A Full Life: The Works of Charlotte Mason

Subject. Cooking.

Division: Handicrafts.    Class IV.     Age: 16 1/2.    Time. 45 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To teach the children to make little cakes.
2. To show them that cooking must have method in it.
3. To give them opportunity of thinking for themselves why certain things should be done.
4. To show them how they can alter a recipe to make it richer or plainer.
5. To interest them in cooking.

LESSON

Step 1. Show the girls how to manage the stove for cooking.
Step 2. Show them all the utensils to be used, and let them arrange them on the table.
Step 3. Let them write out the recipe from dictation.
Step 4. Let them grease the tins first of all with melted butter. Then let them each weigh out the ingredients on pieces of kitchen paper, and let them work independently of each other, the teacher also doing the same thing, so that the pupils may be able to see how to set to work without having their own work interfered with. During the process ask them why certain things should be done––for instance, why baking powder should be used, why the patty-pans should be greased. Tell them that if they wished to make the cakes plainer they could use milk instead of eggs, or if richer, they could add raisins and currants and spice. When the mixture is sufficiently beaten and put into the patty-pans, let the girls put them into the oven.
Step 5. While the buns are cooking (they take about ten minutes), let the children and teacher wash up the things they have been using and put them away.
Step 6. Let the children see for themselves if the cakes are done; they should be a light brown. Then let them place them on a sieve to cool, and then arrange them on plates for the table.

Subject: Leather-work (Embossed).

Group: Handicrafts.    Class IV.    Age: 16 1/2.    Time: 40 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To cultivate the artistic feeling in the pupils.
2. To train them in neatness and in manual dexterity.
3. To give training to the eye.
4- To introduce them to a new handicraft.
5. To work, as far as possible in the time, the top of a penwiper.

LESSON.

Step 1. Show the pupils a shaded drawing of the design, also a partly finished penwiper top, with the same design on it. When they have compared the two, they will see that the effect of light and shade is obtained in the leather by raising the light parts and pressing back the dark ones.
Step 2. Let the pupils trace the design on the leather with a pointer. Remove the tracing-paper and accentuate the lines with a pointer. (This is best done with a wheel in a large design.)
Step 3. Damp the leather and with a moulder press the background away from the outline of the design, also the dark parts under the folds at the top of the petals and round the centre. From behind, raise up the light parts with a moulder, and fill the holes thus made with a mixture of sawdust and meal, wet enough to make a kind of rough thick paste. Press away the dark parts again, and make any ornamental lines, etc., while the stuffing is wet, as it soon dries very hard. For this reason a very little must be stuffed at once; in this design, about one petal at a time.
Step 4. Let the pupils punch their background or not as they prefer.
Work on my own half-finished piece of leather to avoid touching the pupils’ work.

Subject: Design.

Division: Art.    Class IV.   Average age: 16 1/2.    Time: 40 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To give the girls an idea of how to fill a space decoratively, basing the design on a given plant.
2. To show them that good ornament is taken from nature, but a mere copy of nature to decorate an object is not necessarily ornamental.
3. To give them an appreciation of good ornament and help them to see what is bad.
4. To draw out their originality by letting them make designs for themselves.
5. If possible, to give them a taste for designing by giving them some ideas as to its use.LESSON.

Step 1. Ask the girls what is meant by a design.
Step 2. After getting from them as much as possible, explain to them that a design is not a mere copy from nature, although it should be true to nature; make them see this by simply copying a plant in a required space to be designed (let this space be for a book cover). It will look meaningless and uninteresting, and does not fill the space, therefore it will not be ornamental. Then show the girls that a design requires thought and invention in arranging it to ornament the object. In the case of the book cover the flower must be designed to fill the space in some orderly pattern, and should be massed in good proportion. Give a few examples of this by illustrations on the board, and show them a book with a design upon it.
Step 3. Point out to them that the most beautiful designs and those that have had the most thought spent upon them are the most simple. Show examples of this in Greek Ornament––Greek Honeysuckle, Egg and Dart Moulding.
Step 4. Tell the pupils that you wish them to make a design for a linen book cover, 7 in. by 5 in., and if they have not time to finish to go on with it at home; if they like to carry the design out practically, to transfer it to linen and work it.
Step 5. Show the girls the flower from which they are to take their design, and point out its characteristics––the general growth of the plant, the curves which it makes, the form of the flower and leaves, and the way the leaves are joined to the central stem; these characteristics should not be lost sight of, but be made use of in giving character to the design, and treated as simply as possible.
Step 6. Let them begin their designs first of all by construction lines, and then clothe them with flowers and leaves, seeing that the masses are in good proportion. If time permits the design could be tinted in two colours, one for the background representing the linen, and the other for the pattern upon it.
Step 7. Suggest to them different ways in which they can make use of design in making simple patterns for their handicrafts, such as leather-work, wood-carving, and brass-work.

Subject: Fra Angelico.

Group: Art.    Class IV.    Average age: 16 1/2.     Time: 30 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To show reproductions of some of Fra Angelico’s pictures.
2. By means of them, to point out such distinguishing features as will enable my pupils to recognise Fra Angelico’s work wherever they may see it.
3. To show in what degree his work holds a place in high art.

LESSON.

Step 1. Give a short sketch of the life of Fra Angelico.
Step 2. Allow time for my pupils to look at the pictures provided, namely, various reproductions of ‘Christ in Glory,’ ‘Saints in Paradise,’ ‘Angels,’ ‘Christ as Pilgrim,’ ‘Annunciation,’ ‘Crucifixion,’ ‘Noli me tangere,’ ‘Descent from the Cross,’ ‘Transfiguration.’Step 3. To notice what strikes us most in Fra Angelico’s work––the exquisite jewel-like finish; the pure open skies and unpretending clouds; the winding and abundant landscapes; the angels; the touches of white light; the delicacy and grace of form; the colouring; the peace.

Step 4. If high art is to be seen ‘in the selection of a subject and its treatment, and the expression of the thoughts of the persons represented,’ how far does Fra Angelico come up to this standard?
He unites perfect unison of expression with full exertion of pictorial power. This will be illustrated by further reference to the pictures, and by reading some passages from Modern Painters.

Step 5. Allow my pupils time to look again at the pictures, summarising meanwhile by a few questions.

A PICTURE TALK.

Group: Art.   Class III.   Age: 13.    Time: 25 minutes.

  OBJECTS.

1. To give the girls some idea of composition, based on the work of the artist Jean Francois Millet.
2. To inspire them with a desire to study the works of other artists, with a similar object in view.
3. To help them with their original illustrations, by giving them ideas, carried out in Millet’s work, as to simplicity of treatment, breadth of tone, and use of lines.

MATERIALS NEEDED.

See that the girls are provided with paint-boxes, brushes, water, pencils, rulers, india-rubber, and paper.
Photographs of some of Millet’s pictures.
A picture-book by R. Caldecott.

LESSON.

Step 1. Introduce the subject by talking with the children about their original illustrations. Tell them how our great artists have drawn ideas and inspiration from the work of other artists; have studied their pictures, copied them, and tried to get at the spirit of them.Tell them that to-day we are going to study some of the pictures of the great French artist, Millet, some of whose works Mr Yates has drawn for us on the walls of our Millet Room, considering them to be models of true art.

Step 2. Tell the children a little about the life of Millet (giving them one or two pictures to look at meanwhile); give only a brief sketch, so that they will feel that he is not a stranger to them. Just talk to them a little about his early childhood, how he worked in the fields; how he had two great books––the Book of Nature and the Bible, from which he drew much inspiration; how later on he went to Paris and studied the pictures of great artists, Michael Angelo among them.

Step 3. Show the pictures to the girls, let them look well at them, and then draw from them their ideas as to the beauty and simplicity of the composition; call attention to the breadth of tone, and the dignity of the lines. Help them, sketching when necessary. to reduce a picture to its most simple form; half-closing their eyes to shut out detail, help them to get an idea of the masses of tone, etc.

Step 4. Let the children reproduce a detail of one of the pictures, working in water-colour with monochrome and making their washes simple and flat, reducing the tones to two or three.

Slep 5. Suggest to them to study the works of other artists in a similar way, and show them how the books of R. Caldecott will help them in making their figures look as if they were moving.

Subject: Astronomy.

Group: Science.    Class IV.   Age: 16     Time: 30 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To interest the pupils in studying the heavens for themselves.
2. To show where the planets may be looked for and how they may be recognised.
3. To help the pupils to apply their theoretical knowledge of the planets to explain the movements they can observe with the naked eye.
4. To exercise the reasoning powers.

LESSON.

Step 1. Get the pupils to describe the changes to be seen in the sky at night, and, excluding the apparent motion caused by the earth’s rotation, find out whether they have noticed and contrasted the constellations of fixt:d stars and the planets (wanderers).Let the pupils tell which of the planets are visible to the naked eye, and ask whether they have noticed when and where are to be seen, at the present date, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, which are in Capricorn us, Sagittarius, and Leo, respectively.

Step 2. Draw from the pupils, if possible, the marks by which planets can be distinguished from stars .
     (a) Their steady light.
     (b) Size (in the case of Venus and Jupiter).
     (c) Colour (in the case of Mars).
     (d) Position (relatively to known constellations).
     (e) Motion (noticeable after successive observations).

Step 3. To enlarge on Point (d), let the pupils name the planets whose orbits are within that of the earth and those whose orbits are outside ours. By the help of a diagram (blackboard) of the solar system, get them to infer, from the nearness to the sun of Venus and Mercury, that these planets are never visible at midnight, but only just before sunrise and after sunset.

Step 4. To appreciate Points (d) and (e), get the pupils to recognise the advantage of knowing the constellations by sight. Show Philip’s Planisphere, and refer to the Zodiac, showing that, besides being the sun’s apparent path, this is the region in which to seek the planets.

Let the pupils find the portion of the heavens visible at 6 p.m. to-day, and indicate, both in the heavens and with respect to our landscape, the positions of Jupiter and Saturn. Also show how Mars may be looked for in the south, too, about 6 o’clock in the morning.

Step 5. To enlarge on Point (e), show a diagram of the path of Venus among the constellations in 1868 (Lockyer’s Elementary Lessons in Astronomy, p. 183), and get the pupils to notice how large a distance she travelled in one month, in order to induce them to make personal observations. Prepare them to see the planets sometimes move backwards and sometimes remain stationary. Explain this by letting one of the girls move round the table, while the other watches how, with respect to her background, she appears to move first from left to right, then to remain stationary, then to move from right to left, and again to remain stationary. The moving girl, observing the other with respect to her background, notices the same phenomena.

Then show the diagram in Lockyer, which illustrates these facts, p. 178, and also another in Reid’s Elements of Astronomy, p. 137, which shows the apparent motion of one planet viewed from another in motion.

Subject: Geography.

Group: Science.   Class III.   Average Age: 13.  Time: 30 minutes.

SCANDINAVIA––NORWAY IN PARTICULAR.

OBJECTS.

1. To introduce the children to Scandinavia.
2. To foster interest in foreign countries.
3. To teach the children how to learn the map of a country by means of map questions.
4. To implant mental pictures of the characteristic scenery of Norway in the children’s minds.
5. To show, by means of comparison, the great difference in the physical features of the two countries which are included in Scandinavia, although they form only one peninsula.

LESSON.

Step 1. Let the children learn the map of Scandinavia, Norway in particular, by means of the map questions previously written on the blackboard, writing down their answers.
Step 2. Ask for a general description of Scandinavia.
Step 3. Let the children fill in the blank map on the blackboard.
Step 4. Require the children to give the answers to the questions, and, as they answer, give information, in order that they may become acquainted with each place as it is mentioned, and be able to picture it in their minds.MAP QUESTIONS.

From the Geographical Readers, Book IV.

1. What waters bound the Scandinavian peninsula? To what land is it attached? What countries does it include?

NOTE.

Describe the government of Scandinavia briefly, showing that, although Sweden and Norway have a common sovereign, each country has an independent parliament, elected in very much the same way, as our English Parliament.
2. Through how many degrees of latitude does this peninsula stretch? What other countries of the world lie partly in the same latitude?
3. Describe the coast of Norway. Compare it with that of Sweden. Name the four largest fiords or openings, beginning at the extreme north.

NOTE.

Give the idea of the extraordinary way in which the coast is cut up, and the immense number of islands which fringe it. Girls to notice how these islands form an effective breakwater to the force of the Atlantic breakers, so that within their boundary the water is as calm and still as a lake.

Describe the rocky, almost perpendicular sides of the fiords, over which the rivers fall in roaring torrents. Mention the fact that many ships of the Spanish Armada were driven as far north as Stadtland, and wrecked around this dangerous headland.

The Sogne is the largest and most important fiord. It is like a long sea channel running into the country for a distance of 100 miles, with branches right and left, over which wonderful torrents fall. The sides are very steep, and the water is very deep at the entrance. At the Sulen Islands, at the mouth of the fiord, Harold Hardrada collected his force for his expedition against England.

4. Name a group of islands north of the Arctic Circle. The most northerly island. The cape on this island. The most northerly cape on the mainland. The most southerly cape.

NOTE.

The Lofoden Islands are granite rocks, rising from the water in hundreds of peaks, with jagged and fantastic outlines. The cod fisheries of these islands are very important, and employ a great number of people.
Nordkin, which means ‘north chin,’ is the most northerly point on the mainland of Europe. Incessant storms rage round the island of Mageroe, so that it is extremely difficult for anyone to land there.

Lindesnaes means ‘Lime nose.’

5. Name five towns on the west, and three on the southeast coast of Norway.

NOTE.

Stavanger is the fourth largest city in Norway. Its chief trade is in herrings. It has a very ancient Cathedral.
At Bergen the houses are built on the slopes of the hiIls which run out into the deep sea. It was formerly the capital, and is now a great fish port.

Trondhjem is the oldest capital. The name means . home of the throne,’ and in the Cathedral the kings of Norway are crowned.
Hammerfest is the most northerly town in Europe.
Tourists go there to see the midnight sun. Read Charles H. Wood’s description of the midnight sun, from the Geographical Reader.
Christiania, the capital of Norway, is not a big town, but has a most beautiful situation. It is at the head of the Christiania Fiord, which is studded with countless grassy and wooded islands. Most of the hguses are of wood, painted white, with green blinds. The fiord, which used to be very much frequented by the old Vikings, is blocked by ice for four months of the year.

6. The Scandinavian mountains nearly fill Norway-by what name is the range known in the north, south, and centre? Name three or four of the highest peaks.

NOTE.

There is no continuous range in the Scandinavian mountains; the whole is a high table-land, which increases in height as we go south, with here and there groups of peaks which appear like huge rocks dotted over the surface.
These plateaux are topped with moors or snowfields from which glaciers descend right down into the sea.

7. How does the position of the mountains affect the rivers? Compare the rivers of Norway with those of Sweden.

NOTE.

Describe how, in Norway, the rivers rush in torrents over their rocky beds, while those in Sweden flow more gently down the gradual slope of the land. Give the threefold reason––great rainfall, small evaporation owing to the coldness of the climate, and small waste owing to the hardness of the rocks––for the great volume of water in the short, quick, Norwegian rivers.8. Recapitulate with blank map, the girls adding descriptive notes as they answer the map questions.

Subject: Italian Gouin.

Group: Language.   Class IV.    Average age: 16.    Time: 30 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To increase the girls’ interest in foreign languages.
2. To enlarge their Italian vocabulary.
3. To give the girls more facility in understanding Italian when they hear it spoken, and also power to express themselves in it.

LESSON.

Step 1. Tell the children in a few words what the series is about.
Step 2. Explain the verbs in the infinitive, by doing the actions when possible.
Step 3. Let the children say the verbs in the infinitive.
Step 4. Let them write the verbs on the board.
Step 5. Explain, by actions, when possible, the rest of the series.
Step 6. Repeat each sentence several times slowly and carefully.
Step 7. Let the children repeat the sentences.
Step 8. Let them write the series on the board.Verbs.                 Italian.

Volere esercitarse   Luigia vuol esercitarsi sul piano.   
Aprire                  Apre il piano.
Suonare               Suona una scala e degli arpeggio
Studiare               Poi studia una Sonata di Beethoven.
Volere imparare     Che vuol imparare a mente.

         English.
Louise wishes to practise.
She opens the piano.
She plays a scale and some arpeggio
Then she studies a Sonata by Beethoven,
Which she wants to learn by heart.

Subject French Narration.

Group: Languages.    Class III.    Average age: 13.    Time: 30 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To give the children more facility in understanding French when they hear it spoken, and also in expressing themselves in it.
2. To teach them some new words and expressions.
3. To improve their pronunciation.
4. To strengthen the habit of attention.
5. To introduce a new branch of the study of French and thus increase their interest in it.
6. To have the following passage narrated by the children.

LESSON.

Passage chosen: Le Corbeau.”Auguste etant de retour a Rome, apres la bataille d’Actium, un artisan lui presenta un corbeau auquel il avait appris a. dire ces mots: Je te salue, Cesar vainquer!
Auguste charme, acheta cet oiseau pour six mille ecus. Un perroquet tit a. Auguste Ie meme compliment et fut achete fort chef. Une pie vint ensuite; Auguste l’acheta encore.
Entin un pauvre cordonnier voulut aussi apprendre a un cor beau cette salutation; il eut bien de la peine a. y parvenir, it se desesperait souvent et disait en enrageant:
Je perds mon temps et ma peine. Enfin il y reussit. Il alIa aussitot attendre Auguste sur son passage, et lui presenta Ie corbeau, qui repeta fort bien sa lec;on: mais Auguste se contenta de dire: J’ai assez de ces complimenteurs la dans moo palais. Alors Ie corbeau, se ressouvenant de ce qu’il avait souvent entendu dire a son maitre, repeta: J’ai perdu mon temps et ma peine. Auguste se mit a. rire et acheta cet oiseau plus cher que tous les autres,”

Step 1. Read the passage slowly and distinctly, stopping frequently to make sure that the children understand. Write the new words and expressions on the board and give their meanings.
Step 2. Let the children repeat the story in English.
Step 3. Read the passage straight through.
Step 4. Let the children read the passage, paying special attention to the pronunciation.
Step 5. Have the passage narrated in French, helping the children when necessary with questions.

Speak as much French as possible throughout, but always make sure that the pupils understand.

Subject: German Grammar.

Group: Languages.    Class III.    Average age: 13.   Time: 30 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To show the pupil that although the German construction of sentences may seem very much complicated, yet with the help of a few simple rules it can be made much clearer.
2. To draw these rules from the pupil by means of examples.
3. To teach two or three of these elementary rules.
4. To strengthen the relationship with the foreign language.

LESSON.

Step 1. Begin by finding out what the pupils know of compound sentences in English, i.e. that they consist of two or more clauses depending on each other, etc., and let them give one or two examples. Connect this lesson with a former one on the arrangement of words in German sentences by letting the pupils put one or two compound clauses on the board in German, and then giving the rule they illustrate.Rule. Dependent clauses take the verb at the end of the clause.

These sentences the pupils can probably give themselves.

Step 2. Get the old rule that the past participle comes at the end of the sentence, with a few examples, one or two of which the pupils may write upon the board to compare with those illustrating the new rule.

Let the pupils put several sentences on the board illustrating the new rule.

Rule. In dependent clauses the auxiliary follows the past participle.

Sentences.––’Ich kehre zuruck, wenn sie angekommen ist.’
‘Das Kind, welches verloren war, ist gefunden.’
Let the pupils translate these literally into English, and with the simple German clauses already on the board and the translation let them find the rule. Let them translate a few sentences into German to show that they thoroughly understand the rule.

Step 3. Treat the next rule almost in the same way, but have each sentence put on the board twice in different order, and find the rule by comparing these.

Rule. If the subordinate clause comes first the principal clause takes its verb at the beginning.
Sentences:––
     (1) ‘Sie gab den Armen viel, weil sie gut war!
     (2) ‘Wiel sie gut war, gab sie den Armen viel.’
     (1) ‘Er ging immer fort, obwohl er mude war.’
     (2) ‘Obwohl er mude war, ging er immer fort.’

Step 5. Recapitulate.