It’s that time of the year again. I know for myself, I start out the summers with a BANG! and then fizzle out – opting instead for sleeping in and piddling around the house. As of late, I have been pondering my life.
While watching television, I get this feeling that I’m just waiting for something to happen. Waiting seems like a waste of time. What the heck am I waiting for? And just why, am I not doing? Something … anything!
I have tried to implement Miss Mason’s methods for creating a twaddle-free environment. I have asked my boys what types of projects they’d like to accomplish this summer or habits they’d like to improve upon. I always get a resounding that they’d like to learn how to level up in some game – or perfect the art of sleeping. *sigh*
This is what I deem as karma – and not the good kind, either!
The boys will be attending VBS and some other small activities. However, this summer, I think they need to use this time to improve in some areas such as reading and memorizing math facts. Reading can be gentle. The math facts will require a little ingenuity and planning on my part – perhaps using dice or cards.
I hope to have my boys do the following on a daily basis:
1. Handiwork
2. Read
3. Music
4. Play a game
5. Choice (meaning working on something useful – and not their Farmer skills, either)
I will most likely use the good weather to learn how to use the telescope a little better.
So what will you be doing? Let us know and link us back to your ideas.
Tags: ambleside, Charlotte Mason, crafts, music, read, Summer, twaddle
Posted in Handiwork, Summer | No Comments »
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Narration Starters
1. Tell why was Huck living with Widow Douglass.
2. Tell what you know about the hair-ball oracle.
3. Describe how Pap reacts when he first comes back?
4. Explain how Huck escapes from his father.
5. Explain why Huck is shocked when Jim admits to running away.
6. Tell of 3 things that Huck needed to do to pass himself off as a girl.
7. Describe Huck’s feelings about King Solomon and/or kings in general.
8. Explain why Huck tells Jim that their separation was all a dream.
9. Describe the Grangerfords.
10. Tell how Dowling Bots died.
11. Explain what Colonel Sherbum does after he shoots Boggs.
12. Explain why Huck feels sorry for the King and the Duke.
13. Describe Huck as a young man.
14. Explain why Tom agrees to help Jim and then decides he does not want to rescue Jim.
15. Tell how Jim is recaptured.
Thought Provoking Questions
1. In what ways is Huck a perceptive and observant narrator?
2. In what ways is he naive and unreliable?
3. What are Huck’s contrasting attitudes toward lying?
4. Show how Huck’s language changes when he gives detailed descriptions of the river.
5. How does Huck deal with people who disagree with him?
6. How did he develop such an attitude, and what does it show about how he approaches the world?
7. Is Jim a three-dimensional character, or is he a stereo-typical slave?
8. What changes are there in Huck’s feelings about the king and the duke, from their first arrival in board to the end of the novel?
9. Show how Huck’s feelings about the Grangerfords change from the time he meets them until the time he leaves.
10. Trace Huck’s feelings about slavery throughout the book, and show how they do or don not parallel his feelings about Jim.
11. Explain why you think the whole book is either optimistic or pessimistic about human nature.
Tags: ambleside, Charlotte Mason, Free Reading, huckleberry finn, year 6
Posted in 6th Year, Charlotte Mason | No Comments »
