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Learning French
I was planning our French studies for the coming year, so while the decisions are fresh in my mind I decided to create a post to share what my family has done. I trust it will be helpful. Aim ~ Early Years ~ Older children / Teens ~ Stories to listen to ~ Stories to read ~ Songs in French ~ Phonics app ~ What didn’t work for us ~ Charlotte Mason in French/France Aim I wanted my children to start a foreign language early so they could pick up the pronunciation. My hope for the future is they will be able to communicate in France and be able to…
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Beautifully Illustrated Irish Nature Books to Enjoy One Page a Day
Each day, during our book basket time, we read a double-page spread from a beautifully illustrated nature book. I leave the book open on a bookstand or shelf for the rest of the day to allow the images to blend into our day. We also follow this approach for both poetry and art. Coming up: Irish Page-a-day Nature Books ~ General Page-a-day Nature Books ~ Mother’s Education Currently, we are enjoying the stunning book Ireland’s Hidden Depths by Paul Kay. I bought it on sale for €10 directly from Sherkin Island Marine Station, who do a range of great Irish nature books. Their books work so well for Irish home educators, and…
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Starting Calligraphy
Previous posts: Handwriting without tears, Cursive (coming soon) My daughter wanted to try calligraphy. This has been lovely for us to do together and so I thought I would share what we used. I remember wanting to learn copperplate as a teenager. I bought wide, chisel-shaped nibs because that was all that had been in my local stationery shop. It was only last year that I realised my lack of success was having the wrong nibs. To create the fine lines and twirls, you need a pointed dip nib. And actually, they only cost a few euros. Sometime back, I was lucky to have been invited to a magical time…
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I want to close my Audible account… What could I buy with my Audible credits?
It is common to subscribe to Audible and not be listening as quickly as the credits clock up. But you have to spend all your credits before you unsubscribe or you lose them. What books might you buy? I’ve seen this question a number of times, so here are some suggestions for Irish home educators… And by the way, when you unsubscribe Amazon often offer a great deal, like 3 months at half price, or even 3 months for 99p, which as I write, is available here, for new or previous subscribers. On Audible, I would tend to go for books that aren’t easily obtainable in hardcopy in Ireland, requiring…
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Books & Curriculum, Books to Read Aloud, Irish Booklist, Irish Geography, Irish Nature Study, Uncategorized
Irish Living Book list – Classic fiction set in Ireland
This is the first post in what will be a series of posts listing living books for Irish home educators with children in primary school. Reading quality books is an important part of a Charlotte Mason education, whether snuggled on the couch reading aloud together or reading to themselves. I had difficulty locating living books set in Ireland and could not find a comprehensive list, so I am slowly creating such a list on this website to share with you. Tom McCaughren wrote: “When my daughters were growing up I realised there were few books for young people written, set and published in Ireland so I decided to write some…
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I want to read Charlotte Mason’s volumes – Which book should I buy?
I am delighted that you are at this page as it means you are planning to read Charlotte Mason’s volumes. When you go searching there are a variety of different printings of the six volumes which Charlotte Mason wrote and it can be a bit confusing. To clarify: the content in the different editions is the same. In the editions listed below the page numbering has been kept identical, to facilitate quoting with page numbers. There are some poor-quality reproductions on Amazon. Below I list and provide links to quality editions for those of us in Ireland. (The links will be equally valid for those in the UK.) I am…
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Learning to Play the Piano in our Home
Why? ~ Introduction to Music ~ Our Piano ~ Piano for littles ~ Piano apps for a bit older ~ Starter Piano Song Books ~ Further Thoughts ~ Relationships “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato Like every subject in our homeschool, I think it is important to think about the ‘Why’. For us, it’s not about our child being a concert pianist or being in a band, although that may become their interest in the future. For me, it’s about giving my children the opportunity to be able to make beautiful music and most importantly…
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Making My Own Books
I was making some simple comb bound books as I get ready for more formal school. It is quick to make a book like this when you have a printer, binder and cutter, but fathoming it out the first time can take a bit of time. To simplify it for you, I made notes as I worked to create this post. But before going into how, here’s why… Why would I want to print a book myself? Option 1: The book is out of copyright and you want a physical book but … The book is currently out of stock. You want to be sure of a certain font size. Some…
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The Hutchinson Treasury of Stories to Read Aloud
I wanted to recommend the book The Hutchinson treasury of stories to read aloud selected by Janet Schulman. This book was previously been printed under the title The 20th-Century Children’s Book Treasury. The content is the same. This book contains many books which are recommended on various US curriculum. It used to be on Sonlight’s PreK curriculum for families abroad to reduce shipping. Many of the stories would be nicer in their original single book per story format, but this is a great option to read them first to see if you and your children enjoy them. There are lots of copies of this book in the Irish libraries –…
