I will restrain this portion of my post, on Shakespeare. He is one of my true loves and I believe he must know it. Our two favorite books to bring the Bard alive:
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night {possibly my most favorite}, and Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare permeates so many crevices of our culture and it is wise to teach his works to children. He is, in my estimation, the cornerstone of English literature. There is no greater. Literary greats, for centuries, have turned to Shakespeare for his mastery and majesty of words and I am of the belief that my children should be knit closely with his plays and his sonnets, first in exceptional retellings (ala Nesbit or Lamb) and then with Shakespeare himself, line-by-line, over much time and with great heart.
What do we do then each week? Again, echoing Charlotte Mason's principles, we keep the lesson simple and fulfilling. I read aloud from the play and we tend to keep a chart on the board of characters and places, almost like a family tree, since Shakespeare can be convoluted with so many names and comings and goings. I stop and the children narrate periodically, and we continue. We marry the reading with recitation from How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare.
Why do I choose to have my children memorize Shakespeare? I believe that his works are our lost vernacular and having a fluency in his passages will unlock understanding and vocabulary that will transcend much more than just the poetry and prose; it will serve them well academically and emotionally beyond their school years.
For the girls, today is their natural history reading day ... Secrets of the Woods by William Long for Mae and A James Herriot Treasury for Children for Viola, who reads aloud to Zeb. I think that Mae has really found a love with this book. The detail of observation and the preciousness of the animals is a wonder, that and we live in a wooded area, which brings it all the more to life.
We are continuing to work on Psalm 23 and Getting Started With Latin. This afternoon we read more from Narnia and delved into our Biblical guide ... just so much good in there to unpack.
Chicken tacos are in the crock pot, pumpkin seeds are roasting in sea salt and berbere, and tonight we trick o' treat in our little town.