The Children's Art

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Life has been too busy to blog, but today was one of those days that I had to share!

Last Tuesday, our Charlotte Mason study group discussed some of the elements of language arts, beginning with recitation. Most of the people in the group are fairly new to her ideas, so our meetings take me back ten years to when my family was first testing out her suggestions. Recitation was a flop for Pamela due to her aphasia (severe language disorder). Even the simplest line was beyond her because she skipped short, abstract words. Unlike E. in the anecdote Mason provided, committing to memory and reciting a poem required extensive and strenuous effort:

She read a poem through to E.; then the next day, while the little girl was making a doll's frock, perhaps, she read it again; once again the next day, while E.'s hair was being brushed. She got in about six or more readings, according to the length of the poem, at odd and unexpected times, and in the end E. could say the poem which she had not learned (page 225).

Modern research bears out the wisdom of Mason's suggestion to read the poem to E. "at odd and unexpected time" while doing different activities in various locations. Studying in the same place free of distractions doesn't increase memory. The brain associates what is being learned with background sensations it perceives at the time. In Mason's example, learning lines from Tennyson is shaded slightly with the sitting on the bed feeling one's hair brushed, or perhaps, stirring cake batter in the kitchen. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations to the poem scaffolds memorization. "What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting," explains one researcher.

For many years, David quickly learned whatever poem was put in front of him, while Pamela struggled with the first line. We continued to hope for Pamela to learn the children's art without any evidence recitation was within reach. About four years ago, the miracle started when we realized Pamela needed a multi-sensory approach to memorizing poetry: her brain could make the multiple associations required when she read it aloud, copied it in her own handwriting, and used it for studied dictation (how we do spelling and writing mechanics). She loved poetry so much, she spent one morning doing what she called a poem marathon.

Singing in unison and reciting the Lord's Prayer at church seemed beyond her until we started filling in developmental milestones through Relationship Development Intervention. She was missing the ability to coordinate her actions and adjust her pace to that of another person and RDI helped fill that gap. Last fall, Pamela finally started singing with me, taking turns alternating lines, and even picking up where I left off. She even sang to herself while quietly doing paperwork. This summer, Pamela has been quietly reciting the Lord's Prayer with the congregation in church. Because of my work on the church website, she has access to Sunday recitations of The Apostle's Creed (which she started preparing for recitation last year). Over the summer, she has listened to the recordings on our computer intently to memorize this challenging statement of belief.

Today, the entire body of New Covenant Presbyterian Church heard the evidence of the miracle coming out of Pamela. As if to anticipate our pastor's sermon on pursuing God (available later in the week), Pamela "boldly" (Luke 8:11 NIV) with "shameless audacity" (Luke 8:11 TNIV) recited The Apostle's Creed in unison with the church body. Because of a slight delay in her pace, I could hear her all the way up front where I sit with the choir during the first half of the service. As I looked out into the faces of our many, many friends in the congregation, I saw bright smiles everywhere from people who know what a precious moment this was.

During and after the service, they shared their appreciation. Fellow choir members chuckled, marveled, and patted me on the shoulder. A friend in the back pew stopped me on my way to sit with Pamela during the sermon. The lady who ran the children's catechism program for a long time told me she thought Pamela was ready to become a full-fledged "adult" member of the church. Her husband, an elder emeritus, commented he had no idea she knew the creed with such confidence. Another sweet friend wished we would all proclaim our beliefs with such gusto. The husband of another dear friend told me how much he is amazed by the pictures I post on Facebook of Pamela's watercolors (overdue post to follow) and the stories I share about her. Did I mention how many wonderful friends I have in my church?

And they weren't even in Sunday School class with us to witness Pamela's recitation of Tennyson's "The Eagle". For the past month, we have been studying great hymns that touch our hearts. Every week, we pick a hymn to research for the following Sunday: the lyrics, the story behind the hymn, and the person who wrote it. Someone shared their research of "Holy, Holy, Holy" by Reginald Heber and commented that Alfred Lord Tennyson considered it the world's greatest hymn. When she heard the poet laureate's name mentioned, Pamela perked up and said, "Just like 'The Eagle.'" Then she recited the poem for them.

Yesterday, Pamela was so proud of her accomplishment she recorded herself reciting the creed from memory. Just for the fun of it!

Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:5-13

P.S. The symmetry of all this is breathtaking. Hebrew 11 and Luke 11, which also contains "The Lord's Prayer" which Pamela recited unabashedly in church today.

Our First Exam Week: Spotlight on Recitation and Music

In an effort to be authentic and transparent, I'm going to reveal the shocking truth about exam week in the Glaser homeschool. We never did it. You thought all Charlotte Mason homeschoolers did them. Well, I never got the hang of it. At least, I never lied to you and said I did. That would be hypocrisy.

Because I always felt like we were behind (behind what, I wonder), I hated to lose even more time doing exams. It didn't kill David who ironically just exempted all of his exams for first semester of his senior year at high school (does God have a sense of humor, or what?). It was extremely difficult to assess Pamela because of her major stumbling block: aphasia! Five years ago, the oral language she is doing today didn't exist. I was still suffering from Enlightenment Thinking, so I would have either felt defeated when my children didn't seem to know what I thought they should know and I would have made the next term miserable for all of us.

Now that I am a recovering Enlightenment Thinker, I think it is safe to try exam week with Pamela. What is Enlightenment Thinking?

• Viewing Pamela as a performer.
• Having a list of things she ought to know.
• Correcting her mistakes and adding them to the list of things to fix.
• Viewing her efforts as purely solo.
• Trying to measure and collect data to prove to the world homeschooling is working.
• Feeling bad about things that she missed because she did it correctly last week.
• Measuring her against other people with autism who are her age.

I am doing several things to inoculate myself from this destructive form of thinking. I am trying to view exams with an eye toward Pamela, the person, and her relationships by considering the following questions:

• Is Pamela's world larger because of this book or activity?
• Do I see her recalling or exploring ideas outside of our formal day?
• Is her known in this area expanding?
• Is this book or activity worth her time?
• If not, is she ready for this level of thinking? Could I find a better resource?
• Is she reaching any new developmental milestones?
• Were there times when her face filled with joy?
• Did she share any knew connections she made?

Spanish

Pamela's narration of Ricitos de Oro in Spanish stunned me, and Steve couldn't get over it. We have come a long way in Spanish since August. She has this story, the nursery songs, and all the audio stories Steve narrated loaded up on her i-Pod Touch. She loves listening to them in her free time. The other day, I caught her watching I even catch her watching The Fox and the Hound in Spanish. Pamela sometimes speaks Spanish in context such as saying "Tengo mucha hambre" before lunch or "No hay más!" after finishing a bowl of food. Once I sang, "Food, glorious, food" while David was feeding the fish and Pamela said, "La comida" (the food in Spanish). Pamela spoke what Spanish she could on our trip to El Salvador and even communicated with Rosa, who spoke no English, through Spanish and gestures. Starting to acquire a second language spoken by half of her family is a major developmental milestone.

I plan to keep using all our resources although the songs are in a challenging key for us. Pamela and I keep switching octaves to sing with the singer on our recordings who must be a baritone. We will press on. I might try a free two-week trial of Speekee, an online program recommended by friends Penny and Queen Mum. It is geared for younger children and might suit her well. If she likes it, we might subscribe and have her work through the ten programs instead of the homemade stories when my schedule gets too full.

Recitation

Pamela loves recitation. She enjoys reciting what she learned last term. Sometimes, she will recite "The Lord's Prayer" and Tennyson's "The Eagle" for fun. She smiles during "The Lord's Prayer" at church. On two different occasions, Pamela spoke Tennyson's lines: while looking at live eagles in Awendaw and at a stuffed eagle at a wildlife refuge visitor's center. It reminded me of a Jane Austen novel when a character quotes a beloved poet. I can tell by her unusually crisp annunciations of the hard c sounds in the first two lines of the poem that Pamela can hear the alliteration and finds it pleasant. I can tell in the pace of her delivery that she feels the poem's rhythm.

Were her recitations absolutely perfect? No! But I loved how Pamela put her own twist on "The Lord's Prayer" by blending the two different versions:

And - our - forgive our debts.
And we forgive our debtors.
And we forgive those who trespass against us.

She got stuck on the fifth line of "The Eagle" and turned to me, "What? What?" She knew it was on the tip of her tongue. She even tried to give me her only clue, "Thunder," because she knew it was in the closing line. Rather than look at it as a failure, I took the opportunity to show her two strategies. First, I repeated the fourth line. I was stuck, too! Then, I started the whole thing over and, as soon as I said, "He watches from," Pamela echoed from and flew solo until the end. It reminded me of what happened to Elizabeth Hughes at the Norfolk Admirals Game--how forgotten lyrics can quickly blossom into a beautiful moment when surrounded by people filled with heart.

Music
Music is going well. Pamela loved our folk song selections. I picked two songs from South Carolina ("I Got a Letter This Morning" and "When the Train Comes Along") and one familiar one ("Skip to My Lou").


While Pamela may not be a candidate for American Idol, she captured that slightly off-key twang of the songs, which melted my heart. She nailed the lyrics of the first verse perfectly in only one song. In another, she artfully wove lines from several verses to make her own version, which is how these songs were created in the first place. In the final song, she used her own unique words. Her inventiveness captured the essence of what folk music really is when you think about it.

Pamela loved the hymns I chose. She needed help finding a good key with Rejoice the Lord Is King and stayed right with me once she got going. Her version of Open Our Eyes, Lord is absolutely precious because she sings with her heart in that one.


Pamela loves classical music. She has it on her i-Pod Touch and alternates between listening to Bach and Beethoven CDs in the car. She can accurately name composers of familiar music if we hear it piped in the store or on the soundtrack of a movie. Last term, we enjoyed exploring Vivaldi. She was already familiar with The Four Seasons and his mandolin concertos. We added the Magnificat and Gloria to her repertoire. Her favorite piece was Spring from "Four Seasons" and Pamela even hummed a few bars for me!

Pamela Beams!

Two years ago, I reported with joy that we figured out a way for Pamela to memorize poetry: a combination of copywork and studied dictation. She took baby steps in understanding figurative language. She recited Daffodowndilly as a present to her dad and The End as a video gift for her grandfather. Last year, Pamela began to enjoy poetry: she held her very own "Poem Marathon" and wrote a Christmas poem all by herself. Over the summer, I noticed Pamela had memorized some poems recited by a toy teddy bear my parents had given her for her birthday. So, this year, I tried doing straight memorization of poetry by auditory practice only.

Today, Pamela memorized the third poem of the school year. She is so proud of her accomplishment and her face beams with joy. If you are having a bad day, I guarantee this clip will bring a smile to your face. If not, you are a grinch!

Teddy Bear Recitation

Last March, my parents gave Pamela, a stuffed animal lover, this cute teddy bear. She figured out really quickly that the bear will recite prayers and poems if you press its paws. Pamela loved the added bonus of the bear that had verbal stims like her! LOL! I noticed that she learned these poems and prayers and, when she recites, she sounds exactly like the bear. The same voice. The same cadence. The same pitch! Here are comparisons of the bear and Pamela reciting the same poem:

Teddy Bear


Pamela


When I first got into Charlotte Mason homeschooling, all efforts to teach Pamela to recite poems failed. Two years ago, I figured out that blending copywork and studied dictation with recitaiton enabled her to recite poems correctly! We worked through lots of poetry by A. A. Milne and other beloved poets. We started school on August 18 and I decided to see if she could handle recitating without the scaffolding of visual and written work. I picked a poem called Singing Time by Rose Fyleman (a lover of all things faerie) from the book Poems and Prayers for the Very Young. I deliberately choose a very easy poem from a very easy book to build a sense of confidence in Pamela.

Singing Time
I wake in the morning early
And always, the very first thing,
I poke out my head and I sit up in bed
And I sing and I sing and I sing.

Here is how I scaffolded this:

• I had Pamela read it aloud a few times each session.
• We backchained the learning of this poem by starting off with the last two lines.
• I said the end and then she said the end. We went back and forth a few times every session.
• Sometimes we practiced while rocking so that she can learn to feel the rhythm of poetry.

In the following clip is the very first time we practiced going back and forth with the poem on August 18. Then you see us ten days later doing a rocking session and Pamela's final recitation. At the end, all I did was smile and you can see how she reads my face at the end and then smiles brightly too!

First Day/Rockin' Recitation
Ten Days Later