Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Meal Readings/Lektüre zu den Mahlzeiten

When visiting the Abbey of the Genessee, I learned that the monks had readings during their mealtimes.  I was impressed by this habit and have tried to use this idea for all the neat Charlotte Mason books you can find at Ambleside or Mater Amabilis.  So right now at lunchtime we either read a picture book that is somehow connected to an event of the day or a longer chapter book.  For example today is Charles Darwin's birthday.  So we read a chapter in the picture book Charles Darwin and the Beagle Adventure.  We also read one day from our manners book.

In the evenings we have days dedicated to a certain subject.

Monday: Philosophy
Tuesday: German book for little children
Wednesday: Art history for big children
Thursday: German book for little children
Friday: Nature study for all
Saturday: English literature survey
Sunday: Religious book

The reason I have sometimes books for little and sometimes for bigger children is simple: Not everybody is there for dinner due to ballet classes.  Of course we change these topics from time to time.

Als ich vor einiger Zeit das Kloster vom Genessee besucht habe, war ich beeindruckt, daß die Mönche beim Essen immer einander vorlesen.  Das hat mich dazu inspiriert, auch unser Mittagessen und Abendessen mit Literatur abzuschließen.  Ich finde so viele schöne Bücher bei Charlotte Mason Heimschülern (Mater Amabilis und Ambleside), aber es ist schwer, sie immer unterzubringen.  Beim Mittagessen lesen wir immer ein Kapitel aus einem Kinder- oder Jugendbuch oder ein Bilderbuch, was ein bestimmtes Datum oder Ereignis beschreibt.  Heute feiern wir zum Beispiel Charles Darwins Geburtstag und so gab es ein Kapitel aus diesem Bilderbuch.  Wir lesen auch immer einen Hinweis zu guten Manieren aus diesem Buch.  

Abends hat jeder Tag ein anderes Thema:

Montag: Philosophie
Dienstag: Deutsches Buch für jüngere Kinder
Mittwoch: Kunstgeschichte für ältere Kinder
Donnerstag: Deutsches Buch für jüngere Kinder
Freitag: Naturkunde für alle
Samstag: Überblick über britische Literatur
Sonntag: Religiöse Lektüre

Der Grund für separate Bücher für ältere und jüngere Kinder liegt einfach daran, daß wir nicht immer alle zusammen Abendbrot essen, weil irgendein Kind immer Ballett hat und später ißt.  Die Themen kann man natürlich auch immer wieder ändern.    


14 comments:

  1. This is so nice, Eva!! I love the order to your days :)

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  2. P.S. Do you just look up people's birthdays online . . or do you have a specific book that makes suggestions?

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    1. Thanks for your kind words, Dorina. The old "Voyages in English" series has a list of important people and dates in the back of the higher grade books (I believe grade 7 and 8 and maybe 6). Also, I have an older book called Morning Excercises, which is dated, but has wonderful ideas. Then there is Cay Gibson's A Picture Perfect Childhood which gives you a list of picture books for a whole year. Also check out her blog here.

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    2. Thank you for these wonderful links, Eva. I very much like the Morning Exercises book.

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    3. It is a delightful book. I found a used old copy on amazon. It is sometimes amusing because it is so old and people that have been dead for a while are still living in the book. It mentions many people and dates, also from Europe, so it is quite thorough. I haven't done anything with the song and poetry recommendations a lot because we don't have most of the recommended books, but one of these days I will take a closer look at those as well.

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  3. We have been reading about this too and of course it is commonplace in Emma's order as well.

    Hope you are having a good week 😊💝

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    1. Maybe many order do this, I wonder. My week has been quite busy because Peter is in Virginia. His flight got canceled and rescheduled due to snow storms. Kind of hectic here and still too cold.

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  4. Just read about Peter's trip via Dorinna prayers for a safe journey and hugs to you holding the fort on your own.

    San x

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    1. Thank you, San. He finally arrived after so much trouble. It is always a lot of work when he is gone, but I know these trips are important for his work and research. And we talk on the phone daily or do skype. So he is not really gone, just the housework and driving and disciplining is all up to me.

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  5. Das machen wir auch oft. Die Kinder lieben das. Im Moment lesen wir nordische Märchen, unser Buch heißt Trolle, Wichtel, Königskinder

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    1. Märchen sind auch immer gut, besonders, wenn die Kinder noch jünger sind. Das Buch merke ich mir mal, vielleicht können wir das bei Veronika für die 4. Klasse gebrauchen.

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  6. Das ist eine schöne Idee.
    Das Charles Darwin Buch kennen wir auch, von England her. Uns hat es gut gefallen.

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    1. Dieses Buch ist ein Teil einer ganzen Serie von Büchern. Gut zum Entdecken von Fakten, doch leider nicht besonders viel zusammenhängender Text.

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