On Fairy Stories by Iona Scott

In English Lit. I have been looking at fairy tales. We started with "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde, which is a lovely story among many other wonderful things by Oscar Wilde. But as far as fairy tales are concerned I have always loved the Brothers Grimm. This is because there are so many 'secrets' behind their stories. Ever since I was hearing fairy tales out of books and watching Disney animations, 'Snow White' has been my favourite. Over the years I have discovered little variations or additions to the story that I had not known before.
For example, I have learned that the wicked stepmother tried to kill Snow White with a poisoned apple, but she also tried to kill her with a corset to crush her ribs and a poisoned comb for her hair. There is also an extension to the story on how the seven dwarfs died.

Here then is a short essay that mum has been badgering me for all week.

Fairy stories are not completely made up. They have some truth in them and this truth is used to teach history and morals. The brother's Grimm retold stories in order for them to be passed on for many more years to come or hopefully forever.

These stories have been passed on and have seen much popularity because of their amazing use of characters and great plots. The characters are very simple and the story line is also, but that is what children like.
The wicked stepmother did not tell her hunts man to kill Snow White because she was feeling a little upset at the time; and the wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel is not a misunderstood poor old lady. The bad are bad and the good are good-and that is one of the reasons children love fairly stories.

However, today when people write or re-write stories they like to tone them down. So today's children do not hear that the wicked stepmother was punished by being made to dance in red hot slippers, nor that she accused Snow White of being a slut.

I think this (well not the slut bit) takes all the heart out of the stories. If the bad are not really bad, but just a bit naughty, then the hero is less of a hero and there is no 'happily ever after' but more of a 'we were happy to begin with, but now we're happier.'

as countries invaded others they took their stories with them, thus creating the mix we have today in our treasuries of fairy tales.
This mix, especially the stories rewritten by the brothers Grimm have provided bedtime stories for children around the worked for a very long time and should not, I believe, be messed with too much.

Iona

October Meeting

Meeting at Ruth's- present, Ruth, Karen, Michelle.

Looked at what we had used from last meeting. Michelle is looking into a Charlotte Mason approach using resources from AMBULSIDE ONLINE.

She has bought the origanal series written by Charolotte Mason as well as "For The Children's Sake" by Susan S Macaulay.

We discussed measures we have tried to take to maximise time management.

Karen has had to plan a lot of work for the children ahead of time so she can ensure they continued their education while she has been receivin chemo. She has also noted that the children have responded to her changed health by using their time to read with her and to her and that she has seen a marked improvement in her son's reading as a result.



She told a lovely story of how she had taken the children to the library and bought a bag load of sencond hand books including an old Dorling Kindersley one that looked at human life on earth. She had sat with them the next day looking at this book-not as any formal lesson, and they had read about the Leakey discovery of 'Lucy'.

Then when taking her son and his friend out one night she heard him in the back of the car explaining all about what he had learned from this book; about Lucy and what she was like and later to his dad about hunting harpoons and so on.

This helped us all realise that 'formal' may be a good way to learn, but our children also learn in the relaxed family time setting just as well-if not better.



Michelle explained that she has a 'Brain Book' in which she records what she has done and needs to do in order to keep on top of tasks and fit them around her daughter's timetable.



Talked more about what Charlotte Mason's gentle art of learning might offer all of us including in areas of habit forming and discipline-routine and as the three of us are Christian- a Christ centred approach to our children's development as persons.



Ruth has recently had someone come to help her with the children and is adjusting to having another person join in with her in this process.

Ruth and Michelle had discussed research that shows that children do not respond well to formal education before the ages of 6-8. Ruth had been using a classical curriculum, but is now looking to relax things a little while she considers Mason's views and thinks about possibly taking a new approach.



The next meeting is set for Sat Nov 10th 8pm

Resource: English garden and walks

The website THE ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN has plenty of info on birds, animals, trees, seasons etc.
I'm printing up templates from HERE when we go to the park this afternoon.

Winnie-the-Pooh

Here's a LINK to the original stories.

The Mr Sander's Home also looks good.

For those of you who do not have access to the wonderful books 'For the Very Young' and 'Now We Are Six' here is a selection of some of Milne's gentle poetry:

The Morning Walk

When Anne and I go out a walk,

We hold each other's hand and talk

Of all the things we mean to do

When Anne and I are forty-two.

And when we've thought about a thing,

Like bowling hoops or bicycling,

Or falling down on Anne's balloon,

We do it in the afternoon.

-from Now We Are Six

Wind on the Hill

No one can tell me,
Nobody knows,
Where the wind comes from,
Where the wind goes.

It's flying from somewhere
As fast as it can,
I couldn't keep up with it,
Not if I ran.

But if I stopped holding
The string of my kite,
It would blow with the wind
For a day and a night.

And then when I found it,
Wherever it blew,
I should know that the wind
Had been going there too.

So then I could tell them
Where the wind goes...
But where the wind comes from
Nobody knows.

-from Now We Are Six

Pinkle Purr

Tattoo was the mother of Pinkle Purr,
A little black nothing of feet and fur;
And by-and-by, when his eyes came through,
He saw his mother, the big Tattoo.
And all that he learned he learned from her.
"I'll ask my mother," says Pinkle Purr.

Tattoo was the mother of Pinkle Purr,
A rediculous kitten with silky fur.
And little black Pinkle grew and grew
Till he got as big as the big Tattoo.
And all that he did he did with her.
"Two friends together," says Pinkle Purr.

Tattoo was the mother of Pinkle Purr,
An adventurous cat in a coat of fur.
And whenever he thought of a thing to do,
He didn't much bother about Tattooo,
For he knows it's nothing to do with her,
So "See you later," says Pinkle Purr.

Tattoo is the mother of Pinkle Purr,
An enormous leopard with coal-black fur.
A little brown kitten that's nearly new
Is now playing games with its big Tattoo...
And Pink looks lazily down at her:
"Dear little Tat," says Pinkle Purr.

-from Now We Are Six

---

Us Two

Wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
"Where are you going today?" says Pooh:
"Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too.
Let's go together," says Pooh, says he.
"Let's go together," says Pooh.

"What's twice eleven?" I said to Pooh.
("Twice what?" said Pooh to Me.)
"I think it ought to be twenty-two."
"Just what I think myself," said Pooh.
"It wasn't an easy sum to do,
But that's what it is," said Pooh, said he.
"That's what it is," said Pooh.

"Let's look for dragons," I said to Pooh.
"Yes, let's," said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few-
"Yes, those are dragons all right," said Pooh.
"As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That's what they are," said Pooh, said he.
"That's what they are," said Pooh.

"Let's frighten the dragons," I said to Pooh.
"That's right," said Pooh to Me.
"I'm not afraid," I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted "Shoo!
Silly old dragons!"- and off they flew.

"I wasn't afraid," said Pooh, said he,
"I'm never afraid with you."

So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
"What would I do?" I said to Pooh,
"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said: "True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he. "That's how it is," says Pooh.

-from Now We Are Six

---

Come Out with Me

There's sun on the river and sun on the hill . . .
You can hear the sea if you stand quite still!
There's eight new puppies at Roundabout Farm-
And I saw an old sailor with only one arm!

But everyone says, "Run along!"
(Run along, run along!)
All of them say, "Run along! I'm busy as can be."
Every one says, "Run along,
There's a little darling!"
If I'm a little darling, why don't they run with me?

There's wind on the river and wind on the hill . . .
There's a dark dead water-wheel under the mill!
I saw a fly which had just been drowned-
And I know where a rabbit goes into the ground!

But everyone says, "Run along!"
(Run along, run along!)
All of them say, "Yes, dear," and never notice me.
Every one says, "Run along,
There's a little darling!"
If I'm a little darling, why won't they come and see?

-from Now We Are Six

Twinkletoes

When the sun
Shines through the leaves of the apple-tree,
When the sun
Makes shadows of the leaves of the apple-tree,
Then I pass
On the grass
From one leaf to another,
From one leaf to its brother,
Tip-toe, tip-toe!
Here I go!

-from When We Were Very Young

---

Brownie

In a corner of the bedroom is a great big curtain,
Someone lives behind it, but I don't know who;
I think it is a Brownie, but I'm not quite certain.
(Nanny isn't certain, too.)

I looked behind the curtain, but he went so quickly-
Brownies never wait to say, "How do you do?"
They wriggle off at once because they're all so tickly.
(Nanny says they're tickly too.)

-from When We Were Very Young

---

Daffodowndilly

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
"Winter is dead."

-from When We Were Very Young

---

Water Lilies

Where the water-lilies go
To and fro,
Rocking in the ripples of the water,
Lazy on a leaf lies the Lake King's daugher,
And the faint winds shake her.
Who will come and take her?
I will! I will!
Keep still! Keep still!
Sleeping on a leaf lies the Lake King's daughter. . . .
Then the wind comes skipping
To the lilies on the water;
And the kind winds wake her.
Now who will take her?
With a laugh she is slipping
Through the lilies on the water.
Wait! Wait!
Too late, too late!
Only the water-lilies go
To and fro,
Dipping, dipping,
To the ripples of the water.

-from When We Were Very Young

---

Spring Morning

Where am I going? I don't quite know.
Down to the stream where the king-cups grow-
Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow-
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.

Where am I going? The clouds sail by,
Little ones, baby ones, over the sky.
Where am I going? The shadows pass,
Little ones, baby ones, over the grass.

If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
You'd sail on water as blue as air,
And you'd see me here in the fields and say:
"Doesn't the sky look green today?"

Where am I going? The high rooks call:
"It's awful fun to be born at all."
Where am I going? The ring-doves coo:
"We do have beautiful things to do."

If you were a bird, and lived on high,
You'd lean on the wind when the wind came by,
You'd say to the wind when it took you away:
"That's where I wanted to go today!"

Where am I going? I don't quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow-
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.

-from When We Were Very Young

---

The Mirror

Between the woods the afternoon
Its fallen in a golden swoon,
The sun looks down from quiet skies
To where a quiet water lies,
And silent trees stoop down to the trees.
And there I saw a white swan make
Another white swan in the lake;
And, breast to breast, both motionless,
They waited for the wind's caress. . .
And all the water was at ease.

-from When We Were Very Young

---

Sand-Between-the-Toes

I went down to the shouting sea,
Taking Christopher down with me,
For Nurse had given us sixpence each-
And down we went to the beach.

We had sand in the eyes and the ears and the nose,
And sand in the hair, and sand-between-the-toes.
Whenever a good nor'wester blows,
Christopher is certain of
Sand-between-the-toes.

The sea was galloping grey and white;
Christopher clutched his sixpence tight;
We clambered over the humping sand-
And Christopher held my hand.

We had sand in the eyes and the ears and the nose,
And sand in the hair, and sand-between-the-toes.
Whenever a good nor'wester blows,
Christopher is certain of
Sand-between-the-toes.

There was a roaring in the sky;
The sea-gulls cried as they blew by;
We tried to talk, but had to shout-
Nobody else was out.

When we got home, we had sand in the hair,
In the eyes and the ears and everywhere;
Whenever a good nor'wester blows,
Christopher is found with
Sand-between-the-toes.

-from When We Were Very Young

---

Solitude

I have a house where I go
When there's too many people,
I have a house where I go
Where no one can be;
I have a house where I go,
Where nobody ever says "No";
Where no one says anything- so
There is no one but me.

-from Now We Are Six

---

Vespers

Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.

God bless Mummy. I know that's right.
Wasn't it fun in the bath tonight?
The cold's so cold, and the hot's so hot.
Oh! God bless Daddy- I quite forgot.

If I open my fingers a little bit more,
I can see Nanny's dressing-gown on the door.
It's a beautiful blue, but it hasn't a hood.
Oh! God bless Nanny and make her good.

Mine has a hood, and I lie in bed,
And pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes, and I curl up small,
And nobody knows that I'm there at all.

Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
And what was the other I had to say?
I said "Bless Daddy," so what can it be?
Oh! Now I remember. God bless me.

Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.

-from When We Were Very Young

---

The End

When I was One,
I had just begun.

When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,
I was not much more.

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

-from Now We Are Six

---

Poems are selected from:

Now We Are Six, A.A. Milne, Copyright E.P. Dutton, 1927.

When We Were Very Young, A.A. Milne, Copyright E.P. Dutton 1924.

The Four Friends

Ernest was an elephant, a great big fellow, Leonard was a lion with a six foot tail, George was a goat, and his beard was yellow, And James was a very small snail. Leonard had a stall, and a great big strong one, Earnest had a manger, and its walls were thick, George found a pen, but I think it was the wrong one, And James sat down on a brick Earnest started trumpeting, and cracked his manger, Leonard started roaring, and shivered his stall, James gave a huffle of a snail in danger And nobody heard him at all. Earnest started trumpeting and raised such a rumpus, Leonard started roaring and trying to kick, James went on a journey with the goats new compass And he reached the end of his brick. Ernest was an elephant and very well intentioned, Leonard was a lion with a brave new tail, George was a goat, as I think I have mentioned, but James was only a snail.

Charlotte Mason's gentle art of learning

I found an excellent USA resourse called Ambleside online- see sidebar.
Nicki mentioned she has used Mater Amabilis. I have also added it to the sidebar.

I have just ordered a couple of Charlotte Mason books and will post more about them when they arrive.

Shell

Being Homeschooled by Iona Scott

Being Homeschooled
I went to a very good primary school and apart from the fact the books and most of the work were boring I was pretty happy.
However when I moved to secondary school things were not so good. In the morning I would sit on the train listing to one of the girls I travelled with talking about her deepest boyfriend, then, when I got to school I would sit in my form room (which was a dilapidated prefab) and have my form tutor stare at me over the rim of her glasses and have a go at me because I, along with many others in the class, had forgotten to bring my locker key. After this we would all get lost in the main building looking for our French lesson. When we had found our French lesson our French teacher would yell at us for being late and then start talking to us in French. But I don’t speak French so the teacher yelled at me for not understanding.

Then, while in a easy and boring history lesson, I would be ambushed by the special needs teacher armed with his supply of patronising praise and stickers. I left that lesson with a gold star.

The rest of the day was past with more boredom, more yelling, other students passively insulting you as you walk down the corridors and the teachers openly calling students stupid.
At home-time I would sit on the bus in front of a group of girls arguing and smoking, then get on the train and listen to how awful everyone's day was. I would get home around 4:30 and crash on the sofa for a wile, have tea, do my homework , crash some more and go to bed. It was not much of a life.
It was decided that I would be better off being homescooled and so I began a whole new routine.
For a start there is no time wasting, I don't have to move class room every hour, line up, or do the register. I just sit down and do the work.

I also have a lot more flexibility and choice in what I do, so yes I still have to do English and maths but I have done a history project on the golden age of piracy and I am studying forensic science. Both of these are things I chose to do. This makes the day a lot more interesting, finding out things I want to know rather than having boring school work forced on you.
Now that I’m not wasting my life on homework I have a lot more time to read. I’m dyslexic so I’ve found reading difficult but I don’t think this was helped by the utterly boring books I was made to read in school. But now that I spend my reading time on good books my reading skills have improved and the chronicles of Narnia, Atemis Fowl and the Poldark novels are among some of the books I have enjoyed.
Socialisation has not really been a issue, every week I go to an explorer scout group and I see other friends at the week ends. Also I spend the day around siblings so I never get lonely.
School life and homeschool life are so far apart, school was mislabel but being homeschooled is a lot happier and I’m doing things I otherwise would not have the opportunity to do, I cook the family meal once a week, I’m ahead with my maths and I’m learning Sign
Language.

It really is a lot of fun.

Authors for book sessions-Ruth

List Of Writers

Lewis Carroll

Kenneth Grahame

Beatrix Potter

Alan Alexander Milne

Enid Blyton

Roald Dahl



These are the authors we will study and enjoy over the next six months. I have made suggestions of the type of questions you might ask yourself while familiarising yourselves with these authors. Bring any of the research you might manage to obtain and we can discuss what everyone has found out.

If you can memorise any of their writings it would be lovely to listen to a recital. Maybe you might like to act out a part of the story. Are you inspired to try writing your own book with illustrations maybe?

Bring along the book you read to share with the group. You will be surprised at the different editions that are available. If you have any really old copies these would be great to have a look at.

I found a couple of websites for resources.

http://www.wonderousworksheets.com/sheets.php
I know a lot of us don't like worksheets-but it looked like a useful site for those with younger children -and for ideas.

Also I am using
http://www.online-literature.com/
We are studying the short stories of Oscar Wilde and then maybe I'll do Dorian Grey with Iona.

And this is just fantasitc!
http://www.amblesideonline.org
This is a free resource for parents wanting to follow a Charlotte Mason approach. There is so MUCH here I am astonished.

Team Works Autumn 2007 group activities.

Sept 5th GAMES everyone

Sept 12th BOOKS Ruth

Sept 19th CRAFT Shariska/Shazia

Sept 26th SCIENCE Sally/Christine

___________________________________________

Oct 3rd GAMES everyone

Oct 10th BOOKS Ruth

Oct 17th CRAFT Shariska/Shazia

Oct 24th SCIENCE Sally/Christine

___________________________________________

Oct 31st half Term
___________________________________________

Nov 7th GAMES everyone

Nov 14th BOOKS Ruth

Nov 21st CRAFT Shariska/Shazia

Nov 28th SCIENCE Sally/Christine

_____________________________________________

Dec 5th

Dec 12th

Dec 19th

______________________________________________

Dec 26th Christmas Break
_____________________________________________

Refreshments: Baked goodies by Mary, courtesy of Ruth.
Volunteers still needed for drinks and fruit.


Treasurer: Shazia
Keys: Sally
Email: Shariska

Mum's Meeting

The meeting took place on Saturday 1st Sept at around 8pm.

Sophisticated nibbles and a fine line in elderflower water were available. A very nice Moses Basket was provided for the youngest guest, but when she felt like a snack, the food was placed there instead.

This was the first meeting for mums who home school. At another point it was suggested that dads as the Principles of the home schools would also be invited.

Running on ‘home schooling time’ it was initially discussed how the meetings were going to run.
A structure was decided upon:

We would begin with an introduction of selves including our names, why we home school, who we home school, and how our time since last meeting has been. This would give an opportunity for new members of the groups to be introduced and welcomed.

Spending the first half the meeting discussing a chosen theme.

Interim period of sharing resources, events that one knows about, activities that are doing with the children, coming up with themes for future meetings.

Second half of meeting, writing questions / things for discussion on a piece of paper and pulling out of pot to discuss.

Questions to be put on web site for others to contribute.

Initial discussion;

Talking about sign language:
Children had been learning the language over the last term or had been exposed via groups such as cubs and scouts.
A TV programme ‘Something Special’ was pointed out as a good programme available on BBC 1, and CBBEEBIES,
Web Site www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

It was suggested that a placement or offer of voluntary work serving in the community for deaf people could be looked into.
Longwill School in Northfield is a special school for D/deaf children who might welcome classroom help.

Subject decided for next month: time management

Resources mentioned:
Games: Boggle
Chronology

We mentioned that families often have a games night or family time around the fire.
Draughts
Scrabble
Cluedo
jigsaws

Family fun night; made up games and party games

Next meeting: 13th Oct 8pm.

?Starting sign language group after Christmas. Proposed time on a Wednesday after homeschooling group. So bring picnic!

Beginning the blog

Welcome to the beginning of the TeamWorks blog. Here we can put down thoughts and resources.
The monthly meetings will be written up here.

A list of hopefully useful links will begin to appear in the side bar.
The blog archive will keep a record of posts should anyone want to go back and re-read something.

A new term is about to begin.