High School Literature Option B

Books: 

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, 

Deathless by Catherynne Valente, 

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, 

The Lady in The Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir, 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Poems:

1.  “Helen of Troy Dances on Counter-tops” by Margaret Atwood; 
2. “Quattrocento” by Margaret Atwood; 
3. “The Queen” by Pablo Neruda; 
4. “Inheritance” by Warsan Shire; 
5. “The Mermaid” by William Butler Yeats; 
6. “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae 
7. “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe 
8. “The Faded Flower” by Samuel Coleridge; 
9. “Life” by Samuel Coleridge 
10. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost; 
11. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost; 
12. “Stopping By The Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost; 
13. “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost; 
14. “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath; 
15. “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath; 
16. “Cinderella” by Sylvia Plath; 
17. “The Rival” by Sylvia Plath; 
18. “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson; 
19. “There is another sky” by Emily Dickinson; 
20. “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson; 
21. “Nobody knows this little Rose” by Emily Dickinson; 
22. “A Slash of Blue” by Emily Dickinson

High School Literature Option A

High School Literature

The Martian by Andy Weir

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Poetry of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson

Short Stories: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “Daphne and Apollo” retold by Olivia Coolidge, “Daedalus” retold by Olivia Coolidge, “The Great Flood (in Greek Mythology) retold by Olivia Coolidge, “The Coming of Evil” (aka Pandora’s Box) retold by Olivia Coolidge and “Baucus and Philomen” retold by Olivia Coolidge

Theater Studies (High School)

Theater Studies (High School)

As The Evil Queen, yes this was her costume

 

Yasmeen took three years of acting classes at (name withheld for privacy) in (city withheld for privacy), FL. Yasmeen performed  twice-a-year in their showcases. Yasmeen's performances include Artemis (Greek Mythology), The Evil Queen (Snow White). In the class Yasmeen learned character development and scene analysis.  Yasmeen also did independent studies including  reading Othello by William Shakespeare, Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, and A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde. 

List of Books for First Grade

List of Books for First Grade

Books Read To Seneca
1.Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
2 The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
3 Katie And The Dinosaurs by James Mayhew
4 Katie Meets The Impressionists by James Mayhew
5 The Bremen Town Musicians  The Brothers Grimm
6 Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow
7 Scuffy The Tugboat
8 The Blue Fairy Tale Book by Gordon Laite
9 Saint George And The Dragon by Margaret Hodges
10 The Brave Little Tailor by The Brothers Grimm
11 Princess Sylvie by Elsa Beskow
12 Amos and Boris by William Steig as retold in The World Treasury of Children's Literature Volume   II
13 The Princess in The Forest by Sybille von Olfers
14 The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie Di Paulo
15 Bumblebee At Apple Tree Lane by Laura Gates Galvin 
16 Ladybug At Orchard Avenue by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (Science)
17 Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki (Science)
18 Dinosaurs Big and Small by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (Math and Science)
19 Dinosaur Dinners by Lee Davis
20 The Golden Goose retold by Dennis McDermott
21 Annie And The Wild Animals by Jan Brett
22 Cordoruy by Don Freeman
23 The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer (Science)
24 The Hut In the Forest by The Brothers Grimm
25 The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
26 Mary Cassatt by Mike Venezia (Artist Study)
27 The Gift of The Nile by Jan Mike
28 Wooly Mammoth In Trouble  (Science)
29) Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow
30 Rumplestiltskin as retold in The World Treasury of Children's Literature Volume II
31) The Snow Bears by Jan Brett
32) Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
33) Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dreams Come True by Faith Ringgold (Artist Study)
34) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

35) The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy

36) Bill and Pete Go Down The Nile by Tomie Di Paulo

37) Children of the Forest by Elsa Beskow

Science

James Herriot’s Treasury For Children by James Herriot

Clouds by Anne Rockwell

Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz

All About Birds by Catherine Sill (read by Seneca)

Giant Pandas by Patricia A. Fink Martin

Designing Dandelions: An Engineering Everything Story by Emily Hunt and Michelle Pantoya

Older Than The Stars by Karen Fox

Stories Told To Seneca
The Fisherman and His Wife
Snow White and Rose Red
The Queen Bee
The Three Little Pigs
Snow White
The Six Swans
Mother Holle
Little Red Riding Hood
Brother Acorn

Books Read by Seneca
Dick and Jane: We Look
Dick and Jane: Go, Go, Go
Dick and Jane: Something Funny
Little Bear by Elsa Minarek
Little Bear'sVisit by Elsa Minarek
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Fox In Socks by Dr. Seuss
Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel
"Three Billy Goats Gruff"  in Elson's Reader Book One
"Bobbie's Yellow Chicken" in Elson's Reader Book One
Picnic by Bobby Lynn Maslen
The Train by Bobby Lynn Maslen
Princess Sylvie by Elsa Beskow
Chickens by Bobby Lynn Maslen

High School History Suggestions

The Prince by Machiavelli; *Ancient Rome by Charles Kovacs; *The Age of Exploration by Charles Kovacs; The Age of Revolution by Charles Kovacs; The Yorkist Age by Paul Murray Kennedy ; Mary Tudor: A Life by David Loades; The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman; The Lady in The Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir

*A note on Kovacs: His books are designed for Waldorf students in seventh and eighth grades.  It's more of a teacher's reference, but it does have a lot of good information on parts of European history that are not often covered in American schools. Be aware of some religious imagery.

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn;
 Letters between the Founding Fathers;
 “The Reynolds Pamphlet” by Alexander Hamilton; Martha Washington: A Life by Patricia Brady; Our Country’s Presidents by Ann Bausum

“The Battle Of Marathon” in The Histories by Herodotus

“The Battle of Thermopylae” in The Histories by Herodotus

 “Pericles’ Funeral Oration” in The Peloponnesian War by Eurcydides

“The Plague and Plague Speech by Pericles” in The Peloponnesian War by Eurcydides

“Melian Dialogue” in The Peloponnesian War by Eurcydides

Julius Caesar and Roman Britain by Walter Du La Garde

“Cincinnatus” in Famous Men of Rome

“Emperor Nero” in Famous Men of Rome

Plutarch’s “Life of Themistocles”

Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander The Great”

Plutarch’s “Life of Julius Caesar”

“The Art of War and Sun Tzu” Documentary

“The First Emperor of China” Documentary

“Ancient Athens and The Golden Age of Greece” Documentary

“The True Story of Hannibal” Documentary

The Byzantine Empire by Jennifer Fretland VanVoorst (booklet 48 pages)

The Life of Charlemagne by Eginhard

William Malmesbury’s Account of The Battle of Hastings 1066

“The House of Normandy” in British Kings and Queens – covers William the Conqueror, Civil War between Stephen and Matilda, and the rise of Henry II

Henry II and Thomas Beckett by Walter Du La Garde

“The Magna Charta” http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-english-translation

“Magna Charta In Context” by Claire Breay and Julian Harrison

 “The 95 Theses” by Martin Luther http://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.html

“The Transatlantic Slave Trade” article from UNESCO

“The Slave Route” UNESCO

Maps of the Slave Route UNESCO

“The Transatlantic Slave Trade” http://www.inmotionaame.org/print.cfm;jsessionid=f8302320431476677508560?migration=1&bhcp=1

Documentaries:
D: Killer Queens: Queen Isabella of England (Isabella of France)
D: Killer Queens: Queen Matilda (Empress Matilda) D: She Wolves: England's Queens, Isabella [of France] and Margaret [of Anjou]D: The Medici: Godfathers of The Renaissance: Episodes 1-4 by PBSD: Kings and Queens of England: Episode 1: The NormansD: Kings and Queens of England: Episode 2: Middle AgesD: Kings and Queens of England: Episode 3: Tudors D: Kings and Queens of England: Episode 4: StuartsD: Kings and Queens of England: Episode: 5: GeorgiansD: Kings and Queens of England: Episode 6: ModernsD: Reconstructing Richard III's Face

Articles:A: TWOTR: The Battle of Mortimers Cross (www.mortimerscross.co.uk/history.htm)
A: Royalty and Daughters: The Lives of Isobel and Anne Neville by Wendy Zolo (www.triviumpublishing.com/articles/daughters1.html)
A: Marriage and The Neville's: A Brief Overview by Karen Clark (nevillfeast.wordpress.com)
A: Marriage and The Neville's: Richard III & Anne Neville by Karen Clark (nevillfeast.wordpress.com)
A: Marriage and The Neville's: George, Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville by Karen Clark (nevillfeast.wordpress.com)
A: Theodora (Byzantine Empress) by Encyclopedia Britannia
D: The War of The Roses: A Bloody Crown (2011)
Show: Horrible Histories (BBC) 

British Literature (High School Literature)

British Literature

Books: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, King Lear by William Shakespeare, and Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life by George Eliot

Poems: “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning; “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning; “My Star” by Robert Browning; “Why I am A Liberal” by Robert Browning; “Sonnet 43” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; “The Best Thing The World” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; “The Faded Flower” by Samuel Coleridge; “Life” by Samuel Coleridge; “The More Loving One” by W.H. Auden; “As I Walked Out One Evening” by W.H. Auden; “Epitaph of a Tyrant” by W.H. Auden; “The Fall of Rome” by W.H. Auden; “In Memory of Sigmund Freud” by W.H. Auden; “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden

African American Literature (High School Literature)

African American Literature 

Books: Narrative of  the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass, “My Escape From Slavery” Essay by Frederick Douglass, Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington,  A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, and Having Our Say by Sarah and Elizabeth Delany.

Poems: “On Virtue” by Phillis Wheatley, “His Excellency General Washington” by Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought From Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley, “Dreams” by Langston Hughes, “Cross” by Langston Hughes, “April Rain Song” by Langston Hughes, “Easy Boogie” by Langston Hughes, “Enemy” by Langston Hughes “On the Pulse of The Morning” by Maya Angelou, :”Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, “Touched By An Angel” by Maya Angelou, “Alone” by Maya Angelou, “Midway” by Naomi Long Madgett, “Woman With Flower” by Naomi Long Madgett, “Alabama Centennial” by Naomi Long Madgett

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Artist Study: Diversifying our homeschool

In a traditional Charlotte Mason school or homeschool, a student would study one artist per term ( 1 term = 12 weeks, 3 terms per year) and their works of art.  Most of the artists studied are White Europeans or White Americans.  I'm not saying that students shouldn't be exposed to these artists or their masterpieces.  I did become concerned by the lack of diversity among the artists recommended by some of the Charlotte Mason curricula.  I believe that superiority - racial, national, religious, etc. is accidentally transmitted by showcasing the best of (in this case) Western culture because it inadvertently demonstrates that best (in this case artists) are White (mostly men) with ties to European cultures and traditions.   I do not think that curricula that includes a large part of his program on White artists is racist or part of some White nationalist agenda.  I am concerned that an unintentional message of superiority is received when a student constantly hears words like, master, masterpiece, genius applied again and again only to European artists or those artists of European descent. I believe that the student slowly begins to internalize a sense of superiority associated with white culture.  Again, this does not mean that we do not study European artists or art history.  We simply make an effort to include a more diversified list of artists and their work to our homeschool.  Below is a list of books read for Artist Study in elementary school so far.  We will repeat some of these over the years as repetition leads to a higher probability of retaining the information.  This is not an exhaustive list. It is merely what we have done so far.  This issue of lack of diversity is one that I am happy to say does come up in secular Charlotte Mason discussions online.  People are sharing booklists and names of artists with each other, so that we can make our Artist Study more inclusive and see the genius of many cultures and peoples.

Artist Study in Elementary/Primary School Years

A free Ebook on Native American Pacific Northwest art and artists!  http://supplies.thesmartteacher.com.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/exchange/Pacific%20Northwest%20ebook.pdf

Misty Copeland: Ballet Dancer  “A Ballerina’s Tale” documentary

Seneca observed the self portraits of Frida Kahlo.

Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists: Diego Rivera by Mike Venezia

“The Grinder” by Diego Rivera 1924

“Creation” by Diego Rivera 1922-23

“The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City” by Diego Rivera 1931

“Agrarian Leader Zapata” 1932

“The Flower Carrier” 1935

“Allegory of California” 1931

Georgia O’Keefe

Seneca watched an edited version of a short biographical film on Georgia O’Keefe

“Oriental Poppies” 1928

“Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1”

“Ram’s Head With Hollyhock” 1935

“Petunias” 1924

Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists: Mary Cassatt by Mike Venezia

Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dreams Come True by Faith Ringgold (African-American painter)

Getting To Know the World's Greatest Artists: Van Gogh

Getting To Know the World's Greatest Artists: Monet

In Her Hands: The Story of Augusta Savage (African American sculptor)

Artist: Jacob Lawrence (African American painter)
The Great Migration: An American Story by Jacob Lawrence
Harriet and the Promised Land by Jacob Lawrence

Third Grade Science

Science

Who Was Charles Darwin? By Deborah Hopkinson

Rainforests by Lucy Bowman

Pagoo by Holling C. Holling  Chapters 1 - 13

Science Classes at South Florida Museum:  

Oct. 14 – went outside, identifying non-living and living things

Oct. 21 outdoors collecting flowers and rocks, describing, and classifying.  Used a microscope

Nov. 4 – Seneca made a list of science terms. She learned about cells.

Nov. 18 – Seneca learned about the differences between plant cells and animal cells.

December – Seneca dissected a flower. 

January 6 – Seneca learned about reptiles and amphibians.

January 20 – Class included a bit of scavenger hunt through the museum.

February 3 – Dissection Day! Seneca observed a frog dissection and identified frog-organ’s on a poster.

February 17 – Seneca learned about hammerhead sharks. Class included a visit to the museum’s aquarium.

March 2 – Comparisons of non-living things vs living things

March 16 – Observed a pregnant-shark dissection

April 6 – Eco-systems

May – Made a diorama of a habitat

Gills Club

August – Capturing sharks: taking blood samples, stress in sharks

October – Shark Tourism: Pros and Cons, collecting data from interviews, literature, and art

January – building a model shark

April – Plastics and pollution in the ocean

May – video conference with scientists aboard The Nautilus and exploration in the estuary

Nature Study

-Seneca attended 3 Nature Lab events at Emerson Park in September.

-Nature walk and birdwatching at Robinson’s Preserve.  Seneca watched a bird intently as she knew it was preparing to hunt.  Sure enough, it snatched up some food. She knew it was hunting from what she had learned on Wild Kratts.

Nov. 20 – Around The Bend presentation on limpkins and bird watching

Jan. 8 – Nature Lab: Seneca dissected owl pellets and learned the terms biotic and a-biotic. 

Feb. 5 – Nature Lab at Robinson’s Preserve: Seneca dissected a clam and was shown its abductor muscles, foot, gills, and digestive system. She also learned about estuaries, pollution, dry ice sublimation, and went on a nature hike.

April 1 – Nature Lab: Emerson Park: Theme: Insect communication

April 5 – Ranger guided field trip at Oscar Scherer State Park

April 8 – Nature Lab at Emerson Park: Bees

Third Grade Social Studies

Social Studies

Story of the World Volume I Chapters 27-42

The First Americans by Kathryn Ernst (We only covered the sections on pre-Columbian history.)

Hatshepsut: His Majesty, Herself by Catherine Andronik

Buddha by Demi

Cleopatra by Diane Stanley

Meet Jesus: The Life and Lessons of a Beloved Teacher by Lynn Tuttle Gunney

We also checked out a couple of books on Julius Caesar from the library and read excerpts from those.

Cartoon:  “Joseph”

Animated film on Confucius

-Living History at DeSoto National Park Feb. 19,  2016

Using Charlotte Mason’s Elementary Geogrpahy, Seneca learned about the axis, the equator, latitude, longitude, the Greenwich clock, and maps.

She also worked on the names of the seven continents.

She reviewed the uses of a compass.

Third Grade Language Arts

Language Arts

Seneca continued to read classic fables, fairy tales, and poetry. She read passages in The Story of the World.  We did a shared reading of Who Was Charles Darwin?.

Books read by Seneca:

Thy Friend, Obadiah by Brinton Turkle

Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow

Pele’s New Suit by Elsa Beskow

The Salamander Room

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Bible Stories: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah’s Ark, Abraham and Isaac

Concepts of nouns, pronouns, verbs, first person/second person/third person singular and plural, direct objects, subjects, and predicates were covered.

Grammar lessons mostly correlated to the grammar lessons in Latina Christiana.

Celie and the Harvest Fiddler (short story)

Understood Betsy (213 pages)

St. George and The Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges (short story)  

Fourth Grade Language Arts

Language Arts (Readings were followed by oral narrations given by Seneca.)

   Stories read to Seneca:

“How the Raven Made The Tides”

“The Earth on Turtle’s Back”

“The White Buffalo Calf Woman”

Books Read By Seneca

The Knight At Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne

The Day of the Dragon King by Mary Pope Osborne

Viking Ships at Sunrise by Mary Pope Osborne

Choose Your Own Adventure by Anson Montgomery

Choose Your Own Advernture: Space and Beyond by R. A. Montgomery

Choose Your Own Adventure: Search for the Mountain Gorillas by Jim Wallace

Grammar

First Language Lessons Volume 2

Topics covered included poetry readings, proper nouns, common nouns, verbs, the four types of sentences, using commas, using abbreviations, titles of respect, and contractions.

Writing

Copywork was done from many of the readings listed above with attention paid to punctuation and proper use of capitalization.  Writing practice was also done to go along with some of the lessons in First Language Lessons Volume 2.

Poetry

“The Goops” by Gelet Burgess, “Rain” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Wind” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “I’m Nobody” by Emily Dickinson “A Book” by Emily Dickinson, “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer (Seneca really took a liking to “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer.)

Fourth Grade History

History

The Story of the World Volume 2 by Susan Wise Bauer

Who Was Joan of Arc? (read by Seneca)

Who Was Marco Polo? (read by Seneca)

We also read excerpts from the book Henry II and Thomas Beckett.  We also used the book for reading lessons including vocabulary words, use of a semi-colon, and capitalization of proper nouns. 

The Middle Ages were the focus of this year’s history lessons.  After each lesson, Seneca would narrate back to me what she had learned from the lesson.

Movie: “Ivanhoe” (1982)

Fourth Grade Science

Ada Byron Lovelace and The Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark

The Magic School Bus: Electricity and Magnetism (read by Seneca)

“Jupiter: Moons” Seneca came across an article from NASA (June 2017) on the discovery of two more moons of Jupiter.

The Salamander Room (re-read by Seneca)

-Bill Nye the Science Guy S05E08 Atoms & Molecules (watched several times)

-What Is An Atom? – makemegenius

-Homeschool Lessons at home using the chalkboard to discuss and review matter, the three phases of matter, molecules, and atoms.  Seneca drew models of oxygen, iron, and carbon atoms.

-Seneca learned about electrical currents, interrupting the flow of an electrical current, changing a current’s direction, and electrical conductors using a kit on Electricity and Magnetism.  She also watched a short educational film from the 1950s on electricity and intro to electro-magnetism. 

-Bil Nye the Science Guy “Electricity” (She watched half of the episode one day followed by activities in her Electricity and Magnetism kit.  She watched the second half later and followed it up with an oral narration of what she had learned.)

-Technology: Learning about tools through Minecraft.  Learning basic design through Minecraft at computer lessons at Microsoft Store UTC Mall: 6 sessions attended

-Technology: Kano Computer building lessons at UTC Mall.  Topics included - what is a motherboard, what is a processor, and binary code. 3 sessions attended

-Nature Study and Journaling at Emerson Point Preserve 3/28/17  9am-12pm

-Nature Study and Journaling on a found a sunflower growing on her walk to the store.

-Nature Study and Journaling at Robinson’s Preserve 4/12/2017  5:30pm – 7:30pm

-Nature Study at Emerson’s Point Preserve 5/4/2017 10:00am – 12:00pm

-Manasota Kids STEAM – STEM Mystery Bag #1

 -“Can You Reach the End of a Rainbow?”  - short science video that Seneca found after seeing a rainbow in the sky

Fourth Grade Social Studies/Geography Shelters

           In a Waldorf school, learning about shelters is typically done in the third grade.  We moved this to fourth grade and combined Waldorf and Charlotte Mason for this course.  I love the idea of studying humanity and our relationship to shelter as it encompasses a wide range of disciplines from cultural understanding to how climate and environment effects us.  

Learning how to build an emergency shelter

Social Studies/Geography

Shelters:

Houses of Wood: Native Dwellings of the Pacific Northwest by Bonnie Shemie

Houses of Snow, Skin, and Bones: Native Dwellings of the Far North by Bonnie Shemie

Houses of Adobe by Bonnie Shemie

Houses of China by Bonnie Shemie

Reading about shelters included learning about climates and how people adapt their dwellings to their climates. 

Fieldtrip: Crowley Museum and Folk School to learn about wilderness survival

Mapwork:  Tracing Marco Polo’s journey, equator, axis, locating the continents

Survival Videos: Seneca watched survival videos where she learned to put chapstick on a q-tip to make a fire. 

In true Charlotte Mason fashion, copywork was selected from the readings and used for cursive practice.   In our fashion, copywork was done with at the bookstore or coffeeshop.

Copywork being done at the bookstore with an oh-so delicious treat