Charlotte Mason Highschool: Year 11

This is our Year 11 Australian/personalised adaption of Ambleside Online. We've finished Term 1 and are a couple of weeks into Term 2 so I'll update this post as we continue through the year. 

Bible/Devotions

*  **  * *** In The Steps of the Master by H.V. Morton - Bible History & Geography

* Knowing God by J.I. Packer - continued from last year

Family line of Herod the Great

History

*  **  *** A History of the Twentieth Century  by Martin Gilbert

* A Short History of Australia by Ernest Scott (1953 Edition) We've used this in Year 9 up to the end of the first term of Year 11. We're using this one for Term 2 and 3 this year:

**  *** A Short History of Australia by Manning Clark - starting at Ch 9: Radicals and Nationalists - 1883 - 1901

* World War I and World War II by Richard Maybury

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain - this is scheduled in Term 1 but it's been slow going so Miss 16 will be reading it this term as well.

Biographies

*  Stalin by Albert Marrin 

** Hitler by Albert Marrin 

Speeches

Speeches That Shaped the Modern World by Alan J. Whiticker is our primary resource for Year 11 as well as some from the AO list that aren't too focussed on the USA. This book includes a couple of speeches made by Australian Prime Ministers.

Australian Literature

* We of the Never-Never by Mrs Aeneas Gunn

** A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

*** Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara

Literature

* Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton (see here for some details) - we used this instead of The Great Gatsby.

I'll be substituting another book in place of Brideshead Revisited but will include all the others.

* Shakespeare - Much Ado About Nothing

Short Stories & Essays

I've been cherry-picking titles from the AO list.

Current Affairs

Conversations - John Anderson (former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia) via Podcast or YouTube. 

The Plight and Polarisation of Mainstream Media 

Authoritarianism 

Archaeology

* Digging For Richard III, How Archaeology Found the King by Mike Pitts - a great book to read after Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time.

** Come, Tell me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan

Geography

* Endurance by Alfred Lansing

** *** Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall - a combination of geography, history, current events and politics.

Science

*  **  ***  Novare General Biology by Heather Ayala and Katie Rogstad - this is a really in-depth biology book so we're not rushing through it. Lab work is included.

* The Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif

* Six Easy Pieces by Feynman - Miss 16 read four out of the six chapters and then I changed to this book:

** Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life by Helen Czerski - only 13 pages in but so far my daughter likes its conversational style. Thanks to Joy H on the AO Forum for mentioning this book. 

Plutarch

* Aristides

Art 

Reading a section of this each week - two to three pages on a wide range of artists; well illustrated, short biographies.

Free Reading

Pastoral by Nevil Shute

The Far Country by Nevil Shute (set in Australia)

The Black Orchids by Rex Stout

The Silent Speaker by Rex Stout

Shane by Jack Schaefer

The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour

The Yellow Poppy by D.K. Broster

The Jacobite Trilogy by D. K. Broster

Son by Lois Lowry

Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie 

Books by Jackie French:

The Girl From Snowy River

Pharaoh

Pennies for Hitler

Tom Appleby, Convict Boy

Stay tuned for updates...

A Charlotte Mason Highschool: In-between Years 10 & 11

Last month I wrote a post about our Year 10 studies. I'm now thinking about and making plans for Year 11 which Hails won't be starting until next year after a Christmas break. Now, for the interim, we are keeping up with cello lessons and exam preparation for her final exam in the first half of next year.

We started Novare General Biology, a new science curriculum, which I wrote about here and will continue that for the rest of the year and into next. This has inspired an interest in microscopy. We have an average, inexpensive sort of microscope but it has an attachment for a mobile phone so you may photograph what you're observing. This has been a big plus as Hails has an interest in photography and it's easy for everyone else to have a look without adjusting everything each time.

Microbehunter on YouTube has some great videos on all things related to microscopes and microscopy, including some good advice on choosing one suited to your situation (you don't need to spend a lot of money!!) and we've been watching these. He has also reviewed and highly recommends 'The Microbe Hunters,' by Paul de Kruif, a classic book on the major discoveries of the microscopic world that Ambleside Online uses for Years 8 to 11. 

Other books for our interim time:

Economix by Michael Goodwin; Illustrated by Dan E. Burr - we've had this for a few years and my next youngest, who is studying Economics at university, recommended his younger sister read it. It's a light, fun, graphic book on the economy - how economic forces affect you and have shaped history. My husband loves watching the nightly financial news and after reading this book Hails said, 'Now I understand what they're talking about!'

War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy - this is her slow read, which isn't her usual style, but she's reading a bit most days and once she was a few chapters in she started to enjoy it. 

World War I: The Rest of the Story and How it Affects You Today by Richard J. Maybury - an interesting perspective on wars and history. This book is followed by his book on World War II which we will use next year also. 

Discretionary Reading:

Escape or Die, The Dam Busters, The Great Escape, and Reach for the Sky by Paul Brickhill (WWII)

We Die Alone by David Howarth (WWII)

The Venetian Affair by Helen MacInnes

Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour - a superb book, written by a Palestinian Christian

Nemesis by Agatha Christie

Raw sugar crystals

Something new that I've taken on is working with My Homeschool, an Australian Charlotte Mason Inspired homeschooling curriculum that provides a complete curriculum from Kindergarten up to Year 9 and registration assistance for Australian families all over the country. It was started in 2017 by Michelle Morrow and during this Covid year it has expanded to serve about 600 families. I've been helping to run homeschooling workshops on the Charlotte Mason method via Zoom and just love doing it! 

Charlotte Mason Highschool: Handicrafts

"Creativity is not just for artists. Subjects like design and technology, music, art and drama are vitally important for children to develop imagination and resourcefulness, resilience, problem-solving, team-working and technical skills...These are the skills which will enable young people to navigate the changing workplace of the future and stay ahead of the robots, not exam grades." 

The quote above is from an article written two years ago. In the same article a professor who teaches surgery to medical students said that young people need to have a more rounded education, including creative and artistic subjects, where they learn to use their hands. He has noticed a decline in the manual dexterity (muscle memory) of students over the past decade and that it is a big problem for surgeons who need craftsmanship as well as academic knowledge. Students have become "less competent and less confident" in using their hands.

"We have students who have very high exam grades but lack tactile general knowledge."

Handiwork is just as important in the highschool years as it is with younger children. The beauty of working with the hands, whether it be woodwork, felting, patchwork, metal work, or any other type of material, is that it provides a respite for mental work and acts as a pressure release valve for the person whose time is mostly spent studying. It brings balance by working with an entirely different set of skills.

A young person of highschool age also has a wider range of handiwork available to them. They are capable of using tools that a younger child would find difficult to handle and they have a greater awareness of the safety issues involved (hopefully!). There are also more options for lessons. 

Last weekend Hails attended an all day adult workshop on drypoint printing, a form of Intaglio printing. The teacher was quite happy to include her in the group even though she's only 15 years old after I'd chatted to her. The class was a small group of five students she enjoyed the workshop so much that we've registered her for another class on Mosaics early next year. I asked her to do a written narration on the drypoint technique and this is what she wrote: 

Drypoint is a print making technique. By a print I mean an artwork that has gone through a printing press. The materials used in drypoint are a piece of acetate and a special needle with a very sharp, tiny point. Usually a reference image is printed out and placed under the acetate, then the artist traces the image onto the plate with the needle. It makes a very annoying, squeaky sound, as the needle is actually scratching into the acetate. A special drypoint ink is scraped over the top of the plate, forcing the ink into the cuts. Then the ink on the surface is rubbed off and you can see the image start to show up, as the ink is in all the scratches. Then both sides of the acetate are rubbed again to remove any excess ink, and it’s ready to print. The printing press is basically a machine with a large steel roller in the middle to force the ink down onto the paper which sits on a large printing plate underneath the roller. The acetate is placed cut side up on the printing plate, and a piece of paper that has been soaked in water is placed on top. Then three layers of thick, felt-like material is put on top of the printing plate, and it’s time to roll it through. Printing presses have a lever on the side to roll the plate underneath the roller and out the other side. Sometimes the acetate has to be rolled through a second time because not enough ink has been pressed onto the paper. 

When the image has fully transferred to the paper, you take it off the printing press and leave it to dry. Usually you have to make a few copies of the image before it turns out to your satisfaction, because if you leave too much ink on the plate, the image will be smudged, and if you don’t leave enough, the image is too light. 

The composition of the image or drawing is also important. As mentioned before, the image is usually traced onto the acetate, but it can also be drawn freehand. That is probably not wise unless you’ve been doing it for a while, because every scratch you make is going to show up on the image, and if you make a mistake, it’s very obvious.

After experimenting and trying to get the right balance of ink etc., she chose the picture above to frame. 

The workshop also included Lino (relief) printing which is quite different. There's a good explanation of Lino Printing here. 

Charlotte Mason recognised the importance of manual dexterity. Her method stresses relationships; that children need living books and 'things' - handiwork, manual skills, nature walks...and so the teaching and practice of handicrafts should be continued all the way through highschool.

'...we know that the human hand is a wonderful and exquisite instrument to be used in a hundred movements exacting delicacy, direction and force; every such movement is a cause of joy as it leads to the pleasure of execution and the triumph of success. We begin to understand this and make some efforts to train the young in the deft handling of tools and the practice of handicrafts.' - A Philosophy of Education.

Charlotte Mason Highschool: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (1967)

The Outsiders is a coming of age sort of story which works really well, probably because the author wrote the book when she was just seventeen years old. It is told very simply and directly from the viewpoint of Ponyboy, a fourteen year old ‘Greaser.’ The author captures the main character’s  personality and concerns so well and so naturally.

Ponyboy lives with his two older brothers, Darry and Sodapop. Their parents were killed in a car accident and twenty year old Darry has taken on the role of keeping the family together. He is bent on avoiding any situation that would give an opportunity for the authorities to send the younger boys off to boys’ homes. He has had to grow up fast and work hard and Ponyboy, not understanding his older brother’s situation, believes he doesn't care and sees everything he does as unnecessary interference in his life.

Something that really struck me about this book was the value placed on the role of parents. This isn’t something you’d normally encounter in a book dealing with the struggles of adolescence and it was quite refreshing.

‘Darry and Sodapop were my brothers and I loved both of them, even if Darry did scare me; but not even Soda could take Mom and Dad’s place.’

Johnny was the Greaser gang’s pet, everyone’s kid brother. His father was always beating him and his mother ignored him unless she was angry and then she just yelled.

He could stay out all night and nobody would notice. When Ponyboy complained about his older brother, Johnny said, ‘I ain’t got nobody,’ 

Ponyboy was startled out of his misery:

‘Shoot...you got the whole gang. Dally didn’t slug you tonight ‘cause you’re the pet. I mean, golly, Johnny, you got the whole gang.’

‘It ain’t the same as having your own folks care about you,’ Johnny said simply. ‘It just ain’t the same.’

The Greasers were from the poorer side of town while their rival gang, the 'Socs,' were well-heeled and drove around in cars looking for Greasers to fight with. The two gangs were continually warring with each other but one night one of them was killed and everything changed for Ponyboy. Two gang members ended up on the run and suddenly it was no longer 'us' and 'them.' Ponyboy's former enemies are just like him - human.  

'Soda fought for fun, Steve for hatred, Darry for pride, and Two-Bit for conformity. Why do I fight? I thought, and couldn’t think of any real good reason. There isn’t any real good reason for fighting except self-defence.’

The Outsiders is a quick but memorable read suitable for around the age of 15 yrs and up. 

I first heard about the book when I hosted a ‘Mum Culture’ evening where a group of us discussed some of our most memorable reads. The gist of The Outsiders was mentioned, although the title had been forgotten and immediately someone else jumped in and said, “I loved that book!” and told everyone the title. So of course, I had to it check it out.

The ultimate test came when I gave it to my 15 year old daughter to read and she gave it her tick of approval also.

(I happened to notice that Ambleside Online has it as a free read in Year 11. I missed that in previous years so I don’t know if its been added lately or I just didn’t see it.)

Charlotte Mason Highschool - a 15 Year Old's Year

This is a review of what we've done this year. It's based on Ambleside Online Year 10 but with some adaptions for Australian content, personal interests, and substitutions I wanted to make - books I have and wanted to use or thought were important to include. I've linked to reviews or thoughts I've shared on some of the books.

Theology/Devotional/Apologetics

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - a great book for a teen reader; full of humour but deadly serious!

By Searching by Isobel Kuhn - autobiography of a missionary to China that concentrates on the struggles of faith in her youth. I like to include a Christian biography each year and also a book that is set or focussed on the Asia Pacific region. This book worked for both categories.

Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin - we took turns reading this aloud: 'How to Study the Bible With Both Our Hearts & Minds.'

How Should We Then Live by Francis A. Schaeffer. I've used this now with all seven of our children. It's a book I think is very important as it traces key moments in the history of Western culture and the thinking of the people behind those moments in order to shed light on modern times. Schaeffer draws on his study of theology, philosophy, history, sociology and the arts in this work.

History

The Great Democracies by Winston Churchill

A Short History of Australia by Ernest Scott - out of print but online here. We used this book last year, the relevant chapters for this year and will continue with it for the first part of Year 11.

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara - the American Civil War. This was a free read because we had the book and Hails wanted to read it.

Biographies

Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey. We also watched The Young Victoria, the 2009 production which concentrated on the lead up to Victoria's coronation and her marriage to Albert. I read Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley thinking I could possibly use that but it had too much information on the improprieties of some of the royals for a 15 year old. A pity as it also touched on many other important characters of the time such as Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone although there were chapters I could have assigned that would have worked but I felt we'd covered enough in the end.

L'Abri by Edith Schaeffer - a book I wanted to include at some point so I used it this year.

Science & Natural History

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson - we started this last year and finished it in Term 1 of this year.  I read it aloud and it was engaging and an excellent book to discuss.

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif -  as per AO schedule

The Planets by Dava Sobel - a very literary guide to the planets. The author obviously loves her subject but she does wax very lyrical so I wasn't sure if Hails would enjoy it but she did and it inspired many written narrations. 

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies by Joyce Sidman - a beautifully illustrated book about Maria Merian, an artist, adventurer and scientist in 17th century Europe.

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman -  I wasn't expecting Hails to like this but she has so far. We started it later than scheduled and will finish it in the next couple of months.

Nature Studies in Australia by William Gillies - we finished this earlier in the year. 

The Wilderness by Amy Mack - a very short book (26 pages) Read aloud

Exploring Creation With Physical Science by Jay Wile - very good for experiments.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot - I've been reading this series aloud for a couple of years. We've just started the next book, 'All Things Wise and Wonderful.' Hilarious and touching memoirs of a Yorkshire vet in the early to mid 1900's.

Archaeology 

I wrote about our archaeological studies a la Charlotte Mason here. Our main book has been God, Graves & Scholars by C. W. Ceram. We also made use of the free Dig School resources that were offered during COVID.

We continued with 50 Architects You Should Know that we started two years ago and finished it earlier this year.

Geography

Eothen by Alexander Kingslake 

Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson - we didn't finish this one (16 out of 29 Chapters). I bought the book at the end of our U.K. trip last year thinking it would be a great way to re-live some of the places we visited but in the end I was sick of the author's lewd, crude and obnoxious comments, not to mention his deplorable behaviour towards others on his travels through the U.K. in 1995. Very disappointing as we really liked his The Short History of Nearly Everything but he whined and complained in almost every chapter in this book and I had to edit so much on the fly I got fed up!! Not recommended and I'm not the only one who felt that way - I checked out Goodreads later. Apparently he must have lost the plot with this one.

We regularly use Seterra for map drills.

Australian Literature

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - I read this years ago and thought it was 'O.K.' but Hails really enjoyed it. I liked the movie a lot more so we'll watch that some time soon.

Pied Piper, Trustee From the Toolroom and No Highway by Nevil Shute. These books weren't set here but I included them as an introduction to Shute who made his home here. The books I've read that have an Aussie setting are a little too mature for a 15 yr old, I think.

All the Green Year by Don Charlwood - a coming of age Aussie story.

General Literature

We used all the suggestions in AO Year 10 except Uncle Tom's Cabin and added In This House of Brede, which she loved, Mary Barton, and Martin Chuzzlewit. I didn't require narrations from these.

Shakespeare's Henry V - the play and then we watched the Kenneth Branagh DVD

Short Stories - I chose four from the AO selections

Essays - selections from AO and from God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis

Other

Plutarch - the Life of Alexander - this was one of the best lives we've read!

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason

One Blood by Ken Ham, Carl Wieland & Don Batten

How to Read a Book

The Deadliest Monster - liked this very much

Invitation to the Classics

Personal, Career, and Financial Security by Richard J. Maybury

Health

How Not to Diet by Dr Michael Greger - whole foods, plant based

HIIT sessions with me

Swimming several times a week

Art/Music

Musicianship & AMEB Studies for the cello

Folksongs & Hymns

The Arts by Van Loon

Picture Study - I put together a Charlotte Mason style study on the Australian artist Tom Roberts.

Masterpiece Society - we've used their watercolour and acrylic courses and they are very good for teaching technique. (affiliate link)

Free Reads

Hails is a very fast and voracious reader and I can't keep up with her but her favourite books lately are: 

Anything and everything by P. G. Wodehouse

Agatha Christie re-reads

Regina Doman's fairy tale retellings (the first two only at the moment)

Books by John Flanagan (The Ranger's Apprentice etc.)

The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour

Witch Wood by John Buchan - one of the very few of this author's books she hadn't read before.

This year she read some more Dickens (who hasn't been her favourite author) and is in the process of reading War & Peace by Tolstoy.

I asked her to write about some of her favourite books and here is what she wrote: Ten Favourite Books of a 15 Year Old.

I've read and heard comments that using the Charlotte Mason method in highschool doesn't provide a rigorous enough education - it's too gentle, doesn't cover STEM subjects, won't prepare kids for university etc., etc. I really don't agree, if you provide a broad feast with enough of a challenge and plenty of living books to provide the mental sustenance a young person needs.

See this article I wrote for Afterthoughts:  'Charlotte Mason Doesn't Work for Highschool.'