Simply Learning…

A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six
A reprint of a curriculum outline from a Charlotte Mason School in the 1890’s.

To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns.
To recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm.
To add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters.
To read – what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child.
To copy in print-hand from a book.
To know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows.
To describe the boundaries of their own home.
To describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach.
To tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from Roman history.
To be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views.
To mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
To do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees.
To know 6 birds by song, color and shape.
To send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed.
To tell three stories about their own “pets” – rabbit, dog or cat.
To name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences.
To sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song.
To keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.

** Pictures taken at La Mesa Eco Park.

Notes:
-I’ve adjusted objectives accordingly.
-These objectives are not set in stone. I use it as a guide.
-We work on these slowly. There is no rush in learning.
-We have finally decided on Spanish for foreign language. Nothing formal. We start off by learning names of ordinary objects in Spanish.
-We focus on having a relationship with words. Hopefully, memorization happens naturally through daily reading of chosen psalm, poetry and hymn.
-So far, we have taken to heart 2 bible verses, 1 hymn and 2 poems.
-We will focus on Philippine history. Maybe a short story about Lapu-Lapu? I’m not so sure yet.