) (also in the Public Domain)

Day 2: 
1. Daily Binders 
2. Nature Calendar
3. Handwriting
(Form 2 Using Handwriting Level 6 from The Good and the Beautiful)
(Form 1 Using Handwriting Level 1 from The Good and the Beautiful) 
4. Hymn Study Lesson (Using the Delighting in Hymns units from Delightfully Feasting)
5. Word of the Day (using A Word a Day Intermediate by Evan Moor)
6.Thought of the Day (using Morning Exercises for All the Year) (also in the Public Domain)


Note- Although sometimes presented as such, the materials offered by The Good and the Beautiful are not fashioned after the methods of Charlotte Mason. I do not use or recommend their science, language arts, or history programs. I do, however, like their Handwriting and Typing materials, as you can see linked above and below.

Our Hymn Study selections for 2020 are as follows:
Hymn-
Term 1: How Great Thou Art, It Is Well With My Soul 
Term 2: Be Thou My Vision, My Jesus I Love Thee 
Term 3: All Creatures of Our God and King, And Can It Be That I Should Gain


11:30-
Group Block 1
At this point, we head to the School Room and each boy heads to their desk.
During this time, we complete the following lessons:

Day 1:
1.Architecture (Term 1: Pyramid, Term 2: Fast Forward Pyramid, Term 3: Ancient Egypt Artifacts)
2.Spanish (Using the upcoming Delightfully Feasting Spanish) 

Day 2:
1.Charts and Mapping (based upon history lessons, and also using Draw Africa)
2.Shakespeare Tales (Form 2 Student also reads plays in addition to reading Tales as a group)

12:00- 
Lunch Break 
The boys grab their lunch trays and then grab lunch from our Lunch Drawers. While they do this, I change over or fold a load of laundry, grab another cup of coffee and grab a bite to eat. 

12:30-
Breakout 1 
At this point, the boys separate for a lesson. My Form 2 student does his Typing lesson independently (using Typing Level 3 from The Good and the Beautiful) and my Form 1b student does a Reading lesson with me. 


1:00-
Group Block 2
At this point, we gather again on the back porch for a few more lessons together.

Day 1:
1.Ancient History Spine (using Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors from Simply Charlotte Mason)
2.Art Around the World from Under the Home
3. Solfa (using Sing Solfa and Solfa Sofa ) (one unit from both each term) 

Day 2:
1. Ancient History Supplements (see Book List below)
2. Composer Study (Term 1:Bach, Term 2:Vivaldi, Term 3: Mozart) 
3. Hand Clapping (using Hand Clapping Fun from Triumphant Learning)

1:40
Breakout 2
At this point, we head back to the School Room to separate for some individual lessons. This is done independently (with help as needed) for my Form 2 student and I am working with my Form 1 student at this time.

Day 1 and 2: 
Form 2 Student- 
1.Current Events using CNN 10 and News O Matic)
2.Copywork 

Form 1 Student- 
1. Math Lesson 
2. Geography Lesson (using Where We Live II from Under the Home)

Note- We use a combination of Life of Fred, Khan Academy, MEP, and public domain books for math.

2:00
Form 2 Studies
 At this point, my Form 1 student is free for the day and can move on to Afternoon Occupations. 
My Form 2 student continues working with me on lessons that apply solely to his age and form.

Day 1
1. Geography (using The Boy Travelers Africa  from Under the Home)
2. Grammar  (using Grammar Land from Under the Home and Gentle Grammar   from Mom Delights)
4. World History (using Stories of the Nations Volume 1 from Simply Charlotte Mason)
5. Math 
6. Science (using Rocks and Minerals  from Under the Home)

Day 2
1. Shakespeare 
2. Composition (using Poetic Forms from Under the Home and Story Starters by Karen Andreola)
3. Logic (using Primary Analogies Book 3)
4. Plutarch (using the Anne White guide for Brutus)
5. Math
6. Equine Science and History 
(using History of the Horse from Beautiful Feet Books and How to Think Like a Horse)

Day Three: Family Studies Day

On our third day of school, we have a more relaxed morning and we have a much shorter day. We gather for only a few hours on these days to complete several more lessons as a group. Those lessons are as follows :

1.Natural History/Nature Lore 
(using Shared Wonder: Birds and Weather from A Modern Charlotte Mason)
2. US Geography and National Parks (using National Parks and America's National Parks
3. American History (See Book List Below) 
(Term 1: Explorers, Term 2: Indigenous Peoples, Puritans, Pirates, Term 3: American Revolution)
4. Science Experiments or Handicrafts
5.Geography Reader (using Letters From Egypt from Simply Charlotte Mason)
6. Math Games (using a variety of games and the Math Games Bundle from Triumphant Learning)
7. Studio Art (using Grade K and Grade 4 of Studio Art from Under the Home)
8. Scouting (using the Delighting in Scouting units from Delightfully Feasting) 
9. Piano/Music Theory 
(using the Delighting in Hymns units from Delightfully Feasting and Music Theory Made Easy Book 2) 


*These days are often combined with our weekly meeting with friends to do supplemental lessons. In 2021 these lessons will constitute a weekly Book Club. 

*Sometimes these days are combined with our monthly Forest School meeting. Depending on which event is scheduled for the week, Days 3 and 4 can look differently in their structure, but between Days 3 and 4 each week we complete the Lessons listed above, our weekly meeting with friends, Forest School, and the list of items below.

Day Four
On the last day of our school week, we complete various combinations of the following items:

Handicrafts
Patch Work and Assignments (from our Forest School and Homeschool Group meetings)
Housecraft
Sporting
Coding Lessons


Book List
Here are many of the living books, reference books, and resources used for our lessons in 2021:

Rulers and Their Times: Hatshepsut and Ancient Egypt


American History 
Revolutionary Solider: Illustrated Living History Series
The Amazing Life of Myles Standish
George Vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen From Both Sides
Around the World in 100 Years
Dover Coloring Books: Life in Pre-Columbian North America
Dover Coloring Books: Life in Colonial America
Dover Coloring Books: Heroes and Heroines of the American Revolution
Dover Coloring Books: Uniforms of the American Revolution
Dover Coloring Books: George Washington
Dover Coloring Books: Story of the American Revolution
A New Nation
Liberty or Death
Discovery of the Americas


Natural History/Nature Lore
Feathers: A Beautiful Look at a Bird's Most Unique Feature 
That Quail, Robert
An Owl in the House
Nests: Amazing Ingenious and Intricate
Birds That Every Child Should Know
Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists: Songbirds
Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists: Backyard Birds
The First Book of Birds
Beaks!

2 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 10, 2017 at 6:34 AM

    I really like your daily flow. It sounds beautiful. Would love to know more about the books you are using for all your feasting.
    Lisa Cho

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Crystin MorrisAugust 22, 2017 at 7:49 AM

      Hi, Lisa! Thank you very much for the compliment. It is ever a work in progress, and much grace is needed, but we truly enjoy it! I will post a list of the books I am currently using for each lesson listed above!

      Delete