Donna's Journey

Dear Tracy,

You posted about commonplace books:
I am teaching a class to TJED moms this Saturday on commonplace books and am hoping you can share your methods of keeping one. How do you organize it? What do you write about in it? What is your system to help you keep writing in it?
Thank you for any thoughts you can share.
I have my own system, but would like to know how others approach their commonplace books.

Tracy-you know me. You have been on MentoringOurOwn for years, and so, you have probably seen my reply on this years ago. I will answer a current answer. I use a variety of notebooks, commonplace books, and binders. In my family and in my school, Moor House Academy, I encourage the use of:
* Nature Notebooks – Charlotte Mason Style.

* A Book of Centuries. A Book of Centuries is a time line in a binder, spanning Centuries and Continents. Compiled by the individual, the Book of Centuries becomes like an encyclopaedia. I have customized this idea for our use; inspired by the timelines in the scriptures that show what is going on concurrently in different civilizations, and also inspired by Charlotte Mason. This way, as we read about people and events from history, we can see the trends that we can add them to our book. Can be updated as you read, once a week, or when inspired to do so. I am changing the way I do this. Instead of a two page spread with content in between, I am moving to an index page that has the grid on it to track people and events on, with the content behind them. I also like the idea of color-coding the cycles of history across the dates.

* Book of Nations- When I study nations I can include a map showing the location and a larger map of the country. I can add useful information, and perhaps even a bird’s eye view of their history with a time line. Who were their renown people? Their Artists? Musician? Scientists? Statesmen? Great events?Kind of Government? etc…

* Commonplace Books my 6th great grandmother Margaret Lynne Lewis, kept one! Yes, DeMille refers to them in his book. My 6th Great grandmother lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and was contemporary to Jefferson. In other words, this was a scholar tool of that day that I have found useful in ours. I first learned of commonplace books in 1975 while doing family history research. I loved the idea! Jefferson was always asking questions and recording the answer. It is even in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary:)

COMMONPLACE, n. A memorandum; a common topic.
COMMONPLACE, v.t. To enter in a commonplace-book, or to reduce to general heads.
Commonplace-book, a book in which are registered such facts, opinions or observations as are deemed worthy of notice or remembrance, so disposed that any one may be easily found. Hence common-place as used as an epithet to denote what is common or often repeated, or trite; as a commonplace observation.

A Commonplace Book, as I use it, is a place to write down things a scholar learns each day. This may include passages to remember, ideas that the scholar wants to work on later. A simple composition book can suffice as a commonplace book. As you can see, under the above definition Nature Notebooks, a Book of Centuries, Book of Nations, and Scholar Notebooks are all kinds of commonplace books.

For the books I call my commonplace books I use simple cheap, composition books. I like them because they are sturdy, sewn, and Have a harder cover which makes writing anywhere, much easier. I buy a case every year when they are .25-.50 each during back to school sales. My children use them. My husband does, as well. Sometimes we decorate them with scrapbook paper. Sometimes we give them as gifts.

I have a commonplace book that I keep with my scriptures, in which I journal, record notes from talks (sermons, etc), and impressions I get when reading the scriptures, and at other times. By keeping it in my scripture bag, I am never without pen and paper, when studying the scriptures or attending church; making it easier, later, to refer back to those impressions that I need to follow.

I keep other Commonplace Books, as well, that I keep for annotating classics I read. I admire men like Thomas Monson. He spoke at our Regional Conference last year. One of the things he spoke on, was the classic works, outside of the scriptures, that were dear to him. He listed Dickens; especially the Christmas Carol; he reads it to his family every Christmas. He also enjoyed plays and musicals; he said that he always took a pencil with him so he could jot down that one line that made the ticket worth it. There are times too, that I say, “boy was that profound! I want to remember that one.” So, I have a place to write it down and an easy way to retrieve it.

How do I use my commonplace books for easy retrieval of information? I write the page number of the quote from the classic, within the inner margin of the composition book, and put a symbol that I designed, on the left margin, for easy reference: A stick person for Human Nature, a flag for government, a house for family, a dollar sign for finance, etc. I learned from my friend Leena to choose a color of felt tip for each classic included in my composition book, Commonplace Book. Then I color a stripe down the outside edge of the page, with the color I have chosen for that classic. This really helps, when we are discussing multiple classics! Thanks, Leena. The color makes locating the notes for a classic easy. The page numbers help me find the quote in context. The symbols make it really easy to follow threads.

I developed my methods while studying my central classic and attending lectures. After all, DeMille did say on page 75 in his book A Thomas Jefferson Education (1st edition): “The place to start is with yourself: Establish a clear canon, and spend time in it everyday. Become an expert on it, ponder it, put your life in line with it…And then broaden your knowledge to other classics which support that central classic.”

There are times I only want to carry the book. Then I add my tri-fold bookmark. The bookmark has places for:
* Title, Author, Number of Pages, Loc. Code ( which Commonplace Book and which page, and accompanying essay), start Date, and end date
* Vocabulary expansion- looking up words I do not know and writing a brief definition
* Keeper Quotes- the page number and category of (I pencil a light dot in the margin in the classic to mark the quote)
* Evaluation box with is this book:
– bent broken, whole, or healing wit a place to record why.
– how does this classic support your central classic?
* Annotation Code- a place to record the symbols used for annotations
* References: Books, People, Places, or Events mentioned in the classic along with page number in classic
* Insights- With page number
* What Eternal Principles are found in this classic?
* Enrichment Activities Inspired by this Book or Stepping Into The Story…
* Quote: “…and study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books…” Doctrine and Covenants 90:15
* Quote: ” ‘ know of no other practice which will make one more attractive in conversation then to be well read in a variety of subjects. There is great potential in each of us to go on learning. Regardless of our age, unless there be serious illness, we can read, study, drink in the writings of wonderful men and women.’ Gordon B. Hinckley Stand A Little Taller p. 280 ”

Sometimes reading is so very intense, I do not want to stop; I am helpless and sucked in. This usually happens when deadlines are approaching and life happens:), leaving me little time to read. So, I put a dot by the quote and a sticky post to mark the page. However, when I go back, sometimes I no longer remember what I was thinking when I put the dot there. Age, I think, lol. Then I try to take more time, so I can record those impressions and not lose them forever.

* Personal Scholar Portfolio for me, the adult and young scholars in Moor House Academy. The Personal Scholar Portfolio is a unique tool created to help the scholar gain scholar skills. It is a place to set and track scholar goals. The Portfolio is also useful in keeping track of essays, reading, lectures, experiments (spiritual, social, and scientific), learning projects, humanitarian service, class notes, cultural enrichment, et cetera. We have included quotes from the scriptures and words of the prophets to inspire scholars. Also included, is a specially designed bookmark (mentioned above) for recording keeper quotes, vocabulary to look up, recording life application ideas, tracking threads, and much more.

* Junior Scholar Notebook. This is for youth in the later love of learning phase. The Junior Scholar Notebook is different from the Personal Scholar Portfolio. It is designed to help the Junior Scholar make the transition to Young Scholar. This book helps the youth keep track of weekly parent interviews. Here is a place to keep transcription (copy work), narrations, art prints studied, and a weather log, as well as other things studied.

Questions?

Mahalo, Donna
moorhouseacademy.org

This is my response to a question asked by a friend on the yahoo group TJEDMUSE…

Dear, you are not alone. I read your letter and this is a struggle for many modern urbanites. Bear in mind, I am speaking generally about what I see and hear from mothers, and this may or may not apply to you.

> Time Management was a skill I did not learn as a youth due to a dysfunctional home (no one there really to teach me how to do it). I still struggle with it a lot. But I know that I am what I am because of my parents and it is my fault if I stay that way, so I am trying to improve in this area. But because I struggle with it, so do my kids.

Once upon a time, the demands of agrarian life imposed rhythms on us. People had to arise early to feed animals and care for them. Simple tasks such as bathing took time to draw the water from the well and heat. Laundry was taken to a stream and beat clean. Wood had to be cut and stacked or it would not be there when we needed it. In order to have a clean home and necessities provided on the Sabbath, the week got systematized. Monday wash day, Tuesday ironing day, Wednesday mending day…

Now we:

* Have hot and cold running water at the twist of a knob. We do not even need to wait to fill a tub, we can be showered, dried and dressed, before a tub can be filled
* Few of us have animals to care for, outside of house pets
* We can throw in a laundry load, pop dinner into the oven, and while those electronic slaves work, we can spend time with our family even head to the store if we need to, or perhaps read to a child
* Many fabrics are wash and wear, not needing ironing
* Many of us have gas or electric heat, it is run by a slave called a thermostat. For many of us there is no need to chop wood, except for ambiance.

What is the result? If there are no compelling reasons to structure one’s life, we tend to default and live by mood. Our great grand parents, more likely than not lived by rhythm rather than mood.

I see this lack of structure as a result of our society devaluing the core phase. Children from dysfunctional homes (what is normal? My daughter jokingly says, “I’ve seeeeen neeermal and it ain’t pretty!”) and children raised by caregivers in daycare, as well as, children whose parents were raised that way, are more likely to have these time structuring issues. Why? Simply because those situations are places where children are cared for, protected, and entertained, and less likely where they are engaged in a routine.

I see moms struggle to maintain a home and to home educate. When they are working on their home, they feel guilty because their children are being neglected. When they are focusing on school and the house is a mess, they feel guilty. I often see this with public schooled families, as well. Trying to make family and career work is a juggling act for many. Throw in a home business and you have an earthquake! There are solutions.

One thing to remember is that you can do it all, just not all at the same time. I believe that it is the structure of day in and day out family rhythms that provide the structuring of the time, that later academic success is built on. I call it the Ecclesiastes Approach, “1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” Yes, I feel you need flexibility to follow epiphanies, yet, after all is said and done, structure prepares the scholar! We often refer to different areas of study as disciplines.

I feel that if a child is engaged in life rhythms in their core phase (pre and early school years) that they will have the habitudes of mind to engage in the love of learning, and sky rocket into a diligent young scholar. Nowhere do I see this more than in family work, done by rhythm. A parent working with a child is likely to finish the task, and do so diligently. Day in and day out, week after week, month after month, year after year- an example of diligence and finishing being a goal, rings loud and clear. The child learns from example and that adults finish. The same goes for quality. I do not think of adults doing a slipshod job when working with children. I really feel that doing family work by rhythm helps discipline the mind.

Too often, I see homes run by mood, where the child does not feel like doing this or that, as it is too much effort compared to the alternative of being entertained. Or the parent only cleans when it becomes too overwhelming. I have also watched as parents in exasperation throw up their hands and send their kids to school to “get structure,” so they will actually get something done academically. What they do not realize is that the same things that lead to school success are the very same things that can lead to success in the home. Charlotte Mason spoke of education being “an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” I really feel if the atmosphere of the home is chaotic and by mood, it does not usually yield diligent and disciplined minds. I am not talking about a rigid mind. I feel that somehow the atmosphere of a disciplined life somehow disciplines the mind for thinking.

Many bright students, who qualified for college got there, only to waste their time, distracted by the endless array of distraction and activities, and end up either quitting or failing. A youth who has lived a disciplined life is more likely to rely on rhythms that have served them. I see the lack of self discipline, and the lack of study skills, shows. I find it hard to believe that a youth that has never studied more than an hour, our even four, would somehow be transformed into a diligent scholar the moment the parents leave him at the university door step.

> I’d love to get some input from those of you who feel you have a handle on structuring both your time and your kid’s time and how you teach them to manage their time.

I have fought through some of these issues myself. I have watched these tendencies in myself and among my own. I have also seen what family work and rhythms can produce in my home and family. I feel this is why it is so valuable to revisit and reevaluate all engagements that impede the structure and rhythms of a home. I know the toll that running a family business can take on home life. These few things can go a long way:
* Check the Pulse by self evaluating and counseling with the Lord- helps us see what needs to go, what needs to stay
* Counsel with spouse and family
* Adjusting and working towards rhythms that are ideal for your family is important.
This is dynamic and needs to be revisited often. Running a home is huge. Home education is huge. To combine them it helps to develop a discipline of personal and family rhythms. Throw in a home business or other demanding activities (or distractions) and you can get by for a while, but sooner or later you will need to consider the orchestration.

A simple structure is best. I do not believe in over structure or planning every minute. We all need margins in our life for epiphanies to be more abundant.

Life no longer gives us rhythms. We get to choose them. They are not prison bars, but rather like a default setting that we do unless something important causes us to do something else. Then when the important passes, we pick up our rhythm where we left off. If our present default is not working, perhaps it is time to revisit it. If our children lack structure in their studies, ask ourselves how we have prepared them to have a well disciplined mind. I believe that helping our children have structure in their lives, is part of sowing seeds of greatness in them.

It is time to check the pulse here! A great activity for Sunday.

Has it been that long already? Elizabeth, my oldest granddaughter is 1 today!

“My biggest concern is having my 2 1/2 year old just hang around me all day till she’s 8…I just worry about the things she should be learning but isn’t. Are there any ideas of things to do with her?”

I am not surprised that you are concerned. The current trend of pre-schools and kindergarten academics were not always the case.

I was born in 1955. When I was a child, most children stayed home with mom, like families have done since time began. Pre-schools were called nursery schools. Kindergartens were non-academic. Preschools have been sold to Americans and quite frankly our educational performance has been declining, not improving.

Once upon a time children learned and internalized a work ethic, quality, finishing, rhythms, and more, working with their parents, instead of for them. Children working along side of parents gain far more, than those who are merely assigned and nagged to work. I feel we rush independence before these values are formed.

What can you do? Plenty! These are things I suggest…

First, consider your family rhythms. Are they done by mood or by design? If by mood, might I suggest that you consider systematizing those tasks that are done more than once? Establish those rhythms. Have your sweet daughter learn and develop capacities working by your side.

Second, take time to lap read with her everyday from the scriptures. This is leadership and discipleship. This helps children learn to read, without detracting and pulling away from the vital lessons of the core phase. They learn to read without reading stealing the focus. Then lap read aloud from other books.

Three, help your daughter write a journal. At first you write for her, but soon she wil want to on her own.

Four, work with your child so they learn every aspect of running a home. Not just until they “know how.” Keep it up until it becomes their basic fiber. Working side by side, share memories, look for object lessons and teaching moments.

Five, have your child help you do service, whether visiting the Elderly, weeding a shut in’s yard, baking bread.

Six, live in a quantitatively rich home. Count towels as you fold together, help her understand weights and measures as you cook together. Count place settings, as you set the table. Get a face clock and help her learn to read it when you check it. Take her shopping with you and explain why you buy a particular product and why it is a great buy.Lap read the page numbers when looking up hymns.

My daughter visited when we had out of town guests. The mom was pregnant and exhausted. So my daughter took the 15 and 28 month olds in to the kitchen. She got out a recipe and had them look at the ingredient and then they matched it with something in the spice drawer. She explained the fraction as she measured.

Yes, it takes time to mother like this. However, it educates in a very incidental way. What’s more, they internalize it better.

Seven, make daily walks a priority, Great for your health. Great to dissipate extra energy! Walk to the park or drive to one so she can climb, swing, crawl, and slide.

Eight, get a large map of the US and one of the world. Place on the dinning table you eat most meals at. Lay them out and use a blow dryer to relax the maps flat. Cover with medium weight clear vinyl. Share where you and different family and ancestors were born. Use the map when discussing news and the scriptures.

Nine, get art supplies and keep them high in a closet until she is old enough to understand what surfaces she should write in and which she should not. Draw, finger pain, paint, work with clay.

Ten, sing to and with your child. Play classical music in the home.

Eleven, memorize poems, quotes, and scriptures with her.

Twelve, play games with her.

Thirteen, invite others into your home. While you visit with the mothers, let the children be in a supervised play.

Fourteen, make sure there are regular meal and bedtime rhythms.

Fifteen, take her to museums, concerts, plays, craft fairs, etc.

There you have it. Core phase with no academics. Yet, through lifestyle like this, most children learn to read, write, do arithmetic, become aware of geography, develop the ability to draw and sing.

All this with no stress of nagging, no unnatural curriculum juggling, and it is practical. I dare say, I have listed so much that can be done! By the time love of learning phase comes along, she will probably be reading, writing, understanding arithmetic, know the world she lives in, and be cultured beyond her peers. Eight will come and go.